Pre-Task Planning Mediated with Ginger Writer Software to Enhance EFL Tertiary Students’ Writing Performance

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The method of teaching writing has transformed from a product-oriented to a process-oriented approach, emphasizing the need for planning, producing, revising, and editing to enhance students’ writing performance. Although pre-task planning (PTP) enhances organization, content, and fluency, previous research has indicated its minimal impact on grammatical accuracy. Additionally, online tools like Ginger Writer software improve vocabulary use and resolve mechanics and grammar problems. However, combining the advantages of PTP and Ginger Writer software in the writing classroom is expected to boost students’ writing performance across all aspects of writing. There is still limited research integrating both approaches. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of combining PTP and Ginger Writer software on tertiary students’ writing performance and its specific aspects in the Indonesian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context.

Methodology: This study employed a quasi-experimental research design with a non-equivalent pre-test and post-test structure involving 42 students form the English department at a private university in Indonesia. The experimental group received instruction combining PTP and Ginger Writer software, while the control group followed the conventional processwriting approach using an electronic dictionary without AI-assisted feedback. The data were analyzed by using one-way ANCOVA to control for prior writing ability as a covariate, thereby adjusting for baseline differences between the groups.

Results: The ANCOVA results revealed a significant difference in overall writing performance between the experimental and control groups after controlling for prior writing ability. The combination of PTP and Ginger Writer software produced a large effect, indicating substantial improvement in students’ writing performance. Further analysis of each aspect of writing showed significant improvement in organization and mechanics, with moderate-to-large effect sizes. However, there was no significant difference in content, vocabulary, and grammar. Overall, integrating PTP with Ginger Writer software enhanced writing quality, particularly in organization and mechanics.

Discussions: The findings revealed that combining PTP and Ginger Writer software significantly enhanced students’ overall writing performance, with a large effect size. This supports earlier studies showing the benefits of PTP for organization and Ginger Writer software’s effectiveness in improving mechanics. Further analysis indicated that the combination had the most significant effects on organization, while its impact on mechanics remained moderate. These results suggest that using PTP with Ginger Writer software fosters more organized and technically sound writing among tertiary EFL learners, particularly when technology is meaningfully integrated into process-oriented writing instruction.

Conclusions: This study found that the integration of PTP and Ginger Writer software significantly improved tertiary students’ writing performance. The combination positively influenced two aspects of writing: organization and mechanics while content, vocabulary, and grammar showed no significant improvement. These findings highlight that PTP helps students generate and organize ideas, whereas Ginger Writer software supports writing mechanics. Therefore, English teachers are encouraged to incorporate both strategies to enhance students’ overall writing quality. Future studies are recommended to explore this integration’s impact on higher-level writing aspects more in depth.