An action study on a process genre approach to teaching IELTS writing task 2 to non english major students at band 4 5 5 5 in a vietnamese university setting

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** TRẦN THỊ THƠ AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON A PROCESS-GENRE APPROACH TO TEACHING IELTS WRITING TASK TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BAND 4.5-5.5 IN A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY SETTING Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm việc áp dụng đường hướng kết hợp trình dựa vào thể loại việc dạy viết luận IELTS, phần 2, cho sinh viên khối không chuyên trường Đại học Việt Nam M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI-2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** TRẦN THỊ THƠ AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON A PROCESS-GENRE APPROACH TO TEACHING IELTS WRITING TASK TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BAND 4.5-5.5 IN A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY SETTING Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm việc áp dụng đường hướng kết hợp trình dựa vào thể loại việc dạy viết luận IELTS, phần 2, cho sinh viên khối không chuyên trường Đại học Việt Nam M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor:Dr Hoàng Thị Hạnh HANOI-2016 Statement of Ownership I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contained no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), nor material which has been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma of a university or other institutions of higher learning Signature: ……………………………… Name: Trần Thị Thơ Date : 2016……………………………… i Acknowledgements To complete this thesis, I owe profound indebtedness to many people for their enthusiastic help during the conduct of my research I would like to give my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr Hoang Thi Hanh, for her invaluable support, helpful guidance and considerable encouragement, which plays a highly significant part in the completion of this paper Besides, I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to fourteen students in my class, who enthusiastically participated in the data collection process In fact, without their help, I could not complete this thesis Also, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents and my friends, who have constantly encouraged me during the time when I conducted my research paper Last but not least, I would like to thank my readers for their interests and comments on this study ii Abstract Writing instruction has become a field of increasing interest at higher education institutions in recent years There have been numerous approaches to theteaching of writing in the history of language teaching and these have led to several paradigm shifts in the field This study aimed to find out whether the implementation of the process-genre approach can improve students‟ writing ability and performance in IELTS writing task The implementation of this approach in teaching and learning IELTS writing task in a Vietnamese University was investigated through observation, interview and students‟ writing collections The result indicates that this approach help to improve students‟ ability and performance in writing, including their understanding of the genre‟s purpose, the improvement of language and ideas However, this improvement was proved to be only valid in particular genres and topics, in which students are prepared and provided with vocabulary and ideas, but not in a variety of topics in IELTS Therefore, some suggestions and pedagogical implications were drawn out so that this approach could be applied most effectively iii Contents Statement of Ownership i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of Abbreviations vi List of tables and figures vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the Research Aims, Scope, Methods, and Significance of the Study .2 2.1 Aims and Objectives .2 2.2 Scope of the Study 2.3 Research methods 2.4 Significance of the Study PART B: DEVELOPMENT .4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 IELTS: the International English Language Testing System 1.2 Process-based approaches 1.2.1 Model of process-based approaches 1.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of process-based approaches 1.3 Genre-based approaches 1.3.1 Model of genre-based approaches 1.3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of genre-based approaches .7 1.4 The Process Approach vs the Genre Approach 1.5 Integrating process and genre approaches to teaching writing .11 1.6 Process-genre approaches .13 1.7 Previous studies on the applications of process-genre approach to teaching L2 writing: findings and limitations 15 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17 iv 2.1 The current situation of IELTS in Vietnam 17 2.2 IELTS in National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) 17 2.3 The Context of the Study and the Research Participants 18 2.3.1 The research participants 18 2.3.2 The writing IELTS Preparation course in NUCE 19 2.4 Action Research 20 2.5 Data collection procedure .20 2.6 Data Collection Methods 22 2.6.1 Observation 22 2.6.2 Semi-structured interviews .23 2.6.3 Collection of students‟ writings throughout the program 24 2.7 Data Analysis Procedures .24 2.7.1 Data from observations and interviews 24 2.7.2 Data from the collection of student‟s writings 25 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 27 3.1 Findings and analysis 27 3.1.1 Students‟ perceptions of process-genre approach application 27 3.1.2 The effectiveness of process-genre approach on students‟ writings 34 3.2 Discussion .43 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS .46 4.1 Synthesis of the study‟s major findings 46 4.1.1 Research question 46 4.1.2 Research question 47 4.2 Pedagogical implications 48 4.3 Limitations of the study 49 4.4 Suggestions for further studies .50 REFERENCES 52 APPENDIXES I v List of Abbreviations AWL: Academic word list EFL: English as a foreign language EFC/C: error-free clause EFT/T: error-free T-unit IELTS: International English Language Testing System K1000: the most frequent 1000 word families K2000: the second 1000 most frequent words NUCE: National University of Civil Engineering vi List of tables and figures Table 1: The writing IELTS Preparation Course, Task 19 Figure 1: Task Achievement in Students‟ writings 35 Figure 2: Percentage of correct Reference, substitution and ellipsis, Conjunction and Lexical cohesion 38 Figure 3: Percentage of error-free T-unit and error-free clauses 40 Figure 4: The use of lexical resources 42 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the Research Writing skill is deemed to be difficult for EFL students in the language learning (Richards, 1990) According to Richard and Renandya (2002), the difficulties include those in generating and organizing ideas, using an appropriate choice of vocabulary, sentence and paragraph organization and putting such ideas into an intelligible text As for Vietnamese EFL students, besides these difficulties, they have to face many other obstacles when learning to write compositions in English, especially to non-English major students who are taking IELTS exams In IELTS writing task 2, students are asked to respond to a topic by giving and justifying an opinion, discussing the topic, summarizing details, outlining problems, identifying possible solutions and supporting their ideas with reasons, arguments and relevant examples from their own knowledge or experience (IELTS Test Booklet, 2014) To non-English major students, it is even quite a challenge to make a sentence on their own, not to mention a short simple paragraph As a consequence, the task of composing complicated essays like in IELTS writing task become harder, which they rarely perform well Although some approaches are applied in teaching writing such as process and genre-based, besides the merits, there are also some drawbacks in each of these approaches The former helps learners to develop more effective ways of conveying meaning and to better comprehend the content that they want to express (Walsh, 2004) However, it has a very restricted view of writing, in which the practice of writing is identical regardless of what the topic is and who the writer or the reader is (Badger & White, 2000) The latter is seen as an extension of the product approach, in which the writing “varies with the social context in which it is produced” (Badger & White, 2000, p 155), also critised because it may not requires students to express English version INFORMATION SHEET Hà Nội, 28th March, 2015 Research title An action study on a process-genre approach to teaching IELTS writing task to non-English major students at band 4.5-5.5 in a Vietnamese university setting Lời mời tham gia My name is Tran Thi Tho, a graduate student from Vietnam National University – University of Languages and International Studies I am undertaking a research project for my MA thesis I would like to invite you to participate in this research project, and would be grateful for your participation Your participation is voluntary and you may withdraw from the project at any time, with no need to give any reason for so doing What is the purpose of this research? This research project will be reported as my MA thesis and its result will be used as preliminary source for my future research in intercultural communication It may, as well, be published as an academic journal/ article How was I identified and why am I being invited to participate in this research? This research involves students who are at 4-5 score in IELTS in a Vietnamese University Potential participants will represent those who are at 4-5 in IELTS, preparing or taking a preparation course for IELST exam Thus, you are one of the participants who can contribute to my research by sharing your intercultural experience and information if you choose to What will happen in this research? This research involves a course of IELTS Writing, task in two months and one or two small interviews During this research, you are expected to participate in my class of IELTS writing, Task After the course, I would like to interview from six to eight of you in 15-20 IV minutes about your views on the writing course Your interactions in one lesson will be filmed and all of your studying activities during the course will be observed The interview also recorded and noted down All files from these activities will serve as data for my research What are the discomforts and risks? There are some discomforts and risks: the research is a bit long, at least months; therefore, it involves commitment and patience Moreover, there are feelings of uncomfortable when being filmed, observed, interviewed and being identified However, I plant to mitigate these discomforts and risks as follows  All activities of observing and filming will be conducted quietly and unnoticeably so that they not distract you from your studying as well as making your nerve  Some measures are applied to ensure the confidentiality of information and to protect your identity I will use code or pseudonym for your name in processing, analyzing information, and reporting the research results Only my supervisors and I will have access to the data What are the costs of participating in this research? The only cost of participating in this research will be your time It will take you two months to involve in eight lessons and an interview in 15-20 minutes Each lesson will last in 120 minutes The interview will be done with six to eight of you What opportunity I have to consider this invitation? As expressed above, participation in this research is voluntary and you can also withdraw from the research at any time prior to the completion of data collection However, you can take your time considering this invitation and let me know your decision in one week, as well as ask me any questions you may have concerning this invitation How I agree to participate in this research? V You agree to participate in this research by completing and signing a Consent Form that I have provided Will I receive feedback on the results of this research? Yes When I have transcribed your interview, I will bring it back to you for you to check and whether I have understood you correctly in the interview and sign it off If you are interested in and want to be informed of the results of the study, I will send you a copy of a summary of the research results when it is completed Whom I contact for further information about this research? Postgraduate student: Tran Thi Tho, Phone No.: 01696.87.32.56, email: souchick.sht@gmail.com Supervisor: Dr Hoang Thi Hanh in University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University VI APPENDIX XÁC NHẬN ĐỒNG Ý THAM GIA NGHIÊN CỨU Tên đề tài: Áp dụng đường hướng kết hợp trình dựa vào thể loại việc dạy viết luận ielts, phần cho sinh viên khối không chuyên trường đại học Việt Nam Hướng dẫn khoa học: TS Hoàng Thị Hạnh Người tiến hành nghiên cứu: Trần Thị Thơ  Tôi đọc hiểu rõ thông tin thông tin dành cho người tham gia nghiên cứu đề ngày 28/03/2015  Tôi có hội hỏi thêm đề nghị tham gia nghiên cứu trả lời  Tôi hiểu rõ trình tham gia nghiên cứu, người nghiên cứu thực ghi chép, quay phim ghi âm, sau đánh máy nội dung thu để phân tích, xem nội dung để xác định thông tính đắn  Tôi hiểu tham gia khóa viết người nghiên cứu Trong trình này, người nghiên cứu tiến hành quay ghi âm buổi học thực vấn vào cuối khóa  Tôi hiểu có quyền rút lui khỏi nghiên cứu hay rút lại thông tin cung cấp thời điểm trước giai đoạn thu thập liệu kết thúc mà không ảnh hưởng đến  Nếu rút lui, hiểu thông tin liên quan bao gồm video, băng ghi âm, đánh máy nội dung vấn, ghi chép hủy bỏ  Tôi đồng ý tham gia nghiên cứu  Tôi muốn nhận tóm tắt kết nghiên cứu Có Không Chữ ký người tham gia nghiên cứu: Họ tên người tham gia nghiên cứu: Địa liên hệ người tham gia nghiên cứu: Ngày: VII English version CONSENT FORM Research title: An action study on a process-genre approach to teaching IELTS writing task to non-English major students at band 4.5-5.5 in a Vietnamese university setting Supervisor: Dr Hoang Thi Hanh Postgraduate Student: Tran Thi Tho  I have read and understood the information provided about this research in the Information Sheet dated 28/03/2015  I have had an opportunity to ask questions and to have them answered  I understood that videos and notes will be taken during the course and interviews and they will also be transcribed and the transcription will be shown to me to confirm accuracy  I understood that I will involve in a course of writing given by the researcher and one of the lessons will be filmed There will be one (or two if needed) interviewed at the end of the course  I understood that I may withdraw myself or any information that I have provided for this research at any time prior to the completion of data collection, without being disadvantaged in any way  If I withdraw, I understand that all relevant information including tapes, videos and transcripts, notes or part of thereof, will be destroyed  I agree to take part in this research  I wish to receive a copy of summary of the research results (please tick one) Yes No Participant‟s signature: Participant‟s name: Participant‟s address: Date: VIII APPENDIX OBSERVATION FORM Lesson: …………………………………………………………………………… Date: …………………………………………………………………………… Topics: …………………………………………………………………………… Time of discussing: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Number of groups: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Number of group members: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Students’ interest to the topics: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Language use: Using phone searching Talking and asking Time for information friends for ideas 1st Draft In class 2nd Draft 3rd Draft IX managing Notes APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN VỀ VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP QUÁ TRÌNH-THỂ LOẠI VÀO DẠY VIẾT IELTS, PHẦN Chào em, Cô có vài câu hỏi khóa học viết vừa qua Mong em hợp tác trả lời câu hỏi sau Câu hỏi Câu hỏi chi tiết Bạn cảm thấy viết lần Khó khăn, thuận lợi nào? (Nếu đâu tiên kiểm tra đầu khóa sinh viên trả lời khó khăn thuận học? lợi) Bạn cảm thấy trình Khó khăn, thuận lợi nào? (Nếu đọc mẫu, thảo luận viết câu theo sinh viên trả lời khó khăn thuận nhóm? lợi) Tại thích? Tại không thích? Em có góp ý không? Bạn cảm thấy viết lần Khó khăn, thuận lợi nào? (Nếu sau làm số hoạt động thảo luận sinh viên trả lời khó khăn thuận khởi động? Em cảm thấy lợi) em viết lần sau cô giáo Tốt nào? Khó khăn chữa bài? nào? Bạn có nhận xét và/ hay góp ý Cụ thể nào? (tùy vào câu trả lời cách học writing khóa học sinh viên) không? Bạn có cần thêm hỗ trợ trình học không? X CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN VỀ VIỆC CHỮA BÀI THEO CẶP TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH HỌC VIẾT IELTS, PHẦN Tại em không thích chữa theo nhóm? Em mong muốn nhận chữa bài? Em có tự tin chữa cho bạn không? Tại sao? XI English version INTERVIEW QUESTIONS OF THE APPLICATION OF PROCESS_GENRE APPROACH IN TEACHING WRITING IELTS, TASK Hello, I have some questions about the writing course you have participated in Here come the questions: Main questions Details How you feel about the first time Is there any difficulties or benefits? of writing in pre-test? What are they? How you feel when you read and Is there any difficulties or benefits? discuss with your friends about the What are they? sample? Do you find it interesting or not? Why? Do you have any suggestions? How you feel when you write Is there any difficulties or benefits? Draft after some discussion and What are they? brainstorming activities? And how How is it better? How is it more you feel about the second draft after you difficult? receive teacher‟s feedback and correction? Do you have any comments and/ or Ask student for specific information suggestion about the way you study (depend on their answers) writing in this course? Do you need further support in the next course during studying writing task 2? XII INTERVIEW QUESTIONS OF PEERCHECK DURING THE WRITING COURSSE ON IELTS, TASK Why you not want to peer check? What you expect to receive when your writing is checked? Are you confident to check your friends‟ writings? And why? XIII APPENDIX LESSON PLAN Unit 1: People’s lives Problems and solutions essays Class description: A class of 15 3rd year students in National University of Civil Engineering Time: 180 minutes Objectives: - Language: After this lesson student will be able to: + Widen their vocabulary in terms of drug abuse + Use words, structures and phrases to express problems and solutions effectively - Skills: After the lesson, Ss will be able to + Identify the organization and the purpose of problems and solutions essays + Understand steps and know how to develop a problem-solution essay Anticipated problems: Students may have problems in expressing ideas and lack social background knowledge on drug abuse Teaching aids: Handouts, visual aid (power point) Procedure: Activities/ Teacher Students Purposes Time LESSON – 90 minutes 6.1 Warm-up activity - Show some pictures on slides about the ageing population XIV - Listen to T - Make an interesting - Do the warmclass (10m) - Ask students about the problems and solutions of this issue up activities atmosphere - Lead in to the lesson - Introduce the targeted type of genre 6.2 Discussion - Give each students one sample of problem-solution of new genre essays on ageing population (15m) - Ask them to read and discuss with friends to find out the organization and the purpose of the essay - Go around to give students some help - Some questions to ask: + How many parts does the essay include? + What is the purpose of this essay and of each paragraph? - Receive handouts from T - Introduce the new genre to Ss - Read the samples and discuss with friends about the organization and the purpose of the essay - Let them discover about the new genre - Answer T‟s questions + How does the writer express problems? + How does the writer express solutions? 6.3.Introducti on of new genre (10m) - Correct students‟ answer about problem-solution essays + Listen to T‟s instructions - Summarize the important point of problem-solution essays + Note down any key points - Introduce some new words, XV - Reaffirm the knowledge of new genre - Facilitate students in phrases and structures to deal with problem-solution essays 6.4 Introduce a new topic for practice (15m) writing - Show students some pictures about drugs - Work in groups - Ask them some questions about the fact of drug abuse - Discuss about the given topic - Practice putting ideas - Ask T for any in groups and thing unclear/ organizing confused or out essays of their knowledge - Introduce the new topic - Ask them to work in groups of three to discuss about the problems of drug abuse and any possible solutions - Go around to give students some help - Provide new words and ideas - Present their groups‟ ideas - Call some of them to present their ideas - Ask others to check and add more ideas/ details - Ask students to work in pair, 6.5 Jointly practice (10m) making some sentences based on their ideas - Ask others to check and rewrite this idea in other way - Encourage students to say about their difficulties in using new words and expressing ideas in their essays - Go around to give students XVI - Make sentences - Practice writing - Ask T for help or suggestions if any - Discover Ss‟ difficulties - Support Ss to write better some help - Ask student to write Draft on problems and solutions of Independently drug abuse practice (30m) - Go around to give students some help 6.6 - Collect Ss‟ Draft to check - Write Draft independently - Practice writing - Ask T for help or suggestions if any - Identify Ss‟ problems and mistakes in writing - Submit their Draft LESSON – 90 minutes 6.7 Checking and revising (45m) - Give checked Draft to students- - Revise their Draft - Ask them to revise their writing, identifying and analyzing their mistakes and expressions problems (they can work with their friends) - Analyze their mistakes and problems (may work with friends) - Encouraging to raise the questions for corrections and suggestions - Ask T for help of suggestions - Provide help to improve their writing - Respond to T‟s questions - Raise some common and vital problems to discuss and fix - Ask students to rewrite the problematic sentences/ ideas - Go around to facilitate them - Some questions to ask: + What did you mean when XVII - Help Ss to identify their problems - Revise their grammar and sentence building - Help them to understand clearly their ideas and how to express them - Provide them ways to improve their writings you wrote this? + Can you see the problem here? + How can you fix it? + Do you have any other ideas? + What can you add/ remove? + Why are there some changes here? 6.8 Writing Draft (45m) - Ask Ss to write Draft - Collect Draft to check and assess Evaluation XVIII - Write and submit Draft to T - Write under time limit - Practice writing [...]...  To see whether the application of the process- genre approach to teaching writing IELTS task 2 to non- English major students is effective To achieve the above-stated aims and objectives, the study was designed to answer the following research questions: (1) What do students perceive about process- genre approach in learning writing IELTS writing task 2? 2 (2) Does the integrated process- genre approach. .. samples of writing in 60 minutes allocated In Task 1, candidates write a short description of information presented in the form of charts, diagrams, tables, and maps Task 2 requires candidates to write a composition, usually an essay, in response to a proposition or question In both tasks, candidates are assessed on their ability to write with “appropriate register, rhetorical organization, style and... student’s writings Students writings were checked and evaluated based on the marking criteria of IELTS writing task 2: Task response, Coherence and cohesion, Lexical resources and Grammar accuracy to answer the research question 2 All of these data were analyzed in terms of quantitative and qualitative measurements and measured in four times of writings: Draft 1 and Draft 2 of the last lesson were aimed to. .. revising, and editing The second point is related to what learners have internally Brown (20 01) claims that the process approach is advantageous to students in language learning because students are the creators of language, they need to focus on content and message, and their own intrinsic motives are valued Raimes (1983) indicates that in the process approach, students do not write on a given topic in. .. help improve students performance in IELTS writing task 2? If yes, to what extent? 2. 2 Scope of the Study The research is confined to the application of the process- genre approach to teaching writing Task 2 in IELTS exams in a writing course of 15 lessons A class of 14 non- English major students was investigated 2. 3 Research methods As regarded as “the practical judgment in concrete situations”, which... the learners‟ creativity This concern means that students may end up writing genres as meaningless reproductions 1 .4 The Process Approach vs the Genre Approach In the process approach, the steps or stages are illustrated and practiced from the generation of ideas and compilation of information through a series of activities for planning, gathering information, drafting, revising, and editing (Campbell,... limitations Firstly, all quantitative data of research above were collected from the assessment of a single and nonacademic genre, the application letters in that by Gupitasari (20 13), and descriptive 15 text in Handayani& Siregar‟s (20 13), and written English in Babalola‟s (20 12) Therefore, these data might not be valid to other genres, especially to academic essay like IELTS writing task 2 Secondly, although... literature on the process- genre approach to teaching IELTS writing Task 2 It starts with some background information, definitions and theories of key terms related and specific to this line of research This is followed by a critical review of previous studies on the applications of process approach, genrebased approach and the integrated of both to teaching L2 writing 1.1 IELTS: the International English. .. structured and how its organization develops to accomplish its purpose Step 3: Planning This step includes many meaningful activities that activate the students schemata about the topic, including brainstorming, discussing, and reading related material The aim is to help the students develop an interest in the topic by relating it to their experience Since they have to participate and contribute in the classroom,... interviews 2. 4 Significance of the Study There are some reasons motivating me to conduct this research First of all, the finding of this research will show how the process- genre approach and its stages could change students writing performance and reflect students views and their reactions on the process of teaching and studying writing Thanks to that, I could adapt my teaching methods and materials so that