Extended Writing Time as a Conditional Scaffold in Fidelity-Monitored Process Writing: Component-Level Evidence in Secondary EFL Classrooms

This study examined whether pretest-to-posttest change in expository writing performance differed between Bhutanese secondary English as a foreign language (EFL) students receiving a structured, fidelity-monitored Process Writing Approach (PWA) and those receiving conventional product-oriented instruction, and whether scores on selected writing components differed between the 30-minute and 45-minute conditions within the PWA group. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control-group design involved 40 students in Grades 10 and 11 at a public school in Thimphu, Bhutan. One intact class received a 15-day PWA intervention involving planning, drafting, peer and teacher feedback, revision, editing, and final submission, whereas the control class received product-oriented instruction. A 2 × 2 mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significantly greater pretest-to-posttest improvement in the PWA group. Within the PWA group, Bonferroni-adjusted paired comparisons showed higher scores in the 45-minute condition for facts/statistical information and supporting evidence and spelling accuracy. The increase in language register was not significant after adjustment, whereas grammar and vocabulary accuracy decreased. The four-component focal subtotal was also higher in the 45-minute condition. These findings suggest that fidelity-monitored PWA improved overall expository writing in this sample and that additional writing time functioned as a selective rather than universal scaffold.