The Effect of Mixed-Level Proficiency Tasks on Iranian EFL Learner’sArgumentative Essay Writing and an Investigation of Language-RelatedEpisodes in Collaboration

This quasi-experimental study investigates the effect of mixed-level proficiency tasks on IranianEFL learners’ argumentative essay writing and examines language-related episodes duringcollaboration. A Preliminary English Test (PET) was administered to approximately 200undergraduate female EFL learners at Shokouh Institute in Tehran, Iran, to select a homogenoussample. Out of these, 60 intermediate students were chosen for the study. The study involves onedependent variable (writing ability) and two independent variables (lexical ties and grammaticaldevices). The experimental group received instruction focused on lexical ties (cohesion) andgrammatical devices, while the control group followed traditional writing instruction. Theexperimental sessions lasted 30 minutes each, focusing on key points related to cohesion andcoherence and grammatical devices such as “therefore” and “so.” To ensure material consistency,texts were selected from learners’ textbooks at the same proficiency level. The study, spanningnearly two months with a total of 3 hours of instruction, concluded with a post-test (a parallelversion of the pre-test) to measure changes in writing ability.

The Effect of Mixed-Level Proficiency Tasks on Iranian EFL Learner’sArgumentative Essay Writing and an Investigation of Language-RelatedEpisodes in Collaboration Keywords:

Lexical ties , grammatical devices , learners’ writing ability