Applying concept-based instruction to improve students’ grammar use in narrative writing

Abstract This study investigated the effects of concept-based instruction on remedial students' grammar use in narrative writing. It also explored the students’ perceptions of the instruction. The study applied a non-equivalent group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental and a mixed methods designs. Accordingly, it included an experimental group instructed through the principles of concept-based instruction and a comparison group instructed through the conventional method, in which grammar is presented deductively through rules-of-thumb explanations. In the intervention which lasted for 4 weeks, simple past, past continuous, past perfect, and present perfect were taught. Tests and semi-structured interviews were utilized to collect data. While independent samples t-tests were employed to analyze the quantitative data, thematic analysis was applied to analyze and interpret the qualitative data. The findings revealed that concept-based instruction is more effective than the conventional method in improving the students’ use of the target grammar features in narrative writing. Data from the interviews also indicated that the students in the experimental group viewed concept-based instruction positively. Based on the findings, concept-based instruction is recommended as a practical approach to improve students' grammar use in writing.