Writing Essays Made Easy with Instawrite

Abstract

Writing is a mammoth task especially to English as a Second Language Learners (ESL). In the Malaysian education setting, Year 6 Pupils are required to sit for a public exam where their writing skills are evaluated. However, it was discovered that feedbacks from teachers to pupils take more time. This action research was carried out to determine how far the use of InstaWrite can improve writing essays among Year 5 Pupils. These pupils were from rural primary schools in Alor Gajah, Melaka and Jempol, Negeri Sembilan. The research participants were a total of seven males and sevenfemaleswithlowtointermediateproficiencylevels. ParticipantswoulduseInstaWritetohelp them to write narrative essays. These essays are based on a specific context and in an environment that is relatively fun for the participants. The data collected for this research were analysed using document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Participants wrote a single paragraph daily and feedbacks were given by both teachers and other participants. These feedbacks were used to refine the work. After the implementation of InstaWrite, results of the study showed an increase in the number of correct sentences written. The sentences constructed post-InstaWrite adhered to the Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA) structure. The study showed that the use of Instawrite could be a suitable teaching tool to strengthen pupils writing of paragraphs to form an essay. This beneficial use of technology would encourage more pupils to practice writing in English. Keywords: InstaWrite, writing, essay, ICT in language teaching, ESL