Enhancing students’ writing competence and 21st-century skills simultaneously via infographics

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Kurz

The accelerating pace of technological trends has multiple implications for education, leading educators to use diverse tools in English instruction. Among these, infographics—combining text with engaging visuals—are valued for being concise and academically effective. In Iraq, however, evidence remains limited on whether infographics improve students’ writing alongside 21st-century skills. This study evaluates their role in developing university students’ writing competence and selected 21st-century abilities through a 10-week mixed-method intervention.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Academic writing in the 21st century

Second-language writing challenges

Foundations for effective writing

Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics ISSN 2209-0959 [https://www.castledown.com/journals/ajal/](https://www.castledown.com/journals/ajal/) Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7 (3), 2044 (2024) [https://doi.org/10.29140/ajal.v7n3.2044](https://doi.org/10.29140/ajal.v7n3.2044) Enhancing students’ writing competence and 21st-century skills simultaneously via infographics Saban Kara English Language Teaching Department, Tishk International University, Erbil-KRI, Iraq Abstract The accelerating pace of technological trends has numerous reflections in education. Accordingly, various tools have been utilized to reap their benefits in English classes. Among others, infographics, which combine text with visually stimulating images, stand out thanks to their advantages, such as being concise and academically rewarding. Although their effects have been studied worldwide, a gap in the literature has been observed in measuring infographics’effects on developing students’ writing and certain other 21st-century skills simultaneously in Iraq. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to gauge the role of infographics in improving university students’ writing competence and 21st-century skills. Having chosen 30 freshman students through convenience sampling from a private university in Erbil, Iraq, in the spring semester of the 2023–2024 academic year, they underwent a treatment spanning 10 weeks on writing essays. Data collection encompassed writing exams, questionnaires, and interviews in this mixed-method research design. The data were analyzed using either SPSS 29 or NVivo. The control group received writing instruction based on the common curriculum, whereas the experimental group’s lessons were expanded with infographics. The findings revealed that infographic-enriched writing education yielded better results in terms of writing exams with a p-value of .002. Complementary findings also showed that certain 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking and taking initiative, were promoted. On the other hand, the achievement of the control group students was far from noticeable. The findings ofthis study may have various implications for interested parties who plan to integrate infographics into English classes harmoniously. Keywords: academic writing; infographics; 21st-century skills; writing enhancement Introduction The importance of academic writing has been acknowledged unanimously in the 21st century, aligning with the increasing dominance of English globally. This encompasses 1.5 billion people who speak it either natively or as a second language. Academic writing has been considered a prerequisite to completing formal tasks, regardless of whether they are academic or non-academic (Albury-Garcés, 2024; Gallagher, 2023) . In this respect, it has been taught seriously at educational institutions to reap the benefits during education and in professional and social life, respectively. For example, writing is an indispensable part of education from kindergarten to doctorate level in different forms, which may be dictation, written responses to prompts, paragraphs, or essays. In addition, standardized English tests, such as the Test of English asa Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Key English Test, Preliminary English Test, and Cambridge English First test, cannot be envisioned without a writing section (Boggs & Manchon, 2023) . Similarly, adopting the principles of academic writing is expected in certain publications, including articles, books, and proceedings. Moreover, professional life urges people to communicate in formal English via email. Thus, citizens who can command the rules of academic writing stand out from others, increasing their chance to climb the career ladder more quickly than their rivals. Apart from professional and academic life, writing is mandatory in some instances, including petitions, complaint letters, or application forms (De

FAQs

What is the main goal of the study?

To assess how infographics affect university students’ writing competence and 21st-century skills simultaneously in an Iraqi context.

How was the intervention implemented?

Thirty freshman students received writing instruction for 10 weeks, where the experimental group’s lessons were expanded with infographics.

What evidence does the study report about learning outcomes?

Writing exams showed improved results for the infographic-enriched approach (p-value of .002), and some 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and taking initiative were promoted.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Kurz