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UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH DIFFICULTIES IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY WRITING FACED BY FINAL-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY Truong Thai Mai Anh Supervisor: Tran Thi Thu Suong, M.ED Hue, May 2021 UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH DIFFICULTIES IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY WRITING FACED BY FINAL-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY Truong Thai Mai Anh Supervisor: Tran Thi Thu Suong, M.ED Hue, May 2021 i LỜI CAM ĐOAN Tôi xin cam đoan kết đạt khoá luận sản phẩm riêng cá nhân, không chép lại người khác Tất tài liệu tham khảo có xuất xứ rõ ràng trích dẫn hợp pháp Huế, ngày 22 tháng năm 2021 Sinh viên thực (ký ghi rõ họ tên) Trương Thái Mai Anh ii ABSTRACT This research investigated difficulties that EFL final-year students face in writing - argumentative essays at the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University It aimed at exploring the students’ perceptions about particular problems in writing this kind of essay and possible causes for those problems Participants of the study were 100 fourth-year English-majored students in the Faculty of English at HUFL chosen randomly regardless of their gender and level of language proficiency The data collection tools consisted of questionnaires including both open-ended and close-ended items, and online semi-structured interviews with 10 students selected from the 100 participants Data was then analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively The findings of this study showed that in writing an argumentative essay, students encountered most challenges resulting from their inadequate linguistic proficiency and inadequate development of ideas, insufficient background knowledge about the topic, and not powerful critical thinking ability Responses collected from interviewees interestingly revealed the students' lack of interest in the writing topics and their laziness, which contributed to those difficulties Meanwhile, factors relating to the curriculum design and teaching methods were of minor interference iii TÓM TẮT Nghiên cứu nhằm khảo sát khó khăn mà sinh viên năm cuối theo học Tiếng Anh ngoại ngữ gặp phải viết văn tranh luận Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ, Đại học Huế Bài nghiên cứu nhằm mục đích khám phá nhận thức học sinh vấn đề cụ thể viết loại tiểu luận nguyên nhân xảy chúng Tham gia vào nghiên cứu 100 sinh viên năm thứ tư chọn ngẫu nhiên khơng phân biệt giới tính trình độ ngôn ngữ, với chuyên ngành tiếng Anh Khoa tiếng Anh, HUFL Các công cụ thu thập liệu bao gồm bảng câu hỏi với câu hỏi kết thúc mở kết thúc đóng, vấn bán cấu trúc trực tuyến với 10 sinh viên chọn từ 100 người tham gia Dữ liệu sau phân tích định lượng định tính Kết nghiên cứu cho thấy viết luận tranh luận, sinh viên gặp phải hầu hết khó khăn xuất phát từ trình độ ngôn ngữ không vững vàng phát triển ý tưởng không đầy đủ, không đủ kiến thức tảng chủ đề khả tư phản biện không đủ mạnh Các câu trả lời thu thập từ vấn cho thấy cách thú vị chủ đề nằm ngồi sở thích lười biếng họ nguyên nhân dẫn đến khó khăn Trong đó, yếu tố liên quan đến thiết kế chương trình giảng dạy phương pháp giảng dạy vài yếu tố nhỏ iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have completed this research with the assistance of my supervisor – Tran Thi Thu Suong, M.Ed She is one of the well-qualified lecturers with many years of teaching experience at the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University With her help, I could have the appropriate orientation for my research Also, she spent time reviewing drafts of my paper This study has been improved a lot due to modifications that she recommended Many thanks are given to EFL final-year undergraduates attending the Faculty of English, HUFL They engaged enthusiastically in the questionnaire and interviews despite the difficulty of time and social-distance regulation The responses they shared became valuable data for supporting my paper Finally, I would like to send my thanks from the bottom of my heart to the Faculty of English for facilitating my research to be conducted advantageously Hopefully, the findings from this research can be a useful source for following studies in the same field Simultaneously, it can partly contribute to the teaching and studying process at HUFL v TABLE OF CONTENTS DIFFICULTIES IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY WRITING FACED i BY FINAL-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS FROM i THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY i LỜI CAM ĐOAN ii ABSTRACT iii TÓM TẮT iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi List of Abbreviations ix List of Tables .x List of Figures xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Structure of the thesis .3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The essence of writing 2.2 Academic writing 2.3 Argumentative writing 2.4 Difficulties in argumentative-essay writing .9 2.4.1 Linguistic proficiency 2.4.1.1 Vocabulary 10 2.4.1.2 Grammar 11 2.4.1.3 Coherence 12 vi 2.4.2 Background knowledge 12 2.4.3 Structure and development .13 2.4.4 Critical ability 15 2.5 Previous studies 16 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Participants 20 3.2 Instruments 20 3.2.1 Writing materials 20 3.2.2 Questionnaire 20 3.2.3 In-depth Interviews 23 3.3 Data collecting procedure .24 3.4 Data analyzing procedure .25 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 26 4.1 Students’ perception about an argumentative essay .26 4.2 Student’s difficulties in writing an argumentative essay 28 4.2.1 Linguistic proficiency 28 4.2.1.1 Vocabulary 28 4.2.1.2 Grammar 33 4.2.1.3 Coherence 36 4.2.2 Background knowledge 38 4.2.3 Structure and development .41 4.2.4 Critical ability 44 4.3 Students’ viewpoint about aspects 46 4.4 Causes of difficulties 48 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 50 5.1 Conclusion 50 vii 5.2 Implications 51 5.3 Limitations 52 5.4 Recommendations 52 REFERENCES 54 APPENDIX .60 Appendix 1: Questionnaire 60 Appendix 2: Interview .66 viii List of Abbreviations CT: Critical Thinking EAPP: English for Academic and Professional Purposes EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching HUFL : University of Foreign Languages, Hue University IELTS: International English Language Testing System TAP: Think-aloud protocols VSTEP: Vietnamese Standardised Test of English Proficiency ix evidence, writing a counterargument part Consequently, when teaching, on top of providing the theory, practicing along with the teacher’s correction is necessary Continuous practice enables students to realize the way to achieve key elements In terms of critical ability, students found it hard to evaluate and consider the information before applying it to the essay As a result, during the teaching process, teachers can instruct students how to evaluate a source of information, consider its value as well as appropriateness to each certain topic 5.3 Limitations There are some inevitable omissions in this research Firstly, due to the shortage of time, this research can not conduct the analysis on real writing materials These practical sources along with automated corpus or advanced checking-error tools can indicate difficulties more clearly Secondly, in the time of social distance for Covid-19, interviews were carried out online instead of being face-to-face Interactions between interviewer and interviewees as well as a facial expression can provide more useful information, supporting the research Last but not least, limitations can be found in this study because of the lack of the researcher’s ability and experience in conducting academic research 5.4 Recommendations Some suggestions can be introduced to the following studies in the same field Firstly, the research of teachers’ opinions towards difficulties that students usually face should be conducted These opinions can be compared to students’ in order to determine similarities and differences From that, many changes can be made in the curricula, teaching approaches, or modifications to students’ attitudes Secondly, analyzing corpus-based materials should be considered This source provides practical evidence, enhancing the reliability of the research 52 Thirdly, the research about students’ background as well as proficiency to explain the high disparity among students’ opinions towards academic writing difficulties 53 REFERENCES Acharya, B (2010) Questionnaire design Central Department of Population Studies Al-Khasawneh, F M S., & Maher, S (2010) Writing for academic purposes: Problems faced by Arab postgraduate students of the college of business, UUM ESP World, 9(2), 1-23 Allen, L K., Likens, A D., & McNamara, D S (2019) Writing flexibility in argumentative essays: a multidimensional analysis Reading and Writing, 32(6), 1607-1634 Alsamadani, H A (2010) The relationship between Saudi EFL students’ writing competence, L1 writing proficiency, and self-regulation European Journal of Social Sciences, 16(1), 53-63 Alshenqeeti, H (2014) 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A case of argumentative essays in a college composition program TESOL quarterly, 47(2), 420-430 Tarvin, W L., & AL‐ARISHI, A Y (1991) Rethinking Communicative Language‐ Teaching: Reflection and the EFL Classroom TESOL quarterly, 25(1), 9-27 Toan, L A., Dan, T C., Da, T C., Chau, P T H., Ngoan, C T., Thien, M B., & Anh, P H D A Study about EFL English-Major Students’ Challenges in Writing Argumentative Essays at Soc Trang Teachers’ Training College, Vietnam Urbanová, Ľ., & Oakland, A (2002) Úvod anglické stylistiky: Barrister & Principal Vögelin, C., Jansen, T., Keller, S D., Machts, N., & Möller, J (2019) The influence of lexical features on teacher judgements of EFL argumentative essays Assessing Writing, 39, 50-63 Warburton, N (2020) The basics of essay writing: Routledge Widyastuti, S (2018) Fostering critical thinking skills through argumentative writing: Yogyakarta State University 58 Wolfe, C R., Britt, M A., & Butler, J A (2009) Argumentation schema and the myside bias in written argumentation Written Communication, 26(2), 183209 Yarrow, F., & Topping, K J (2001) Collaborative writing: The effects of metacognitive prompting and structured peer interaction British journal of educational psychology, 71(2), 261-282 Zhao, C G (2017) Voice in timed L2 argumentative essay writing Assessing Writing, 31, 73-83 Zhu, W (2001) Performing argumentative writing in English: Difficulties, processes, and strategies TEFL Canada Journal, 34-50 Zhu, W (2004) Faculty views on the importance of writing, the nature of academic writing, and teaching and responding to writing in the disciplines Journal of second language Writing, 13(1), 29-48 59 APPENDIX Appendix 1: Questionnaire Dear friends, My name is Truong Thai Mai Anh I am conducting a research entitled “Difficulties in argumentative essay writing faced by final-year English-majored students from the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University” This questionnaire is designed to collect data for this research I would be very grateful if you spare some of your precious time to complete this questionnaire It is guaranteed that all your personal information as well as your answers will be kept confidential and not be used for any other purposes Your responses are highly appreciated and of great importance for the success of the study Thank you for your kind cooperation! A PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: (optional) ………………………………………………………………………… Gender: Male Female Major: …………………………………………………………………………… B QUESTIONS Questionnaire statements are divided into main aspects that the research aims For each statement, rate each item as to the extent that you agree or disagree by using the following scale: - strongly agree – disagree – agree - strongly disagree – neither Tick (✓) in the suitable column 60 LINGUISTIC PROFICIENCY VOCABULARY You are not aware of using formal words when writing an argumentative essay You use more common words (e.g think, say, etc) than persuasive ones (e.g argue, prove, etc) You tend to replace single words with phrases (e.g because = on account of) You tend to replace single words with phrasal verbs (e.g postpone = put off) You tend to replace single words with idioms (e.g rarely = once in a blue moon) You use emotional language when expressing your opinion (e.g I absolutely detest desire, etc) You use short forms when writing (e.g I’m, can’t, etc) You tend to use over-generalizations (e.g All scientists, etc) rather than generalizations (e.g In most developing countries, etc) The topic of essay affects considerably your word choice 61 10 Rank from to10, what topic you have a wider range of vocabulary? The least The widest Media Health Crime Space Gender GRAMMAR 11 You not know well about grammar points suggested using in an argumentative essay 12 You use more personal constructions (e.g I believe, etc) than impersonal ones (e.g It is a common belief that, etc) 13 Rank from to10, what extend you use the following grammar structures? The least 10 The most Wish sentence Rhetorical question Conditional sentence Imperative sentence Relative clause Inversion Simple sentence Complex sentence Active voice sentence Passive voice sentence Others: (optional) ………… …………………………………………………… 62 COHERENCE 14 You not stick to the topic when writing the whole essay 15 You overuse linking words 16 You misuse linking words 17 You use more simple linking words (e.g but, and, so, etc) than advanced ones (e.g furthermore, however, nonetheless, etc) 18 You always use sequencing (e.g firstly, secondly, etc) 19 Which linking words/ phrases you use most commonly? …………………………………………………………………………………… BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE 20 You usually cannot understand the topic clearly due to lack of background knowledge 21 You fail to give enough arguments to support your ideas convincingly due to insufficient knowledge 22 When having an unfamiliar topic, you continue writing even though you are unsure about what you are writing 63 23 Tick (✓) to ONE genre of topic that you have more background knowledge Social topics: e.g environment, game, leisure activities, health, etc Specialized topics: e.g intercultural communication, satellite reconnaissance, etc 24 Which topics you think you know well? ………………………………….…………………………………………………… STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT 25 You have insufficient knowledge about the structure of an argumentative essay 26 You not often pre-writing steps (e.g brainstorming ideas, making outlines, etc) 27 You not know the way to state a clear premise (a debatable statement) effectively in the introduction 28 You fail to sort arguments into paragraphs logically 29 You develop insufficient evidence to clarify your arguments 30 You skip writing a counterargument paragraph deliberately 31 You find it challenging to restate the main premise 32 Which step of an argumentative essay is the most difficult, in your opinion? Why? ……………………………………………………………………………………… 64 CRITICAL ABILITY 33 Critical thinking plays an unnecessary role in writing an argumentative essay 34 You tend to transfer information sources into sentences without any attempt to evaluate and digest them 35 You can not connect the topic to the world and your real experience EXTRA QUESTIONS Among the aspects of difficulties above, rank from to 4, which is more difficult for you when writing an argumentative essay? The least difficult The most difficult Linguistic proficiency Structure and development Background knowledge Critical ability Besides the aspects mentioned above, what are other difficulties that you usually face when writing an argumentative essay? ……………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your help! 65 Appendix 2: Interview Dear friends, My name is Truong Thai Mai Anh I am conducting a research entitled “Difficulties in argumentative essay writing faced by final-year English-majored students from the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University” This questionnaire is designed to collect data for this research I would be very grateful if you spare some of your precious time to complete this questionnaire It is guaranteed that all your personal information as well as your answers will be kept confidential and not be used for any other purposes Your responses are highly appreciated and of great importance for the success of the study Thank you for your kind cooperation! What you think about argumentative essays? Do you pay attention to linguistics factors (vocabulary, grammar, coherence) that you use in the argumentative essay? How does the lack of background knowledge affect your argumentative writing? What is the most important when you write parts of an argumentative essay? In your opinion, what is the role of critical thinking in developing arguments or counterarguments? Among aspects including linguistic proficiency, background knowledge, structure and development, critical ability, which is the most difficult? Why? What are the causes of these difficulties? Thank you for your help! 66
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