Development of an educational package based on semantic frames and its effect on sixth-grade primary school students’ writing skill

Writing could be construed as one of the largest challenges at various educational levels, from primary school to post-graduate academic studies. The present study aimed to develop an educational package based on semantic frames and evaluate its effect on sixth-grade students’ writing skills.

The present study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group in terms of method. The statistical population included all sixth-grade male and female students of the primary school in Rasht in the academic year 2020-2021, of which 100 students were selected by random sampling method and assigned to the experimental and control group (50 people in each group). The research instrument included the researcher-made questionnaire. The experimental group received the training package, while the control group was trained by the usual method based on the curriculum of the Ministry of Education. The revised form of the training package was developed by the TBLT method during 10 60-minute sessions in two sessions per week for the experimental group. To assess the effectiveness of the educational package, a 10-item researcher made test was given to both experimental and control groups. Data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance in SPSS-26.

The result revealed that the education package of indirect semantic frames affected students’ writing skills. In other words, the writing score of students participating in indirect semantic frames training sessions increased significantly compared to the control group (P<0.01).

Referring to the result, the educational package can be viewed as structural and strategic knowledge development. As a result, the educational package of indirect semantic frames can be suggested as a facilitator in teaching writing skills to both teachers and students.