Mohamed Bashir M. Ismail, Kemboja Ismail ,Saadiyah Darus
الملخص الانجليزي
This study investigates the effects of word processor in composing essays in English as a foreign language (EFL) among Arab postgraduate students at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in terms of quality and quantity. The first part of the study was published in Darus and Ismail (2008). In the present study, 20 respondents composed essays on two topics: the first topic by using the conventional way (pen and paper) and the second using a word processor. The quality of writing such as spelling, Flesch Reading Ease, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level while the quantity of writing such as the length of the essay including other aspects like number of words, paragraphs, sentences, sentences per paragraph and words per sentence are also considered. The results of the study show that there was obvious difference between the quality and quantity of writing in the two modes. In most cases, the essays that were composed using word processor were longer and exhibited improvement in quality and quantity.