ENHANCING L2 LEARNERS' WRITING: IMPACT OF PRODUCT AND PROCESS APPROACHES

This study investigated the effects of two approaches to teaching writing (product and process) on the development of writing skills of Moroccan EFL high-school students. Two intact classes of 86 third-year high-school students participated in the present study. A pre-test was administered to all participants to measure their writing competence in expository essay writing. Each group was then subjected to a specific treatment. The experimental group was instructed to use a process-based syllabus, while the control group followed the original product-based syllabus. In the process-oriented syllabus, students were guided through various stages of the writing process via activities like brainstorming, collaborative problem-solving, free writing, multiple drafting, structured peer feedback, and teacher-student conferences. Conversely, the product-oriented syllabus focused on teaching writing through model analysis, writing exercises, and structured feedback sessions with teachers. Following the instructional period, participants underwent a post-test to assess the impact of each approach on their writing proficiency. Statistical analyses, including Paired Samples T-test and Independent Samples T-test, demonstrated that both approaches led to improvements in students' writing performance, with the process-based approach being more effective. Participant feedback on the questionnaire also supported these findings. The study concludes by outlining implications for the teaching of writing in second language (L2) contexts.  Article visualizations: