The Effect of Using Literary Works on EFL Learners’ Writing Performance and Attitude: Grade 11 Students of Limu Genet Secondary School in Focus

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of some selected literary works on EFL learners’ paragraph-level writing performance and their attitude towards writing a paragraph. The research designs that were used to carry out the study were quasi-experimental and descriptive study designs. A quasi-experimental research design was used since the study focused on the cause-and-effect relationship between using literary works and writing performance and learners’ attitude to writing. The independent variable of the study is ‘using literary works’ while the dependent variables are writing performance in terms of organization, content, language use and mechanics. The study site is Limu Genet secondary school. Sample students who were sorted into experimental and control groups were taken from two sections out of the seven sections of grade 11. The researcher took sections E1 and E2 of social science students using the purposive sampling method because the number of students in each section was 40. Testing was the main data collection instrument for the experiment design. On the other hand, to assess learners’ attitudes after the intervention, a descriptive study design was used. A questionnaire and interview were used to collect data. Mixed data analyses that include both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The data gained from pretest and posttest were analyzed using quantitative data analysis method that involved both descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics such as independent, paired sample and one- sample t-tests. The data gained from the questionnaire were analyzed using the quantitative and the qualitative methods. The result showed that experimental group students outperformed the students from the control group because of the intervention. Besides, the attitude of the students from the experimental group was found to be positive towards writing. Finally, it was recommended that to improve learners’ paragraph writing performance, learners should be exposed to various literary works.