Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Department of English Language, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
Although L2 writing has attracted salient attention and monopolized many studies in EFL contexts, there is still no full image of its complicated nature. Trying to play a supplementary role in achieving that image, this study aimed at finding whether Persian and English argumentative and descriptive academic writings were inter/intra-lingually associated and if genre played a role in provoking any differences in the means of total scores obtained from the essays. In so doing, 50 Iranian senior MA TEFL students at the intermediate level were asked to write down two argumentative and two descriptive essays in Persian and English. Each essay was assessed against IELTS task 2 writing band descriptors. Then, the data were analyzed through the Pearson product-moment correlation and paired-samples t-test. The results revealed there were significant positive correlations between the total scores obtained from Persian and English argumentative and descriptive essays. The findings supported the existence of a common underlying proficiency (Cummins, 1980), out of which L1 and L2 writing skills emerged. The results also illustrated there were significant differences between the means of some of the total scores. It was supposed these differences might be due to the possible genre-sensitive nature of common underlying proficiency.
Keywords
Abbaszadeh, Z. (2013). Genre-based approach and second language syllabus design. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 1879-1884.
Abu-Akel, A. (1997). On reading-writing relationships in first and foreign languages. JALT Journal, 19, 198-216.
Ansarimoghaddam, S., & Tan, B. H. (2014). Undergraduates’ experiences and attitudes of writing in L1 and English. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 14(1), 7-28.
Bradford-Watts, K. (2003). What is genre and why is it useful for language teachers? JALT, 27(5), 6-8. Retrieved July 18, 2018 from https://publications.org/tlt/articles/2033/05/ index
British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, & the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (n.d.). IELTS writing task 2 band descriptors (public version). Retrieved May 09, 2017 from https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/writing-band-descriptors-task-2.ashx?la=en
Buzcamm, W. (2003). We only learn language once. The role of mother tongue in FL classrooms: Death of a dogma. Language Learning Journal, 28, 29-39.
Carson, J. E., Carrell, P. L., Silberstein, S., Kroll, B., & Kuehn, P. A. (1990). Reading-writing relationships in the first and second language. TESOL Quarterly, 24, 254-266.
Cho, H. Y. (2010). Bi-directional rhetorical transfer in the writing of Korean learners of English: A case study of three groups. Second Language Studies, 28 (2), 49-95.
Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Cumming, A. (2001). Learning to write in a second language: Two decades of research. International Journal of English Studies, 1(2), 1-23.
Cummins, J. (1979a). Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question, and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 121-129.
Cummins, J. (1979b). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 49, 222-251.
Cummins, J. (1980). The construct of language proficiency in bilingual education. In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Current issues in bilingual education (pp. 81-103). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power, and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire (Vol. 23). UK: Multilingual Matters.
Cummins, J. (2005). Teaching for cross-language transfer in dual language education: Possibilities and pitfalls. TESOL Symposium on Dual Language Education: Teaching and Learning Two Languages in the EFL Setting. Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, 23 September.
Cummins, J., &. Yee-Fun, E. M. (2007). Academic language: What is it, and how do we acquire it? In J. Cummins & C. Davison (Eds.), International handbook of English language teaching (Vol. 15, pp.797-810). Boston, MA: Springer.
Dweik, B. S., & Abu Al Hommos, M. D. (2007). The effect of Arabic proficiency on the English writing of bilingual-Jordanian students. Retrieved July 08, 2018 from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED497505.pdf
Fu, J. (2011). The Influence of gender and culture on first and second language writing of Chinese and Japanese-speaking university students (Doctoral dissertation, Teaching & Learning University of Toronto). Retrieved July 10, 2018 from https:// tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/29924/1/Fu_Jing_201106_PhD _thesis.pdf
Fujii, Y. (2012). The effects of L1 on L2 writing and translation: A case study. Journal of Modern Languages, 22(1), 32-44.
Fukuda, E. (2011). Relationships of L1 and L2 reading and writing skills. The Bulletin of the Graduate School, Soka University, 33, 353-379.
Ghanbari, B., Barati, H., & Moinzadeh, A. (2012). Rating scales revisited: EFL writing assessment context of Iran under scrutiny. Language Testing in Asia, 2(1), 83-100.
Guo, M., Liu, J., & Chen, P. (2014). A case study on the effect of negative Chinese transfer on English writing. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(9), 1941-1947.
Hall, G., & Cook, G. (2012). Own-language use in language teaching and learning. Language Teaching, 45(3), 271-308.
He, X., & Niao, L. (2015). A probe into the negative writing transfer of Chinese college students. English Language Teaching, 8 (10), 21-29.
Hyland, K. (2003). Second language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Ito, F. (2009). The threshold to transfer writing skills from L1 to L2. The Bulletin of the Kanto-ko Shin-etsu English Language Education Society, 23, 1-10.
Javadi-Safa, A. (2018). A brief overview of key isuues in second language writing teaching and research. International Journal of Educatin and Lieracy Studies, 6(2), 15-25.
Javadi-Safa, A., Vahdany, F., & Khalili Sabet, M. (2013). A study of the relationship between Persian and English writing skills among adult EFL learners in Iran. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2, 43-52.
Ka-Kan-Dee, M. (2015). Analysing EFL students’ argumentative writing difficulties and teaching strategies employed by lecturers in selected universities in Thailand (Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Thailand). Retrieved July 12, 2018 from eprints.usm.my/31890/1/Maleerat_Ka-Kan-Dee_(HJ).pdf
Kim, Y., & Yoon, H. (2014). The use of L1 as a writing strategy in L2 writing tasks. Gema Online: Journal of Language Studies, 14(3), 33-49.
Kmyabi, G. (2016). Analyzing contrastive features in English and Persian argumentative writings. International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 5(2), 13-28.
Kobayashi, H., & Rinnert, C. (2013). Second language writing: Is it a separate entity. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22(4), 442-443.
Kohro, Y. (2009). A contrastive study between L1 and L2 compositions: Focusing on global text structure, composition quality, and variables in L2 writing. Dialogue, 8, 1-19.
Marzban, A., & Esmaeelnia Jalali, F. (2016). The interrelationship among L1 writing skills, L2 writing skills, and L2 proficiency of Iranian EFL Learners at different proficiency levels. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6(7), 1364-1371.
Mirzaee, M., & Marzban, A. (2016). An Investigation of the interdependence between writing in Persian as L1 and English as L2 on female intermediate students: Language problem or writing problem. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6(6), 1229-1235.
Moqimipour, K., & Shahrokhi, M. (2015). The impact of text genre on Iranian intermediate EFL students’ writing errors: An error analysis perspective. International Education Studies, 8(3), 122-137.
Moulavi Nafchi, A., Safarpoor, L., & Ghorbanimoghadam, R. (2014). The effect of Iranian students’ English language proficiency in writing on composing in Persian. International Journal of English and Education, 3(4), 46-56.
Mu, C., & Carrington, S. B. (2007). An investigation of three Chinese students’ English writing strategies. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language-EJ, 11(1), 1-23.
Nickerson, A. K. (2018). Teaching genre for transfer: Rhetorical genre studies in a secondary English classroom (Doctoral dissertation, Middle Tennessee State University). Retrieved July 12, 2018 from https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/xmlui/handle /mtsu/5664
Pallant, J. (2007). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS for windows (3rd ed.). England: Open University Press.
Rahman, M. M. (2011). Genre-based writing instruction: Implications in ESP classroom. English for Specific Purposes World, 33(11), 1-9.
Rashidi, N., & Alimorad Dastkhezr, Z. (2009). A comparison of English and Persian organizational patterns in the argumentative writing of Iranian EFL students. JoLIE, 2, 131-152.
Reiff, M. J., & Bawarshi, A. (2011). Tracing discursive resources: How students use prior genre knowledge to negotiate new writing contexts in first-year composition. Written Communication, 28(3), 312-337.
Rounsaville, A. (2012). Selecting Genres for transfer: The role of uptake in students' antecedent genre knowledge. Composition Forum, 26,1-16. Retrieved May 17, 2018 from http://compositionforum.com/issue/26/selecting-genres-uptake.php
Sadeghi, B., & Maleki, M. (2015). Improving the ability of writing argumentative essays of Iranian EFL learners by raising awareness of rhetoric transfer. Cumhuriyet Science Journal (CSJ), 36(3), 1541-1559.
Saffari, N., Noordin, S. M., Sivapalan, S., & Zahedpisheh, N. (2017). Transfer of mother tongue rhetoric among undergraduate students in second language writing. International Education Studies, 10(11), 23-32.
Saito, S. (2010). An analysis of argumentative essays of Thai third-year English major instructed by the integrated process-genre approach (Master’s Thesis, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok). Retrieved July 12, 2018 from thesis.swu.ac.th/swuthesis/Eng(M.A.)/ Siwaporn_S.pdf
Schoonen, R. (2019). Are reading and writing building on the same skills? The relationship between reading and writing in L1 and EFL. Reading and Writing, 32(3), 511-535.
Schoonen, R., Gelderen, A. V., Glopper, K. D., Hulstijn, J., Simis, A., Snellings, P., & Stevenson, M. (2003). First language and second language writing: The role of linguistic knowledge, speed of processing, and metacognitive knowledge. Language Learning, 53(1), 165-202.
Shabani, M., Tahriri, A., & Farzaneh Ardebili, S. (2016). The impact of first and second languages on Azerbaijani EFL learners’ writing ability. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 4 (1), 24-31.
Shokrpour, N., & Fallahzadeh, M. H. (2007). A survey of the students and interns’ EFL writing problems in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 9(1), 147-163.
University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (2001). Oxford quick placement test. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Uysal, H. H. (2012). Argumentation across L1 and L2 writing: Exploring cultural influences and transfer issues. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9, 133-159.
Uzun, K. (2017). The relationship between genre knowledge and the writing performance. Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 5(2), 153-162.
Viriya, C., & Wasanasomsithi, P. (2017). The effect of the genre awareness approach on development of writing ability. International Forum of Teaching and Studies, 13 (1), 11-22.
Weijen, D. V., Bergh, H. V. D., Rijlaarsdam, G., & Sanders, T. (2009). L1 use during L2 writing: An empirical study of a complex phenomenon. Journal of Second Language Writing, 18, 235-250.
Wingate, U. (2012). ‘Argument!’ helping students understand what essay writing is about. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(2), 145-154.
Zare’ee, A., & Farvardin, M. T. (2009). Comparison of university-level EFL learners’ linguistic and rhetorical patterns as reflected in their L1 and L2 writing. Novitas-ROYAL, 3(2), 143-155.
Ziahosseiny, S. M., & Derakhshan, K. (2006). Transfer of the first language of foreign language writing: A contrastive rhetoric study of English & Farsi. Quarterly Journal of Humanities, Alzahra University, 16(58), 75-91.
', './data/jtls/coversheet/cover_en.jpg'))