basic writing strategies instruction and second language writing

International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org BASIC WRITING STRATEGIES INSTRUCTION AND SECOND
LANGUAGE WRITING DEVELOPMENT: EFL GENDER
GROUPS IN COMPARISON
Zahra Hashempour
English Department, Abadeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abadeh, Iran
[email protected]
Mohammad Rostampour
English Department, Abadeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abadeh, Iran
[email protected]
Fatemeh Behjat
English Department, Abadeh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abadeh, Iran
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
Writing is one of the most difficult, multifaceted and complex skills to learn in both native and
foreign language. Therefore, to master it, learning different writing strategies can be helpful. As
a result, this study attempted to investigate the effects of three pre-writing strategies instruction
(brainstorming, concept mapping and critical thinking) on the development of writing skill of
Englisg Foreign Language students. To this purpose, 60 (27 male and 33 female) Iranian both as
an experimental and control groups were subjects of this study. All of them studied English as a
foreign language in private institute in south of Iran (Bushehr province). All of them were at the
14th level and the book that they studied was New Interchange. Their age range was 15-36.
Before starting, a pre-test administered in order to compare the result of instruction at the end of
period. Then is instruction was started and continued for 16 part of a class sessions. After
finishing instruction, a post-test and a questionnaire administered. To analyzing data an
independent sample t-test was ran. Afterwards a paired t-test was used to compare the results of
pre and post-tests in both experimental and control groups. Mann-Whitney U test was used to see
if there was any difference between males and females attitudes toward the use of the pre writing
strategies. The findings indicated that, 1) instruction had positive effects on writing improvement
of EFL participants; 2) Males and females participants did not perform differently in terms of
writing; 3) Females used critical thinking strategy more than other strategies but males used
brainstorming more than others. As a result, the findings of this study can have implications for
curriculum, syllabus design and materials developers.
KEYWORDS: Brainstorming, Concept mapping, Critical thinking, Instruction, Prewriting
strategies.
573
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org INTRODUCTION
One of the most difficult and multifaceted skills for students to develop both in their native and
foreign language is writing. This skill needs a lot of time, practice, and use of different strategies
before, during and after writing. Using this technique can differentiate poor from skillful writers.
Mousapour Negari (2011) believes that one of the most difficult skills and complicated processes
for language learners to acquire in academic contexts seems to be writing in a second or
foreign language which consists of a number of cognitive and meta-cognitive activities for
example brainstorming, planning, outlining, organizing and revising. According to Hormazabal
(2007), most students need to hand in their articles, reports, assignments, etc. to establish one of
the most related language skills in contexts of university as writing. As such, gaining familiarity
with writing strategies is necessary for them to express their ideas.
Given this importance, curriculum designers for ELT programs have long been concerned with
writing ability development, and in recent years, it has come to be considered as an
important part of curriculum design but it still remains as one of the least understood, if
not misunderstood aspects of language learning. A simple observation of EFL classes,
either in private institutes or public settings, reflects this fact. Therefore, one way of helping
students to overcome problems they face in writing tasks is the use of pre-writing
strategies.
Another important point worth noting here is the importance of teaching writing strategies to
language learners. According to Mousapour Negari (2011), different studies have shown that
language learners can become better if they are trained to use language learning strategies.
Mousapour Negari (2011) defined strategy teaching as “teaching learners how to learn, with
a view to become independent and autonomous learners”(p.300). Such being the case, the
main purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of basic writing strategies
instruction, such as concept mapping, brainstorming and critical thinking, on EFL learners’
writing development across EFL gender groups.
Writing has been considered as an important and difficult skill in all EFL settings. According to
Bello (as cited in Ibnian, 2011), one main problems of the traditional curriculum is the lack
of attention paid to writing, which is an important avenue for thinking. But in the last few
years, writing and writing strategies have come to be regarded as an important part of
curriculum design. However, what seems to have been rarely addressed in this endeavor is
the differential effect of such instruction on the performance of gender groups. Another
point is that studies on L2 writing strategies have commonly focused on individual
strategies rather than a class of interrelated ones.
English language teachers and instructors involved in the task of teaching writing in EFL
contexts can make use of the findings of this study. In addition, the findings of this study
will be specifically of interest to those educators struggling with the basic problem of
idea development and organization in their writing class. Therefore, the results of this study
can be employed in teaching centers, schools, institutes, and can be used by university teachers
and material planners.
574
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org LITERATURE REVIEW
Talebinezhad and Mousapour Negari (2009) examined a study on the effect of explicit teaching
of concept mapping in expository writing on EFL students’ self-regulation. Findings of the study
revealed that concept mapping strategy instruction enhanced self-regulation of students in their
writing tasks. Mousapour Negari (2011) conducted a study on the effect of concept mapping
strategy instruction on EFL learners’ writing skill. The findings of the study provided the
evidence that the instruction of concept-mapping strategy had positive effects on ESL writing
performance and improved their writing. Koyoko and Hiroko (2011) conducted a study on the
effect of hierarchical concept mapping on writing by junior high school students. As the study
proved, paragraph writing instruction and hierarchical concept mapping had positive effects on
some aspects of writing such as paragraph structure, textuality, and hierarchy of ideas and
improved junior high school students’ writing skill. Fahim and Rahimi (2011) investigated the
effect of concept mapping strategy on the writing performance of EFL learners. The study’s
findings shed light on using concept-mapping strategy had positive effect and can developed and
improved students writing skill.
Mahnam and Nejadansari (2012) investigated about the effects of different pre-writing strategies
on Iranian EFL writing achievement. The findings of the study provided the evidence that the
instruction of pre-writing strategies (concept mapping, reading and negotiation) can develop
writing achievement therefore; pre-writing strategies had positive effect on the learners writing
skills and promoting their writings. Nobahar, Nemat Tabrizi, and Shaghaghi (2013) examined a
study on the effect of concept mapping on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ self-efficacy and
expository writing accuracy. The result indicated that explicit instruction of concept mapping
strategy had positive and noticeable effect on self-efficacy and expository writing accuracy of
learners.
Marashi and Jafari (2012) conducted a study on the comparative effect of using critical thinking,
constructivist learning, and a combination of the two techniques on EFL learners writing skill.
The findings clearly demonstrated that there was no remarkable difference among the
performance of writing skill of EFL learners on critical thinking technique, constructivist
learning technique and a combination of both critical thinking and constructivist technique group.
Khodabakhsh, Jahandar, and Khodabandehlou (2013) conducted a study on the impact of critical
thinking tasks on paragraph writing ability of Iranian EFL learners. As the study proved, there
was a noticeable difference between the performance of experimental and control groups. Thus
applying critical thinking task is useful and can improve writing ability of EFL students. Assadi,
Davatgar, and Jafari (2013) conducted a study to find out the effect of critical thinking on
enhancing writing among Iranian EFL learners. Analysis showed significant difference between
the experimental and control groups giving evidence that instruction of critical thinking had
positive effect on the learners writing performance.
Fahim and Mirzaii (2013) examined a study on the improving EFL argumentative writing
through a dialogic critical thinking approach. The study revealed that both groups had noticeably
improvement in their argumentative writing. The results of the study proved that both writing
instruction and dialogic critical thinking together led to better performance.
575
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Rao (2007) conducted a study on the effects of brainstorming strategy instruction on learners’
writing performance and perception. The study’s findings shed light on the significant effects of
explicit instruction of brainstorming strategy on writing performance and the questionnaires
indicated the positive attitudes of learners toward brainstorming strategy. Ibnian (2011) examined
a study on the effect of using the brainstorming technique on essay writing in EFL class. Findings
of the study indicated that brainstorming technique had a positive effect on the writing skill of
EFL students in such aspects as content and organization, mechanics of writing, language use and
skills emerged from creative thinking abilities (fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration).
Fawzi and Hussein (2013) conducted a comparative study on enhancing students’ motivation to
write essays through brainstorming. As the study proved, both types of brainstorming were
motivating to students but participants preferred guided brainstorming.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The present study attempted to address the following three questions:
1- Is there any causal relationship between basic pre-writing strategies instruction and EFL
writing development?
2- Does such an instruction show differential effects across EFL gender groups in both
achievement and self-reported patterns of use?
3- Which gender made used of which strategy more?
4METHODOLOGY
Participants and setting
The participants who took part in this investigation consisted of 60 Persian native speakers. They
were both male and female and in both experimental and control groups. Experimental groups
included (14 males and 18 females) and control groups (13 males and 15 females). All of them
studied English as a foreign language in a private institute in the south of Iran (Bushehr). The
study took place during their 14th levels and the book that they studied was New Interchange. The
average age of them was 15 to 36.
Instrument
The data were collected through a pre-test, post-test and a questionnaire. Before starting
instruction, there was a pre-test and after finishing also was a post-test. These pre and post-tests
were an essay topic that students should write about it. This topic was taken from an IELTS
book. The book was written by Bagheri, Riasati and Rahimi (2012). The topic of both pre and
post-tests were the same. See Appendix A. The reliability of pre and post-test were respectively
.962 and .961. The data in second part of study were collected by a questionnaire. This
questionnaire was created by the researcher and was completed at the end of the period in order
to seek writings information. The questionnaire has administered and piloted before the study
was started. It was both valid and reliable, therefore; the result of it reported at the end of the
chapter four. All items of this questionnaire were in Persian. This questionnaire consisted of
sixteen statements that were classified in to the following parts: 1) attitudes toward concept
576
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org mapping strategy (items 1 to 4), 2) attitudes toward brainstorming strategy and its subcategories:
listing, outlining and question and answer (items 5 to 10) and 3) attitudes toward critical thinking
strategy (items 11 to 16). Each item of the questionnaire was rated on five points from strongly
agree to strongly disagree.
It was about studentsʼ attitudes toward the effects of pre-writing strategies instruction on their
writings improvements.
Procedures
Sixty Iranian advanced learners were the subjects of this study. They were selected based on their
level of language proficiency because they studied in private language institute and their levels of
language proficiency were determined in advance. Therefore, they were homogenous. Their
classes were held 3 days in a week. Before starting the instruction, pre-test was administered in
order to compare the results of the instruction at the end of period. Three types of pre-writing
strategies such as concept mapping; critical thinking and brainstorming were instructed to
learners during 16 sessions and each session 45 minutes. At the first session, the researcher
generally talked about pre-writing strategies and their effects on writing improvements. In the
second session, the instruction of pre-writing strategies started. At the beginning of every session,
the strategy was defined and its advantages and effects on writing improvements were discussed.
Then several examples were written on the board and next two tasks were given to them during
two other sessions. In each session, the participants had 30 minutes to write about the topic in the
class. Before starting writing, they had to use the related pre-writing strategy which they learned
in their drafts. Then they develop their ideas about the topic. After that, their papers were
corrected and returned to them in order to know their errors and mistakes and avoid them in their
next writings.
Regarding the topics, the students were supposed to write on, several topics from the book
written Bagheri, Riasati and Rahimi (2012) were selected and sent to the advisor. He confirmed
them and then gave the topics to an IELTS teacher, and selected the best 10 of them together that
were considered to suit students, interest, personal information and they had enough ideas,
information and knowledge about the topics in order to develop them.
This procedure was used for all strategies instruction except brainstorming because it was
consisted three subcategories such as listing, question and answer and outlining. Each of these
subcategories was taught in one session separately. Then the students needed two separate
sessions for practicing. After finishing the instruction, there was a posttest in order to observe the
results of the instruction on learners, writing improvement and progress. Also the topic of both
pre and posttest was the same. Two IELTS teachers rated the participants’ written texts. Then the
reliability value between two scores was checked. The texts were corrected according to Writing
Band Description (Bagheri, et al., 2012). The writings were rated based on four aspects of
writing: task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource and grammatical range and
accuracy.
577
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Research Question One
The first research question of the study questioned whether there is any causal relationship
between basic pre-writing strategies instruction and EFL writing development. To answer this
question, the researcher ran the independent samples t-test.
As mentioned earlier, all the participants took the IELTS writing test. In order to examine whether
the writing scores were reliable or not, a second rater was asked to score the pretest and the posttest. Then a Pearson correlation was run to obtain the degree of go-togetherness between the two
sets of writing scores for pretest and post-test. The results are shown in Tables 1 and 2:
Table 1: Correlation between Pre-test Scores
Correlations
Pretest 1
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Pretest1
1
Pretest2
.962**
.000
60
60
Table 2: Correlation between Post-test Scores
Correlations
Post-test1
Post-test2
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Post-test1
1
60
.961**
.000
60
Post-test2
.961**
.000
60
1
60
According to Tables 1 and 2, the correlations between the raters’ scores for pretest and post-test are
.962 and .961 respectively. Thus, based on the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula (Henning 1987,
p.82), inter-rater coefficient for both pretest and post-test is .98. It can be concluded that the two
sets of scores for both pretest and post-test are highly reliable. Then, the averages of the raters’
scores were taken as the raw scores for future computations.
To monitor the effect of strategy instruction on writing, the researcher compared the performance
of the groups at the end of the program by running an independent samples t-test comparing the
mean scores of the two groups on the post-test. Results are demonstrated below.
Post-test
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics of Experimental and Control Groups
Group
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Std. Error Mean
Experimental
32
5.15
.72
.12
Control
28
2.02
.82
.15
578
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Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Table 4: Independent Sample T-test to Compare Post-test Scores
Levene's Test
for Equality
of Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95%
Confidence
Interval
of
the
Difference
F
Sig.
T
Equal
1.063 .307 15.706
variances
Post-Test assumed
Equal
15.573
variances
not assumed
Df
Sig. (2- Mean
tailed) Difference
Std.
Error
Difference Lower
Upper
58
.000
3.1294
.19925
2.73062
3.52831
54.332
.000
3.1294
.20095
2.72664
3.53229
The results of Table 4 clearly show that the two groups performed differently on the post-test (sig.
=.000, p<.05), which firmly rejects the quality of the performance in the post-test between the
experimental and control groups. According to Table 3, the experimental group (mean=5.15)
gained better results than the control group (mean=2.02) in the post-test.
Afterwards, a paired t-test was used to compare the results of pretest and post-test in both
experimental and control group. Table 5 and 6 below illustrate the pertaining results.
Pair 1
Pair 2
Pre-Experimental
Post-Experimental
Pre-Control
Post-Control
Table 5: Descriptive Statistics of Pretest and Post-test
Mean
N
Std. Deviation
3.6641
32
.75029
5.1563
32
.72332
2.1161
28
.74994
2.0268
28
.82028
Std. Error Mean
.13263
.12787
.14173
.15502
Table 6: Paired Sample T-Test between Pre-test and Post-test Scores of Groups
Pair
1
Pair
2
Pretest Posttest
Pretest Posttest
Mean
-1.49219
.08929
Paired Differences
95% Confidence Interval of
the Difference
Std.
Std. Error
Deviation
Mean
Lower
Upper
T
Df
.43294
.07653
-1.64828
-1.33610 -19.47 31
.52799
.09978
-.11545
.29402
-.865
27
Sig. (2tailed)
.000
.379
Since the p value for the experimental group (Pair1) is .000 (p<.05), it can be inferred that there is
a significant difference between the performance of the experimental group participants in the
pretests and post-test.
579
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org The participants in their post-test (mean=3.66) outperformed with regard to their first performance
(mean=5.15) before instruction. It denotes that the basic pre-writing strategies instruction
considerably improves their application of strategies to overcome difficulties in the face of writing.
With regard to Table 6, considering the control group (Pair 2), the pretest and the post-test scores
did not show any significant difference (Sig. =.379).
Research Question Two
The second research question of the study aimed at investigating the differential effects of such
instruction on the performance of the gender groups in terms of writing achievement and the
patterns of the strategy use as reported by the participants.
To begin with, an independent samples t-test was run to compare the mean scores of gender subgroups in the experimental group on the post-test. Tables 7 and 8 present the results of the
independent sample t-test.
Post-test
Table 7: Descriptive Statistics of Male and Female Groups
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Std. Error Mean
14
5.3393
.68365
.18271
18
5.0139
.73999
.17442
Gender
Male
Female
Table 8: Independent Sample T-test of Male and Female Groups on Post-test
Levene's Test
for Equality
of Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95%
Confidence
Interval
of
the
Difference
F
Equal
.022
variances
Post-Test assumed
Equal
variances
not assumed
Sig.
T
Df
Sig. (2- Mean
tailed) Difference
Std. Error
Difference Lower
Upper
.882
-1.275
30
.212
-.32540
.25519
-.84656
.19577
-1.288
29.04
.208
-.32540
.25260
-.84198
.19779
As Table 8 above reveals, there is no significant difference between mean scores of two groups in
protest (sig. =.21, p<.05). The results revealed that male and female participants did not perform
differently in terms of writing.
Research Question Three
Following the objectives of the study, the third question of the study questioned which gender use
of which strategy more. In other words, the researcher tried to discover the difference between
males and females in terms of self-reported patterns of using pre-writing strategies. The
questionnaire involves three pre-writing strategies.
580
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Man-Whitney U test was used to see if there is any difference between males’ and females’
attitudes toward the use of the pre-writing strategies. The following tables manifest the pertaining
results (Tables 9 and 10)
concept mapping
Brainstorming
Critical thinking
Table 9: Ranks of the Pre-writing Strategies for Males and Females
Gender
N
Mean Rank
Sum of Ranks
Female
18
14.11
254.00
Male
14
19.57
274.00
Total
32
Female
18
14.83
267.00
Male
14
18.64
261.00
Total
32
Female
18
20.42
367.50
Male
14
11.46
160.50
Total
32
Mann-Whitney U
Wilcoxon W
Z
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
Exact Sig. [2*(1-tailed Sig.)]
a. Grouping Variable: Gender
b. Not corrected for ties
Table 10: Mann-Whitney U test on Pre-writing Strategies
concept mapping
Brainstorming
83.000
96.000
254.000
267.000
-1.990
-1.198
.047
.231
.107b
.267b
Critical thinking
55.500
160.500
-2.758
.006
.006b
From Table 10, Man-Whitney U test shows just one statistically difference in the pre-writing
strategies. Based on the findings, males and females are different in terms of using the critical
thinking strategy (sig. =.006). Table 9 shows that females (rank =20.42) use critical thinking
strategy more than males (rank =11.46). The following bar graph (Fig. 1) shows the males’ and
females’ pre-writing strategy use.
Figure 1: Bar Graph of the Males’ and Females’ Pre-writing Strategy use
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Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Based on the information presented in the bar graph, females use critical thinking strategy more
than the other pre-writing strategies. However, concerning males, brainstorming is the most used
pre-writing strategy.
Pilot testing
To ensure that the questionnaire functions well, a small group of English language learners (N=10)
were selected randomly for the pilot testing. Before piloting the questionnaire, the participants
were informed about the main research study.
Cronbach's Alpha
.902
Table 11: Reliability Statistics of the Writing Questionnaire
N of Items
16
According to Table 11, the overall internal consistency estimated is .902 highlighting the
instrument to be highly reliable in measuring participants’ attitude.
To probe the differences between mean scores of EFL gender groups of the experimental group in
self-reported patterns of use, a Mann-Whitney U test was applied.
Table 12: Mann-Whitney U Test on Questionnaire Scores
Questionnaire
Mann-Whitney U
1.6.000
Wilcoxon W
211.000
Z
-.770
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
.441
Exact Sig. [2*(1-tailed Sig.)]
.464b
a. Grouping Variable: Gender
Following Table 12, the significance level is .441 that is not smaller than .05. This implies that
male and female groups in this study did not differ in terms of self-reported patterns of using prewriting strategies. Considering the role of gender, it can be concluded that it did not have a
determining role in the participants’ attitude toward the use of pre-writing strategies.
Discussion of the findings
In line with the objectives of the study, the research questions were stated in a way to address the
following points: the kind of writing strategies these learners employed more, the causal
relationship between basic pre-writing strategies instruction and EFL writing development, and
differential effects that instruction showed across EFL gender groups in both achievement and
self-reported patterns of use. In the following section, a discussion of findings in light with other
studies will be presented.
Research Question one
Is there any causal relationship between basic pre-writing strategies instruction and EFL writing
development?
The pre-post tests were administered to the participants and the data were analyzed based on the
independent samples t-test. Then, to obtain the degree of go-togetherness between the two sets of
writing scores for pre-test and post-test, a Pearson correlation was run (see Tables 1 and 2).
582
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org According to post-test descriptive statistics of experimental and control groups, the means were
5.15 and 2.02 respectively. Based on this evaluation, the instruction had a significant effect on
the experimental groups (see Table 3). Then to compare the results of pre-test and post-test in
both experimental and control groups, a paired t-test was run (see Table 5 and 6). Therefore, the
experimental groups in their post-test (mean=3.66) outperformed with regard to their first
performance (mean=5.15) before instruction. Regarding the control groups, the pre-test and the
post-test scores did not show any significant difference.
As a result, the researcher believed that there is a causal relationship between pre-writing
strategies instruction and EFL writing development because according to the statistical findings,
instruction had positive effects on writing improvement of EFL participants. The findings are in
line with previous research findings as regards concept mapping instruction and EFL learners’
writing skill. According to Mousapour Negari (2011), explicit instruction of concept mapping
strategy can help learners improve their writing performance.
“Through concept mapping, students can easily understand and organize their thoughts in
pictorial representations. In other words, graphical representation of ideas increases the students’
conceptual understanding which in turn helps them organize their ideas. The study reveals the
effectiveness of concept mapping technique for the students writing tasks” (p. 303). Ibnian
(2011) reported that regarding context and organization, mechanics of writing, language use and
skills emerged from creative thinking abilities (fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration)
brainstorming technique had positive effects on improving first secondary grade students’ essay
writing skills. Ibnian believed that using the brainstorming technique highly helps and allows
learners to generate ideas, exchange opinions and crystallize new thoughts about the raised
topics, a fact that positively influenced their performance on the post-test essay writing.
Furthermore, applying the brainstorming technique motivated learners, engaged them in their
learning processes and helped them express themselves freely without hesitation.
According to Shangarffam and Mamipour (2011), learners who have been taught how to think
critically through critical thinking techniques showed that they can outperform in analyzing
questions, problems, and information to use them for other skills. “As a final point, the statistical
analysis indicated that teaching critical thinking does have a significant effect on intermediate
EFL learners’ writing skill” (p.124).Generally, concept mapping, brainstorming and critical
thinking are writing strategies that help learners organize their writings, write critically, discuss
the issues raised, and provide specific details and examples related to the topic. These abilities
develop students’ writing skill and let them improve their writing.
Research Question two
Does such an instruction show differential effects across EFL gender groups in both achievement
and self-reported patterns of use?
To compare the mean scores of gender sub-groups in the experimental group on the post-test, an
independent samples t-test was run. As the findings indicated, there is no significant difference
between mean scores of two groups in post-test. As a result, male and female participants did not
perform differently in terms of writing. This can be attributed to the fact that the participants
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proficiency were the same.
Research Question three
Which gender made used of which strategy more?
To discover the differences between males and females in terms of self-reported patterns of using
pre-writing strategies, the researcher ran Man-Whitney U test and the results are shown on the
graph. As the finding indicated, there is only one statistically significant difference in the prewriting strategies. Males and females are different in using critical thinking strategies (sig=.006).
Females (rank=20.42) use critical thinking strategy more than males (rank=11.46). Females use
critical thinking strategy more than other strategies but males use brainstorming more than others.
In the same vein, Gorjian, Pazhakh, and Parang (2012) conducted a study on the effect of critical
thinking instructions on Iranian EFL learners’ descriptive writing a case of gender study. Result
of the study showed that there were significant differences on the effective use of critical thinking
instruction with regard to gender in writing performance. Regarding to the second and third
research questions there was not any study which was directly related to them that researcher can
report.
CONCLUSION
The present study was an attempt to strengthen EFL learners’ writing proficiency, specifically
through writing strategies. By the help of writing strategies, it was supposed that learners could
optimize their organizing, discussing, developing, and improving writing skill. The analysis of
findings of the study showed how writing strategy instruction and accordingly, writing strategy
employment promoted EFL learners’ writing organization and improvement as regards
performance at both male and female writing proficiency over an instructional program and over
time. The findings provide strong empirical support for the effect of such instruction on
enhancing writing skill among EFL students.
Limitations of the Study
This study had several limitations:
•
The length of experiment was not long enough to fully determine the effectiveness of
pre-strategies instruction. Due to time constraints, the researcher did not have enough
time to make use of all different pre-writing strategies and students could not effectively
practice strategies which were introduced in the classroom because the study was
conducted during a portion of class sessions.
•
Participants differed in their age range and social level.
Their educational level and field of study were not the same. Only they were similar in their level
of language proficiency.
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (4), August 2014; 573-­‐586 Hashempour, Z., et al EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Appendix B
Topic of pre/post-test
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should begin learning a foreign
language as soon as they start school.
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