Improving Writing Skills in Students at Higher Secondary Level through English Newspaper Editorials

Abstract

This research investigates the efficacy of incorporating newspaper editorials as instructional materials to enhance writing skills among Higher Secondary School (HSS) and English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Addressing the dearth of standardized approaches for utilizing newspapers in English language classrooms, the study explores to optimize their effectiveness as teaching aids. The significance lies in promoting newspapers as valuable tools for language instruction, shedding light on various techniques, and contributing to innovative language teaching methods. The study focuses on objectives centered on improving students' marks in word building, sentence construction, guided composition, and paragraph building through the methodology of instructing writing skills via newspaper editorials. The research design adopts an experimental approach, utilizing pre-tests, post-tests, and statistical analyses to assess the impact of the teaching method on writing skills. The sample comprises 40 female students from a public sector school in Lahore. Findings reveal no significant difference in writing skills between control and experimental groups before treatment, emphasizing the initial similarity. Post-treatment, the experimental group, exposed to newspaper editorial instruction, exhibits significant improvements in word building, sentence construction, guided composition, and paragraph building compared to the control group. The study contributes valuable insights into effective language instruction, emphasizing the potential of newspapers as dynamic teaching resources.