A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10th form non-English major at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - ĐẶNG THỊ KIM OANH A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10 th form non English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school ( Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng hoạt động viết theo nhóm nhằm phát triển kỹ viết cho học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên Tiếng Anh trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu- Nghệ An) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Methodology Code: 60.14.10 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES - ĐẶNG THỊ KIM OANH A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10th form non English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school ( Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng hoạt động viết theo nhóm nhằm phát triển kỹ viết cho học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên Tiếng Anh trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu- Nghệ An) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Phạm Minh Hiền, M.A Table of contents Candidate’s statement i Acknowledgements .ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vii List of tables and charts vii Table of contents vii PART A: INTRODUCTION I Rationales of the study II Aims of the study III Research questions IV Scope of the study V Methods of the study VI Significance of the study VII Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW I.1 Communicative language teaching (CLT) I.1.1 An overview of communicative language teaching (CLT) I.1.2 Communicative activities I.1.3 Group work in communicative language teaching I.2 Overview of writing I.2.1 Definitions of writing I.2.2 Writing skills in foreign language teaching I 2.3 Approaches to writing skills in foreign language teaching 11 I.3 Group writing in foreign language teaching 14 I.3.1 What is Group writing? 14 I.3.2 Advantages of using group writing in improving writing skill for high school students 15 I.3.3 Disadvantages of using group writing in improving writing skill for high school students 16 I.3.4 How to organize group work 17 I.3.4.1 The formation 17 I.3.4.2 Group size 18 I.3.5 Using group writing in the classroom 18 I.3.5.1 Pre- writing stage 18 I.3.5.2 While- writing stage 19 I.3.5.3 Post- writing stage 19 CHAPTER II: DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY 20 II.1.Setting of the study 20 II.1.1 Description of the teaching and learning English at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school 20 II.1.2 Description of writing program in English 10 textbook 21 II.2 Design and methodology 22 II.2.1 The participants 22 II.2.2 Research instruments 23 II.2.3 Data analysis 24 II.2.3.1 Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire 24 II.2.3.2 Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire 31 CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USING GROUP WRITING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS 38 III Findings 38 III Recommendations 39 III.3 Some suitable activities for group writing 41 PART C: CONCLUSION 47 Summary of the study 47 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research 47 REFERENCES 49 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students I Appendix 2: Questionnaire for teachers III Appendix 3: Particular samples of group writing activities used in Tieng Anh 10 V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching PBC: Phan Boi Chau ELT: English Language Teaching LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Approaches to teaching writing skills 11 Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 10 22 Table 3: Students’ attitude toward English learning 25 Table 4: Benefits of using group writing in writing classes 28 Table 5: Students’ expectations of teachers’ using group writing 30 Table 6: Benefits of using group work in writing lessons 33 Table 7: How to group students 34 Table 8: Activities at which group writing is used 35 Table 9: Teachers’ solution to overcome their difficulties 36 Figure 1: Students’ perspectives towards writing class 25 Figure 2: Students’ view on writing lessons 26 Figure 3: Students’ opinions about the way they like to writing in class 27 Figure 4: The frequency of using group work in writing lessons 27 Figure 5: The students’ attitude towards group writing 28 Figure 6: Difficulties students have experienced when writing in groups 29 Figure 7: Students’ opinions on the stages of group writing 30 Figure 8: Teachers’ attitude towards teaching writing 31 10 Figure 9: The frequency of using group writing 32 Figure 10: The students’ response to group writing 32 Figure 11: Teachers’ preparation for implementing group writing 34 Figure 12: Teachers’ difficulties in implementing group writing 36 11 PART A: INTRODUCTION I Rationales To get good results in teaching process is the expectation of all teachers However, the ways to achieve it are not always easy This requires the teachers to have not only good qualities, deep knowledge about their subjects but also suitable methods to adapt in teaching In fact, in the late 20th century linguists, teachers and learners have witnessed the “birth” of a popular way in teaching foreign language, the so-called “Communicative Language Teaching” The approach focuses most on improving four basic skills for learners: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Equally important to others, writing skill has been currently paid much attention to because writing is regarded as highly significant in civilized societies Through writing human beings transmit their needs, desires, problems, and thoughts as well as histories, cultures, social evolutions, advancement in technologies, etc…Writing is a means of connecting the past, the present and the future It can transcend space and time giving it the qualities of being eternal and international Realizing that fact, teachers should more researches to improve writing skill for learners, especially the high school students Traditionally, teachers often let students work individually or in pairs This led to both good and bad consequences The good one is that the student is more independent to express his ideas and knowledge However, it is no doubt that his writing contains a lot of errors, thus the result is unpleasing To meet the demand of learners of English, teachers of English in Vietnam have been trying to find out the most suitable and effective method of teaching English They always try to catch up with the world's latest frameworks of English Language Teaching Therefore, as in other countries, teachers of English in Vietnam are now using Communicative Language Teaching Approach to teach English to learners of all levels They hope that by using this teaching method, they can help their learners improve their English and use it effectively and fluently in communication The effort of this thesis is trying to encourage teachers in creating new methods in teaching writing skill for learners and to help students to learn writing subject more 12 effectively Having students work in groups not only makes them more involved in learning but also give them opportunities to practise foreign language There are many reasons for choosing the study but the above reasons are the main ones that encourage us to choose the thesis: “A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10 th form non - English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school” II Aims of the study The study is aimed at: - Investigating the situation of teaching and learning writing to the 10 th form nonEnglish majors at Phan Boi Chau high school - Investigating the effectiveness and difficulties of using group work in teaching writing to the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school - Providing some suggestions and implications for the improvement of writing teaching at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school by using group writing III Research questions This study is implemented to find answers to the following research questions: How group work is used in the writing class of the 10 th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school? What facilitates and hinders the teachers in using group work in the writing class of the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school? What recommendations for improvement are needed to make group work successful in the writing class of the the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school? IV Scope of the study Because of the limitation of a minor study, the author only carries out research on teachers and students at Phan Boi Chau high school The study also mainly focuses on the effectiveness and difficulties in using group writing and the activities used in helping students work well in writing lessons V Methodology In order to realize the aims of the study, quantitative method was used Two survey questionnaires were used to collect information and evidence for the study 13 - The first survey questionnaire was for 70 tenth form non- English majors from two classes of Phan Boi Chau specializing high school: one specializes in Literature and the other specializes in Biology - The second one was for English language teachers at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school All comments, remarks and recommendations given in the study were based on the data analysis VI Significance of the study Theoretical significance of the study: The study supplies the English language teachers with the understanding of group work in teaching writing, advantages and disadvantages when employing them The study also suggests some ways to exploit group writing technique successfully during all stages in teaching writing Practical significance of the study: The research provides the language teachers and learners with a variety of group writing activities used in all stages an writing classes based on new “ Tieng Anh” 10 textbook VII Design of the study The study consists of the following three main parts: Part A, introduction, rationale, aims, research questions, scope, methods and design of the study Part B, development, is organized into three chapters Chapter I presents the basic theoretical background from the literature on CTL, writing skill, group work and using group work in teaching writing Chapter II presents the design and analysis of the research, provides an overview of the current situation of teaching and learning writing skills at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school through the analysis of collected data Chapter III are some findings and recommendations, discusses the finding of the research and suggests practical recommendations for improvement of using group work in the writing class of the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school Part C is the conclusion which includes the summary of the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies are also included in this part 48 The letters are then returned to the original group who read them and discuss what they have been sent e Writing games As for games, needless to say they are enjoyable and lively at all levels This means that students should not be too much inhibited by the fear of making mistakes  Describe and identify Students write the description of people or places and the rest of the class have to guess who the people are what the places are Procedures: The teacher divides the class into groups The students are all instructed to write a description of famous person or a member of the class, without mentioning that person’s name A member of one of the group reads his description If someone from the opposing team can identify the person, the group scores a point from the group reading the description if the information about the person in wrong or the English is totally unpredictable f Fluency writing The aim of the activity is to get students to write as much as possible in a definite period of time Research has suggested that if this is done frequently, students are able not only to write greater quantities but the quality improves as well  The picture story Students are given series of pictures just as they were for oral composition They are given a time limit and told to write as much as they can about the pictures Procedures: The teacher asks the students to get into groups of five or six Students are told that they are going to some free writing, and that the objective is to write as much as they can within a certain time limit Students are shown the picture sequence and told to write about it The teacher goes around groups and observes the performance of groups 49 When the time limit expires the teacher stops the students and collects the work g Role playwriting Writing can be much more motivating if the teacher gives students a chance to play a role In this activity the students will have the chance to write to an imaginary romantic partner Procedures: Prepare the role cards for the students Read the situation from the role play Divide the class into groups and then give out role cards to each group for them to read Explain to them that the different groups not talk to each other Give the students time to write the letter but be sure to give them a firm time limit Remind them that they must finish the letter with the last line provided When they have finished the letter the teacher can either ask them to read the letter aloud The important thing is that they must the letter in the correct order to tell the story h Writing according to an outline Procedures: Ask the students to get into groups of four or five Deliver handouts, which contain an outline of a given topic Ask groups to write a composition based on the information in the outline When the activity stops, the teacher calls representatives of groups to write their composition on the board Check up and give feedback to groups’ performance 50 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusions Of the four skills in English teaching- learning process, writing is considered rather difficult because it requires much accuracy in grammatical structures or word choices It is a complex process that allows students to explore thoughts and ideas, and make them visible and concrete The thesis has been completed to enable teachers to avoid difficulties that learners may have in writing as well as improve their writing skill The use of group writing is a new effective way to improve writing skill of high school students It helps learners have chance to exchange information, to share knowledge, ideas and to help each other in a natural and creative way It is obvious that to organize group work in any lesson of English at high school is not very easy due to the problems mentioned in the Chapter II However, suggested techniques, activities and particular examples have been discussed in Chapter IV of this paper can bring about many significant advantages for the teachers in improving writing skills of their students And this is the main aim of the study We have also referred to the real situation of using group writing at Phan Boi Chau high school at present and gave some suggestions for its more effective usage in Chapter III Besides, the Survey Questionnaire and Survey Questionnaire that were done by students and teachers at high school provided us with useful information to carry out this thesis The result or the aim of the study is that the application of group writing brings benefits to the teachers and students in teaching and learning writing skills This is also the researcher’s wish to have a suitable and interesting method in teaching writing and helps students at Phan Boi Chau high school improve their ability in writing Limitations of the and suggestions for further study Due to the limitation of knowledge and scope of the study, we only studied the use of group writing on a small groups of the tenth form students, so their onions about using group work in improving writing skills could not be considered as representative of all students learning English In addition, we would not cover all the uses of group work in four language skills Therefore, we hope that the further studies will be carried out on other aspects to find out some interesting and useful methods which can be used to improve writing skill of the eleventh and twelfth form students 51 Obviously, mistakes are unavoidable, all comments and remarks on this study will be highly appreciated 52 REFERENCES Andrian Doff (1988) Teaching: A Training course for Teachers Cambridge University Press Brannon, L, Knight M and Neverow- Tunk, V (1982) Writers Writing Hienemann Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/ Cook Publishers Brown, H.D ( 1994), Teaching by Principles: An Interaction Approach to Language Pedagogy, Prentice- Hall Regents: Englewood Cliffs, NJ Byrne, D (1988) Teaching Writing Skills, Longman Group Ltd, London Evans, T.D & St John, M.J (1998) Development in ESP- a multi- disciplinary approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Fries, C (1945) Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language, University of Michigan Press Greenall, S (1984) Language Games and Activities, Hulton Educational Publication Ltd Hadfied & J Hadfied (1983) Writing Games, Nelson (Hong Kong) Ltd Harmer, A (1996) The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Group UK Ltd 10 Hedge T (1990), Writing: Resource books for teachers, Hongkong: Oxford University Press 11 Hoàng Văn Vân (2006) Tiếng Anh 10, Nhà xuất giáo dục 12 Honeyfield, J ( 1991, June), The formation of small group in the language classroom Guidelines- A periodical for classroom language Teachers 13 http://www.funnystorypictures.uk/cfe 14 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/writetry 15 I- Jung, C (2004, April), Utilizing group work effectively in the English language classroom, TESL Reporter 16 Ilona Leki (1998) Academic writing ( Exploring processes and strategies) Cambridge 53 17 Johnson, K (1982) Communicative Syllabus Design and Methodology Oxford Pergamon Institute of English 18 Le Van Canh ( 2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology, National University Publishing House 19 Littlewood W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge University press 20 Ngoh, S.G (1991) Small group work in the classroom Guidelines- A periodical for classroom language Teachers 21 Nunan, D (1989) Designing Tasks for the communicative Classroom, Cambridge University Press 22 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology – A textbook for teachers, Prentice Hall International Ltd, Great Britain 23 Oshima A& Hogue A (1991), Writing Academic English, Addison, Wesley Publishing Company 24 Raimes, A ( 1983), Techniques in Teaching Writing, Oxford U.P, U.K 25 Richards, J., et.al (1993) Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, Longman Group UK Ltd 26 Trimbur ( 1999) The call to write Longman 27 White, R& Arndt, V (1991), Process writing, Longman, HongKong 28 White, R.V (1981) Approaches to writing Guides for writing activities; A magazine for Language Teachers, RELC 54 Appendices Appendix 1: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey is designed for my study “using group writing to improve writing skills for 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school” Your assistance in fulfilling the survey is highly appreciated Please, tick () Your major:……………………… Your English learning experience:………………………………… How necessary is English in the school courses? A Very necessary B Necessary C Normal D Unnecessary C Not much D Not at all How you like learning English? A Very much B Much Among the four skills, which one is the most difficult to you? A Listening B Speaking C Reading D Writing How you find writing topics and and writing activities introduced in “ Tieng Anh 10” textbook? 4.1 A Very interesting B Interesting C Normal D Boring 4.2 A Very difficult B Difficult C Normal D Easy Which way you like to writing exercises at class? A Individually B With a partner pairs C In a small group D With the whole class How often your English teachers implement group work in your writing class? A Very often B Often C Not very often D Never How you feel when you work in groups in your writing class? A Very interested B Interested C Not very interested What you think of using group work in writing lesson? A It increase students’ participation D Bored 55 B It promote students’ independence and cooperation C Shy and passive students have more chances of expressing themselves D It creates exciting atmosphere as it lends itself to game- like activities E It gives you more opportunities for exchanging ideas F Students can learn from each other Do you encounter difficulties when working in groups? A Yes, often B Yes, sometimes C Yes, but rarely No, never 10 What factors can cause the difficulties when working in group in writing classes? More than one answer is possible A Choosing members for your groups B Dividing the writing tasks among group members C Coping with the other dependent and irresponsible group members D Lack of the help from your teacher E Others 11 In what stages you want to work in a group in your writing classes? A Pre- writing B While- writing C Post- writing 12 What you like your teacher to to facilitate group writing? A To provide clear instructions for group work B To design group tasks or activities suitable to students C To organize groups suitably D To create a competitive atmosphere E To supervise and assist students’ work F To give feedback, praise and encouragement 56 H Others Thank you very much for taking time to complete this questionnaire! Appendix 2: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS This survey is designed for my study “using group writing to improve writing skills for 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school” Your assistance in fulfilling the survey is highly appreciated How much you like teaching writing skill? A Very B, Rather C Little D Not at all How often you implement group work in your writing class? A Always B Often C Sometimes D Never How did your students respond to working in groups? A Very interested B Interested C Not very interested What are the benefits of group work? A It increase students’ participation B It promote students’ independence and cooperation C Shy and passive students have more chances of expressing themselves D It creates exciting atmosphere as it lends itself to game- like activities E It gives students more opportunities for exchanging ideas F Students can learn from each other G The teachers can relax or anything she wants K Others D Bored 57 How you prepare for group writing? A Totally follow the task in the textbook B Design the task in your own ways C, Collaborate with other colleagues to outline a common teaching plan D Others How you often group your students? A Students sitting next or near to each other B Students who like to work with each other C Students with different English proficiency level D Students with the same English proficiency level E Let students group themselves F Others What kinds of activities often use for group work in your writing classes? A Brainstorming B Games C Interviewing D Planning E Cooperative writing F Peer correcting What difficulties you have when implementing group work in the writing class? A Too little time to prepare for group work B Class sizes are too large too manage C Some students being lazy and irresponsible D Students make so much noise 58 E Students use Vietnamese during group work F Others What should be done to improve the effectiveness of group writing? A Providing clear instructions for group work B Designing group tasks or activities suitable to students C Organizing groups suitably C Creating a competitive atmosphere D Supervision and assistance from teachers E Feedback, praise and encouragement F Others Thank you very much for taking time to complete this questionnaire! Appendix 3: PARTICULAR SAMPLES OF GROUP WRITING ACTIVITIES USED IN TIENG ANH 10 I Pre- writing Unit 3: People’s background -T asks Ps to work in group and fill in the blank with the words given: purpose; summary; capable; shows; contains A Curriculum Vitae or a C.V is a personal of a person’s background, experience, training and skills It an applicant’s suitability and potential for certain jobs It main is to prove that someone is of doing the job he/ she is looking for A C.V generally personal information/ data, education, previous job, interests… - T calls Ps from each group to give their answers - T gives comments and give correct answers Unit 4: Special education 59 - Ask Ss to work in groups Give ten or more adjectives and ask Ss to put them under two headings: compliments and complaints, bad, helpful, expensive, lazy, hard-working, good, careful, poor, unhappy, beautiful Feedback and give suggested ansers: Compliments Complaints Helpful Bad Hard-working Expensive Good Lazy Careful Poor Beautiful Unhappy … … Give definition and format of a letter of complaint: Complaint is a kind of formal letter used when you are not happy with a service, a contract, a course, … A letter of complaint usually includes three main parts: Opening Explaining the problem Suggesting a resolution Unit 7: The mass media Sentence Race Prepare a list of reviewed vocabulary words about mass media such as newspaper, television … Write each word on two small pieces of paper That means writing the word twice, once on each paper Organize the pieces like bundles, bundles, sets of identical words Divide the class into groups Get them to make creative names Distribute each list of words to groups Every student on each group should have a paper The four ones have the same words 60 When you call a word, students should stand up, one from each group The students must then run to the blackboard and race to write a sentence using their word The winner is the one with a correct and clearly written sentence Unit 13: Films and cinema Make an outline -T asks students to work in groups of four and make an outline by using the table below about the film that they have seen Title Type Plot Filming(place) Based on Main character - T asks ss to in minutes and then calls on students to go the board and write them - T helps ss to correct their mistakes and give the comment Unit 11: National Parks The teacher divides the class into groups then give the following cars and ask students to categorize into column which ones used in the beginnings and which ones used in Closings - The group having the correct answers the soonest will be the winner Look at the following expressions which are used when we write letters Make a list under each heading: Thanks for your letter Thank you for sending me your brochure Sorry for not writing for so long I must apologise for not contacting you sooner I'm writing to ask you a favour Write again soon! Bye for now It was lovely to hear from you 61 All my love Best wishes It is great to get your letter Thank you so much for writing Take care Good luck! Hope to hear from you soon Beginnings Closings II While- writing Unit 4: Special education - Ask Ss to work in groups and complete the following sentences to make a reply to the complaint about the poor quality of the service at the above English Centre Dear Duc, Thank / your letter / inform / me / poor / service / centre We / examine / the / situation / and / find / what / say / true This / due / the / difficulty / finance and / low / discipline / teachers We / send / another / better / class / next week If you like, we / give / refund but you / get / 80 percent / money / back I / beg / sympathy and / look / forward / support Yours truly, Call on some representative to read their completed letter Give feedback sentence by sentence Unit 7: The mass media Ask Ss to work in pairs and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the mass media and write them 62 down in the column Let Ss choose of the three types of mass media to discuss Encourage Ss to find the ideas related to the topics Ask Ss to share the ideas with other group members Give suggested answers: Radio Advantages Disadvantages It provides you hourly – updated news and information It is convenient because you can listen to it almost everywhere It makes our life easier and enjoyable It also releases stress It only provides information aurally It can be boring because we can’t watch films or sports programmes Newspapers It provides news and current affairs updatedly It’s very mobile because we can bring them along everywhere we go It’s cheap A Vietnamese daily newspaper costs only approximately 2000 VND … It’s less updated then other kinds of media as there is no more information until the next edition The texts and pictures are not moving so it is as not exciting as other kinds of media which have vivid pictures and live broadcasts It may not be available everywhere due to bad condition of transportation The Internet It is a rich source of information We can access to Internet and get all the information we need This is impossible for other types of media like radio or TV It is great tool of entertainment We can play games and listen to music online with great pleasure It is a very good way to study We can register for online courses and study with the help of modern aids such as speakers, keyboard, … It makes us confused when there is too much information Thus, it is difficult to find the necessary information It may bring bad effects on children as it contain “unhealthy” websites such as sex or violence It damages our health due to prolonged and inappropriate use ... question 1: How group work is used in the writing class of the 10th form nonEnglish majors at Phan Boi Chau high school The researcher finds a satisfactory signal that most teachers at Phan Boi Chau. .. the above reasons are the main ones that encourage us to choose the thesis: ? ?A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10 th form non - English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing. .. specializing high school? ?? II Aims of the study The study is aimed at: - Investigating the situation of teaching and learning writing to the 10 th form nonEnglish majors at Phan Boi Chau high school