An Integration of Sheltered and Reciprocal Principles: A Metacognitive Approach to EFL Learners’ Writing Proficiency and Self-Efficacy

Determining a qualified teaching method in writing has always been a controversial issue as a multitude of researchers have debated its effectiveness in improving Learners’ accuracy in writing. This study examines the background of this debate and looked at previous major studies on this issue. Due to the limitations and pitfalls of sheltered and reciprocal teaching procedures, this study was to inquire whether the integration of reciprocal and sheltered teaching approaches would influence students’ performance in writing and find out if the approach could impress the learners’ self-efficacy as well. Three groups of pre-intermediate EFL students took part in this research. 68 male and female participants in one experimental and two control groups established the subjects of the study. The experimental group worked on the integration of reciprocal and sheltered approaches in writing and self-efficacy. The results reveal the positive effect of integration of reciprocal and sheltered approaches on the writing performance of the subjects in the EG. Moreover, the selected procedures could lead to learners’ self-efficacy development. Finally, the achievements of this study contributed to an understanding of the type of teaching approach which is most appropriate for pre-intermediate students. As the integration of strategic responses to texts is regarded an efficacious way in comprehension, reciprocal teaching appears to be one of the best approaches to reading and writing [7]. This strategy can be so effective in EFL classes where the students are exposed to English only at class time. Sheltered English instruction is often applied in ESL (English as a second language) programs with sheltered content courses (e.g., sheltered chemistry, sheltered U. S. history), newcomer programs, transitional bilingual education, developmental bilingual education, dual-language programs, and two-way immersion programs. Sheltered instruction appears in classes that consist of only English language learners and in classes of both ELLs and native English-speaking students. The sheltered approach is also used in many foreign language classes in the United States.