EFL Students' Writing Strategies in Saudi Arabian ESP Writing Classes: Perspectives on Learning Strategies in Self-Access Language Learning

Citation

Alnufaie M & Grenfell M (2012) EFL Students' Writing Strategies in Saudi Arabian ESP Writing Classes: Perspectives on Learning Strategies in Self-Access Language Learning. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 3 (4), pp. 407-422. http://sisaljournal.org/archives/dec12/alnufaie_grenfell

Abstract
This study was part of a PhD research to explore the writing strategies of 121 second-year undergraduate Saudi student writers who are studying English as a foreign language and for specific purposes in one of the Saudi industrial colleges: Jubail Industrial College (JIC). The writing strategies under investigation had been classified into two categories (process-oriented writing strategies and product-oriented writing strategies) based on their instructional philosophies. A strategy questionnaire was designed to collect data. Although JIC writing classes were assumed to be product-oriented as reported by the majority of the participants' description of their teachers' writing approach, the results showed that almost all of the participants (95.9%) were mixing the two kinds of strategies. More surprisingly, the top five writing strategies used by the participants were process-oriented.

Keywords
EFL writing strategies; process writing approaches; product writing approaches; ESP writing in Saudi Arabia

Journal
Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal: Volume 3, Issue 4