Reading to writing: effects of authentic readings on novice Spanish students’ writing / Ana I. Capanegra

The current study examined the effects of authentic readings on the written production of
college-level novice Spanish students, especially on content/vocabulary and text organization.
The experimental and control groups had six written assignments over a 4-month period, which
included a pretest and posttest to measure overall writing abilities of the participating groups.
The experimental group was asked to read four different authentic texts before writing, whereas
the control group completed the writing assignments without the prior reading activity. The gains
of the combined dependent variables content/vocabulary and text organization were analyzed.
The results of an ANOVA performed on the participants’ gains in overall writing scores from
pretest (Writing Assignment 1) to posttest (Writing Assignment 6) showed that authentic reading
comprehension activities did not improve their writing abilities. The results of a MANOVA
performed on the gains from Writing Assignment 2 to Writing Assignment 5 in terms of
content/vocabulary and text organization showed no main effect for group or gender but did
reveal an interaction. The reading assignment enhanced females’ content/vocabulary and text
organization while undercutting males’ progress. Finally, the findings of the post experimental
survey administered to the participants in the experimental group revealed moderately positive
attitudes toward the use of authentic readings prior to the writing assignments. The gender
differences revealed by this investigation warrant further and more detailed research to determine
possible underlying causes.