Prompting Cognition for Creativity in EFL Context: An Experimental Study on Use of Infographics for Teaching Writing Skill
Abstract
Creative writing is an imperative prerequisite in EFL contexts with emphasis on developing the cognitive abilities of students for delineating ingenious ideas on paper. Numerous techniques have been introduced for this purpose and one of these influential practices is the use of infographics. Infographics are a potent way to combine visuals with brief descriptions to trigger the cognition of the learners. Keeping in view the efficacy of infographics, the present research intended to explore its practicality within the EFL context of Saudi universities. For the said purpose, an exploratory study was designed with primarily a quantitative approach. In the first phase, an experimental study was conducted with a controlled group of EFL undergraduate students studying in Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University; whereas in the second step, students’ perceptions were recorded through a questionnaire. The data gathered in the pre-test, post-test, and questionnaire were analyzed using statistical methods. The findings disclosed that infographics have the potential to improve the creative writing skill of the students at large. Moreover, the students also considered the use of infographics as an attention-grabbing way to contemplate new ideas. The study endorses that infographics can be used as an effective strategy in the EFL context.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Alrwele, N. S. (2017). Effects of Infographics on Student Achievement and Students' Perceptions of the Impacts of Infographics. Journal of Education and Human Development, 6 (3), 104-117.
Al-Hazmi, S. & Schofield, P. (2007). Enforced Revision with Checklist and Peer Feedback in EFL Writing: The Example of Saudi University Students. Scientific Journal of King Faisal University (Humanities and Management Sciences), 8 (2), 237-267.
Al Hosni, J. (2016). The power of image in English language teaching. The Journal of Teaching English For Specific And Academic Purposes, 4(1), 229-235.
Baka, F. H. (2013). Writing, an Old-New Problem for Arab Learners in King Faisal University English Major Program. Scientific Journal of King Faisal University, 14 (1), 329-347.
Benahnia, A. (2016). Teaching Writing to EFL/ESP Arab Learners. USA: Dave's Publishing Sino-US English Teaching, 13 (4).
Conner, M., & Browne, M. (2013). Navigating the information-scape: Information visualization and student search. Reference Services Review, 41(1), 91-112. doi:10.1108/00907321311300901
Donovan, C. & Smolkin, L. (2002) Children's Genre Knowledge: An Examination of K-5 Students Performance on Multiple Tasks Providing Differing Levels of Scaffolding. Reading Research Quarterly Newark, 37 (4), 428-465.
Ezza, E. (2010). Arab EFL Learners’ Writing Dilemma at Tertiary Level. English Language Teaching, 3 (4), 33-39. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1081973.pdf
Fareh, S. (2010). Challenges of Teaching English in the Arab World: Why Can’t EFL Programs deliver as expected? Procedia Social & Behavioral Sciences,2, 3600-3604.
Fitze, M. & Glasgow, R. (2009). Input Enhancement and Tense Formation in Arab EFL Writing. Retrieved from http://www.tesoljournal.com/Articles/Example_Article.doc.
Fowler, K. (2015). For the LOVE of INFOGRAPHICS. Science Scope, 38 (7), 42-48. doi:10.2505/4/ss15_038_07_42.
Gaut, B. (2010). The philosophy of creativity. Philos. Compass 5, 1034–1046. doi: 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2010.00351.x
Hammond, J. (Ed.) (2002). Scaffolding Teaching and Learning in Language and Literacy Education. Newtown, Australia: PETA
Hedegaard, M. (1992) The Zone of Proximal Development as Basis for Instruction. In Moll, L.C. (Ed.), Vygotsky and Education: Instructional Implications and Applications of Sociohistorical Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heffernan, N. (2006). An Integrated Approach to Teaching Academic Writing. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 8(3), Special Conference Proceedings.
Hinkel, E. (2004). Teaching academic ESL writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary and grammar. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of mixed methods research, 1(2), 112-133.
Kaufman, J. C. (2009). The Psych 101 Series. Creativity 101. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co.
Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. London: Routledge.
Kong, A. (2002). Scaffolding in a Learning Community of Practice: A Case Study of a Gradual Release of Responsibility From the Teacher to the Students. 47th Annual International Reading Association Convention, San Francisco.
Marabella, A. (2014). Communication theories: An infographics development project. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Southern Utah University.
Matrix, S., & Hodson, J. (2014). Teaching with Infographics: Practicing new digital competencies and visual literacies. Journal of Pedagogic Development, 4(2), 17-27.
Nygate, J. A & Cliver, R. (2015). Improving Technical writing skills through the judicious use of Infographics. A paper presented in 122nd ASEE Conference & Exposition. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Ansa%20Numan/Downloads/improving-technical-writing-skills-through-the-judicious-use-of-infographics%20(1).pdf
Nuhoğlu Kibar P., Akkoyunlu B. (2014) A New Approach to Equip Students with Visual Literacy Skills: Use of Infographics in Education. In: Kurbanoğlu S., Špiranec S., Grassian E., Mizrachi D., Catts R. (eds) Information Literacy. Lifelong Learning and Digital Citizenship in the 21st Century. ECIL 2014. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 492. Springer, Cham
Putra, A. S. (2019). The Correlation of EFL Student’s Learning Style and Writing Skill at Vocational High School, The Asian EFL Journal, 25 (5), 39-48.
Rao, T. S. S. & Tandon A. (2016). Cognition. Journal of Geriatric Mental Health.
Roehling, P. V., Kooi, T. L. V., Dykema, S., Quisenberry, B., & Vandlen, C. (2010). Engaging the millennial generation in class discussions. College Teaching, 59(1), 1-6. doi:10.1080/87567555.2010.484035.
Rogers, J., & Révész, A. (2020). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs. The Routledge handbook of research methods in applied linguistics. New York: Routledge.
Saadah, A. (2019). The effect of infographic media on Students’ writing skill. English education department teacher training and education faculty state institute for Islamic studies (iain) salatiga.
Sakkir, G. (2018). Interest and Writing Skill of the University Students on using Social Media- Facebook in Writing Class. The Asian EFL Journal, 20 (5), 41-50.
Sillman, J. (2014). The 4 Stages of creativity.
Sukma, N. Q. (2016). The use of infographic to increase students’ mastery in using preposition in written descriptive text. A degree project submitted to English Department, Faculty Of Languages And Arts, Semarang State University.
Treffinger, D. J. (2009). Myth 5: Creativity is too difficult to measure. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53, 245–247.
Ohanyan, M. & Ohanyan, A. (2015). Developing Creative Writing. Yerevan: Vmv-Print Publishing House.
Osterman, M., Reio Jr, T. G., & Thirunarayanan, M. (2013). Digital literacy: A demand for nonlinear thinking styles. Sferc 149.
Yildirim, S. (2016). Infographics for educational purposes: Their structure, properties, and reader approaches. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 15(3), 98
Zhang, X., Kuchinke, L., Woud, M. L., Velten, J., & Margraf, J. (2017). Survey method matters: Online/offline questionnaires and face-to-face or telephone interviews differ. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 172-180.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
ISSN 1305-578X (Online)
Copyright © 2005-2022 by Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies