Effects of Word Processing on Students’ Writing Performance

Effects of Word Processing on Students’ Writing Performance

Muhammad Nadzri , Abdul Aziz
Bee-Hoon , Tan

Written essays are a common feature of standardized tests at many levels of study. However, little is known about whether the use of different media in writing the essays may affect students’ writing performance. Studies reported the different effects word processing has on students’ writing performance, writing process and essay scores (Haas, 1988; Oliver & Kerr; 1993; Goldberg, Russell, & Cook, 2003; Russell & Tao, 2004). This study looks into the writing performance of second language learners of English at tertiary level. It aims to analyze the effects of word processing on students’ writing performance in terms of quality and quantity. The subjects in this study are forty first year students who are currently pursuing their Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree in Electrical Engineering at a private university in Malaysia. Two writing sessions are carried out in this study. For each session, the students are divided into two groups, with one group writes an essay in class while the other group uses the computer to type their essays. They switch the writing medium in the second session. Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and raters’ scores are used to measure the quality of the essays; while the number of words, number of paragraphs, number of sentences, sentences per paragraph and words per sentence are used to determine if there is any improvement in the quantity of writing. Statistical analysis is conducted to determine any significant differences between the two media. The results of this study are discussed in relation to whether the methods used in the tests have any influence on the students’ performance.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05

958