The role of learning-styles incorporation in the enhancement of EFL learners' narrative writing ability: A revelation of mental processes using think aloud protocol

Subject Areas : Curriculum Design and Development

Nafiseh Moosavi ¹ , Behdokht Mall-Amiri ² , Hamid Marashi ³

1 - English Department, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 - English Department, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran,
3 - English Department, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2024-03-05 Accepted : 2024-06-19 Published : 2024-06-30

Keywords: Learning styles-related instruction, Mental processes, Narrative writing,

Abstract :

This research tried to probe the effects of incorporating learners’ preferred learning styles in instructions on their narrative writing development and their mental patterns and imagination. 74 homogeneous secondary EFL learners were divided into three groups based on their sensory styles of visual, auditory and tactile. The learners in the three groups were provided with instructions anchored to their learning styles. In the meantime, they were required to produce narrative writings on a number of topics in accordance with their course book. Prior to narrating, they had to think loudly and record their voices to reveal the approach and pattern they utilize for performing the required activities. Their voices were transcribed and later analyzed by the researchers for further investigations. The obtained results displayed a significant improvement in their writings as well as an ongoing progress of their thinking patterns. Furthermore, the data revealed the dominant mental approaches of top-down, considering the whole plot of the topic in advance, and bottom-up, considering the details prior to the entire story, used by the students. The study also displayed the positive impact of instruction on the improvement of learners’ narrative writing revealing their self-imaging of the plot with which they could narrate the given topics in accordance with their own life experiences and understanding.

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