The Effect of Topic Familiarity on EFL Argumentative Writing Performance
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Keywords:
topic familiarity; argumentative writing; EFL learners, tutor questioningAbstract
Writing is a productive skill that serves as a means of communication, so ideas and information must be structured clearly, logically, and easily understood by readers. In the EFL context, argumentative writing skills are often a challenge because students are not only required to master linguistic aspects, but also to be able to develop ideas, construct arguments, and provide relevant evidence. One factor suspected of influencing the quality of argumentative writing is topic familiarity. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of topic familiarity on EFL students' argumentative writing performance. This study used a quasi-experimental design involving 60 students and was conducted over a ten-week period. Before the treatment was administered, participants took a pre-test to measure their initial writing ability. In the familiar topic group, students were asked to choose the topic they were most familiar with from ten provided topics. Meanwhile, in the unfamiliar topic group, four topics were predetermined by the researchers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an Independent Samples t-test. The results showed that students who wrote using familiar topics performed better (M=81.9) than those who wrote on unfamiliar topics (M=76.77). Statistical analysis showed a significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that topic familiarity contributes positively to the development of EFL learners' argumentative writing skills by facilitating more effective idea development and argument construction.
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