Opinions of Instructors About Writer’s Block: Solutions and Precautions

Abstract

This study aims to examine instructors’ opinions about the solutions that can be done when students have writer’s block and the precautions that can prevent students from having writer’s block. Quantitative research design was applied in the analysis and interpretation of the data obtained in this descriptive study. 264 instructors working at various schools in Türkiye participated in this study by completing voluntarily a structured interview form through email, social media and other internet platforms. For the analysis of data, the replies of the participants were firstly recorded in SPSS programme, and the frequency, percentage and means of participants’ replies were calculated. This study concludes that instructors thought that they had knowledge about writer’s block. Their experience in the state and stage of writer’s block and their opinions about the precautions against writer’s block are congruous with the literature. Yet, the instructors’ opinions about solutions to writer’s block are not compatible with the literature. This is an evidence of the fact that instructors do not know what to do in case their students have writer’s block in the classroom. Consequently, it is suggested that instructors should take training about writer’s block, which is a significant obstacle for the development of writing.

Keywords

• Language teaching
• Writing
• Writer’s block
• Instructors

Eğitimcilerin Yazma Tutukluğu İle İlgili Görüşleri: Çözüm Ve Önlem Önerileri

Öz

Bu çalışmada, eğitimcilerin yazma tutukluğuna yönelik görüşlerinin yazma tutukluğunun durumu, çözümleri ve önlemleri bağlamında elde edilmesi hedeflenmiştir. Betimsel nitelik taşıyan bu çalışmada veriler, nicel araştırma teknikleri uygulanarak toplanmış, analiz edilmiş ve yorumlanmıştır. Türkiye’de farklı okullarda çeşitli kademelerde görev yapan eğitimciler, elektronik posta, sosyal medya araçları ve çeşitli internet platformları aracılığıyla kendilerine ulaştırılan yapılandırılmış görüşme formunu gönüllü olarak doldurarak çalışmaya katılmış ve çalışma grubunu oluşturmuştur. Katılımcıların görüşme formunu doldurmaları ile elde edilen verilerin analizi için öncelikle katılımcıların yanıtları SPSS programına kaydedilmiş ve sonrasında yanıtların ortalama, sıklık ve yüzdeleri hesaplanmıştır. Analiz sonucunda, eğitimcilerin yazma tutukluğu konusunda bilgi sahibi olduklarını düşündükleri saptanmıştır. Eğitimcilerin yazma tutukluğunun durumu, aşamaları ve yazma tutukluğuna yönelik önlemler konusundaki bilgilerinin alanyazındaki bilgilerle uyumlu olduğu görülmüştür. Ancak yazma tutukluğuna yönelik çözüm önerileri ile ilişkili bilgi ve düşüncelerinin alanyazında verilen bilgilerle uyumlu olmadığı anlaşılmıştır. Bu durum, eğitimcilerin sınıf içerisinde yazma tutukluğu yaşandığı durumlarda ne yapacağını bilmediğini göstermektedir. Sonuç olarak, bu araştırmada eğitimcilerin yazma becerisinin gelişimi için önemli bir engel oluşturan yazma tutukluğu konusunda eğitim almaları gerektiğinin altı çizilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dil öğretimi
• Yazma
• Yazma tutukluğu
• Eğitimciler

Kaynakça

1. A. Abdullah H., Zain A. M., Ab Wahab, N., Idrus M. M., & Ahmad, M. R. W. (2020). A process approach in the teaching of writing: Saving 21st century learners from writer's block. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(12), 7160 - 7174.
2. Adams-Tukiendorf, M. (2008). Overcoming writer’s block in an MA seminar. Zeitschrift Schreiben. Retrieved May 20, 2012 from www.zeitschrift-schreiben.eu.8.10.2008.
3. Ahmed, S. J. (2019). An analysis of writer's block: Causes, characteristics, and solutions. Unpublished MA Thesis, University of North Florida, the U.S.A.
4. Baker-Brodersen, E. M. (1988). Writer's block and a cognitive process model of composing: Recent research and implications for teaching. Unpublished MA Thesis, Iowa State University, Iowa State, USA.
5. Baştuğ, M., Ertem, İ. S., & Keskin, H. K. (2017). A phenomenological research study on writer’s block: Causes, processes, and results. Education & Training, 59(6), 605-618.
6. Betancourt, F., & Phinney, M. (1988). Sources of writing block in bilingual writers. Written Communication, 5(4), 461-478.
7. Bergler, E. (1955). Unconscious mechanisms in “writer's block”. Psychoanalytic Review, 42(2), 160-167.
8. Birk, L. B. (2013). The sounds of silence: A structural analysis of academic "writer's block". Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Boston College University, the U.S.A.

9. Bishop, T. (2018). Filling the blank page: Writer’s block and what to do with it. Grassroots Writing Research Journal, 9(1), 93-105.
10. Castillo, M. (2014). Writer’s block. Perspectives: Neuroradiol, 35, 1043-1044.
11. Chintamani. (2014). Challenges in writing: The writer’s block. Indian J Surg, 76(1), 3-4.
12. Evdash, V. M., & Zhuravleva, N. N. (2020). Strategies for overcoming university researchers’ writer’s block. Higher Education in Russia, 29(7), 80-88.
13. Gülay, E. (2019) Akademisyenlerin akademik yazma tutukluğunun incelenmesi [Investigation of academicians writer’s block]. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Trabzon University, Trabzon, Turkiye.
14. Günaydin, Y., & Erdogan, O. (2021). Analysis of elementary school teachers’ thoughts about writer’s block. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 13(1), 258-270.
15. Hall, B. A. (1998). Writer's block: Research, past remediation, and recommendations for future treatment. Unpublished MA Thesis, Retrieved February 15, 2021 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304484249?accountid.
16. Healy, L. (2010). Ending writer’s block. Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing, 18(2-3), 151-153.
17. Hsui, V. Y. (1993). Overcoming writer’s block: Principles and practices for language classrooms. Teaching and Learning, 14(1), 70-77.
18. Huston, P. (1998). Resolving writer's block. Canadian Family Physician, 44, 92.
19. Johnstone, A. (1983). The writer's hell: Approaches to writer's block. Journal of Teaching Writing, 2(2), 155-165.
20. Lachs, J. (2018). The psychology of writers’ block (And how to overcome it). Retrieved July 11, 2023 from https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/psychologywriters-block-overcome.
21. Lee, S. Y. (2005). Facilitating and inhibiting factors in English as a foreign language writing performance: A model testing with structural equation modeling. Language Learning, 55(2), 335-374.
22. Lee, S. Y., & Krashen, S. (2003). Writer’s block in a Chinese sample. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 97, 537-542.
23. Morton, P. G. (2000). Challenging writer’s block: How experienced authors make time to write. AAOHN Journal, 48(11), 512-514.
24. Nelson, V. (1993). Writer’s block and how to use it. OH: Houghton Mifflin Company.
25. Özbay, M., & Zorbaz, K. Z. (2012). İlköğretim ikinci kademe öğrencilerinin yazma tutukluğu düzeyleri üzerine bir değerlendirme [An evaluation about secondary school students’ writer’s block levels]. TSA, 16(1), 47-72.
26. Peterson, K. E. (1987). Relationships among measures of writer's block, writing anxiety, and procrastination. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ohio State University, the U.S.A.
27. Poff, S. I. (2004). Regimentation: A predictor of writer's block and writing apprehension. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Retrieved on February 15, 2021 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305121235?accountid.
28. Prihandoko, L. A. (2021). Students’ writing self-efficacy, writer’s block and academic writing performance: An empirical study in Eastern Indonesian Students. Al- Ishlah: Jurnal Pendidikan,13(3), 2029-2037.
29. Rahmat, N. H. (2020). Writers’ block for writers: How far is it true?. Global Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 6(1), 51-63.
30. Reed, P. (1986). Writer's block: A crisis in business writing. Unpublished MA Thesis, California State University, California, the U.S.A.
31. Rosa, J. P. O. D., & Genuino, C. F. (2018). Correlating writer’s block and ESL learners’ writing quality. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(3), 604-612.
32. Rose, M. (1983). The cognitive dimension of writer’s block. California: Center for the Study of Reading’s Conference on Reading Research.
33. Rose, M. (1984). Writer's block: Cognitive dimension. Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.
34. Rose, M. (1985). When a writer can’t write: Studies in writer’s block and other composing-process problems. New York: The Guilford Press.
35. Smeets, S. (2008). Writer's block as an instrument for remaining in paradise. Zeitschrift schreiben, 1, 8.
36. Spratt, D. (2008). Writer’s block. VBA News Journals, 35(3), 3.
37. Talandis, J. G. R. (2022). Overcoming writer's block. The Language Teacher, 46(2), 36-38.
38. Venzin, M. (2017). Get creative with your awareness campaign: Overcome writer’s block. Nonprofit Communication Report, 1(15), 1.
39. Zorbaz, K. Z. (2015). The effect of various variables on university students’ writer’s block levels. Anthropologist, 21(1), 311-322.