An Empirical Study of Schema Theory and its Application in Improving University Students’ Writing Ability

Abstract

The present study aimed at enhancing university students’ writing ability through using schema theory. The study adopted the quasi-experimental pre-posttest experimental-control group design. The participants consisted of 58 English foreign language (EFL) students and 51 EFL professors who had taught essay writing. The students were divided into two groups: 29 students in a control group and 29 students in an experimental group. To gather the data, the researcher used pre and post- essay writing tests, interviews, and a five-point Likert scale questionnaire. The results of the study showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the performance of the experimental group and the control group on the posttest in favor of the experimental group. This indicated that applying schema theory has a positive effect on improving university students’ writing ability. Finally, this study recommended that EFL teachers should encourage EFL students to share their prior experiences, knowledge, and information in the pre- writing phase in order to help them improve their writing skills.