There have been few studies that examined the effects of the different types of
picture prompts on writing performance. Thus, there is still much room for future
studies related to the types of picture prompts. It is hoped that the present study serves
as a pioneering research, initiating and inspiring other research on this topic. The
following are some recommendations for future studies to compensate for the
limitations of the present study and to further explore the subject matter.
First, further investigation is needed using picture prompts of the same content
and overall quality. Though in this study the content of different types of picture
prompts is controlled with an equal overall quality, the subjects and objects of the
chosen types of picture prompts are in fact not identical. It is not certain whether the
difference in content would lead to subtle change in the result of a study like this. In
consideration of this, further research is suggested to design picture prompts of
different types with identical content, including the same protagonists, the same
antagonists, and the same theme.
Second, different ages, groups, and levels, or populations are recommended for
future related studies. The current study includes only students of one senior class at
Taichung First Senior High School. With a sample of such a small and limited scale, it
is questionable whether the effect of different types of picture prompts on writing
performance can be applied to all the population of English learners in Taiwan. For
wider implication and implementation, there had better be further studies involving
groups of different sizes or at different levels. Furthermore, provided with studies of
larger sample sizes, it would be possible to build up an assessment ranking for picture
prompts, achieving a standardized model for the classification of picture prompts at
different levels.
Third, one problem with the current study is the over-reliance on the statistical
significance of test results. As Norris & Ortega (2000: 493-95) have pointed out, this
problem leads to two misguided practices in applied linguistics for quantitative
researchers: (a) employing statistical significance as the sole source of evidence for
the presence or absence of a relationship, and (b) mistakenly using statistical
significance to make interpretations about the magnitude or importance of a
relationship. In view of this, further research is needed in this field using such
qualitative measures as think-alouds, questionnaires, or interviews in order to paint a
clearer picture of the effect of different types of picture prompts on writing
performance.
Appendices
Appendix A
Picture Prompts in the English Composition in the College Entrance Examination for Evening Programs in 1984
From The Pamphlet of Item Writing Skills and Scoring Guides for the Writing Ability Test on the JCEE, by Chen, K. T., Huang, T. S., Lin, S. E., Lin, C. I., & Li, C. L.
(1993). Taipei: College Entrance Examination Center.
Appendix B
The Collection of Multiple-Frame Picture Prompts
1. Six-Frame Picture Prompts (A)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 4(C) in Appendix C) (B)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 5(E) in Appendix C) (C)
(Adopted from Creative Writing Book 1)
(For the adaptation version, see 3(B) in Appendix C)
(D)
(Adopted from Creative Writing Book 1)
(For the adaptation version, see 1(B) in Appendix C) (E)
(Adopted from Creative Writing Book 2)
(For the adaptation version, see 2(A) in Appendix C) (F)
(Adopted from Creative Writing Book 1)
(For the adaptation version, see 3(D) in Appendix C)
(G)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 4(B) in Appendix C) (H)
(Adopted from Creative Writing Book 1)
(For the adaptation version, see 4(D) in Appendix C) (I)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures)
(For the adaptation version, see 4(E) in Appendix C)
(J)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 5(C) in Appendix C) (K)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 5(G) in Appendix C) (L)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 2(B) in Appendix C)
(M)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 5(I) in Appendix C) 2. Four-Frame Picture Prompts
(A)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 4(A) in Appendix C) (B)
(Adopted from Creative Guided Composition) (For the adaptation version, see 3(A) in Appendix C)
(C)
(Adopted from Creative Writing Book 2)
(For the adaptation version, see 4(G) in Appendix C) (D)
(Adopted from Creative Writing Book 2)
(For the adaptation version, see 4(F) in Appendix C) (E)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 5(H) in Appendix C)
(F)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 3(C) in Appendix C) (G)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 5(A) in Appendix C) (H)
(Adopted from Creative Guided Composition) (For the adaptation version, see 5(F) in Appendix C)
(I)
(Adopted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (For the adaptation version, see 5(J) in Appendix C) 3. Three-Frame Picture Prompts
(A)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (B)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures)
(C)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures)
Appendix C
Adapted Picture Prompts
1. The Time-Based Type (A)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (B)
(Adapted from Creative Writing Book 1) 2. The Steps-in-a-Process Type
(A)
(Adapted from Creative Writing Book 2)
(B)
(Adapted from Composition through Pictures) 3. The Topic-Development Type
(A)
(Adapted from Creative Guided Composition) (B)
(Adapted from Creative Writing Book 1)
(C)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (D)
(Adapted from Creative Writing Book 1)
4. The Cause-and-Effect Type with an Expected Consequence (A)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures)
(B)
(Adapted from Composition through Pictures) (C)
(Adapted from Composition through Pictures) (D)
(Adapted from Creative Writing Book 1)
(E)
(Adapted from Composition through Pictures) (F)
(Adapted from Creative Writing Book 2) (G)
(Adapted from Creative Writing Book 2)
5. The Cause-and-Effect Type with an Unexpected Consequence (A)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (B)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (C)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures)
(D)
(Adopted from Composition through Pictures) (E)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (F)
(Adapted from Creative Guided Composition)
(G)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (H)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures) (I)
(Adapted from Composition through Pictures)
(J)
(Adapted from Beginning Composition through Pictures)
Appendix D
Writing Samples of the Topic-Development Type 31008
Our story began in a farm. Two cows, Dan and Henry, were finding something fresh to eat. But don’t care about their male name, because they’re named after my
classmates. As you can see in the first picture, they’re young ladies. But that’s not the point! The point is, to provide their evil farmer with enough milk, both of Dan and Henry had to eat “hard”, swallow as much as they could. What a miserable world!
And let’s talk about their husband, Jane and Mary. In my opinion, this was not a job.
It’s a war. And they’re both slaves. They helped their “masters” plough some farms and pull the car of goods. This work was controlled by human, too. And they’re already turned their animals into batteries. Finally, after so many hard work were made, all of them were becoming some products, such as milk, cheese, and so on.
Although this is just the tip of the iceberg, it was a tragedy.
31039
In our daily life, we eat lots of food that has much to do with cows. For example, we have our sandwiches with a glass of milk, we cook steak with butter, and on weekend, we might buy a piece of pizza covered on tasteful cheese. Today we eat many things from cows and people in old time used them to cultivate and to survive. In the old society, people had not invent convenient transportation, such as truck, train and airplane. Therefore, they needed cows to be their machines to plough the land and to be their trucks to transport crop from one country to another. Cow has played a really important role in human’s history since thousand years ago. Whether they are
transportations or food, we must appreciate them for their enormous contribution.
31038
Tony and Jack were two cows. Tony enjoyed wandering on a field while Jack liked to look for mountains and sky. One of their favorite hobbies was to knock each other with their hand. They wouldn’t cease the battle until one of them was knocked down.
Their job was ploughing the farm land and transporting some goods to near city which was located on the other side of the mountain. Their owner, Peter, was cruel to them.
Hw would have use a stick to hit them if they had walk too slow. Yielding milk was their daily work. The milk they produced could be manufactured into many
productions such as butter and cheese. They were depressed that they couldn’t drink the milk they produced. Therefore, they regarded human beings as their enemy.
However, human beings considered cows to be their best friend because cows gave people a lot of food which was rich in protein.
Appendix E
Writing Samples of the Time-Based Type 31040
John is a senior high school student. He used to get up at six o’clock. But, today, he got up at six thirty.
As soon as he swathe clock, he was shocked. He thought, “I must be late for school.”
In fact, John had been late for school two days. If he still is late for school one more time, his teacher will punish him.
In order not to be late for school, John did everything as fast as possible. Ten minutes later, he was ready for school. On his way to school, John ran to the school with the highest speed that he never has before.
When he arrived at school, he looked at his watch to know what time it was. Luckily, it was seven o’clock, so, John was not late.
But, strangely, there was no one at school. “Why?” , he thought. Suddenly, he realized.
There was no one in school because today is Sunday. So, in order not to be punished, John still has to get up early tomorrow. Poor John!
31007
John is a good kid who always keeps early hours, and he never makes his mother worried about him. However due to an important exam today, John spent a lot of time preparing for it, and he even studied until midnight yesterday. As a result, he couldn’t get up at six o’clock as usual. When he got up, it was already six thirty, and it gave him a shock that he jumped out of his bed immediately and rushed to the bathroom.
He washed his face, brushed his teeth, put on the uniform and combed his hair in a short time. Though he just spent about ten minute doing this routine, he did all of the steps great and satisfying. When he went to school, he was in the best situation. And it could be predicted that John might get good grades in the important exam.
31015
Steve was a good student, and he always did well at school, not to mention being late He always got up at 6:00, and waked 9 km to school. However, Steven woke up at 6:30 this morning, he rushed to the bathroom immediately, brushing his teeth,
washing his face, combing hair, and changed on his uniform. Of course, he didn’t have time to sit down to enjoy his breakfast. He kept running for five minutes, but there was still seven km far away from school. Steven was anxious because he had to go to school before 7:30, or he would be late. However, he only left 15 minutes. He ran to the school with all his efforts. When he reached the school, he finally realized that today was Sunday. How poor Steven was!