The Effect of the Four-Square Writing Method on 7th-Grade Middle School Students’ Informative Text Writing Skills

Öz

Many methods and techniques have been developed in line with the theories and practices put forward for the development of writing skills. The purpose of the current study is to determine whether the Four Square writing method has an effect on the success of 7th-grade middle school students in writing informative texts. The study is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design. The study group consists of 36 7th-grade students from the central district of Kütahya. The study lasted a total of 8 weeks including the administration of a pre-test and post-test and Four Square writing method activities. During the application period, in the writing lessons conducted with the experimental group students, the Four Square writing method was used. On the other hand, in the writing lessons conducted with the control group students, classical writing methods were used. At the end of the process, the experimental and control group students were asked to write an informative text as a post-test. The informative texts written in the pre-test and post-test were interpreted using the Informative Text Writing Achievement Scale. Then, the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental and control groups were statistically analysed. Based on the data obtained, it was concluded that there was a significant difference in favour of the experimental group students in terms of writing informative texts.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Informative text
• four square writing method
• writing skills

Dört Kare Yazma Yönteminin Ortaokul 7. Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Bilgilendirici Metin Yazma Becerilerine Etkisi

Öz

Yazma becerisinin geliştirilmesine yönelik ortaya konan kuram ve uygulamalar doğrultusunda çok sayıda yöntem ve teknik geliştirilmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, bu tekniklerden biri olan Dört Kare Yazma Yönteminin ortaokul 7. Sınıf öğrencilerinin bilgilendirici metin yazma başarısına etkisini saptamaktır. Araştırma ön test- son test desenli yarı deneysel bir çalışmadır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu Kütahya Merkez ilçesinde öğrenim gören 36 7. sınıf öğrencisi oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma; ön test son test çalışmaları, Dört Kare Yazma Yöntemi uygulamaları ile birlikte toplam 8 hafta sürmüştür. Uygulama süresince deney grubuyla Dört Kare Yazma Yönteminin uygulandığı yazma dersleri yürütülürken kontrol grubunda ders kitaplarında yer alan yazma yöntemlerinin uygulandığı ders işleme süreci devam ettirilmiştir. Uygulama sonunda deney grubu ve kontrol grubu öğrencilerine bir bilgilendirici metin son test olarak yazdırılmıştır. Ön test ve son testte yazılan bilgilendirici metinler Bilgilendirici Metin Yazma Başarımı Ölçeği ile yorumlanmıştır. Ardından deney ve kontrol gruplarının ön test-son test puanları analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen verilerden hareketle araştırma sonucuna göre; Dört Kare Yazma Yöntemi uygulamaları yapılan deney grubunun bilgilendirici metin yazma başarısı ile ders kitabında yer alan yazma yöntemleri kullanılan kontrol grubu öğrencilerinin bilgilendirici metin yazma başarıları arasında deney grubu lehine anlamlı bir fark saptanmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Bilgilendirici metin
• dört kare yazma yöntemi
• yazma becerisi

Kaynakça

1. Akbaba, S. (2005). Investigation of intrinsic motivation in terms of some variables. Marmara University Atatürk Faculty of Education Journal of Educational Sciences, 21(21), 19-42.
2. Akyol, H. (1999). Informative texts and teaching. Çağdaş Eğitim, 253(7), 7-13.
3. Bağcı Ayrancı, B. (2019). Relational evaluation of writing skills with four square writing method with written expression skills. Turkish Journal of Social Research, 24(3), 882-891.
4. Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2010). Data analysis handbook for social sciences. Ankara: Pegem Akdemi.
5. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007). Eğitimde araştırma yöntemleri. New York: Routledge.
6. Covey, S, R. (2006). Seven habits of effective people. (Nayır, O. and Deniztekin Nayır, F. Transl.), Istanbul: Varlık Publications.
7. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design. Ankara: Eğiten Kitap.
8. Çepni, S. (2007). Introduction to research and project studies. Trabzon: Celepler Publications.

9. Darmawan, T. (2011). The effectiveness of using Four-Square Writing Method to ımprove students’ writing skill of descriptive texts (an experimental research at the tenth graders of smk n 1 bukateja in the academic year of 2010/2011), (Unpublished masters thesis). Universitas Negeri Semarang.
10. Flower, L. and Hayes, J. R. (1981). A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication, 32(4), 365-387.
11. Fraenkel, J. R. and Wallen, N. E. (Eds.). (2005). How to design and evaluate research in education (1st ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill International Edition.
12. Gould, J., and Gould, E. J. (2002). Four square: The total writing classroom for grades 5-9 (1st ed.). London: Teaching & Learning Company.
13. Gould, J., and Gould, E. J. (2004) Four square: The total writing classroom for grades 1-4 (1st ed.). London: Teaching & Learning Company.
14. Gould, J., and Gould, E. J. (2010). Four square secondary assessment, a companion to the four square writing method (1st ed.). London: Teaching & Learning Company.
15. Gould, J., Gould, E. J., and Burke, M. F. (2010). Four square: Writing method grades 4-6: A unique approach to teaching basic writing skills (1st ed.). London: Teaching and Learning Company.
16. Gould, J., Gould, E. J., and Burke, M. F. (2010). Four square: Writing method grades 7-9: A unique approach to teaching basic writing skills (1st ed.). London: Teaching and Learning Company.
17. Göçer, A. (2018). Writing education (1st edition). Ankara: Pegem Akademi.
18. Günay, D. (2011). Textual knowledge (1st Edition). Istanbul: Multilingual Publishing
19. Güneş, F. (2007). Turkish teaching and mental structuring. Ankara: Nobel Publication Distribution.
20. Hamzadayı, E. and Dölek, O. (2022). A scale proposal for evaluating the success of writing informative texts. Gaziantep University Journal of Educational Sciences, 6(1), 115-130.
21. Handini, F. D. and Saragih, A. (2013). Improving the students’ achievement in writing procedure text by applying mind mapping technique, Transform Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning of FBS UNIMED, 2(3), 1-13.
22. İpşiroğlu, Z. (2006). Creative writing (1st edition). Istanbul: Morpa Culture Publications.
23. Juitania, J. (2016). The effect of using four square writing method on students’ writing skill. Journal Online Mahasiswa (JOM) Bidang Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, 1(1), 1-16.
24. Kaldırım, A. and Tavşanlı Ö. F. (2020). Examining the research on the use of graphic organisers in Turkish education: A thematic analysis. Journal of Uludağ University Faculty, 33(2), 839- 873.
25. Karatay, H., İpek, O. and Karabuğa, H. (2018). Four square writing method in teaching Turkish as a foreign language: An action research on B2 level. Electronic Turkish Studies, 13(19), 1101-1123.
26. Kurt, S. (2019). The effect of four square writing method on the written expression skills of secondary school 5th grade students (Unpublished master's thesis). Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University Institute of Social Sciences, Ağrı.
27. Lestari, E. S., Pudjobroto, H. and Wahyuni, D. S. (2013). Improving students’ writing skill by using four square writing method (FSWM), English Education, 2(1), 94-102.
28. Mahfudhotin, N. (2014, 3 May). The implementation of four-square writing technique in teaching writing narrative writing of short story to tenth grader of senior high school. Retrieved from: https://ejournal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/retain/article/ view/7798/8130.
29. Muth'im, A. and Norhasanah, N. (2019). Four square writing method as a technique to teach descriptive writing. Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies, 5(2), 259-277.
30. Nursyifa, K. R. and Asrori, M. (2014). Improving students’writing skıll using four square writing method. English Education, 2(2), 204-215.
31. Oral, B. and Çoban, A. (2020). Scientific research methods in education from theory to practice (1st Edition). Ankara: Pegem Publications.
32. Özbay, M. (2006). Turkish special teaching methods II. (1st Edition). Ankara: Öncü Publications.
33. Özdemir, B. and Özbay, M. (2016). The effect of 6+1 analytical writing and assessment model on Turkish teacher candidates' writing skills. Journal of Mother Tongue Education, 4(2), 261-276
34. Rahman, D. R. (2016). The four square writing method implementation in students' writing achievement (Unpublished undergraduate thesis). Ar-Raniry State Islamic University Banda Aceh Department of English Education The Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, Banda Aceh.
35. Rohman, D. G. (1965). Pre-writing the stage of discovery in the writing process. College Composition and Communication, 16(2), 106-112.
36. Septiani, P. (2018). Improving students’ writing skill by using four square writing technique (A collaborative classroom action research) (Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis). State Islamic University of Raden Intan Lampung Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Faculty, Lampung.
37. Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings (1st ed.). London: Cambridge University.
38. Taylor, B. M. and Beach, R. W. (1984). The effects of text structure instruction on middle grade students' comprehension and production of expository text. Reading Research Quarterly, 19(2), 134-146.
39. Tompkins, G. E. (2000). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (1st ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
40. Ülper, H. (2008). The effect of the writing teaching programme prepared according to the cognitive process model on student success (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ankara University Institute of Social Sciences, Ankara.
41. Wijiastuti, S. F. (2010). Improving students’ writing skill using four square writing method (A collaborative action research at the eighth grade students of smpn 19 surakarta in 2009/2010) (Unpublished undergraduate thesis). Sebelas Maret University English Department, Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Surakarta.
42. Yangın, B. (2002). Turkish teaching from theory to practice (1st edition). Mersin: Dersal Publishing.