ABSTRACT

Research papers are hard for students to write and hard for teachers to teach even when they are written in the students' native language. Preparing a research paper involves many steps, each of which may be confusing and time consuming. This paper begins by discussing the unique problems and difficulties, but also the advantages, associated with teaching English research writing in an Asian context. The authors describe an approach to teaching Korean university students to develop English research papers which requires groups of students to work through each stage of the process as they carry out an actual research project based on research questions and questionnaires developed in class through carefully planned assignments and activities. The final result is a class presentation and a written, referenced research paper. While students report that they find such a project challenging, they also consider it very useful, interesting, and motivating.
 

CHALLENGES INVOLVED IN COMPLETING A RESEARCH PAPER

        Writing a research paper is very difficult, even for people writing in their native language. That is one of the main reasons, no doubt, that research and research writing are seldom dealt with in composition classes for EFL (English as a foreign language) students at Korean universities. Furthermore, although the distinct nature of writing in a foreign language as opposed to writing in one’s native language has become apparent (Silva, 1993), with few exceptions (e.g., Brightwell, 1998; Cornwell & McKay, 1998; Crowe & Peterson, 1995; Thein, 1999), little has been published about the specific problems of teaching English research writing to EFL writers in Korea or other Asian contexts. In addition, although an Internet search in any of the major search engines yields literally thousands of Web sites and pages related to teaching student writers to carry out research and write effective research papers in English, few focus on teaching these skills to non-native writers of English.¹
        In one textbook that does deal specifically and very effectively with the process of teaching ESL (English as a second language) students to complete a "research essay," Spack (1990, p. 171)² lists some of the "numerous challenges" involved for the writer:
 

1. To find a topic that engages your interest
2. To formulate a question that your readers will answer
3. To decide which research materials you will need
4. To evaluate the ideas and information in different sources
5. To synthesize (combine and integrate)
6. To examine various sides to an issue
7. To establish a position in relation to the topic

        These challenges combined with the more practical problems of teaching students such necessary skills as summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting from cited texts as well as standard research paper formatting and referencing may often seem insurmountable to writing teachers in Korean universities, particularly given the relatively small amount of emphasis placed on teaching students to write anything beyond the sentence level in many university English programs (see Tyson, 1999). Still, this paper points out the advantages of teaching research and research writing in Korean universities, and describes a collaborative approach to teaching them that students find useful, interesting, and motivating.
 

ADVANTAGES OF TEACHING RESEARCH WRITING

        As mentioned above, research writing is seldom taught in Korean universities. It is, however, a useful "real-world" skill, since many of our students will be required to produce pieces of writing that involve carrying out research in their future jobs or academic pursuits. Even for those students who do not end up in situations where producing research texts is required, moreover, learning the basics of research writing in English may be helpful if their future jobs involve reading and understanding research reports. Because doing research and writing a research paper necessarily strongly links reading and writing, learning to write a research paper may help students to understand published research better and to read more critically.
        A research project nearly always involves a greater investment in time than the sentences, paragraphs, and short essays typically assigned in Korean university composition classes. As students are working on extended research projects that continue for several weeks or perhaps even an entire semester, teachers can still focus on all of the individual writing skills normally covered in a writing class, but the larger project provides a natural and realistic opportunity to use those skills immediately and in a meaningful context?that is, to put all of the parts together for the finished product. In addition, writing a research paper requires students to get involved with English texts outside of the classroom, which may have long-lasting positive benefits. While doing the necessary research for their projects, many of our students have expressed surprise to find out that there are so many interesting and useful materials written in English available in libraries and on the Internet that they can access and understand easily on their own.
        All of this allows students to get much more deeply involved with a relevant topic than is possible with shorter assignments, which we have found to be interesting and motivating for them. Rather than writing a series of short, unrelated compositions just to practice writing skills, they are learning about a topic of personal interest, developing useful organizational skills, and learning to work through a challenging process to produce something that they may have believed was far beyond their ability. This often leaves students with a true sense of accomplishment at the end of the course.
 

ADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATIVE WRITING

        Although both of the authors have also had success with teaching research writing to ESL and EFL students working individually, more recently, we have found that allowing students to work collaboratively in pairs or small groups (up to five or six students per group) has many advantages. For one thing, students tend to feel more comfortable when they are asked to start such a large project if they know they will have the support of one or more classmates. Working in pairs or groups also provides a greater possibility that individual members will bring more of the technical skills necessary for completing the project (e.g., word processing, other computer and Internet skills, the interpersonal skills involved in interviewing strangers).
        Most importantly, perhaps, Hirvela (1999) points out that students working in pairs or groups have the opportunity to learn a great deal from each other as they work together to complete the project:
 

Through collaborative group production, students experience valuable opportunities to improve their ability to read and write because the ongoing community orientation of this approach enables them to draw upon the strengths and resources of their peers while sorting through their own growing knowledge of L2 reading and writing (p. 12).

        In fact, Murray (1992) suggests that if one of our goals is to help our students to prepare for "life outside the classroom" (p. 100), opportunities to experience collaborative writing are vital. Wilhelm (1999) provides a concise explanation of why that is true:
 

Whether the context is EFL, ESL, or teacher training, collaborative learning strategies can be applied to help language learners make more effective transitions to real-world settings, where they will draw upon their experiences and skills to communicate, negotiate, build consensus, cooperate, and learn with others (p. 18).

INTRODUCING STEPS IN THE PROCESS

        If the necessary steps involved are not presented in manageable pieces over a reasonable period of time, writing a research paper for the first time can seem like an overwhelming task. It is important, then, to let students know at the beginning of the process exactly what will be expected of them and to demonstrate and introduce each stage of the project through examples and in-class practice of the skills involved. Although we cannot demonstrate how we have dealt with every stage of the collaborative writing process in this short paper, the handouts in Appendix B and Appendix C provide examples of how the organization of an English research paper might be introduced and how the concept of developing a research proposal can be turned into a collaborative in-class activity, respectively.
        The information in Appendix B ("Organization of an English Research Paper")³ can be covered quickly at the beginning of the project as an overview of what is expected. After that, the handout serves as a rough outline for the paper and a kind of checklist for each group to refer to as they complete each section. The handout in Appendix C ("How to Write an Essay Proposal")⁴ first introduces relevant vocabulary and provides an explanation of the process of writing a research proposal along with an example of a completed proposal. If possible, it is also a good idea at this point to provide examples of finished research projects if available or at least to suggest a few possible topics and research questions. You then might want to brainstorm possible topics together as a class before having the class break down into groups to start to work on their actual proposals.
 

CONCLUSION

        Carrying out a research project and writing a research paper is a difficult process. For EFL students, it can often seem impossible at first. A collaborative approach to the problem has advantages for both students and teachers. Students tend to feel more comfortable working with peers and can also share and learn useful skills from one another while completing the project. Teachers can benefit by having fewer projects going on at the same time, having fewer papers to correct, and expecting students to take more responsibility for their own learning. In the end, students have the opportunity to learn and practice the set of skills necessary to carry out a very complex process in a way that virtually always ends in successful products. We have found this to be motivating for students, satisfying for teachers, and very enjoyable for both.
 

NOTES

   ¹Appendix A contains a list of Internet sites that include some information that may be useful for teaching research writing to EFL students, although only one (the last one) is specifically intended for EFL students.
   ²A new edition of this textbook has recently been issued by a different publisher, i.e., Spack (1999).
   ³The handout in Appendix B was developed by Johanne Blackburn, Peter Kipp, and Susan Oak.
   ⁴The activity in Appendix C was developed by Peter Kipp and Susan Oak.
 

THE AUTHORS

Susan Oak is an instructor and English Program Coordinator at Ewha Woman's University in Seoul. She has an EdM in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism from Harvard University and has taught ESL/EFL at the university level in the United States and Korea for a total of 18 years.

Rodney E. Tyson is an associate professor at Daejin University in Korea where he teaches in the Department of English Language and Literature and the Graduate Program in English Education. He has an MA in ESL and a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona and has taught at universities in the United States and Korea for a total of 14 years.
 

REFERENCES

Brightwell, G. (1998). Writing up research: Using an on-line course to make classroom teaching more learner-centered. ThaiTESOL Conference Proceedings 1998, pp. 3-4.

Cornwell, S., & McKay, T. (1998). Making the transition from writing short essays to long research papers. The Language Teacher Online, 22(4). Retrieved September 4, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/98/apr/cornwell.html

Crowe, C., & Peterson, K. (1995). Classroom research: Helping Asian students succeed in writing courses. Teaching English in the Two-year College, 22(1), 30-37.

Hirvela, A. (1999). Collaborative writing instruction and communities of readers and writers. TESOL Journal, 8(2), 7-12.

Murray, D. E. (1992). Collaborative learning as literary event: Implications for ESL instruction. In D. Nunan (Ed.), Collaborative language learning and teaching (pp. 100-117). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Silva, T. (1993). Toward an understanding of the distinct nature of L2 writing: The ESL research and its implications. TESOL Quarterly, 27(4), 657-677.

Spack, R. (1990). Guidelines: A cross-cultural reading/writing text. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Spack, R. (1999). Guidelines: A cross-cultural reading/writing text. Cambridge: Cambridge Unversity Press.

Thein, M. M. (1999). Facilitating student research. ThaiTESOL Conference Proceedings 1999, pp. 56-57.

Tyson, R. E. (1999). The power of multiple drafts in writing classes. The English Connection, 3(4), 1,6.

Wilhelm, K. H. (1999). Collaborative dos and don'ts. TESOL Journal, 8(2), 14-19.
 
 

APPENDIX A

Some Useful World Wide Web Resources

A Brief Guide to Informal Survey Research for Introductory Composition Students
<http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/%7Epmatsuda/english/resource/survey.html>

Daily Grammar Mailing List
<http://www.dailygrammar.com/>

Eleven Rules of Writing
<http://www.junketstudies.com/rulesofw/>

Garbl's Writing Resources Online
<http://pw1.netcom.com/~garbl1/>

A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on MLA Documentation
<http://cctc.commnet.edu/mla.htm>

A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on Styles Recommended by the APA
<http://cctc.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm>

Indispensable Writing Resources
<http://www.stetson.edu/~rhansen/writing.html>

Ohio University Writing Resources for English Language Learners
<http://www.tcom.ohiou.edu/OU_Language/english/writing.html>

Purdue University Online Writing Lab
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/>

Using the Internet for Research (FAQs)
<http://www.purefiction.com/pages/res1.htm>

Writing and Research: On-line Resources
<http://www.clet.ait.ac.th/EL21OPEN.htm>
 
 

APPENDIX B

Organization of an English Research Paper
 

SECTIONS: Begin each new section of your report on a new page. Be sure to have a section title at the beginning of each section (except the cover page).

1. The COVER PAGE should contain the title, typed in capital letters. It should also list the names and student numbers of the writers. Do not put the words "cover page" on the cover!

2. The CONTENTS page should list the various sections of your project and their page numbers.

3. The INTRODUCTION pages should contain background information about your topic, a description of the focus of your research, and a very short statement of your study’s results. It must include the information that you included in your research proposal. One possible way of organizing this section is as follows:

i. Begin with a general description of the topic. Add any background information you think your readers will need to understand your research. Be sure to cite your sources as you explain this background information!

ii. Continue by describing your group's research aims, including the main research question(s) you noted on your proposal and secondary questions, if you have them. For example: "Our main aim was to examine/investigate/analyze/compare . . ."

iii. Discuss the necessity for investigating the questions noted above, as mentioned in your research proposal.

iv. Add a very brief summary of what your project actually proved or accomplished.

5. The DESCRIPTION OF FINDINGS pages should show the results of the research you described in the previous section. I recommend arranging this section according to the same organizational pattern you used in section 4.

i. You may arrange this section topically (describing the type of research you did to answer each of your research questions) or by type of research (interviews, surveys, etc.). However, regardless of your organization, you should mention both why you did each type of research and exactly how you did it.

ii. You should also mention the limitations or problems you had with your research. If you think, for some reason, your surveys were unreliable or your library research was insufficient to answer one of your questions, you should mention that fact in this section.

iii. Add a very brief summary of what your project actually proved or accomplished.

i. You should discuss the issues you raised in your introduction in more detail, make connections between the different parts of your research, and reveal whatever new thoughts and conclusions you have come to as a result of your research. You can include specific examples and quotations in this section to illustrate and develop your points.

ii. Be sure to cite your sources properly!

8. The BIBLIOGRAPHY pages should contain a list of every source you cite in the rest of your paper, in alphabetical order. Do not include every source you looked at, only those you cite. Use the following format:

(Internet page--include a date if the page has one)
Anderson, Emily (no date) “Jean-Marc Gaspard-Itard’s Homepage.”
http://www.pen.edu/~cuega/wild.htm (accessed 9/17/98)

(book)
Clark, Mark W. (1977) From the Danube to the Yalu. New York: Quadrangle Books.

(article)
Kim, In-seok (1989) “Korean Language as Pragmatic-based Discourse.” Korean Language Education, vol. 1, pp. 12-24.

(article without an author--use the title)
"Korea-Japan Fisheries Talks Concluded." (1999) The Korea Herald, April 22, 1999.

(interview)
Oak, Susan (1999) personal interview (March 11, 1999).

How to Write an Essay Proposal

• The purpose of writing a proposal is to help you organize your thinking about your project. In your essay proposal, you will explain:
• What you are trying to find out by doing this research and writing this particular essay (the objective). Your research objective should have two parts: a general topic you are interested in and a research question (or questions) that you hope to answer with your research.
• Why this research issue and this research question are important (the necessity).
• How you hope to conduct your research and successfully answer your questions (the method). For most topics, you will be required to do four or five types of research: library research (books, magazines, etc.); Internet research; surveys; expert interviews; and observations/experiments

Example:
 

Exercise: Write down your group's ideas for a research proposal here.
 

Related Article:

Simpson, J. M. (1998). Research writing in a foreign language. EnglishTeaching Forum Online, 36(2), 34. Retrieved April 21, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol36/no2/p34.htm