Use of process writing to enhance writing abilities among year 5 pupils

Abstract

Writing is often seen as a very difficult skill to master and teachers too find it a difficult skill to teach. This study was to investigate the use of process writing to enhance students’ writing abilities among Year 5 pupils. The study was carried out on one group, the experimental group. Thirty Year 5 pupils from the national primary school were the respondents of the study. The research instruments used were pretest, post-test and teachers’ interview questions. The study was administered for two weeks during their English lessons. Five stages of treatments in the process writing approach were administered including pre-writing, drafting, rewriting, editing and publishing. The intervention was administered to the experimental group. A pre-test was given before the intervention followed by a post-test after the intervention to the experimental group. An external examiner was involved in marking the scripts to retain the validity of the scores. The test scores were analysed using the SPSS and the essays were analysed to determine the effectiveness of the treatment. Four teachers were interviewed to find out some of the methods they use in teaching writing and their views in using process writing in the classroom to teach writing. The results indicated that the intervention was successfully carried out and the results obtained were favourable. This shows that students if given to learn the process or stages needed in writing will be able to write better and improve their writing skills. The importance should be given more towards the steps in writing and not the final product. Therefore teachers need to ensure that students are exposed to the different stages in writing instead of the focusing on the final product.