THE EFFECT OF OUT-OF-CLASS READING TASKS ON DEVELOPING EFL WRITING SKILLS

Osman Dülger

Abstract


This study aims at investigating the relationship between out-of-class reading activities and writing in English as a foreign language. A quasi-experimental pre-test- post-test research design without a control group was used to assess the effect of reading a novel and reading news as out-of-class reading activities on writing achievement. The research results were triangulated with open-ended questions asking participant views about their out-of-class reading tasks. 40 students of an ELT Department at a Turkish university participated in the study. The students were divided randomly into two groups and group A was asked to read a novel while group B was asked to read news as out-of-class reading tasks, for a month. The participants’ writing achievements were tested through two writing tasks, as a pre-test and post-test, in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, language use, mechanics and total scores. The pre-test and post-test scores did not display statistically significant differences between the A and B groups either in total scores or in scores of specific dimensions of the assessment. The participants in group A displayed statistically significant improvement in terms of organization, vocabulary, and language use while the participants in group B demonstrated improvement in content, organization, vocabulary, and language use. The qualitative data verified the quantitative findings, and provided views about different features of the tasks. Some suggestions for further research on the role of various factors that affect the development of writing skills, and the relationship among different language skills are provided.

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reading skills, writing skills, writing performance, out-of-class reading

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v5i3.3591

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