Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS adapting writing activities in english 11 to motivate 11th graders at duong an high school to learn english writing skill

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THỊ THUÝ ADAPTING WRITING ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH 11 TO MOTIVATE 11TH GRADERS AT DUONG AN HIGH SCHOOL TO LEARN ENGLISH WRITING SKILL (THIẾT CHỈNH MỘT SỐ HOẠT ĐỘNG VIẾT TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 11 ĐỂ KHUYẾN KHÍCH HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT ĐƯỜNG AN HỌC KĨ NĂNG VIẾT) M.A.MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THỊ THUÝ ADAPTING WRITING ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH 11 TO MOTIVATE 11TH GRADERS AT DUONG AN HIGH SCHOOL TO LEARN ENGLISH WRITING SKILL (THIẾT CHỈNH MỘT SỐ HOẠT ĐỘNG VIẾT TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 11 ĐỂ KHUYẾN KHÍCH HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT ĐƯỜNG AN HỌC KĨ NĂNG VIẾT) M.A.MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Thơm Thơm, MA Hanoi, 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching MOET: The Ministry of Education and Training ESL/ EFL: English as a Second Language or a Foreign Language ELT (English Language Teaching) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com v LIST OF TABLES and Figures Table 1: Differences between Process Approach and Product Approach……………….8 Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 11.………………………………22 Table 3: The average marks of the control and experimental group…………….………28 Table 4: The average marks of the control and experimental group before the experiment.……………………………………………………………………………30 Table 5: Students’ motivation in learning writing English ……………….………………31 Table 6: Students’ participation in writing lessons.………………………………… ……31 Table 7: Factors prevent students from participating in writing in the class.……….….32 Table 8: Students’ opinions towards English writing skills in the textbook English 1….33 Table 9: Students’ opinion about the way their teachers teach writing…………… ……33 Table 10: Students’ evaluation towards their current writing lessons………………… …34 Table 11: Results of experimental group’s participation………………………………….…42 Table 12: Students' range in the two classes before and at the end of experiment.………43 Figure 1: The material evaluation process……………………………………………………14 Figure 2: A preliminary framework for materials analysis and action……………………15 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION……………………………………………………………… …… …….i ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………… iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ……………………………………………… .iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ………………………………………………………v TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………… vi PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… … ….… 1 Rationale for the study…………………………………………………………… … Research questions …………………………………………………………………….2 Aims of the study …………………………………………………………………… Scope of the study…………………………………………………………………… Methods of the study………………………… ………………………… ………… Design of the study…………………………………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………………4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………… An Overview of Writing…………………………………………………………… 1.1 Definitions of writing………………………………………………………………… 1.2 Roles of writing……………………………………………………………………… 1.3 Approaches to teaching writing…………………………………………………… 1.4 Writing teaching procedure………………………………………………………… An Overview of Motivation ………………………………………………………… 2.1 Definitions of motivation…………………………………………………………… 2.2 Roles of motivation………………………………………………………………… 10 2.3 Types of Motivation………………………………………………………………… 10 Materials Evaluation………………………………………………………………… 13 3.1 The concepts of materials evaluation…………………………………………… 13 3.2 The reasons for materials evaluation……………………………………………… 13 3.3 Models for evaluation……………………………………………………………… 13 3.4 Criteria for evaluation……………………………………………………………… 16 Material adaptation………………………………………………………………… 16 4.1 Definition of material adaptation…………………………………………………… 16 The purpose of adaptation………………………………………………………… 17 4.3 Techniques for adaptation………………………………………………………… 18 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii 4.4 Levels of adaptation………………………………………………………….…… 19 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY…………………………………………………………… 21 2.1 Research setting………………………………………………………………… 21 2.1.1 The setting of the study………………………………………………… … 21 2.1.2 Writing materials…………………………………………………………… 21 2.2 Research design……………………………………………………………………23 2.3 Participants……………………………………………………………………… 24 2.4 Data collection instruments……………………………………………………….25 2.4.1 Classroom observations…………………………………………………… 25 2.4.2 The teacher interview……………………………………………………… 26 2.4.3 Student questionnaire……………………………………………………… 26 2.4.4 Follow-up student interview………………………………………………….26 2.5 Data collection procedure…………………………………………………… … 27 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS………………………………….28 3.1 The students' level and motivation before the experiment…………………… 28 3.2 Results from questionnaire……………………………………………………… 30 3.3 Results from teacher interview………………………………………………… 34 3.4 Results from the end of experiment observations……………………………….37 3.4.1 Observations in control group…………………………………………… …37 3.4.2 Observations in experimental group…………………………………………37 3.5 Students’ participation in experimental and control group in three lessons at the end of the intervention…………………………………………………………………42 3.6 Comparison of students’ participation in experimental and control group … 43 3.7 Follow-up student interview…………………………………………………… 44 PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………… 45 1.1 Summary of the study……………………………………………………………….45 1.2 Implications…………………………………………………………………………45 1.3 Limitations of the study …………………………………………………………….46 1.4 Suggestions for further study ……………………………………………………….46 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………47 APPENDICES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Part A: Introduction Rationale of the study The introduction of new English 10, 11, 12 textbook to school curriculum in 2006, 2007 and 2008 has marked a dramatic change in the way English is taught Along with three skills, namely, speaking, listening, reading, writing has been put in priority and integrated in the textbook Although the books have shown a great deal of improvement as compared with the old series of grammar-based it seems that not all activities or tasks in the books, especially in writing part are suitable to the different teaching and learning contexts of different localities within Vietnam After years teaching new English 11 at Duong An high school, I find out that in comparison with other three skills, writing is considered the most complicated to teach and still remains neglected due to students‟ low level proficiency, time constraints and low motivation When students write, they find themselves confused with word choice, grammatical use, organization and generation of ideas They tend to translate ideas from mother tongue into English, express ideas in long sentences, and are not aware of different kinds of writing, thus making them unable to write in real life Because of limited background knowledge, they often feel bored and not want to write Naturally, teaching English writing in upper-secondary schools is a challenging job for many English teachers because it requires not only high language competence among the teachers themselves, but also the application of appropriate writing instruction Some teachers not feel confident about their own English and shy away from designing writing tasks or getting students to write more than just grammatical exercises Sometimes teachers not have enough ideas to facilitate students In reality, most teachers follow what the tasks in the textbook require, and nothing more about it They may even let students copy the models from the guide books or sample collection On realizing students‟ problems, I assume that what English writing teachers need to is to improve the quality of students‟ pieces of writing, to give them a more cooperative learning environment, and to motivate them to participate in the writing lessons I myself have been making an effort to seek pedagogical methods which could help deal with the mentioned problems What is more, I suggest that adapting writing LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com activities in textbook could be a more effective strategy Many studies on the effectiveness of this have proved that it can be applied in ELF writing classes to solve the above problems However, I have not found any research on this field in upper-secondary schools in Vietnam in general and in Hai Duong in particular so far Related to my students‟ problems, I would like to conduct an experimental study titled “Adapting writing activities in English 11 to motivate 11th graders at Duong An high school to learn English writing skill” in order to inspire our students in writing lessons Aims of the study The study aims at: - investigating teachers‟ and students' attitudes towards teaching and learning writing at Duong An high school - determining the effect of the adapted activities in motivating students at Duong An high school in writing lessons Basing on the findings, some implications and suggestions will finally be proposed by the researcher Research questions With the above aims, the research questions are: What are teachers‟ and students' attitudes towards teaching and learning writing at Duong An high school? How the adapted activities help motivate students at Duong An high school in writing lessons? Scope of the study There is a variety of aspects affecting students‟ motivation in class activities so there exist numerous methods to improve students‟ involvement However, it is not my attention to cover all of them because of time and length constraint of the study Adaptation of several writing activities in English 11 is focused on and tested in class 11A at Duong An high school As the result, the samples of the study were restricted to teachers and 40 students at 11th form at Duong An high school Methods of the study The method employed in this study is a quasi- experimental research to identify the teachers' and students' attitude towards teaching and learning writing skill After that found LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com out the reasons why teachers should adapt activities in English 11 to motivate students at Duong An high school in writing lesson The study attempts to find out whether the adapted activities can motivate students or not Data were collected by means of textbook evaluation, interviews, questionnaires, and observations and experiment Concerning interviews, teachers who have ever taught English 11 were involved in the study Survey questionnaires were conducted among 40 students from two classes at the school Design of the study This minor thesis is divided into three main parts Part A, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims, scope, methods, and design of the study The research questions are also mentioned in this part Part B, DEVELOPMENT, consists of three following chapters: Chapter one, Literature Review, presents various concepts most relevant to the research topic such as definitions of writing, roles of writing, approaches to writing teaching, writing teaching procedure; concepts of motivation in language teaching and learning; materials evaluation Furthermore, the following are also included in this chapter: Definition of material adaptation, the purpose of adaptation, techniques for adaptation and levels of adaptation as well Chapter two, namely “THE STUDY” describes the overall picture of the research was carried out from the first step of determining the research design to the last step of gathering the results Moreover, presentation of statistical results are describes in this chapter Chapter three, “DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS” analyses the collected data to answer the two research questions Part C, CONCLUSION, addresses the key issues in the study, summaries some limitations revealed during the process of the completing this study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW An Overview of Writing 1.1 Definitions of writing Writing is one of the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) that a learner is expected to master Writing has been defined in a variety of ways Firstly, writing is the process in which the writer expresses his thoughts or ideas in the form of handwriting “Writing is communicating Good writing gets your ideas out of your head and into the reader‟s head without losing or distorting those ideas” (Leki, 1976) 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) 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.” Furthermore, writing is a productive skill, so it is writing that provides students with chances to put the language itself and practice communicative skills at the same time Through the act of writing students will realize what they are already good at and what they still need to learn to become better 1.2 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.) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 47 References Brown, H.D (1994), Teaching by Principles An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Prentice Hall Regents, New Jersey Carol, J B (1962) The Prediction of Success in Intensive foreign Language training: Training research and education Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press Crookes, G & Schmidt, R W (1991) Motivation: Reopening the research agenda Language Learning, Vol 41 (4) 469-512 Ellis, R (1997) The Empirical Language Teaching Materials ELT Journal, Volume 51 Issue 1: January 1997, pp 36-42 Falk, J (1978) Linguistics and language : A survey of basic concepts and implications(2nd ed.) John Wiley and Sons Gardner, R C, & Lambert, W (1972) Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning Rowley MA: Newbury House Grill ham, B (2000), Developing a Questionnaire, Continuum Wellington House: London Harmer,J.(2001).The Practice of language teaching (3rd ed).Essex:Longman Hoang Van Van, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Do Tuan Minh, Dao Ngoc Loc and Nguyen Quoc Tuan (2009) Tieng Anh 11 Education Publishing House of Vietnam 10 Hudson, G (2000) Essential introductory linguistics Blackwell Publishers 11 Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A (1993) English for Specific Purposes Cambridge University Press 12 Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes Cambridge University Press 13 Leki,I.(1976) Academic Writing, Techniques and Tasks: ST Martin Press, New York 14 Lê, Văn Canh (2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology Hanoi: ĐHQGHN 15 Lite, W T Jan (2002) The Internet TESL Journal Vol VII No1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 48 16 Littlejohn, A (1998), The Analysis of Language Teaching Materials inside the Trojan Horse in Tomlison, B (eds.) Materials Development in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 17 Littlewood, W.1998 Foreign and Second Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 18 Madsen, K S., & Bowen, J D (1978) Adaptation in Language Teaching Rowley, MA: Newbury House 19 McDonough, J., & Shaw, C (1993) Materials And Methods In ELT A Teacher's Guide Black well 20 Nguyen, M & Luong, Tr (2008) Thiet ke bai giang Tieng Anh 11 Tap 1, Hanoi Pulisher 21 Nunan, D (1988) Syllabus Design Adelaide: Oxford University Press 22 Nunan, D (1991), Language Teaching Methodology, Prentice Hall International Ltd, Great Britain 23 Raimes, A (1983), Techniques in Teaching Writing, OUP 24 Rivers, W M (1981), Teaching Foreign Language Skills (2nd ed.), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 25 Robinson, P.C (1991) ESP Today: A practitioner's Guide Prentice Hall 26 Selinger, H.W., & Shohamy, E (1989) Second Language Research Methods Oxford: OUP 27 Sheldon, L.E (1988) Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials ELT Journal 42/4 October 1988, pp 237-246 Oxford University Press 28 Tomlinson, B (1998) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press 29 Tribble,C 1996 Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press 30 White, R.V (1981), Approaches to Writing Guidelines for Writing Activities, A Magazine for Language Teachers, RELC 31 Woldkowski, R.J (19991) Enhancing adults‟ motivation to learn San Francisco: Jossey-Bass LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com I APPENDIX 1: PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA NGHIÊN CỨU ( Dành cho học sinh) Các em học sinh thân mến! Phiếu khảo sát nhằm mục đích thực đề tài nghiên cứu khoa học liên quan đến “Thiết chỉnh số hoạt động viết sách Tiếng Anh lớp 11 để khuyến khích học sinh trường THPT Đường An học kĩ Viết” Để thực tốt đề tài nghiên cứu này, mong hợp tác em Xin em vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi sau Xin chân thành cảm ơn! Em học sinh lớp:……………………… 1.Giới tính em: a nam b nữ 2.Em sống ở: a nông thôn b thị trấn Em học Tiếng Anh năm Lý học tiếng Anh em: Em đánh dấu (√) vào lựa chọn tương ứng đưa ý kiến khác chỗ trống a Vì tiếng anh mơn học bắt buộc trường b Để nghe hát hát tiếng anh, đọc sách báo tiếng anh, xem phim tiếng anh c Để kiếm công việc tốt tương lai d Để du học sau e Lý khác: 5.Em đánh giá mức độ tham gia em viết Tiếng Anh lớp? Đánh dấu (√)vào chỗ thích hợp: a Em thích Tiếng Anh nên thường xuyên tham gia b Thỉnh thoảng em tham gia có hoạt động dễ viết, hợp sở thích c Em viết kiến thức em khơng có từ cấu trúc để diễn đạt LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com II d Em chép sách " để học tốt" để đối phó với giáo viên Yếu tố khiến em khơng có hứng thú nhiệt tình viết? Em đánh dấu (√) vào ô tương ứng a Kiến thức em khơng có từ, cấu trúc để diễn đạt b Các hoạt động sách giáo khoa khó so với khẳ c Chủ đề viết không hấp dẫn, hoạt động viết khơng đa dạng d Em khơng thích giáo viên em khơng muốn hợp tác Theo em chủ đề viết sách giáo khoa gần gũi với thực tế sống Đánh dấu (√) vào chỗ thích hợp: a Rất khơng đồng ý b Không đồng ý c.Em d Đồng ý e Rất đồng ý Theo em, hoạt động viết sách Tiếng Anh 11 thú vị Đánh dấu (√) vào chỗ thích hợp: a Rất không đồng ý b Không đồng ý c.Em d Đồng ý e Rất đồng ý Giáo viên em thường dạy viết nào? Đánh dấu (√) vào chỗ thích hợp: a Thầy (cơ) thường dạy theo sách giáo khoa b Thầy (cô) thường xuyên thay đổi, điều chỉnh hoạt động sách giáo khoa c Thỉnh thoảng thầy (cơ) có thay đổi vài hoạt động d Thầy (cô) thường bỏ hoạt động sách giáo khoa đi, thay hoạt động bên 10 Em đánh giá học viết lớp em nay: Đánh dấu (√) vào chỗ thích hợp: a Rất khơng hiệu b Không hiệu c Em d.hiệu e Rất hiệu Chân thành cảm ơn! LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com III APPENDIX 2: TEACHER INTERVIEW Interview questions: How you evaluate writing activities or writing skill in term of topics, variety of the activities, level of difficulty, communicativeness? Do you satisfy with your students’participation in writing classes? How many percent of students actively involve in writing activities? Do you usually follow activities in the textbook or adapt them? Can you name some ways of adapting textbook? According to you what are the factors affecting students’participation in writing lessons? What have you done to increase your students’ involvement? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com IV APPENDIX 3: Student INTERVIEW Interview questions: Các em có thích hoạt động viết giáo viên đưa thêm vào điều chỉnh từ sách giáo khoa khơng? Nếu thích sao? Nếu khơng thích sao? Các dạng tập hoạt động phần viết có phù hợp với trình độ em hay khơng? Em đánh mức độ tham gia có thiết chỉnh hoạt động sách giáo khoa? Rất cảm ơn cộng tác em! LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com V APPENDIX 4: EXPERIMENTAL LESSON Observation of adaptation 2: Class description:  Class: 11A  Number of students: 20  Time: 30 minutes  Unit 13: Hobbies: Part D: Writing Lesson objective: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - write a paragraph about their collection - know more structures and new words to describe hobby Procedure: Stage Teacher's activities Students' & activities Time Warm up mins Pre - Ask Ss to name the things people often - Group work collect - Give answer - Give scores and then praise the winner - Observe and listen Keys: stamps, dolls ,books, money… carefully * Activity 1: Brainstorming writing - raise the question: “If you want to 12mins introduce your hobby of collecting - listen to the teacher something, what you want to talk about?” - answer T’s question Name How to collect Plan for future How to classify COLLECT ION How to keep When Why * Activity 2: Matching - T delivers the handouts - work individually - Ask Ss to match the guidelines in Awith the - match the guidelines with LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VI ideas in B the ideas A B The name of a In album, in collection boxes, on shelves How to collect b To relax, to kill How to keep time, to entertain When to start c Collection of How to classify books, coins, Why to collect stamps… Plan for the d Continue to future collect e Buy, ask, exchange… f Last year, long ago, g Into categories, ages, countries, colors, Keys: 1-c 4-f 2-e 5-g 3-a 6-b 7-d - listen to the teacher * Activity 3: - Give a sample paragraph of stamps collection (below) - Get students to work in pairs, read the passage carefully and then answer the questions below: Work in pairs, read the What is the writer's hobby? passage carefully and then When did she/ he start collecting? answer the questions below How does she/ he collect them? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VII How does she/ he keep them? How does she/ he classify them? Why does she/ he collect them? What will she/ he in the future? - Check the answers from students and correct mistakes While -Get students to write a paragraph about their writing own collection? (Real or imaginary) - Work individually 15 mins Sample paragraph of stamps collection My hobby is collecting stamps I collected stamps years ago I have been collecting both local stamps and foreign stamps from the letters of friends and relatives I classify the stamps into categories I put stamps of animals, flowers, birds…on different pages I keep them in two albums, one for local and the other for foreign ones Collecting stamps helps to broaden my knowledge about the world around me and it is also an effective way to be good at geography I plan to join the stamp exhibitions to learn from experienced stamp collectors and I can expose my collections at an exhibition in the future LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIII APPENDIX 5: Observation of adaptation 3: Class description:  Class: 11A  Number of students: 20  Time: 30 minutes  Unit 2: Unit 2: Personal experiences Part D: Writing  Lesson objective: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: Write a letter telling about one of the most memorable past experiences  Procedure: Stage Teacher's activities Sts’ activities s - Ask Sts to answer some questions - Can you write a personal letter in English? - Today I want you to write a letter about your past experience in English - Ask more questions related to personal letter How many parts does a personal letter normally have? What are these parts? Warm up (5’) What we normally write in the Salutation? Whole class What we normally write in the Closing? Where we normally sign the letter? Answer: parts The heading, the salutation, (greeting), the body, the closing, and the signature We normally write “ Dear or Hello” plus the name of the person we are writing to and a coma at the end We normally write something like “ sincerely”, “ yours”, Love, cheers, best wishes, see you soon and after that we put a coma LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com IX Our signature goes under the closing - Feedback as whole class - Have Sts give some of their past experiences?( being seriously ill, failing an exam; talking to a famous pop star, etc + Suggested questions: When it happened: (It happened …years ago/in …./ when I was …years old.) Whole class & individuals Where it happened:- ( in my house/ at school / in the street) Who was involved:- ( your family members/ your friends/ your relatives,….) How it affected you: - ( it changed outlook life / it make me more careful/ it gave me more confidence in Before …./ it taught me the lesson/…) Writing - Ask sts to pay attention to tense ( Past) (10’) * Hang on the modal letter and ask Sts to read the following letter and complete the chart below Dear Alice, I'm writing to tell you about my last summer vacation at my grandparents’ It was one year ago and was one of my most unforgettable experience There is a river at the back of my grandparents, and I often go swimming there when I spend my vacation with them One day when I was swimming with my friends, I Groupwork suddenly caught a cold I felt so dizzy and was too weak to continue I thought I was going to drown but I couldn’t call out for help Luckily one of my friends saw that He swam towards me and tried to pull me up My life was finally saved LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com X Now recalling that moment I understand how precious life is This event taught me to appreciate my life What about you? Have you got any unforgettable holiday that you would like to share with me? With best wishes, Son Name of experience When it happened Where it happened How it happened Who involved How the experience affected you * Answer: I nearly drowned A year ago, on my summer vacation A river near my grandfather’s house When I was swimming, I suddenly caught a cold I felt dizzy and was too weak to swim Some of my friends were also swimming at that time One tried to save me I learned that life is so important While Ask sts: Writing Write a letter to tell your friends the most (15’) Individuals embarrassing experience in the same way LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com XI APPENDIX 6: OBSERVATION SHEET (for control group) Evaluation on the suitability of the writing lessons in English 11 Date: ……………………… Period: …… Class/ Group: … Mentor’s name: ………………………Mentee’s: …………………………… Are students interested in the writing lessons? Yes No Is the writing lesson suitable with the aims of the course? Yes No Do students have chance to practice writing? Yes No Are students interested/ motivated in the writing lesson? Yes No Are kinds of exercise/ tasks various and useful? Yes No LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com XII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com XIII APPENDIX 7: OBSERVATION SHEET Evaluation on the suitability of adapted writing lessons Date: ……………………… Period: …… Class/ Group: … Mentor’s name: ………………………Mentee’s: …………………………… Audience Aims Content Methodology Other comments Are students interested in the adapted writing lessons? Yes No Which writing lessons are suitable with the audience? Unit Unit Are the writing lessons suitable with the aims of the course? Yes No Do students have chance to practice writing? Yes No Are adapted writing lessons solved problems of the old one? Yes No Which adapted writing lessons are unsuitable? Unit Unit Which writing activities are employed? Individuals Pairs How effectively are teaching aids employed? Very effective Effective Not very effective Are kinds of exercise/ tasks various and useful? Yes No Is the writing lesson flexible? Yes No How is supporting for teaching the course effective? Very effective Effective Not very effective Which adapted writing lessons are suitable? Unit Unit Unit 13 Unit 13 Groups Whole class Unit 13 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... study titled ? ?Adapting writing activities in English 11 to motivate 11th graders at Duong An high school to learn English writing skill? ?? in order to inspire our students in writing lessons Aims... are: What are teachers‟ and students'' attitudes towards teaching and learning writing at Duong An high school? How the adapted activities help motivate students at Duong An high school in writing. .. at: - investigating teachers‟ and students'' attitudes towards teaching and learning writing at Duong An high school - determining the effect of the adapted activities in motivating students at