Impacts of a socio-cognitive and motivation-and-learning approach on students’ writing with a real audience

Abstract

Little published research has investigated how students interact with authentic audiences. By conducting a two-year classroom-based research intervention with 617 students from three government-aided primary schools in Singapore, this study examined the effect of the socio-cognitive and motivation-and-learning (SCML) approach on students’ writing with a real audience in the classroom context. Data included student compositions and peer feedback via Padlet, a web app that enables users to post notes on a digital wall. Findings showed that there was a significant difference between pre- and post-tests in students’ writing with a real audience after the implementation of SCML writing programmes. Findings also indicated that students were able to provide quality peer feedback on classmates’ compositions. This study contributes to research on students’ writing with a real audience in a school context. The SCML approach encourages peer feedback through the use of Padlet, which is conducive to improving audience awareness in writing.