Adam Steinhoff

This dissertation investigated the influence of pre-writing strategies on essay writing structure amongst English as a Second Language (ESL) learners enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program. Pre-writing strategies are said to assist in lightening the cognitive load experienced by writers, during the writing phase, and thus contribute to improving elements of the final written product, such as essay structure. This four-week study adopted a quasi-experimental, pretest, posttest research design with two treatment groups. Participants were assigned to either the Outlining Group (N = 46) or the Concept Mapping Group (N = 43) based on the intact classes in the EAP program. The study sought to answer the following two research questions: (1) What is the nature of ESL students’ writing as measured before and after pre-writing strategy intervention? (2) What are students’ perceptions of pre-writing strategies before and after pre-writing strategy intervention? Data collection instruments for these questions included: Research Question 1 – (1) a pre-intervention paragraph, (2) a delayed post-intervention essay; Research Question 2 – (3) Pre-Intervention Questionnaire, (4) Immediate Post-Intervention Questionnaire, and (5) Delayed Post-Intervention Questionnaire. Regarding Research Question 1, significant within-group increases in structure scores for both groups were revealed and a non-significant difference in between-group delayed post-intervention structure scores. Regarding Research Question 2, paired-samples t-test results indicated a significant effect for time in perceptions for the Outlining Group for a conclusion and all essay sections combined compared to non-significant within-group differences in perceptions for the Concept Mapping Group. Furthermore, non-significant between-group differences in perceptions were also found. Limitations of the study include a lack of qualitative data to complement the quantitative data as well as a lack of teachers’ perceptions towards the influence of pre-writing strategies on writing structure. Finally, methodological implications are discussed regarding future research, with the dissertation concluding with pedagogical implications in light of the findings, which could be of benefit to students and teachers in ESL settings.