THE EFFECT OF TWO MODES OF INSTRUCTION: MODELING VS. PRESENTATIONAL

Abstract

We implemented an intervention of four lessons and tested the effects of two instructionalmodes as compared to the regular curriculum practices for completing a synthesis task at thepreparatory program of a Turkish university. Participants were 48 upper-intermediate Englishas a Foreign Language learners (mean age = 18) assigned to three conditions. Thepresentational condition received direct strategy instruction supported by mnemonics; themodeling condition observed a video of a peer doing the task using the same strategiesmnemonic. In the control condition, there was no explicit reference to strategies; rather,students inferred the necessary information about writing an effective synthesis text from theinstruction and the lesson materials. We hypothesized that both of the experimentalconditions would have a positive effect on students’ synthesis text quality and writingprocesses and that modeling of explicit strategy use would have an effect over and above theother conditions. Results showed that students in the modeling condition improved theirsource use skills significantly more than students in the presentational condition, which wasmaintained in the delayed posttest four weeks later. No statistically significant conditioneffect was observed for content and authenticity of students’ texts. The modeling conditionalso showed and reported a more process-oriented approach to writing.