Effectiveness of implementing the genre approach on non-English major students’ writing performance at University of Social Sciences and Humanities

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** TÔ THỊ MAI EFFECTIVENESS OF IMPLEMENTING THE GENRE APPROACH ON NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ WRITING PERFORMANCE AT UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES (HIỆU QUẢ ỨNG DỤNG ĐỊNH HƯỚNG DẠY VIẾT THEO THỂ LOẠI ĐỐI VỚI KHẢ NĂNG VIẾT CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI VÀ NHÂN VĂN) M.A COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2015 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** TÔ THỊ MAI EFFECTIVENESS OF IMPLEMENTING THE GENRE APPROACH ON NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ WRITING PERFORMANCE AT UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES (HIỆU QUẢ ỨNG DỤNG ĐỊNH HƯỚNG DẠY VIẾT THEO THỂ LOẠI ĐỐI VỚI KHẢ NĂNG VIẾT CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI VÀ NHÂN VĂN) M.A COMBINED PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Prof Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi – 2015 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the minor thesis entitled “Effectiveness of implementing the genre approach on non-English major students’ writing performance at University of Social Sciences and Humanities” is the result of my own work and effort in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University The material in this research has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly and partially Hanoi, 2015 Tô Thị Mai i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people without whose help my thesis could not have been completed First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof Dr Hoang Van Van for his invaluable guidance, insightful comments and endless support I wish to express my deep indebtedness to Assoc Prof Dr Lam Quang Dong, Dean of the Faculty of English, University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) for his great encouragement to me Also, my special thanks are due to Ms Lai Phuong Thao, Vice Dean of the Faculty of English University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) and Ms Lam Thi Hoa Binh, Head of English Devision at University of Social Sciences and Humanity (USSH) for their kind assistance and valuable suggestions My thanks are also extended to all my student informants at USSH, my colleagues at ULIS and USSH, and all the people who have assisted my research work To all mentioned, and to many more, my heart extends the warmest thanks ii ABSTRACT The effectiveness of genre-based approaches to teaching writing has been widely acknowledged in a large number of experimental and theoretical studies; however, any detailed examination of this effectiveness on both students’ writing performance and their attitudes towards writing in light of genre approaches is still limited This study is an attempt to provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the genre-based approach in enhancing both the writing performance and attitudes towards writing of non-English majored students at University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi The study lasted 10 weeks, adopted the quasi-experimental design with one control group and one experimental group and used the writing pre-test/posttest and attitude pre-scale/post-scale instruments The results show that the genre-based approach helped students improve their writing performance in terms of content, communicative achievement and organisation, while their command of language did not show remarkable improvement Furthermore, the findings also reveal more positive attitudes of students towards learning writing when being taught in the genre-based approach Based on those findings, the thesis provides some implications for using the genre-based approach in teaching writing to low level students at university iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES viii ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS ix PART A INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aims of the study .3 Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study 5.1 Research method 5.2 Research instruments 5.3 Data collection 5.4 Data analyis Design of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW .7 1.1 Theoretical background .7 1.1.1 Different approaches to teaching writing .7 1.1.1.1 Product approach 1.1.1.2.Process approach 1.1.1.3 Genre approach 10 1.1.1.3.1 The concept of “genre” 10 1.1.1.3.2 Application of the genre approach 12 1.1.1.3.3 Merits of the genre approach 18 iv 1.1.1.3.4 Comparison among the product, process and genre approaches .20 1.1.2 Theory of recount writing 25 1.1.2.1 Definition of recount 25 1.1.2.2 Generic concepts of recount .26 1.1.2.3 Grammatical features of recount 26 1.1.2.4 Types of recount 26 1.1.3 Corrective feedback and writing assessment 27 1.1.3.1 Corrective feedback 27 1.1.3.1.1 Feedback in the Product Approach 27 1.1.3.1.2 Feedback in the process approach 28 1.1.3.1.3 Feedback in the genre approach 28 1.1.3.2 Writing Assessment 29 1.1.4 Writing performance and writing attitude 31 1.2 Related studies 32 1.2.1 Effectiveness of genre-based approaches 32 1.2.2 Limitations of previous studies 36 CHAPTER TWO 38 METHODOLOGY 38 2.1 Research design 38 2.2 Setting and participants 39 2.3 Instruments 41 2.3.1 Genre-based approach syllabus of recount genre 41 2.3.2 Written English performance pre-test and post-test 41 2.3.3 Analytical scoring rubric 42 2.3.4 Pre-scale and post-scale attitude questionnaires 45 2.4 Lesson procedure 46 2.4.1 Lesson procedure in the genre-based approach 46 2.4.1.1 Building up the field knowledge 46 2.4.1.2 Modelling the text 47 2.4.1.3 Joint construction of a new text 48 v 2.4.1.4 Independent construction of a new text 48 2.4.2 Lesson procedure in the process approach 46 2.4.1.1 Lesson 46 2.4.2.2 Lesson 47 2.4.1.3 Lesson 47 2.4.2.4 Lesson 47 2.4.1.5 Lesson 47 2.4.2.6 Lesson 47 2.4.1.7 Lesson 47 2.4.2.8 Lesson 48 2.5 Data collection 51 2.6 Data analysis 52 2.6.1 Pre-test and post-test 52 2.6.2 Pre-scale and post-scale attitude questionnaire 52 CHAPTER THREE 54 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 54 3.1 Equivalence of the control and experimental groups before the experiment 54 3.2 Findings .58 3.2.1 Research question .58 3.2.1.1 Differences between experimental and control groups on the writing performance 58 3.2.1.2 Differences in the experimental group on the writing performance preand post-test 60 3.2.2 Research question 63 3.3 Discussion 65 3.3.1 Effectiveness of the genre-based approach in improving writing performance .65 3.3.2 Effectiveness of the genre-based approach in promoting students’ attitudes 67 vi PART C 69 CONCLUSION 69 Recapitulation 69 Implications of the study 70 Limitations of the study 71 Recommendations for further research 72 REFERENCES 74 APPENDIXES I vii ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS EFL English as a Foreign Language USSH University of Social Sciences and Humanities CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages EFL English as a foreign language & and N number α significance level (a term used in SPSS) t t value (a term used in SPSS) df degree of freedom (a term used in SPSS) sig significance (a term used in SPSS) viii linking words Text is connected using basic, highfrequency linking words limited number of cohesive devices linking words and cohesive devices Language Band Band Band Band Band Uses basic vocabulary reasonably appropriately Uses basic vocabulary appropriately Uses simple grammatical forms with some degree of control Uses simple grammatical forms with a fairly good degree of control Uses everyday vocabulary generally appropriately, while occasionally overusing certain lexis Use a range of everyday vocabulary appropriately, with occasional inappropriate use of less common lexis Use a range of both everyday vocabularies appropriately and appropriate use of some less common lexis Errors may impede meaning at times While errors are noticeable, meaning can still be determined Uses simple grammatical forms with a good degree of control While errors are noticeable, meaning can still be determined III Use a range of simple and some complex grammatical forms with a good degree of control Errors not impede communication Use a range of simple and complex grammatical forms with a good degree of control Errors are nearly free APPENDIX STUDENT’S WRITING ATTITUDE PRE-SCALE/ POST-SCALE Student’s name: Class: Date: In this scale, you find statements about writing The scale aims at finding out your attitude towards writing Please check () the statements that best fit your opinion There is no right or wrong answer Please answer as candidly as possible Statements Strongly agree I like writing I hate writing Writing is fun Writing is boring I think writing is easy I think writing is difficult I like talking about writing with my friends Writing is important to my future career I wish I had more time to write at college 10 I want to write better 11 I look forward to writing down my own ideas 12 Writing is a very important way for me to express my feelings 13 Learning the process of writing is complex 14 When I have something to express, I'd rather write it than say it 15 When the teacher says it is writing time, I feel nervous 16 Working with writing activities makes me feel important 17 I feel happy when I present my writing before my classmates 18 I don't like my writing to be evaluated 19 I have no fear of my writing being scored and commented on 20 Using a model in writing is a waste of time 21 I reread and rewrite what I have written willingly 22 Using process writing wastes a lot of time 23 I consider the purpose and the audience for my piece of writing 24 I like to participate in class activities about writing 25 Expressing my ideas through writing seems to be a waste of time IV Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 26 Awareness of relationship between readers and writers is important because it helps us use appropriate language 27 I cannot think of ideas rapidly when given a topic to write 28 I tend to repeat the same words over and over again 29 I am not confident to use a range of vocabulary in my writing 30 I can use transition words and connectors to make my writing better 31 I can write an interesting and appropriate response to a given topic 32 I can make long and complex sentences 33 I can use an appropriate style to every writing task 34 I can edit my writing for mistakes such as punctuation and spelling 35 I can produce error free structures 36 I can finish my writing within the time limit 37 Readers like what I write 38 I think I am a good writer Thank you very much! V PHIẾU ĐÁNH GIÁ THÁI ĐỘ HỌC VIẾT CỦA SINH VIÊN Họ tên: Lớp: Ngày: Trong thang đánh giá này, bạn thấy quan điểm việc học viết Mục đích thang đánh giá nhằm tìm hiểu thái độ bạn việc học viết Hãy tích () quan điểm phù hợp với thái độ bạn Khơng có câu trả lời hay sai Bạn trả lời chân thực tốt Hồn tồn đồng ý Quan điểm Tơi thích viết Tôi ghét viết Viết thật thú vị Viết thật buồn chán Tơi nghĩ viết dễ Tơi nghĩ viết khó Tơi thích nói chuyện hoạt đơng viết với bạn bè Viết quan trọng nghiệp tơi tương lai Tơi ước có nhiều thời gian viết trường đại học 10 Tôi muốn viết tốt 11 Tôi mong viết ý kiến 12 Viết cách quan trọng để thể cảm xúc 13 Học viết theo trình thật phức tạp 14 Khi tơi muốn diễn đạt điều đó, tơi thích viết nói 15 Khi giáo viên nói đến viết, cảm thấy lo lắng 16 Làm việc với hoạt động viết khiến tơi thấy quan trọng 17 Tơi thấy vui trình bày viết trước lớp 18 Tơi khơng muốn viết bị đánh giá 19 Tôi không sợ viết bị chấm điểm nhận xét 20 Sử dụng mẫu học viết thật lãng phí thời gian 21 Tôi sẵn sàng đọc lại viết lại viết 22 Sử dụng cách viết theo q trình lãng phí nhiều thời gian 23 Tơi cân nhắc mục đích viết người đọc viết tơi 24 Tơi thích tham gia hoạt động viết lớp VI Đồng ý Không chắn Khơng đồng ý Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý 25 Thể ý tưởng thơng qua viết dường lãng phí thời gian 26 Nhận thức mối quan hệ người đọc người viết quan trọng giúp sử dụng ngôn ngữ phù hợp 27 Tơi khơng thể nghĩ ý tưởng nhanh chóng giao đề viết 28 Tơi có xu hướng nhắc lại từ nhiều lần viết 29 Tôi không tự tin sử dụng từ vựng đa dạng viết 30 Tơi sử dụng từ chuyển tiếp từ nối để làm cho viết tốt 31 Tơi viết phản hồi phù hợp thú vị cho chủ đề đưa 32 Tơi viết câu dài phức 33 Tơi sử dụng phong cách viết phù hợp với nhiệm vụ viết 34 Tơi tự sửa lỗi sai lỗi dấu câu lỗi tả viết 35 Tơi viết cấu trúc khơng có lỗi 36 Tơi hồn thành viết giới hạn thời gian 37 Người đọc thích tơi viết 38 Tơi nghĩ tơi người viết tốt Xin cảm ơn bạn! VII APPENDIX STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT FOR RECOUNT WRITING Please tick () what you have done in your recount writing Purpose: ❏ My writing tells the reader about an event Structure: ❏ I have written an orientation that gives information about who, when and where ❏ I have described the events in order ❏ I have written a personal evaluation about the events throughout the recount ❏ I have reoriented or rounded off the sequence of events Grammar: ❏ I have used adjectives or describing words to build noun groups to explain details ❏ I have used time connectives to put the steps in order ❏ I have used the past tense ❏ I have used pronouns to refer to people and places ❏ I have used evaluative language Writing Features: ❏ I have planned my writing ❏ I have used paragraphs correctly ❏ I have used correct sentences ❏ The subjects and verbs agree ❏ I have used plurals and articles correctly ❏ I have used capital letters, full stops and other punctuation markers correctly ❏ I have checked my spelling and corrected any mistakes ❏ I have re-read my work to edit it carefully VIII BẢN TỰ ĐÁNH GIÁ BÀI VIẾT TƯỜNG THUẬT – KỂ CHUYỆN Hãy tích () vào mục bạn làm viết Mục đích: ❏ Bài viết tơi kể cho người đọc kiện Cấu trúc: ❏ Tôi viết phần định hướng – phần mở đầu cho biết thông tin ai, nào, đâu ❏ Tôi miêu tả kiện theo trình tự ❏ Tôi viết đánh giá cá nhân kiện xuyên suốt viết ❏ Tôi kết thúc câu chuyện làm cho kiện vừa với câu chuyện Ngữ pháp: ❏ Tơi sử dụng tính từ cụm danh từ để miêu tả chi tiết ❏ Tôi sử dụng từ nối thời gian để xếp kiện theo trình tự ❏ Tơi sử dụng q khứ ❏ Tơi sử dụng đại từ để đề cập đến người nơi chốn ❏ Tôi sử dụng ngôn ngữ đánh giá Đặc điểm viết: ❏ Tôi lên kế hoạch viết ❏ Tôi sử dụng đoạn văn ❏ Tôi sử dụng cấu trúc câu ❏ Chủ ngữ tương hịa với động từ ❏ Tơi sử dụng danh từ số nhiều mạo từ ❏ Tôi viết hoa, sử dụng dấu chấm câu dấu câu khác đắn ❏ Tôi kiểm tra tả sửa lỗi ❏ Tơi đọc lại viết để sửa lại cẩn thận IX APPENDIX SAMPLE GENRE-BASED LESSON Source: Write Ways: Modelling Writing Forms (Wing Jan, 2001, pp 99–101) TEXT MODEL A visit to our grandparents On the weekend, my family visited my grandparents who live on a large farm about 200 kilometres from our place in the city We visited them because they cannot leave the farm very often to come to the city to see us When we arrived on Saturday afternoon, Grandfather made us a cup of Ovaltine and Grandmother gave us a dessert she had just made It was really delicious While Mum and Dad sat on the porch and drank their coffee and talked to my grandparents, my brother and I unpacked our bags and spent some time exploring the farm and the rice field Just before sunset, Grandfather rounded up the cows and let us feed them a bunch of grass We watched them swallow their food They did not eat much of the grass we gave them Grandfather told us that they all were full since they had eaten a lot of grass in the foothills during the daytime Then we helped Grandfather get the cows into their pen and watched them take a rest After dinner, our grandparents told us about what they used to when they were our age They showed us photos of Mum when she was little and before we went to bed, they told us bedtime stories which they used to tell when Mum was a child We loved the way they told those stories Our grandparents were really funny when they told the stories On Sunday morning we got up early and helped with feeding the cows After doing that, we helped our grandparents housework and prepare breakfast We really enjoyed doing these things because we always help our parents with housework when we are home Our grandparents were happy with our help We left the farm at about 2.30 in the afternoon after we had eaten lunch and helped with the dishes Before we left, we promised to visit our grandparents during the next school holidays We promised to stay longer During the drive back home, my brother fell asleep in the car because he had done so much on the farm I told Mum and Dad about all the other things I had done on the farm Firstly I told them about feeding the calves and then I told them about helping Grandfather to fix the cows’ pen It was worth experiencing and I had never done that before X On arrival at our house, we woke up my brother Then we all carried our bags inside and rang our grandparents to let them know that we had arrived home safely I really enjoyed the trip to the farm It was a great weekend Procedure PHASE 1: Building Knowledge of Field Teacher asks students about what they did last week Have students talk in pairs about their past experiences to their partners Ask some students to report to the class on what their partners have done during the past week Teacher elicits students’ ideas about where they can find a person’s story or recount, and what form of writing it is (personal letter, email, autobiography, diary, personal essay) Teacher concludes that each form of writing is called a “genre,” and the type of text talking about a person’s story is called “Recount.” The class discusses the purpose of recount Teacher hands out the model text and a blank piece of paper Ask students to read the text and then draw a flowchart describing important settings and the sequence of events in the text Teacher asks the class to check their flowcharts and discuss the story together Teacher provides the class with exercises dealing with grammar points such as past tense, connectives, active and passive voice, conjunctions and reported speech PHASE 2: Modeling the text Teacher presents other model texts to students Teacher ask students to compare the texts and figure out the common structure of the texts Teacher asks students what language features can be drawn from those texts 10 Teacher concludes with the whole class on the generic structure and language features of Recount texts 11 Teacher gives a new model text, and students analyse the text together by trying to answer the following questions: -What is the text about? -Who is the speaker of the text? -Why did the writer write the text? -How did the writer feel? -Who is the audience? XI -How many paragraphs does the text have? -What is the main idea of the first paragraph? -What is the similarity of the first paragraph to the last paragraph? -What is the main idea in each of the remaining paragraphs? -What is the first paragraph called? -What is the last paragraph called? -What are the rest of the paragraphs called? -What tense is mostly used in the whole text? -What other language features can be found in this kind of text? -What is the overall structure of the text? 12 Teacher provides a few more model texts and encourage students to analyse them Teacher has students work in pairs or groups to try to answer the questions from the previous activity; then has them present the findings to the whole class PHASE 3: Joint Construction 13 Teacher jointly composes a piece of Recount together with the class Teacher elicits ideas from students about imaginary events and the purpose of the writing Start to write, acting as a scribe or facilitator Teacher asks students to contribute to the text 14 While constructing the text, Teacher gives advice about the generic structure and language features to which students should pay much attention Teacher explicitly raises grammar points and vocabulary during this class activity PHASE 4: Independent Construction 15 Teacher asks students to think about what they are going to write on their own Teacher has students start planning and writing independently Students should start with outlining what they are going to write about according to the generic structure of Recount; that is, orientation, events and re-orientation Teacher reminds students to use various types of the language features of Recount 16 In the meantime, Teacher pays attention to students in case they have any difficulties or questions about their writing Teacher consults with students individually about their writing 18 Teacher asks students to revise and edit their first drafts of writing with use of the recount writing self-assessment Teacher lets students share their writing with their peers and re-edit before writing the second draft 19 Teacher has a conference with students for them to share problems or concerns; give comments on student writing XII 20 Teacher asks students to hand in their work individually and then gives feedback based on the Assessment of recount writing 21 Teacher has students improve their writing by using the teacher comments and submit the final draft XIII APPENDIX SAMPLE PRE-TEST WRITINGS Sample 1: Mark: 11/20 Content: Organisation: Communicative Achievement: Language: XIV SAMPLE PRE-TEST WRITINGS Sample 2: Mark: 09/20 Content: Organisation: Communicative Achievement: Language: XV SAMPLE POST-TEST WRITINGS Sample (Experimental group) Mark: 15/20 Content: Organisation: Communicative Achievement: Language: XVI SAMPLE POST-TEST WRITINGS Sample (control group) Mark: 12/20 Content: Organisation: Communicative Achievement: Language: XVII