THE INTEGRATION OF A PROCESS-GENRE APPROACH TO TEACHING RESEARCH PROPOSAL WRITING TO ENGLISH MASTERS STUDENTS AT PUBLIC SECTOR UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Research writing has become the most difficult and challenging task and it has been observed that the students specifically in Pakistan have failed to develop research proposals even after finishing their research methodology courses (Hirano, 2014). The present experimental study addressed this critical issue of developing research ideas through innovative ways of teaching i.e., process genre approach. All four steps of process genre approach were incorporated in the development of research proposal step by step such as building knowledge of the field, modelling, joint construction of text, independent construction of text in teaching fourteen students of masters in English selected through purposive sampling. Power point presentations, samples of different research proposals and documents to support the process of developing research proposals for further guidelines were provided to students to develop their critical thinking in developing the blueprint of research ideas. As a result of operationalization of the process in the evaluation stage three raters scored the final drafts of participants to maintain inter-rater reliability. The means of the scores of participants’ final drafts revealed that the process genre approach has successful pedagogical implications for teaching research proposal writing to postgraduates, as well as for learning and teaching research method modules, especially when accompanied by teacher support and guidance. Most of the participants achieved intermediate level of understanding research from the beginners’ level at their initial phase of research. Lastly, it is recommended that the understanding of the development of research proposal genre should begin at the undergraduate level to overcome the challenges of developing write-ups such as topic selection, identifying and studying relevant themes or content according to the problem selected for research, finalizing research methodology selection gradually from the initial to the final draft