Open AccessEFFECT OF CAPTION TYPE IN PICTURE PROMPTS ON EFL WRITING QUALITY
Author(s) -
Jaqueline Shi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of teaching english for specific and academic purposes/≠the ≠journal of teaching english for specific and academic purposes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2334-9212
pISSN - 2334-9182
DOI - 10.22190/jtesap2002111s
Subject(s) - persuasion , narrative , psychology , dimension (graph theory) , multivariate analysis of variance , quality (philosophy) , elaboration , linguistics , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , humanities , art , epistemology , mathematics , philosophy , machine learning , pure mathematics
To explore the validity of picture-prompt writing assessment, the study investigated the influence of caption type (i.e. narrative, abstract, and zero) in the picture prompt on EFL writing quality of Chinese college students in terms of holistic scores and functional dimensions (i.e. Dimensions of Involvement, Narration, Elaborated reference, Persuasion, Abstractness, and On-line informational elaboration). ANOVA, MANOVA, and linear regression analysis were conducted and results showed that (a) participants performed significantly better with the abstract caption; (b) Dimensions of Involvement and Abstractness significantly distinguished essays with the abstract caption from those with other types; (c) Dimension of Persuasion significantly predicted ratings of essays with the narrative caption, while Dimension of Narration significantly predicted ratings of essays with the abstract caption. Finally, implications for picture-prompt writing assessment and instruction were discussed.