Exploring the Writing Process of Indonesian EFL Students: The Effectiveness of Think-Aloud Protocol - Advances in Language and Literary Studies

Oct 15, 2026

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The study explores the writing process of Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students and evaluates how think-aloud protocol supports understanding of that process. Data were collected from six proficient EFL participants enrolled in a postgraduate English language studies program in Indonesia, selected by defined academic writing experience and IELTS-based proficiency. Findings identify a shared sequence: prewriting, planning, drafting, pausing, reading, revising, editing, and publishing. Think-aloud showed positive effects for most participants by organizing thoughts and ideas, while one reported difficulty focusing due to verbalization demands.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

2. Writing in English in Indonesia

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 7 No. 2; April 2016 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Flourishing Creativity & Literacy | | | Exploring the Writing Process of Indonesian EFL Students: The Effectiveness of Think-Aloud Protocol Imelda Hermilinda Abas (Corresponding author) Universiti Utara Malaysia, College of Arts and Sciences, 06010 Sintok, Kedah Malaysia E-mail: [imelabas@yahoo.com](imelabas@yahoo.com) Noor Hashima Abd Aziz Language Department, School of Education and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia, College of Arts and Sciences, 06010 Sintok, Kedah Malaysia [E-mail: noor934@uum.edu.my](E-mail: noor934@uum.edu.my) Doi:10 .7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.171 URL: [http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.171](http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.171) Received: 29/11/2015 Accepted: 24/01/2016 Abstract The objectives ofthis study were to explore the writing process of the Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students and to find out the effectiveness of using think-aloud protocol to understand the writing process. The data were obtained from six proficient EFL students who were doing Postgraduate English Language Studies Program in Indonesia. The participants were selected based on the following criteria: had completed a minimum of two academic writing courses, had written a thesis in English, had taught English for more than two years and considered as proficient writers based on IELTS result. The finding of the study showed that all of the participants went through the following writing process: prewriting, planning, drafting, pausing, reading, revising, editing and publishing. In addition, the thinkaloud protocol had different effects on the participants. Five of the participants admitted that the think-aloud protocol had a positive effect because it helped them in organizing their thoughts and ideas. However, only one participant found thinking aloud made her difficult to focus on the writing task due to the demand to verbalize and write at the same time. Keywords: think-aloud protocol, writing process, proficient writers, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) 1. Introduction In today’s global world, English is one of the most widely spoken languages and it has strengthened the social and economic exchange between people of different communities and cultures. English is used in education, media, sports and business. The English language skills can be categorized into two groups: listening and reading as the language input, and speaking and writing as the language output. Speaking and listening come naturally for second language (L2) or foreign language (FL) learners because the learners need to communicate using the target language. On the contrary, the language learners need someone to teach them how to write in the target language because it involves aspects such as types of writing, grammatical structure and writing strategies. In other words, the language learners know how to speak and listen in the target language easily and rather quickly than knowing how to write. Writing is a skill needed in education for professional success especially at the work place (Applebee, Langer, Mullis, Latham & Gentile, as cited in Hamman, 2005; Johannesen, 2001) . A research done by Gardner and Nesi (2012) identified thirteen genres families in writing: case study, critique, design specification, empathy writing, essay, exercises, explanation, literature survey, methodology recount, narrative recount, problem question, proposal and research report (p. 188) . Writing can be defined as “a way for students in all content areas to make meaning for themselves”(Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987, p.5) and learning how to think and communicate in their particular domains (Herrington, 1985) . According to De la Paz and Graham (2002), writing is regarded as a challenging task because it involves

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study aims to investigate the writing process of Indonesian EFL students and determine the effectiveness of using think-aloud protocol to understand that process.

How were the participants selected?

Six proficient EFL students were selected based on completing at least two academic writing courses, having written a thesis in English, teaching English for more than two years, and being considered proficient writers based on IELTS results.

What writing stages did the participants go through?

All participants followed a process sequence including prewriting, planning, drafting, pausing, reading, revising, editing, and publishing.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Terk