THE EFFECT OF TWO MODES OF INSTRUCTION: MODELING VS. PRESENTATIONAL

Main Article Content

Mujgan Buyuktas Kara
Elke Van Steendam
Gert Rijlaarsdam
Huseyin Kuru

Abstract

We implemented an intervention of four lessons and tested the effects of two instructional modes as compared to the regular curriculum practices for completing a synthesis task at the preparatory program of a Turkish university. Participants were 48 upper-intermediate EFL learners (mean age=18) assigned to three conditions. The presentational condition received direct strategy instruction supported by mnemonics; the modeling condition observed a video of a peer doing the task using the same strategies mnemonic. In the control condition, there was no explicit reference to strategies; rather, students inferred the necessary information about writing an effective synthesis text from the instruction and the lesson materials. We hypothesized that both of the experimental conditions would have a positive effect on students’ synthesis text quality and writing processes and that modeling of explicit strategy use would have an effect over and above the other conditions. Results showed that students in the modeling condition improved their source use skills significantly more than students in the presentational condition, which was maintained in the delayed posttest four weeks later. No statistically significant condition effect was observed for content and authenticity of students’ texts. The modeling condition also showed and reported a more process-oriented approach to writing.  

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Author Biographies

Mujgan Buyuktas Kara, University of Amsterdam

Mujgan Buyuktas Kara holds a BA and MA in English Language and Literature. She is currently working on her PhD at University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include writing instruction and writing processes in English as a foreign language (EFL).

Elke Van Steendam, KULeuven

Elke Van Steendam is an assistant professor at KU Leuven and University of Antwerp, Belgium. Her research interests include writing instruction and assessment, writing processes in a first (L1) and second/foreign language (L2/FL), collaborative writing and revision.

Gert Rijlaarsdam, University of Amsterdam

Gert Rijlaarsdam is a professor and an investigator of the Research Lab of Language, Literature & Arts Education at the University of Amsterdam, a member of the AnhubLab at University of Antwerp and a visiting professor at Umea University, Sweden.

Huseyin Kuru, Sapienza University of Rome

Huseyin Kuru holds a BA in Statistics from Istanbul Commerce University and MBA in Advanced Economics from Sapienza University of Rome. He worked as a marketing manager in Rome and is currently working as a digital marketing specialist in Barcelona.

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