Graphic organiser as a strategic tool for enhancing summary writing / Shameem Rafik-Galea and Jasvir Kaur Amar Singh

Summary writing can be used to bridge success in both the English
language and content area reading and writing classroom. The
ability to summarise a lengthy text or article into its essential ideas
is a mark of a proficient reader and writer, thus, making it a critical
study skill. Research has shown that summary writing helps improve
students' comprehension. Hence, it is considered an effective
learning strategy because students must make decisions about the
relative importance of elements in a text in order to summarise it
and they also need to comprehend a text at a higher level than
when they are simply reading it. Students would be able to increase
their comprehension of a text if they are well trained in summary
writing skills. Summary writing is an essential aspect of the
Malaysian upper secondary school curriculum. However, the writers'
observations reveal that students are not given adequate practice
in summary writing although it is a critical skill. Furthermore, the
textbooks in use do not provide appropriate techniques for practice
in summary writing. Hence, this paper describes an action research
that explores the application of graphic organisers along side other
strategies in the teaching of summary writing