Blending Varied Concepts: Is it Effective in ESL Writing Class?

Abstract

Writing has been a difficulty in ESL education. According to Weigle (2002), there have been various approaches to teach writing that have led to numerous changes and subsequent development of writing models. The present study which is a part of a larger study, attempted to improve the skill of writing in ESL, blending different notions drawn from varied concepts. It adopted the Flower & Hayes Model of L2 Writing, an element of process approach and some effective elements from product approach to writing and strategy instruction were amalgamated into it. The action research which comprised of two cycles spanned over a period of six months, seventeen days of eighty minute sessions were carried out with a sample of 16 immature writing learners drawn from a Type 2 school in the Colombo South Zone. It used multiple data collection instruments: pre-test, activities, assignments, students’ reflective journals, field notes by the researcher and posttest. The on-going evaluation was made through the comparison of marks of portfolio writing - first draft and final draft, the analysis of the in- class written assignment marks and the analysis of the field notes by the researcher. The effectiveness of the intervention was measured through the comparison of the scores of the four portfolio writing – final drafts , comparison of the four in-class written assignment marks and the comparison of the pre-test and post-test marks. There was a remarkable progress recorded in the majority. Thus , it proved the effectiveness of blending varied concepts as a way of improving writing skills in ESL learners.