A Survey of the Writing Skills of the 5th and the 6th Graders in Foreign Language in a Combined-grade Class:

Focusing on Students Who Learned Through a Repeated Curriculum

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a repeated curriculum by investigating the writing skills of 5th- and 6th-grade students in a combined-grade class. The study involved three participant groups: 5th-grade students in the combined-grade class and 6th-grade students in the combined-grade class, who both studied English through the repeated curriculum, and 6th-grade students in a single-grade class, who followed a standard curriculum. Four types of writing tests were developed based on the Course of Study, and the results were compared across the three groups. The findings indicated that 5th-grade students in the combined-grade class, despite having significantly less instructional time under the repeated curriculum, demonstrated writing skills comparable to those of 6th-grade students in the single-grade class. In addition, 6th-grade students in the combined-grade class achieved the highest average scores on all four tests. This result suggests that the repetitive curriculum enhanced their understanding of writing rules and promoted greater retention.