Effectiveness of Editing and Proofreading Skills in Improving Academic Writing of Law Students - Article

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

Study evaluates how an Editing and Proofreading Skills Course improves academic writing among law students in Tanzania. Using an action research design with pre- and post-interventions, it measures common writing errors through observations and questionnaires. Statistical analysis employs the Wilcoxon Signed-rank test and the McNemar exact test with 95% confidence intervals. Results show limited baseline understanding before intervention and a significant improvement after intervention (exact p=0.000). Findings recommend incorporating specific editing and proofreading instruction into Tanzania’s Legal Education curriculum.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Academic writing challenges and stages

Editing and proofreading as instructional support

Anatolian Journal ofEducation e-ISSN: 2547-9652 October 2024 ● Vol.9, No.2 [www.e-aje.net](www.e-aje.net)[ ](www.e-aje.net)pp. 159-170 Effectiveness of Editing and Proofreading Skills in Improving Academic Writing of Law Students Simon Mlundi Institute of Accountancy Arusha, Tanzania, [simon.mlundi@iaa.ac.tz](simon.mlundi@iaa.ac.tz &)[ &](simon.mlundi@iaa.ac.tz &)[ ](simon.mlundi@iaa.ac.tz &)[symonmlundi2017@gmail.com](symonmlundi2017@gmail.com) Writing skills are the most difficult language skills for students, especially those students with English as a Second Language (ESL) and as an English Foreign Language (EFL) in various academic institutions. This situation has made most college students fail to write effective academic works. This study assessed the effectiveness of the Editing and Proofreading Skills Course in improving the academic writing of law students in Tanzania. Specifically, the study assessed the common errors made by law students in academic writing. The study involved the action research design consisting of pre- and post-interventions. Data were collected through observations and questionnaire methods. Data were analysed statistically through the Wilcoxon Signed-rank test and the McNemar exact test at 95% confidence intervals to analyse the before and after intervention data. The study found that law students had a limited basic understanding of the editing and proofreading techniques before the intervention. After the intervention, there was a significant improvement in students’ writing skills as the results showed an exact p-value of 0.000. It recommends the inclusion of specific instructions on Editing and Proofreading Skills Courses as part of the Legal Education Curriculum in Tanzania. Keywords: editing skills, writing skills, self-editing, peer editing, proofreading, EFL/ESL, academic writing, Tanzania INTRODUCTION Writing skills are used when drafting or composing different academic works including essays, papers, dissertations, proposals, and even when doing different examinations. Writing skills are one of the most challenging skills for students, especially those who have learned English as a Foreign Language (EFL) . According to scholars, writing is the most difficult skill to be mastered by a second or foreign-language student (Richards & Renandya, 2002; Wati & Sari, 2019) . The complexities in writing skills are rooted in students' failure to master different techniques and procedures for effective academic writing. For instance, all college students are supposed to master three stages of writing academic work. These stages include the pre-writing stage, writing stage, and post-writing stages (Apsari, 2017; Wati & Sari, 2019) . There are more challenges in composing effective academic works during the writing and post-writing stages. The writing stage involves composing the paper, which is sometimes characterised by several errors. According to scholars, the drafting phase is an attempt to draw ideas or thoughts together in a coherent piece of writing, with more content where the focus is on what the author wants to write before considering what should be written or communicated (University of Western Cape, 2003) . After writing the first draft, the author can consider revising the draft to improve its quality. Therevision phase of writing helps the writer to correct the content and the structure of the draft by looking at how the argument is logically flowing, how the linking devices are used, the linkage of points, unnecessary repetitions, and the proper use of units of discourse such as sentences, paragraphs Citation: Mlundi, S. (2024) . Effectiveness of editing and proofreading skills in improving academic writing of law students. Anatolian Journal of Education, 9(2), 159-170. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2024.9213a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2024.9213a) 160 Effectiveness of Editing and Proofreading Skills in … and chapters (University of Western Cape, 200

FAQs

What was the main purpose of the study?

To assess the effectiveness of an Editing and Proofreading Skills Course in improving the academic writing of law students in Tanzania.

How was the study conducted?

It used an action research design with pre- and post-interventions, collecting data via observations and questionnaires.

What did the results show after the intervention?

Students’ writing skills improved significantly after the course, with an exact p-value of 0.000 compared with the pre-intervention period.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel