Evaluating the effectiveness of a complimentary approach to teaching writing skills

This paper reports the design, instrumentation and evaluation of effectiveness of a case study in which a teacher of English, at a private middle school in Argentina, carried out a writing project with 26 students aged 13-14. This project consisted in the implementation of a complimentary mode of teaching writing skills that conflated both the process and the genre approaches. Data were gathered through teacher and student’s interviews, class observation and students’ portfolios. The analysis and interpretation of the findings obtained showed that this eclectic approach to the teaching and learning of writing skills is more beneficial than traditional approaches. Some avenues for further investigation in the area were finally suggested.