teaching and learning writing has been a really challenging job at kinh mon upper secondary school

1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study Writing is often not as important as other skills such as reading and speaking and it tends to get rather neglected in many classes Since the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook was in use, teaching and learning writing has been a really challenging job at Kinh Mon uppersecondary school In literature so far, a few studies have been conducted on difficulties in teaching and learning writing a foreign language Most of researchers have come to a general agreement to a list of common problems facing both students and teachers Not many have studied difficulties in teaching and learning writing perceived by upper- secondary school teachers and students in using the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook Hence, it is in an urgent need of taking a serious look at such issue 1.2 Purpose of the study The main purpose of the study is to probe difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills among the teaching staff and the 10 th form students at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school, in Hai Duong province Within this purpose, the three central objectives are: (i) To describe the difficulties perceived by the teachers and the 10 th form students when teaching and learning writing skills in the new “Tiếng Anh 10” textbook (ii) To investigate factors affecting the success of this process in the writing lessons (iii) To suggest some solutions to stimulate the students and make recommendations to improve teaching method for the teachers at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school 1.3 Scope of the study This minor thesis is conducted at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school in order to recognize difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills of both the teachers and the 10 th form students Factors causing such challenges are then found out To go ahead, the thesis also offers some suggestions to better the current context 1.4 Design of the study This study is divided into four chapters to get better insights into different aspects of the problem Chapter introduces rationale, purpose, scope, and overview of the thesis design Chapter deals with definitions of writing, roles of writing, approaches to writing teaching, and writing teaching procedure Chapter presents the study of which the Kinh Mon uppersecondary school context is first discussed The introduction of the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook is then elaborated After that, the method underlying the research and descriptions of data analysis are shown In terms of method, the background information of the research questions, the subjects, the data collection instruments, and data collection procedure are introduced More importantly, data analysis provides specific explanations and the findings of the study Chapter offers some personal recommendations for such current problems in teaching and learning writing skills at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school Limitations and suggestions for further research are also explained CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of writing Writing has been defined in a variety of ways, which shows a lack of consensus as to what it is, and reflects the complexity of the writing process Traditionally, researchers focused mainly on form and the final product while current researches on writing emphasize the writing process and strategies which are utilized by writers to attain the final product According to Byrne (1991), writing can be seen as an “act of forming graphic symbols”; that is letters or the combination of letters Simply, writing is like “making marks on the flat surface of some kinds” (p.1) Lannon (1989) made a conflicting definition that writing, in fact, is a far more complicated process than the production of graphic symbols It is “a process of transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, or whatever into a message with a definite meaning …, a process of deliberate decision” (p.9) From another view of writing, Murray (1978, p 29) and Perl (1979, p 43) defined writing as “a creative discovery procedure characterized by the dynamic interplay of content and language: the use of language to explore beyond the known content.” Writing can also be seen as a social process by Candlin and Hyland (1999) They has asserted that “writing is therefore an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of the claims that are made” (p.107) Noticeably, language teachers have defined writing so differently As for Tribble, writing is “a language skills which is difficult to acquire” (1996, p 3) He also stressed that writing “normally requires some forms of instruction” and that “it is not a skills that is readily picked up by exposure” (1996, p 11) Harris (1993, p 10) affirmed that writing is “a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account the sometime extended periods of thinking that precede creating an initial draft” From my personal experience as a classroom teacher, I share with Rivers’ definition (1981) that “writing is not a skill that can be learned or developed in isolation but it should be taught and developed in cooperation with other skills and aspects of the language studied.” 2.2 Roles of writing Writing emerges with its own functions and brings along communicative code of the writers When making a piece of writing, the writer implies a message or a certain purpose In the modern world, writing (written language) serves a range of functions in everyday life As Nunan (1991:84) aptly points out, writing is: (i) Primarily for action: public signs (on roads and stations), product labels and instructions (on food, tools or toy purchased), recipes, maps, television and radio guides, bills, menus, telephone directories, etc (ii) Primarily for social contact: personal correspondence, letters, postcards, greeting cards (iii) Primarily for information: newspapers and magazines, non- fiction books (textbooks, public notices, advertisement, guidebooks and travel literature, etc.) (iv) Primarily for entertainment: light magazines, comic strips, fiction books, poetry and drama, film subtitles, games including computer games In classroom, teaching and learning writing also plays an important role Through writing, learners are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people We are able to discover and articulate ideas in the way that only writing makes possible Therefore, writing has always occupied a place in the language syllabus Discussing about this issue, White (1981, p 1) points out a number of reasons why writing merits a place in the language syllabus as follows: (i) Writing remains the commonest way of examining students’ performance in English (all public examinations include a composition) Consequently, ability to write remains a key to examination success (ii) In the eyes of both parents and students, ability to write may be associated with evidence of having learnt the language Writing is tangible parents and students can see what has been done and what has been achieved So it has high ‘face validity’ (iii) In classroom, writing may be used as one of a number of techniques to help add variety and interest to lesson (iv) Teachers may use writing as a testing device to provide feedback on what students have learnt Students’ writing can provide useful evidence of successes or failures in learning, of confusions, and errors (v) Writing requires thought, discipline and concentration It is relatively a permanent form and readers judge us by our style, content and logic So writing demands care and thought In CLT, the teaching of writing also aims at communication However, besides being used to communicate, writing helps students learn In Raimes’ opinion (1983, p.3), “first writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that students have been taught Second, when students write, they also have a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learnt to say, to take risks Third, when they write, they necessarily become very involved in the new language, the effort to express ideas, and the constant use of eyes; hand and brain is a unique way to reinforce learning” With all the roles mentioned above, writing really becomes an integral part in almost every language syllabus from elementary to tertiary level 2.3 Approaches to teaching writing It is confirmed that teaching and learning writing is really complicated work For students, they must have knowledge of content, organization, discourse, syntax, lexis, and mechanical elements For teachers, they may be confused of a variety of approaches In other words, approaches to teaching ESL/ EFL writing have long been a topic of controversy for them, even for researchers It is being taught in many different ways, and each approach can be effective, if the teacher believes in what he or she teaches Ann Raimes (1983, pp 5- 10) presents six approaches to teaching writing: (i) The Control- to- Free Approach, (ii) The FreeWriting Approach, (iii) The Paragraph- Pattern Approach, (iv) The Grammar- SyntaxOrganization Approach, (v) The Communicative Approach, (vi) The Process Approach (i) The Control - to- Free Approach The Control- to- Free Approach in writing is sequential In this approach, writing is considered as a reinforcement means of speech and is used to master grammatical or syntactic rules At lower level, students are often given sentence- level exercises or controlled compositions to imitate, copy or manipulate Students, therefore, make few mistakes Only at high or advanced level are students allowed to try some free compositions, in which they can express their own ideas In short, this approach emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency Syntax and mechanics are main stresses of the approach (ii) The Free- Writing Approach Contrast to the Control- to- Free Approach, the Free- Writing Approach focuses more on fluency, and quantity of writing than quality Students are assigned a vast amount of free writing on given topics with only minimal correction of errors They are allowed to write freely without worrying about grammar and spelling Content and fluency are taken into account first (iii) The Paragraph- Pattern Approach Different from the two approaches mentioned above, the Paragraph- Pattern Approach stresses on paragraph organization Students copy a model paragraph, analyze its form and then write a parallel one In this approach, students are provided with such kinds of exercises as sentence ordering, sentence inserting or sentence deleting, etc (iv) The Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach The name ‘the Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach’ fully reveals the characteristics of the approach Writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills which are learned one by one Students need to pay attention to organization while they also work on the necessary grammar and syntax For example, to write a clear set of instructions on how to use a phone card, the writer needs more than the appropriate vocabulary He needs the simple forms of verbs, an organizational plan based on chronology; sequence words like first, then, next, etc In the preparatory stage, these vocabulary and structures are reviewed and taught In general, this approach is the combination of the purpose and the form of the writing (v) The Communicative Approach The Communicative Approach aims at communicative competence, so it stresses the purpose of the writing and the audience for it Students are regarded as writers in real life and they are encouraged to ask themselves the key questions: Why am I writing this? (purpose) and who will read it? (audience) Conventionally, the teacher acts as the audience for students’ writing However, to make it more real- life- closed communication, students become readers for each other They read each other’s writings, respond, rewrite in another form or make comments, but not correct Sometimes the teacher creates a context in which students are real readers by making them role- play, exchange letters, reply, ask questions and comment (vi) The Process Approach The teaching of writing has recently moved away from a concentration on the written product to an emphasis on the process of writing, which leads to the emergence of Process Approach Process Approach to writing came into play in the 1970s This approach encourages students’ communication of ideas, feelings and experiences It is more global and focuses on purpose, theme, text type, i.e the reader is emphasized Thus, writers not only concern about purpose and audience but also have to make decisions on how to begin and how to organize a piece of writing Writing is a process, so students are given time to set out ideas, make plan, write a first draft, revise what has been written after a peer feedback, then they can edit their writing or write other drafts before the final version is produced Brown (1994, pp 335- 336) points out some features of Process Approach as follows: (1) focus on the process of writing that leads to the final written product (2) help students understand their own composing process (3) help them to build repertoires of strategies for prewriting, drafting, and rewriting (4) give students time to write and rewrite (5) place central importance on the process of revision (6) let students discover what they want to say as they write (7) give students feedback throughout the composing process (not just the final product) as they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer to attention (8) encourage feedback from both the instructor and peers (9) include individual conferences between teacher and students during the process of composition There are various approaches to teaching writing as mentioned It is true to say that there is not necessarily any ‘right’ or ‘best’ way to teach writing skills The best practice in any situation will depend on the type of students, the text type being studied, the school system and many other factors (Steele, 2002) Hereunder wants to clarify the two most popular approaches used in ESL/ EFL classroom, namely (i) Product Approach and (ii) Process Approach (i) Product Approach Product Approach is a traditional approach which is a largely “prescriptive and product- centered” way of teaching writing This approach pays much attention to the final outcome of a writing process and supposes that students need to produce only one writing version of the task The model of this approach is outlined by Steele (2002) as follows: Stage 1: Model texts are read, and then features of the genre are highlighted For example, if studying a formal letter, students' attention may be drawn to the importance of paragraphing and the language used to make formal requests If studying a story, the focus may be on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and students focus on where and how the writer employs these techniques Stage 2: This consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features, usually in isolation So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practise the language used to make formal requests Stage 3: This stage is very important Those who favour this approach believe that the organization of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves and as important as the control of language Stage 4: Students choose from a choice of comparable writing tasks Individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product; to show what they can as fluent and competent users of the language (ii)Process Approach On the contrary, Process Approach focuses on the process rather than the final product Steele comes up with a typical sequence of activities: Stage 1: Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion Students could be discussing qualities needed to a certain job, or giving reasons as to why people take drugs or gamble The teacher remains in the background during this phase and only provides language support if required so as not to inhibit students in the production of ideas Stage 2: Students extend ideas into note form, and judge quality and usefulness of ideas Stage 3: Students organize ideas into a mind map, spider gram, or linear form This stage helps to make the (hierarchical) relationship of ideas more immediately obvious, which helps students with the structure of their texts Stage 4: Students write the first draft This is done in class and frequently in pairs or groups Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of each others work By responding as readers, students develop an awareness of the fact that a writer is producing something to be read by someone else, and thus can improve their own drafts Stage 6: Drafts are returned and improvements are made based upon peer feedback Stage 7: A final draft is written Stage 8: Students once again, exchange and read each other’s work and perhaps even write a response or reply 10 Comparing the two approaches, Steele summarizes their differences in the table below: Process writing Product writing * text as a resource for comparison * imitate model text * ideas as starting point *organization of ideas is more important than ideas themselves * more than one draft * one draft * more global, focus on purpose, theme, text * features highlighted including controlled type, i.e., reader is emphasized practice of those features * collaborative * individual * emphasis on creative process * emphasis on end product Table 1: Differences between Process Approach and Product Approach From the analysis and the comparison of the two approaches, it is undeniable that each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses It is also the fact that there are few classrooms where teachers are devoted to one approach as to exclude all others Normally, they still use techniques drawn from other approaches as the students need them and those techniques are useful in the context of the class The writing lessons in new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook were compiled following both Product Approach and Process Approach This Combined ProductProcess Approach is found to be more popular, appropriate and effective The suggested general outline for a writing lesson following this approach may be: Stage 1: A model is given Stage 2: Students work on the model, analyze its typical features, and pay attention to the language and structure of the model Stage 3: Students work in groups/ pairs to find out the ideas for the writing topic/ task and produce an outline Stage 4: Students write the first draft individually/ in pairs/ in groups The model is used for comparison Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged Students give comments on each other’s work Stage 6: Drafts are returned and changes or improvements are made based on peer feedback Stage 7: Students write final drafts 30 In terms of problems with learning writing skills, almost the students asserted that their poor English ability and low background knowledge were the most concerning problems They explained that their English had been bad at lower secondary schools; therefore it was getting worse and worse The teachers’ assistance was regarded to be the third matter among the five listed problems The students said that they needed more clear instructions and thorough explanation from their teachers Consequently, the three above problems lead to the fact that they often not have enough time to complete their writings Time shortage for writing is therefore their next challenge Lack of writing materials was ranked last because they expressed that the textbook and what their teachers supplied them were enough for them What factors influence your participation and interests in the writing lessons? Agree Disagree Topics 97 (72%) 38 (28%) Tasks 92 (68%) 43 (32%) Facilities 41 (30%) 94 (70%) Learning environment 51 (38%) 84 (62%) Teachers’ assistance 131 (97%) (3%) Your English ability 135 (100%) Your background knowledge 126 (93%) (27%) Your motivation 115 (85%) 20 (15%) Tests and exams 70 (52%) 65 (48%) Table 12: Factors influencing students’ participation and interests The data reveals a fact that there are many factors that can affect students’ participation and interests In their opinions, writing is very difficult; hence making progress demands many aspects from their teachers, themselves, and outside conditions as well The leading factor is their English ability, which has been illustrated by 100% of the respondents Teachers’ assistance is the second important one (97%), which means that the students mostly rely on their teachers’ guidance In addition, their background knowledge plays an essential role (93%) Their motivation, topics, tasks, tests and exams, learning environment, and facilities were supported by 85%, 72%, 68%, 52%, 38%, and 30% respectively How often does your teacher use these teaching aids in the writing lessons? 31 Textbook Reference books Teacher’s book Handouts, Posters Projectors Board, chalk Pictures, Drawings Frequently 135 (100%) 30 (22%) 45 (33%) Sometimes Never 61 90 135 40 44 (33%) (45%) (67%) (100%) (30%) 90 (70%) 135 (100%) 135 (100%) Table 13: Frequency of using teaching aids When being surveyed how often their teacher used the teaching aids in the writing lessons, 100% of the respondents answered that their teachers employed the textbook, board, and chalk frequently; sometimes used handouts, posters, pictures, and drawings Noticeably, projectors were said to be never taken advantage (70%), and sometimes by 30% How does your teacher make use of the textbook in the writing lessons? Use without referring to any writing materials or creating any activities Adapt tasks appropriate to the students’ ability Change some tasks to motivate the students Frequently 31 (23%) Sometimes 79 (58%) Never 25 (19%) 40 (30%) 71 (52%) 24 (18%) 135 (100%) Table 14: Adaptation of the textbook It can be seen that all the respondents stated that the teachers never changed tasks This once again affirms that the teachers strongly believe on the textbook; however each teacher makes use of it in a different way There are more teachers who tended to refer to other writing materials or to create extra activities (23% frequently, 58% sometimes), and to adapt tasks appropriate to the students’ ability (30% frequently, 52% sometimes) 32 How often does your teacher use these activities? Frequently Design some activities or games to make students relax Pre- teach new vocabulary related to PreWriting writing pieces Explain clearly the Writing PostWriting Never 60 (44%) 135 (100%) task 66 (49%) 69 (51%) requirements and instructions in Vietnamese Elicit from Ss about ideas Lead Ss to the model writing to While- Sometimes 75 (56%) acknowledge the form and style Ask Ss to write individually Ask Ss to write in pairs Ask Ss to write in groups 57 (42%) 34 (25%) 78 (58%) 101 (75%) 135 (100%) 135 (100%) 135 (100%) Correct Share and Compare Exhibit 135 (100%) 135 (100%) 135 (100%) Table 15: Teaching techniques Concerning the activities at three stages: Pre- writing, While- writing, and Postwriting, the surveyed students seemed to have the same answers The table shows that at the Pre- writing stage the teachers took the listed activities frequently or at some times except for designing activities or games to make the students relax (44% never) At While- writing stage, 100% of the respondents asserted that their teachers only asked them to write individually At Post- writing stage, all the students agreed that their teachers sometimes asked them to share and compare writings or exhibit a random writing to correct before the class because of limited time What you think about the writing lessons in the textbook? Lesson length matches with lesson time Tasks are beyond Ss’ ability Agree 39 (29%) 77 (57%) Disagree 96 (71%) 58 (43%) 33 Tasks are designed from low level to high one 118 (87%) Types of writing are of variety 85 (63%) Topics are familiar with Ss 94 (70%) Table 16: Opinions on the writing lessons 17 (13%) 50 (37%) 41 (30%) Assessing the writing lessons, the students took more positive view than negative one The only one thing the students (71%) disagreed with is that lesson length matches with lesson time They complained that there was not enough time to correct, or even to complete their writing What you suggest to better your current writing teaching situation? Agree Facilities Facilitate more equipment, reference books 33 (24%) 64 (47%) 71 (53%) 87 (64%) 48 (36%) Make proper use of facilities 78 (58%) 57 (42%) Explain and instruct tasks clearly 135 (100%) Make clear requirements (individual work, pair work, group work) 129 (95%) (5%) Manage lesson time properly 126 (93%) (7%) Join regular workshops or programs to exchange experiences and methodology among the English staffs 130 (96%) (4%) Self- study to enrich background knowledge, and English ability Students 102 (76%) Re- create inappropriate tasks Teachers writing topics, 135 (100%) Lengthen writing lesson time Textbook Change less authentic inappropriate tasks Disagree and 127 (94%) (6%) Be active and motivated in lessons 97 (72%) 38 (28%) 34 Be strictly assessed at the entrance exams 49 (36%) 86 (64%) Table 17: Recommendations for a better teaching situation Four aspects were taken into consideration to make some changes for the current problems: facilities, textbook, teachers, and students As can be seen from the table, such ideas draw positive interests of the majority In other words, any changes which help to improve and facilitate writing skills were highly supported There are only two points that the subjects hesitated to employ 53% disagreed with the idea that writing lesson time should be lengthened because it took them time to learn other lessons Being strictly assessed at the entrance exams was dissupported by 86 students (64%) They argued that they mainly sat for Mathematics and Literature; English was not the key point 3.3.2.3 Class observations Class observations were conducted during the period of six weeks at the end of the second term Four different classes taught by four teachers were observed randomly among 10 classes My visit was announced right at the beginning of each lesson In general, all the observed teachers followed the similar procedures The lessons started with some warm-up activities, which were chiefly in the form of language games The stages of writing procedure were clearly highlighted by noting down on the board The common procedures went on with presentation of new vocabulary and new structures, chorus reading, introducing tasks, giving instructions, asking to write individually, and correction for the last The lessons were somehow student- centered in the sense that students were involved in various activities In addition, the teachers tried to motivate students’ involvement by making questions and moving to and fro However, most of the classroom activities focused on controlled practice The teachers sometimes managed to elicit the students, but elicitation was very simple 35 The teachers called no help from any kinds of equipment, thus, it was time- consuming to write answers on the board One of the very bad impacts of it is that teachers became the dominance of the class instead of students’ activities From the observations, the researcher realized that some students were eager to learn English and give responses to teachers’ questions and write However, they seemed so shy and timid to initiate exchange In fact, they did not speak unless their names were called upon 3.3.3 Findings and discussions 3.3.3.1 Challenges of poor facilities and large size classes One of the major obstacles to the success of writing lessons and its communicative language methods is the classroom facilities and the class size Like many other rural uppersecondary schools in Vietnam, all the classes are poor- equipped The appearance of devices for teaching and learning writing, for instance modern technology like computers, projectors is still an unsolved problem at Kinh Mon school It is undeniable that modern technology encourages much any aspects of language teaching and learning Without authentic materials, teachers cannot help students to interact with real situations where English is used More seriously, teachers often have to simplify their performance and other interesting activities due to limited facility Another concerning matter is that many of such limited devices are misspent because no one takes advantage of them Some teachers find inconvenient to apply new technology into their teaching, or they may be lazy because it takes time and energy to redesign the lesson plans In addition, big class size can not meet the demand of the communicative language approach This discourages students’ interaction or activeness in the classroom as well as teachers’ observations and assistance to individual 3.3.3.2 Attitudes and motivation towards writing skills 36 Optimistically, both the teachers and the students have a positive attitude toward teaching and learning writing skills They tried to cover with any part of writing tasks and activities in spite of many obstacles like poor learning condition, lack of writing experience and strategies and so on Apart from that, students’ integrative motivation is regarded as one of very important stimulus to succeed in writing skills Nevertheless, the data from the interviews and the observations also reveal the fact that inadequate awareness of evaluation and examination de- motivates the real efficiency of writing lessons Some of the subjects pay less attention to it and may ignore its importance or close relationship between developing writing skills and other English skills As a result, they become passive and indifferent 3.3.3.3 Students’ difficulties The findings from the data analysis can be categorized into the four main problems that the students cope up with They are their poor English ability, low background knowledge, teachers’ assistance, and time shortage To start with, many of the students get in trouble with English ability To some extend, they not have a vocabulary large enough, and a sufficient grasp of the structures of English for writing as well This, consequently, makes them lose confidence in showing off their real ability in practice In the second place, their low background knowledge prevents them from generating ideas In other words, they don’t know what to write Their writings, therefore, are less interesting and vivid In addition, teachers’ assistance does not meet their needs On the one hand, the teachers’ inexperience in teaching the new textbook partially confuses them They sometimes don’t know how to write due to unclear instructions or vague explanations, for example On 37 the other hand, the inappropriate method of their teachers discourages them Consequently, the teachers works as a controller while the students become passive Eventually, time shortage is apparently unavoidable They hardly complete the writing tasks at class Especially, it takes them much time to such tasks as writing about advantages and disadvantages of the mass media; describing a film, a city or a chart 3.3.3.4 Teachers’ difficulties Although the teachers of English at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school all take a positive view of the new “Tiếng Anh 10” textbook, and the communicative approach to language teaching, they find it difficult to succeed in teaching writing in their pedagogical practice Of difficulties, lack of experience and inappropriate teaching method are the most important ones Their years of teaching writing have ranged within one or three years only since the new textbook was put into existence, which is suitable for a trial process More seriously, few of them have got full training course to adapt new method for the new textbook; thus, lack of theoretical and practical experience is another universal matter of fact Despite carrying out gradual exchanges of method via class observations and discussions among teaching staff, they feel vague about the objectives and approaches, or even the concepts of new communicative language teaching Due to the quality of the teachers, the strengths of the new textbook are the least fully exploited Consequently, their teaching is less creative and less dynamic Moreover, new teaching methods require the teachers to spend more time doing additional preparatory work while there are already many demands on teachers’ time apart from their teaching syllabus Method in teaching language skills, especially writing skills is obviously the most challenging issue facing all the teachers at this school This matter is discussed specifically according to three following aspects: teaching approach, time management, adaptation of the textbook and teaching aid employment 38 First and for the most, they get into trouble with carrying out writing teaching approaches in their lessons One of the difficulties is that they confuse to understand the definitions of methodological terms such as the communicative approach, process approach and product approach, the control- to- free approach, etc According to the classroom observations and the interviews, the teachers chosen in this thesis followed the same teaching procedure: warm up, pre- writing, while- writing and post- writing and covered all the tasks given in the lessons The teachers presented the new words, helped the students exploit model texts to acknowledge the form and style through first tasks, asked them to write individually frequently, and finally corrected quickly or let the students continue to write at home In other words, there was no difference or significance between the writing skills and the other ones Actually, the teachers did not have any creativeness or make a choice of using appropriate activities that motivate the students’ attention and writing improvement Secondly, time management is also considered an art of language teaching which currently challenges many communicative language teachers It refers to a well- organized teaching procedure and teachers’ ability to control and balance the time for their presentation and students’ activities All the teachers involved in the study acknowledge time needed for each stage of writing lesson in theory and they tried to make the best use of it However, their failure is inevitable and understandable due to many reasons: poor- equipped classroom condition, students’ low level of English and background knowledge, and passiveness; and teachers’ lack of experience and inappropriate method Among them, teachers’ method is the decisive factor Thirdly, adaptation of the textbook could be an effective answer to students’ low and uneven writing abilities and difficult or irrelevant tasks, as well as with facility condition at high schools Naturally, no single textbook is completely suitable for any specific class Therefore, one of teacher’s roles is to make it appropriate and relevant to students’ background, level, and interests This can be done by simply re- designing or changing the tasks Such flexibility and creativity prevent students from over- relying on bilingual textbooks For example, Unit “write a paragraph about the advantages and disadvantages of the mass media” takes too much time; it, therefore, can be shortened into “write a paragraph 39 about the advantages or disadvantages of one of the mass media” Unit 16 “describing a chart” is quite challenging to almost the students; hence, the model writing is necessary for the students to get to know the form and style Lastly, employing teaching aids especially technology in a right way brings a lot of advantages The teachers may save time, energy, and furthermore can update many things More importantly, their writing lessons may attract their students Summary The author has introduced the context at which the study was conducted By concerning conditions of teachers, students, and facilities, she has revealed the disadvantages of teaching and learning writing skills at this school In addition, an overview on the new ‘Tiếng Anh’ textbook has taken in terms of the objectives, the teaching approaches, and the writing skills After presenting the methodology, the participants, the instruments, and the data collection procedures, she has analysed the data thoroughly with a view to showing the difficulties perceived by the teachers and the students, the factors affecting the students’ participation and interests, and some recommendations for bettering the situation Lastly, the findings and discussions were viewed by extracting from the data analysis 40 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS 4.1 Recommendations for more effective writing lessons To take advantage of teaching and learning writing in the new textbook and its underlying communicative methodology more effectively, greater efforts should be made on the part of the teachers, the students, the educational authorities and the whole society in general The following recommendations are listed to be taken into account if improved quality is desired: Firstly, the teachers should encourage the students to read more writings to enrich their vocabulary, and grammar; and to get to know forms and styles should be often done at school and at home as well Although, it takes time, energy and money to select and prepare such authentic writing materials and design tasks for the students, the teachers can reuse in different classes or exchange with other colleagues of English 41 Secondly, in addition to in- service workshops, the teachers should be provided with more professional support They should be introduced to teaching techniques related to the new method such as presenting new language, using specific writing tasks or activities appropriate to certain groups of students (individual work, pair work or group work), employing teaching aids, adapting the textbook, etc Besides, the teachers should combine and get the students have a habit of combining writing lessons with reading, speaking, and listening ones so that the students can get vocabulary, structures, and ideas to be ready for writing Last but not least, the classrooms should be equipped with necessary facilities so that the writing lessons may run smoothly without taking time More importantly, the teachers and the students have an opportunity to work in a modern condition to catch up the recent innovation 4.2 Limitations of the study The researcher has tried best to offer some insightful findings; however, there still remains some limitations as follows: Regarding of time, the thesis was carried within weeks which was not long enough to have an incentive overview of the real problems All the items for selection in the questionnaires were designed and supported by the researcher Therefore they cannot fulfill all aspects of the situation Questionnaire, classroom observation and interview instruments were employed unevenly and frequently among all 10 classes Also, activities of both the teachers and the students may not be true to what were really going on in the writing lessons due to the participation of the observer As the matter of fact, the data based on classroom observations and interviews may not reflect all the challenges facing the teachers and the students 42 One of the matters the researcher has not expected is the influence of introducing new English textbook and its testing standardization on writing skills as well as other communicative skills In other words, there are not any progress or achievement assessments that encourage teachers and students’ attitudes, interests and motivation The 10 th grade students are not affected yet by more high- state examinations or any official evaluations in writing skills Hence, their responses to some suggested issues may make no sense to the real problems 4.3 Suggestions for further research On the basis of the findings and the limitations of the study, several suggestions for further research are made As indicated in the findings, both the teachers and the students have coped up with a number of difficulties which remain unsolved for the time beings The root of the teachers’ perceived difficulties may be either in the textbook itself or in the teachers’ professional knowledge and experience Therefore, some of their perceived challenges may be taken-forgranted assumptions Also, more studies on techniques for improving writing skills and the effectiveness of the writing lessons Apparently, an analysis on students’ motivation and needs should be carried out to get deeper insights into this issue Moreover, researches on how to teach other language skills such as reading, speaking, listening would be beneficial 43 REFERENCES Tiếng Việt Bộ giáo dục đào tạo (2006), Tài liệu bồi dưỡng giáo viên, thực chương trình, sách giáo khoa lớp 10 THPT, Nxb Giáo dục, Hà Nội Đỗ Tuấn Minh (2007), Tài liệu bồi dưỡng giáo viên THPT “Đổi phương pháp dạy học theo chương trình sách giáo khoa lớp 10 mới”, Đại học Ngoại ngữ, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, Hà Nội Tiếng Anh Brown, H.D (1994), Teaching by Principles An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Prentice Hall Regents, New Jersey Byrne, D (1991), Teaching Writing Skills, Longman handbooks for language teachers, Longman, London 44 Lannon, J M (1989), The Writing Process: A Concise Rhetoric, Southeastern Massachusetts University Murray, D (1978), A Writer Teaches Writing: A Practical Method of Teaching Compositions, Houghton Mifflin, Boston Nunan, D (1991), Language Teaching Methodology, Prentice Hall International Ltd, Great Britain Perl, S (1979), The Composing Process of Unskilled College Writers Research in the Teaching of English 13 Raimes, A (1983), Techniques in Teaching Writing, OUP Rivers, W M (1981), Teaching Foreign Language Skills (2nd ed.), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago Tribble, C (1996), Writing, Oxford University Press, Oxford 10 White, R.V (1981), Approaches to Writing Guidelines for Writing Activities, A Magazine for Language Teachers, RELC ... having learnt the language Writing is tangible parents and students can see what has been done and what has been achieved So it has high ‘face validity’ (iii) In classroom, writing may be used as one... interviews and the observations also reveal the fact that inadequate awareness of evaluation and examination de- motivates the real efficiency of writing lessons Some of the subjects pay less attention... The Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach The name ‘the Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach’ fully reveals the characteristics of the approach Writing cannot be seen as composed of separate