The Effect of Free Reading On Ninth Grade Students' Written Composition in English in Nablus Schools

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of free reading activity on the ninth grade students' writing composition in English in Nablus Schools on the one hand, and showing the importance of feedback beside free reading strategy in writing composition, on the other hand. The population of this study consists of (4280) of all the ninth grade students at Nablus schools’ district, who attended the first semester of the year 1999-2000, while the sample of the study comprised six schools chosen randomly, three for boys, and the others for girls. Each time two schools were chosen randomly one for males, and the other for females to form the three groups of the study (traditional/control,free-reading (ECI), free-reading and feedback (EG2) groups). A pre-test in writing composition was given to the three groups.The experimental group one read suggested six short stories successively at home. The experimental group two read the same six short stories, but a discussion and feedback followed at the end of reading each short story. The time allowed for reading each story was one week. A post-test in writing composition was given to the three groups. Paired t-test, co-variance (ANCOVA) and Sidak post-hoc were used to test and analyze the hypothesis of the study. The results show that there is a significant difference in students’ post achievements in writing between the groups in favor of experimental group “2”. In the light of the results, the following recommendations were given: • There is a need to study the effect of free reading activity on other areas of language learning such as: vocabulary, structure, listening and reading skills. • The Ministry of Education should encourage the use of free reading by offering the type of literature that suits students of both sexes in terms of their needs and interests. • Teachers should be interested in free reading and motivate their students to do so in their free time.