Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies ›› 2018, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (03): 17-22.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2018.03.003

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Design and Evaluation of a Moodle-assisted Academic Writing Course-based on Chinese Students in an American University

ZHANG Li   

  • Published:2020-07-25

Abstract: A number of researchers have investigated the models of writing and their effectiveness, but little research has been done on how social constructivism can be integrated in the whole process of writing with the aid of technology. This study is to evaluate an academic writing course that integrates social cooperation in the preparation, production and evaluation process of writing with the help of Moodle. Twenty-seven Chinese students in the University of Minnesota participated in the study. Repeated measures ANOVA and pairwise comparison of the general scores for first/second/final versions of research paper indicate that learners did improve the academic writing quality, and that teacher feedback had a significant effect on the improvement of the quality while the effect of peer review was not so significant. Repeated measures ANOVA of analytic scores for first/second/final versions demonstrates a similar result except for the writing style. A paired sample t-test of pre/post-course writing shows that students' writing competence has also been improved. A questionnaire investigation shows that most students had a high opinion of the course, especially of the teacher feedback and use of technology. However, peer-review was not preferred, and there was no increase in lexical and syntactical complexity. The investigation into the effect of the integrated academic writing course on Chinese overseas students will be of significance for the instruction and research of academic writing in China.

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