The Effect of Explicit Writing Instruction on a Taiwanese Engineer's Writing Development

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the effect of a modified cognitive writing instruction with a purposeful focus on explicit teaching on the English writing development of a Taiwanese engineer. The participant, an engineer working for one of the companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, was a less-experienced writer and aimed to achieve at least a score 6.5 or higher on the IELTS test in order to study overseas. The data of this study included field notes based on tutorial sessions, semi-structured interviews with the participant and writing assignments, collected throughout about a six-month period. The findings of this case study suggested that this explicit writing instruction, shifting purposefully from a controlled, less-controlled, to authentic writing context fostered Chu's growth in English writing by providing him helpful schemata of essential reading, writing, and problem-solving strategies. Chu's progress in the development of his rhetorical knowledge, composing strategies, and English proficiency could possibly exemplify that this type of instructional approach that integrated both declarative knowledge of the commonly required writing conventions and procedural knowledge within an authentic, meaningful context could help inexperienced EFL writers develop their English writing abilities. That is, learning to write via this kind of modified cognitive approach with a purposeful focus on explicit teaching might help mediate or even internalize inexperienced writers' writing development. However, the results of this case study, due to the limited scope that this case study could investigate, can only be applied to reflect the teaching of English writing for this

case.