The Benefits of Formula Instruction in Enhancing EAP Learners' Academic Writing Performance

The purpose of this study is to explore the benefit of direct instruction of academic formulas (DIAF) on the subjects’ academic writing performance. Two intact groups of Diploma in Computer Science students assigned as the experimental and control groups participated in the study. Each group consists of forty mixed ability ESL learners who were enrolled in an academic writing course. DIAF was incorporated into the academic writing course employing a process-oriented writing approach and was conducted over six weeks out of the fourteen-week semester. Pre and post academic essay writing (AEW) tests were utilized for quantitative data collection while focus group interview was utilized for collecting the qualitative data. This paper discusses the results of the study by focusing on the effects of DIAF on learners from different proficiency level.