The effects of teaching conjunctions on the cohesion of efl students compositions

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING CONJUNCTIONS ON THE COHESION OF EFL STUDENTS’ COMPOSITIONS A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By TRUONG DINH MINH DANG Supervised by PHAM VU PHI HO, Assoc Prof Dr HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2O22 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a debt of thanks to everyone who has assisted me in finishing my thesis First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Pham Vu Phi Ho for all the expert guidance, tremendous support, great patience, and strong belief in me His detailed comments and constructive recommendations put a theoretically and methodologically solid foundation for the research reported in this thesis This study would not have been possible without the support of Quang Tri Education Center, where I have been working, and my fellow teachers and students The support of my fellow teachers and the participation of students brought valuable data for the main findings to be fulfilled I would also like to express my gratitude to my university teammates and closest friends for all of their help and support throughout the years, as well as for all of the priceless experiences we have shared Finally, I also owe my family a special thank for their patience, support, encouragement, and strong belief in me during my MA journey Last but not least, I also want to say a thank you to myself for my continuous attempt despite many hardships in conducting this thesis Thanks for not giving up and trying till the end i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis entitled “THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING CONJUNCTIONS ON THE COHESION OF EFL STUDENTS’ COMPOSITIONS” in terms of the statement of Requirements for the Thesis in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee This work has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution Ho Chi Minh City, December, 2022 Truong Dinh Minh Dang ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, TRUONG DINH MINH DANG, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirement of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the originality of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, December, 2022 Truong Dinh Minh Dang iii ABSTRACT A well-written work is not only grammatically correct but also cohesive and coherent Conjunctions are fundamental to the cohesion of a text and should be taught in writing classes This study presents findings from an investigation into students’ attitudes toward learning and employing conjunctions in writing and the effects of conjunctions teaching on EFL students' capacity for written production First, 62 students responded to a questionnaire to find out how they felt about learning and using conjunctions at their school The students demonstrated an understanding of the significance of conjunctions in writing and a willingness to be taught conjunctions Then, the primary goal of the study is to determine whether introducing conjunctions to students would improve their ability to produce cohesive texts Pre-posttest tests were used, and participants included 50 students who was taking an extra English course at a center in HCM City Next, descriptive statistics and paired and independent sample t-tests were used to analyze and report the data It is evident from the results that the mean scores increased between the pre- and post-test More critically, it is clear that the individuals' post-test conjunction density significantly improved Based on the findings, the study made several recommendations for teachers and students regarding learning and teaching conjunctions The work laid the path for later research on incorporating other cohesion-related elements into the training of other language skills Keywords: L2 writing; cohesion; conjunctions; EFL students iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES xi CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions and research hypotheses 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Organization of the thesis chapters CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The Nature of Writing 2.1.1 Definition of writing 2.1.2 Features of an effective writing 2.2 Learners’ attitudes 2.2.1 Definitions 2.2.2 Types of attitudes 10 2.3 Cohesion and Cohesive Devices 11 2.3.1 Cohesion 11 v 2.3.2 Cohesive devices 11 2.4 Conjunctions in this study 13 2.4.1 Definition 13 2.4.2 Types of conjunctions 15 2.5 Previous Studies 25 2.6 Conceptual Framework 28 2.7 Chapter Summary 30 CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 Research questions 31 3.2 Research design 31 3.3 Research site 33 3.4 Pilot studies 33 3.4.1 Pilot study 33 3.4.2 Pilot study 34 3.5 The main study 36 3.5.1 Participants 36 3.5.2 The teaching materials 37 3.5.3 Research tools 37 3.5.4 Data collection procedure 45 3.5.5 Data analysis scheme 47 3.6 Chapter summary 50 CHAPTER 4- FINDINGS AND RESULTS 51 4.1 The responses to the questionnaire 51 4.1.1 Responses to the students’ personal information 51 vi 4.1.2 Responses to the students’ attitudes towards learning writing skill 53 4.1.3 Responses to the students’ attitudes towards learning and using conjunctions in English writing 57 4.1.4 The students’ suggestions for teaching writing and conjunctions 61 4.2 The results of the two tests 66 4.2.1 The normal distribution tests 66 4.2.2 The students’ results of the pretest 67 4.2.3 The students’ results of the posttest 69 4.2.4 The EG’s results of the pretest and posttest 70 4.2.5 The CG’s results of the pretest and posttest 72 4.2.6 Summary 73 4.2.7 How different conjunctions used in the EG’s pretests and posttests 74 4.2.8 Summary 78 4.3 Discussion 79 4.3.1 The learners’ attitudes towards learning and using conjunctions in their English writing 79 4.3.2 The effectiveness of teaching conjunctions on the cohesion of EFL students’ composition and the difference in applying conjunctions before and after the treatment 80 4.3.3 Summary 82 4.4 Chapter summary 82 CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 83 5.1 Summary of findings 83 5.1.1 The learners’ attitudes towards learning and using conjunctions in their English writing 83 vii 5.1.2 The effectiveness of teaching conjunctions on the cohesion of EFL students’ composition 84 5.2 Suggestions 85 5.2.1 To the students 85 5.2.2 To the teachers 86 5.3 Limitations of the study 87 5.4 Recommendations for further study 88 5.5 Summary 89 REFERENCES 90 APPENDICES 97 APPENDIX A 97 APPENDIX B 102 APPENDIX C 113 APPENDIX D 122 APPENDIX E 126 APPENDIX F 132 APPENDIX G 139 APPENDIX H 144 APPENDIX I 151 APPENDIX J 156 APPENDIX K 157 APPENDIX L 158 APPENDIX M 163 APPENDIX N 167 APPENDIX O 168 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: The classification of Additive conjunctions 18 Table 2.2: The classification of Adversative conjunctions 19 Table 2.3: The classification of Causal conjunctions .21 Table 2.4: The classification of Temporal conjunctions 22 Table 3.1: Changes in Revision lesson plan after Pilot study ………… ….…34 Table 3.2: The outline of the questionnaire ……………………….……….…… 38 Table 3.3: The experimental-teaching plan 40 Table 3.4: Summary of the experimental group’s lesson procedure 43 Table 3.5: Summary of the control group’s lesson procedure 44 Table 3.6: Summary of the research tools 45 Table 3.7: Coding scheme 49 Table 4.1: The participants’ gender 50 Table 4.2: The participants’ high schools ………………… …………………… 51 Table 4.3: The students’ attitudes towards English writing …………… … ……52 Table 4.4: The students’ focuses, difficulties, and methods used to teach conjunctions……………………………………………………………………… 53 Table 4.5: The students’ responses to the importance of conjunctions and cohesion in writing ………………… …………………………………………………… 56 Table 4.6: The students’ focuses, difficulties, and methods used to teach conjunctions……………………………………………………………………….58 Table 4.7: The normal distribution tests …………….……………………………65 Table 4.8: Descriptive statistics of the two groups’ pretest 66 Table 4.9: Independent Sample T-test for the two groups’ pretest 67 Table 4.10: Descriptive statistics of the two groups’ posttest 68 Table 4.11: Independent Sample T-test for the two groups’ posttest 69 Table 4.12: Descriptive statistics of the EG’s pretest and posttest 70 ix HANDOUT A Choose suitable causal and adversative conjunctions to fill in the blanks a The plant was not given enough water it died b The plant died it was not given enough water c I love coming to school _ I really like my teacher d I really like my teacher _ I love coming to school e Emily apologized _ she had hurt Heidi’s feelings f Emily had hurt Heidi’s feelings _ she apologized g I played on my X Box _ I had homework to h I really wanted an ice cream _ it was winter i The dog sniffed the food _ he didn’t eat it k the dog sniffed the food, he didn’t eat it → Now write sentences a, b and c into your book putting the contrasting conjunction at the start of each sentence → Remember to use a comma! ☺ 154 HANDOUT B Join these clauses using causal and contrasting conjunctions You can use the clauses more than once to make new pairs or order your sentences in a different way You must include: at least sentences using causal conjunctions at least sentences using contrasting conjunctions at least sentences starting with a contrasting conjunction (remember to use a comma!) it was freezing cold outside I went to bed it was a boiling I didn’t my hot day homework I played outside I ate my dinner with my friends as fast as I could I wrapped myself up in a thick jumper I was really hungry it was late at night I was still full from eating my lunch I put on my I really wanted pyjamas an ice cream 155 APPENDIX J PRETEST WRITING PRACTICE Name: Year of birth: .Gender: Male/ Female Class: School: Topic: Describe a time when you did a good thing for others (such as helping a child, an elderly person, ) at least 200 words Including: • • • • • When it was? What you did? How you helped him/her? Why you helped him/her? And how you felt about it? 156 APPENDIX K POSTTEST WRITING PRACTICE Name: Year of birth: Gender: Male/ Female Class: .School: Topic: Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision (at least 200 words) Including: • what decision it was • what difficulties you faced • how you made the decision • and explain why it was a difficult decision 157 APPENDIX L QUESTIONNAIRE – VIETNAMESE VERSION Chào em, Để phục vụ cho luận văn nghiên cứu ảnh hưởng việc dạy liên từ lên tính liên kết văn Tiếng Anh học sinh, xin tham khảo ý kiến từ phía em – học sinh lớp 12 từ trường THPT khác địa bàn TP.HCM học tập Trung tâm Quang Trí Các em vui lịng bỏ chút thời gian trả lời câu hỏi sau cách đánh số thứ tự định khoanh tròn đáp án Đối với câu cần ý kiến cụ thể, em vui lòng ghi rõ vào khoảng trống chừa sẵn Ý kiến em giúp cô nhiều với tư cách tài kiệu tham khảo, sử dụng cho luận văn Xin trân trọng chân thành cảm ơn em BẢNG HỎI VỀ THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ VIỆC HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT TIẾNG ANH VÀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG LIÊN TỪ TRONG BÀI VĂN TIẾNG ANH PHẦN 1: THƠNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Giới tính:  Nam  Nữ Trường: _ PHẦN 2: THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI KỸ NĂNG VIẾT TIẾNG ANH Câu 1: Theo em, bốn kĩ (nghe, nói, đọc, viết), kĩ viết A khó B khó C chấp nhận D dễ E dễ Câu 2: Em có thường thực hành kỹ viết Tiếng Anh khơng? A Khơng B C E Luôn Câu 3: Ở trường em, kỹ dạy nhiều nhất? 158 D thường thường A Đọc B Nghe C Viết D Nói E Văn phạm Câu 4: Theo em, kỹ viết A Rất quan trọng B quan trọng C bình thường D không quan trọng Câu 5: Theo em, kỹ viết nên trọng đến yếu tố sau (vui lòng đánh số từ đến 5; theo mức độ từ quan trọng đến quan trọng nhất)  Nội dung, ý viết  Dùng từ thích hợp, xác tả  Văn phạm  Tính mạch lạc liên kết viết  Dấu câu Câu 6: Theo em, hình thức sau thầy cô sử dụng nhiều để dạy kỹ viết? (vui lòng đánh số từ đến để mức độ nhiều đến nhất)  Điền từ vào chỗ trống đoạn văn cho trước  Viết câu hoàn chỉnh từ từ cho sẵn  Nối câu đơn thành câu phức  Chuyển đổi câu theo hướng dẫn không làm thay đổi nghĩa  Viết tự theo chủ đề theo hình ảnh, tình cho trước Hình thức khác: Câu 7: Em thường gặp khó khăn sau viết Tiếng Anh? Vui lòng đánh số từ đến mức độ khó đến dễ  Diễn đạt ý 159  Chọn sử dụng từ vựng  Viết văn phạm  Đảm bảo tính liên kết mạch lạc văn  Dùng dấu câu  Yếu tố khác: PHẦN 3: THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ VIỆC HỌC VÀ SỬ DỤNG LIÊN TỪ TRONG BÀI VĂN TIẾNG ANH Câu 8: Theo em hiểu, liên từ A Những từ dùng để nối từ chức mệnh đề B Những từ kết nối mệnh đề loại câu C Những từ kết nối câu đoạn văn văn D Tất Câu 9: Theo em, sử dụng liên từ viết văn Tiếng Anh là… A Rất khó C chấp nhận B khó D dễ E Rất dễ Câu 10: Theo em, việc sử dụng liên từ có ảnh hưởng tính liên kết văn? A Rất quan trọng B Quan trọng C Bình thường D Khơng quan trọng E Hồn tồn khơng quan trọng Câu 11: Liên từ thường dạy nhiều kỹ nào? A Đọc B Nghe C Nói 160 D Viết E Văn phạm Câu 12: Hình thức sau sử dụng việc dạy liên từ? Vui lòng đánh số từ đến từ mức độ thường sử dụng đến sử dụng  Điền vào chố trống với liên từ cho sẵn  Nối câu cách sử dụng liên từ  Cloze test (từ không cho trước)  Viết tự  Hình thức khác: Câu 13: Trong loại liên từ, theo em loại khó sử dụng nhất? A Liên từ bổ sung (and, or, moreover, as well as, for examples, both and, not only but also, ) B Liên từ vật, việc (first, second, then, after that, next, at the same time, ) C Liên từ thể quan hệ lý – kết (so, because, therefore, since, thus, as a result, as, ) D Liên từ đối lập (but, however, in contrast, although, though, while, whereas, ) Câu 14: Trong trình học liên từ, em lưu ý đến vấn đề sau đây? Vui lòng đánh số từ đến 5, mức độ lưu ý nhiều đến  Thì động từ  Dấu câu  Cách sử dụng liên từ đồng nghĩa  Ngữ cảnh sử dụng liên từ (dùng văn nói hay viết, trang trọng hay không trang trọng)  Vấn đề khác: PHẦN 4: ĐỀ NGHỊ 161 Câu 15: Theo em, kĩ viết nên dạy để hiệu hơn? _ _ _ _ _ Câu 16: Theo em, liên từ nên dạy để học sinh dễ tiếp thu hơn? _ _ _ _ _ Một lần xin cảm ơn em hỗ trợ! 162 APPENDIX M QUESTIONNAIRE – ENGLISH VERSION Hi guys, To serve the research thesis on the effects of teaching conjunctions on the coherence of EFL students' English compositions, I would like to consult with you - 12th grade students from different schools in HCMC - are studying at Quang Tri Center Please take a moment to answer the following questions by numbering options in a certain order or circling your answers For questions that need specific comments, please write your answers in the space provided Your comments will help me a lot as a reference It is only used for this thesis Sincerely appreciate and thank you QUESTIONNAIRE OF STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS APPLYING CONJUNCTIONS IN WRITING SECTION 1: PERSONAL INFORMATION Gender:  Male  Female School: SECTION 2: WRITING Question 1: Of all four skills, writing is … A very difficult B difficult C acceptable D fairly easy E very easy Question 2: Do you often practice your writing skill? A Never B rarely C sometimes D often E Usually Question 3: At your school, which skill is taught most? A Reading B Listening C Writing D Speaking E Grammar Question 4: In your opinion, writing skill is A very important B important C normal 163 D unimportant Question 5: Order these factors from to (from the most important to the least important) to writing  Contents  Word use  Grammar accuracy  Coherence and Cohesion  Punctuation Question 6: Which forms of writing are used most by teachers? Order from to (used most to used least)  Fill in the blank  Write sentences from given words  Combine simple sentences into complex ones  Change sentences according to requirements but not change its meaning  Write paragraphs, essays, based on given topics, situations or pictures  Others: Question 7: What is your difficulty in writing? Order from to ( from the most diffucult to the least difficult)  Expression  Word use  Grammar accuracy  Cohesion and coherence  Punctuation  Others: SECTION 3: CONJUNCTIONS Question 8: In your opinion, conjunctions are 164 A Words used to combine similar words in clauses B Words used to combine similar clauses in sentences C Words used to combine sentences or paragraphs in compostions D All above are correct Question 9: According to you, applying conjunctions in writing is … A very difficult B difficult C acceptable D fairly easy E very easy Question 10: In your opinion, how conjunctions affect the cohesion of your writing? A very important B important C normal D not very important E not important at all Question 11: Conjunctions are taught most in which skills? A Reading B Listening C Speaking D Writing E Grammar Question 12: Which tasks are used most to teach conjunctions ? Order from to ( from the most often to the least often)  Fill in the blank  Combine sentences  Cloze test  Free Writing  Others: Question 13: Of all types of conjunctions, which one is the most difficult? A Additive conjunctions (and, or, moreover, as well as, for examples, both and, not only but also, ) B Temporal conjunctions (first, second, then, after that, next, at the same time, ) C Causal conjunctions (so, because, therefore, since, thus, as a result, as, ) D Adversative conjunctions (but, however, in contrast, although, though, while, ) 165 Question 14: When you learn conjunctions, which factors you pay attention to most? Order from to (from pay most attention to least attention to)  Tense of verbs  Punctuation  Differentiate similar conjunctions  Context to use conjunctions (use in writing or speaking, in formal or informal context)  Others: SECTION 4: SUGGESTIONS Question 15: What is your suggestion for teaching Writing at school? _ _ _ _ Question 16: What is your suggestion for teaching Conjunctions at school? _ _ _ _ Thanks once again ! 166 APPENDIX N PARTCIPANTS’ PRETEST RESULT Density of conjunctions Students CG Students EG C01 C02 0.4 0.353 E01 E02 0.401 0.343 C03 0.429 E03 0.431 C04 0.714 E04 0.785 C05 0.684 E05 0.687 C06 0.318 E06 0.315 C07 0.875 E07 0.899 C08 0.5 E08 0.532 C09 0.35 E09 0.358 C10 0.75 E10 0.775 C11 0.421 E11 0.453 C12 0.412 E12 0.486 C13 1.077 E13 1.077 C14 0.786 E14 0.768 C15 0.737 E15 0.658 C16 0.75 E16 0.692 C17 0.789 E17 C18 0.667 E18 0.635 C19 0.733 E19 0.6 C20 0.8 E20 0.867 C21 0.667 E21 0.547 C22 0.933 E22 0.933 C23 0.412 E23 0.326 C24 E24 1.435 C25 0.846 E25 0.834 167 APPENDIX O PARTICIPANTS’ POSTTEST RESULT Density of conjunctions Students CG Students EG C01 C02 1.003 E01 E02 0.525 0.675 C03 0.333 E03 1.002 C04 0.478 E04 0.667 C05 0.764 E05 0.692 C06 0.356 E06 0.688 C07 0.779 E07 0.846 C08 0.556 E08 0.667 C09 0.457 E09 0.713 C10 0.367 E10 0.7 C11 0.653 E11 C12 0.625 E12 0.733 C13 0.545 E13 0.578 C14 0.875 E14 0.779 C15 0.545 E15 0.706 C16 0.812 E16 0.833 C17 0.995 E17 1.333 C18 1.007 E18 1.112 C19 0.65 E19 0.889 C20 0.75 E20 1.005 C21 0.333 E21 1.1 C22 0.625 E22 0.89 C23 0.611 E23 0.354 C24 0.467 E24 0.756 C25 0.632 E25 0.756 168