Levonova, Musina. Student Writing Progress Survey

On 21st March 2013, a survey was conducted among Social Sciences students in a group of 11 people attending Academic Writing class in NaUKMA. The purpose of the survey was to collect information concerning students’ attitude towards the content of the course. The research method applied for data collecting was a questionnaire based on multiple choice and open-ended questions. The data received in the survey was coded in a table presented below.

 Table 1. Students’ attitude towards Academic Writing course

The table illustrates reflections of Social Sciences students about the content of Academic Writing course in NaUKMA. The information was coded in four main dimensions. The first one contains the level of improvement perceived by the students and has four main clusters: grammar, vocabulary, academic text structure, and thought structure enhancement. The second level reflects the main problems that are presented by punctuation, word order, and vocabulary uncertainty. The third type of question collected data concerning textbook usefulness presented on a scale from “not very helpful” to “very helpful”. And finally, the last dimension shows the two main types of recommendations given be Academic Writing students: multiplication of either writing or presenting tasks in the course.

    As can be seen from the table, the students are highly concerned about their level of English knowledge and access themselves critically. All of the students highlighted the importance of grammar that is fixed in a table by yellow color. Moreover, even if the students recognize certain improvements is grammar, almost all of them recommend to provide more writing tasks like practicing essays and paragraphs, implementing of grammar rules, and practicing reference styles. In addition, the vast majority of students confirmed the necessity of textbook assistance, which also indicates about students’ discomposure of correct language usage. Another type of problems can be defined as presenting problems, as 75% of the students indicated the improvement in their thought structure and specified some problems in transforming information from one language to another. In particular, some students found it necessary to implement more public discussions in the class. Finally, almost a half of the students noted the importance of vocabulary perfection in an Academic Writing class program. Based on the given information, it is relevant to state that the English course division into Public Speaking and Academic Writing courses consorts with Social Students’ demands on grammar, vocabulary, and presenting information improvements expectations.