| dc.description.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. | |
