Beyond the blank page: padlet-enhanced narrative writing in a rural bilingual elementary classroom

Purpose: to examine the effect of Padlet-enhanced narrative writing instruction on grade V students’ writing performance after controlling for initial ability and to compare normalized learning gains between students receiving Padlet-enhanced and conventional instruction Method: this quasi-experimental study involved 34 grade V students in experimental and control groups. Data were collected through narrative writing tests and analyzed using ANCOVA and N-Gain comparisons. Findings: Padlet-enhanced instruction significantly improved students’ narrative writing performance after controlling for initial ability (F(1, 31) = 471.980, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.938). The experimental group achieved a higher adjusted posttest mean than the control group, with a difference of 15.042 points. Furthermore, the experimental group demonstrated a higher normalized gain (0.6503; medium category) than the control group (0.2713; low category), with a statistically significant difference (t(32) = 20.870, p < 0.001). Implications: Padlet’s potential to enhance narrative writing instruction through visual scaffolding, collaborative learning, and interactive feedback, particularly in rural bilingual elementary classrooms. Originality: this study offers a novel examination of Padlet across the entire narrative writing process in a rural Madurese–Indonesian bilingual elementary classroom, combining ANCOVA, N-Gain analysis, and inter-rater reliability assessment.