International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

Improving ESL Students’ Descriptive Writing through Wh-Question Technique

Open access

Premmilah Namasivayam, Charanjit Kaur Swaran Singh, Nor Azmi Mostafa, Lajiman Janoory, Maria Shu Abdullah

Pages 219-231 Received: 30 Nov, -0001 Revised: 30 Nov, -0001 Published Online: 14 Aug, 2017

http://dx.doi.org/10.46886/IJARBSS/v7-i7/3091
This study examined the use of Wh-questions technique in English as Second language (ESL) writing class specifically descriptive writing. The objective of this study is to investigate whether the Wh-questions technique is effective for descriptive writing. The study is an action research with an experimental design involving 22 participants. The students were required to compose descriptive essay before and after the treatment which were treated as pre-test and post-test. Apart from that, an unstructured interview was conducted to identify the students’ perception towards the use of Wh-questions technique. The outcome of this study proves that the Wh-questions technique is an effective pre-writing technique for ESL Malaysian secondary school students. Students indicated positive perceptions towards the use Wh-questions technique in descriptive writing.
Alawi, F. F. (2011). Improving Students’ Ability in Writing Descriptive Text Using Clustering
Technique. Jakarta: Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.

Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy
(2nd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

Cadette, J. N. (2015). The Effectiveness of Direct Instruction in Teaching Students with Autism
Spectrum Disorders to Answer “Wh” Questions. Florida: Florida Atlantic University.

Crusan, D. (2013). Designing Writing Assessments and Rubrics. Dayton: Wright State
University.

Dawson, R. H. & Robert, A. (2006). Doing Case Study Research: A Practical Guide for
beginner Researchers. NewYork: Teachers College Press.

Denil, M. Saunir, S. & Refnaldi. (2013). The Second Grade Students’ Ability in Writing a
Descriptive Text at SMP N 1 Canduang. Journal of English Language Teaching, 1(2), 280-290.

Donato, R. (2003). Action Research. Washington D.C.: University of Pittsburgh.

Dotson, W. H., Sheldon, J. B., & Sherman, J. A. (2010). Supporting Student Learning:
Improving Performance on Short-Essay Exams Using Realistic Practice Opportunities. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(3), 106-118.

Drucker, M. J. (2003). What Reading Teachers Should Know about ESL Learners. International
Reading Association, 57(1), 22-29

Faisal, & Krisna, S. (2013). The Effectiveness of FRESH Technique to Teach Descriptive
Paragraph. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 7(4), 239.
Doi:10.11591/edulearn.v7i4.199

Farrel, T. S. C. (2007). Action Research in Language Teaching. Reflective Language Teaching
From Research to Practice, 94-106.

Ferrance, E. (2000). Themes in Education: Action Research. United States: Brown University.

Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The
Qualitative Report 8(4). 597-606.

Haley, M. H., Midgely, A., Ortiz, J., Romano, T. Ashworth, L., & Seewald, A. (2005). Teacher
Action Research in Foreign Language Classrooms: Four Teachers Tell Their Stories.
Current Issues in Education 8(12).

Harmer, J. (2006). How to Teach Writing. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching,
3(2).

Harrop, A. & Swinson, J. (2010). Teachers’ Questions in the Infant, Junior and Secondary
School. Journal of Educational Studies, 29(3). 49-57. Retrieved from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03055690303265

Hyland, K. (2003). Second Language Writin. (J.C. Richards, Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Jeprianto, P. (2011). The Use of Wh-Question Technique in Teaching Recount Text. Jakarta:
Universitas Negeri Gorontalo.

Kellogg, R.T. (2008). Training Writing Skills: A Cognitive Developmental Perspective. Journal
of Writing Research, 1(1), 1-26.

Khaled, B. (2007). Teaching Writing to Second Language Learners: Insights from Theory and
Research. TESL Reporter, 40(1), 35-48.

Krisdian, E. P. (2016). Teaching Writing Descriptive Texts To The Eight Year Students: “Put
Yourself In The Picture” Activity. International Journal of English Teaching, 5(1), 78-103.

Lee, J. F. K. (2012). Teaching Hong Kong Learners Wh-Questions-Using a Learning Study
Approach. THE JOURNAL OF ASIA TEFL, 9(1), 171-197.

McLean, D. & Thomas, B., R. (2014). Unsuccessful Treatments of “Writer’s Block”: A Meta-
Analysis. Psychological Reports: Relationships & Communications, 5(1).

Mohaddese, E. & Ramin, R. (2013). The Effect of Using Screenplay Technique on Iranina EFL
Learners’ Paragraph Writing Ability. Asian Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 2(3), 339-350.

Moore, K. C. (2004). Constructivism & Metacognition. Tier 1 Performance Solutions, 5(1).

Rafika, M. (2014). Teaching Descriptive Text Writing Through Guided Wh-Questions: A Pre-
experiment Student at the Eight Grade Students of SMP Negeri 7 Pontianak in Academic
Year 2013/2014. WKS: Studies on English Language and Education 1(1),