The role of diction instruction in enhancement of students persuasive writing

Abstract

Diction is one of the requisites for clarity in communication, especially written communication. However, while most language researchers seem to have looked into other language aspects as contributing factors towards underperformance in essay writing, few have considered researching diction in this area. This dearth of research-appraised evidence leads to teachers’ negligence of diction instruction which, in turn, leads to students’ inappropriate word choice in writing persuasive essays, which, by their nature, need clear-cut diction for credibility. This inquiry seeks to fill some of that gap in research. The focus of this inquiry is on Advanced Subsidiary level (pre-tertiary) students and ESL educators in one Advanced Level School in Lesotho. The investigation was conducted from the personal experiential stance for improvement of professional practice. The reflective self-study was underpinned by Social Constructivism theory (Vygotsky 1978), and followed a pragmatic paradigm. The study adopted a classroom action research approach where classroom observations, tests, lesson plans, teachers’ interviews and reflective journal were used for data generation. Purposive non-probability sampling was used for convenience, accessibility and information richness of participants. Error analysis formed part of data collection in identifying the nature of diction-based challenges found in learners’ essays. Data was analysed based on a six step procedure adopted from Creswell (2014). Findings among others include errors found in students’ essays which were interpreted in terms of mismanagement of words and communication interferences in persuasive writing. It was therefore recommended that diction analysis be included in the local pre-tertiary English Language curriculum as a strategy with which learners learn how words are used for precision and specificity in writing persuasively to eliminate poor academic writing reflected in institutions of higher learning.