A doctoral dissertation was discussed in the Department of English at the College of Education for Humanities on Tuesday (May 12, 2026), submitted by the candidate Sahera Ali Hussein, entitled “The Role of the POSSE Strategy in EFL Preparatory School Students’ Writing: Text Structure, Critical Thinking, and Writing Craft.”
The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the POSSE strategy (Predict, Organize, Search, Summarize, Evaluate) as a writing strategy in developing the writing skills of EFL preparatory school students, with particular emphasis on text structure, critical thinking, and writing craft.
The study sample consisted of seventy-five female students from Al-Qabas Preparatory School for Girls in Tikrit during the academic year 2024–2025. The students were divided into three sections; Sections (A) and (B) were randomly selected to represent the experimental and control groups. Section (A) included thirty-seven students, while Section (B) included thirty-eight students. Seven students from Section (A) and eight students from Section (B) were excluded for the pilot study. Consequently, thirty students from Section (A) formed the experimental group, which was taught using the POSSE strategy, while thirty students from Section (B) formed the control group, which was taught using the traditional method. The total sample consisted of sixty students, representing 80% of the original population.
The two groups were equated, and a post-writing test was administered to assess overall writing performance and its specific components. Reliability was established, and the instrument was applied to the sample groups. The results revealed a statistically significant difference in the post-test mean scores between the experimental group (M = 84.40) and the control group (M = 64.10), in favor of the experimental group.
Examination Committee Members:
- Prof. Dr. Istabraq Tariq Jawad – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Chair)
- Prof. Dr. Omar Ahmed Shihab – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Member)
- Prof. Dr. Manal Omar Musa – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Girls (Member)
- Asst. Prof. Dr. Noha Amer Kamel – University of Diyala, College of Education for Humanities (Member)
- Asst. Prof. Dr. Marwan Muzhir Sahab – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Member)
- Prof. Dr. Dunia Taher Hamid – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities (Member and Supervisor)
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College of Education for Humanities – University of Tikrit
