Aims of the study
The main purpose of the study is to research the reality of teaching and learning English writing skills to the tenth graders at Chu Van An High School for the Gifted, Lang Son Province (henceforth CVA) on the basis of finding out the difficulties encountered by the learners in three writing stages: Pre-writing, While- writing and Post-writing The other purpose of the study is to propose some suggestions to deal with the difficulties.
Research questions
1) What difficulties do the tenth graders at CVA encounter when learning English writing skills?
2) What are the reasons for the difficulties?
3) What are the possible solutions to overcome the difficulties?
Methods of the study
This is a survey study in which both quantitative and qualitative methods have been employed To collect information and data, two instruments: questionnaires and class observation have been used In addition, reviewing related documents is a method to establish the theoretical background for the study.
Scope of the study
This minor thesis has been conducted at CVA in order to recognize difficulties encountered by the tenth graders in three writing stages Explanations for the difficulties have been presented Also, the thesis has given some suggestions to better the teaching and learning writing skills at the school.
Significance of the study
the study have pointed out the limitations in the teaching and learning practice
Therefore, the teachers and learners can find out relevant approaches to teaching and learning writing skills Furthermore, the study has given some pedagogical suggestions to solve the difficulties in the teaching and learning of writing skills.
Organization of the study
Part A is the introduction to the study It presents the rationale, aims, methods, research questions, scope, significance and organization of the study
Part B, development, includes chapter 1 with a review of literature on writing in general, chapter 2 with a detailed description of the context, the textbook and the methodology, chapter 3 with the collection, analysis and discussion of the data
Part C, conclusion, gives a summary of the main findings, pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research
LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of writing
Fundamental components of writing
To produce clear, fluent and effective communication of ideas when writing, learners have to deal with a lot of things Raimes (1983:6) stresses the elements that make up a piece of writing as the following
Diagram 1 Producing a piece of writing
Problems caused by writing
Widdowson (1983:36) describes the learning of writing in a second language as problematic because "learning to write in English when it is not your first, but a second or a third language poses its own problems"
Byrne (1988:4) gives three problems which are caused by writing under three headings: psychological problems, linguistics problems and cognitive ones
SYNTAX sentence structure, sentence boundaries stylistic choices, etc.
ORGANIZATION paragraphs, topic and support cohesion and unity
CONTENT relevance, clarity, originality, logics, etc THE
WRITER’S PROCESS getting ideas, getting started, writing drafts, revising
PURPOSE the reason for writing
WORD CHOICE vocabulary, idiom, tone
GRAMMAR rules for verbs, agreement, articles, pronouns, etc.
MECHANICS handwriting, spelling, punctuation clear, fluent and effective communication of ideas
+) Psychological problems: Unlike speech that takes place with the physical presence of someone and the feedback from the speaker and the listener, writing is a solitary activity and the writer is required to write on his own without the possibility of interaction or the benefit of feedback This makes the act of writing difficult
+) Linguistic problems: When speaking, people pay little attention either to sentence structure or to sentence connection because the oral communication is maintained through the process of interaction People repeat, backtrack, expand, etc depending on how people react to what are being said When speaking, incomplete and even ungrammatical utterances usually pass unnoticed When writing, on the other hand, people have to keep the channel of communication open through their own efforts and to ensure that their choice of sentence structures and their way of linking sentences can produce a text that can be interpreted on its own
People appear to speak without much conscious effort or thought and generally they talk because they want to, about matters which are of interest or relevant to them socially or professionally Writing, on the other hand, is learned through a process of instruction: people have to master the written form of the language and to learn certain structures which are less used in speech, or perhaps not used at all, but which are important for effective communication in writing People also have to learn how to organize their ideas in such a way that they can be understood by a reader who is not present and perhaps by a reader who is not known to them
Besides, writing is a task which is often imposed on people, perhaps by circumstances This not only has a psychological effect but also causes a problem in terms of when content-what to say Being at a loss for ideas is a familiar experience to most of people who are obliged to write
In discussions of the teaching of writing, Vietnamese researchers give various reasons for the difficulty in writing They are challenges of poor facilities, large size classes, unsuitable tasks in the textbook, students’ poor linguistic competence, passive learning style (Hoang, 2013:42), students’ negative attitudes towards the writing skill, careless preparation of the early stages before writing (Kieu, 2009:43), teachers’ poor experience in teaching theme-based writing (Pham, 2009:1).
Differences between skilled and unskilled writers
There are significant differences in writing behaviors of skilled and unskilled writers Perl (1979) found that unskilled writers are primarily concerned with the superficial elements or problems at sentence level They pay less attention to the readership, the plan and organization of their writing They rarely modify or rewrite what they have written down, either Whereas, the skilled writers focus on the problems beyond the sentence and pay much attention to the organization of the whole writing
Pianko (1979:13) also stressed that unskilled or weak writers "hesitated while writing, they did not pause," and "they were worried about their spelling." The skilled writers, on the other hand, paused to plan and prepare what to write next, and to check if their plans fulfilled the purpose of the task, whereas the weak writers paused merely to revise grammar and mechanics
Sommers (1980) found that weak writers revise in a very limited way, i.e they were mainly interested in lexicon and teacher-generated rules but rarely modified the ideas already written down These writers consider the revision process as preparing what they have written for typing On the other hand, the fluent writers viewed revision from a global perspective Such writers revise the whole text, to find and create chunks, to discover meaning and to contribute to the development of the whole essay
Calkins (1983) found that weak writers eloborated what they had written by making minor changes to spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary items Calkins attributed these shortcomings in terms of revision to their lack of knowledge how to revise.
Approaches to teaching writing 1 Controlled-to-free approach
To solve the problems caused by writing, a variety of approaches to the teaching of writing have been developed and applied to the writing classes However, it is necessary to note from the beginning that there is not any ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to teach writing skills The application of any approach will depend on a specific context of teaching and learning EFL Raimes’s (1983) and Steele’s (2004) terminology has been adopted for the purpose of this paper
In the 1950s and early 1960s, speech was the main concern in language leaning and teaching Writing then was used as a sub-skill for reinforcing speech in which teachers tried to lead students to the mastery of grammatical and syntactic forms
Hyland (2009:3), therefore, labels this approach as "structure orientation" and describes it as a four-stage process of writing Students firstly learn certain grammar and vocabulary They secondly practice fixed patterns Then, they copy model text Finally, they write essays using the patterns they have learned In short, this approach emphasizes accuracy over fluency and classroom activities are designed to develop reproduction skills in fixed patterns and the ability to identify and correct problems from linguistic knowledge Due to the emphasis on syntax, grammar and mechanics instead of content, process, audience and purpose of writing, this approach makes it difficult for students to develop their writing skills beyond sentence level
1.5.2 Free writing approach According to Raimes (1983), the free writing approach emphasizes quantity and fluency over quality and accuracy That is, students can write freely on the topic given as much and quickly as possible without worrying about correct forms
Students may at first feel challenged to pour out their ideas much and quickly, but frequent practice will help them write comfortably and fluently It is also important in this approach that teachers do not correct their students’ free-writing but only comment on the content
However, the free writing approach does have some drawbacks Hyland (2008) points out the inappropriateness of applying this approach in academic contexts In academic writing, students have to write about certain topics with the aim of researching deeply and carefully instead of writing down freely what they want to say Besides, the errors in the final product do affect students’ grade for their paper
According to Raimes (1983), the organization of writing is the most significant concern Students copy paragraphs, analyze the form and imitate model passages
They put scrambled sentences into paragraph order, they identify general and specific statements, they choose or invent an appropriate topic sentence, and they insert or delete sentences This approach is based on the principle that the organization of writing varies depends on different patterns of written discourse
Kaplan (1966:75) indicates that different languages have different patterns of written discourse He describes English discourse patterns in straight line, Semitic in zigzag, Oriental in spiraling, Romance and Russian in digressive Therefore, English learners should learn English writing patterns to write properly in English
Also, this kind of contrastive rhetoric is very difficult to apply to a real writing classroom because students’ ages and language proficiency levels are not sufficiently considered
The grammar-syntax-organization requires students to focus on several features of writing at once Writing, therefore, cannot be seen as composed of separate skills which are learned one by one Teachers therefore devise writing tasks which draw their students’ attention to organization while working on grammar and syntax For example, to write a clear set of instructions on how to operate a calculator, 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, etc During discussion and preparation of the task, all these are reviewed and taught for the first time Students see the connection between what they are trying to write and what they need to write it
In short, the main focus in this approach is using forms, often at the sentence level to achieve the clearest and most appropriate meaning possible Students practice by linking specific vocabulary words, structural elements, and organizational features to specific writing tasks Trying to get students to internalize the necessary forms for writing is an important aspect of this approach This approach, however, goes against Kroll’s (1990) philosophy since the researcher expresses that writing skills are best taught through meaningful communication and best learned in meaningful contexts
Communicative approach emphasizes the purpose of a piece of writing and the audience It also encourages students to act like a writer in real-life situations and to ask themselves two crucial questions about audience and purpose such as "why am I writing this?", "who will read it" As a result, real-world types of writing tasks are devised The writing exercises in this approach are created so that the teacher, other students, or people from out of the class can be the audience
Context has a central role in communicative writing exercises These exercises give the students chance to level the formality and content appropriately according to whom they are writing for and what type of writing they are doing However, this method does not emphasize the rhetorical conventions of English texts
Leaners’ attention is not called upon the structure, style and the organization of their writing
According to Raimes (1983), the main concern of this approach is the process of writing, such as how writers get started or how they develop their ideas Student writers must need to realize that what they first put down on paper is not necessarily their finished product but just a beginning, a setting out of first ideas, a draft Their first draft might be unorganized and full of grammatical errors Then, with the appropriate time given to go through the process of writing and the feedback from both their teachers and peers, the student writers will discover new ideas, new sentences and new words to develop their final drafts which are better organized with fewer grammatical errors The process writing, therefore, becomes
"a process of discovery for the students" (Ibid 11) They discover new ideas, new language forms to express their ideas
Teachers who use this approach are expected to give two crucial supports to their students The first one is time for their students to try out ideas and the second is feedback on the content of what they write in their drafts However, they should be careful when adapting this approach to ESL/EFL classrooms ESL/EFL students expect more explicit and strict direction from their teachers In addition, some students do not trust peers’ feedback, and at the same time, they are reluctant to criticize others’ writing Furthermore, ESL/EFL students have limited language knowledge, so teacher should take roles of both language teacher and writing teacher
According to Steele (2004), this approach has a number of stages, though a typical sequence of activities could proceed as follows:
Stage 1: Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion Students could be discussing qualities needed to do a certain job, or giving reasons as to why people take drugs or gamble
The teacher remains in the background during this phase, only providing 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
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Context of the study
The school
The study has been carried out at CVA, which is located in the centre of Lang Son Province, a mountainous area in the north-east of Vietnam This school is more famed than the others in the local for its academic success which, to some extent, owns its debt to the application of teaching innovations in classroom practice
However, the learners and teachers in the school are still facing some challenges
The first challenge comes from the school’s facilities for English teaching and learning The class size of 35 to 40 students is too big to be a standard one This does have effect on student-to-teacher and student-to-student interaction, monitored practice, and individual feedback during instructional time The lack of teaching-aided facilities is another obstacle to the teachers, who have to consume much of their time and energy to create the visual aids by themselves without any help from the school The second challenge is the students’ low level of English proficiency in speaking and writing This problem is not only due to their little exposure to English in their daily life but also the way of teaching and learning.
English 10 Textbook
English 10 has been in use since 2006 as the official textbook in Vietnamese high schools The book is set up on a theme-based foundation with the aim of developing students’ linguistic and communicative competence It consists of 16 units with different topics Each unit has five parts represented through five forty- five-minute lessons: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Language Focus respectively.
The writing section in English 10 textbook
Post- It may begin with a model, followed by the activities that guide students through the writing process such as model analysis, language work, and guided writing The text types students are required to produce vary from personal and formal letters to narratives, chart, graph and table description and expository essays
The general objective of writing section is stated clearly in the teacher book that students should be able to write a form of written texts of 100-120 words on the topics studied based on the provided models or prompts for personal or basic communicative purposes The topics and text types in each unit are detailed in the following table:
Unit Themes/Topics Text Type
1 A Day in the Life of… A narrative
2 School Talk Filling in a form
4 Special Education A letter of complaint
5 Technology and You A set of instructions
7 The Mass Media Advantages and disadvantages of TV
8 The Story of My Village Informal letters to give directions
9 Undersea World Interpreting facts and figures from a table
11 National Parks A letter of acceptance or refusal
13 Films and Cinemas Describing a film
14 The World Cup Writing an announcement
Table 2 Topics and text types in each unit of English 10
Nguyen (2007:43) judges the writing approach adopted in the books to be product-oriented because of its emphasis on the end-result of writing What students often do in their writing lessons are imitating, copying and transforming the model texts to their writing without any attention to the process of planning, drafting, revision, and editing She also finds that not all the writing activities provide adequate and effective scaffolding for students Therefore, some writing tasks in the textbook become too challenging and perhaps even go beyond students’ ability She finally points out that many writing tasks in the textbook are rather unrealistic This can be traced back to the neglect of the readership and the purpose for writing.
Research questions
1) What difficulties do the tenth graders at CVA encounter when learning English writing skills?
2) What are the reasons for the difficulties?
3) What are the possible solutions to overcome the difficulties?
Research methods
instruments and the procedure of the study will be presented Lastly, the results of the study will be reported and interpreted
All the teachers of English at CVA have been chosen for the research The youngest is 26 and the oldest 43 years old This means they have from 4 years to
21 years of experience in teaching English All of them graduated in full-time program from Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi National University and have taught English 10 textbook for at least one year The total number of the teachers is 12
Three tenth-grade classes have been chosen for the study The students are both male and female at the age of 15 or 17 and have seven-year experience of learning English at school They are supposed to best represent the average level of English among the tenth graders in the whole school The total number of students from these classes is 95
Two instruments, questionnaire and class observation, have been used to collect information and data
The procedure has been conducted in the following steps Firstly, the questionnaires have been delivered to 95 tenth graders and 12 teachers of English in CVA
The student questionnaire (see appendix 1) concludes 8 items The first 2 items aim at exploring the students’ attitudes towards writing skill and writing lessons with their English 10 textbook The next 3 items are to question the students’ writing strategies The items numbered 6 to 8 is to find out what difficulties the students encounter in three writing stages: Pre-writing, While-writing and Post- writing stage
The teacher questionnaire (see appendix 2) consists of 6 items The first 2 items ask for the teachers’ attitudes towards writing skills The last 3 items aim at seeking information about the ways they train their students
In order to collect reliable data and information from the subjects, the questionnaire for the students has been designed in English and translated into Vietnamese as they were thought to be easier for the students to complete Both the teachers and students have been given unlimited time to complete the questionnaires, which have been collected after that by the author
Secondly, with a view to testing the validity of the information obtained from the questionnaires, data on teachers’ classroom practices have been collected via classroom observation Because the information obtained from the questionnaire might be subjective and biased, the classroom observation has been conducted in order that the author can witness the real teaching situation The observation of five writing lessons has been conducted for three among twelve teachers During observation, the author has acted as a non-participant observer and taken notes of the classroom procedure After that, the results of the observation have been compared with the results of the questionnaire.
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Analysis of the questionnaire for students
Students' attitude towards writing
Chart 1 The most difficult skills to learn
As can be seen from chart 1, many students (37.9%) admitted that writing is the most difficult among the four language skills This is easy to understand because many people find it difficult to write, even in their mother tongue
The fact that many students find writing most difficult results in a large number (81%) of students having negative attitude towards writing, in which 57.9% of students do not like it much and 23.1% do not like it at all This means the number of students who like writing (17.9% of students like writing much; 1.1% like it very much) accounts for less than one fifth of the total (see chart 2)
Chart 2 How much students like learning writing
MuchNot muchNot at all
Students' writing strategies
This section discusses students' writing strategies they employ in their writing process The strategies include note-taking, outlining, reading, revising, and editing
Strategies Results (%) a Discuss the topic with others 32.6 b Write an outline 8.4 c Outline in mind 24.2 d Make notes 12.6 e Collect useful words 31.6 f Correct grammar and spelling 31.6 g Read previous sentence or paragraph 44.2
Table 3 shows that students, as a group, use a wide range of strategies
Every row in the table is examined separately and if we make a subtraction, we know that too many students do not use the strategies that are often associated with skilled writers The number of students who do not write an outline before writing is up to 91.6% Also, a large number (75.8%) of students do not make an outline even in their mind More than two-thirds of students do not discuss the topic with others (67.4%), collect useful words (68.4%) or correct grammar and spelling (68.4%) More than half (55.8%) of students do not read previous sentence or paragraph
The number of drafts Results (%) a More than one draft 10.5 b One draft 89.5
Table 4 The number of drafts
Strategies Results (%) a Read the first draft 60 b Change ideas 20 c Change paragraphs 0 d Change words and sentences 30.5 e Punctuate carefully 9.5
Tables 4 and 5, likewise, show that a large number of students (89.5%) never rewrite Those who rewrite are preoccupied essentially with minor changes such as changing ideas, changing words, sentences and punctuation (table 5) When rewriting, only 20% of the students change ideas and 30.5% change words and sentences Besides, only 9.5% punctuate their writing carefully and none of them change paragraphs
It is, therefore, clear that for most learners rewriting consists of making small changes in meaning, editing, and polishing (an) early draft(s) This is likely due to the effect of exam and learning conditions with their time pressure, which have, to some extent, conditioned learners' writing behavior and have consequently fostered certain habits including the lack of revising ideas, rewriting, note-taking, and planning.
Students' judgment of their writing difficulties
Tables 5 to 7 sump up the responses related to learners' judgment of their writing difficulties These difficulties are examined in three stages of writing process: Pre- writing difficulties, While-writing difficulties and Post-writing difficulties
3.1.3.1 Students' difficulties in Pre-writing stage
Difficulties in Pre-writing Results (%) a Uninteresting and ambiguous topics 3.1 b Lack of words 64,2 c Lack of background knowledge 50.5 d Difficulty in generating ideas 69.5
Table 6 Students' judgment of their Pre-writing difficulties
Table 6 demonstrates the difficulties facing students in the Pre-writing stage A large number (69.5%) of students believe that what really bothers them is producing ideas for their writing This is probably due to the fact that students do not have enough necessary words and background knowledge to develop ideas or to express their thought in English Up to 64.2% and 50.5% of students said that they are short of words and background knowledge sequentially The quality of the topic does not present a serious difficulty Only a small number (3.1%) of the students find the topics of the writing tasks uninteresting and ambiguous This is understandable because all the topics in the textbook have been considered to be most-concerned by the young and the instruction in each of the writing tasks is clear and comprehensible
3.1.3.2 Students' difficulties in While-writing stage
Difficulties in While-writing? Results (%) a Finding appropriate words 94.7 b Writing in correct language (correct grammar, spelling) 54.7 c Organizing ideas in a coherent and cohesive way 44.2 d Time pressure 41
Table 7 Students' judgment of their While-writing difficulties
The data in the table 7 are related to learners' While-writing difficulties As can be seen from the table, a large majority of students (94.7%) were of the opinion that finding appropriate words for their writing is the main factor that hinders them from writing Besides, writing in correct language and organizing ideas in a coherent and cohesive way represent other sources of difficulty (54.7% opted for the previous and 44.2% for the later) This is probably due to the fact that learners do not often make an outline or rewrite (see Table 3, discussed above) So, they
Analysis of the questionnaire for teachers
3.1.3 3 Students' difficulties in Post-writing stage
Difficulties in Post-writing? Results (%) a Correcting your writing on your own 57.9 b getting feedback and assessment from your teachers 40 c Doing homework without teachers' and classmates' support 21.1 d Time pressure 10.5
Table 8 Students' judgment of their Post-writing difficulties
The data in table 8 relative to learners' Post-writing difficulties reveal that the biggest challenge to students in this writing process is the problem with correcting their own writing product The percentage 57.9% is understandable because many students have neither the capability to write in correct language (table 7, discussed above) nor the habit of correcting grammar or spelling mistakes (table 3, discussed above Besides, getting feedback and assessment from teachers also presents a problem to students as 40% of them chose the row in this table to show their difficulty in Post-writing stage This is probably because of the large class size that prevents the teachers from giving feedback and assessment to each of individuals' writing Time pressure and doing homework without teachers' and classmates' support, by contrast, are troublesome to less students Only 10.5% of students have to work under time pressure in this writing stage and 21.1% of students find it difficult to do their homework on their own
3.2 Teacher questionnaire analysis 3.2.1 Teachers' attitude towards teaching writing When asked to make a judgment about the skills that are the most difficult to teach, a large number (41.6%) of teachers ranked writing first (see Chart 3) This is a good explanation for why many teachers are not interested in teaching writing
41.6% of them said that they did not like teaching writing at all and 33.4% did not like it much (see Chart 4)
Chart 3 The most difficult skills to te ach
Chart 4 How much te ache rs like te aching writing
Very much Much Not much Not at all
This section discusses teachers' answers to the questionnaire, summarized in Tables 9 to 11 The discussion will focus on the frequency of activities used by teachers in three writing stages
3.2.2.1 Frequency of activities used by teachers in Pre-writing
Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never a Take advantage of the useful information learnt
0 16.7 50 33.3 0 in previous lessons b Organize students into pairs or groups to discuss and generate words and ideas
0 0 25 58.3 16.7 c Give out a model and ask students to imitate the structure and language
41.6 41.6 16.7 0 0 d Help students outline and plan their writing
Table 9 Frequency of activities used by teachers in Pre-writing
As can be seen from Table 9, the activity that is most often used by the teachers in Pre-writing stage is giving their students a model writing text to imitate its structure and language (over 83% answered with usually and often)
The data in the table also demonstrate that there are some activities that are not often used by the teachers in Pre-writing stage Firstly, most of the teachers do not often take advantage of useful information learnt in previous lessons (50% of responses are under the heading sometimes and 33.3% under rarely) This is probably due to the fact that useful words and information are usually available in the writing tasks The teachers consequently find it unnecessary to remind their students of what they have learnt before This means the students' background knowledge, to some extent, is not activated Secondly, many teachers do not often organize students into pairs or groups to discuss their topics and generate ideas, either 58.3% of the teachers rarely use this activity and 16.7% of them even never use it This is a good explanation why students have difficulty in generating ideas for their writing, as discussed above Thirdly, the teachers do not often help students outline or plan their writing (over 80% of the responses are under the headings rarely and never ) This is, as indicated above, due to the effect of exam and learning condition with time pressure which have fostered the habit of not outlining and planning when writing (see Table 3)
3.2.2.2 Frequency of activities used by teachers in While-writing
Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never a Leave students to write individually
33.3 50 16.7 0 0 b Move around and help students when necessary
75 25 0 0 0 c Ask students to write more than one draft
0 0 0 66.7 33.3 d Organize pair or group activities
Table 10 Frequency of activities used by teachers in While-writing
The results in Table 10 show that most of the teachers often leave students to write individually in While-writing stage (33.3% answered with usually, 50% with often, 16.7% with sometimes) and all of them with 75% usually and 25% often move around to help students when they need However, these activities must be a burden to the teachers because the large class size prevents them from focusing on the individual needs of each student
The table also demonstrates that most of the teachers do not often ask students to write more than one draft (66.7% answered with rarely, 33.3% answered with never) This has consequently conditioned learners' writing behavior and fostered the bad habit of unskilled writers as discussed above Besides, they do not often organize pair or group work in this writing stage, either Only 25% of the teachers sometimes use this activity, but the rest rarely or never do this It is understandable because pair and group work are presumed to be common activities in prewriting stage when the cooperation is needed by students to discuss topics and generate ideas Consequently, many teachers cannot help the students solve their While- writing difficulties such as finding appropriate words, writing in correct language and time pressure (see Table 7)
3.2.2.3 Frequency of activities used by teachers in Post-writing
Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never a Ask students to do peer correction 0 58.3 25 16.7 0 b Check the writing of one or two students with the whole class and comment on common mistakes
66.7 33.3 0 0 0 c Take students' writing notebooks home to correct individual's
Table 11 Frequency of activities used by teachers in Post-writing
Table 11 sums up the answers to the questions related to the frequency of activities used by the teachers in Post-writing stage The responses with 66.7% usually and 33.3 often indicate that the activities that are most often used by the teachers are checking the writing of one or two students with the whole class and giving comment on common mistakes Besides, a large number of the teachers often ask the students to exchange their writings with their classmates to do peer correction (58.3% answered with often, 25% answered with sometimes) Few teachers collected the students' writing notebooks home to give correction and feedback to each individual's writing Only 16.7% of the teachers use this activity, the rest rarely or never do that.
Class Observation
With a view to clarifying the results of the questionnaires and getting deeper understanding of real teaching and learning practice at the school, the author conducted class observation in five different writing lessons for the tenth graders during the period of two months in the second term Conversation with the teachers before the observation was also made to ensure that the teachers were comfortable with the observer's presence
Generally, all the teachers made some effort to improve their students' writing skills and perform their teaching at their best From what were observed, the writing lessons normally occurred in three stages: Pre-writing, While-writing and
Pre-writing stage is, as usual, supposed to be the preparation of language input for the next stage All the observed teachers put this into practice by asking their students to analyze structures and language used in a model text and organizing some activities for students to generate ideas for their writing The observation shows that both the teachers and students did not have any difficulty in doing these activities when they made use of the first tasks in the textbook, which are normally designed to be the provision of example text and useful language for learners to write However, two out of the five writing lessons the author witnessed did not begin as smoothly as expected when the teachers asked their students to add some new words and ideas to prepare for their writing Some of the students did not have any idea else to write because of their limited knowledge of the topics Some others came up with ideas but did not know how to express them in English because of their lack of vocabulary This is a confirmation of the difficulties facing students in pre-writing stage as discussed in the data analysis Besides, the teachers did not give students any instruction on planning, outlining or drafting their writing
They did not emphasize the readership or their assessment criteria, either What the students had to do in this writing stage were to imitate, copy the structures, words and ideas available in the textbook
In While-writing stage, one or two students were asked to write their tasks on the board, the rest were left to write individually and the teachers moved around to help the students In my observation, all the students did not write more than one draft They just tried to fulfill the tasks by transforming the structures and words of the model text to the new writing without thinking about what they really wanted to write and who they were writing for To some extent, the dependence on the textbook also has an effect on the learning atmosphere For example, in Unit 10 students learnt how to write an invitation letter After two tasks of language preparation, what they had to do was using the cues, which were in the form of uncompleted sentences, to write a letter This kind of task seemed too simple for the students to do The atmosphere therefore was quite boring By contrast, in Unit
16 students learnt how to describe a chart They were scaffolded through only one task with simple questions to answer There was no model text or typical structures for them to learn Furthermore, this is a difficult genre that is first taught in English
10 Both the teachers and the students coped with a big challenge in their teaching and learning The atmosphere was consequently very stressful
In Post-writing stage, all the observed teachers followed the same steps Firstly, they asked the whole class to give their correction and comments on the writing on the board Secondly, they gave their correction and assessment, mainly on grammar and structures, to students' writing Thirdly, they asked their students to exchange their writings to do peer correction Finally, they assigned their students some homework, which might be a new task or the uncompleted task in the textbook What should be noted here are that the teachers could not give comprehensive correction and assessment to each individual's writing in the class because of time limitation and the large class size and many students could not give right correction to their peer's writing because of their low proficiency
4.1 Study findings 4.1.1 Students' difficulties in learning writing
The results of the data analysis have revealed that the students have to face many difficulties in three writing stages (i) In Pre-writing stage, what bothers them most are their poor vocabulary and background knowledge They do not have enough necessary words and knowledge to generate and develop ideas for their writing and to express themselves (ii) In While- writing stage, the main trouble is their inability to find the appropriate words to write their ideas down The others are their inability to write in correct language and organize their ideas in a coherent and cohesive way (iii) In Post-writing stage, what challenge them most are correcting their own writing and getting feedback and assessment from their teachers
4.1.2 Reasons for the difficulties 4.1.2.1 Negative attitude towards writing
The difficulties facing the students in their writing process is firstly due to the teachers' and the students' negative attitudes towards the teaching and learning of writing Most of the teachers and tenth graders at CVA do not like teaching and learning writing because they find it the most challenging among the four English skills These attitudes may, to some extent, negatively affect their motivation as well as their teaching and learning behaviors
4.1.2.2 Shortcomings in the students' strategies and training
The other reasons for the difficulties encountered by the students in their writing process are the shortcomings in their writing strategies and training
In Pre-writing stage, the majority of the students have to cope with such difficulties as poor vocabulary and background knowledge because of these reasons Firstly, they do not have the habit of brainstorming, collecting useful words and discussing the topics with the others before starting to write This results in the poverty and insufficiency of words for their self expression Secondly, the teachers do not help their students develop the relevant strategies in this writing stage They do not give the students chance to work or to share knowledge with their partners in pairs or groups They do not often use the useful information learnt in previous lessons to activate the students' background knowledge either
What they often ask their students to do is to imitate the structure and language from a model text or to use the suggested words that are available in the textbook
These shortcomings consequently result in the difficulties mentioned above
In While-writing stage, students have to cope with such challenges as finding appropriate words, writing in correct language and organizing ideas in coherent and cohesive way because of the following reasons Firstly, their linguistic and grammatical knowledge are not good enough to decide whether a word is right or wrong, whether a word is suitable or not Secondly, the support from their teachers and classmate are rarely given during this writing stage The students are often left to write individually Although the teachers try much to move around and help them but the support cannot be given to each of the students when needed because of the large class size Besides, pair and group writing activities are not often allowed by the teachers, so the support from classmates is impossible either
Thirdly, the students do not have the strategy of making an outline or planning, their writing their writing is not coherent and cohesive as a result
In Post-writing stage, the students have difficulty in correcting their own writing and getting feedback and assessment from their teachers These troubles are not only due to their lack of vocabulary, grammatical knowledge but also due to their lack of the habit of correcting grammar and spelling when writing (see Table 3) In addition, these troubles are traced to the way the teachers choose to give the students their feedback Because of the large class size, the most time-saving way chosen by most of the teachers is to check the writing of one or two students with the whole class and comment on the common mistakes However, this way seems to be ineffective for the students of low proficiency because they are unable to find any connection between their teachers' general comment and their own writing mistakes.
Suggestions for the solution
This seems to be quite general, and, understandably, teachers have to face constraints in arranging their classrooms However, it is important for teachers to establish and maintain a positive environment, especially when they teach their students, most of whom are not interested in writing and find it difficult
The positive environment for learning may be understood as the combination of some factors Firstly, it should be an inviting classroom for the students Teachers should arrange furniture to facilitate discussion and collaboration, as well as easy use of resources Secondly, students should be encouraged to talk with each other or to move occasionally from their seats to participate in an appropriate task
Thirdly, teachers should be the writers By sharing their writing, particularly when it is in draft form, the teachers model the act of writing itself and make their students understand that they are part of the writing community in the classroom and the members will be safe when sharing their writing with their teachers and their classmates
4.2.2 Take advantage of the 'out-of-book' lessons
As discussed above, the teachers have to deal with the problems of large class size and time pressure when teaching writing They often do not have chance to conduct all the stages of teaching in official lessons Therefore, one of the good ways to solve the problems is through workshops, which are advised to be hold in chosen-freely lessons During the workshop, the teacher organizes the work, provides lessons and resources, guides and responds to their students This is the chance for the teachers to meet the needs of students, fulfill their lack of knowledge and form good writing habits as well as strategies for the students
4.2.3 Give students ownership and publishing
Admittedly, it may not be easy to determine what will be meaningful or interesting for all students to write However, the way students are arranged to write has a considerable influence on their "will" to write and, thus, on their development as writers Therefore, teachers had better pay attention to the students' ownership and publishing
In term of ownership, for at least some (and maybe all) assignments, providing students with choice, promoting ownership, and helping students draw on their own experience, interests, inquiry, etc., can engage students as writers When students have their opportunity to write about the needs, problems or subjects they find important and relevant to their lives, they will develop their ability to generate words, ideas, questions, etc and, thus, develop their ability to communicate their ideas for different purposes and audiences
Besides, teachers should provide students with opportunities for publishing
Posting some student work on the wall, sharing finished writing with the class, mailing letters to intended audiences, doing presentations for younger students or for parents and families, creating a class publication, posting writing on the Web, etc are some ways to be applied to the writing class The benefit of publication is that it gives students a meaningful reason for revising and for editing for correctness
4.2.4 Engage students in writing regularly
During school year teachers may include different kinds of writing to help their students, for example, writing-to-learn practices like learning logs, quick writes, etc.; writing to demonstrate learning to the teachers like essays, reports, responses to prompts, etc Writing regularly for different purposes will help students develop their communication skills and better their thinking Therefore, the point is that students should be engaged in writing frequently, perhaps each day They should also be noticed that they need to engage in composing their thoughts, not merely complete exercises in preparation for some later day when they actually will write
4.2.5 Provide students with constructive response and guide them how to offer response to other writes
Teachers are advised to arrange for students to have response to their writing The response can occur throughout their writing process-at any time: planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, and reflecting It also can focus on any matters, and can be offered in different ways by different people
When responding, teachers should act as fellow writer and readers, describing what they see in the student’s work, asking questions about content and form, providing suggestions or options, explaining strategies or techniques or identifying resources the student could use What the teachers should remember is that response focuses on developing the writer, not on solely identifying all the errors
Besides, Teachers can use a variety of techniques in arranging for response: teacher-student conferences, written notes to the student, peer conferences (pairs or small groups), response forms, whole-class response to a sample of writing, self- response notes in a writer’s notebook, response provided by an older student or an adult, etc When arranging for peer response, teachers should provide guidance for students, for example, using forms and then providing or asking students to create checklists that can serve as evaluative criteria
4.2.6 Provide opportunities for students to collaborate as writers
When teaching writing, teachers often left student to write their own work The act of writing was consequently viewed as a test that students were to complete with no assistance from others However, it is necessary for the teachers to know that they can help their students gain independence by working with classmates and, thus, release the burden of teaching work
The techniques for collaboration can include arranging classroom furniture so students can work together, modeling and discussing effective methods of collaboration, asking students to share and discuss drafts, organizing writing partnerships or small groups, etc
In addition, collaborating writers should be guided to offer their ideas in constructive ways, in a tone that is of a conversation more than that of a debate or argument Often, after a lesson, teachers create specific tasks relevant to writing and lead students to work together on the task Teachers also set forth certain specific objectives or ask questions that guide the collaboration.
Limitations
While the study provides some implications for teachers in CVA, it is not free from limitations First of all, limitations are found in the physical condition of the study: only five lessons were observed and time was limited, so the result may not represent the real situation and practice as well as fully reflect the complex perception system of teachers which may only be revealed after an extensive period of observation Another limitation of this study is that the detailed procedure of applying teaching activities in specific writing lesson can not be recommended due to its small scope and the limited knowledge on the issue of the writer herself.
Suggestions for further study
Since the objective of this study is very practical in terms of teaching and learning English writing skill at high school level, a similar study should be conducted in other high schools
Further research may look at more varied activities in which teachers can give the best guidance and support for students to make their learning more achievable
It would be very helpful for both teachers and learners if a study on techniques and activities which are used to improve the students' writing skills was conducted
1 Brown, H.D (1994), Teaching by principles An interactive Approach to language pedagogy, Prentice Hall Regents, New Jersey
2 Byrne, D (1988) Teaching Writing Skill Longman Group UK Limited
3 Calkins, L (1983), Lessons from a child: On the teaching and learning of writing Portsmouth NH: Heinemann
4 Hasan, M & Akhand, M (2010) Approaches to writing in EFL/ESL context:
Balancing Product and Process in writing class at tertiary level Journal of NELTA Vol 15 No.1-2 December 2010
5 Hoang, Thi Mai Huong (2013) Challenges in teaching and learning writing skill with the textbook English 11 (Basic stream) at Tinh Gia 5 High School,
Thanh Hoa province Unpublished M.A Thesis C.F.L, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
6 Hyland, K (2008) Writing theories and writing pedagogies Indonesia Journal of English Language Teaching
7 Kaplan, R (1991) Process Writing Longman Group UK Limited
8 Kieu, Thi Hien (2009) Difficulties encountered by grade-10 students at Truong
Dinh Upper Secondary School in learning writing skills with the new textbook
Tieng Anh 10 Unpublished M.A Thesis C.F.L, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
9 Kroll, B (1990) Second Language Writing Cambridge University Press
10 Nguyen, Thi Thuy Minh (2007) Textbook evaluation: the case of English textbooks currently in use at Vietnam's upper-secondary school Unpublished research report, Singapore RELC SEAMEO
11 Nunan, D (1989) Second Language Teaching and Learning USA: Heinle &
12 Perl, S (1979) The composing processes of unskilled college writers Research in the Teaching of English 13 (4): 317-336
13 Pham, Thuy Trinh (2009) The reality of teaching and learning English writing skill at Tran Nguyen Han High School in Hai Phong and recommendations
Unpublished M.A Thesis C.F.L, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
14 Pianko, S (1979) A description of the composing process of college freshmen writers Research in the teaching of English 13 (1): 5-22
15 Raimes, A (1983) Techniques in teaching writing Oxford: Oxford University Press
16 Sommers, N (1980) Revision strategies of student writers and experienced adult writers College Composition and Communication 31 (4): 378-388
17 Steele, V (2004) Product and Process writing: A comparison, British Council,
10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, UK
18 Tribble, C (1996) Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press
19 White, R V (1991).Process Writing Longman Group UK Limited
20 Zamel, V 1982 Writing: the process of discovering meaning TESOL Quarterly, 16(2)
The questions in this survey are designed for my research into “Teaching and learning English writing skills at Chu Van An High School for the gifted, Lang son Province: difficulties and solutions.” Your answers will be a precious contribution to the success of this research All information provided by you will be absolutely confidential and merely for research Thank you so much for your help!
Circle the letter next to the alternative that is right in your situation
For questions from 3 to 8, more than one answer is acceptable
1 Which skills do you think are most difficult? a Reading skills b Listening skills c Speaking skills d Writing skills
2 How much do you like learning writing skills? a Very much b Much c Not much d Not at all
3 When writing, what do you do? a Discuss the topics with others b Write an outline c Outline in mind d Make notes e Collect useful words f Correct grammar or spelling g Read previous sentence or paragraph
4 Do you write more than one draft? a Yes b No
5 When rewriting, what do you do? a Read the first draft b Change ideas c Change paragraph d Change words and sentences e Punctuate carefully
6 What difficulties do you face in Pre-writing stage? a Uninteresting and ambiguous topics b Lack of words c Lack of background knowledge d Difficulty in generating ideas
7 What difficulties do you face in While-writing stage? a Finding appropriate words b Writing in correct language (correct grammar, spelling) c Organizing ideas in a coherent way d Time pressure
8 What difficulties do you face in Post-writing stage? a Correcting your writing on your own b getting feedback and assessment from your teachers c Doing homework without teachers' and classmates' support d Time pressure
CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH
Các câu hỏi khảo sát này được thiết kế để phục vụ cho đề tài nghiên cứu của tôi về
"Dạy và học kỹ năng viết tiếng Anh tại trường THPT Chuyên Chu Văn An, tỉnh Lạng Sơn: Khó khăn và giải pháp" Câu trả lời của em sẽ là một đóng góp quý báu cho sự thành công của nghiên cứu này Tất cả các thông tin do em cung cấp sẽ được hoàn toàn giữ bí mật và chỉ phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn sự giúp đỡ của em rất nhiều!
Khoanh tròn chữ cái tương ứng với câu trả lời
Từ câu hỏi 3 trở đi, có thể lựa chọn hơn một câu trả lời
1 Theo em kỹ năng nào là khó nhất? a Kỹ năng đọc b Kỹ năng nghe c Kỹ năng nói d Kỹ năng viết
2 Em thích học kỹ năng viết ở mức độ nào? a Rất thích b Thích c Không thích lắm d Không thích
3 Các hoạt động khi viết của em là gì? a Thảo luận các chủ đề với những người khác b Viết dàn ý c Phác thảo dàn ý trong tâm trí d ghi chú e Thu thập từ hữu ích f Chỉnh sửa lỗi ngữ pháp hoặc chính tả g Đọc câu hoặc đoạn văn trước đó
4 Em có viết nhiều hơn một bản dự thảo không ? a Có b Không
5 Hoạt động khi viết lại của em là gì? a Đọc bản thảo đầu tiên b Thay đổi ý tưởng c Thay đổi đoạn d Thay đổi từ và câu e Chấm câu một cách cẩn thận
6 Những khó khăn của em trước khi viết là gì ? a Chủ đề nhàm chán b Thiếu từ c Thiếu kiến thức nền d Khó khăn khi tìm ý
7 Những khó khăn của em trong khi viết là gì ? a Tìm từ phù hợp b Viết đúng ngữ pháp, chính tả c Trình bày bài viết mạch lạc d Áp lực thời gian
8 Những khó khăn của em sau khi viết là gì ? a Tự chữa bài viết của mình b Nhận phản hồi và nhận xét của giáo viên c Tự làm bài tập về nhà d Áp lực thời gian
The questions in this survey are designed for my research into “Teaching and learning English writing skills at Chu Van An High School for the gifted, Lang son Province: difficulties and solutions.” Your answers will be a precious contribution to the success of this research All information provided by you will be absolutely confidential and merely for research Thank you so much for your help!
Circle the letter next to the alternative or put a tick in the box that is right in your situation
1 Which skills do you think are most difficult? e Reading skills f Listening skills g Speaking skills h Writing skills
2 How much do you like teaching writing skills? e Very much f Much g Not much h Not at all
3 How often do you use these activities in Pre-writing stage?
Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never a Take advantage of the useful information learnt in previous lessons b Organize students into pairs or groups to discuss and generate words and ideas c Give out a model and ask students to imitate the structure and language d Help students outline and plan their writing
4 How often do you use these activities in While-writing stage?
Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never a Leave students to write individually b Move around and help students when necessary c Ask students to write more than one draft d Organize pair or group activities
5 How often do you use these activities in Post-writing stage?
Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never a Ask students to do peer correction b Check the writing of one or two students with the whole class and comment on common mistakes c Take students' writing notebooks home to correct individual's
Writing Task: Write a letter of invitation Class: 10E
- Teacher asked students to do Task 1 in pairs
- Students wrote out eight sentences by matching the first half in column A with the most suitable half in column B
- Teacher asked students to deduce structure and language used to express invitation
- Teacher asked students to do Task 2 individually
- Students used suitable expressions provided in Task 1 to fill in the blanks in some invitatiton letters
- Teacher asked students to do Task 3 individually
- Two representatives were asked to present their writings on the board and the rest in their notebooks
- Teacher went around to help students if
- Teacher did not add any new expressions of invitation, she made use of the available ones in textbook
- Students did the tasks smoothly but passively
- Teacher did not help students outline or plan their writing
- Learning environment was quite boring
- Teacher did not set time for students’ writing
- Two representatives completed their writings quickly
- Students did not write more than one draft necessary
- Teacher asked some volunteers to give their correction and comments on the written text on the board
- Teacher gave her correction and assessment
- Teacher asked their students to exchange their writings to do peer correction
- Some students coped with difficulty in writing correct language
- Two volunteer students gave wrong correction on some grammatical issues
- Teacher’s correction and assessment were mainly on grammatical and spelling mistakes
- Students did not do peer correction because time was over
- Many students did not pay attention to their homework
OBSERVATION DESCRIPTION 2 Unit 11 National Parks
Writing Task: Write a letter of acceptance or refusal Class: 10G
- Teacher wrote down on the board six ways of accepting and refusing an invitation, which were available in the text book
- Teacher did not add any new expressions of acceptance or refusal
- Teacher did not mention about
- Students worked in groups to discuss Task 1 and filled each blank of the opened letters with a suitable expression
- Teacher asked three students to say aloud the answers individually
- Teacher asked the whole class to write the answers in their notebook
- Teacher asked students to do Task 2 in pairs: Rearrange the sentences into a letter
- Teacher asked two students to say aloud the answers individually
- Teacher gave feedback and corrected the answers
- Teacher divided students into two groups: one group was asked to write letters of acceptance, the other was asked to write letters of refusal
- Two representatives from the groups were asked to present their writings on the board and the rest in their notebooks
- Teacher went around to help students if necessary
Post-writing the structure or form of a letter of accepatance or refusal
- Students did not have difficulty in doing the tasks
- Students did not write more than one draft
- Some students coped with difficulty in writing correct language
- Students did the tasks smoothly but passively because they were not free to choose between the two kinds of letter
- Teacher did not set time for students’ writing
- Teacher asked the whole class to give their correction and comments on the written text on the board
- Teacher gave her correction and assessment
- Teacher asked their students to exchange their writings to do peer correction
- Teacher showed a sample on the screen
- Students gave some correction on spelling mistakes
- Teacher’s correction and assessment were mainly on grammatical and spelling mistakes
- Students tried to write down their teacher’s writing sample into their notebooks before the lesson was over
OBSERVATION DESCRIPTION 3 Unit 13 Films and Cinema
Writing Task: Describing a film Class: 10H
- Teacher elicited and presented some new words by situations and examples
- Teacher asked students to do Task 1
- Students read the passage individually and then asked and answered the questions in pairs
- Teacher checked some pairs’ work by asking them to present their questions and answers orally
- Students had no difficulty in answering the questions
- Teacher did not mention about the genre or the form of the writing
- Teachers focused on essential points in a description of a film
- Teacher asked students to do Task 2 individually
- One representative was asked to present his writing on the board and the rest in their notebooks
- Teacher went around to help students if necessary
- Teacher asked the whole class to give their correction and comments on the written text on the board
- Teacher gave her correction and assessment
- Teacher asked their students to exchange their writings to do peer correction
- Students did not write more than one draft
- Two students who were sitting near the observer wrote in the form of an essay not a paragraph and their teacher did not know that
- Some students had trouble with vocabulary: they did not know some cinematic terminologies or could not remember exactly the spelling of foreign names,
- Students gave some correction on spelling and grammatical mistakes
- Teacher’s correction and assessment were mainly on grammatical and spelling mistakes
Unit 14 The World Cup Writing Task: Write an announcement
- Teacher elicited and presented some new words by situations and examples
- Teacher asked students to do Task 1
- Students read the passage individually and then asked and answered the questions in pairs
- Teacher checked some pairs’ work by asking them to present their questions and answers orally
- Teachers asked two students to tell some possible details to include in an announcement
- Students deduced the essential points in an announcement from what they had learned in task 1
- Teacher provided some useful structures used in an announcement
- Teacher helped students to make notes of the information in each situation
- Teacher divided the class into two groups: one was asked to write the first situation, the other was asked to write the second one
- Students had no difficulty in answering the questions and deducing the essential points in an announcement
- Learning environment was quite exciting
- Students did the task smoothly
- The environment was quite exciting
- Two representatives from the groups presented their writing on the board, the rest in their notebooks
- Teacher asked the whole class to give their correction and comments on the written text on the board
- Teacher gave her correction and assessment
- Teacher asked their students to exchange their writings to do peer correction
- Students gave some correction on spelling and grammatical mistakes
- Teacher’s correction and assessment were mainly on grammatical and spelling mistakes
Unit 16 Historical Places Writing Task: Describe a chart Class: 10E
- Teacher asked students to look at the chart in Task 1 and explained the information that was presented in the chart
- Teacher did not provide students with any writing sample
- Students had no difficulty in explaining the information in presented in the chart in Vietnamese
- Teacher asked students to answer the questions in pairs
- Teacher checked some pairs’ work by asking them to present their questions and answers orally
- Teachers focused on essential points in a description of a chart and provided students with some expressions used to describe a chart
- Teacher asked students to do Task 2 individually
- Students used suitable expressions given by the teacher and the answers to the questions in the task to write a description of the chart
- Teacher moved around to help students if necessary
- One representative was asked to present her writing on the board and the rest in their notebooks
- Teacher asked some students to read their writings aloud the chart and answering the questions in the task
- The input language was too poor for students to apply to their writing
- Learning environment was quite boring
- The representative did not complete her writing The sentences were not connected coherently and cohesively
- Some students refused to read their writings because they couldn’t complete their task
Meanwhile, those who read their writings had difficulty in