Affective And Social Factors In A Project-Based Writing Course

Much of the work in academic writing has focused on the cognitive rather than the affective and social aspects involved in project-based writing. Emphasis in past research has been on skills and processes of writing rather than on affective factors such as motivation, attitudes, feelings or social f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:I-Manager's Journal on English Language Teaching 2011-01, Vol.1 (1), p.20-30
Main Authors: S. Kathpalia, Sujata, Heah, Carmel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Discourse
Active Learning
Affective Behavior
Affective Objectives
Biological Sciences
Cognitive Development
Collaborative Writing
Course Evaluation
Foreign Countries
Interpersonal Communication
Learner Controlled Instruction
Learning Processes
Learning Theories
Online Surveys
Personality Traits
Questionnaires
Reflection
Self Efficacy
Singapore
Social Influences
Student Attitudes
Student Motivation
Student Projects
Teaching Methods
Undergraduate Students
Writing Assignments
Writing Exercises
Writing Processes
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Summary:Much of the work in academic writing has focused on the cognitive rather than the affective and social aspects involved in project-based writing. Emphasis in past research has been on skills and processes of writing rather than on affective factors such as motivation, attitudes, feelings or social factors involving intrapersonal and interpersonal communication. However, according to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (SCT), social factors play an important role in collaborative learning and are considered to be a constitutive element of cognition (1978, 1986). Using this theory of learning as a starting point, the aim of this paper is to determine the affective and social factors involved in projectbased writing in an academic writing course at Nanyang Technological University. Specifically, the four motivational aspects that will be considered are curiosity, challenge, confidence and control as reflected in student responses to an online questionnaire and their reflections on the course. It is hoped that the findings of this research will further our understanding of the role of affective and social factors in project-based writing courses in settings where students are collaborating face-to-face to complete the course tasks and assignments.
ISSN:2231-3338
2249-0752
DOI:10.26634/jelt.1.1.1349