Nghiên cứu việc thực hành dạy và học viết đoạn văn tiếng anh ở một số trường cấp iii trên địa bàn thừa thiên huế

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - NGUYEN THI LY KHA AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRACTICE OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH PARAGRAPH WRITING AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - NGUYEN THI LY KHA AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRACTICE OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH PARAGRAPH WRITING AT SOME HIGH SCHOOLS IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: Dr TON NU NHU HUONG HUE, 2017 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - NGUYỄN THỊ LY KHA NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC THỰC HÀNH DẠY VÀ HỌC VIẾT ĐOẠN VĂN TIẾNG ANH Ở MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG CẤP III TRÊN ĐỊA BÀN THỪA THIÊN HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11 NGƢỜI HƢỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TIẾN SĨ TÔN NỮ NHƢ HƢƠNG HUẾ, 2017 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Date: 05/ 11/2017 Signature Nguyễn Thị Ly Kha iii ABSTRACT Writing is a very important skill in teaching and learning English especially paragraph writing But for high school students in Viet Nam in general and in Thua Thien Hue in particular, they still get many difficulties in paragraph writing This study aimed to find out the teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions about teaching and learning English paragraph writing and investigate the reality of teaching and learning English paragraph writing The study also aimed to find out the difficulties that students face when they learn English paragraph writing In terms of methodology, the researcher conducted a survey with 40 teachers and 150 students at some high schools in Thua Thien Hue province using a 33-item Likert scale questionnaire for teachers and a 34-item Likert scale questionnaire for students and made class observations as well as the in-depth interviews to clarify some data from the questionnaires Regarding main findings, the study pointed out teachers and students‟ perceptions of teaching and learning paragraph writing They almost had positive attitudes toward writing However, they thought that teaching and learning writing were challenging Also, many students still ignored paragraph writing because writing is not the targeted skill at secondary education Accordingly, the reality of teaching and learning paragraph writing was collected and discussed What is more, the difficulties faced by students in their paragraph writing learning practice were pointed out They were lack of vocabulary, poor organization, lack of idea, errors in spelling and so on With these findings, the researcher drew some implications for teachers and students in teaching and learning paragraph writing Additionally, limitations and suggestions for further research were also included in the hope that more convincing and reliable conclusion will be drawn out in the field of English paragraph writing teaching and learning iv This paper could not have been completed without the encouragement and support from a number of people who all deserve my sincerest gratitude and appreciation First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ton Nu Nhu Huong, for her continual encouragement, careful reading, critical comments and patient guidance that made my paper better and more professional I would like to give thanks to Assoc Dr Truong Vien, who gave me the inspiration for this thesis topic and taught me how to deal with SPSS software My sincere thanks go to all my colleagues and my pretty students at Thua Luu high school who always encourage and support me, especially who are willing and enthusiastic to contribute to my study I would like to show my warm gratitude to the teachers and students from Phu Loc , An Luong Dong, Phu Bai and Dang Tran Con high schools, who also had an enormous contribution to the success of my research Last but not least, I would like to show my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my family, my parents, my parents- in law, my husband, my five-year-old son, especially my baby who had went away during the time of this study gave me the strongest motivation to finish this paper I also give thanks to my close friends and my classmates who always by my side and give me great mental and physical support Their love, support and constant encouragement gave me a great deal of strength and determination that help me during the stressful time of writing this paper v v TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF CHARTS xi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of key terms 2.1.1 What is writing? 2.1.1.1 Writing as a process 2.1.1.2 The importance of writing in language learning .10 2.1.1.3 Teaching English writing 11 2.1.2 What is a paragraph? 12 2.1.2.1 The structure of a paragraph 13 2.1.2.2 Paragraph writing in current textbooks 15 2.1.2.3 Teaching paragraph writing 18 2.2 Previous studies .21 2.3 Vietnamese EFL teachers and high school learners 23 2.3.1 Vietnamese EFL high school teachers 23 2.3.2 Vietnamese EFL high school students 25 2.4 Chapter Summary 26 vi CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27 3.1 Research approaches 27 3.2 Data collection methods .28 * Participants of the study 28 3.3 Data collection .30 3.3.1 Questionnaires 30 3.3.1.1 Questionnaire to teachers 31 3.3.1.2 Questionnaire to students 32 3.3.2 Interviews 33 3.3.3 Class observations 34 3.4 Data analysis 35 3.5 Chapter summary 36 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 37 4.1 Introduction 37 4.2 Teachers and students‟ perceptions of English paragraph writing 37 4.2.1 Teachers‟ perception of English paragraph writing 38 4.2.2 Students‟ perception of English paragraph writing 42 4.3 The reality of teaching and learning English paragraph writing 45 4.3.1 The contents teachers often taught and students often learnt in English paragraph writing lessons .46 4.3.2 Activities teachers and students often employed in teaching and learning English paragraph writing lessons 49 4.3.2.1 Pre-writing .50 4.3.2.2 While- writing stage .54 4.3.2.3 Post- writing stage 56 4.4 Difficulties students had in learning English paragraph writing class 60 4.5 Chapter summary 65 CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 66 5.1 Introduction 66 5.2 Summary of key findings .66 vii 5.3 Implications of the study .68 5.3.1 Implications for teachers .68 5.3.2 Implications for students 68 5.3.3 Implications for administrators 69 5.4 Limitations of the study 69 5.5 Suggestions for further research 70 5.6 Chapter summary 70 REFERENCES 71 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR :Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL :English as Foreign Language ESL :English as Second Language GCSE :General Certificate of Secondary Education M.A :Master of Arts MOET : The Ministry of Education and Training SPSS : Statistical Package for Social Sciences TESOL :Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching ix ability to establish a basic unit of organization that consists of a topic sentence and supporting sentences I think paragraph writing is very important because it often appears in different kinds of tests and examinations Paragraph writing, in my opinion, is very necessary because it is included in many units in textbooks of secondary education I don‟t care much about paragraph writing because writing is not a targeted skill at secondary school III What is the reality of teaching and learning paragraph writing at your class? III.1 What you actually learn in English paragraph writing lessons? I always learn in English Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly paragraph writing lessons disagree agree how to write topic sentences how to write supporting sentences 10 how to write concluding sentences 11 how to use linking words to connect ideas in a paragraph 12 how to apply useful grammatical structures in writing a paragraph 13 how to use some other components to make a good paragraph such as capitalization , punctuation or spelling If others, please be brief and specify: III.2 What activities you actually employ in learning English paragraph writing lessons? Activities we learn Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree agree 14 We does brainstorming activities for Pre-writing 15 After brainstorming, my teacher asks us to start writing a paragraph 16 My teacher often conducts the writing process: planning-drafting- revising-editing-publishing 17 In Pre-writing, my teacher often provides us with main ideas, vocabulary and structures that are necessary for paragraph writing 18 In Pre-writing, my teacher often provides us with a writing model and asks us to create a similar one 19 In While-writing, my teacher often asks us to write a paragraph individually 20 In While-writing, my teacher often asks us to write a paragraph in pairs or in groups 21 In Post-writing, my teacher often asks us to read and evaluate our peer‟s writing.(peer review) 22 In Post-writing, my teacher often calls one best student to read aloud his/her writing and correct with the whole class 23 In Post-writing, my teacher often corrects some of students‟ writing on the blackboard 24 Since there is not enough time at class, my teacher often collects our writing for correction at home If others, please be brief and specify: IV What challenges you have in learning English paragraph writing? Challenges I have in learning Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly paragraph writing disagree agree 25 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is deciding how to start a paragraph 26 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is not knowing how to write a correct English sentence 27 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is vocabulary restriction 28 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is choosing the right vocabulary to express their ideas 29 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is not having enough ideas about the topics that our teacher ask us to write about 30 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is not knowing how to organize a paragraph properly 31 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is not knowing how to link ideas together in a paragraph 32 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is not knowing how to use punctuation in appropriate places 33 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is having a lot of errors in spelling 34 My biggest problem in paragraph writing is not knowing how to use grammatical structures for the context If others, please be brief and specify: Many thanks for your cooperation! APPENDIX 2B BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH Xin chào em Cô tên Nguyễn Thị Ly Kha, giáo viên trường THPT Thừa Lưu Hiện cô thực đề tài làm luận văn cho khóa học thạc sĩ trường Đại Học Ngoại Ngữ Huế Cô mong giúp đỡ em Bảng câu hỏi thiết kế với mục đích nhận ý kiến học sinh tình hình thực tiễn việc dạy học kỹ viết tiếng Anh nói chung viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh nói riêng khó khăn mà học sinh gặp phải học viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh Toàn ý kiến sử dụng cho mục đích phục vụ nghiên cứu đề tài luận văn “Điều tra thực tế việc dạy học viết đoạn văn Tiếng anh số trường trung học phổ thông tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế” Những liệu thu từ bảng câu hỏi sử dụng cho riêng mục đích nghiên cứu mà khơng nhằm vào mục đích khác Chính vậy, tơi mong nhận câu trả lời đầy đủ chân thật em học sinh phiếu khảo sát Cảm ơn hợp tác em! I Thông tin cá nhân Tuổi: Lớp Giới tính: Nam Nữ Trường: Số năm học tiếng Anh: Mỗi câu em vui lòng vòng vào điểm số thích hợp cho lựa chọn phù hợp Sự lựa chọn là: 1= Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý 4= Đồng ý = Không đồng ý 5= Hồn tồn đồng ý 3= Trung lập (khơng có ý kiến) II Nhận thức học sinh dạy viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh Nhận thức học sinh viết đoạn văn tiếng Hồn Khơng Anh tồn đồng ý không đồng ý Theo quan điểm tôi, viết phương tiện diễn đạt giao tiếp đời sống hàng ngày 2 Tôi nghĩ kỹ viết tiếng Anh quan trọng Tôi nghĩ học kỹ viết tiếng Anh thách thức học sinh Viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh bao gồm khả thành lập đơn vị tổ chức bao gồm viết câu chủ đề viết câu phát triển Tôi nghĩ viết đoạn văn quan trọng thường có kiểm tra kỳ thi Tôi nghĩ viết đoạn văn cần thiết có nhiều sách giáo khoa chương trình phổ thông Tôi không quan tâm nhiều viết đoạn văn viết khơng phải kỹ cần đạt tới chương trình phổ thơng Phân Đồng Hoàn vân ý toàn đồng ý 3 4 5 5 5 III Thực tế học viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh em lớp gì? III.1 Các em thƣờng học tiết viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh? Chúng học .trong tiết dạy viết Hồn tồn Khơng Phân Đồng Hồn đoạn văn khơng đồng ý vân ý tồn đồng ý đồng ý cách viết câu chủ để (câu mở đầu) cách viết câu phát triển 10 cách viết câu kết luận 11 cách sử dụng từ nối, liên từ để nối ý đoạn văn 12 cách áp dụng cấu trúc ngữ pháp phù hợp để viết đoạn văn 13 ý vào yếu tố khác để viết đoạn văn tốt dấu câu, viết hoa tả Nếu có ý kiến khác, em vui lòng ghi rõ: III.2 Các em thƣờng học hoạt động tiết viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh? Các hoạt động tiết Hồn Khơng Phân Đồng Hồn viết đoạn văn tồn đồng ý vân ý tồn khơng đồng đồng ý ý 14 Chúng thực hoạt động khởi động (Brainstorming: trả lời câu hỏi, tìm thơng tin cần thiết ) giai đoạn trước viết 15 Sau hoạt động khởi động (Brainstorming), thầy (cô) yêu cầu viết đoạn văn 16 Thầy (cô) yêu cầu chúng tơi học viết theo tiến trình: lên ý tưởng - viết nháp - xem lại - sửa - hoàn thành 17 Thầy (cô) thường cung cấp cho ý chính, từ vựng cấu trúc cần thiết giai đoạn trước viết 18 Thầy (cô) thường cung cấp viết mẫu yêu cầu viết dựa mẫu 19 Thầy (cơ) thường u cầu tự viết đoạn văn theo cá nhân 20 Thầy (cô) thường yêu cầu học sinh viết đoạn văn theo cặp theo nhóm 21 Sau viết xong, thầy (cô) thường yêu cầu đọc sửa cho nhau.(peer review) 22 Sau viết xong, thầy (cô) thường gọi học sinh viết tốt đọc trước lớp sửa học sinh lớp 23 Sau viết xong, thầy (cô) thường sửa số học sinh bảng 24 Vì khơng có đủ thời gian lớp nên thầy (cơ) thường thu nhà sửa Nếu có ý kiến khác, em vui lòng ghi rõ: IV Những khó khăn mà em gặp phải học viết đoạn văn gì? Khó khăn tơi gặp phải học viết đoạn Hồn Khơng Phân Đồng văn tồn đồng ý vân ý khơng đồng ý 25 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn định bắt đầu viết 26 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn viết câu tiếng Anh hoàn chỉnh 27 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn hạn chế từ vựng 28 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn chọn từ ngữ để diễn đạt ý kiến 29 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn đủ ý tưởng chủ đề mà giáo viên yêu cầu Hoàn toàn đồng ý 5 5 30 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn cách tổ chức đoạn văn cho thích hợp 31 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn liên kết ý tưởng với cho hợp lý 32 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn cách sử dụng dấu câu nơi thích hợp 33 Vấn đề lớn tơi viết đoạn văn có nhiều lỗi tả 34 Vấn đề lớn viết đoạn văn cách sử dụng cấu trúc ngữ pháp vào ngữ cảnh viết Nếu có ý kiến khác, em vui lịng ghi rõ: Cảm ơn hợp tác em! APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS’ INTERVIEW Do you think teaching paragraph writing is challenging? Why/ why not? What you have much concern about in teaching paragraph writing in your classes? Why? What activities you often use to teach in paragraph writing lessons in prewriting stage? In while-writing stage, what kind of task you often prefer to employ, individual work, pair work or group work? Why? What you find difficult for students in learning paragraph writing? What is the most difficult for them to overcome? QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW Do you think learning writing skill is challenging? Why/ Why not? What are you asked to pay much attention to in learning English paragraph writing? Why? What you often learn in “Before you write” part? In while- writing stage, what kind of task you prefer to take part in, individual work, pair work or group work? Why? What you find difficult in learning paragraph writing? What is the biggest one among them? APPENDIX CLASS OBSERVATION SHEETS Stages/ Time Teachers‟ activities Students‟ activities UNIT 12: MUSIC (TIENG ANH 10) Warm up (5 - Ask students to answer “Who are - Answer the questions mins) they?” with three questions and receive gifts (Hong Nhung, Van Cao, Trinh Cong Son) Pre- writing (17 Teaching vocabulary - learn vocabulary mins) Checking vocabulary (jumbled - Rearrange the letters to words) make correct words Brainstorming What does a profile usually include? - ask students to complete the - complete the network by network saying aloud the words Matching - Ask students to work in pairs, - Work in pairs and the match questions and answer about matching Van Cao - Give answers Useful languages - Ask students to underline the - read the answers in tenses, prepositions from the “Matching” again and answers in “matching” underline tenses and - Give useful structures and words prepositions - Note down the useful languages into notebook While- writing (15 mins) Write a profile about Trinh Cong Son using the prompts below Name : Trinh Cong Son  Born : 28 –02 - 1939  Place of birth : Dac Lac  Grow up : Hue  Start composing music : 1958  First song : UOT MY  Died : 2001 - Ask students to form groups - Work in groups and and deliver them a piece of big the writing task paper - Ask them to write Trinh Cong Son‟s profile in 15 minutes - Go around for controlling and helping Post- writing (10 - Ask students to hang their - Hang the writings on the mins) writings on the board board - Correct the writing one by one - Follow the teacher‟s - give feedback and comments correction, feedback and comments Homework - ask students to write a paragraph - Note down the of Scott Joplin ‟s profile using homework information in textbook UNIT 12 : THE ASIAN GAMES (TIENG ANH 11) Warm up (6 - Ask students to play “Bingo” - Play Bingo by choosing mins) game out of 16 words Pre- writing (2 Teaching vocabulary - Learn vocabulary mins) Checking vocabulary (matching) - Match English words Brainstorming with Vietnamese - Ask students to work in pairs and meanings list the things they should prepare - Work in pairs and list for the coming Asian Games held - Read aloud ideas for in Vietnam teachers - Collect their ideas Useful structures and languages - Give students useful structures - Note down structures and linking words and linking words in Answer the questions notebook - Ask students to work in pairs and answer the questions - Work in pairs and - Collect students‟ answers answer the questions - Correct and ask students to copy - Read aloud the answers in their notebook - Ask students and write a paragraph about about 100 words to describe the preparations for the coming Asian Games in Vietnam - Ask students to work in groups and deliver them a piece of paper - Go around for help - Copy the answers Post-writing (12 - Call two quickest groups to hand - Two quickest groups mins) their papers on the board and hang their papers on the correct with the whole class board - Give comments and feedback - Follow teacher‟s While-writing (14 mins) - Form groups and write a paragraph correction, comments and feedback Homework - Ask students to prepare for the (1min) next lesson - Note down homework UNIT 13: HOBBIES (TIENG ANH 11) Warm up (7 mins) Magic box - Ask students to work in two - Form groups and play groups and play game game - Ask the representatives of each - Choose representatives group to touch the objects in the - Answer the names of the box one by one and explain them, secret objects other students call the names of the objects - Lead in the lesson Pre-writing (9 Ask and answer mins) - Ask students to work in pairs, ask - Work in pairs, ask and and answer about their collection answer about their Making outline collection - Ask students some questions - Ask students to make an outline - Answer the questions of the paragraph about hobby - Make an outline While-writing - Ask students to work - write a paragraph about (15 mins) individually, write a paragraph their collection about their collection Post- writing (13 - Ask students to write their - Two students write on mins) paragraphs on the board the board - Correct two writings with the - Follow and correct with whole class teacher - Give comments and feedback Homework Correct your writing at home and - Note down the (1min) prepare for the next lesson homework UNIT 14: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (TIENG ANH 12) Date: 16-3-2017 Warm up (7mins) Pre-writing (15mins) - Ask students to keep book close - Ask students put the words into correct columns then say what organization they belong to ? - Check and explain them to the class - Close their books *Brainstorming - Ask Ss to give some ideas about three international organizations: WWF, WHO, the UN * Discussing: - Ask student to work in groups and go through the list of suggestions above Tell your friend the reason why you would like to work for WHO or WWF - Explain some new words - Let them work in groups - Walk around, check and help students - Tell the information - Put the words into correct columns and say the name of the organization about three organizations - Copy new words - Work in groups and discuss which one they would like to work for and explain the reason - Explain to students to some questions using their opinion *Useful expressions: Ex: I‟d like to work for the - Copy useful languages UN because I can live and work in New York - I‟d like to work for the… for a number of reasons First,… - Because I like… - If I work for… , I will have a chance… While- writing (15 mins) Post-writing (7 mins) Write a paragraph about your choice for working for the organization you like - Ask Ss to write in individual - Write individually - T goes around to give help and control class CORRECTION - One student write her - Call one student write her writing writing on the board on the board - Collect all students‟ writing - Others stop writing and hand them in teacher Homework (min) - Ask students to prepare for the - Listen to the teacher next lesson UNIT 15: WOMEN IN SOCIETY (TIENG ANH 12) Date: 31-3-2017 Warm up (8mins) Game : Hot seat - Work in groups and play - Teacher puts two chairs in front the game of the class - Ask Ss to work in two groups One person from each group sit on each chair and write a word on the board after the other in her group explain the word without using the exact word on the board - When the person on chair can say out the word correctly and firstly, their group will get one mark -The group that scores more points will be the winner - Answer the questions - Declare the winning group  LEAD – IN -Are you interested in the housework in your home ? -Do you know how many hours of housework per week ? Pre-writing (16 mins) While-writing (15 mins) * Hang the chart on the board and explain the information in the chart - Teacher reviews : * Useful languages - Using the simple present tense - Comparison : comparative : less… more … Short adjective-er…… - In general ,… - As we can see…… - While ……  Out lining : - Give out the topic sentence - Write some detailed sentence / supporting ideas for the topic sentence * Ask and asnwer - In pairs , Ss look at the chart carefully and answer the questions , contrasting the column with the questions to find out the answering information - Ask ss to compare the answers with other pairs - Call on some Ss to read out the answer - Follow teacher‟s explanation - Copy useful languages - Copy the outline - Ask and answer in pairs - Compare answers with other pairs - Read out the answer - Divide the class into four groups - Form groups - Deliver a large piece of paper for - Receive papers each group - Ask Ss to write a report - Write in groups describing the information shown in the column chart in Task Begin your report with : The column chart illustrtes the average hours of housework per week done by married women in comparison with married men in Fantasia - Two quickest groups will hang the papers in the board for correction Post-writing (10 mins) - Call two quickest groups hang their papers on the board - Correct with the class - Give comments and feedback - Two groups hang papers on the board - Follow teacher‟s correction Homework - ask students to write the - Note down the paragraph again into their notebook homework and prepare for the next lesson