Here displays the limitations of the present study; recommendations for further research will be offered as well.
First, it is argued that the two types of picture prompts were well designed. They were developed under the guidelines suggested by Hooper et al. (1994); for example, the subject and the object are relevant and age-appropriate to the participants’ real-life experiences and background knowledge. The difference between the two picture prompts were also well controlled: Everything was the same in the two prompts except the last frame, which was left to be either a closed ending or an open ending. A closer inspection into these two different resolutions might be the key to discriminating the effects of the two prompts.
However, the current study merely aimed at the effects of the two picture prompts on
overall writing quality, fluency, and accuracy. Therefore, researchers are recommended to explore the mystery surrounding the last frame of the two picture prompts.
Second, the participants were restricted to students at a senior high school in Pingtung County, so the representativeness of the sample is limited. For one thing, the written products of the high achievers in this study couldn’t represent those of the high achievers in other regions of Taiwan. As a matter of fact, the high achievers might perform merely the same as the mediocre students in other areas. For another, the number of classes of different aptitudes is imbalanced. Five intact classes were recruited to participate in this research, two of which came from the science track while three of which belonged to the humanity track. The generalizability of the findings was also limited because the sample of this study is not large enough. Future research with students in other parts of the country and with a larger sample of a more balanced distribution of students from different academic tracks are necessary to verify the findings of the current study.
Third, many other important factors were not taken into consideration, for example, year of study and gender. Previous research shows that levels of language anxiety
increased linearly as a function year of study (Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 2000).
Whether the moderating effect of L2 anxiety on prompt type varies as learners age is worth exploring. Moreover, gender issues should be taken into account. The female students (55%) in this study outnumbered their male counterparts (45%). This small sample with such an imbalanced gender distribution made it difficult to examine the interaction of prompt type and gender. However, different genders tend to favor different types of characters and plots. For example, girls like to write about princesses and romances while boys prefer heroes and adventures. Future studies can incorporate these factors into their research design.
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