IMPROVING THE 11TH GRADERS’ ENGLISH WRITING PERFORMANCE THROUGH PROJECT – BASED LEARNING

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI HUONG IMPROVING THE 11TH GRADERS’ ENGLISH WRITING PERFORMANCE THROUGH PROJECT – BASED LEARNING MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Nghe An, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI HUONG IMPROVING THE 11TH GRADERS’ ENGLISH WRITING PERFORMANCETHROUGH PROJECT – BASED LEARNING Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages(TESOL) Code: 60140111 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR Tran Ba Tien, Ph.D Nghe An, 2017 AKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Ph D Tran Ba Tien for his whole-hearted guidance, valuable comments, and support in the preparation and completion of this thesis My special thanks go to the organizers of this master course, especially Mr Ngo Dinh Phuong, vice director of Vinh University and I wish to thank all staff members at Department of foreign languages for their help and moral support I am also grateful to all students who are fully completed the questionnaires and sincerely provided me with valuable information for this study Without their participation and support, this thesis would never have come into existence Last, but not least, I express my thanks to my husband and all my friends who have continually encouraged me to complete my study i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT… TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF APPENDIXES ABSTRACT… i ii v vi vii viii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Rationale Aims of the research The significance of the research The scope of the research The research questions The organization of the research Chapter 2 3 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.1.5 2.1.6 2.1.7 2.1.8 2.1.9 2.1.10 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4 The nature of writing The definition of writing The characteristics of written language Sub – skills of writing The process of writing Strategies in teaching writing Types of classroom writing performance Principles of teaching writing Teaching writing in high school Accessing writing Feedbach on writing Project – based learning The definition of project – based learning The characteristics of project – based learning The significance of using project – based learning 2.2.5 The steps of conducting project – based learning in a language 2.3 lassroom 5 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 18 19 21 22 24 25 2.4 The role of the teachers and students in project – base learning 26 Relevant studies Conceptual framework ii Chapter METHODOLOGY 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.5 3.6 Research methods Setting of the research Subjects of the research Data collection and data analysis technique Perception questionaires Classroom observation Written tests The techniques of the data analysis The research process Chapter 29 29 30 30 30 31 32 32 33 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.1.4.1 4.1.4.2 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.4.1 1) 2) 3) 4) 4.2.4.2 Results of studentss perception toward project – based learning approach……………………………………… Benefits of project – based learning approach Students’ autonomy Students’ teamwork Discussion Students’ perception toward the project – based learnin Students’ perception toward teamwork Results of improvement in students’ writing performance Identification of the field problems Determining the problems Determining the actions to overcome the problems Research process and results Report of cycle Planning Actions and observation Reflection Findings of cycle Report of cycle 35 35 36 38 39 39 40 43 43 45 47 48 48 48 49 56 60 61 1) 2) 3) 4) 4.2.5 4.2.5.1 4.2.5.2 4.2.5.3 Planning Actions and observation Reflection Findings of cycle Discussion The design of actions in cycle The design of actions in cycle The students’ score 61 62 67 71 74 74 75 76 Iii Chapter CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusions 5.2 5.2.1 Implications 5.2.2 Implications for the English teachers 5.2.3 Implications for the students 5.3 Implications for the other researchers Suggestionsfor further studies 79 80 80 80 81 81 REFERENCES 83 APPENDIXES… 86 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Questionnaires items on students’ attitude toward project – based 35 learning 36 Table 4.2: Questionnaires items on students’ autonomy 39 Table 4.3: Questionnaires items on students’ teamwork 44 Table 4.4: A sample of students’ writing in the pretest 44 Table 4.5: Another sample of student’s wrting in the pretest 45 Table 4.6: The pretest mean scores of each writing aspect 46 Table 4.7: Problems found at class 11A4 of Nong Cong high 47 school 49 Table 4.8: The actions implemented to solve the problem 58 Table 4.9: The action plan and the expected improvement to achve 59 Table 4.10: The mean score of cycle test for five aspects of text 60 writing 69 Table 4.11: The sample of students’ writing on cycle 69 Table 4.12: The comparison between before and after implementation of 71 Research Table 4.13: The students’ end product of cycle 71 Table 4.14: Another students’ end product of cycle Table 4.15: The mean score of Cycle test for five aspects of 77 writing performance 77 Table 4.16: The change results of the improvement of the actions during the teaching and learnign process Table 4.17: The results of Pre and Post test in Cycle and Cycle paired single statistic Table 4.18: The details Quantive analysis of the Pre and Post test paired single Correlations v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The chart of writing process 10 Figure 2: The students’ project in cycle 58 Figure 3: Students project work in group 68 Figure 4: The chart of the mean of the test scores for five aspects of writing texg 76 Figure 5: The results of Pre and Post – test in Cycle and Cycle in mean scores 78 vi APPENDIX STUDENTS’ SCORE Description : Pretest Day/Date : 7th October, 2016 Rater : The researcher ASPECTS No 10 11 12 13 Code Content Organization Language Vocabulary Use TOTAL Mechanics S1 2 2 10 S2 2 2 10 S3 2 2 10 S$ 2 2 10 S5 2 1 S6 2 2 11 S7 2 2 10 S8 2 2 10 S9 1 S10 2 2 S11 2 2 10 S12 2 1 S13 3 14 SCORE (10) 5 5,5 5 3,5 4,5 3,5 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 S14 2 2 10 S15 2 2 S16 2 2 11 S17 2 1 S18 2 2 S19 2 2 10 S20 2 2 S21 2 1 S22 2 2 S23 2 2 10 S24 2 2 S25 2 2 10 S26 1 1 S27 2 2 S28 2 2 10 S29 2 11 S30 2 2 10 S31 2 1 S32 2 2 10 4,5 5,5 4 4,5 4,5 4,5 4,5 5,5 3,5 4,5 5,5 5 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 S33 2 2 10 S34 2 2 10 S35 2 2 10 S36 2 1 S37 2 2 11 S38 2 2 10 S39 2 2 10 S40 1 S41 2 2 10 S42 2 2 10 S43 2 1 S44 3 3 14 S45 2 2 10 S46 2 2 10 S47 2 2 S48 2 1 S49 2 2 S50 2 2 10 5 5,5 5 3,5 5 3,5 70 50 5,0 4,5 4,0 4,0 5,0 Description : Cycle test Day/Date : 22nd November, 2016 Rater : The researcher ASPECT No 10 11 12 Code Content Organizatio Vocabulary TOTAL SCORE Languag e Use Mechanic S1 2 12 S2 3 2 12 S3 2 11 S4 2 2 10 S5 2 2 10 S6 2 2 11 S7 2 12 S8 3 2 12 S9 2 2 10 S10 2 2 11 S11 2 12 S12 2 2 10 5,5 5,0 5,5 6 5,0 5,5 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 7,5 S13 3 15 S14 3 2 13 S15 3 2 13 S16 3 2 13 S17 2 2 10 S18 2 2 10 S19 3 2 11 S20 2 11 S21 3 2 12 S22 2 11 S23 2 2 11 S24 3 2 12 S25 2 11 S26 2 2 S27 2 11 S28 3 2 12 6,5 6,5 6,5 5 5,5 5,5 5,5 5,5 5,5 4,5 5,5 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 6,5 S29 3 2 13 S30 3 2 13 S31 2 2 11 S32 2 12 S33 2 11 S34 2 2 10 S35 2 2 10 S36 2 11 S37 2 2 11 S38 2 12 S39 2 2 11 S40 2 11 S41 2 2 11 S42 2 12 S43 2 2 10 S44 3 13 6,5 5,5 5,5 5,0 5,5 5,5 5,5 5,5 5,5 5,5 6.5 45 46 47 48 49 50 6,0 S45 2 12 S46 3 13 S47 2 2 12 S48 2 2 10 S49 2 2 10 S50 2 10 Description: Cycle Test Day/Date: 25th December, 2016 Rater: The researcher 6,0 6,0 5 5,0 Aspects Code No Conten 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Organizatio Vocabulary TOTAL Languag e Use Mechanics SCORE S1 3 16 S2 3 3 14 S3 3 3 14 S4 3 3 14 S5 3 3 14 S6 3 3 15 S7 3 3 15 S8 3 2 12 S9 3 2 12 S10 3 3 16 S11 4 3 17 S12 3 2 13 S13 4 3 18 S14 3 3 15 S15 4 3 17 S16 3 3 16 S17 3 3 14 S18 3 3 14 S19 3 3 14 S20 3 16 7,0 7,0 7,0 7,0 7,5 7,5 6,0 6,0 8,0 8,5 6,5 9,0 7,5 8,5 8,0 7,0 7,0 7,0 8,0 7,5 APPENDIX PHOTOGRAPHS ... Project – based learning The definition of project – based learning The characteristics of project – based learning The significance of using project – based learning 2.2.5 The. .. towards the project – based learning 2.51 – 3.50 approach is low The possitive perception towards the project – based learning 3.51 – 4.50 approach is moderate The possitive perception towards the project. .. improve the 11th graders’ English writing performance at class 11A4 of Nong Cong high school through project – based learning 1.3 The significance of the research The researcher wished that the results