An Investigation of Students' Writing Skills: A Study of The Four-Square Writing Approach

Amiruddin Amiruddin 1 Indonesia , Fadel Muslaini 2 Indonesia
1 Institut Agama Islam As'adiyah Sengkang, Indonesia
2 Universitas Dipa Makassar, Indonesia
Link Copied!
Published 2022-03-27
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2022) PAGES 184-191
DOI 10.51574/ijrer.v1i2.337
Views / Downloads 1664 1859

The purpose of this study is to see if using the 4-square method improves the writing skills of IAI As'adiyah Sengkang's fifth-semester English students. A pre-experimental design was used in this study. The population of this study was IAI As'adiyah Sengkang's English education. The data was gathered using the pre-test and post-test methods. The findings of this study show that the 4-Square approach considerably improved the writing skills of IAI As'adiyah Sengkang's English education. This was demonstrated by the paired-sample t-test result, which revealed that the probability value (0.00) was less than the level of significance (0.05), showing a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test findings. As a result, the 4-square technique helped pupils enhance their writing skills in terms of grammar, content, punctuation, and spelling.

Amiruddin, A., & Muslaini, F. (2022). An Investigation of Students’ Writing Skills: A Study of The Four-Square Writing Approach. ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review , 1(2), 184–191. https://doi.org/10.51574/ijrer.v1i2.337
More Citation Formats
Download Citation
  1. Agustiana, V. (2017). Four square writing method applied in product and process based approaches combination to teaching writing discussion text. English Review: Journal of English Education, 6(1), 89-98. https://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v6i1.774 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v6i1.774
  2. Allagui, B. (2021). TED talk comments to enhance critical thinking skills in an undergraduate reading and writing course. Education and Information Technologies, 26(3), 2941-2960. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10388-w DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10388-w
  3. Arnó-Macià, E., & Rueda-Ramos, C. (2011). Promoting reflection on science, technology, and society among engineering students through an EAP online learning environment. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10(1), 19-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.12.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.12.004
  4. Assouline, S. G., Foley Nicpon, M., & Whiteman, C. (2010). Cognitive and psychosocial characteristics of gifted students with written language disability. Gifted Child Quarterly, 54(2), 102-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986209355974 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986209355974
  5. Beesley, A. D., & Apthorp, H. S. (2010). Classroom instruction that works. Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED543521
  6. Bloomfield, J., & Fisher, M. J. (2019). Quantitative research design. Journal of the Australasian Rehabilitation Nurses Association, 22(2), 27-30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33235/jarna.22.2.27-30
  7. Broughton, G., Brumfit, C., Pincas, A., & Wilde, R. D. (2002). Teaching English as a foreign language. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203412541
  8. Bruning, R., & Horn, C. (2000). Developing motivation to write. Educational psychologist, 35(1), 25-37. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3501_4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3501_4
  9. Brunn, M. (2002). The four-square strategy. The Reading Teacher, 55(6), 522-525.
  10. Burns, A., & Siegel, J. (2018). Teaching the four language skills: Themes and issues. In International perspectives on teaching the four skills in ELT (pp. 1-17). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63444-9_1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63444-9_1
  11. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
  12. Dewi, R. S. (2020). The Effect of Using Clustering Technique on Students’ Achievement in Writing Descriptive Text. English Teaching and Linguistics Journal, 1(2), 41-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.30596%2Fetlij.v1i2.4897 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30596/etlij.v1i2.4897
  13. DiTiberio, J. K., & Jensen, G. H. (2018). Writing and personality: Finding your voice, your style, your way. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429485299
  14. Farooq, M. A., Nóvoa, H., Araújo, A., & Tavares, S. M. (2016). An innovative approach for planning and execution of pre-experimental runs for Design of Experiments. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 22(3), 155-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedee.2014.12.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedee.2014.12.003
  15. Febriadi, R. (2017). The use of raft and four square strategies to improve students’narrative writing achievement. The Journal of English Literacy Education: The Teaching and Learning of English as a Foreign Language, 4(2), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.36706/jele.v4i2.5624
  16. Ganapathy, M., & Kaur, S. (2014). ESL Students' Perceptions of the Use of Higher Order Thinking Skills in English Language Writing. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 5(5), 80-87. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1128822 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.5n.5p.80
  17. Grabe, W., & Zhang, C. (2013). Reading and writing together: A critical component of English for academic purposes teaching and learning. Tesol Journal, 4(1), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.65 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.65
  18. Graham, S. (2019). Changing how writing is taught. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 277-303. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X18821125 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X18821125
  19. Gould, J., Gould, E. J., & Burke, M. F. (2010). Four Square: Writing Method Grades 7-9 w/Enhanced CD: A Unique Approach to Teaching Basic Writing Skills. Teaching and Learning Company.
  20. Hacker, D. J. (2018). A metacognitive model of writing: An update from a developmental perspective. Educational Psychologist, 53(4), 220-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2018.1480373 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2018.1480373
  21. Hebert, M., Kearns, D. M., Hayes, J. B., Bazis, P., & Cooper, S. (2018). Why children with dyslexia struggle with writing and how to help them. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 49(4), 843-863. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-DYSLC-18-0024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-DYSLC-18-0024
  22. Hill, J., & Miller, K. B. (2013). Classroom instruction that works with English language learners. ASCD.
  23. Jacobs, H. H. (2014). Active literacy across the curriculum: Strategies for reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315855271
  24. Lumenta, F. M., Surista, A., & Kurnia, A. (2020). Four square method for improving students’ writing ability in EF Teens & Kids Kalimalang. ETUDE: Journal of Educational Research, 1(1), 1-6. https://www.alejournal.com/index.php/etude/article/view/5/0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.56724/etude.v1i1.5
  25. Marcos, R. I. S., Fernández, V. L., González, M. T. D., & Phillips-Silver, J. (2020). Promoting children’s creative thinking through reading and writing in a cooperative learning classroom. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 36, 100663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100663 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100663
  26. McNamara, D. S., Crossley, S. A., & McCarthy, P. M. (2010). Linguistic features of writing quality. Written communication, 27(1), 57-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088309351547 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088309351547
  27. Nation, I. S. (2008). Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203891643
  28. Nejmaoui, N. (2019). Improving EFL Learners' Critical Thinking Skills in Argumentative Writing. English Language Teaching, 12(1), 98-109. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1200049 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v12n1p98
  29. Nugroho, A. W. S., Susilohadi, G., & Pudjobroto, A. H. (2014). The use of four square writing method to improve students’writing skill (An Action Research at the Seventh Grade of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarejo in Academic Year 2011/2012). English Education, 2(2).
  30. Puspita, N. (2015). The effectiveness of four square writing in teaching writing viewed from students’creativity. English Education: Jurnal Tadris Bahasa Inggris, 7(1), 64-80. https://doi.org/10.24042/ee-jtbi.v7i1.433
  31. Ranta, L., & Meckelborg, A. (2013). How much exposure to English do international graduate students really get? Measuring language use in a naturalistic setting. Canadian modern language review, 69(1), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.987 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.987
  32. Roelfsema, P. R., Denys, D., & Klink, P. C. (2018). Mind reading and writing: The future of neurotechnology. Trends in cognitive sciences, 22(7), 598-610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.04.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.04.001
  33. Rofi’ah, A., & Ma’rifah, U. (2018). The Effect of four square writing method (FSWM) through picture series in writing narrative text for eleventh grade at SMA Nusantara Balongpanggang. Journal of English Teaching, Literature, and Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 50-61. http://journal.umg.ac.id/index.php/jetlal/article/view/328
  34. Sadiku, L. M. (2015). The importance of four skills reading, speaking, writing, listening in a lesson hour. European Journal of Language and Literature, 1(1), 29-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26417/ejls.v1i1.p29-31
  35. Setiawati, G. D., Sudarsono, S., & Riyanti, D. (2019). Teaching Writing Descriptive Texts Using Four Square Writing Method (Fswm). Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran Khatulistiwa, 8(10). https://jurnal.untan.ac.id/index.php/jpdpb/article/view/36981
  36. Schunk, D. H. (2003). Self-efficacy for reading and writing: Influence of modeling, goal setting, and self-evaluation. Reading &Writing Quarterly, 19(2), 159-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573560308219 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10573560308219
  37. Tavşanlı, Ö. F., Bilgin, A., Yıldırım, K., Rasinski, T., & Tschantz, B. (2021). The effect of a PBWMIP on writing success and attitude toward writing. Reading & writing quarterly, 37(5), 425-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2020.1846006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2020.1846006
  38. Tijani, G., & Ogbaje, M. (2013). Using four square technique of writing to solve problems of paragraph fragmentation: a Nigeria-Ghana experiment. International Journal of Computer Applications, 65(18).
  39. Yunus, Y., Dollah, S., & Munir, M. (2021). The Use of Four-Square Technique to Improve Students’ Writing Ability. Tamaddun, 20(1), 1-14. http://jurnal.fs.umi.ac.id/index.php/tamaddun-life/article/view/86 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33096/tamaddun.v20i1.86
  40. Yu, S., & Liu, C. (2021). Improving student feedback literacy in academic writing: An evidence-based framework. Assessing Writing, 48, 100525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2021.100525 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2021.100525
  41. Zhou, A. A. (2009). What adult ESL learners say about improving grammar and vocabulary in their writing for academic purposes. Language Awareness, 18(1), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410802307923 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410802307923

Copyright (c) 2022 ETDC: Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Dimension Badge

Downloads

Downloads
Crossmark Badge
Crossmark Badge
Section
Articles
Keywords
Four-square Approach Writing Skills English Education