Contribution of an academic writing intervention on the micro-macrostructure skills of students with intellectual disability

Academic writing is a complex task involving microstructure (linguis-tic-level) and macrostructure (coherence structure) indices. Our goal was to examine the contribution of an academic writing intervention programme among students with intellectual disability at the micro-structure and macrostructure levels while characterising the learning curves. Six students with mild intellectual disability studying for a BA(MCA = 30.43, MIQ = 69.17) participated in a spiral intervention pro-gramme of 32 lessons focusing on improving paragraph complexity and text structure measured at five time-points. Micro structure improvement in number of words, sentences, paragraphs, words perparagraph, lexical density, adjectives along with macro structure improvement in text-paragraph structure, global-local linkage were found. A rapid increase in macrostructure indices was observed between the first and second testing points, after which a ceiling effect was reached. Concurrently, microstructure indices demonstrated a slower, more gradual learning curve throughout the intervention period. The discussion will focus on the improvement patterns in micro structure–macrostructure indices and the various learning curves observed. It explores the implications of these findings for cognitive modifiability in adults with intellectual disability and the potential of tailored academic writing interventions in post-secondary education programmes.

LAY SUMMARY● A long-term, spiral intervention programme was effective at improving academic writing skills that require high cognitive involvement among individuals with intellectual disabilities in micro-structure and macrostructure indices.● Different types of linear learning curves showed a rapid increase in macro structure indices, alongside a mixed rate of improvement in micro structure indices.● The participants' thinking skills improved from focused thinking to transcendental thinking following the Structural Cognitive Modifiability (Feuerstein, 2003).● The results can be explained via the Compensatory Trajectory theory (Lifshitz, 2020; 2015) which claims that chronological age plays an important role in determining the cognitive level and ability in adults with intellectual disabilities.