Abstract:
This research aimed at exploring the effect of implementing a model-text based instruction
in promoting EFL students’ awareness of coherence and further improving their writing. It
emphasised the importance of reading-writing connections, and suggested a remedial
procedure that would help learners express themselves in better English. In order to
explore the impact it is hypothesised that If second-year students at the Department of
English at Laghouat University looked at finished pieces of writing (as models) and saw
how ideas were constructed and developed, this would enhance their achievement of
paragraph unity and connectedness in their written performance. To check the hypothesis,
quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted. An experimental design, a
questionnaire and follow-up questions were used. A sample of forty-six second-year
university students of English at Laghouat University (Algeria) was randomly chosen.
These students were divided into control and experimental groups of 23 students for each.
Data were collected from in-class on an assigned topic on paragraph writing with
comparison and contrast method of development. To compare the achievement of the two
groups, a pre-test and a post-test were carried out. Students’ compositions were rated and
analysed by the teacher of writing using an analytic scoring rubric for coherence traits. The
treatment was followed by follow-up questions with the Experimental Group members
who were asked about their experiences, opinions and how they handled modelling
strategy. The results demonstrated that the treatment group achieved significant progress,
with post-test scores which were higher than both their pre-test scores and post-test scores
of the Control Group. The researcher validates the hypothesis (H1) and accepts that a
model-based instruction has influenced positively EFL students’ paragraph writing
achievements.
