The effect of descriptive writing practices on travel writing skills

This study aimed to determine the effect of descriptive writing practices on 7th grade students' travel writing skills and attitudes towards writing. The research was conducted with a mixed method design, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and data analysis. The study group of the research was selected from seventh grade students in the 2023-2024 academic year. Appropriate sampling technique was used when determining the students in the study group. Experts' opinions were used in creating the activities of the study. During the research process, students were asked to write a travel article before the application and they were asked to fill out the attitude scale form towards writing. Then, descriptive writing practices were carried out. Notes were taken by the observer teacher and the researcher throughout the application process. After the application process, the students were asked to write a travel article again and they were asked to fill out the attitude scale form towards writing. Following this process, semi-structured interviews were held with the students and their opinions about descriptive writing practices were obtained. After four weeks of the application process, the students were asked to write a travel report again and the permanence of the application was checked. Travel writing scale and attitude towards writing scale were used to analyze the quantitative data of the research. Content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data of the research. When the travel writings written by the students before the descriptive writing practices and the travel writings they wrote after the descriptive writing practices were compared in terms of performance, it was concluded that the descriptive writing practices positively affected the travel writing skills. In addition, another result obtained in the research is that descriptive writing practices have a positive effect on the permanence of travel writing skills. Another result of the research is that descriptive writing practices positively affect students' attitudes towards writing. According to the observation results of the research, it was seen that descriptive writing practices had an improving effect on students' travel writing skills. After analyzing the data obtained from semi-structured interviews, it was concluded that the students had positive thoughts about descriptive writing practices and thought that they improved their travel writing skills. As a result, descriptive writing practices are effective in developing travel writing skills and creating a positive attitude towards writing. Keywords: Descriptive Writing, Travel Writing, Attitude Towards Writing, Writing Skill