Determining the participants’ attitude toward the SWG and revision

3. Determining the participants’ attitude toward the SWG and revision

Qualitative data was acquired from participant’s free-prose answers to nine questions across two questionnaires (See 3.3). The questions, numbered 1-9, listed on table VI (#1-4) and table VII (#5-9), were designed with the double intent of both assessing the extent to which participants understood the contents of the guide and providing a checkpoint to make sure participants engaged the writing guide sufficiently by asking them to comment on specific sections thereof. All of the participants indicated that they understood the guide, both in the questionnaires and via informal email correspondence. Most of the participants indicated that the most helpful part of the guide was among the first three parts: occasion, audience, and speaker-voice (with the exception of Jackie, who indicated that speaker-voice presented the most difficulty). Similarly, most of the participants noted that parts 4 and 5 of the guide, information units and structure/ overall content, respectively, presented the most difficulty. Many of the participants seemed enthusiastic to revise their drafts after reading the guide as evident by their responses to questions 1-4, but the responses to the following five questions that were answered after drafts were revised indicated an overall sense of frustration and difficulty with the task of revision. This impression was confirmed in informal correspondence with participants who were surprised how difficult revising their drafts was, particularly Helen, Michelle, and Lucy, who attempted to make their first drafts conform to the model of discourse in the guide.

Table VI. Participants’ responses to questionnaire 1

After writing draft 1 and reading the SWG

Questions Michelle

Cher Helen

The illustration on the

The guide you gave me writing guide made me

I think I understand

is so impressive. 1) Overall, how well easy to understood

very first page of his

pretty much of the five

parts of the writing

guide you gave me. It

There are lots of things that gave me lots of

did you understand and imagined how do I

is very interesting as

Yes, it's so clear to

the five parts of the for it. Showing easy

I understood a little.

well as informative

understand the five

yes

information about

for example that

writtin skills. connected the

indeed. It has its own

parts of the writing

writing guide?

Overall, i could illustration released our

understand all confusing and

original system well-

guide.

comprehensive. questions.

organized by the

brilliant acrostic

OASIS.

The first part is. I think the first part is most showed what he want

Every part except of

Introduce! The guide is consist of 2) Which part of the It is his priority of

to tell us about it.

Part 4, as I am going

to address below, is

not hard for me to

The speaker voice is

When I write an essay, explaination

That is so useful. MOST? Explain and for us. The other is

guide did you

writing which means

most important part

I thought it was

understand. The

the most understand.

&examples..

understand the

audience. My writing

writing guide provides

let me know how to

I get stress out.

use different voice to

Because I think, I'm not skillfull writer.

depends on audience. me with some very

Most of all, it is

be specific.

showing how to do

explain what I want to So I usually can't start interesting in part of using example or

contents about adverb. teaching technical skill. I need practicing the

useful tips which are

really important yet

say.

at once.

easily neglected in

other to understand it

writing an essay.

truly.

Part 4 'information units' is the hardest one for me to understand [...] I

info. To foriegn , we 3) Which part(s) of reason why hard to

The fourth part is. The

cannot quite figure out

Actually it's lots of

need brief info. the guide was HARD understand is he

[...] I know the writing

The Global text

I thought speaker-

guide would be

explains it quite in detail using unfamiliar

organization was to

But everything is

to understand?

understand this part. wannabe skillful writers so hard to do that for

voice. I don't

definitely helpful for a hard understand. It's

I could understan

Explain and be

good examples. little bit taking time for

clearly.

explained well with

specific.

words in this part. It is

That's good way to let truly understanding it.

like me [...] However,

if you wrote the guide me.

to help professional or

foriegn know the

academic writers at a

writting skills.

very high level [...] it might be very useful for them.

I think so. I just wrote the essay for unclear

Yes, is so useful to

Absolutely the guide is

I make me more so useful and helpful. reason. I didn't think I 4) Overall, do you got a chance to think

Yes, I think it could be Yes, definitely. I will

revise my essay. The

guide can help me for clearly.

But i can understand

used to revise my

revise my essay which

When I write an essay, what the guide said.

think this guide

about unexpected

I submitted online.

different part how to

I have too mant things revise your essay? like be forced to write help when I write essay

could be used to

things in my life. I felt essay because it can

Reading you guide, I

revise my essay

I would be helpful. But after i read it , i

realized that I didn't

because sometimes

was ready to revise but

when I write my essay to think about writing. i felt revising is harder Why / Why not? Be something by

I always don't how to specific. However this guid give someone. It was good about essay, I am right than writting first draft opportunity to think

such as how I start

care about occasion

me a writing step. even though the guide I think, I just follow the why I want to write?

about writing.

and audience at all when writing the essay. completely

organization to write

lead to.

my essay.

rule.

Table VII. Participants’ responses to questionnaire 2

Questions Michelle

Cher Helen

5) Do you think your writing in the FINAL draft was different from your writing in the FIRST draft? How?

I think it was different from first one. while I was writing first, I just kept in mind how long

I have to make it and how do I make it seems like good essay? After I read the guide, I tried to make it interesting for readers. It must be different!!

I think it is not hard because the guide helps me.

Yes. The most noticeable change is that I added to the final draft some meta- discourse markers. Even though I didn't write my essay again from the beginning, I started to think about occasion, audience, and speaker-voice.

Yes, it has big different. The final draft has more detials than the first draft.

I just corrected some grammar. So it's just little bit different from my first one.

First draft is hard to write what i want to say directly. But the guide that you gave me was so helpful. Actually , i was in trouble using appropriate adverb. But i can use adverb more easily.

6) Were you able to IMAGINE your writing situation? How did you do this? Explain.

Yes I was. I just imagined the situation that my reader is my friends and telling to them passionately.

First, I think about audience and structure. After that, I try to connect each sentence about occasion.

I imagined as if I'm a keynote speaker [...] who asserts why we should [...] make a better world. When writing the first draft, I didn't contemplate on who I am and whom I spoke to. [...] After reading the writing guide [...] I was able to put (imagined) myself in a imagined situation by finding out what and how I want to address the argumentative issue.

Yes, I were imagine how to use different voices to writing about the topic.

Yes, I could imagine the situation. Because I wrote the essay based my background.

When i got the topic, i thought it's so difficult to me. But the more i thought , the more thoughts in my mind. I finally chose what i want to say. Next, i thought examples that can explain the situation. At Firstdraft,

i felt being in mess in writting. Moreover , it's hard to write same topic that i want to say in one draft.

7) Which PART of the guide was for you the MOST helpful / interesting / clear / useful? Be honest and specific.

The first part is. I usually imagine my readers but I didn't want to get their interest and with no reason. But the first part says we need reason for our writing.

I realized that we should entertain them that making essay interesting.

In my case, audience is the most helpful and occasion is interesting.

[...] Part 1 Occasion made me form a conceptual framework of well-formed essays. It reminded me of some critical points of writing skills. To be specific, as directed in the Part 1, why I am writing this essay is an essential question we should keep in mind during the whole process of writing. [...] Part 2 Audience was useful for me since it gives me some examples which can be applied right away [...]

The speakser voices is the most clear.

introduce, final when I write an essay, it so hard for me that I write an introdue, final. After i read the guide, it's more clear.

Actually, i have learned writting skills in korea before. It's absolutely korean writting skills. But there are same skills between both.

I think it's helpful for me to understand comprehensively. And the best thing is that there are suffiecient examples and explanations. It's good for me. Thanks.

8) Which PART(S) of the guide for you was the LEAST clear / helpful / interesting? Be

honest and specific.

The last part is because it was technical direction using unfamiliar words for me.

It is speaker-voice. If I listen to explain to you,

I will understand. So, I don't get it.

I'm so sorry to tell you that Part 4 Information Units was the least helpful. That's because

I couldn't fully understand it.

If I need to choose I think it's the occasion and global text organization was the least interesting.

I think it just make me organize my thoughts. So I like everything.

Actually, most information that you gave me is so grate. But after i read the guide, i don't know how i can change my firstdraft.

I think the guide needs to let me know what wrong examples in draft is.

9) Do you think you will USE the writing strategies in the guide in the FUTURE? Explain why or why not.

I will absolutely use in the future. Even though we know this writing strategies is very good, It is no meaning without practicing. If we want to improve something, we have to practice to get used to it.

I think it is useful to students who study English. Because if students wonder how to begin writing, this guide will help them.

Absolutely!! I'll keep [...] the writing guide to look over again in the near future to start to write an essay or revise it. But I think I need more practice to take every advantage of it. By trying it repeatedly, I should make it my own strategy not the stuffs that I just learned by the writing guide. I wanna go up to the highest level of structure/overall organization in Part 5 someday soon!

Yes, of course. It's so helpful for my writing in the guide in the future. Because when you are writing get lose, this guide can help you how to writing.

Um..I think it's so formal. Many ESL classes are teaching about that. there are nothing new.

I will use this strategies step by step. I thought if i followed the strategies at first, it's easier to writte essay well. It's harder to change the essay than just to writting the essay. Thanks for your guide, i felt i can writte essay better in the future.

After producing draft 2 by revising draft 1 according to the SWG

In tables VI and VII, a few of Michelle and Natalie’s responses are slightly reduced for presentation (with […]), the full content of which are available in Appendix

II. These quantitative and qualitative results, represented in the tables and explanations above, will be interpreted (section 4) to determine the extent to which use of the student writing guide might have increased the rhetorical effectiveness of the drafts.