Factors affectin writing skill the non english major learners at hanoi university of home affairs

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction This chapter presents the introduction to the research which comprises (1) background to the study, (2) rationale for the study, (3) aims and objectives of the study, (4) research questions, (5)scope of the study, (6) significance of the study, (7) definition of the key terms, and (8) organization of the thesis 1.2 Background to the study In the modern society nowadays, it is unsurprising to see that English has been very necessary in important fields of the society As a matter of fact, English has been widely used in the world (Medgyes,2001) However, in learning the English language, writing in English which is a form of written communication, is a very significant skill for language production Hyland (2006) emphasizes that writing plays an important role in the success or failure of the students and it is a complex demand of studying the language How successful learners are at the study of the language largely depends on their improvement of the writing competence However, most of the learners on the path of mastering a language frequently encounter troubles with writing skill According to Grabe and Kaplan (1996), it is so difficult for people to know how to express their own ideas in the writing form effectively It is undeniable that writing and learning how to write are considered the most difficult and complicated skills for learners to master Hedge (2000) states that in teaching four skills of the English language, teachers frequently follow a certain order: listening, speaking, reading and writing Writing is placed at the final order since it is thought to be the most difficult for learners Writing is the most complicated skill for both EFL and ESL learners to master because it demands hard work, knowledge of the language, topical or social knowledge, lengthy steps and more practice (Harmer 2007, Nunan 1989) The difficulty of writing lays not only on generating, organizing ideas but also on putting the ideas into meaningful and understandable text (Tribble 1997, Richards & Renandya 2003) It is agreed that writing is an extremely difficult cognitive activity which requires the learners a lot of training (Harmer 2007, NuNan 1989, Tribble 1997, Richards & Renandya, 2003) How to be good at the task of writing is always the question posed for both teachers and students These problems generally come from learners’ incompetence in structures, lack of the knowledge of the language, lack of ideas, lack of idea organization, coherence, and rhetorical conventions Pineteh (2012) asserts that L2 learners’ sentences are often ineffective since learners not only lack of ideas but also struggle with grammatical aspects such as the agreement between the subject and the verb, tenses, spelling, how to combine sentences to make a coherent paragraph and how to organize paragraphs to make a coherent essay According to Tangpermpoon (2008), lack of vocabulary and syntax knowledge as well as organizational principles in L2 also impacts writers on producing a good text Factors affecting learners’ writing skill are from the teachers’ incompetence as well (Haider 2012, Mansoor 2005, Harmer, 2008) Harmer (2008) mentions that students’ motivation causes them to face problems in writing and inappropriate methodology which arise the troubles for students in writing In addition, Hyland (2002) argues that writing is a skill which learners must master so that they are able to present their ideas successfully in written form According to Leki (1997), the majority of English learners often confuse between Grammar and Written Expression Many learners think that mastering the rules of grammar can help them create good pieces of writing In this respect, learners tend to focus more on grammatical practice but they forget to practice the specific rules of writing such as planning, drafting, editing and final draft According to Al Fadda (2012), learners’ weaknesses in writing recur when learners misconstrue their writing as not a process, it means that learners not have the plan for their writing and they not revise or edit their texts after composing Nunan (2000) also asserts that learners’ poor performance in writing is caused by their ways of organizing the information to create well-structured pieces of writing, coherent paragraphs or essays He also adds that giving coherent, fluent, extend pieces of EFL writing is a really big challenge for learners Therefore, it is very urgent for teachers to help their students perform appropriately and effectively in writing the foreign language In Vietnam, English is used as a foreign language and writing is recorgnized as the productive skill which creates big challenges for learners as well Writing requires learners to have to kow the way to organize the ideas and it also involves in logical and creavite thinking In addition, among a wide range of writing types, essay writing is the most difficult for learners, however, it is considered as important for students among universities Vienamese EFL learners usually encounter difficulties in writing due to numbers of factors or causes 1.3 Rationale for the study Writing is an important but difficult skill in language learning However, students at HaNoi University of Home Affairs need to obtain the English certificate of B1 or B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) of which writing an academic essay is a compulsory part It is no doubt that the learners must overcome the difficulties if they want to master the language Being an English teacher at Ha Noi University of Home Affairs with several years of experience in teaching English, the reseacher has the opportunity to observe closely learners’ performance on writing The researcher recognizes that students at Ha Noi University of Home Affairs are afraid of doing the writing task They find themselves limited, difficult and less confident in performing the writing assignments They can complete the sentence rewriting task, the ordering task, the gap – filling task or they can write short sentences about something but they are still struggling to produce a composition or an academic essay effectively Additionally, unlike speaking, listening and reading, students not have opportunities to practice outside the class Besides, in this context at Hanoi University of Home Affairs, time for learners to practice writing in class is also limited during the course while the complexity of writing made EFL learners face a lot of challenges in writing There are several negative causes or factors which learners encounter when performing the writing skill and these negative factors result in learners’ poor writing Frequently, learners not have the ideas or the knowledge relating to the writing topic and they are not good at English grammar to put their ideas in written form Besides, lecturers also play an important role in motivating learners in learning the writing skill Students also need to avoid the influence of the culture of L1or the learning situation at the university to study writing better, ect What is mentioned above increased the interest in exploring all the factors hindering learners behind their writing difficulties or discovering the origin of learners’ problems in writing in order to help learners better improve their writing skill This is the reason why the researcher decided to conduct a case study to cast a light into factors hampering learners’ writing competence 1.4 Aims and objectives of the study In the hope of helping students improve their writing competence, this study was conducted with the aims of investigating factors affecting the writing skill of the first year nonEnglish major students at Ha Noi University of Home Affairs The objectives of this study are as follows:  To identify factors which affect English writing skill of the first year non-English major learners at Ha Noi University of Home Affairs  To find out if there are any differences in teachers and students’ perceptions of factors affecting learners’ writing skill at Ha Noi University of Home Affairs 1.5 Research questions Despite being well-recognized as an important skill in language learning, writing is still troublesome to EFL learners in general and to students at HaNoi Unversity of Home Affairs in particular A lot of efforts have been poured into the teaching and learning of writing skill, but the expected outcomes are still far to be reached This has led the researcher to generate the following research questions to successfully accomplish the above stated aims What are the factors which affect the first year non-English major learhners’ writing skill at Hanoi University of Home Affairs? Are there any differences in learners and teachers’ perceptions of factors affecting learners’ writing skill at Hanoi University of Home Affairs? 1.6 Scope of the study As having been presented, the research was conducted at Ha Noi University of Home Affairs and non-English major students at the school were chosen to participate in the research In order to offer more meaningful and practical implications for teachers and learners, the study focused only on the first year non- English major studentswhoare not used to the way of teaching agnd learning English at tertiarylevel All the second, third and last year non-English major students were not invited to participate in the research since they might get used to the way of studying the English language at this level This research focused on the issue of writing with the data collected from 80 first year nonEnglish major learners and five English lecturers from the campus Writing is a very important but difficult skill in learning the English language At the campus, students must study four skills of the English language consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing They must take the final tests including the writing part which accounts for 50 % of grades However, there is a wide range of challenges that students faced in English writing skill, they were not interested in learning writing and they had a lot of difficulties when performing the writing ability Therefore, this study only focuses on factors that affect students’ writing skill with the hope to help students improve their writing competence 1.7 Significance of the study The outcome of this research may contribute two aspects of theory and practice on student writing in Vietnam, as well as provide a deeper understanding of factors that affect first year non English major learners’ writing at HaNoi University of Home Affairs Many researchers (Harmer 2007, Nunan 1989, Tribble 1997, Richards & Renandya 2003) agree that writing is the most challenging skill for both ESL and EFL learners According to Margolis &McCabe (2006), learners with poor self-efficacy may result in ineffective writing skill Theoretically, discovering factors leading students to problems in writing helps both teachers and learners in many ways Hence, the results of this study determined the factors affecting students’ writing performance of HaNoi University of Home Affairs in Ho Chi Minh city Practically, the findings of the research might also provide important information and develop viable solutions for supporting not only English teachers’ teaching strategies but learners who have challenges in the process of mastering the writing skill Furthermore, the research also gave learners an insight into their study attitude of the English language 1.8 Definition of the key terms To make this research easier to understand, the researcher would like to explain key terms as follows:  Factor: refers to a negative fact or situation which causes learners’ difficulties in English writing  Writing skill: refers to the ways for learners to put their thoughts, ideas and views into words to communicate with each other  EFL learners: learners study English as a foreign language  First year non-English major learners: freshmen who are not specialized in English language 1.9 Organization of the thesis This study is composed of five chapters The study begins with chapter which introduces the background to the study, the rationale for the study, the aims and objectives of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the definition of the key terms and the organization of the thesis Chapter presents the literature review of the research which includes the definition of writing, the nature of writing, the importance of writing, stages of development in writing, approaches of writing, sources of learners’ errors in writing, factors that affect writing performance.It also looks at previous studies and identifies the gaps between the research and previous studies Chapter describes the methodology of the study which consists of the research design, the research site, the sample and sampling procedures, the research instruments, the data collection, the data analysis procedures, the issues of reliability and validity of the study, the ethical issues of the study and the summary Finally, chapter draws the conclusion of the whole study, pedagogical implications for English language lecturers to help improve learners’ writing skill, some implications for English language learners to learn and practice English writing skill It also provides some implications for the institution with the hope of aiding learners to improve their writing skill Finally, the chapter mentions the limitations of the current study and recommendations for future study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter presents the theoretical framework reflecting the issues involved in the topic of the research It examines the literature on writing: its definition, the nature of writing, the importance of writing, stages of development in writing, approaches of writing, sources of learners’ errors in writing, and factors that affect writing performance It also looks at the previous study and briefly reviews them about writing to form the conceptual framework for this study 2.2 Definition of writing Writing in its simplest form, is the way of putting graphic symbols of something which has been heard or read into written form It is stated by Pincas (1992, p.125): “Writing is a system of graphic symbols, i.e., letters or combination of letters which related to sound we produce while speaking” However, writing is more complex and complicated when relating to producing meaningful sentences so as to convey the message of the language because the graphic symbols have to be rearranged well this time to form from words to paragraphs and essays as well Crystal (1999) asserts that writing is not simply a mechanical combination of putting speech down the paper, it is the art of the discovery in the use of the graphic potential of the language Kate and Guy (2003, p.1480) claims that “ writing is a process of exploring one’s thoughts and learning from the act of writing itself from what thoughts are” Byrne (1993) also says that writing is clearly much more than the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than the production of sounds According to Rivers (1981, p.294), writing is to carry information or toexpress ideas in a sequent way in the new language As written by Brown (2001), writing is a thinking process which can be planned and given with an unlimited number of revisions before its release and it represents what we think in our mind It is a form of expression that writers desire to communicate their different ideas, feelings and attitudes in a written mode, so every writer needs to make his own big effort to achieve one’s aim Cumming (1998) says that producing a piece of writing is to express one’s individuality and personality and it is crucial to remember that writing is also a social endeavor and a way of communication with people Furthermore, writing is one of the productive skills of studying the language and learners find it the hardest thing to get started with entire writing process It is an essential way to improve people’s communicative competence when learning the language According to Brown (2000), language competence is considered as learners’ necessary knowledge of the language system involving the rules of structures, the lexical, and every piece of language and how the pieces go together Therefore, learners are required to make an enormous effort to be able to produce writing with good quality because writing skill is actually complicated This complex activity consists of discovering and transmitting ideas, thoughts, and feeling into written form and then carrying out a process of revising to make grammatical and organized texts which are meaningful and readable for people Hampton (1989) indicates that writers are considered to be fluent in their writing when they can write smoothly, easily and it is certain that their writing is understandable and meaningful Writing skills allow people to put their thought into words to create a meaningful form to convey their message to a larger audience Geiser & Studly (2001) stated that learners who are able to write something in a productive way are successful in their process of studying the language Learners are actually in troubles with this productive skill since it shows the evidence of learners’ language competence, recalling and thinking ability It also demands the ability to organize and put the learners’ ideas in coherence and cohesion (Kellogg, 2001) 2.3 The nature of writing skill Foreign language skills are naturally categorized in two main groups of skills: the productive skills involving in speaking and writing and the receptive skills including reading and listening Nevertheless, their nature does not have the correlation with the above division since the receptive skills are naturally acquired whereas the productive skills must be learnt to have the ability to read or write; that is called “literacy” Furthermore, if speaking skill and writing skill are in the same category, this is not meant that they are similar in some ways Harmer (2007b) identifies that writing and speaking are different in a lot of ways structure of its language Due to this, it leads writing to a complicated and difficult skill There are a lot of studies which prove that writing skill is very complex and many ideas about the difficulty of writing are pointed out Harmer (2007b) indicates that there are a number of reasons which make learners find writing skill the most difficult and complicated A similar point is mentioned, for instance, by Tribble (1997) that it is so difficult to acquire the writing skill because of its complexity This complexity lies on the stages of the writing process, learners’ lack of foreign language capacity or knowledge, etc At the same time, there is also a variety of factors relating to learners’ L1 or psychology which may make writing skill become more difficult Along with its difficulty and complexity, writing can be considered as a process of discovery because it permits people work with word and ideas to compose a piece of writing According to Grabe and Kaplan (1996), writing is a skill that must be learned through practice Writing skill does not come to learners naturally or automatically, it comes through each leaner’s cognitive effort White and Arndt (1991) argue that writing is a problem-solving activity and it requires learners multiple issues to be good at writing Language transfer also plays an important part in determining the nature of the language According to Friedlander (1997), writers usually transfer their ways of writing by their mother tongue into their second or foreign language It is popular that writers who are good at writing strategies in L1 can succeed in using writing strategies in L2 or FL In the same vein, Friedlander (1997) also cites that the failure of the writers to use writing strategies in English came from the weakness of the composers to use writing strategies in their first language On the other words, writing conventions are different from this language to another Therefore, writing skill should be learnt, practiced and mastered since no good writer can be naturally become In summary, the nature of writing demands composers to write for readers who are in charge of deciphering what are coded in the writings It is obviously different from the relationship situation in speaking and listening, there is no interchanging participant in writing That is calculated for the reason why we cannot measure the impacts of the message on the audiences but we can determine the rationale which motivates us to write 2.4 The importance of writing Writing is a task that involves the connection of many skills of language such as speaking, listening, and reading It is one of the important ways for people to put their thoughts, ideas and views into words to communicate with each others In other words, writing is a means of communication which is expressed in written form According to Mc Arthur, et al (2008), writing is also a mean of exposing one’s personal self-expression since it expresses the social relationship through each style of performing writing pieces of each composer It is also stated by Hyland (2003, p.69) that “writing is one of the main ways that create a coherent social reality through engaging with others” Arndt (1987, p 262) states that “a written text is the translation of a writer’s private thoughts into public text” and he also emphasizes that the act of producing a text in written form is actually not easy Suleiman (2000) identifies that writing is a central element or an essential factor of language As stressed by Kamonpan Boonkit (2010), apart from reading and listening which are considered receptive skills in leaning a language, writing and speaking are the other two productive skills which should be integrated in the process of creating effective communication Athannases, S and De Oliveira, L.(2008) argue that writing is an act of communication It is an act of making marks on certain surface in a form of graphic presentation, to make meaning Writing is the fourth skill in English learning language According to Alexander (2008), strong writing skills may enhance students' chances for success Gebhart & Rodrigues (1989, p 1) also assert that “Good writing skills are essential to one’s success, whether writing reports on reading or lab work, preparing research papers, or taking essay tests” In other words, writing skills are specific capacities which play an important part in communication As a result, if learners are good at writing skill, they can convey their message with clarity, coherence, logic, conciseness, straight to the point In this respect, it is so regretful to ignore the importance of the writing skill in teaching and learning English as a foreign or a second language at a university because writing helps learners many ways in their higher studies Writing plays a role in the field of further education since students are frequently required to have writing papers or even academic pieces of writing in English (Fujii & Fukao, 2001, Zhu, 2004) If the practice of English writing can be repeatedly done by the learners, it may help them improve their creation and logical thinking Altiwal (2012) asserts that the importance of the writing skill is to develop 10 làm để em viết tốt Giáo viên em thấy khó khăn việc làm em thích thú với việc học mơn viết Dường giáo viên em khơng có đủ thời gian để tập trung đào tạo kỹ viết em Hơn nữa, Khi em học cấp cấp 3, giáo viên em không cho em viết doạn văn hay văn, em yêu cầu học thuộc từ vựng điểm ngữ pháp sau làm tập ngữ pháp.Hơn nữa, ba mẹ bạn bè em thường bảo chúng em nên học ngữ pháp nhiều vào để đạt kỳ thi trường Họ bảo học tiếng Anh nói quan trọng S3 Em khơng biết đoạn văn bắt đầu kết thúc đâu trước bắt đầu với doạn văn khác.Em bị nhiều lỗi sai ngữ pháp sai thì, kết hợp chủ ngữ động từ Từ vựng em kém, em hay bị lỗi sai với loại từ, dấu câu Giáo viên em không giúp em nhiều để em thấy thích thú học mơn viết Em nghĩ phương pháp dạy viết giáo viên quan trọng để giúp em viết tốt Nếu giáo viên hiểu em có phương pháp dạy thích hợp với em em thấy có động lực để học Em cảm thấy căng thẳng phải viết xuống ý tưởng em em khơng học viết phổ thơng S4 Em lo lắng làm viết em biết em mắc nhiều lỗi chắn em bị điểm xấu.Em thường dựa vào em biết để viết quên tập trung vào thứ khác cuối viết em tệ Có việc mà ln thử thách em em khơng biết phải có việc để làm để em viết tốt Em khơng thể thoát khỏi ảnh hưởng Tiếng việt vào thứ liên quan tới Tiếng Anh viết Thỉnh thoảng, em khơng biết phải viết em khơng có ý tưởng liên quan tới chủ đề đơi có ý tưởng lại khơng biết từ vựng cấu trúc để viết S5 Kỹ viết em khơng tốt em khơng có đủ từ vựng cấu trúc để viết Vì vậy, em cảm thấy lo lắng bị yêu cầu viết đoạn văn hay văn Em cách trình bày ý tưởng em để tạo đoạn văn hay văn hữu hiệu Bài viết em thường bị gạch nhiều lỗi sai, em biết em mắc lỗi em khơng biết sửa Rất khó để hoàn thành viết tốt Em cố gắng nghĩ ý tưởng liên quan đến chủ đề viết xuống cuối viết em bị giáo viên đánh giá lung tung Hơn nữa, văn hóa Tiếng Việt ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết Tiếng 115 Anh em Q3 Nhân tố ảnh hưởng nhiều đến kỹ viết bạn? S1 Em nghĩ từ vựng, ngữ pháp, tả, kết nối, mạch lạc thứ ảnh hưởng đến em nhiều em viết Để xếp theo thứ bậc quan trọng nhóm nhân tố ảnh hưởng tới kỹ viết, em chọn nhóm thuộc ngơn ngữ ảnh hưởng nhất, nhóm văn hóa xã hội, nhân tố thuộc hướng giảng dạy cuối tâm lý S2 Em nghĩ nhân tố liên quan tới ngôn ngữ ảnh hưởng tớ kỹ viết em Khi em khơng có từ vựng kiến thức ngữ pháp em khơng thể viết S3 Nếu em có thực hành đọc tài liệu viết Tiếng Anh em trang bị nguồn từ vựng ngữ pháp em có kỹ viết Tiếng Anh tốt thứ khác để giúp em khỏi thách thức viết Hơn em viết tốt viết Tiếng Anh em ln bị phụ thuộc vào Tiếng Việt S4 Khi xét đến nhân tố gây khó khăn viết Tiếng Anh, em nghĩ từ vựng ngữ pháp thứ ảnh hưởng nhiều đến hầu hết người học Chúng em thiếu kiến thức chúng em thiếu thực hành đọc Hơn nữa, chúng em bị ảnh hưởng việc giáo dục khứ tiếng mẹ đẻ S5 Trước nhất, em nghĩ nhân tố liên quan đến ngôn ngữ ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết em Khi em khơng có từ vựng kiến thức ngữ pháp em khơng thể viết Nếu em làm quen với kỹ viết cịn phổ thơng lên đại học em có kinh nghiệm viết Q4 Nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết bạn? S1 Em nghĩ nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến việc viết em nhân tố thuộc tâm lý S2 Em nghĩ tâm lý ảnh hưởng đến em em viết Tiếng Anh Nếu em có kiến thức ngôn ngữ tốt, thừa hưởng phương pháp giảng dạy thích hợp hấp dẫn từ giáo viên, em khơng bị ảnh hưởng gia đình, xã hội mơi trường học em tự tin viết S3 Nếu em có từ vựng kiến thức ngữ pháp, em không bị ảnh hưởng Tiếng Việt giáo viên giúp em có động lực học thực hành viết Tiếng Anh 116 em cảm thấy lo lắng căng thẳng viết Vì vậy, em nghĩ nhóm nhân tố khác ảnh hưởng nhiều nhóm nhân tố thuộc tâm lý S4 Tâm lý ảnh hưởng đến việc viết Tiếng Anh em em khơng sợ viết Tiếng Anh em giỏi ngôn ngữ, không bị ảnh hưởng môi trường xung quanh em giáo viên làm em hăm hở với việc rèn luyện kỹ viết S5 Như em đề cập, ngôn ngữ đóng vai trị quan trọng việc viết Tiếng Anh em Những nhân văn hóa xã hội nguyên nhân ảnh hưởng Sau đó, việc thiếu kiến thức chuyên biệt việc dạy kỹ viết giáo viên đóng góp đến sử yếu em Cuối tâm lý nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến tơi kỹ viết Q5 Bạn có cố gắng vượt qua khó khăn để viết tốt khơng? Nếu có, cách nào? S1 Vâng, em cố gắng tìm đoạn văn văn mẫu internet để đọc lấy ý tưởng S2 Vâng, em cố gắng học thuộc lòng nhiều từ vựng cấu trúc ngữ pháp S3 Vâng, em cố gắng học thuộc lòng nhiều từ vựng cấu trúc ngữ pháp S4 Vâng, em cố gắng học thuộc lòng nhiều từ vựng S5 Vâng, em cố gắng học thuộc lịng nhiều từ vựng tìm viết ngắn chủ đề phổ biến internet đểđọc 117 APPENDIX E1: EXCERTS OF THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS (English version) Interview transcript with lecturers Q: Question (Q1 = interview question 1; Q2 = interview question 2; Q3 = interview question 3; Q4 = interview question 4; Q5 = interview question 5) L1: lecturer 1; L2: lecturer 2; L3: lecturer 3; L4: lecturer 4; L5: lecturer Q1 Do your students have any difficulties when writing English? If yes, you think there are a lot of factors behind their difficulties? L1 Yes, my students are really upset when being asked to writing assignments because writing is so difficult for them and of course, there are a lot of factors affecting my students writing skills L2 Yes, my students completely have certain difficulties when performing the writing skill and certainly, there are a lot of factors behind these difficulties L3 Yes, of course Most of my students face challenges in writing English because they are affected by different factors L4 Yes, my students find it difficult to perform the writing skill I’m sure there are a lot of causes hindering their writing skill L5 Yes, my students always face difficulties when producing pieces of writing and of course, there are certain causes behind these difficulties Q2 What are the factors which cause difficulties in your writing skills? L1 All of my students dislike writing down their ideas in English because in their opinion, writing is very difficult My students’ writing is bad due to a lot of mistakes about lexicon and grammar They frequently make the errors of the tenses, the countable nouns, and about everything involving to the grammatical points Their writings are also affected by the punctuation, spelling and lack of linking words I find it difficult for me to improve my students’ writing skill because I wasn’t trained in teaching the writing skill in specific and I don’t have enough time in class to correct all my students’ mistakes and give them a lot of writing activities Moreover, the big size of the classroom is a cause for me to be unable to pay much attention to all students in the class In addition, my students usually depend on Vietnamese when writing English They don’t have the motivation to study English writing L2 My students lack of ideas, vocabulary and techniques while writing a paragraph or 118 an essay My students not have a good way to use commas or full stops They are bad at expressing the ideas into good pieces of writing because most of them usually ignore the relationship between the topic sentence and supporting sentences when writing paragraphs or essays Not being given writing activities in class also contributes learners’ writing skill because they don’t have opportunities to practice Their mother tongue always intervenes in their English writing Since there are these problems appearing while they are writing, so they don’t like writing at all L3 My students have the tendency of avoiding writing since they think it takes them a lot of time The reason why my students not realize the importance of English and especially the English writing skill is that most of my students in the university come from the countryside and most of them come from the family that their parents are not very good at English Moreover, my students usually think that English is not necessary in their major, so the learning situation at the university has the impact on their learning English Learners were not practicing writing and they were not reading materials much Therefore, they faced a very limited lexical and made a lot of grammatical errors in writing assignments Moreover, when being asked to the writing task, they frequently think and then write down in a difficult way without writing an outline first.Because of the limited time of the course, it is difficult for me to much focus on teaching writing I admit that I did not give my students a lot of writing activities in my class because I not have enough time, i have to teach them all four skills Therefore, it may affect to their writing skills Moreover, I feel very stressful when I have to teach writing, I can’t help my students write well when writing isn’t separated into one module Lack of preparation in writing task at secondary schools really makes undergraduates challenge in performing the writing skill Teachers at high schools pay more attention in demanding their students to get through the grammatical exercises than asking learners to produce pieces of writing Therefore, like doing something in the first time, learners feel so nervous and they are unable to their assignments well L4 My students lack vocabulary, grammatical knowledge and knowledge in some fields So, they can’t write well Moreover, I have never been specifically trained in teaching writing, so I think I don’t have enough strategies in teaching writing 119 and this really has the impact on my students’ writing skills Learners’ poor previous school background in English may be the umbrella of their most difficulties at the university and they are influenced so much by their first language My students had the habit of translating word by word as the way they in English In addition, they don’t have the motivation and interest in studying English, especially studying the writing skill L5 My students basically lack lexicon, grammar and much knowledge of the given topic, they don’t know how to write the topic sentence and supporting ideas, so they can’t express their ideas effectively For instance, not the same as the Vietnamese writing way, when writing paragraphs or essays in English, it is necessary for writers to write many supporting sentences after the topic one but sometimes they can write supporting ideas before the main idea This also means that they should put the topic sentence at the top of the paragraph or sometimes the topic sentence is somewhere at the end of the paragraph and it is quite hard for learners to remember this rule since they are familiar with Vietnamese way of writing Sometimes, my students have ideas but they put them at the wrong place Although I had feedback to my students’ writings but it seemed not to help them improve their writing so much If we have time to correct the mistakes for each student or if we have time write down the mistakes on the board and correct them orally in front of the class, it will be more effective for my students All what I mentioned above make my students not confident in performing the writing skill Q3 Which factor is the most influential to your students’ writing skill? L1 There are a variety of factors which affect my students’ writing skill However, vocabulary, grammar and other things relating to the linguistic item are the main points for my students to decide if they can write or not Next, if my students are motivated to study writing by the instructor’s strategies and they not influenced by their mother tongue and if they have experienced to writing from high school, they will be able to perform well in writing now L2 Factors involving in linguistic play the most important role in deciding if my students can write or not If they don’t have lexicon, grammar and ideas relating to the given topic, they can’t express their ideas in words L3 Not practicing reading materials a lot leads to my students’ weaknesses in 120 linguistic and this is the main cause to decide if they can write or not L4 Regarding all factors mentioned before, I suppose that lack of lexicon, grammar, coherence, cohesion, lack of relevant knowledge to the given topic, lack of writing practice are factors which strongly affect my students’ writing skill first Next, pedagogical factors decide if my students can write down something when they have vocabulary, ideas and grammatical structures After that, if my students had experienced in writing, they would have advantages when learning writing again at the university All these things will less learners’ anxiety in doing the writing task now L5 Linguistic dominates my students most in performing their writing skill If they have good knowledge of the English, next if they are taught with the appropriate method of teaching writing, and then if they are not influenced by social cultural factors, I think they will be confident in performing the writing skill Q4 Which factor is the least influential to your students’ writing skill? L1 Psychology is also a cause affecting my students’ writing skill but it comes after linguistic factors, pedagogical factors and social cultural factors The reason is that my students won’t be so stressful when they are equipped with good knowledge, effective instructions and the movement of studying English writing L2 I think the more my students have good linguistic, are taught with the appropriate methodology of teaching writing and are less influenced by Vietnamese, the more confident they will feel when writing L3 In my point of view, teachers’ strategies of writing teaching come after the linguistic factors It is simple that when they have words, structures, ideas but they aren’t taught the techniques or how to present the paragraphs or essays in English writing styles, they won’t know where to begin or finish their writing Next, if my students’ writing skill is trained effectively at the beginning of the university, they will know how to avoid the mistakes relating to the native language After that, they will feel less nervous when doing the writing task L4 As I mentioned above, psychology influences my students’ writing skill least in compared to other factors L5 Psychological factors are the least influencing items in learners’ writing skills since if my students aren’t affected by the linguistic, pedagogy, society and culture 121 of L1, they will find the confidence in performing the writing skill Q5 Have you ever tried to help your students overcome difficulties in English writing? If yes, how? L1 Yes, as a lecturer, I tried to give much feedback on my students’ writing but it didn’t work well because students only have 45 periods for each semester but they have to study all four skills of the English language L2 Yes, of course I also encouraged my students to read more to enrich their knowledge L3 Yes, I gave feedback on my students’ writing paragraphs or essays but I didn’t have enough time to give them more examples or exercises relating to their mistakes As a result, my students couldn’t develop their writing skill much L4 Yes, I also usually elicited the ideas relevant to the given topic and gave them model writings to help them complete their writing task L5 Yes, I asked them to write more so that they can develop their writing skill and I also reminded them not to translate words by words like the ways they in Vietnamese However, evething was not good then 122 APPENDIX E2: EXCERTS OF THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS (Vietnamese version) Interview transcript with lecturers Q: Câu hỏi (Q1 = câu hỏi vấn 1; Q2 = câu hỏi vấn 2; Q3 = câu hỏi vấn 3; Q4 = câu hỏi vấn 4; Q5 = câu hỏi vấn 5) L1: Giảng viên 1; L2: Giảng viên 2; L3: Giảng viên 3; L4: Giảng viên 4; L5: Giảng viên Q1 Sinh viên thầy có gặp khó khăn viết Tiếng Anh khơng? Nếu có, thầy có nghĩ có nhiều nhân tố phía sau khó khăn khơng? L1 Vâng, sinh viên thật đau khổ bị yêu cầu làm viết họ viết khó dĩ nhiên kỹ viết em bị ảnh hưởng nhiều nguyên nhân L2 Vâng, em sinh viên hồn tồn gặp nhiều khó khăn viết Tiếng Anh dĩ nhiên kỹ viết em bị ảnh hưởng nhiều nguyên nhân phía sau L3 Vâng, hầu hết em thấy khó khăn viết Tiếng Anh em bị ảnh hưởng nguyên nhân khác L4 Vâng, hầu hết em thấy khó khăn viết Tiếng Anh Tơi chắn có nhiều làm ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết em L5 Vâng, em sinh viên luôn gặp nhiều khó khăn viết Tiếng Anh dĩ nhiên có nhiều ngun nhân phía sau khó khăn Q2 Những nhân tố gây khó khăn kỹ viết sinh viên thầy cô? L1 Tất sinh viên không thích viết Tiếng Anh theo em viết hoạt động khó Bài viết em tệ em bị nhiều lỗi sai từ vựng ngữ pháp.Các em thường bị lỗi việc sử dụng sai thì, danh từ số nhiều nhiều thứ khác liên quan đến ngữ pháp Bài viết em bị ảnh hưởng dấu câu, tả việc thiếu sử dụng từ liên kết.Tơi thấy thật khó cho tơi để cải thiện kỹ viết cho em sinh viên thật tơi khơng đào tạo chun sâu riêng việc dạy kỹ viết lớp tơi khơng có đủ thời gian để sửa hết lỗi sai em cho em nhiều hoạt động viết Hơn nữa, lớp học đông sinh viên ngun nhân cho tơi ý hết đến tất em.Thêm vào đó, sinh viên thường phụ thuộc vào Tiếng Việt viết Tiếng Anh Họ khơng có động lực để học Tiếng 123 Anh L2 Các em sinh viên thiếu ý tưởng, từ vựng kỹ thuật lúc viết Các em cách dùng dấu phẩy hay dấu chấm thích hợp Họ khơng giỏi xếp ý họ xuống viết hầu hết họ thường phớt lờ mối quan hệ câu mang ý câu phụ bồ sung ý cho câu chủ đề viết Việc không cho nhiều hoạt động viết lớp làm cho người học khơng phát triển kỹ viết họ họ khơng có hội để thực hành Trong đó, tiếng mẹ đẻ lại ln can thiệp họ viết Tiếng Anh.Vì có nhiều vấn đề xuất lúc sinh viên viết nên họ không thích viết chút L3 Các em sinh viên có xu hướng tránh né viết họ nghĩ họ phải nhiều thời gian Lý em sinh viên trường không nhận tầm quan trọng việc học Tiếng Anh việc học kỹ viết đa số em sinh viên đến từ tỉnh vả hầu hết họ đến từ gia đình mà ba mẹ họ không giỏi Tiếng Anh nhiều Hơn nữa, em sinh viên thường nghĩ Tiếng Anh không quan trọng ngành nghề họ, tình hình học tập trường đại học tác động đến việ học Tiếng Anh họ.Các em không thực hành viết đọc tài liệu nhiều Do đó, họ phải đối mặt với việc bị giới hạn từ vựng mắc nhiều lỗi ngữ pháp viết.Hơn nữa, yêu cầu làm viết, họ thường suy nghĩ đề tài đặt bút viết xuống liềnmà khơng viết dàn ý trước Bởi giới hạn thời gian khóa học gây cho tơi khó khăn tơi muốn tập trung nhiều vào việc dạy kỹ viết Tôi thừa nhận không cho sinh viên nhiều hoạt động viết lớp tơi khơng có nhiều thời gian, phải dạy em sinh viên kỹ Do đó, ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết em Hơn nữa, cảm thấy căng thẳng phải dạy sinh viên viết riêng mơn viết phải tách thành môn học riêng lẻ Việc thiếu chuẩn bị kỹ viết phổ thơng làm cho em gặp khơng khó khăn thể kỹ viết đại học Giáo viên phổ thơng tập trung địi hỏi học sinh ý nhiều đến việc làm tập ngữ pháp yêu cầu em viết đoạn văn hay văn Do vậy, giống việc lần làm việc đó, em cảm thấy căng thẳng em làm tốt nhiệm vụ L4 Các em sinh viên thiếu từ vựng, kiến thức ngữ pháp kiến thức xã hội vài 124 lĩnh vực Vì vậy, họ viết tốt Hơn nữa, chưa huấn luyện chuyên việc dạy kỹ viết, vậy, tơi nghĩ tơi khơng có đủ chiến thuật việc dạy viết nên điều ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết em Kiến thức Tiếng Anh tảng em không tốt khó khăn họ vào đại học hầu hết họ bị ảnh hưởng Tiếng Việt Các em sinh viên có thói quen dịch Tiếng Anh chữ cách nói Tiếng Việt Thêm vào đó, em khơng có động thích thú học Tiếng Anh mà học viết Tiếng Anh L5 Về em sinh viên thiếu từ vựng, ngữ pháp kiến thức liên quan tới chủ đề, hộ cách viết câu chủ đề câu bổ sung ý, họ khơng thể diễn tả ý họ tốt văn viết Ví dụ, không giống cách viết Tiếng Việt, viết Tiếng Anh, điều cần thiết tác giả nên câu phụ sau câu ý thịnh thoảng người ta viết câu ý sau câu ý phụ Có nghĩa câu chủ đề đặt đầu cuối đoạn văn qui luật đơi khơng làm người học nhớ khơng giống cách viết Tiếng Việt Thỉnh thoảng, em sinh viên tơi có ý tưởng họ đặt chúng vào vị trí sai.Mặc dù tơi có phản hồi viết họ dường khơng giúp họ nhiều Nếu tơi có thời gian để sửa lỗi cho sinh viên có thời gian lớp để viết hết lỗi em lên bảng sửa chung lớp tốt cho em Những tơi đề cập làm cho sinh viên thiếu tự tin biểu diễn kỹ viết họ Q3 Nhân tố ảnh hưởng nhiều đến kỹ viết sinh viên thầy cơ? L1 Có nhiều nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết em sinh viên Tuy nhiên, từ vựng, ngữ pháp liên quan mặc ngơn ngữ điểm cho em định xem liệu viết hay không Kế đến, em sinh viên thúc đẩy việc học viết chiến thuật người hướng dẫn họ không bị ảnh hưởng tiếng mẹ đẻthì họ viết tốt L2 Những nhân tố liên quan mặt ngơn ngữ đóng vai trị quan trọng cho em định xem liệu viết hay khơng.Nếu em khơng có từ ngữ, kiến thức ngữ pháp ý tưởng liên quan đến chủ đề em 125 L3 Việc khơng thực hành đọc tài liệu để mở rộng kiến thức xã hội dẫn đến yếu mặt ngôn ngữ điều nghun nhân để định họ có viết hay không L4 Xem xét lại tất nhân tố đề cập trên, cho việc yếu từ vựng, ngữ pháp, kết nối, mạch lạc kiến thức liên quan tới chủ đề, việc thiếu thực hành viết nguyên nhân ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết sinh viên Kế đến, nhân tố liên quan đến việc giảng dạy định liệu em viết hay khơng họ có từ vựng, ý tưởng ngữ pháp Sau đó, em có kinh nghiệm việc viết, em có lợi học viết lại đại học Tất điều làm giảm bớt lo lắng người học làm viết L5 Ngôn ngữ ảnh hưởng đến người học nhiều họ biểu diễn kỹ viết Kế đến, họ ứng dụng với phương pháp giảng dạy thích hợp từ giáo viên họ họ không bị ảnh hưởng nhân tố văn hóa xã hội, nghĩ họ tự tin lúc viết Q4 Nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết sinh viên thầy cô? L1 Tâm lý nguyên nhân ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết em đứng sau nhân tố giảng dạy văn hóa xã hội Lý em sinh viên trang bị kiến thức ngôn ngữ tốt, lĩnh hội phương pháp giảng dạy thích hợp có động để học viết em khơng q lo sợ phải thể viết L2 Tôi nghĩ em sinh viên trang bị kiến thức ngôn ngữ tốt, lĩnh hội phương pháp giảng dạy thích hợp chịu ảnh hưởng tiếng mẹ đẻ em có tự tin viết L3 Theo quan điểm tôi, chiến thuật giảng dạy giáo viên theo sau nhân tố liên quan ngôn ngữ Đơn giản em sinh viên có từ ngữ, cấu trúc câu, ý tưởng họ không dạy cách trình bày văn phơng đoạn văm hay luận Tiếng Anh họ bắt đầu hay kết thúc từ đâu viết Kế đến, kỹ viết người học đào tạo tốt từ lúc bắt đầu vào đại học họ biết cách để tránh 126 lỗi sai liên quan tiếng mẹ đẻ Sau đó, họ cảm thấy căng thẳng làm viết L4 Như tơi đề cập tâm lý ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết người học so với nhân tố khác L5 Những nhân tố liên quan mặt tâm lý nguyên nhân ảnh hưởng đến kỹ viết người học họ khơng bị ảnh hưởng ngơn ngữ, xã hội, văn hóa Tiếng Việt họ tìm tự tin viết Q5 Các thầy có cố gắng giúp đỡ sinh viên vượt qua khó khăn việc viết Tiếng Anh khơng? Nếu có, cách ạ? L1 Vâng, giảng viên, cố gắng phản hồi thật nhiều vào viết em sinh viên dường khơng làm việc tốt em có 45 tiết cho học kỳ họ phải học kỹ nghe, nói, dọc, viết L2 Vâng tất nhiên có Tơi có khuyến khích em cố gắng đọc tài liệu nhiều để làm giàu vốn kiến thức L3 Vâng, tơi có nhiều phản hồi vào đoạn văn văn em viết tơi khơng có đủ thời gian em thêm ví dụ để phân tích rõ lỗi sai em Kết là, kỹ viết em không cải thiện L4 Vâng, thường gợi ý ý tưởng liên quan tới chủ đề cho em tham khảo viết mẫu để giúp họ hồn thành viết tốt L5 Vâng, tơi yêu cầu em cố gắng viết nhiều để em phát triển kỹ viết tơi nhắc nhở họ khơng dịch Tiếng Anh chữ Tiếng Việt Tuy nhiên, thứ sau khơng tốt 127 APPENDIX F: Viper Plagiarism Report NGUYEN THI NGOC BICH FINAL PAPER.docx scanned Apr 24, 2020 Overall Score 1% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% Second Language WRITING {KEN HYLAND} … Errors of English Language Committed by Su… View/Open - WIReDSpace Home - University … ACADEMIC WRITING IN ENGLISH SECOND… NEAR EAST UNIVERSITY http://docs.neu.edu.tr/library/4953497060.doc 128 0.0% Graduation thesis of English Major - SlideShare https://www.slideshare.net/phamphi95/graduation-th 129