Writing coherent and cohesive comparison-contrast (CC) essays has proved to be challenging for university students. To this end, universities establish intensive English programs to boost their students’ writing skills, yet the problem persists. In class, teachers sometimes resort to the explicit instruction of the discourse analysis techniques of coherence and cohesion when teaching comparison-contrast writing, but still students encounter difficulties related to essay organization and use of appropriate cohesive ties. In addition to lack of knowledge and practice, students’ cognitive skills affect their comparison-contrast writing proficiency. Hence the need for a comprehensive guide that incorporates knowledge and practice in accordance with Bloom’s Taxonomy levels. In order to facilitate its application across EFL levels, this guide is also aligned with the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference CEFR. To examine its effectiveness, the guide was implemented in three intensive English language courses namely INTE 101 (CEFR A2), INTE 103 (CEFR B2) & INTE 104 (CEFR C1) at Beirut Arab University (BAU) during Fall 2023-2024. Following the Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP) process in class, students passed through three stages of development. Each stage ended included the production of an essay. Data collected from student essays (E1, E2 and E3) were examined and analyzed. The findings revealed a significant improvement in the students’ comparison contrast essay scores. The conclusion is a call for teachers and students to focus on the practice of the comparison-contrast essay in language teaching-learning in a novel way.
KeywordsBloom’s TaxonomyCoherenceCommon European Framework of Reference (CEFR)Comparison-Contrast EssayDiscourse AnalysisGrammatical CohesionLexical Cohesion
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