Abstract:
The major objective of this study was to examine the effects of a process-genre approach on
students’ perceptions of paragraph writing, writing strategy use, and performance of writing
paragraphs. To this end, a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design was employed.
In this regard, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected
through closed-ended questionnaires and paragraph writing tests, which were further
enhanced by expert judgment. Then, two groups were assigned to both experimental and control
groups using the lottery method. Pre-treatment questionnaires and pre-tests were administered
to students before the intervention. After ten weeks of treatment, the students were also given
post-tests and after-treatment questionnaires. Independent and paired-sample t-tests were
computed to determine if there was a statistically significant difference due to treatment
between the students’ before and after treatments of the questionnaires and pre- and post-tests
in writing paragraphs. According to the data collected from questionnaires administered before
and after the intervention, the students taught paragraph writing using the process-genre
approach had a more positive perception of the material and lesson activities than those taught
using conventional methods. According to the data collected from students using the writing
strategies questionnaire, the process-genre approach performed better than conventional
methods for the students in the experiment. The results indicated a statistically significant
improvement in students' paragraph writing performance in the post-test over their pre-test
performance. Based on the study findings, it was concluded that the process-genre approach
could have significant benefits in improving students’ paragraph writing performances. Based
on these findings and conclusions, recommendations were drawn.
