Enhancing EFL students’ descriptive writing through the four-square method: A quasi-experimental study

Hermi Zaswita (Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia)
Hesti Leviana Sari (Islamic Studies International Program, Faculty of Islamic Sciences, Prince of Songkhla University Pattani Campus, Thailand)
Gulzhaina Kuralbayevna Kassymova (Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Kazakhstan)

Scientific English
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026): Regular Issue

This study investigates the effectiveness of the Four-Square Writing Method (FSWM) in enhancing junior high school students’ ability to write descriptive texts. The FSWM is a structured graphic organizer strategy that helps students organize their ideas during the prewriting stage. A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving two groups of eighth-grade students: the experimental group received instruction using FSWM, while the control group was taught using conventional methods. Data were collected through pre-tests and post-tests to assess students’ writing performance. The results revealed a significant improvement in the experimental group, particularly in organizing ideas, maintaining coherence, and enriching vocabulary. Statistical analysis using an independent samples t-test via SPSS version 26 showed a significance value of 0.026 (p < 0.05) and a t-value of 12.146, exceeding the critical value of 1.713. These findings confirm that FSWM has a statistically significant impact on students’ writing skills and is therefore recommended as an effective strategy in English language instruction, especially for teaching descriptive texts.