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