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Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 17. Number 1, March 2026 Pp.206-219
Department of General Education, Modern College of Business and Science, MCBS, Muscat, Oman
Department of General Education, Modern College of Business and Science, MCBS, Muscat, Oman
Source-based writing is an important yet under-researched aspect of English-medium instruction (EMI) and English as a foreign language (EFL). Students often struggle to write reports that demonstrate lexico-grammatical variety, cohesion, and coherent paraphrasing. This study investigated how student reports manifest the relationships among lexical control, structural clarity, and genre awareness, both intentionally and unintentionally. The data consist of 35 student reports on a published article, along with surveys and reflections. A genre-informed analysis was conducted, and quantitative findings were triangulated with qualitative data from student insights and textual excerpts. Findings indicate partially developed genre awareness and lexical and sentence clarity, but persistent difficulty with paraphrasing, transitions, and argument independence. Students were confident repurposing ideas from the source text but found it challenging to integrate them cohesively into their own arguments. Lexical precision and cohesive progression were influential factors. The study demonstrates that genre awareness enhances structural competence, skill, and coherence without replacing them. It also highlights students’ areas of difficulty and confidence. Recommendations for genre-informed pedagogical practices that focus on lexical sophistication, argument progression, and source-based integration are offered to help students move from reproduction to argumentation.
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Emad Ali Alawad is an Assistant Professor in the General Education Department at the Modern College of Business and Science in Muscat, Oman. He earned his Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the Sudan University of Science & Technology in 2020. His teaching and research focus on the English language, applied linguistics, and academic writing. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2236-2663
Elhafiz Mohammed Ahmed is an Assistant Professor in the General Education Department at the Modern College of Business and Science in Muscat, Oman. He holds a Ph.D. in English Language Teaching and has over 25 years of experience in ESL, EAP, and ESP. His academic career includes teaching at universities in Sudan and Saudi Arabia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8275-6276