Combining brainstorming and modelling to improve students'''''''' writing skill: an action research at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Information

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ********* PHẠM THỊ NGỌC BÍCH BẢN TĨM TẮT LUẬN VĂN COMBINING BRAINSTORMING AND MODELLING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT PHU THO CENTRE FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATICS (Nghiên cứu hành động việc kết hợp hoạt động tìm ý với viết mẫu nhằm nâng cao kỹ viết tiếng Anh cho học viên Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Tin học Phú Thọ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Hanoi – 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ********* PHẠM THỊ NGỌC BÍCH BẢN TĨM TẮT LUẬN VĂN COMBINING BRAINSTORMING AND MODELLING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT PHU THO CENTRE FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATICS (Nghiên cứu hành động việc kết hợp hoạt động tìm ý với viết mẫu nhằm nâng cao kỹ viết tiếng Anh cho học viên Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Tin học Phú Thọ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Dr NGUYỄN HUY KỶ Hanoi – 2011 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration………………………………………………………………………………………i Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………… .iii Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………….iv List of abbreviations………………………………………………………………… vii List of figures, tables and charts…………………………………………………… .viii PART A: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………1 Rationale…………………………………………………………………………………… Objectives of the study……………………………………………………………………….2 Research questions………………………………………………………………… .2 Scope of the study………………………………………………………………………… Method of the study………………………………………………………………………….2 Significance of the study…………………………………………………………………… Design of the study………………………………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………………….4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………….4 1.1 Definitions of writing…………………………………………………………… 1.2 The role of writing in language teaching and learning…………………………………….4 1.3 Approaches to teaching writing……………………………………………………… 1.3.1 Product approach……………………………………………………………………6 1.3.2 Process approach…………………………………………………………………….7 1.4 The pre-writing stage ………………………………………………………………….10 1.4.1 Definition………………………………………………………………………… 10 1.4.2 Types of pre-writing techniques………………………………………………… 10 1.4.2.1 Brainstorming…………………………………………………………… 11 1.4.2.1.1 Definition……………………………………………………….11 1.4.2.1.2 Rules of brainstorming……………………………………… 12 v 1.4.2.2 Modelling………………………………………………………………….12 1.4.2.2.1 Definition…………………………………………………… 12 1.4.2.2.2 Rules of modelling…………………………………… 13 1.4.2.2.3 Some arguments against modelling………………………… 13 1.5 Related studies and fitness of the present study into the field……………………………14 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………….16 2.1 Rationale for the use of an action research……………………………………………….16 2.2 The context of the study………………………………………………………… 18 2.2.1 An introduction of Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics………18 2.2.2 The English Language Teacher Group…………………………………………… 18 2.2.3 The writing program for the English supplementary training course at PTCFI……19 2.2.4 Participants…………………………………………………………………………19 2.3 Action research procedures……………………………………………………………….19 2.4 Data collection……………………………………………………………………………22 2.4.1 Instruments for data collection…………………………………………… .22 2.4.1.1 Pre-test and post-test……………………………………………………… 22 2.4.1.2 Pre- and post- questionnaires……………………………………………….23 2.4.1.3 A collection of students’ writing……………………………………………23 2.4.2 Data collection procedures………………………………………………………….23 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS…………………………………… 25 3.1 Data collected before the action plan implementation………………………………… 25 3.1.1 The results of pre-test……………………………………………………………….25 3.1.2 The results of pre- questionnaire………………………………………………… 26 3.2 Data collected from analysis of students’ writing during the action plan implementation…………………………………………………………………… 30 3.3 Data collected after the action plan implementation…………………………… .31 3.3.1 The results of post-test…………………………………………………….…… 31 3.3.2 The results of post-questionnaire………………………………………………….32 3.4 Action research evaluation……………………………………………………………… 35 vi 3.5 Some major findings and discussions………………………………………………… 36 PART C: CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………… 39 Recapitulation …………………………………………………………………………… 39 Implications for classroom practice……………………………………………………… 40 Limitations of the study…………………………………………………………………….40 Suggestions for further studies…………………………………………………………… 41 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………… 42 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………I vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PTCFI: Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language Ss: Students viii LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS Figure 1: Action research cycle Table 1: Students’ writing performance in pre-test Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards writing and their interests in writing lessons Table 3: Students’ writing habits Table 4: Students’ difficulties in writing lessons Table 5: Students’ writing performance from Unit to Unit 12 Table 6: Students’ writing performance in post-test Table 7: Students’ attitudes towards writing and their interests in writing lessons Table 8: Students’ writing habits Table 9: Students’ opinions about the combination of brainstorming and modelling activities Chart 1: Students’ writing performance at average to excellent level from pre-test to post-test via the action plan implementation (Pre-test, Unit 8, Unit 9, Unit 10, Unit 11, Unit 12 and post-test) PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays, the goal of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English in particular is providing learners with the communicative competence To acquire the communicative competence, four language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing need to be officially taught at any universities, colleges and schools, among which writing skill is very important because it is one of the two productive skills It is also because of the fact that besides speaking, people frequently have to communicate with each other in writing Moreover, writing serves as an aid to learning “First, writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms, and vocabulary that we have been teaching our students Second, when our students write, they also have a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learned to say, to take risks Third, when they write, they necessarily become very involved with the new language; the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eyes, hand, and brain is a unique way to reinforce learning As writers struggle with what to put down next or how to put it down on paper, they often discover something new to write or a new way of expressing their idea They discover a real need for finding the right word and the right sentence The close relationship between writing and thinking makes writing a valuable part of any language course” (Raimes, 1983: 3) Actually, because of the above mentioned reasons, writing is important for any language course with no exception for language courses at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics However, writing skill poses great problems for the students at the centre Particularly, students recognize “the characterization of writing periods as times of sighing, pencil-chewing, foot-shuffling agony” (Hedge, 1988: 5) They find it difficult to generate ideas and organize ideas in a logical sequence but “ideas should arguably be seen as the most important aspect of writing” (Ur, 1996: 163) This fact has inspired the researcher to find out the way to help them overcome difficulties in generating and organizing ideas when writing in English In this regard, brainstorming and modelling are possibly effective activities which provide learners with ideas in writing Thus, the author has conducted a research on combining brainstorming and modelling with a view to helping the students improve their writing skill 2 Objectives of the study This study is designed to improve the students’ writing skill by combining brainstorming and modelling Thus, it has two objectives: - Exploring the possible reasons for students’ weak writing competence - Justifying the effects of the combination of brainstorming and modelling on students’ writing skill Research questions In order to achieve the objectives mentioned above, the study seeks to answer three following questions: What are the reasons that lead to students’ weak writing competence? How does the combination of brainstorming and modelling affect students’ writing skill at PTCFI? What are the students’ opinions about the combination of brainstorming and modelling? Scope of the study The research was carried out in an English supplementary training class with 30 students at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics Regarding its scope, the research focused on justifying the effects of the combination of brainstorming and modelling at the pre-writing stage on the students’ writing performance in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics Method of the study The method employed in this study is an action research, with the use of a number of instruments, namely pre-questionnaire, post-questionnaire, pre-test, post-test and a collection of students’ writing Action research has proved to be the best choice for this study because the study has the aim of improving the students’ writing skill within a certain context Significance of the study Being one of the two productive skills, writing plays an important role in language teaching and learning Nevertheless, how to teach and learn writing effectively often poses great problems to both teachers and students The study is carried out in terms of both theory and practice with the hope that teachers can improve their teaching methods and students can adjust their ways of learning this skill to have better results Design of the study The study is composed of three parts Part A is the introduction in which the rationale, the objectives, the scope, the method, the significance and the design of study are presented Part B consists of three chapters Chapter is the literature review In this chapter, the literature on brainstorming and modelling techniques as well as on writing English as a second or foreign language is reviewed Chapter presents the methodology in which the information about action research, the context of the study, participants, research procedures and data collection is provided Chapter deals with the results and discussions of the study Part C is the conclusion which presents the major findings of the study Also in this part, the implications for classroom practice, the limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies are provided ... reasons, writing is important for any language course with no exception for language courses at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics However, writing skill poses great problems for. .. LUẬN VĂN COMBINING BRAINSTORMING AND MODELLING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT PHU THO CENTRE FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATICS (Nghiên cứu hành động việc kết hợp hoạt... ABBREVIATIONS PTCFI: Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language Ss: Students viii LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS