A study on factors causing demotivation in writing lessons of 10th grade students at Doan Thi Diem Private High school, Hanoi

4 LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Students’ profiles Tables 2: Students’ attitude towards writing lesson Table 3: Types of motivation possessed by students Table 4: Students’ perso

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ………i

Acknowledgement ……… ………ii

Abstract ……… iii

Lists of tables and charts ……… …iv

Table of content ……… v

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION……….1

1 Rationale……….1

2 Aims of the study……… 1

3 Scope of the study……….……….2

4 Research questions ……… 2

5 Method of the study……… 2

6 Content of the study ……… 3

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT ……… 5

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW………5

1.1 An overview on writing……… 5

1.1.1.General concept………5

1.1.2.Teaching English writing………6

1.1.3.Approaches to to teaching writing……… 6

1.1.3.1 Controlled-to-free Approach………7

1.1.3.2 Free- writing Approach……….7

1.1.3.3 Paragraph- pattern Approach……….7

1.1.3.4 Grammar-syntax-organization Approach ……….7

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1.1.3.5 Communicative Approach ………8

1.1.3.6 Process Approach …… ……… 8

1.2 An overview on Motivation ……….9

1.2.1 Definition of Motivation ……….9

1.2.2 Types of Motivation ………9

12.2.1 Integrative motivation ……….10

1.2.2.2 Instrumental motivation ……….10

1.2.2.3 Integrative vs instrumental motivation ……….11

1.2.2.4 Intrinsic motivation ………11

1.2.2.5 Extrinsic motivation ……… 11

1.2.2.6 Resultative motivation ………12

1.2.3 Characteristics of motivated students ……… 12

1.3 Motivation in learning writing ……….13

1.3.1 Students’ factors ……… ………13

1.3.2 Teachers’ factors ……… 15

1.3.3 Teaching and learning conditions ……….17

CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY……… 19

2.1 Situation Analysis ……….19

2.1.1 Setting of the study………19

2.1.2 Subjects ……… 19

2.2 Sample and sampling………20

2 3 Instrumentation………20

2.3.1 Instrument 1- Survey questionnaire….……… 20

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2.3.2 Instrument 2- Class observation ………21

Conclusion ……… 21

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS ……… 22

Introduction ……….22

3.1 Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaire ………22

3.2 Data analysis of the teacher’s survey questionnaire ………32

3.3 Results from class observations ……… 35

Conclusion ……… 39

CHAPTER FOUR: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 4.1 Major findings and discussions ……….41

4.2 Suggestions ……… 43

PART THREE: CONCLUSION……… 45

REFERENCES ……….46 APPENDIX 1

APPENDIX 2

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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Students’ profiles

Tables 2: Students’ attitude towards writing lesson

Table 3: Types of motivation possessed by students

Table 4: Students’ personality and intelligence

Table 5: Elements causing the students’ difficulties in learning writing skill Table 6: Teachers’ enthusiasm and relationship with students during the lesson Table 7: Teachers’ activities in pre-writing stage

Table 8: Frequency of writing tests

Table 9: Physical conditions in classroom

Table 10: The activities used by the teachers by frequency

Table 11: Techniques used by teachers by frequency

Table 12: Teachers’ opinion on the textbooks

CHART 2: Students’ attitude towards writing lesson

CHART 3: Types of motivation possessed by students

CHART 4: Students’ attitude towards some problems

CHART 5: Elements causing the students’ difficulties in learning writing skill CHART 8: Frequency of writing tests

Being a teacher at Doan Thi Diem Private High School, the researcher finds out that most of the students have faced many problems in learning writing They often feel tired and stressed during the writing lesson, and they get bad marks in the writing tests This is the reason why I decided to choose the title for my minor thesis

2 AIM OF THE STUDY

The purposes of the study is to investigate the factors causing demotivation in learning writing among the 10th grade students at Doan Thi Diem Private High School The principal purposes of the study are summarized as follows:

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1 To investigate factors causing students‟ demotivation in writing lesson

2 To examine methods and techniques used by teachers of English to motivate their students in writing lessons

3 To suggest some methods to stimulate students to write and give some recommendations for improving the writing skill

3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study was conducted in two classes with 75 10th-grade students at Doan Thi Diem Private High School The study was carried out in order to find out the factors causing demotivation in writing lessons, to examine methods and techniques used by teachers of English to motivate their students in writing lessons and to suggest some methods to stimulate students to write and give some recommendations for improving the writing skill

4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1 What are the types of motivation possessed by 10 th - grade students in learning writing?

2 What are the demotivating factors affecting students’ writing lesson?

5 METHODS OF THE STUDY

The study is a descriptive research, that is, questionnaires and class observation are basically carried out to obtain the data and relevant information for the study Besides that, survey questionnaires are made to find out reliable data and useful findings

The data is collected by means of two survey questionnaires, one for the teacher staff and the other for students The questions are of the three kinds: close- ended questions, open-ended questions, and scaling Other sources of data come from writing tasks in the textbooks

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While carrying out class observations, the researcher want to take note the popular motivating and demotivating factors that affect students‟ learning process The information will help the observer to create a general view on the factors before the observer carry out questionnaires

5.1 Participants

The subjects chosen for the research include 75 grade 10th non-major English students from 10th grade-classes at Doan Thi Diem Private High School with the survey questionnaires, and teacher staff of English group, whose ages range from

24 to 35 The research was carried out during the school year 2010-2011 at Doan Thi Diem Private High School

- Class observations:

+ Attending classes to take note the motivation factors possessed by students and what demotivate them

+ Recording classroom atmosphere in writing lesson

6 CONTENT OF THE STUDY

The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

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Part 1: Introduction – this part presents the Rationale, Aim of the study, Scope of the study, Research questions, Method of study, and the content of the study Part 2: Development- This part consists of 4 main chapters

Chapter 1: Literature Review- this part presents theoretical background on Motivation and brief view on concepts of Writing and factors causing demotivation in learning writing as well as the difficulties in teaching and learning writing lessons

Chapter 2: Research Methodology, presents the methodology used in the study Chapter 3: Data Analysis, covers a comprehensive analysis on data collected from the survey questionnaires and Observation

Chapter 4: Major findings and Suggestions, offers some major findings and suggestions for enhancing students‟ motivation in learning writing skill

Part 3: Conclusion, is a review of the study, future directions for further research

and limitations of the study

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PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An Overview on Writing

1.1.1 General Concept

In language teaching, writing is defined as a productive and taught language skill According to Ur (1996) “most people acquire the spoken language (at least their own mother tongue) intuitively, whereas the written form is in most cases deliberately taught and learned” (1996:161) He added that “writing normally requires some form

of instruction It is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure” (1996:11)

In short the word “writing” itself may imply an act, a process or a skill, which needs practice and study to develop It requires both physical and mental powers from the writers

Moreover, writing is one of the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) that a learner is expected to master Writing is the process in which the writer expresses his thoughts or ideas in the form of handwriting “Writing is communicating Good writing gets your ideas out of your head and into the reader‟s head without losing or distorting those ideas” (Leki, 1976) To understand thoroughly the nature of writing, some more academic definitions of writing should be studied

However, writing is “a language skill which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble, 1996: 3) It is “a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account the sometimes extended period of thinking that precedes creating an initial draft” (Harris, 1993: 10) Tribble also stressed that writing “normally requires some form of instruction” and that “it is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure” (1996: 11)

Writing, in Davie‟s point of view, involved two kinds of skills The first one was low- level skill such as handwriting or typing, spelling, constructing grammatical sentences, organizing and sequencing, structuring, drafting and editing, the other one was advanced level skill such as writing a novel, a work or a play Byrne (1988) gave a long and complex definition which might be summarized as follows: writing is the act

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of forming graphic symbols (letters or combinations of letters) which were arranged to form sentences, and we produced a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and linked together in certain way, on a flat surface of some kind

In conclusion, Byrne‟s definition can be considered one of the most complete definitions of writing because it covers all of the features of writing given by three above- mentioned authors

Furthermore, writing is a productive skill, so it is writing that provides students with chances to put the language itself and practice communicative skills at the same time Through the act of writing students will realize what they are already good at and what they still need to learn to become better

1.1.2 Teaching English writing

Writing can turn into a real passion However, teaching and learning writing skill is hardly ever the most motivatedcomponent of a language curriculum Writing curricula (i) are often purely skill oriented –at the expense of more cognitive and meta cognitive aspects-, (ii) involving one-to-one communication using traditional tools, (iii) lacking

clearly differentiated and sequenced goals per “level”, (iv) fail to be embedded in a

research environment, and (v) are seldom related to an overall view on language acquisition and learning

The teaching of writing is a vast and complex subject A very common product of the teaching of writing is a page containing a „Red Sea‟ of manually underlined passages: considered at a micro level (i.e student-teacher level), teaching FL writing often consists of one-to-one communication with traditional tools, producing a discouraging manually underlined and/or annotated text without systematic labeling Its return is usually low due to the time-consuming and inefficient nature of the activity

1.1.3 Approaches to teaching writing

The teaching of writing which is a vast and complex subject has long been a central element in all educational systems Also a number of conflicting views of the best ways of going about it has been presented Raimes (1983) identified three principle ways of approaching the task, namely; focus on form, focus on the writer, and focus on

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the reader From these perspectives, he gave out six main approaches in the teaching of writing namely: Controlled-to-Free approach, Free-writing approach, Paragraph- pattern approach, Grammar- syntax- organization approach, Communicative approach and Process approach

1.1.3.1 Controlled- to- free Approach

According to this approach mistakes shown up in written work was regarded as a major problem The teacher assumed that students made mistakes because they wrote what they wanted freely This approach stressed the importance of control in teaching writing skills to students in early stages Students were taught how to write and combine various sentence type and manipulation exercises were used to give students the experience of writing connected sentences

The amount of control would be reduced gradually and students were asked to exercise meaningful choice At the next stages, students might be given a good deal of guidance and content, but allowed some opportunities for self- expression This approach also emphasized step- by- step learning and formal correction

1.1.3.2 Free- Writing Approach

This free- writing encouraged students to write as much as possible and as quickly as possible without paying attention to mistakes The important thing students did was to get their ideas down on a paper The drawbacks of this approach were that many students wrote badly because they did not write enough and for the same reason they felt inhibited when they picked up a pen to write This approach might be useful when writing a journal or a diary

1.1.3.3 Paragraph- Pattern Approach

This paragraph – pattern approach stressed the importance of paragraph as the basic unit of written expression Students were taught how to construct and organize paragraphs This approach helped students express themselves effectively at a level beyond the sentence

1.1.3.4 Grammar- syntax- organization Approach

Writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills which are learned one by one

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So some teachers devise writing tasks that lead students to pay attention to organization while they also work on the necessary grammar and syntax This approach links the purpose of a piece of writing to the forms that are needed to convey the message

1.1.3.5 Communicative Approach

This communicative approach emphasized the communicative role of writing Students should have the reason for writing and think about whom they wrote to or for This approach required situations which allowed them to write purposefully This approach motivated students to write and showed how writing was a form of communication

So in the Process approach, students did not write on a given topic in a restricted time and gave their assignments to the teachers to correct They explored a topic through writing in an unrestricted time, showing their teachers and each other their drafts, and using what they wrote to read over, think about, and moved them on to a new ones Teachers could give their feedbacks on the content of what students have written in their drafts The writing process became a process of discovery That was the

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discovery of new ideas and new language forms to express those ideas

To sum up, there is no one perfect way to teach writing We teachers have to take into consideration the many factors of our context before deciding which approach to apply

or very likely, develop one of our own which is the combination of some approaches and which suits our setting best

1.2 An Overview on Motivation

1.2.1 Definition of Motivation

Most definitions of motivation reflect the consensus that motivation is an internal state or condition that serves to activate or energize behavior Williams and Burden (1997: 119) point out that the reason for and factors affecting your choice

of behaving in this way but not in others and how much effort you decide to make in order to obtain your objects are all aspects relating to motivation

Lightbown and Spada (1996:6) state that motivation in second language learning

is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners‟ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community

Motivation has been defined as the learner‟s orientation with regard to the goal

of learning a second language Learners with positive attitudes toward the subject and high motivation are likely to be successful in second language learning (Gardner, 1985)

In second language learning as in other fields of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he preserves It is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual‟s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and experience, and so

on (Littlewood, 1998:53)

1.2.2 Types of Motivation

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1.2.2.1 Integrative motivation

One form of motivation is known as integrative motivation It is thought that students who are most successful when learning a second language are those who like the people who speak that target language, admire the culture and have a desire to become familiar with the society in which the language is used (Falk, 1978) This kind of motivation is considered a key component in assisting learners to develop some level of proficiency in L2 when they become residents

in the community in which the target language is used in social interactions According to Gardner and Lambert (1974: 98) “An integrative orientation involves an interest in learning an L2 because of a sincere and personal interest

in the people and culture represented by the other language group” It occurs when learners wish to identify with the culture of the L2 group Moreover, Ellis (1994:513) found that learners with integrative motivation were more active in the class and were less likely to drop out

1.2.2.2 Instrumental motivation

In contrast to integrative motivation is instrumental motivation This is characterized by the desire to obtain something practical from the study of L2 (Hudson, 2000) With this kind of motivation, the purpose of L2 acquisition is more utilitarian Ellis (1994: 75) mentioned “some functional reasons such as to pass an examination, to get a better job, or to get a place at university These reasons motivate learners to learn an L2 because it opens up educational and economic opportunities for them” Instrumental motivation is often a characteristic of L2 acquisition, where little or no social integration of the learner into a community using the target language takes place

Littlewood (1998) replicating Gardner and Lambert (1972), concluded “ A learner with instrumental motivation is more interested in how the second language can be a useful instrument towards furthering other goals, such as

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gaining a necessary qualification or improving employment prospects” (1998: 57) It occurs when learners‟ goals for learning an L2 are functional With an instrumental motivation, learners can be successful in learning an L2 It is likely that incentives like money can help learning, but the effects maybe cease as soon

as the reward stops

1.2.2.3 Integrative vs instrumental motivation

Learners can have both integrative and instrumental motivation In some cases, integrative may be more powerful in stimulating an L2 learning, in some other situations, however, instrumental counts far more In addition, the social contexts

in which learning takes place strongly influence the level and type of motivation Ellis also stated “Learners can be both integratively and instrumentally motivated

at one and the same time Motivation can result from learning as well as cause it” (p76) Motivation and achievement have an interactive relationship Moreover, Ellis (1994: 513) found that learners with integrative motivation were more active in the class and were less likely to drop out

1.2.2.4 Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to “motivation to engage in an activity for its own sake” (Woldkowski, 1991) He means that activity itself is our benefit, so we do not need any other kinds of rewards or punishment He states that intrinsic motivation “is the natural tendency to seek out and conquer challenges as we pursue personal interests and exercise capabilities” The factors of support of intrinsic motivation are: competence (feeling that you know how to do things), autonomy (being able to perform an activity by yourself without external help) and relatedness (connection with your social environment like helping the others)

1.2.2.5 Extrinsic motivation

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Harmer (2001:51) gives an easily understandable definition that extrinsic motivation “is caused by any number of outside factors such as: the need to pass

an exam, the hope to of financial reward or possibility of future travel”

Most writers agree that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations interact with each other and play an important role in language learning As a result, learners can be either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the circumstances and conditions under which the activity is performed

1.2.2.6 Resultative motivation

Ellis (1997: 76) claimed that “motivation is the result of learning Learners who experience success in learning may become more, or in some contexts less motivated to learn” Truly, in some contexts like Vietnam, success in learning Japanese may intensify Vietnamese students‟ like for Japanese culture, and thus, stimulates them to learn more

Among them, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have an important part to play

in classroom settings Most writers agree that intrinsic and extrinsic interact with each other As a result, students can be either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the circumstances and conditions the activity is performed

1.2.3 Characteristics of motivated students

Ellis (1985:122) replicated findings from studies by Rubin (1975) and Naiman et

al (1978), and drew on a number of characteristics and the qualities of the good language learners According to them, a good language learner would:

o Seek out all opportunities to use the target language

o Supplement the learning that derives from direct contact with the speakers of the L2 with learning derived from the use of study techniques

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o Possess sufficient analytic skills to perceive, categorize, and store the linguistic features of the L2

o Be prepared to experiment by taking risks

o Be capable of adapting to different learning conditions

In short, motivation which is affected by a number of factors on both the part of the teacher and the part of the learner, has been considered to play an important role in L2 teaching and learning It is, moreover, of significance in teaching and learning L2 writing The following part will deal with several features of L2 writing activities

1.3 Motivation in learning writing

it is probably not personality alone, but the way in which it combines with other factors, that contributes to second language learning” (Lightbown & Spada, 1999:56)

1.3.1.2 Intelligence

Intelligence is the term referring to performance on certain kinds of tests (Lightbown & Spada, 1999:52) Through these tests, teachers are able to classify successful or unsuccessful students in the class performance While some studies have reported that there is a link between intelligence measured by IQ tests and

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second language learning, some students, in fact, whose academic performance is weak, are successful in L2 learning

1.3.1.3 Aptitude

Lightbown & Spada mentioned in the book How languages are learned

(1999:52) that researchers have investigated aptitude and the two aptitude tests are the most widely used, namely, the Modern Language Aptitude Test and the Pimsleur Language aptitude Battery These two authors supposed that the following different types of abilities compose aptitude:

(1) The ability to identify and memorize new sounds; (2) the ability to understand the function of particular words in sentences; (3) the ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples, and (4) memory for new words”

These two authors also suggested that teachers should know the aptitude profile

of their students in order to choose appropriate activities for their class performance for their particular groups of students

1.3.1.4 Students’ beliefs

Most learners have strong beliefs about how languages are learnt, how their instruction should be believed “These beliefs are usually based on previous learning experiences and the assumption (right or wrong) that a particular type of instruction is the best way for them to learn” (Lightbown, 1999:59)

1.3.1.5 Students’ preferences

“The term “learning style” has been used to describe an individual‟s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills.” (Lightbown and Spada, 1999: 58, Replicated Reid, 1995) Learners can fall into the following groups: visual learners, aural learners,

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kinaesthetic learners Researchers have also distinguished field independent and field dependent learners based on cognitive learning styles They, furthermore, posit another kind of learning style based on the individual‟s temperament or personality

1.3.2 Teachers’ factors

Basing on Dornyei (2001), teachers‟ factors and appropriate teacher behaviors are mentioned as follows:

(1) Enthusiasm

(2) Commitment to and expectations for the students‟ academic progress

(3) Good relationship with the students

(4) Ability to listen and pay attention to students

(5) Teachers‟ methods of teaching

1.3.2.1 Enthusiasm

The American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, conducted a survey and asked the question “Who have been your most influential teachers?” He then addressed in a thought- provoking article (1997) that it was the enthusiastic ones

It is teachers‟ love, dedication and passion together with a commitment toward

the subject matter that instill in students a willingness to pursue knowledge

Also, teachers should clearly identify their reasons for loving and being interested in the subject matter or L2, and then share these reasons with their students (Good& Brophy, 1994)

1.3.2.2 Commitment to the students’ progress

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Teachers should show commitment towards their students‟ learning and progress, at the same time they should care for what their students have learnt and succeeded (Dornyei, 2001)

In order to express commitment towards the students, teachers should:

+ offer concrete assistance

+ respond immediately when help is requested

+ correct tests and paper promptly

+ Show concern when things are not going on

Furthermore, if teachers treat their students “as if they already are eager learners, they are more likely to become eager learners” (Brophy, 1998: 170)

1.3.2.3 Teachers’ expectations

In an experiment in educational psychology, an intelligence test to primary school children, Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) came to a conclusion that if teachers had high expectations about how well students could study, their students would probably be able to reach high level of achievement

Students tend to perform at a level which is consistent with the teacher‟s expectations Particularly, when the teacher sets high expectations, they are likely to perform better at the subject matter and even feel more competent (Good & Brophy, 1987)

1.3.2.4 Good relationship with the students

- Acceptance: three linchpins of the humanistic psychology, namely, acceptance, empathy and congruence, are of great influence in the development of student- centered teaching

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- Ability to listen and pay attention to students: listening to a person is the single most powerful transaction that occurs between ourselves and another person (Wlodkowski, 1986: 28)

1.3.2.5 Teachers’ teaching methods

Teachers‟ teaching methods refer to a set of techniques or activities used to get students involved in learning to achieve a goal One of the reasons for learning a foreign language among many students is that they find learning activities interesting It means that teachers‟ teaching techniques or activities can either motivate or demotivate students to learn

Harmer (1991:12) finds that classes in which the teachers present a variety of activities are far more likely to ensure students‟ continuing interest and involvement in learning, whereas classes in which the teachers continually give the same activities are not likely to engage students‟ interest For example, if all writing activities always focus on brainstorming ideas and students write following those ideas, writing will become less interesting The same is true of any activity that is constantly repeated

Furthermore, students considerably vary in personality, preferences and beliefs The activity that is particularly appropriate for one student may not be ideal for another Thus, a particular teaching method cannot satisfy the needs or the interests of all students

It is clear that a variety of teaching activities can contribute to students‟ motivation while routine and monotony endanger it

1.3.3 Teaching and learning conditions

1.3.3.1 Physical conditions

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Physical conditions in the classroom refer to the classroom size, chairs, desks, tables, lights, boards and even bulletin boards Jeremy Harmer (1992) confirmed that such physical conditions had great impact on students‟ learning as well as their attitude towards the subject matter These conditions affect students‟ motivation either positively or negatively

L2 teachers should be reminded that the classroom is not only a psychological but also a physical environment The decoration: posters, flowers, funny objects influence strongly the classroom atmosphere More importantly, teachers should create the ownership of the class among students He stated “Personalizing the classroom can be seen as students exercising increasing control over their environment” (Dornyei, 2001:42)

1.3.3.2 A pleasant supportive atmosphere in the classroom

Language learning is considered one of the most face- threatening school subjects Language anxiety has been found to be a powerful factor that hinders L2 learning achievement (MacIntyre, 1999; Young, 1999) Thus, it is the teacher‟s task to create a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere

Moreover, humor is a very potent factor to improve the classroom atmosphere The use of humor helps students feel at ease without tension in the air Scheidecker and Freeman (1991: 138) had a summary on the essence of the ideal classroom climate: “When one watches students enter such a classroom, one gets

an overwhelming sense that the students shed emotional baggage at the doorway This is an emotional safe zone.”

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter will analyze the situation with the description of the subjects, the materials used by informants and the instruments applied to collect data

2.1 Situation Analysis

2.1.1 Setting of the study

The study was conducted at Doan Thi Diem Private High School, where English

is the compulsory and a very high-appreciated subject Although the School has been founded for 5 years, it has become an ideal school for students to study and experience their life In school year 2010- 2011, there are 5 10th grade classes with more than 150 students and the students‟ levels are not very high but in the medium levels

The program of English is the national standard program of Ministry of Education and Training However, apart from 3 standard periods, there are other

2 periods which help students to revise and improve their vocabulary, grammar, language skills and preparation for tests Besides that, they have 1 period working with the foreign teacher, who helps them to improve their language and

to get the standard language

2.1.2 Subjects

 10th grade students

Most of 10th grade students at DTD Private School, aged from 15 to 16, both male and female, have learnt English at least 6 or 7 years but in different levels, some students are very good, some are good, and some are very bad They have similar background, that is, they all come from Hanoi or live in Hanoi At the time of the study, they were in the first term of the school year 2010- 2011

 The teacher staff of 10th grade students

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There are 5 teachers of English in group 10th grade All of them have been teaching for the school at least one year and they all graduated from English Department, College of foreign Languages, National University, Hanoi; 1 have got M.A degree, 3 are in the Master course of Post- Graduation, CFL, VNU and one teacher has got Bachelor Degree They teach all skills and grammar also the supplementary program

2.2 Sample and sampling

The sample was drawn from two sources: from more than 75 students and from 5 teachers teaching 10th grade classes at DTD Private High School

The 10th grade students were assigned to 5 classes Fifteen students I each class were randomly selected to fulfill the questionnaire Totally, 75 students (about 50% of the 10th grade students) answered the questionnaire

Five teachers (100% of teacher population) were invited to join the research Their ages range from 25 to 35 They are all female teachers

2 3 Instrumentation

2.3.1 Instrument 1- Survey questionnaire

Two set of survey questionnaire were completed with the assistance of 75 10th

grade students and 5 teachers in 10th grade group This method allowed the researcher to collect the data needed in „quantitative form‟ A strong point of this method is that it is quite easy to summarize, analyze and report the collected data

as all informants submit the answer to the same question In addition, the informants can express their opinions on teaching and learning the writing skill

in a free way as their personal information is not included in the questionnaires

2.3.1.1 The questionnaire for the students

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The questionnaire for the students (Appendix 1) was designed with 23 questions with scaling

2.3.1.2 The questionnaire for the teachers

The questionnaire for the teachers (Appendix 2) consists of two parts (with 7 questions) Part 1 is about their opinion on teaching Writing skill, the things they often do in their writing lessons Part 2 is their comments on the writing topics in

the course book

2.3.2 Instrument 2- Class observation

The researcher observed two classes (10A1, 10A2) The observation was carried out in two different lessons in two classes For each lesson, the researcher observed for 45 minutes

Two teachers under the researcher‟s observation have been teaching English at the School at least one year They were the teacher in charge of these classes from the beginning of the school year There are some differences between the teachers In the first place, one of them is 26 years old while the other is 34 Consequently, their teaching experience must be different

Two units were chosen to be observed are Unit 4 and Unit 7 The purpose for choosing these units was that they contained unfamiliar topics with difficult things, which may make the students bored Therefore the researcher intends to observe how the teachers dealt with the topics, how they explained the new words and what techniques they used to motivate students

Conclusion

This chapter has presented the methodology employed in the research The next chapter will offer a descriptive data analysis of the collected data

3.1 Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaire

3.1.1 Personal information of the students taking part in the survey

Table 1: Students’ profiles (total number of students: 75)

The total number of the students chosen in the study was 75 of which 48 were female and 27 were male students They were all aged from 15 to 16, no one was more than 16

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Most of the study subjects came from places around Hanoi therefore 100% of the students had been learning English for at least 4 years or even more than 4 years

3.1.2 Students’ attitude towards the writing lesson

Question 1: Writing is the skill that you like most

SA A NI D SD

CHART 2: Students’ attitude towards writing lesson

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Table 3 indicates that nearly a half (48%) of the students population learn

writing to pass the entrance examinations to universities and 32% of the students want to get good marks for the tests This means that they are aware of the importance of writing in their study as well as the importance of English in their future life It is noticeable that the students‟ results in the last semesters does not increase their motivation in learning (22.7%), whereas, the number of students consider their last semesters‟ results as a demotivate in their learning is

36 students, which accounts for nearly a half (48%) of the total

0 10 20 30 40 50

Instrumental Integrative Resultative

From the chart 3, it can be seen that the percentage of the students possessing instrumental motivation is the highest (48%) while integrative motivation is 42.7% and resultative motivation is 29.3% It is clear that the number of students learning English as well as writing skill with their certain targets is popular

CHART 3: Motivation types possessed by students

SA A NI D SD

CHART 4: Students’ attitudes towards some problems