Abstract
This study concerns developing English teaching materials for improving the writing skills of beginner-level students studying at a junior college. As part of regular classes, photo images of children and adults doing daily activities, such as riding a bike and making pancakes, were used to elicit written responses from students in a series of four lessons. Based on research that Americans and Japanese engage in different perceptual processes when they describe an event, the students were instructed to use a context-independent, analytical perceptual style when they described photos. The assumption was that this would make their writing match the perceptual style which Americans employ, and as a result, would make their photo descriptions more easily understood by native speakers of English. Statistical results showed the effectiveness of the four lessons in which the students were encouraged to use this perceptual style. Students’ writing showed improvement even though their overall English skills remained limited.
