AWEJ Volume.5 Number.1, 2013                                                                 Pp. 137- 150

 Abstract PDF

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  Enhancing Writing Skills within EFL University Contexts: Case Study in the United Arab Emirates

 

Suhair E. Al Alami
Al Ghurair University, Dubai, UAE

 

Abstract:
Upon graduation, undergraduate students in the United Arab Emirates are required to acquire a repertoire of writing skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Emphasizing the role literature can play in terms of enhancing students’ writing skills, the present research introduces a literature-based course: LEARN AND GAIN. Adopting an experimental design, the research project involved two groups: experimental and control.  The students of the experimental group were exposed to the literature course whilst the students of the control group were exposed to a General English language course. Examining the effectiveness of the proposed treatment, the author set and administered a pre-posttest. The pre-posttest aimed to measure subjects’ communicative critical writing competence in the English language. Based on the statistical findings, the performance of the experimental group students on the pre-posttest was significantly better than that of their counterparts of the control group students. In the light of findings and conclusions, recommendations have been discussed.
 Keywords: Communicative critical writing competence, EFL contexts

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Suhair Al Alami holds a PhD in Linguistics from Ain Shams University, Egypt, and another
PhD in Applied Linguistics from Aston University, UK. Currently, Dr. Al Alami works at Al
Ghurair University, Dubai. Dr. Al Alami has contributed a wide range of papers to various
journals, and serves as a coeditor of Perspectives as well as a member of the board of reviewers
at two journals: Arab World English Journal, and US-China Foreign Language Journal.