The reality of teaching and learning English writing skill at Tran Nguyen Han High school in Hai Phong and recommendations

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI University of languages and international studies Department of post- graduate studies *************** PHẠM THUÝ TRINH THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH WRITING SKILL AT TRAN NGUYEN HAN HIGH SCHOOL IN HAI PHONG AND RECOMMENDATIONS (Thực trạng việc dạy học kỹ viết trường THPT Trần Nguyên Hãn - Hải Phòng số giải pháp) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: Cohort: 60 14 10 MA 15 HANOI-2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI University of languages and international studies Department of post- graduate studies *************** PHẠM THUÝ TRINH THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING WRITING SKILL AT TRAN NGUYEN HAN HIGH SCHOOL IN HAI PHONG AND RECOMMENDATIONS (Thực trạng việc dạy học kỹ viết trường THPT Trần Nguyên Hãn - Hải Phòng số giải pháp) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Cohort: MA 15 Supervisor Khoa Anh Viet, M.A HANOI-2009 TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLWDGEMENTS ii ABTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv LIST OF TABLES vi PART INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Objective of the study 1.3 The significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study .2 1.5 Methodology of the study 1.6 Design of the study .2 PART DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW .4 1.1.Definition of writing 1.2 Writing versus speaking 1.3.Writing Difficulties 1.4 Approaches to writing 1.4.1 The controlled to free approach .6 1.4.2 Free writing approach 1.4.3 The paragraph-pattern approach 1.4.4 The grammar syntax organization approach 1.4.5 The communicative approach 1.4.6 The process approach .8 1.4.6.1 Pre- writing iv 1.4.6.1.1 Brainstorming 1.4.6.1.2 Planning .9 1.4.6.1.3 Debating 10 1.4.6.1.4 Interviewing .10 1.4.6.1.5 While- writing 10 1.4.6.1.6 Post- writing .10 1.5 Writing in the communicative classes 11 1.5.1 Purpose 11 1.5.2 Audience 12 1.5.2.1 The importance of audience in writing .12 1.5.2.2 Audience diversity in writing class 12 1.5.2.3 Readership 13 1.5.4 Forms .14 1.5.5 Responding to students’ writing 14 1.5.5.1.Written comments 15 1.5.5.2 Talking about the paper 15 1.5.5.3 Students’ responses to student writing (peer feedback, peer correction, or peer review) .15 1.6 Summary 15 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 17 2.1.The context at Tran Nguyen Han high school 17 2.1.1 The teachers 17 2.1.2 The students 17 2.2.The new “ Tieng Anh 11” textbook 17 2.2.1 Grade 11 writing objectives 17 2.2.2 Writing lessons 17 2.3 Research questions 18 2.4 The participants .18 2.5 Instruments 19 2.6 Summary 18 v CHAPTER DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 3.1 Data analysis .20 3.1.1 Data analysis from teachers’ survey questionnaire 20 3.1.2 Data analysis from students’ survey questionnaire 25 3.2 Findings 32 3.3 Summary 34 CHAPTER RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 Techniques in pre-writing stage 35 4.1.1 Identifying the purpose and audience 35 4.1.2 Analyzing models 36 4.1.3 Brainstorming 36 4.1.4 Interview 37 4.1.5 Asking journalists’ question 38 4.2 Techniques in while- writing stage 38 4.3 Techniques in post- writing stage 38 4.4 Techniques for motivating students 39 4.4.1 Using oral presentation 39 4.4.2 Using games 39 4.4.3 Providing an appropriate tone of feedback 39 4.5 Summary 40 PART C.CONCLUSION 41 REFERENCE I APPENDIX IV APPENDIX1 VI APPENDIX .VI APPENDIX IX APPENDIX X vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES I LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Checklist of writing tasks in English 11 textbook 18 Table 2: Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards appropriate time for teaching and learning English writing skill 21 Table 3: Teachers’ opinions on the writing lessons 22 Table 4: Difficulties encountered by the teachers 23 Table 5: Teachers’ expectation for better teaching and learning situations 25 Table 6: Difficulties encountered by the students……………… 26 Table 7: Students’ personal views of causes of difficulties 27 Table 8: Students’ expectations for better teaching and learning situations 31 II LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The importance of writing as perceived by 11th form students 20 Figure 2: The importance of writing as perceived by the teachers 20 Figure 3: Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards students’ writing competence 21 Figure : Teachers’ pre-writing techniques 28 Figure 5: Work arrangement in the while- writing stage 29 Figure 6: Teacher’s activities during the while- writing stage 29 Figure 7: The main source of feedback on students’ writing 30 vii PART A INTRODUCTION Rationale In the process of globalization, English plays an important role in enhancing economy, politics, culture and international relations between many countries Therefore, there is a great demand for teaching and learning English in the world as well as in Viet Nam English users today focus more on the ability to communicate in spoken and written languages However, according to Trang and Baldoff (2007), the education quality has not met the society’s expectation because mostly high-school graduates cannot communicate in English effectively in both oral and written forms Under the urgent demand of improving the quality, Vietnam’s English language teaching has recently undergone a comprehensive reform Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has issued a new set of textbook for high school students in order to develop students’ communicative competence The new textbook displays two new teaching approaches They are learnercentered and communicative approaches However, regarding Vietnam’s context, the change will create a lot of difficulties to teachers of English who are too familiar to the old teaching methods, especially in teaching writing skill, which seems to be the most difficult work in teaching English In Tran Nguyen Han high school, teaching writing skills is really a big challenge For the teachers, they used to teach the old textbooks in which writing has no place Therefore, they have no experiences in teaching theme-based writing Another problem is the students’ low level of English proficiency That’s why they find it difficult to write Moreover, lack of motivation also faces the students They often get bored and indifferent in the writing lessons In my opinion, the current problem must be worked out and appropriate teaching techniques should be made Up to present, a few researches have been carried out on the teaching of writing for students in Hai Phong Most of the researchers have studied others problems concerning teaching other skills in Hai Phong As a teacher of English, who is aware of the fact and wishes to contribute some suggestions for possible improvements in the teaching and learning of writing skill, I decided to the research entitled “ The reality of teaching and learning English writing skill at Tran Nguyen Han high school in Hai Phong and recommendations.” Aims of the study The main purpose of this study is to research the current reality of teaching and learning writing skill to 11th form students at Tran Nguyen Han high school on the basic of finding out the difficulties experienced by the teachers and the students Furthermore, some suggestions are made to stimulate the students and some recommendations are made to improve teaching methodology for the teachers at Tran Nguyen Han high school The significance of the study Pedagogically, the findings and comments of the study are believed to be relevant to improving the teaching of writing to the students The study may help teachers to make their writing lessons more effective so that they can help their students develop writing skill as well as other language skills Scope of the study The study focuses on the reality of teaching and learning English writing skill to 11 grade students at Tran Nguyen Han high school In addition, some recommendations for a better writing teaching and learning situation are presented Although the author is well aware that the survey statistics are not fully representative of all high school students studying English in Hai Phong, she hopes to propose some of the most popular facts that occurring in this study Methods of the study Both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed to carry out the study With the aim of increasing validity and reliability of the data collected, the survey questionnaires will be delivered The purpose of the survey is to collect data about the current situation of teaching and learning writing at Tran Nguyen Han high school Informal interviews with the colleagues and the students are also conducted Besides, reviewing the related documents is also a method to establish the theoretical background for the study Design of the study The study is expected to consist of three main parts: Part A includes the rationales, aims, significance, scope, and methods of the study Part B includes chapters Chapter deals with definitions of writing, the differences between writing and speaking, writing difficulties, approaches to writing and writing in the communicative classes Chapter discusses the methodology of the study, i.e describes the study context, participants, and instruments Besides, the introduction of the new “Tieng Anh 11” textbook is elaborated Chapter3 is about the data analysis and findings It describes how collected data is analyzed and presented Chapter provides recommendations for better teaching and learning English writing skill Part C is the conclusion which summarizes the thesis and offers some suggestions for further research Besides, the limitations of the thesis are also pointed out PART B DEVELOPMENT Chapter Literature Review 1.1 Definitions of writing There are a lot of definitions of writing According to Byrne (1991), writing can be defined as the act of forming graphic symbols When we write, we use graphic symbol (alphabet, grammar, and structures) to make visual meaningful utterances Therefore, on one level, writing can be said to be the act of making marks on flat surface of some kinds However, writing is not just simply putting words, sentences together Many researchers tended to focus on the nature of writing as an entity of linguistic creation For example, Brannon, Knight and Neverow-Turk (1982, p 2) pointed out “ writing is a creative art, not as assembly line operation of locking words together into sentence and bolting sentences together into paragraphs in accordance with a predefined plan.” Other researchers considered writing as a communicative process with purposeful interaction between the participants For example, NuNan (1999, p 100) stated, “Writing is not a solitary act, rather, it is the result of the interaction among people, contexts, and texts.” Oluwadiya (1990) considered the nature of writing as “a process” of “via-text communication” between an addresser and an addressee However, writing, in language teachers’ opinions, is “a language skill which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble, 1996, p 3) It is “a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account the sometimes extended periods of thinking that precede creating an initial draft.” ( Harris, 1993, p 10) In short, the definitions of writing are various However, writing is characterized with some basic features, i.e being linguistics, creative, progressive and interactive Besides, the word “writing” itself may imply an act, a process, or a skill, which needs practice and study to develop It requires both physical and mental powers from the writers - Step 4: The teachers ask each individual to choose a given number of the items to develop his/ her own outline Whole class brainstorming: In the kind of activity, the groups work together from the beginning When the topic has been stated, the class members say whatever ideas occur to them The teacher should not correct or comment but may ask for a more detailed explanation Then the whole class discusses the relevancy of the ideas Finally, the teacher asks each individual to choose a given number of the ideas to develop her/his own outline This kind of activity may be best for topics which will interest most of students in class like writing task - Unit 14 ( English 11 textbook), in which students are to write a passage about their class’s camping holiday 4.1.4 Interview In this activity, students are asked to interview other group members According to Raimes (1983), interviews can be done in many ways Students can interview each other in pairs and note down the ideas Interviews can be used to find out detailed information from students’ partners such as: how their friend is like (Unit 1- English 11 textbook), how they celebrate their birthday parties (Unit 3- English 11 text book), how they prepare for Tet holiday (Unit 8- English 11 text book) Then they write a report This kind of activity gets students to talk and motivates students to write in a relaxing manner 4.1.5 Asking journalists’ question These questions - who, what, when, where, why, and how- are easy for teachers to help students to generate ideas They are especially helpful in writing an event For example, in unit ( English 11 textbook), students are required to write about their memorable past experiences and these questions can be helpful - What is the name of the experience? - When did it happen? - Where did it happen? - How did it happen? - Why were you there? - Who got involved in the incident? - How are they? - How did the experience affect you? 37 4.2 Techniques in the while-writing stage Collaborative writing is a good way of organizing the class It encourages students to learn from each other Besides, it saves time for writing class The researcher would like to recommend some ways of organizing collaborative drafting In the first way, according to the outline of the whole group, each member is responsible for writing one part of the writing, then the whole group will assemble all the parts together and make some necessary changes to make them unite In another way, all the group members take part in writing at the same time One member as a secretary is assigned to taking note of sentences made by the whole group By doing so, the group can write and check their writing together 4.3 Techniques in the post-writing stage Using peer editing Peer editing has many benefits to improve students’ writing skill Peer editing can be organized in some ways In one way, one student will edit the writing of another student In another way, students can work in groups to edit other groups’ writings All the group members have a number of the composition’s copies, then they can work together on the same piece of writing and contribute their ideas about it Therefore, editing job could be done quickly and effective 4.4 Techniques for motivating students 4.4.1 Using oral presentation Teacher can have their students present their ideas after brainstorming or their final product after finishing writing It creates chance for students to interact with their audience orally By doing this, student can get the sense of pride in their work and receive immediate feedback from their audience, which increases their motivation for writing 4.4.2 Using games Games should be used in class more frequently If student are made to take part in games voluntarily, they will become more active and hard-working This makes a better studying environment For example, we can use word games in unit 12 and guessing game in unit (see in the appendix (3), (4)) 38 4.4.3 Providing an appropriate tone of feedback Teachers can motivate students by giving them an appropriate tone of feedback on their writings An appropriate tone of feedback consists of comment of praise and constructive criticism Praise is of importance It motivates students to revise their writings Constructive criticism is necessary for students as it points out what aspects students need to work more to improve their papers 4.5 Summary To conclude, this chapter has dealt with suggestions to improve the teaching and learning of English writing skill at Tran Nguyen Han high school A number of recommendations such as techniques in pre- writing stage, techniques in while- writing stages, techniques in post- writing stage, techniques for motivating students have been discussed 39 PART C CONCLUSION In this part, recapitulation of the study is provided with a brief description of the study as well as the limitation of the study and some recommendations for further study Summary of the study Writing, one of the productive skills, through with students can convey and express their own ideas and make them become good thinkers Besides, writing helps students learn other skills Therefore, the importance of writing is undeniable In the process of studying the reality of teaching and learning writing at Tran Nguyen Han high school, the attitudes of the teachers and students towards teaching and learning writing, the difficulties facing the teachers and students were studied The results from the research reveal the present teaching and learning writing at Tran Nguyen Han high school is far from satisfaction The students face five main problems at writing class: the low level of English proficiency, low background knowledge, low motivation, teachers’ assistance and time limitation The research also shows the teachers face many problems such as the low level of English proficiency, low motivation, low background knowledge of the students, time limitation, their inexperience of teaching the new textbook, large and multilevel classes as well as lack of necessary facilities In order to improve the situation, an effort has been made to present some useful writing techniques which hopefully can be employed to help the students at Tran Nguyen Han high school improve their writing skill Limitations Although the researcher has made effort conducting this thesis, there undoubtedly exists some limitations 40 Firstly, the study only carry out an investigation into the reality of teaching and learning writing of grade 11 students, so to some extent, the results may not be generalized for all students of the school Secondly, although the researcher used both survey questionnaires and interviews as the research instrument for data collections, the researcher should combine different tools for data collection like observation in order to make obtained result more reliable Thirdly, the author’s practical experience in teaching writing with the textbook is limited; the suggestions to overcome difficulties are likely to be subjective and incomplete Recommendations for further study On the basis of findings and limitations of the study, the following suggestions are made for further research - A study on the reality of teaching listening, reading or speaking to Tran Nguyen Han high school students - A study on techniques and activities for Tran Nguyen Han high school students which help them improve their writing skills 41 REFERENCES Tiếng Việt: Hoàng Văn Vân, Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Đào Ngọc Lộc, Vũ Thị Lợi, Đỗ Tuấn Minh, & Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn.(2006) Tiếng Anh 10: Bộ Sách Giáo Viên Hà Nội: NXB Giao Dục Tiếng Anh Brannon, L., Knight, M., & Neverow-Turk, V (1982) Writers Writing Heinemann Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/ Cook Publishers Britton, J., Burgess, T., Martn, N., McLeod, A., & Rosen, H (1995) The development of loriting abilities Schools Council Research Studies London: Macmillan Education Brown, H.D (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Englishwood Ciffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Press Byrne, D (1979) Teaching writing skills London: Longman Byrne, D (1988) Teaching writing skills London: Longman Byrne, D (1991) Teaching writing skills- Longman handbook for language teachers London: Longman Coffin, C.et al.( 2003) Teaching academic writing: A toolkit for higher education, London: Routledge Feist, B (1996) Applied communication skills- Writing paragraph Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Gu Yue Gou (1999) English Teaching Methodology Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press 10 Harmer, J (2003) The practice of ELT New York: Longman 11 Harmer, J (2004) How to teach writing Malaysia: Pearson Education Limited I 12 Harris, J (1993) Introducing writing London: Penguin 13 Hedge,T (1988) Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press 14 Nunan, D (1999) Second language teaching and learning Hongkong: Heinle& Henle Publisher 15 Oluwadiya, A.(1992) Some prewriting techniques for students for students writers Teaching English Forum 30, (4), 12- 15 16 Oshima, A.& Houge, A.(1991) Writing Academic English New York: Addison Wesley Publishing 17 Raimes, A.(1983) Techniques in Teaching Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press 18 Robin, C.S & Oxford, R.L (1992) The tapestry of language learning Boston USA: Heinle& Heinle Publisher 19 Trang, T.T & Baldauf, R.( 2007), Demotivation: Understanding Resistance to English Language Learning – The case of Vietnamese students The Journal of Asia TEFL 4, (1),79- 105 20 Tribble, C.(1996) Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press 21 Troyka, L.Q & Nudelman, J (1994) Steps in compositions Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 22 Ur, P.(1991) A course in Language teaching- Practice& Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 23 White, R and Arndt, V (1991) Process Writing London: Longman 24 White, R.V.(1981) Approaches to writing, Guidelines for Writing Activities A Magazine for Language Teachers, RELC II APPENDIX Survey Questionnaire (For teachers) This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into “ The reality of teaching and learning writing skill at Tran Nguyen Han high school in Hai Phong and recommendations) Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is reserved for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Thank you very much for your cooperation! Before answering the questions, please fill in some information: - Gender: Male/ Female - Your age: ………………… - How long have you been teaching English? (0- years, 10- 20 years, more than 20 years) - How long have you been teaching English writing skill?:…………… year(s) Please answer or circle your choice(s) or tick () in answering each of the following questions: How you grade the importance of four skills when teaching English? Number your choice from the least important (1) to the most important (4) The same rate could be given to more than one factor a Speaking b Listening c Reading d Writing What you think of your students’ writing competence at Tran Nguyen Han high school? a really bad b bad c quite good d good e really good What are the appropriate periods (45 minutes/ period) for teaching and learning English writing to 11th form students? a period/ week b 1- periods/ week III c More than periods/ week Please put a tick () in the statement which best indicates your choice: Statements I have the Yes No answer No most difficulties in: Pre- writing stage While- writing stage Post- writing stage What are your current problems with teaching writing skill? ( Rank them in order of priority: 1- 7) a Students’ low motivation b Students’ low background knowledge c Students’ low level of English proficiency d Large and multilevel classes e Teachers’ inexperience in teaching the new textbook f Lack of necessary facilities g Time limitation Do you think it is necessary for students to write with an audience in mind? Why or why not? a Yes b No Because…………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… Can you self- assess the effectiveness of your current writing instruction methods? a Highly effective b Fairly effective c Average d Ineffective IV Do you have any comments on the writing lessons in the new set of textbooks, particularly the new “ Tieng Anh 11” textbook? Agree Disagree Type of tasks are various Topics are interesting but the knowledge relating to the topics is not adequate Tasks are beyond students’ ability Writing section lacks particular context (purpose, audience) Others: …………… What suggestions could you give to improve your current writing teaching situation? Agree Disagree Textbook Modifying, adding, omitting tasks, content, activities Teachers Join more workshops to exchange experiences and methodology among the English staffs Provide your students with more supporting materials (writing samples, guiding books…) to study at class as well as at home Offer your students more instructions for their writing Give more comprehensive feedbacks to students’ writing Organize group brainstorming Organize peer editing Students Be active and motivated in lessons Self- study to enrich background knowledge, improve English ability Others:…………… *** The end*** V APPENDIX CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA (Cho học sinh) Bảng câu hỏi điều tra thiết kế để phục vụ đề tài “ Nghiên cứu thực trạng dạy học kỹ viết trường THPT Trần Nguyên Hãn, Hải Phòng số giải pháp” Câu trả lời em đóng góp lớn nghiên cứu Các số liệu thông tin em đưa sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu, ngồi khơng mục đích khác Xin chân thành cám ơn hợp tác em! Trước trả lời câu hỏi, điền đầy đủ thông tin đây: Giới tính : a Nam b Nữ Tuổi:………………………………… Em học tiếng Anh được…………………… năm Em hoc kỹ viết được…………… ……năm Hãy khoanh tròn câu trả lời phù hợp cho câu hỏi sau đánh dấu () vào ô vuông mà em lựa chọn: Em đánh giá tầm quan trọng kỹ việc học tiếng Anh nào? Khoanh lựa chọn (1-4) từ kỹ em cho quan trọng (1) đến kỹ em cho quan trọng (4) a Nói b Nghe c Đọc d Viết Em đánh giá khả viết nào? a Rất b Kém c Trung bình d.Tốt e Rất tốt Hãy đánh dấu ( ) vào câu trả lời mà em lựa chọn: Nhận định Có Khơng Em gặp nhiều khó khăn bước: Trước viết Trong Viết Sau viết VI Khơng có câu trả lời Hãy đánh dấu ( ) vào câu trả lời mà em lựa chọn: Có Nhận định Khơng Khơng có câu trả lời Em thiếu kiến thức làm viết Em khơng có đủ động học viết Trình độ Tiếng Anh em nên thiếu từ cấu trúc để diễn đạt làm viết Em thiếu thời gian học viết lớp Hướng dẫn giáo viên học viết không đầy đủ Giáo viên không chữa viết kỹ lưỡng Giáo viên em có làm hoạt động sau trước em làm viết ? a Yêu cầu em xác định đối tượng độc giả viết  Thường xuyên  Thỉnh thoảng  Chưa b Yêu cầu em xác định mục đích viết  Thường xuyên  Thỉnh thoảng  Chưa Giáo viên thường yêu cầu em làm trước viết? ( khoanh nhiều lựa chọn) a Giáo viên thường yêu cầu em đọc hướng dẫn sách làm nhiệm vụ b.Giáo viên đưa câu hỏi gợi ý c Giáo viên cung cấp cho em viết mẫu d Yêu cầu em tìm ý lập dàn ý e Ý kiến khác… Giáo viên em coi viết lần đầu em là: a viết để chấm sửa chữa, đánh giá b viết nháp để chỉnh sửa, viết lại thành viết hoàn chỉnh Khi viết đầu tiên, em thường giáo viên yêu cầu viết theo hình thức nhất? a cá nhân b Nhóm c Lúc viết cá nhân , lúc viết theo nhóm VII Trong em viết, gv thường làm gì: a.Giáo viên quanh lớp quan sát giúp đỡ học sinh gặp khó khăn viết b Giáo viên tham gia vào hai nhóm c Giáo viên ngồi bàn khơng làm 10 Ai đối tượng nhận xét viết em sau em viết xong bài? a Các bạn lớp b cô giáo c thân em 11 Theo em, nên có thay đổi để em học kỹ viết tốt ? Đồng ý Tham gia lớp bồi dưỡng giáo viên để học hỏi, trao đổi kinh nghiệm, phương pháp giảng dạy Giáo viên Cung cấp cho học sinh thêm nhiều tài liệu tham khảo ( viết mẫu, ) Đưa nhiều hướng dẫn cho học sinh học viết Đưa nhận xét chữa cẩn thận Tổ chức làm việc theo nhóm lúc tìm ý cho viết Tổ chức chữa theo cặp Học sinh Tích cực, chủ động học Tự học để tăng kiến thức trình độ tiếng Anh Ý kiến khác:……………… *** The end*** VIII Không đồng ý Appendix Find out the names of some sports in the box The words may go across (), down (), up () For example: Tennis H I N 3 10 T E N N I S N M H P I J G R W I M S A I L I N G I O U A B A G B K Q M W N O L T E O S T M E R V H H G W L O I A Q N Y L I L S F N P H W B O X I N G G S P U B N T N D Z L X F 10 F Y T O G W Q N H I IX Appendix Guessing Game Find out the names of festivals in the sentences: The masks, lanterns, toys, decorations and drums are sold in streets on the occasion Trick or treating is a custom for children on this festival The peach and the apricot blossoms are symbols of the festival People celebrate the festival by sending cards and gifts such as flowers and candy It is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of November People love to decorate Christmas tree and hang up evergreen branches Daughters cook dinner, lay the table on that day and the sons help the mother wash dishes after the dinner X