The Effect of Native Model Writing on the Vocabulary Richness of Iranian EFL Learners’ Written Text in a Four-stage Writing Task

Abstract

Vocabulary is a main part of English language teaching because without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own thoughts. “A repeating inquiry in the historical backdrop of language teaching research has been that of how vocabulary can be best organized for learning “(see McArthur 1998; Howatt and Widdowson 2004 for historical reviews). The present study investigated a group of Iranian EFL students’ knowledge for vocabulary learning and their vocabulary size. This study aimed at investigating the role of native-like writing in enhancing learners' writing ability by sensitizing them to select more native-like terms and expressions through improving their vocabulary knowledge. For this purpose the researcher used native models in two revisions of story in four-stage writing task that consisted of output, comparison, and two revisions. The question that researchers asked was whether giving native models later turns into better performance. At the end it is concluded that the 4-satge native model of writing helps L2 learners to write a well-formed English narrative and make use of better terms and expressions as well as helping teachers understand the formulation problems of EFL writers and what the students notice. That is, the gap between the way that they write and the native models to which they compare themselves.