Contributory Role of Pre-task Planning in Improving Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing of Argumentative Essays: The Case of Accuracy and Complexity

Abstract

Generally , Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is an approach which places a high premium on the utilization of tasks as fundamental units of planning language instruction in L2 writing classroom. Accordingly, the present study sought to investigate the extent to which pre-task planning can influence the accuracy and complexity of the sentence structures in the argumentative essays written by male and female Iranian EFL learners with an intermediate proficiency level. As such, a Quick Oxford Proficiency Test (Q.O.P.T) was administered to a population of intermediate students learning English in a language institute in Isfahan. Based on their scores, two intermediate samples, 25 each, were randomly selected and labeled as control and experimental groups. While learners in the control group received writing instruction by a product based approach, the learners in the treatment sample were taught by a task based approach focusing on pre-task planning. At the end of the treatment, a full term, the analysis of the data obtained from the essays written by the participants revealed that pre-task planning improved the accuracy and complexity of the structures in the essays written by both male and female learners in the treatment group compared with those in the control group. Additionally, the results indicated that there was a meaningful interaction between pre-task planning and gender.