Graphic Organizers and Instructional Scaffolding: Effect on Argumentative Writing Performance

The present study investigated the effect of graphic organizers and instructional scaffolding on argumentative writing performance among TESL undergraduates. The study employed a quasi-experimental research using the pre-test and post-test design involving 90 TESL undergraduates being placed equally in three different groups underwent lessons on argumentative essay writing using different delivery modes, namely ‘Graphic Organizer with Instructional Scaffolding’ (GOIS), ‘Graphic Organizer without Instructional Scaffolding’ (GONI) and ‘No Graphic Organizer No Instructional Scaffolding’ (NGNI). The study revealed that the GOIS delivery mode performed significantly better in the overall argumentative essay writing performance (p<.05) compared to the GONI and NGNI delivery modes. Next, in terms of the overall frequency of conjunctions and argumentative elements, both the GOIS and GONI groups performed significantly better (p<.05) than the NGNI group.The overall percentages of Communicative Acts (CA’s) indicated that the GONI group outperformed the GOIS group. However, the semi-structured interview revealed that the GOIS group experienced learning better than the GONI and NGNI groups.