Topical Knowledge in Writing assessment: Comparing independent vs integrated writing tasks, By Abbas Abbasi

Research

Title	Topical Knowledge in Writing assessment: Comparing independent vs integrated writing tasks
Type	Thesis
Keywords	Topical Knowledge, Integrated writing, independent writing, EFL writing assessment
Researchers	Khadijeh Atefatfar (Student) , Nasim Ghanbari (Primary advisor) , Abbas Abbasi (Advisor)

Abstract

Along with independent writing tasks, integrated writing tasks in which learners use oral/written input sources to develop their writing has received rising attention during the recent decades. These two writing types have been in use in both classroom and high-stakes assessments. Hence, improving the writing practice gets significant. Among different variables that affect the writing of the students, the role topical knowledge plays in writing performance of the students in the two independent and integrated writing has not been investigated. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the effect of topical knowledge on the writing performance of the students in two independent and integrated modes. To achieve this goal, a body of 44 EFL male and female students at Persian Gulf University were randomly assigned into one independent and one integrated group. The students in both groups were given the same topic to write. While independent group received no accompanying text, integrated group learners were given a reading passage relevant to the topic. The results of independent samples T-test showed that topical knowledge had a significant effect on integrated writing performance of the students compared with independent writing. The findings of this study imply that the teachers can use integrated writing with a strong foundation of knowledge related to the topic to further enhance writing performance of the students.