Exploring the Effect of Input Contextualization and Multisensory Teaching on Narrative Writing Development of EFL Learners with Diverse Learning Styles

As a tool of the mind, writing is the skill with which one converts their mind into words. Considering EFL learners' learning styles can be a crucial factor in letting them have a better-organized mind and assisting them to improve their writing ability. This study was an endeavor to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of input contextualization utilizing a multisensory teaching technique on the narrative writing ability of EFL beginner learners with visual, auditory, and tactile learning styles. To achieve this purpose, the researchers carried out a quasi-experimental study on 74 learners at the 8th -grade secondary school in Tehran, Iran. Based on Cohen et al.'s (2002) questionnaire, their learning styles were detected as visual, auditory, and tactile. The three groups were provided with instructions utilizing contextualization of the input geared to their particular learning styles. To investigate the effectiveness of the intervention and estimate the students' writing improvement, the researchers employed a between-within-subjects comparison design utilizing the pretest-posttest writing (Flyer writing section) to check students' writing improvement and compare the improvement across the groups. With the violation of conditions for a mixed between-within-subjects ANOVA, paired-samples t-tests and a Kruskal Wallis test were conducted. The obtained results showed a significant improvement in the writing of the three groups of learners. It was also revealed that the three groups were not significantly different in their narrative writing performance after the intervention.