Using video as an instructional tool to enhance sophomores’ essay writing performance at faculty of foreign languages, university of technical education, HCMC

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 422.403 HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

USING VIDEO AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL

TO ENHANCE SOPHOMORES’ ESSAY WRITING PERFORMANCE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES,

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION, HCMC

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Submitted by HUYNH TRONG LUAN

TRƯỜNG 041 HOC Md TP HoH

THU VIEN Supervised by

NGUYEN DINH THU, Ph.D Ho Chi Minh City, September 2012

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ABSTRACT

Writing is increasingly regarded as a key to success in the twenty-first century despite what type of job it is; however, to be able to compose well is one of the most challenging tasks to most students, especially EFL ones due to the constraints in language and domain-specific and discourse knowledge as well as lack of interest in the subject itself To approach, engage, and help students beomce skilled writers, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of using video, the chief instrumentality of entertainment, communication, and persuasion, as an instructional tool in a writing class at Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Technical Education, HCMC

While a number of studies have included video as a source of content for the writing tasks and as a tool for pre-writing activities, there appears to be few which attempt to explore how video can be used more fully as an instructional tool helping student writers learn academic conventions in the whole writing process As a result of careful analysis and synthesis, an experiment was carried out on a Control Group and an Experimental Group to determine whether there were significant differences in these students’ motivation and attitudes towards essay writing and their writing performance after the former group received traditional textbook-based instruction while the latter received the video treatment within a 15-week academic course 2

To achive this, data were collected and analyzed by means of a combination of quantitative and qualitative research The responses to the Pre-training and Post- training Questionnaire, the results of the Pretest, On-going, and Posttest papers were compared and the In-depth Interviews were conducted to support the research findings The results showed that video-based instruction effectively enhanced not only students’ motivation and attitudes towards essay writing but also their overall writing performance, particularly in content and organization From the research findings, several pedagogical implications were offered; limitations and recommendations were also displayed for better relevant future research

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TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP 0.00.0 cccccccesseseseseesseesestessseeeeseeeeseeesseeesseeesseee ld ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS sissssssissssrsesscrseraramnsicanmnnininniaraanmarnin iii ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS ssssssssescessesasieararaenanronrnnmmmnrannyennnrnmeenien v LIST OF FIGURES 06 .) ) ) )).) ) x LIST OF TABLES, ssscsissscassicscesvescsrassiineiinnnsernnsisnnnvaneiiieiaseinnicieiies xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Store xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION | seisissscsssvsscssssosssasvssisnvsscsvssvvansscwssseusssvansaseavesiseses 1

1.1 Background to the Problem

1.1.1 The: Need for'a:‘ Change in Writing Class wiscsscssssscscssesvecsossassssasexcarossasasoess 2 1.1.2 Rationale for Using Video as an Instructional Tool in Writing Class 4 1/2; Staeftent OÍ PTOBIGHHseccssicoioabiitlioltplittdl)s4SSSEEQx50 060 3etguiae : aon 6 1,3 Purposes of the Study .cccesccesessssessesessesesnssessesesessesnesesasseencacsecscsnesseveseaneeees 8 124:.ReseatCch/QUCSUOHE sosesosaoosoaeilisi9VDSDNGĐAQEIHSI-039323A503814211403300319030043013.084 9

1.5 Significance of the Study

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1.8 Organization of the TheSiS - 1S 2H re 13 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW eo 14 2.1 Theories in Writing Instruction - 55s 14 2.1.1 Constructivism Approach in Writing Instruction 15 2.1.1.1 Cognitive Constructivism in Writing Instruction

2.1.1.2 Social Constructivism in Writing Instruction

2.1.2 The “Social Turn” or Socio-Cultural Approach in Writing Instruction 16 2.1.3 Multimodal Literacies in Writing Instruction -.-. s- + 17 2.2 Video-based Writing Instruction - se se scsEvttsetrierekirrkrrrerrrrre 20 2.2.1 Video as Stimuli in Writing Class c- cv 20 2.2.2.1 The Effects of Video Stimuli on Writing Content 21 2.2.2.2 The Effects of Video Stimuli on Writing Organization 22 2.2.2.3 The Effects of Video Stimuli on Vocabulary -. - s- 24 2.2.2 Video as Mentor Texfs co Sen 26 2.2.2.1 Paragraph Introduction ofan Essay and Opening Scene ofa Video 26 2.2.2.2 Unity and Cohesion in an Essay and a Video St 29 2.2.2.3 Structure and Coherence in an Essay and a Video 2.2.3 Pre-viewing, While-viewing, and Post-viewing Tasks 2.2.3.1 Pre-viewing Tasks 2.2.3.2 While-viewing Tasks 2.2.3.2.1 Free-framing

2.2.3.2.2 Sound-on/ Vision-off (Sound Only) . ‹ 38 2.2.3.2.3 Vision-on/ Sound-off (Silent Viewing) 39 2.2.3.2.4 Split Viewing cho 39 2.2.3.2.5 lumbled Sequence .- c- co cccseterirreree 39

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2.2.3.3 Post-viewing Tasks cà cọc rời 40 2.3 SummarV - 6-5 + S2 S3 1211111 1 1111117111 101.0 01tr 42 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 6 5c 4 3.1 Design of the Sfudy cv St 11 erree 4 3.2 Pedagogical Context and Participanfs ccccntheeHrreerree 45 3.2.1 Pedagogical Setting te 45 3.2.2 PartiCipanfS chen HH rrrưưy 47 3.2.2.1 Student oo 47 3.2.2.1.1 Control Group c cccceccessecsesecsesseseseseesnssesseseeseesnesesesseeeseens 47 3.2.2.1.2 Experimental Group -cc+ccccccceecrrrrrrerrer 47 3.2.2.2 INStrUCtOL .sesscsessesssseesesneseseeseseeesnenesseseseeeeneseenesssneaeereseesssenereeneees 47 3.2.2.3 SCOT€TS 0s nh 2 1 1g rư 48 3.3 Research InstrumenIfS ¿sọ n2 n2 1211121110101 1g re 48 3.3.1 Questionnaires 3.3.1.1 Pre-training Questionnaire 3.3.1.2 Post-training Questionnaire 3.3.2 Tests 3.3.2.1 Pretest E2 51 3.3.3 In-depth Interviews che 52 3.4 Research Procedure and Pilot Testing -5-5c+ccccvsreree 53 3.4.1 Designing the Lesson Plans . ¿55-52 sccssrterrrerrrrrrrrrrrrree 53 3.4.1.1 Choosing the “Righf” Video .cccccccccerirrirrvee 53

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3.4.1.2 Designing the Pre-, While-, and Post-viewing Tasks 55 34.2, Pilot Testing scccssvsvceccnssesuvversvavsessuneesnnnresuepneevennsenssaveniasseneswenevasnteuenveoae: OD, 3.4.2.1 Questionnaire Pilot Testing ¿các St ssrexrrsrrree $6 3.4.2.2 Pretest, Treatment, and Posttest Pilot Testing 57 3:4:2:3.10167016 Pilot Testis <conmccacaseummnncmnemnaeees 57 3.4.3, Conducting the Treatinents sisssssisscessisaassessrnsesssservessesseasviaanneinsicicinnesieess 58 3.4.3.1: Control Group Treatment scsccsssssssscosscssssersensanavensctsssyareconaacsccveavessies 58 34.3.2 Experimental Group Treatment ccsscsessvsvessvesssensvessssscccenaessovessces 59 s65

3.5 Method of Data Analysis

3.5.1, Scoring Technique’ ssisssssvsesssvsssssssssssesesvncsssvesssccteeseravseavsnatesvevsstvnvenvenaveces 66 3.5.2 Inter-rater Reliability -cc sec ỐỐ 3.5.3 Data Analysis on Pre & Post-training Questionnaires and Pre & Posttest 67

3.5.4 Data Analysis on the Interviews .-.ccccccccrerererrrrrrrerrrer 67 i6: SHHNATV nácccesenatsosinasiseiiatiatisisiiakek41314600120300151181805001441159.05005014282641441656 V00 68 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 69 4.1 Students! Profiles xccnscasscsnssarssssesuererscsnsnnsseeeiaennivecesonumentsnssirencem canvass OO 4.2 Analysis and Findings of Research Question - 75

LUNG n0 nh 75 4.2.1.1 Pre-training Motivation and Attitudes Questionnaire Analysis and Findings .-cc St nh HH 111111 re 75

4.2.1.1 Normal Distribution Test . 525cc 78 422:1:2.VatHiahce HGHIOEEHEIt TESÊ cococacioisbissglspsbsBtseesksee 79 4.2.1.3 Independent T-test of Pre-training Questionnaire 80

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4.2.1.2 Post-training Motivation and Attitudes Questionnaire Analysis and lu TT 81 LÊ 84 4.2.2.1 Pretest Scores Analysis and Findings .-.-c-cc+ 84 4.2.2.1.1 Normal Distribution Test -ccs- 555cc 86 4.2.2.1.2 Variance Homogeneity Test 4.3.1.3 Independent T-test

4.2.2.2 On-going Scores Analysis and Findings

4.2.2.3 Posttest Scores Analysis and Findings 91 4.2.3 Interview Analysis and Findings

4.2.3.1 MOfÏVAatÏONI 2á St gi 94 4.2.3.2 Idea Generation, Improvement, and Evaluation 95 4.2.3.3 Better Essay Organization cccccccccrcereerrrer 97 4.2.3.4 Vocabulary EnhancemeiI( + 55+ ssvszxvxrkrxerxrrrvrev 98 4.3 Discussions of the Findings -¿-s-c+cscntetertetrrrerrrrrrrrke 100 4.3.1 Research Question Ì - -cnrrnnHH y 100 4.3.2 Research Question hố 103 4.4, SUMMATY 104 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 0.0 c.scsscescsscesseseeseesessessesessesseesssuessesseenesseaae 106 SN vỏ ) 106 5.2 Pedagogical Implications

5.3 Limitations and Suggestions - che 111 5.4 Final Thoughts_ 5+ + 222v t2 HH2 eree 115

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REEERENCES cuc ago nga tt gba680sg440001ãs600S0488658560043ã8gaggg 116 1A: 1B: 2: 3A: 3B: 3C; 4: SA: 5B: 9A: 9B: 9C: 9D: SE:

Pre-training Questionnaire, English Version . ¿+ 5s55 +ssccexcxex 130 Pre-training Questionnaire, Vietnamese Version . ‹- sss<s<5+ 133

Pretest .136

Post-training Questionnaire for Control Group, English Version 138 Post-training Questionnaire for Experimental Group, English Version 140 Post-training Questionnaire for Experimental Group, Vietnamese Version 142 POStESE csccsissssninasesisveasscenveasssconeiecsssesvisnconnnisiwsssain euveiroscsoncsxescessscecece LAE Interview Questions, English Version: sissssssaisssvevccssssseevecastsesstsavorsessvsssevaeseess 145 Interview Questions, Vietnamese Version .sesesceseseerseseseeteereeeseseeeeteeeneae 146 Trterviews Scripty.sicosssnsssarnsssanvonssnatncnconnveiscenoneassesssneswensocensnveacneancesanvennenconeense 147 iinlyte'Grading RUDTICsssoesoonnaiassdttbosQ310114100441346353500032B8 01853308403 1088 166 Sample Lesson

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Figure 2.1: Figure 4.1: Figure 4.2: Figure 4.3: Figure 4.4: Figure 4.5: Figure 4.6: LIST OF FIGURES Framework for Pre-, While-, and Post-viewing Writing Tasks 41 Eial Wiitng:2 MRIGI taayasadcossigsgiobisoolgbyttggiöxl4@g3i8vsisiaeg 70 Years of Learning English

Favorite SHUNS sessscscssessccsoininecmmminrmrnnrannnnnwieaaiaciis 71 Skills-to-IMprove TT 72 Experience of Learning with Video ccccccccccccey 74 Time of Watching Video in a Day .cccccccccccceev 74

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Essay Introduction Paragraph and Video Opening Scene 27 Table 2.2: Metafunctional Views of Textual and Visual Communication 31

Table 3.1: Quantitative and Qualitative Quasi-Experimental Research

Tablei3.2; Pilot Pre‘and Posttest'Scores s.cccssssssssossssssscsnssvenssussscveresvsisossvscsvissvavsavensd 57 Table 4.1: Most Important Reason for Developing Writing Skills 72 Table 4.2: Students’ Motivation and Attitudes towards Writing before the Video-based Instruction TreatimenI - St St x2 2 2111111141 1111111111111 ke 75 Table 4.3: One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test on Pre-training Questionnaire 79

Table 4.4: Levene’s Test on Pre-training Questionnaire

Table 4.5: Independent T-test on Variances in the Pre-training Questionnaire 80 Table 4.6: Students’ Motivation and Attitudes towards Writing before the Video-based Instruction Treatment .cccceccceccecesecesesesenecseseseseeesescseseseseneeseseseeecsesesenecseaeseaeeees 81 Table 4.7: Independent T-test on Variances in the Post-training Questionnaire 83 Table 4.8: Pre-test Scores of Experimental and Control Group 85 Table 4.9: Statistics on Pre-test Scores of the Experimental and Control Groups 86 Table 4.10: One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test on Pre-test Scores 87 Table:4.11: Levene’s Test: on Prestest Scores! csccsisssssssssssssssseseseseessnssssvsesensesssesvasseve 87 Table 4.12: Independent Samples Test on Pre-test SCOPES 88

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Table 4.13: On-going Writing Performance of the Experimental and Control Groups

Table 4.14: Posttest Scores of Students in Experimental and Control Groups 91 Table 4.15: T-test on Post-test Scores of the Experimental and Control Groups 92 Table 4.16: T-test on Content, Organization, and Vocabulary of Experimental and

93

Control Groups after the Video Treatment

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EFL: ESL: FFL, UTE: ICT: MTV: MV: NCTE: TESOL: ZPD: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS English as a Foreign Language

English as a Second Language

Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Technical Education Information Communication Technology

Music Television Network Music Video

National Council Teachers of English

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Zone of Proximal Development

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Words are no longer static things, quiet black marks pressed onto white page; instead, they float alongside sounds and images; they make meaning in their movements They are visual, aural, and sometimes haptic (Ben McCorkle, 2006) As teachers of English and language arts, we always seek and renovate to teach students the fundamentals of clear and natural communication so that they can effectively function in the society However, while the society has shifted away from the centuries-long dominance of language-based communication by printed books to the new dominance of visual-based communication by screen (Kress, 2003), few of us have changed to help students adequately prepare to analyze and critique these images so as to make informed decisions about them (Hill, 2004)

If we aim to help our students develop the abilities to comprehend, interpret, and critically respond to the diversity of current “texts” that they encounter every day, we definitely need to spend at least as much time and energy on audiovisuals in our writing instruction as what we have done with printed text (Hill, 2004) The thesis proposes the integration of video, one of the chief instrumentalities of today communication, persuasion, and entertainment (Barber, 1995) in students’ lives, as an instructional tool to see whether an in-depth study of this multimodal text can enhance their motivation and attitudes towards writing as well as their writing performance

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in Vietnam and some benefits that using video as an instructional tool can bring to teachers to solve such a problem are reviewed At the same time; the gap in the literature of video-based instruction for teaching writing is identified for further research later in the study Next, purposes of the study are specified; the research questions are raised; and the significance of the study is also stated At the end of this chapter, definitions of important terms are clarified; scope of the study is claimed; some assumptions are made; and a brief organization of the whole study is displayed 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM

1.1.1 The Need for Change in Writing Class

We have to change the way teachers interact with students in the classroom — and the change must be grounded in an understanding of how learners like to learn (John T Bruer, 1993, p 7) Writing is a highly complicated process requiring writers’ engagement in many cognitive activities as setting goals, generating ideas, organizing information, setting appropriate language, making drafts, reviewing, revising, and editing (Langman, 2002; Hedge, 2002; Hyland, 2003; Oshima & Hogue, 2006), and many social interactions as group discussions and peer responses (Hyland, 2003, p 12) This dynamic, nonlinear, and recursive process is also seen as a form of critical thinking for a particular audience and a particular situation (D’Angelo, 1980)

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Weigle (2000) states that the constraints in language knowledge make students focus on language form rather on content when they write This overemphasis on grammar, punctuation, and spelling will hamper student writers from developing and organizing ideas logically so as to make sense to and persuade the readers

Background knowledge is the second factor influencing the writing process Kellogg (1994) claims that student writers need to draw on at least two kinds of

background knowledge when composing: domain-specific and discourse knowledge Domain-specific knowledge is about the writing topic and how this knowledge can be used to complete the writing task while discourse knowledge is an understanding of how language can be used to communicate ideas effectively

Last but most importantly, it is the problem of enthusiasm and motivation in writing In a task as difficult as writing, which centrally represents an expansion of inner speech (Emig, 1977), motivational issues have tremendous impact upon the success of learning However, the majority of EFL students have always considered learning writing as a burden among the four skills In fact, when being assigned to compose an essay, many of them tend to become blocked, anxious, frustrated, panic- stricken, and depressed These student writers are even determined to do as little as possible just to get through their writing classes

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To create such a “hook” and “ground” in the age of audiovisual communication, using video, the most emotionally-inclined text types, the current innovation of communication as an instructional tool in teaching writing is apparently a promising change for the traditional textbook-based instruction

1.1.2 Rationale for Using Video as an Instructional Tool in Writing Class Video offers education a challenge to rethink much of its methodologies and content, helping it tilt the balance away from teacher-centered instruction towards learner-centered study It also offers the advantage of

utilizing vision, that powerful but neglected sense, in new ways,

stimulating and representing ideas not readily expressed in written form

(Robin Moss, 1983, p 12)

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and deeper learning; 8) stimulate the flow of ideas and provide an opportunity for freedom of expression; but also it can 9) inspire and motivate students for sustained effort; 10) make learning fun; 11) set an appropriate mood or tone; 12) decrease anxiety about scary topics (Berk, 2008) and thus effectively develop fundamental

literacy skills (Hobbs, 2006; Skinner, 2006; Ranker, 2007)

In the field of composition, a number of studies have been conducted on the relationship between video and students’ motivation and writing performance Stern (1968) claims that video helps motivate students not only to write but also consciously employ literary techniques, such as: metaphor, plot, theme, point of view, dialect, satire, and imagery in their own essays Moss (1985) also states that if a thoughtful choice of movies is made, the following can definitely be achieved in writing classes: greater student attentiveness and involvement in the learning process, increased receptivity to facts and information that the instructor deems important, and more energetic, committed effort on writing assignments Meanwhile, Masiello (1985) advocates using popular films in freshmen composition classes as a means to brainstorm ideas around specific themes like family relationships in The Godfather, Breaking Away, and The Deer Hunter He concludes that using popular films results in students’ listening and analyzing more carefully and thus sharpens their writing skills Moss (1987) pioneers in using soap operas in composition classes asking students to free-write their innermost thoughts and feelings in preparation for a subsequent essay Such affective free-writing on the topic leads to unique authorial “voiced” essays

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classroom, arguing that the video news’ structure closely mirrors that of an academic essay with three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion He asserts that the incorporation of video news is productive avenues of writing instruction as it enables student writers to visually process the structure and better compose their own writing

Walker (1997) empirically utilizes the video “How Do They Build Skyscrapers?” as a stimulus and comprehensive authentic content for writing tasks He concludes that the video-based tasks for writing make the lessons more interesting and increase the student writers’ motivation In “A Model for Using Television and Video to Motivate Writing”, Holbein, Bristor, & Yahya (2000, p 181) emphasize,

Students who are empowered to draw upon their cultural experiences in risk-free cooperative group settings will develop their writing and literacy skills through meaningful applications meanwhile educators, who are cognizant of the potency of television and video as motivators, will open the doors for their students to new horizons of learning

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Tran (2000) and Nguyen (2002, 2004) all claim that generally writing instruction in Vietnam has traditionally based on the finished products that focus on form over meaning and the finished text rather than the process in which the writing takes place In fact, in a typical writing class many Vietnamese EFL teachers often first ask students to read some well-written essay models of a particular genre in the Western-produced and Western-based course book and then analyze them by answering the accompanied questions which check students’ comprehension in terms of content and/or rhetoric Next, teachers will give feedbacks to their answers and

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students some important grammar and vocabulary exercises and assign them a new writing topic in the course book to write at home

Such a class turns out a course of lectures and discussions about writing rather than writing practice itself since most of the actual writing class time only occurs in doing the grammar and vocabulary exercises This conventional method of instruction has brought a large number of EFL Vietnamese student writers no chances for discovery of ideas for creative and critical writing but learning by rote even not knowing how to express their thoughts effectively (Luu & Tran, 2006) As a matter of fact, their concept about learning English, in general, and writing skills, in particular, is product-based Actually, they strongly believe that lack of grammar knowledge makes it difficult to write; even many will get confused if the explanation of the vocabulary and lectures on grammatical rules and writing styles are absent in a writing lesson

Additionally, Tran (2007)’s study claims that the commonly held perception among EFL Vietnamese instructors that students’ motivation in writing mainly rooted in expectations of getting good marks (institutional needs) and good jobs (social needs) may be true to some extent for only those who learn English as a general subject rather than English-major students She concludes that Vietnamese English-major students will be able to write independently, creatively, and passionately if they are intrinsically motivated to express their thoughts, opinions, and feelings on the writing topics

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incorrect perception of students’ writing motivation “extrinsic over intrinsic” and their teaching methodology and materials as well “word-based text over multimodality”

Enhancing Vietnamese EFL students’ motivation and attitudes towards writing and their writing performance is by no means easy, yet as well proven in the rationale discussed above, using video as an instructional tool seems to be of great potential A deep investigation into the literature on the integration of video in writing instruction has, indeed, found itself in both ESL and EFL classes at all levels of college composition from basic to advanced courses and stressed two distinct merits: using video as an alternate and/or supplemental means to instruct students regarding the writing content and as a tool for pre-writing activities However, there appears to be few studies that focus on using video clips as a means to help student writers learn the academic conventions beyond the pre-writing stage The gap in research leads the researcher to be of great interest in experimenting whether video can be used more fully and effectively as an instructional tool in the whole writing process to enhance Vietnamese EFL students’ writing motivation and attitudes towards writing and their - writing performance, particularly those at Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of

Technical Education, HCMC (FFL, UTE) 1,3 PURPOSES OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of video-based writing instruction on writing performance of a group of sophomores at Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Technical Education, HCMC Specifically, the study is to:

1 Investigate whether video-based writing instruction will effectively improve student writers’ motivation and attitudes towards essay writing

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3 To explore which aspects of the writing performance (content, organization, or vocabulary) will be enhanced by video-based writing instruction if these tasks do help students write better

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To achieve the purposes articulated above, this thesis will try to find the information to answer the following research questions:

1 Is there significant difference in terms of motivation and attitudes towards essay writing between the experimental group who receive video-based instruction and the control group who receive conventional teaching with the textbook? 2 Is there significant difference in terms of essay writing performance between the

experimental group who receive video-based instruction and the control group who receive conventional teaching with the textbook?

The answer to the second research question can be found out through the answers to the four sub-questions as follows:

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1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is hoped that, on the site of EFL writing instructors and material designers, not only will the findings of this study arouse their awareness of the importance of integration of multimodality, particularly video into the process of teaching writing, but they will be also provided with a reference for choosing pedagogical video clips and design effective pre-viewing, while-viewing, and post-viewing tasks for the intended teaching purposes On the site of students, the video treatment will engage them in the learning process and then enable them to become better writers by no longer acting as passive consumers being helpless to analyze or critique multimodal messages but critics or analysts responding to these messages in an informed and critical way

1.6 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

For the purposes of this study, various terms are used and defined below: Multimodality

Texts exceed the alphabetic and include still and moving images, animations,

colors, words, music, and sound (Selfe and Takayoshi, 2007, p 1) :

Video

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Schemata

The background knowledge and experiences which help students to process and interpret new information and experiences quickly and efficiently

Comprehensive input

Krashen (1985) believes that students are able to digest, understand, and develop more new knowledge to make improvement in language acquisition if they are provided with input they are able to process and that provides them information beyond what they have already learned or acquired

Advance organizers

An activity in teaching which helps students to learn and organize their thoughts and ideas systematically

Effect

The impact of video and video-based tasks on students’ motivation and attitudes towards essay writing and their writing performance

Motivation

The factors that determine a person’s desire to do something In this study, students’ motivational changes will be compared to see whether the integration of video-based instruction has an effect on them

Attitudes

What someone thinks or feels about something In this study, students’ thoughts and feelings towards essay writing will be compared to see whether the integration of video-based instruction has an effect on them

Essay

A piece of writing consists of at least three basic parts including an introduction, a body, and a conclusion on a given topic

Creative thinking

A process of making or producing something new or original

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Critical thinking

A process of assessing or judging something Writing performance

A measure of students’ writing skills by the scoring rubric which is adapted from Hyland’s writing assessment (2003) after they have received the treatment

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In this study, the teacher researcher restricted the experiment to the effects of video-based instruction in comparison with the conventional textbook-based instruction on English-major sophomores’ motivation and attitudes towards essay writing and their writing performance at Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Technical Education, HCMC in the academic years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 These participants had taken Writing 1 “Sentence Writing” and Writing 2 “Paragraph Writing” As not all English majors at FFL, UTE are represented, generalizations may be made only to those who are at the same level of English proficiency and share similar knowledge and/or experience

1.8 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY

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1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

With an aim to investigate the effects of using video as an instructional tool on students’ motivation and attitudes towards essay writing and their writing performance, the thesis is divided into five chapters Chapter 1 introduces the object of the study To do this, it deals with the background to and statement of the problem, purposes of the study, research questions, significance of the study, definitions of terms, scope of the study, assumptions, and organization of the whole thesis Chapter 2 aims to argue for the inclusion of video-based instruction in writing classes It gives an overview of Constructivism, the “Social Turn”, Multimodal Literacies in writing instruction as theoretical foundation for the study, then examines the application of video-based instruction in teaching practices through a number of empirical researches conducted so far, and finally creates a framework for video-based writing tasks Chapter 3 deals with research design and methodology employed to conduct the study It describes four main issues regarding the research site, participants, data types, and methods of data " collection Chapter 4 analyses and interprets the data collected from the questionnaires, writing tests, and interviews, and discusses the findings Chapter 5 summarizes the findings and draws conclusions by explicitly answering the two research questions, next gives pedagogical implications for using video-based writing instruction, and at the end it states the limitations, suggest some recommendations for further research, and gives final thoughts

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The literature review, firstly, presents three interrelated theories to teaching writing, namely Constructivism, “Social Turn”, and Multimodal Literacies as the theoretical foundations for writing instruction in the study Secondly, it examines how video can be used as stimuli in pre-writing instruction, and in what ways it can function as a digital mentor text to instruct student writers the academic conventions needed beyond the pre-writing stage Finally, it synthesizes the writing process and the general video-based instruction to create a framework for video-based writing tasks

2.1 THEORIES IN WRITING INSTRUCTION

2.1.1 Constructivism Theory in Writing Instruction

The only honest measure of your success is what you are doing compared to your true potential Paul J Meyer Constructivism theory, according to Cruickshank, Bainer, and Metcalf (1999), consists of cognitive and social constructivism respectively developed by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky Constructivism is a view of learning and development that emphasizes the active role of students in building understanding and making sense of the world (Eggen & Kauchak, 2002, p 53) For instruction, experience and interaction between teachers and students and students with others are regarded as major tools in the learning process

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2.1.1.1 Cognitive Constructivism in Writing Instruction

Cognitive Constructivism focuses on internal, individual construction of knowledge (Fowler, 1994), in which students actively seek information and integrate new ideas with what they already know and understand This process of knowledge construction is initiated by stimuli, reinforced and developed by practice, which, according to Killen, Evans et al (2003) needs to be fun to be successful

In Cognitive Constructivism, writing is the process of discovery involving a series of zigzag steps as setting goals, generating ideas, organizing information, setting appropriate language, making drafts, reviewing, revising, and editing These steps motivate and empower students to gradually develop a unique authorial voice turing them into independent text composers Therefore, to apply Cognitive Constructivism into the study, the researcher should help students actively construct their compositions initiated by stimuli, reinforced and developed by practice through a process of discovery in a fun manner

2.1.1.2 Social Constructivism in Writing Instruction

Social Constructivists claim that learning occurs through social interactions in the zone of proximal development where more knowledgeable partners share their expertise with less capable ones (Vygotsky, 1978) Learning is, indeed, best constructed when learners collaborate to form new ways to construct and reflect on new knowledge to solve the problems in authentic situations (Hyland & Hyland, 2006)

In Social Constructivism, writing is process of construction of meaning

(Gambell, Morrow, Neuman, & Pressley, 1999; Kostouli, 2005) Such construction is

conducted in two main instructional conditions as authentic activity and social nature of writing (Hindi & Boscolo, 2007) Authentic activity of writing is a multi-

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disciplinary activity where learners write to learn in various subjects while social nature of writing refers to the collaboration among learners or between learners and the teacher in writing a text Such collaboration is to create a community of discourse practices through which students can discover their identities as writers

No matter what instructional condition the writing process is conducted in, teachers have to adapt to their new roles as facilitators not giving didactic lectures but helping students construct their own compositions Accordingly, teachers need to, firstly, gauge students’ writing ability to understand within the context of a realistic problem (Spector, 1992) Secondly, they need to embed writing tasks in meaningful contexts and adapt the tasks to students’ development levels, which can be accomplished collaboratively Finally, they need to provide instructional support or “scaffolding” as questions, concrete examples of experts, written or audio-visual prompts and cues, etc to enable students themselves to successfully complete the tasks they are unable to do independently (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976) In short, to apply Social Constructivism into the training, the researcher should create a writing zone of proximal development where teachers act as facilitators and students as collaborators 2.1.2 The “Social Turn” or Socio-Cultural Theory in Writing Instruction

Based on the work of Vygotsky, the “Social Turn” (Miller, 2000) or Socio- Cultural Theory (Lankshear and Knobel 2003; Edwards and Daniels, 2004) has come into being placing the socialization, sociocultural context, and collaboration at the heart of the learning and communication process Owens (2005) claims that communication exchanges facilitate comprehension and learning If learning is attainment of knowledge (Luke, 2003, p 399) which is in constant state of change while knowledge is seen as process, learning is, thus, not about objectivity or “correctness” It focuses on

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providing students with the means through which to communicate their thoughts, ideas, and knowledge to make sense of the world and its meanings

In the “Social Turn”, no longer is word-based literacy alone built around book culture adequate for today adolescents as rapid development of technology has allowed visual to become the prominent communication tool (Luke, 2000) That is to say an increasing dependence of a population, especially the young generation, on visuals to communicate information, yet the majority of them are powerless to analyze and critique their messages If the social, economic, physical factors change what we write and how we write and the act of writing is not simply an act of transcription (Boag & Munroe, 2004), composition instruction needs to increase student literacy that is not just only written-word, but technological, and visual one as the sixth standard of The National Council of Teachers of English’s (NCTE) (1996, p 26) Standard for the English Language Arts highlights,

Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions, media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts

2.1.3 Multimodal Literacies in Writing Instruction

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the alternative “texts” that today students are deeply immersed in and influenced by as a means to improve multicultural and interdisciplinary education, increase integrated studies and critical thinking skills (Considine and Haley, 1992, p 21-22); link students’ interests with the reading, language arts, and critical literacy curricula (Alvermann and Xu, 2003); especially help students produce their own multimedia texts to communicate (Buckingham & Sefton-Green, 1994; Luke, 2000)

It should be clear that the advocacy of Multiliteracies is not calling for the de- evaluation or abolition of printed text but more renewed attention to the changing literacy of the young generation, multimodality to help students enhance written language literacy which most of them are often fed up with Not only are these multimodal texts significant socio-cultural resources which students bring to literacy learning (Dyson, 1997; Lensmire, 1994) but also they act as a bridge connecting these social-cultural knowledge and experiences with critical work and as a means of exploring media forms in depth while opening up space for students’ creative expression NCTE’s Guidelines for the Preparation of Teachers of English Language Arts (1996, p 27) emphasize,

Students need to construct meaning through different media, “analyze their transactions with media texts, and create their own media texts and performances and that teachers must help students explore contemporary media as extensions of literature and as entities in and of themselves

A number of empirical studies have, in fact, used multimedia tools in academic writing lessons Ranker (2007) used popular culture texts to teach an eight-year-old boy in an informal writing group the composition processes His study’s qualitative result shows that the student selectively took up conventions, characters, story grammars, themes, motifs from video games, television, Web pages, and comics, and

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redesigned them into new products with new sets of meanings Renee Hobbs (2006) together with her colleagues and administrators developed a year-long class called Media Literacy to study the effects of film and media on traditional literacy She compared her students’ writings with those of a demographically similar high school as acontrol group The study’s result shows that while students in both groups performed better from the pretest to the posttest, statistics revealed significant differences between the control group and the treatment group in identifying and summarizing the main ideas of an informational text In the writing analysis, students in the treatment group wrote longer paragraphs and had higher levels of overall writing quality

Grigoryan and King (2008, p 3) used advertisements, documentary films, MTV clips, and other media messages to help their students learn, evaluate, and then create their own texts developing their critical and creative thinking and communication skills Their study reveals that a media literacy academic writing project

* utilizes authentic materials to contextualize language, appeal to student interests, and increase their motivation;

e develops student writers’ cognitive and academic strategies in multiple skills; © inspires groups to create meaningful drafts and quality peer review and revision; © creates a positive social and affective working environment; l

® _ permits teachers to include activities that appeal to any kind of learning style; e provides a large amount of language input and output so students learn to use

effective communication strategies;

e helps students evaluate and respond to argument to develop analytical skills; e allows for the integration of skills through a variety of linguistic situations that

require the use of both formal and informal English;

e introduces students to codes and conventions of the target culture and activates their background knowledge;

e offers the possibility for portfolios and other forms of alternative assessment

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In an essence, using multimodal texts in writing instruction is not calling for abolishing the attempts to increase written language literacy among today students, but connecting, broadening, and deepening their understanding of “texts” to compose more effectively in the times of audiovisual dominance in communication

All in all, taking Constructivism, the “Social Turn”, and Multimodal Literacy into consideration, the current study needs to help today students actively construct the compositions initiated by stimuli, reinforced and developed through the writing process in the zone of proximal development where teachers act as facilitators and students as collaborators using multimodalities to create the final writing products

2.2 VIDEO-BASED WRITING INSTRUCTION 2.2.1 Video as Stimuli in Pre-Writing

The whole art of teaching is only the art of awaking the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards Anatole France (1844 - 1924) Writers do not produce writing out of thin air, and ideas do not arise from spontaneous generation Students write on assigned topics or in response to thoughts, feelings, opinions, or some other initial spark that light the “fire” Such spark is nothing

better, in the age of multimedia, than video to today students It can, indeed, function

as multimodal stimuli for students’ writing content, organization, and vocabulary 2.2.1.1 The Effects of Video Stimuli on Writing Content

A number of empirical studies have been conducted on the effects of video stimuli on students’ writing content Baumlin (1998) used MTV clips as “condensed

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mythologies” in a college English composition class to enable her students to analyze these multimodal texts and choose their own values in favor or against those urged by popular culture to compose their essays critically Similarly, Tan (2007) utilized the MV “If I Let You Go” to develop his Singaporean students’ deductive reasoning, “Friday” for inductive reasoning, “Heal the World” for deductive and inductive arguments, and “My Happy Ending” for knowledge as justified belief in his writing classes Taylor (2009, p 122) states that while textbooks may have well-written essays as models, these essays are too “foreign” to most today students as compared with pop songs, which allows them to make connections to be made between the personal and academic to compose with their own deep voices

In addition to music video clips, many researchers have used multimodal video texts to enhance their students’ writing productivity Silva (2007) and Mayora (2009) carried out empirical studies on the effects of YouTube video stimuli on their EFL Venezuela students’ short comment writing, which involves three basic processes: comprehension of the video segment, critical thinking, and writing After the studies, they both claimed that the video-based short comment tasks were authentic enhancing students’ active involvement, critical thinking, and self-expression in writing Students were no longer worried about grammatical errors but focused on developing the content with justified examples and the logical organization of ideas

For writing longer texts, Wolf (2006) used video stimuli to develop writing fluency in low-proficiency ESL students After conducting a number of video-based tasks, he concluded that using engaging and popular video materials was highly effective in eliciting creative, fluent, and remarkably expressive writing from recalcitrant and unmotivated students Based on Wolf’s findings, Ramli (2007) carried out an experiment on the effects of video as stimuli for idea development in writing on a group of second-year students from the Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia The control group had to compose two expository essays “The Causes of

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Plants and Animals Extinction” and “The Step Taken by Malaysian Consumer to Save the Environment” without video exposure while the experimental group wrote on the same topics after watching two video segments “Little Being Done to Stop Animal and Plant Extinction” and “Environmental Concerns Cause Shopper Discretion” from ABC News Programs The result of the study shows that video helped students in the experimental group generate more ideas as to be the content of their writing and significantly outperform those in the control group both in content and overall quality in the second topic, which was claimed by all the students to be unfamiliar That is to say video stimuli are good idea generator, especially to unfamiliar or “foreign” topics which are often assigned by EFL teachers who teach depending on the textbooks, which are Western-based and Western-produced

2.2.1.2 The Effects of Video Stimuli on Writing Organization

Regarding the effects of video stimuli on writing organization, Chapple and Curtis (2000) and Anderson (2008) conducted their studies on the impacts of film’s narrative, cultural, cinematic and rhetorical analysis activities on their freshmen’s composition performance The findings of both studies show that frlm’s rhetorical analysis enabled students to logically organize their essays in different writing genres

In ESL settings, Kasper (2000) integrated film imagery as a complement to verbal literacy into a discipline-based high intermediate ESL course to teach students how to write comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and argumentation essays After the course, her students could visually process and successfully compose these kinds of essays She concluded that by establishing strong connections between discipline-based visual and verbal media, teachers could give ESL students the tools they need to construct meaning and compose academic discourses, leading them to increased levels of English language writing competence Another study by Krueger’s

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(2001, p 126) using film imagery with professional essays to enhance college students’ advance narration and definition essays, reveals that film promoted lively discussion, sensitized students to the cinematic treatment, and got them actively involved in the construction of expository writing through making the scripts

In EFL settings, Bartsch & Pala (2010) examined the effects of YouTube video clips on their EAP students’ writing performance They developed writing tasks based on the videos “How to Charge an Ipod with an Onion” to enable their students to compose process paragraphs; “Battle at Kruger” for description, narration, and comparison and contrast paragraphs; and “Homer Votes” for classification, opinion and argument, and reaction or personalization paragraphs Their study shows that not only could video-based tasks develop students’ vocabulary, creative and critical thinking but also they enhanced logical organization in different writing genres as aforementioned

Mekheimer’s (2011) recently carried out an experiment on the effects of video on whole language learning of freshmen and sophomores in the College of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University for two consecutive semesters in 2007/2008 For the control group (N = 31), the teacher used the textbook “Tapestry 1” without video sections to teach students four skills whereas for the experimental group (N = 33) besides the textbooks, he helped students understand the books’ authentic video clips After the study, for the Writing Test, students composed descriptive essays on Abha, a Tourist Site The study’s qualitative result showed that there was significant difference in the writing quality between the experimental and control group (t = 9.776, p = 0.01)

2.2.1.3 The Effect of Video Stimuli on Vocabulary

In terms of vocabulary, Hsu (2011) investigated the extent to which YouTube video clips incorporated in a Taiwanese EFL composition class within an 18-week semester could narrow the gap between the passive/receptive and active/productive

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vocabulary use and examined its effects on advanced vocabulary use in four rhetorical styles: description, narration, comparison & contrast, and cause & effect The results showed that there was a higher percentage of more sophisticated vocabulary use in timed paragraph writing after viewing the YouTube video clips The average increased proportion was 6.02% in turning higher-level vocabulary in the reservoir of

passive vocabulary into free active vocabulary (Myoutube = 12.44%, Mnon-YouTube =

6.42) and the average increased productivity of advanced vocabulary was 2.86% for low-intermediate (Myoutube = 5.88%, Maon-YouTube = 3.02%), 6.3% for mid- intermediate (Myoutube = 12.96%, Mhon-YouTube = 6.66%), and 7.99% for high- intermediate students (Myoutube = 16.63%, Mnon-YouTube = 8.64%) as a consequence of better intake from exposing to YouTube videos than the Non-YouTube video class

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EXTENSIVE COMPREHENSIVE INPUT

J - Conscious selection % grading ATTENTION - Systematic noting and gathering

{ - Reflective connection, comparison & correction ADAPTATION - Selecting language attended to for own purpose ADOPTION - Producing correct and appropriate language

TAKING IN (INTAKE)

(Vanderplank, 1996)

Based on Vanderplank’s theory, subtitled videos are a greater source of comprehensive input as it supplies informative and contextual support, increases incidental learning, promotes a low affective filter, encourages conscious language learning, and enhances intake production It can be concluded that watching videos particularly subtitled ones in writing class and doing video-based vocabulary tasks can boost productive vocabulary development in the student writers’ composition

All in all, video as a zone of proximal development effectively captures students’ attention in a way that traditional printed lessons can and will never achieve It engages students into the writing topics and activates their relevant schema It stimulates purposeful inquiries and deep discussions beyond what students can see, hear, and even feel Students, after viewing, are eager to share their reactions to the video’s content and at the same time try to defend, revise their assertions and convince others Such discussions will stimulate creative and critical thinking on the topic, challenge their attitudes and beliefs, and help present generated ideas logically in an engaging manner, thus encourage authority and ownership of the writing It can be

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concluded that video as audio-visual-textual stimuli help enhance students’ writing content, organization, and vocabulary

Video has been used as a pedagogical tool in many writing classes; nevertheless, little has been written about the actual classroom practices and theories underlying its use, especially as digital mentor texts Comparing the composition of a video and an essay, the next section attempts to find out how video can be actually used as a digital mentor text to instruct student writers the academic conventions needed beyond the pre-writing stage It also tries to synthesize the writing process and the popularly-used video-based instruction to create a framework for video-based writing tasks

2.2.2 Videos as Mentor Texts

Films are compositions, too So are news stories, situation comedies, and commercials The more we learn about these primarily visual constructions - how they are created, shaped, and understood - the better equipped we will be to help our students move from the world of movie screens and television tubes to the universe of written discourse We can use them more directly and more productively by treating film, television, and writing as analogous forms of composition

(William Costanzo, 1987, p 79) 2.2.2.1 Introduction Paragraph of an Essay and Opening Scene of a Video Savage and Mayer (2005, p 17) state that an essay consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion The introduction paragraph consists of a hook (an opening sentence that attracts the reader’s attention), background information (sentences after the hook to provide necessary information to understand the topic), and a thesis statement (the sentence gives the topic and controlling idea of the entire essay)

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Similarly, Hauge (2011), a famous lecturer on Hollywood film and television industries, also state that the opening scene of a video achieves three basic objectives: immediately grabs viewers’ attention, sets up a vivid setting and tone, and coveys the key theme explicitly or implicitly

Introduction Paragraph Video Opening Scene Hook Attention Grapping Background Information Vivid Setting and Tone

Thesis Statement Key Theme (Explicitly or Implicitly)

Table 2.1: Essay Introduction Paragraph and Video Opening Scene

In terms of a hook, Evans (2000, p 61) describes an effective hook or opening sentence as an unusual scene, a striking idea or situation, a direct address to the reader, a rhetorical question, and a quotation or proverb, etc Meanwhile, video to people at all ages is the whole hook based purely on the appealing audiovisual nature The opening shot of the MV “I’Il Stand by You” by Carrie Underwood is an example

It begins with a touching opening scene of a depressing child who is sitting waiting for someone but seems to look at nowhere hopelessly, striking fact “Every 30 seconds a child in South Africa is orphaned by AIDS”, and melodious violin in the background music to set the mood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xstLRWHgD2Q)

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Another example is the opening of the video “Dare to Know the Truth”

Do You Dare to Know the Truth?

hà

` FEAI3Y TC? BE EKhíilIC?PtT NA + J

ren: EADY TO BE CHALLENG

T READY TO BECOME PART «

addressing the viewer directly with the rhetorical question “Do You Dare to Know the Truth?” and impressive imperative “Get ready to be disturbed Get ready to be informed Get ready to be enlightened Get ready to be challenged Get ready to become part of the answer.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxflA VdmA Xc)

In addition to the “hook”, background information about the essay’s subject is to help orient the readers and explain why the topic needs to be considered Oshima and Hogue (2007, p 60) claims that an introduction paragraph is like a “funnel” in which students begin their essays with general statements about their subjects before arriving

at the narrower focus of the essay’s thesis statements Smith (1995, p 105) further

elaborates that the purpose of an introductory paragraph is ‘to lead the audience into the piece of writing’, and providing background information is a key part of this process In direct relevance to the background information of an essay, the introduction of a video provides rich inter-textual background information within its opening scene More importantly, students are more likely to be engaged in visualizing and processing its construction Illustrative examples are not just two video clips above, but “Free Hugs Campaign — Official Page” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4), “Be the Change that You Want to See in This World” advertisement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyutkBvN2s), and many more on video websites