Effects of the Integrated Approach to Teaching English and Social Studies on Achievement in a Saudi Private Elementary School

Abstract

Emergent research suggested that teaching the curriculum in a segregated manner does not help students with the transference of skills from one skill or discipline to the other. The underlying notion of this study presupposes that schools should implement the integrated curriculum as a replacement of the traditional fragmented discipline approach in grades one to six. The purpose of this study has been to present a comprehensive description of the integrated curriculum and its many models, followed by an evaluation study of integration involving literacy skills in English and Social Studies. The integration was implemented by using the sequenced model of integration of reading/writing skills in Foreign Language and Social Studies as an example of the practical side of curricular integration. Findings indicated that the integrated approach induced to better achievement gains in literacy development and Social Studies achievement. Discussion of findings, implications and recommendations were presented in this paper.