The Effects of Lexical Approach on non-English Majors’ Writing Proficiency: An Empirical Study

Abstract

conducting an experiment of applying lexical approach for one semester in college English reading and writing course, this study aims to explore the effects of lexical approach on non-English major’s writing proficiency. There were 80 subjects involved in the experiment, and half of them were in controlled group (CG), the rest in experimental group (EG). Lexical approach was used in EG and traditional approach was applied in CG. All subjects attended both pre- and post-tests. The comparisons of composition scores of both tests were made between and within groups through independent and paired t tests. The findings are: 1) Students in EG have shown greater improvement than those students in CG in writing proficiency. They get higher composition scores on average than those in CG. 2) Students in EG have achieved significant progress in writing proficiency after the application of the lexical approach. 3) Students in CG show no significant progress in writing proficiency under the instruction of traditional teaching approach. So it can be concluded that the lexical approach has positive effects on non-English majors’ writing proficiency.