The Effect of Problem-based Instruction on EFL Learners’ Paragraph Writing Performance and their Motivation: Bure Secondary School in Focus

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of problem-based instruction on students’ paragraph writing performance and their motivation at Bure secondary school which is located in Oromia region Ilu -Aba bor zone. Since the study was quasi-experimental design, 38 students were participated as control (n =20) and experimental (n = 18) groups. To this effect, mixed method that includes quantitative and qualitative methods was employed to carry out the study. The data for the study were collected using testing, questionnaire and interview. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data, whereas thematic description was used to present and analyze the qualitative data. An independent and a paired sample t-tests were employed to examine whether there was a significant difference between the control and the experimental groups before and after the intervention. Additionally, cut-off points were used to interpret the descriptive data presented on the effect of using problem based instruction on learners’ motivation. The findings of the study showed that there was significant difference between the two groups in paragraph writing performance favoring the experimental group students who participated in PBI intervention. Furthermore, the post intervention mean score indicated that students’ paragraph writing performance significantly increased after the treatment. The findings also revealed that students who made to engage in the intervention had showed high level of motivation. Therefore, it is suggested that problem-based instruction should be taken into account by material designer, teachers and learners.