A study of the effectiveness of the process-based writing in an EFL classroom of second-year students at Bangkok University

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study the results of using the process-based approach in an EFL writing classroom by comparing its effectiveness to that of the product-based approach to writing and to study the attitude of the students who have studied writing with the process-based methodology. To find the effectiveness of the process-based method, a research hypothesis had been established: There will be a statistically significant difference of the writing scores between the students who have received and those who have not received the process-based teaching. The proficiency test, or Pre- and Post-tests, and two achievement tests (the Writing Quiz 1 and Quiz 2) were used for measurement. Also, a set of questionnaire was used to gain the attitude of the students who have participated in the process-based teaching class. The subjects of this research were two EFL second-year classes at Bangkok University. These two classes were of 88 students and were among the total 308 students, assigned to the researcher to teach during the time of the research conducting. They were selected as the subjects through the purposive sampling After fourteen weeks of treatment, it was found that the students with the treatment could gain a better writing ability, as the score results of the two groups were different. The students with the process-based treatment could outperform the students who did not receive the treatment on all three tests (the Writing Quiz 1 and Quiz 2 and Posttest). However the statistically significant differences of the score results were found only on the Writing Quiz 2 and the Posttest of the two groups. In addition, regarding the effectiveness of the process-based method on the students’ attitude, the questionnaire results showed that the students had a positive attitude towards the process-based method and that the method could help them write better and make the class more interesting