The freewriting technique and the writing skill

Abstract

Writing is essential in every aspect of students’ lives, and it is a fundamental skill when learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Because some students find this skill challenging, teachers must guide them to overcome certain difficulties. Supporters of the writing process, suggest that freewriting is a great technique to improve writing skills. Within this regard, the current study is intended to investigate the effects of the freewriting technique in the development of writing skills. To carry out the research, a mixed approach was adopted; the quantitative information was obtained from the application of the standardized KET pre-test and post-test, and the qualitative information from the survey aimed at analyzing students’ attitudes towards the use of the freewriting technique. Moreover, an experimental design with one experimental group was approached. The experimental group was comprised of 34 students from Carrera de Pedagogía de los Idiomas Nacionales y Extranjeros who gave a pre-test, recieved treatment and gave a post-test. The treatment consisted of applying the freewriting technique during some sessions. After instructing students via freewriting technique, a post-test was given to them. The results from the pre-test and post-test were analyzed through the paired t-test developed in the SPSS Software in which students’ improvement was evident. While in the pre-test students obtained an average score of 6.03, in the posttest they obtained 7.98. Similarly, the p-value was 0.001 lower than 0.05. Discerning the results, the author reached to the conclusion that the freewriting technique influences the development of the writing skill and improves fluency, vocabulary, grammar, organization and content.