EFL learners in an enhanced extensive reading treatment group significantly outperform a control group on five of six writing subscales¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? After a 29-week enhanced ER intervention, the treatment group significantly outperformed the control group on five of the six writing subscales measured with the Jacobs et al. (1981) rubric plus fluency. → Mermelstein 2015

Evidence¶

Mermelstein 2015¶

Mermelstein, A. D. (2015). Improving EFL learners’ writing through enhanced extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 27(2), 182–198. http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl

q2 · i? · causal · r2

Posttest comparison of the treatment group (TG) and control group (CG) using multivariate analysis of posttest scores in a one-year university EFL study. The article reports the "TG significantly outperformed the CG on five of the six subscales"; no effect size is printed in this comparison.

"The results indicate that the TG significantly outperformed the CG on five of the six subscales. The one subscale where the TG did not achieve significant gains over the CG was organization."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The treatment group's advantage did not extend to the organization subscale of writing — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Enhanced extensive reading yields small-to-large effect sizes across writing subscales, with the largest effects in spelling/mechanics and fluency — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Both the treatment and control groups achieved significant pre-to-post gains on all six writing subscales — related
• Treatment-group learners sustained high on-task reading in class (94%) and reported reading outside class 4.41 days per week — related