Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS nghiên cứu cải thiện kỹ năng viết luận bằng đường hướng tiếp cận theo quá trình cho học viên đang theo học khóa luyện thi IELTS

Scope of the study

This is a study which uses process-based approach in writing to improve essay writing skills for students at EQuest English center (Academic, target 6.5),

Hà Nội Hence, neither are other approaches for teaching writing nor other academic band-score targets related to the scope of this study.

Significance of the study

This research was severely completed to determine the effectiveness of using process-based approach in improving essay writing skills for students in an IELTS preparation course Based on findings of this study, there is a possibility that its outcome could be a reference for other teachers who are teaching essay writing

Besides, it would be duplicated in other classes at the center Last but not least, it would be a primitive road for others‟ further studies and mine in other students and other band-score targets in the future.

Structure of study

Approaches

Writing plays a unique position in language teaching since its acquisition gets involved in the practice and knowledge of other three language skills including listening, reading and speaking Moreover, it requires the mastering of many skills such as metacognitive skills Students are required to set an objective for their writing, plan it carefully, think about its layout and logical structure, revise it and so on As can be seen, there are many approaches which are being used in teaching and learning essay writing skills In this part, a brief introduction of 3 main approaches is written presented including process-based approach, product-based and genre- based approach

First of all, an approach mentioned is product-based approach in writing As can be seen, this is a traditional approach, in which students are encouraged to mimic a model text, which is usually presented and analyzed at an early stage In the first stage, model texts are read, and then features of the genre are highlighted

Next, this consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features, usually in isolation So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practice the language used to make formal requests, practicing the structure “I would be grateful if you ” The next stage is organization of ideas This stage is very important Those who favor this approach believe that the organization of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves and as important as the control of language The final stage is the end result of the learning process Students choose from a choice of comparable writing tasks Individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product; to show what they can do as fluent and competent users of the language

Secondly, it is genre-based approach that identifies that writing is a social activity with particular power relations and social conventions The approach explicitly views writing as the social and linguistic conventions of different types of texts The approach usually includes the following: Familiarization, controlled writing, guided writing and then free writing There are some benefits of this approach including explicitly linking reading and writing, ensuring that writing is a process, providing a model for learners, scaffolding writing and making invisible features explicit to learners

Thirdly, the process-based writing instruction involves the step-by-step activities that enable students to complete writing tasks assigned in which the teacher and students play crucial roles in working on those tasks This process- based academic essay writing class involves a series of activities such as pre- writing, drafting, responding, revising and editing, assessing and post-writing In addition to the seven main activities, a reflection stage for students is aimed to encourage them to reflect on what they have learned during the writing process and promote their awareness of writing practice

Each approach has its own strong points and weak points; however, process- based approach which was eventually exploited because of some reasons

Moreover, since 1980s, process-based approach has been used more than product- based approach (Applebee, (1981), Leki (1989), or Roger (2012)) because it emphasizes the composing process rather than the form Last but not least, it is because of many significant differences, in comparison with product-based approach (Table 1), which are considered as suitable elements for teaching an IELTS academic writing essay

Process-based approach Product-based approach

 text as a resource for comparison

 more global, focus on purpose, theme, text

 organization of ideas more important than ideas themselves

 social and linguistic conventions of different types of texts

 familiarization, controlled writing, guided writing and then free writing

Process-based approach

 collaborative emphasis on creative process including controlled practice of those features

 individual emphasis on end product

 explicitly linking reading and writing,

 scaffolding writing and making invisible features

Table 1: Differences between process-based approach, product-based approach and genre-based approach

Since early 1970, writing instruction has made a steady turn from emphasizing the completed product to the writing process Although process-based writing has long been implemented in English language composition and ESL courses in the recent years, it has been accepted in foreign language classes (Deng,

2005) Unfortunately, many teachers in an EFL context still give opinions about writing as exercises in good grammar and vocabulary (Muncie, 2002) In other words, teachers deemphasize how students complete certain writing tasks in writing processes such as pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing

“This newly emerging approach has developed a reaction against the previous tradition and focuses on the writer as an independent producer of texts

…It lays particular stress on a cycle of writing activities which move learners from the generation of ideas and the collection of data through to the „publication‟ of the finished text” (Tribble,1996: 37)

Therefore, many educators defend a process-based approach to teaching writing because it is concerned with the various stages from pre-writing, drafting, responding, revising, editing, to evaluating that allow students to go through such stages so as to complete particular writing tasks (i.e., Ferris & Hedgcock, 2005;

Harmer, 2007 ) Further, some authors (e.g.,Dirby, Kirby, & Liner, 2004; Seow 2002; Terrible, 1996) also suggest that process-oriented writing when being implemented in the classroom incorporate another stage externally assigned on students by a teacher Such a stage includes post-writing (e.g., reading aloud, displaying, or publishing) in which the teacher and peer reviews are also related because both have important roles in the outstanding implementation of process- based writing instructions More crucially, in such activities, students have the chance to improve their compositions, maybe motivated to write better, and are trained to think critically

According to Trible (1996), process approaches lay emphasis on “writing activities which move learners from brainstorming ideas, generating of ideas and collecting of data through to the „publication‟ of a finished text.” However, the final product should not be the central focus, and the teachers play the role of facilitating students to brainstorming ideas, plan, revise, and edit Badger and White (2000) supposes that writing in process approaches is mainly concerned with linguistic aspects such as revising, editing, knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and text structure

Kroll (1990) affirms that student writers have to undergo a cyclonical approach during their writing tasks There are different views on the cyclonical process For example, Trible (1996) proposes four typical stages that have to be gone through by the students, which are: prewriting, composing/drafting, revising, and editing In this process, students as writers may be back to the first stage of prewriting after they revise and edit their writing papers

As the approach achieving a lot of attention to linguistic knowledge and skills, process-based approach fosters the development of language use (Hasan,

2010) In addition, according to Bazerman, 1980, this approach provides students chances to release their potential and enable them to deal with rhetorical concerns of writing However, there remain drawbacks with the process approach As the approach which regards writing process as the same irrespective of which subject is being said and which person is writing and it may be possible that the context in which writing happens may be ignored (Badger and White, 2000) Another disadvantage is that the process approach does not provide enough amount of knowledge of academic discourse that can offer students‟ satisfaction in their academic writing needs (Bizzell, 1982)

1.3.2 Steps of process-based approach in writing 1.3.2.1 Steele‟s steps in process-based writing

According to Steele (2004), there are eight stages for students to experience during their creation of writing pieces a Brainstorming: Students may discuss to work out as many ideas as possible to meet the requirements of the writing tasks b Planning/structuring: Students figure out the most appropriate qualities of their ideas c Mind mapping: Students arrange their ideas into a mind map, which reveals the hierarchical relationship of ideas and helps students to shape the text structure d Writing the first draft: Students produce the first draft based on the ideas they filter and organize Writing the first draft in the class can be done in pairs or groups e Peer feedback: Students exchange their drafts with each other, and to some extent they can improve their own writing pieces f Editing: Students will improve their own drafts based on peer feedback g Final draft: Students produce the final draft after editing h Evaluation and teacher feedback: Teachers will assess and provide feedback on students‟ writing papers

1.3.2.2 Widodo‟s steps in process-based writing

In 2006, a well-known expert in linguistics revealed his study in process- based approach This process-based academic essay writing class involves a series of activities such as pre-writing, drafting, responding, revising and editing, assessing and post-writing as previously mentioned In addition to the seven main activities, a reflection stage for students is aimed to encourage them to reflect on what they have learned during the writing process and promote their awareness of writing practice a Pre-writing: It is important for a teacher to activate schemata in order to get students to know topics which are possible, which helps them develop into complete essays easily Activating the students‟ schemata can be carried out through pre-writing or planning activity (Anderson, 2003) It is any activity in the classroom that can encourage the students to write This stage is used to stimulate and find ideas or thoughts for the students to get started Pre- writing is also an assisting part for student writers in making decision to what to write about so that they can organize and finalize their thoughts In short, the purpose of this stage enables students to explore certain topics in an unstructured on formal essays For writers at the beginning level, pre-writing is considered as prerequisite for producing good essays

In this writing class, students have three major jobs such as (1) choosing a topic in which the students are interested, (2) narrowing the topic chosen that is suitable for a writing task, and (3) collecting information and developing ideas (Oshima & Hogue, 2006)

In other words, the main goals of pre-writing are supposed to support the students in organizing their ideas and teach the students how to plan what they are going to write so that they can develop their ideas into completed essays easily and precisely (Widodo, 2006a) b Drafting: When students have written down efficient ideas at the pre-writing stage, they move to a drafting phase In this case, students need to concentrate on the fluency of writing, not on the grammatical accuracy In this phase, it is highly recommended that students should develop their ideas into rough drafts without considering the grammatical accuracy first As previously presented, in the process-based writing, the grammatical accuracy will be paid more attention during the revising stage In other words, some first rough drafts are not supposed to be perfect versions to grammatical accuracy in that this process-based writing class is a continuous process of discovery, and it encourages the fluency of ideas so that a certain writing task can smoothly be performed c Responding: It is indispensable for the appearance of responding to students‟ essays by both the teacher and students themselves in the successful implementation of the process-based writing (Ferris, 2003) Responding or giving feedback is mainly intended to see students‟ first or second draft

There is a suggestion that in this feedback session, the transparency projector, text viewers, or LCD projectors connected with the computer should be used so that the students can view others‟ drafts directly and visually (Widodo, 2006b) Shortly, a responding activity is utilized to promote students to participate actively in the class, get involved in an authentic communicative context, and practice and improve critical reading skills The review guideline should be provided to facilitate the peer review d Revising and Editing: When students revise the drafts, they review their work on the basis of the feedback highlighted in the previous responding stage They reexamine what has been written to view how productively they have provided their meanings to readers and testers It is essential to note that revising does not only simply involve giving a look at the language mistakes but also demonstrates the global content and organization of ideas so that the readers and testers find writer‟s intent much clearer

In the editing phase, students get involved in fine-tuning their own drafts in purpose of preparing their final drafts for a product assessment assigned by the teacher In this regard, the students are asked to check minor mistakes related to grammar (i.e tenses or subject-verb agreements), spellings, punctuations, dictations and contractions Thus, the goal of this activity leads to well-written essays before the students‟ production is submitted to the teacher e Assessing: In this phase, the students‟ essays in which the goal is to see how well each student or each group has completed the work are assessed by their teachers Then, the teacher has two options for scoring or grading systems either analytical on the basis of the certain aspects of writing ability or holistic based upon the international interpretation of the effectiveness of the compositions (Ferris & Hedgcook, 2005) On this process-based academic essay writing instruction, the analytic scoring system which is designed by the teacher based on criteria of writing assessment may be more rewarding for students to allow them to look at what aspects they still make mistakes and lack in details f Post-writing: Post-writing is any activity in the class that the teacher and students can do with the completed essays This may is composed of publishing online or displaying the finished work on notice boards, sharing with one another on the social network, or reading them aloud The post- writing stage is a tool of appreciating students‟ work In other words, if there is any effort for better writing work which should be praised, rewarded and encouraged in the whole class (Widodo, 2006b) g Reflection: The students are required to reflect on what they have learned during the entire writing process when they have gone through the process- based academic essay writing stages This is used to encourage the students to self-evaluate their strong points and weak points of their writing proficiency and to think of how they will make further improvement in their writing skills The reflection sheets are distributed and asked to record so that the intended goals of reflection can be looked back and accomplished in the next version when they carry out their writing process They show their further improvements for their future work assigned and should build the solid community of writing practice in the classroom In short, within the process-based framework, the teacher focuses not merely on finished essays, but also on writing processes that maximize student class participation in which the teacher should consistently carry out the overall writing activities

There are many different linguistic experts who implement more study on using process-based approach in teaching writing skills for learners Depending on each expert, there are some same or specific stages in their writing process cycle

After a careful consideration, this thesis was carried out by combining and adapting

Research methods

Basically, this minor thesis is defined as an action research for a small sample class which is expected to find out “How process-based writing approach helps students improve IELTS essay writing skills at EQuest English center” As results, it would be supposed to be often used and applied in other classes in purpose of improving students‟ writing skills in essays With its own theoretical and practical benefits, action research is quickly decided to become a research method of this minor thesis

To specify, not only in Education but also in language education, action research is becoming increasingly significant In literature, the definition of action research is provided by many scholars, and a selection of them is as follows:

“Action research is the name given to a series of procedures teachers can engage in either because they wish to improve aspects of their teaching, or because they wish to evaluate the success and/or appropriacy of certain activities and procedures” (Harmer, 2002: 344-345)

“Action research can be defined as a combination of the terms “action” and

“research” Action research puts ideas into practice for the purpose of self- improvement and increasing knowledge about curriculum, teaching, and learning

The ultimate result is improvement in what happens in the classroom and school”

“Action research is a strategy for teacher to make changes and develop professionally by reflecting on their own everyday teaching.” (Wallace, 1998: 16)

Although each expert has their own definition about action research, in brief, there are many benefits of using action research in the study First of all, it is reflective In addition, it is also concerned with identification of problems and solutions in a specific context Next, the collaboration and participation are the conditions under which they can learn from their own experiences and make this experience accessible to others‟‟ Last but not least, action research is critical In particular, practitioners not only look for ways to improve their practice within the various constraints of the situation in which they are working, but are also critical change agents of those constraints, and of themselves

Different authors and researchers have established and proposed different models of action research However, also discussing about action research, McBride & Schostak (1995) suggested 8 steps of a typical action research:

As can be seen in the diagram above, the process starts with the identification of the problem area This is followed by collecting initial data, from which a pre-test during thirty minutes is executed so as to confirm the problem stated in stage 1 After that, the data collected from the pre-test is analyzed to form the hypothesis and to have data to compare and contrast with the post-test The next step of this action research study is planning action

In this study, the action research which was designed and conducted in line with the cycle adapted from McBride & Schostak‟s theory was fully written in following section 2.2.3

In this study, a mixed method research used is a procedure for collecting, analyzing, and “mixing” both quantitative and qualitative research and methods in a single study to understand a research problem in being thought to utilize this design efficiently, quantitative and qualitative research must be fully understood

First of all, quantitative research is type of educational research in which the research makes a decision to what to study; asks specifically, narrows down questions, gathers quantifiable data from participants (a large number of participants); analyzes these numbers by using statistics; and conducts the inquiry in an unbiased, objective manner Besides, it generally try to quantify variables of interest; questions must be measureable In that, there is quantitative methodology which is generally concerned with collecting numerical data that can be subjected to statistical analysis Importantly, the data is generally associated to as raw data

Examples of data collection methods are including:

 Questionnaires (with closed-ended questions or open-ended but transferred to quan-data)

 Content Analysis Next, qualitative research is a type of educational research in which the researcher relies on the views of participants; asks broad, general questions; collects data having largely of words (or text) from participants; shows description and analyzes these words for themes; and designs the inquiry in a subjective, biased manner According to Shulman, he reported that “There are times we wish to know not how many or how well, but simply how” (Shulman, 1988, p.7)

To specify, qualitative methodology generally comprises listening to the participants‟ voice and subjecting the data to analytic induction (e.g., finding common themes) In addition, it is more explorative in nature There are some examples of data collection methods:

In this research, both quantitative research and qualitative research are flexibly adapted in order to be suitable for context and target of this study In particular, the placement test (pre-test) and post-test are taken with questionnaires (with closed-ended and open-ended questions) To be more convincing, depth- interview are done with students in combination with observation and personal experience

According to the above action research cycle of McBride & Schostak (1995), this study is carried out based on these following steps in an action research which are illustrated in Table 2.1 below:

1 1.Identify a focus of the problem

2.Collect data 3.Analyzing data/generating hypothesis 4.Planning action steps

Identifying the problem in students‟ IELTS writing skills, the researcher starts to focus on finding the approach which can be applied to improve students‟ academic IELTS essay writing skills To collect data to investigate the status, a pre-survey and a pre-test are distributed and done Then, the data is analyzed and the hypothesis is made It goes to find the answer for “How process-based writing approach helps students improve IELTS essay writing skills at EQuest English center.” Simultaneously, the steps in the action plan is also formed

Carry out applying process-based approach in teaching IELTS writing essay task 2

+ Students are taught how to brainstorm ideas + Get ideas => Organize them

+ Plan structures ,vocabulary for the 12st draft + Write the first draft

12 6.Collecting data to monitor changes

8.Spiral to the next cycle

In the 12 th week, the post-test and post-survey are delivered again to be completed Data are gathered up and then analyzed The results continue to be evaluated to monitor changes before and after applying the process-based approach in improving students‟ IELTS writing essay skills Finally, the cycle is planned to be kept on.

Data collection instruments

2.3.1 Pre-survey and post-survey

In this research, being adapted and based on Steele (2005) and Widodo (2006b), the researcher creates 2 surveys which one is carried out before the pre-test and another one is done right after the post-test There are three major writing activities referred to Steele in his book writing: pre-writing, while-writing and post-writing (Appendix 4)

The pre-survey includes 10 questions based on the process-based writing of Steele (2005) Pre-survey is used to check students‟ habit in using these steps in their writing After the 10-week course, based on and adapted to the process-based writing cycle of Widodo (2006b), the post-survey was designed and planned to be completed Purposefully, the researcher can compare and contrast the results and perception of learners in both before and after applying the process-based approach in IELTS writing course There are 10 questions and students are asked to decide 5 criteria including never, seldom, sometimes, often and always for each question (Table 3.4 and Table 3.5)

2.3.2 Pre-test and post-test

Before carrying out the course, a pre-test which is implemented based on CPT (Cambridge Placement Test) will be applied for 10 students ever experiencing one or more than one courses in preparation for IELTS course The results are cross-tested by 2 experienced examiners who are thoroughly trained by British Council and ever joined testing in the IELTS examinations

The post-test is IELTS task 2 simulated test It is used to test learners after 12-week course It is used to test learners‟ improvement in IELTS writing essay task 2 (Academic module) after 10 weeks applying process-based approach All post-tests are also cross-tested by 2 experienced test-raters who are thoroughly trained by British Council and ever joined testing in the IELTS examinations

Both results are collected and recorded and the sample of pre-test and post- test (Appendix 5)

2.3.3 Other instruments 2.3.3.1 In-depth interview

In-depth interview is a kind of supplemental instrument and two-way information used in this research which opens related questions based on the aims of the study in purpose of helping the researcher have more information for her justification These questions are supposed to deliver to 10 students in the course

To make this study more confirmatory and probative, purposefully, this in-depth interview is expected to get their feelings and perception of their improvement in their writing before and after 10 weeks joining the class and being taught how to write IELTS essay task 2 through process-based approach (Appendix 6)

Observation and personal experience were applied during the course of implementing process-based writing approach.

Data collection procedure

Flow-chart 2.1: Steps in data collection procedure

Data analysis procedure

This research was conducted as both a quantitative and qualitative study In terms of exploring students‟ frequency in using steps in the writing process, the pre- survey is first used The answers given by students will be counted and finalized

Next, after collecting the pre-test, 2 assigned teachers carried out cross-checking

This pre-test is in the assessment of students‟ writing proficiency This result is very important and elementary because it will be used to compare with the results at the post-test It is time to count percentage and analyze all preliminary data in person, which can help me have overview of the results and outcome in the study Finally, other steps are carried out such as comparing, contrasting and reporting the assessment in their improvement in the essay writing and effectiveness in this method applied in their writing course

CHAPTER THREE: FINDING AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter will illustrate the results of the study and analysis of the data collected

In order to find out frequency in using the steps of writing process, a survey questionnaire is designed concerning to 3 parts: pre-writing, while-writing and post- writing The finding in the pre-survey and post-survey will be analyzed based on 3 main parts of process-based writing approach cycle

Part Stage Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always

Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Pre- Post-

Brainstorming ideas when you receive the task

2: Getting ideas together (or mind- mapping ideas)

4: Planning suitable structures and vocabulary

Table 3.1: Results of pre-survey and post-survey in pre-writing stages

As can be seen from the table, in terms of the first question, in 10 students participating in the first survey questionnaire, the result showed that just 0% had the terms of “always brainstorm when they receive the task ” while there was 50%, 30%, 10% and 10% with terms of “Never” “Seldom” “Sometimes” and “Often” respectively This proved that even though students were in taught in the previous preparation course(s), they often omitted this most important part in the process of writing an essay However, after 10 weeks of the study course, the outcome changed substantially Seemingly, there was none of them forgetting brainstorming (0%) before putting their pen down The numeracy showed positive mindset in the habit of writing with small percentage of “Sometimes” (20%) and “Often” (10 %)

Interestingly, the number of students always brainstorming the task when receiving the task went up to 70% different from 0% in the pre-survey

The table also shows the information in terms of getting ideas together or mind-mapping that students often wrote down based on their cognition and reflection whenever they received the task 2 Typically, there was 40% percentage of students who never got ideas together or mind-map their ideas but started writing right away These percentage of “Often” or “Always” was just little of 10% for both Nevertheless, there was much significant change in the post-survey The number of “Never” or “Seldom” declined to 0% whereas students who were

“Always” getting ideas together or mind-mapping increasing to the highest point with 80%, followed by terms of “Sometimes” and “Often” with 10%

The table illustrates that there was 70% of students “never planning and outlining ideas”, followed by “Seldom” and “Sometimes” with 10% and 20% respectively It is noticeable that there was 0% for students who remember to plan and outline their ideas before starting to write an essay Such this thing seemed to be common in the way students writing, especially for the limited time or feeling confused about how to begin writing or what to write In contrast, in the post- survey, this step saw 0% of “Always”, there was 70% of “Often” making this step done Simultaneously, the result also listed out the terms of “Never”, “Seldom” and

“Sometimes” with the same number of 10% for the final

In terms of planning ideas and structures, the majority of students did not have any ideas of planning suitable structures and vocabulary (80%) which is considered to help to upgrade their mark or approach nearer and nearer the higher mark in their essay In terms of “Seldom”, there was 30% Others were 0%

Otherwise, in the post-survey, these number rocketed in the end with 70% of

“Always” and it is important that there was 0% in the terms of “Never” and

“Seldom” Some students still missed this step proved in “Often” (20%) and

S Post-S 5: Making the first draft 40% 0% 20% 0% 30% 0% 10% 0% 0% 100%

Table 3.2: Results of pre-survey and post-survey in while-writing stages

This table addressed that in the process of writing an essay, they have no notion of making the first draft What they wrote for the first time was their official version to hand in or submit to their teacher The figure pointed out that 40% of

“Never”, followed by 20%, 30% and 10% of “Seldom”, “Sometimes” and “Often” respectively After the 12-week course, it was the first draft that was put into their mind whenever they started an essay with 100%

The table presents that students were not “Always” revising their first draft including checking grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, coherence and cohesion etc., in their essay The pre-survey shows that there was 0% of terms

“Always”, “Often” and “Sometimes” The notion of “Never” (90%) had the highest percentage in almost criteria in the pre-survey Nevertheless, when the teacher applied this process-based approach to the students‟ writing process, the result changed a lot Significantly, there was 0% with the concept of “Never” and

“Seldom” for revising after the 1 st draft Students who were “Always” revising increased dramatically with 60%, followed by terms “Often” and “Sometimes” with 20%

In the pre-survey, the proportion of students who were re-planning their writing was very low The majority was the terms of “Never” with 80% and 20% for the terms of “Seldom” Considerably, there was 0% for the notion of

“Sometimes”, “Often” and “Always” In contrast, after 10-week course, the result was vice versa Students were aware of re-planning their first draft to re-organize ideas to consolidate their writing in the next version To specify, there was 90% of

“Always” re-planning their writing after the first draft and the terms of “Often” consisted 10%

If the pre-survey had 70% of students saying “No” with redrafting their essays after getting peer-check or facilitator‟s comments, the post-survey enjoyed the percentage of 80% There was 10% of the terms “Sometimes” and “Often” in the final result

In terms of editing, there was 80% of students who “Never” edited their essays and 10% of “Seldom” It is interesting that there was 10% of the notion

“Often” However, in the post-survey, there was the highest number with the terms of “Always” (90%), followed by the concept of “Often” with 10%

Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Pre- Post-

Teacher‟s feedback on students‟ writing paper

Table 3.3: Results of pre-survey and post-survey in post-writing stage

Feedback, as usual, is always concerned in purpose of guiding students not to make such those errors again or learn lessons from those Therefore, in the post- writing, it is highly recommend that it should be paid more attention to the part of teacher‟s feedback on students‟ writing paper The terms of “Always” in the post- test was 70% in the end

3.2 Pre-test and post-test Analysis Criteria

Table 3.4: Results of the pre-test

Summary

Based on the pre-survey and post-survey, the researcher collected raw data to use in this study In general, if in the pre-survey the figure showed that the terms of

“Never” or “Seldom” in most 10 survey questionnaires got the highest percentage, in average, more than 50%, in the post-survey, there were significant changes In particular, the terms of “Often “ and “Always” in the list of questions appeared higher than the beginning with more than 60% and in some criteria such as “ making the first draft and re-planning ideas after the first version” nearly got 100%

In general, the post-survey showed clearly that students applied the process-based approach in their IELTS essay writing task 2 to get their detailed results in the post- test

Table 3.8: Comparison of the pre-test and post-test

In comparison with the result in the post-test, the figure was sustainably different and impressive Although this study is done in a certain time and in the realistic environment and cooperation, the proportion of band score 5.5 to 6.0 still showed at the high level with 40% compared with the pre-test (0%) However, there were some other outcomes which illustrated feasible and positive of the application process-based approach in improving writing skills, which was presented in the 6.5 band score (60%) and 0% of band score 4.5 to 5.0 The findings in this study also explicit that process-based approach has a positive impact on enhancing students‟ essay writing proficiency and essay writing skills

Through in-depth interviews among students in the chosen class, students were eager to be asked question regarding the process-based cycle in writing

Impressively, in the pre-survey questionnaires, they almost say “Never” or

“Seldom” with some first stages of pre-writing More interestingly, in the stages of while writing, they just answered about their first draft which was considered as the official to complete the task Rarely did they write more, basically, they said they were lazy and had no motivation to write more after the first draft However, the results were different in the post-interview After they had been guided and taught with this process-based approach, they got familiar with these stages and found out that it was really useful and efficient in their writing skills In fact, during their practice, they saw their improvement in their writing academic skills They felt happy about their better band score after each marked essay

In combination with in-depth interviews, observing also combined with personal experience, many efforts can be seen in the results during the process of the course Typically, during the course, there was a reduction in the errors (disorganization, overlapping, spelling, punctuation, word choices or word forms or tenses so on.); however, in the post-test, 4 criteria was completed very well

As the closing chapter of this research report, this chapter presents the conclusion that was based on the analysis of the findings It also presents recapitulation, implications, some limitations and suggestions of the study

After collecting data and analyzing data, this study is summarized shortly in some points First of all, during the 10-week course, there is a high cooperation from 10 students in the chosen group, which brings back a great convenience for the progress of its Secondly, through the result of the first survey and second survey, it is temporarily drawn a conclusion that there is a change in the way which students learn to write an essay, especially for IELTS academic essay writing task 2 They started to write and practice with the process-based approach instead of freely writing or without any plans for their performance in their essays This change is considered as a completely upward and positive trend Next, the frequency with the terms of “Often “ and “Always” is higher and higher, which preliminarily proves that the frequency in their practice writing such as brainstorming ideas, gathering ideas, planning ideas, outlining them and planning structures and vocabulary is familiarized and paid great deal of attention to Such these changes also help to find the better and more reliable results in their performance of the post-test in compared to the pre-test In particular, at the beginning, marked essays in the pre-tests are noted in the task response (which is not suitable content in the cause of writing freely and lack of idea brainstorming), ideas overlapping, the lack of cohesive devices to make them coherent, the use of same structures or no wide range of structures or vocabulary (typically in using all common words and structures but lack of less common words and flexible structures) Last but not least, in the post test, there are 3 essays achieving band 6.0 of the task 2 and a bit more (band score 6.5 including 6 essays), which is considered as a big change and success in their writing skills and process-based approach during a 10-week course Totally, there is

60% students obtaining their minimum band score for task 2 to acquire their target overall 6.5 for IELTS writing.

Implications

After the study is completed, its results help to find the answer of the raised question in this study about “How process-based writing approach helps students improve IELTS essay writing skills at EQuest English center.” With summarized outcome presented in the previous part, there are some practical and pedagogical meanings for teachers, students and EQuest English center in teaching writing skills

First, after this study is carried out, the results towards the positive trend can be the basic for the researcher‟s teaching writing experience by using the process- based approach From that point of outcome, it is once proved that this approach helps to improve students‟ writing essay skills, this could imply something for other teachers on teaching essay writing at the language centers or in the classes

Therefore, when they apply process-based approach for writing essays, it is necessary to guide students to familiarize to the process-based cycle writing approach at first This is important because students are easy to forget teachers‟ advice and be back to their free writing without brainstorming ideas, organizing ideas, choosing common and less common words or complex structures before writing These pre-writing steps are actually supportive for their while-writing a lot, so the teachers should instruct students to practice these steps professionally Next, ideas are the starting point, so the teachers play an important role as a mentor or an instructor to support students to find ideas, group ideas and finalize ideas, especially for students who lack a lot of background knowledge and personal experience

Additionally, more than on draft is obligatory and under the teachers‟ supervision

Students just gain a great deal of improvement only when they follow those steps in the part of pre-writing and repeat while-writing such as rewriting the first draft after getting feedbacks from teachers and peer check if possible Last but not least, the teacher is a person who provides vocabulary according to topics and structures according to the key points of grammar to help students to use a wide range of vocabulary and flexible structures in their essays On applying this approach in teaching writing, teachers are always positive and supportive to their students

To learners, especially for students at language centers, there are some important points implied in these results of the study Process-based approach is actually helpful in their way of learning to write effectively and achieve the target band-score in writing However, first and foremost, they should take time to be patient with steps in the process-based approach writing cycle Then, they have to well prepare for their pre-writing It is vital because pre-writing is to avoid off-topic errors, unclear ideas and repetitive ideas or the lack of its unity In addition, they should organize information coherently and integrate paragraphs logically by using cohesive devices productively Finally, when practicing writing with the process- based approach, students should often utilize less common vocabulary and wide ranges of structures such as compound sentences, complex sentence, passive voice, relative clause instead of using only simple sentences Similarly, it is essential to minimize spelling and punctuation errors to fulfill assessing criteria

To EQuest English center, the results of this study also point out that process-based can be widely duplicated in the classes teaching writing at EQuest language center and other language centers In a certain period of time, with the combination of the teacher, students and suitable process-based approach, it is likely to achieve the target band and simultaneously to help to improve students‟ writing skills Process-based approach is a positive and quite comprehensive approach which is used to cultivate students‟ ability in the ways of thinking critically, organizing, finalizing and conveying their understandings to the readers in the written academic forms Writing is an input for other skills such as speaking, reading and listening, so process-based approach can be the first choice of the scientific and productive methods in teaching writing in classes at centers

Although this research was conducted with the best of researcher‟s efforts, limitations are unavoidable First and foremost, the number of the participants is just 10, which would be a small scale in this research Moreover, the purpose of the study just wants to help students improve their writing essay skills in a small target (target band 6.5 in IELTS academic writing) Particularly, this research just focused on improving band-score in the IELTS writing task 2 of students starting at the band 4.5-5.0 to achieve target band 6.5 Hence, if in the wide range of band-score target, it might be difficult to get the same results or positive changes when students are taught with process-based approach in IELTS writing essay task 2 Apart from these, there are 2 kinds of tests regardless pre-test and post-test As such, it is possible that these final writings which were good at that time might get the same outcome in other times Moreover, it might be likely that the task 2 which is given in the post-test maybe ever guided or read in a writing sample or might belong to their background knowledge Hence, if I carried out other topics tested which are less common or unfamiliar to students, which would lead to another results Last but not least, the process-based approach used in this study is one applying for IELTS writing task 2, it is wondered that it will release the positively similar results when it is done in the IELTS writing task 1 In a nutshell, there are some prominent disadvantages seen in this study

Based on these limitations mentioned in the previous part, there are some suggestions for further studies of my own Higher Education and others‟ thesis For example, firstly, it is possible to use other approaches in improving writing skills for students in IELTS writing course at the language centers Next, the processed- based approach can be used in improving skills in IELTS academic writing task 1

Last but not least, this approach can be carried out in a wider scope and larger participants who are in need to improve their writing skills of IELTS academic writing both task 1 and task 2 at the language centers They are some promising theses related to this minor thesis, which can be invested more time in the future study

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Writing task 2: band descriptors (public version)

Syllabus IETLS writing task 2 for the 10-week course

No Topic Content Sub-skills Grammar

Education - Vocabulary related to “ Education “

- How to use suitable and appropriate words/ phrases for introduction, body and conclusion

- How to remember words and mind-map

- Simple sentences and complex sentences

2 Environm ent - Vocabulary related to “ Environment “

- How to generate ideas efficiently

- How to recollect vocabulary quickly

- How to recall structures accurately

- Mix of simple, complex and compound sentences

3 Technolo gy - Vocabulary related to “ Technology “

- How to use synonyms and antonyms

4 Health - Vocabulary related to “ Health

- Account essay ( Discuss advantages and disadvantages )

- How to organize the most important ideas to less ones

- How to use words for personal ideas

5 Transport ation - Vocabulary related to “ Transportation “

- How to give good explanation and suitable examples

- How to manage time for task 2 effectively

- How to balance ideas in discussing

- Passive voice for special cases

6 Crime - Vocabulary related to “ Crime

- Discussion ( Discuss both view and opinion )

- How to use less common words

- How to deal uncommon topics

- How to revise lessons and re-organize ideas after getting feedbacks

- False subject and cleft sentences

7 Business - Vocabulary related to “ Business “ ( Discuss both view and opinion )

- How to learn from mistakes

- How to improve from the first draft

- How to be more motivated in writing

Tourism - Vocabulary related to “ Tourism “

- Account essay (Causes and effects or causes and solutions )

- How to fulfill target for IELTS

- How to be calm in the test

- How to show agreement and disagreement

- How to write a counter- argument

- Practice writing a task in the test

- How to edit and re-write the first draft

Pre-survey Questionnaire and Post-survey Questionnaire

As part of my MA research at the Vietnam National University, Hanoi, University of Languages and International Studies, Faculty of Post-graduate Studies Researcher made pre-survey questionnaire on finding out students‟ frequency in following stages (including pre-writing, while-writing and post- writing) of process-based writing cycle

Please spare a few minutes of your valuable time to complete all these questions below

Name (optional) Age _ Gender: Male / Female Email (optional) _

Years of study English: 1 year □ 3 years □ 5 years □ Others:

IELTS experience: 1 month □ 5 months □ 1 year □ Others:

Please tick √ in the blank you have its frequency

Never (1) Seldom (2) Sometimes (3) Often (4) Always (5)

1 Brain-storming ideas when you receive the task

2 Getting ideas together (or mind-mapping ideas)

4 Planning suitable structures and vocabulary

6 Revising (including checking grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, coherence and cohesion etc.,)

7 Re-planning your writing (which ideas should be written first, and which ideas should be put later etc.,)

8 Redrafting (second writing after getting comments from peer-checks or facilitators)

9 Editing (to learn something from the first and second drafts)

POST-WRITING 10 Teacher‟s feedback on students‟ writing paper

Please tick √ in the blank in your frequency

1 Brainstorming ideas when you receive the task

8 Redrafting (second writing after getting comments from peer-checks or facilitators) 9.Editing (to learn something from the first and second drafts)

POST-WRITING 10.Teacher‟s feedback on students‟ writing paper

After being taught the process-based writing approach in IELTS academic writing essay task 2, how is the effectiveness of this approach on your improvement of writing academic essay skills?

Pre-test and Post-test

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task

Present a written argument or case to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the folloing topic

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience

In many countries, people now wear Western-style dress (eg Suits and jeans ) rather than more traditional types of clothes Why is it ? Is this a positive or negative development ?

It is important for children to learn the difference between right and wrong at an early age Punishment is necessary to help them learn this distinction

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

What sort of punishment should parents and teachers be allowed to teach good behavior to children?

LESSON PLAN Unit 10 :WRITING IELTS TASK 2- Argumentative essay

Teacher : Trịnh Thị Hiền Class : IELTS 6.5-962 Date : 30/ 08/ 2016 Time : 3 hours Skill : Writing

- Students learn how to successfully and effectively write an argumentative essay

- Students learn how to use word choices and word form properly

II Method: Process-based approach III Teaching aids: Board, tape, cassette-player, chalks, textbook and notebook

Stage Teacher‟s activities Students‟ activities

- Teacher gives the central topic “college students‟ accommodation”

-Teacher gives the list of ideas -Ask students to divide them into two criteria :

+ Benefits of living in the campus + Benefits of living at home

1 Be cost-effective and time-efficient

3 Rely on their parents‟ assistance

4 Get protection and guidance from parents

5 Learn more moral lessons that shield them from the deleterious influence from their peers

7 Have opportunities to blend in with people from many places and international students

-Students brainstorm and note down

- Two of them go to the board to write down

-Students consider them and select ideas according to 2 given criteria

Suggestions for further study