I BM's Writing to Read (WTR) Pro gram represents the largest direct corporate intervention in basic skills instruction currently imple mented in this country. It merits re view for two reasons: (1) many school districts may be considering purchas ing it, and (2) it has yet to be subjected to rigorous critique. According to an IBM brochure, "WTR is a computer-based instruc tional system designed...

Although scientific forum has obliged its members to hide their presence particularly while they are discussing research outcomes to avoid personal biases, a recent trend is encouraging writers to demonstrate their identity as the author of the text through the use of first person pronouns in order to take responsibility for the content. Therefore, the present study focuses on intermediate and ...

Although story mapping strategy has been shown to be beneficial in many reading comprehension classes, the benefits of this technique have not been thoroughly investigated in L2 writing research. The small number of previous studies (e.g., Li, 2007; Brunner, 2010) have found the potential benefits of using story mapping strategy on students’ writing performance, but they did not focus on differ...

The objectives of this study were (a) to examine the writing performance of L2 learners on the level-specific tasks based on Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and (b) to study the likely difference between students' self-assessed level of writing and those reported by raters. The study was conducted with 138 Iranian students at BA and MA levels in Alborz Institute of Higher Educatio...

Employing an explanatory sequential design, this study investigated the effects of a blog-mediated writing course on L2 students’ writing motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. A number of 46 Iranian EFL learners from 2 intact university classes were recruited as the participants and were randomly assigned into the control group (n = 21) and the experimental group (n ...

language textbooks are conventionally expected to develop the four language macro-skills, including listening, reading, writing and speaking in language learners. however, mastering the reading skill is of particular importance, since it enhances the comprehension of specialized texts in students. the objective of this research is to investigate the scientific aspect of persian textbooks in tea...