A Study On The Effectiveness Of Four Square Writing Method In Senior High School English Letter Writing

English letter writing is an important component of the College Entrance Examination and is reflective of a student’s overall language ability.Hence,it is critical to equip students with scientific methods to improve their English letter writing.Four Square Writing Method,proposed by Judith S.Gould,enables students to plan a text,expand their thinking and enrich details step by step by means of a simple four-square graphic.A series of books about Four Square Writing Method have clarified the significance of this writing method for various styles of writing in primary school and junior high school.However,few senior high schools at home and abroad have adopted this writing method in letter writing,and few studies have been conducted in this regard.Such absence of practice and interest motivates the current study to explore the effectiveness of Four Square Writing Method in senior high school English letter instruction by answering the following research questions:1)Does Four Square Writing Method have a positive effect on students’ attitudes towards English letter writing?2)What effect does Four Square Writing Method have on students’ English letter writing ability in terms of organizational completeness,content richness and language appropriacy?In this study,45 senior three students from a school in Enshi,Hubei Province were guided to use Four Square Writing Method to write letters of various topics such as suggestion letters,application letters and invitation letters for 10 consecutive weeks based on constructive learning theory,cognitive learning theory and cooperative learning theory.Qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to assess students’ attitudes and interests in letter writing,their views on traditional writing teaching and Four Square Writing Method,as well as their writing competence in terms of organizational completeness,content richness and language appropriacy.Three experienced teachers graded the three aspects according to the letter writing criteria of the College Entrance Examination,and the results obtained before and after the test were compared and analyzed by paired-sample t test in SPSS 26.0.The results of this study indicate that the students’ attitudes towards letter writing have undergone a positive transformation.Following the steps of Four Square Writing Method,writing has become fun and easy,and the students no longer resist letter writing but instead show great enthusiasm and self-assurance.Additionally,the organization of the students’ letter writing is more complete(p=.000),as they are able to organize the main points of the letter through the four-square graphic and add transitional words for cohesion,making the main points of the article comprehensive,logical and coherent.Furthermore,the content of students’ letter writing is richer(p=.000),due to the brainstorming,cooperative discussion and other activities in the writing process,which have cultivated the students’ thinking ability and enabled them to express their views more fully.Lastly,the language of students’ letter writing is more appropriate(p=.000),as they can select appropriate expressions of different degrees of formality and politeness according to the relationship of the writer and the receiver.The implications of the research are as follows: firstly,A scientific approach to teaching can lead to significant results with minimal effort.Secondly,when utilizing Four Square Writing Method,teachers should ensure that the classroom is student-centered.Lastly,it is suggested that further exploration of its effectiveness on other writing forms in senior high school,such as summary writing and continuation writing,should be conducted.