Enhancing Freshman
Students’ Writing Skills with
a Mind-mapping Software
Prof. Reima Al-Jarf
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
e-mail: reemasado@msn.com
Website: http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf
eLSE 2009. Carol I National Defense University. Bucharest, Romania. April 8-10, 2009
What is s Mind Map?
 It is a graphic organizer in which the major
categories radiate from a central image &
lesser categories are portrayed as
branches of larger branches.
 It can be used to generate ideas, take
notes, develop concepts & ideas, &
improve memory.
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Importance of Mind Maps
 They enhance learning & create a
foundation for learning.
 An illustrative tool that assists with
managing thought, directing learning, &
making connections.
 To introduce an overall topic, increase
student involvement, & get thoughts down
quickly.
 to express ideas & show interrelationships
between concepts & content.
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Aims of Study
 Does utilization of a mind mapping
software have any positive effects on EFL
freshman students’ writing achievement?
 Does utilization of a mind mapping
software have any positive effects on
freshman students’ attitudes towards
writing skill development & the mind
mapping activity?
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Subjects
 86 EFL female freshman students in two
intact groups (43 students each).
 Both groups were in their first semester
of the translation program at COLT.
 The EFL program at COLT offers four
writing courses ranging between
elementary & advanced levels to students
in semester 1-4.
 Age 18, all Saudi, all native speakers of
Arabic.
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Pretesting
 Before instruction, the 2 groups took the
same writing pretest.
 Results showed no significant
differences between the experimental &
control groups in their writing ability
before the writing instruction began.
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Traditional instruction
 Both groups were exposed to the same
traditional in-class writing instruction.
 They studied same textbook, covered
same skills, exercises & took the same
tests.
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Treatment
 Free Mind 0.8.1 was integrated in in-class
writing instruction as a prewriting activity.
 In week 1, I trained the students to use
Free Mind using an LCD projector.
 Every week the software was used to
create mind maps for the topic that the
students had to write a paragraph about in
class with the my help.
 They continued to use Free Mind at home.
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 A mind map begins with a word or image
that symbolizes the topic the student have
to write about in the middle using at least 3
colors.
 The students write down or drew the first
things that come up to their mind when
they start to think about related issues,
people, places, events, reasons,
characteristics or examples.
 They put their thoughts around the central
thought.
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 Type one or two word descriptions of the
ideas on lines branching from the central
focus.
 Expand ideas outward into branches &
sub- branches.
 Express ideas in words, images, codes or
symbols.
 Select keywords.
 Each word/image sat alone on its own line.
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 When ideas slowed down, the students
draw empty lines, & watched their brain
automatically find ideas to put on them.
 Sometimes they could see relationships &
connections immediately & could add subbranches to a main idea.
 The first requirement was to get the ideas
out of their head & onto the screen.
 Organization always came later.
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 The aim of the prewriting activity was not
to teach the students how to apply the
details of the Free Mind software & how
to use it in studying, reading, vocabulary
building ...etc.
 Focus was on placing the paragraph
topic in the center, how to add branches
for the details, how to add pictures &
change the font color, size & case.
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Posttesting
 Students in both groups took the same
posttest.
 The experimental group answered a posttreatment questionnaire.
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Results
 T-test results revealed a significant
difference between the experimental &
control suggesting that experimental
students’ made higher gains in writing
achievement as a result of integrating the
mind mapping software in writing
instruction.
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 The experimental group wrote more
relevant details & better organized &
connected ideas than paragraphs written
by the control groups.
 During posttest most students drew mind
maps by hand to help them visualize &
organize ideas.
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Effect of Mind Mapping
on Attitudes
 Positive attitudes towards mind mapping &
the writing course under study.
 Students found the mind mapping software
fun & helpful in generating & organizing
ideas, & considered it a new way of
brainstorming & planning a paragraph.
 They could use the mind mapping software
any time & as many times as they needed.
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 They could write down a central idea, focus
on key ideas, think about new & related
ideas which radiate out from the centre, &
personalize it with lines, colors, arrows,
branches to show connections between the
ideas generated to construct visual &
meaningful relationships between ideas.
 They found MP important for constructing
a structured paragraph plan.
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