The Impact of Discourse-Based Grammar Teaching on Writing Skill of Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

English as a foreign language learners encounter various problems in writing skill. One of the reasons for this may be that they are taught grammar only at sentence-level and not at discourse level (Celce, Murcia & Y.Wonho, 2014). Having knowledge of grammar at sentence level is crucial but not sufficient. In this respect, the present study attempts to cast a new glance at teaching grammar in EFL context using discourse-based grammar teaching approach and evaluates its impact on Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners’ writing skill. In order to determine the effect of discourse-based grammar (independent variable) on the EFL learners’ writing performance (dependent variable), 50 upper intermediate English language learners were selected randomly from 2 English language institutes in Iran. All subjects were pretested for their homogeneity. Then, they were assigned into 2 groups. The experimental group was treated with discourse-based grammar teaching for 10 sessions, two sessions each week; and the control group received just the traditional grammar instruction. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was run to probe the research question. The findings indicated that there was a significant difference between the two groups on the score (F (1, 41) = 41.79, p = .000<.05, partial eta squared = .499 representing a large effect size). Additionally, there was a significant difference between the two groups’ means on the posttest of writing while controlling for the possible effects of the pretest. The adjusted mean of the scores for the experimental and control groups were 16.08 and 13.88, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded that the treatment on experimental group caused significant improvement in their writing ability.

Keywords

• Discourse
• EFL Learners
• Writing Skill
• Discourse-Based Grammar Teaching
• Authentic Materials