The Impact of Using Visual Aids on Improving EFL Learners’ Writing Skills: The Case of 4th Year EFL Students of Ali Ibn Abi Talib Middle School Ghardaia

Abstract

The present study examines the effect of using visual aids on improving pupils’ writing skills at middle school. To achieve this end, thirty-seven (37) pupils of fourth-year level were chosen from the population of Ali Ben Abi Taleb Middle School in Ghardaia as participants of this study. The group was selected for the purpose of conducting an experiment on the effect of the independent variable “using visual aids” on the dependent variable “teaching writing skill”. The data gathering tools that were used to carry this investigation were, a pretest, a posttest, and a teachers’ questionnaire. Firstly, a pretest which consisted of an activity about writing a paragraph about a favorite teacher was administered to the selected group. Then, it has received treatment as the experiment procedure requires but with different teaching techniques, i.e., the selected group was taught through using different kinds of visual aids. After the treatment period (two weeks), a post-test comprising an activity about writing a letter to the freedom fighter Zohra Drif was administered to the same group. After collecting and analyzing the required results, we have deduced that visual aids have a positive effect on teaching writing regarding the pupils’ best performance in the post test. In addition, we realized that there was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test results. So, we can validate our hypothesis and conclude that visual aids enhance the teaching of writing skills because they increase memorization, acquisition, and comprehension.