Exploring EFL students' use of writing strategies and their attitudes towards reading-to-write and writing-only tasks

Abstract

This study aimed to explore EFL students' use of writing strategies and their attitudes towards reading-to-write and writing-only tasks. The primary purpose of this study was to see whether there was any significant difference between the writing performance of reading-to-write and writing-only task groups. Furthermore, this study attempted to find whether there was any significant difference in the writing strategies used by Iranian EFL students in reading-to-write and writing-only groups. In addition, Iranian EFL students’ beliefs and attitudes about reading-to-write were inspected. In so doing, 34 EFL students from the Sobhe Sadegh Institute of Higher Education in Isfahan, Iran, took part in the present study. The data were collected by the students' writing, academic writing strategies and students' interviews in reading-to-write class. The data analysis, via independent-samples t-test, revealed that students in reading-to-write group outperformed students in writing-only group. Additionally, the results of MANOVA showed no significant difference in the writing strategies used by Iranian EFL students in reading-to-write and writing-only groups. Finally, qualitative analysis of data in reading-to-write class indicated that students had a positive attitude towards reading-to-write class since they believed that reading has exerted a positive effect on their writings.