The Effect of Teacher-led vs. Student-directed Inquiry-based Learning on Argumentative Writing Enhancement

Though an entrenched and well-established domain of investigation, inquiry-based learning seems to have remained a partly under-researched concept in pedagogy and language learning. Informed by this dearth of research on the issue, the researchers in the current study probed into the effectiveness of inquiry-based approach for bettering intermediate EFL learners’ argumentative writing. Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, the current researchers selected three intact classes comprised of ۴۵ institute learners aged between ۱۸ and ۲۰ and assigned them to two experimental groups and a control group. To conduct the study, a homogeneity test, and pretest and posttest of argumentative writing (each containing a ۲۵۰-word essay adopted from IELTS Task ۲) were administered to all he participants. Two kinds of Inquiry-based approach, teacher-led vs. student-directed, were carried out with the two experimental groups. Data analysis through one way ANOVA and Tukey test pointed to a significant difference among the three groups on the posttest. In addition, it was found that both teacher-led and guided modes of inquiry-based learning were equally helpful for boosting learners’ writing ability. The implications of the results are discussed in detail throughout the paper.

کلیدواژه ها:

argumentative writing ، inquiry-based learning ، student-directed inquiry ، teacher-led inquiry ، argumentative writing ، inquiry-based learning ، student-directed inquiry ، teacher-led inquiry