The Effect Analysis of Mind Mapping Technique on Chinese EFL Undergraduates’ Writing Skills

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of employing mind mapping as a pre-writing strategy on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students to generate better writing essays. Non-equivalent groups pre- and posttest design was used in this study. A questionnaire is also carried out to get the writing attitude of the participants’. Two classes (A and B) participated the experience in College English Reading and Writing. Both groups had the same teacher. The control group received instruction as required in the textbook only, and the experimental group were additionally required to construct mind maps at the pre-writing stage and compose essays based on the constructed maps. All participants were required to have pre- and post-tests to track their writing performance before and after the experimental group took a tutorial on how to create mind maps. After the implementation of the intervention, comparison of the students’ mean scores of the pre- and post-tests showed a statistically significant improvement in the experimental students’ ability to generate better argumentative essays in terms of point of view, unity and coherence, development, organization, and thinking. The results highlight the effectiveness of employing min mapping as a focused instructional strategy at the pre-writing stage in developing EFL students’ writing skill. Pedagogical implications for using mind mapping in EFL writing classes are considered.