Improving Writing Skills in English as a Second Language (ESL) through Feedback, Revising and Multiple Draft Writing: An Action Research

Abstract

The present study was an action research which attempted to develop writing skills through feedback, revising and multiple draft writing, notions drawn from process approach to teach writing. The sample included ten teacher trainees enrolled in Diploma in Primary Teacher Training Program at a private educational institute. A pre-test and informal interviews were used for need analysis and the take-home writing assignments and students’ reflective journals were used for data collection. The intervention was carried out for ten months which included ten take-home assignments which were to be revised based on peer feedback and teacher feedback which led to the production of at least three drafts before the submission of the final draft. The drafts were quantitatively analyzed using analytic rubrics. The comparison of the marks obtained for the first draft and the final draft of each of the ten assignments, the comparison of the marks obtained for the ten final drafts and the comparison of marks obtained for the pre-test and the post- test were made for the purpose of measuring the effectiveness of the intervention. There was gradual but significant improvement of the writing skill in all the writing learners. Accomplishment of the use of grammar, syntax and vocabulary were clearly shown. The development displayed in content also was satisfactory. The style of writing and organizational skills also recorded, though little, some achievement. The implication of the study is that training the writing learner in the use of revising and multiple draft writing based on feedback could be very effective in improving writing skills in ESL learners which will lead to the subsequent quality production of the students’ take-home assignments.