The use of pre-writing activities to improve writing skills for 11th form students at Tien Du 3 High School, Bac Ninh - An action research

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Hanoi University of languages and international studies Department of postgraduate studies  NGUYEN THI LOI THE USE OF PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS FOR 11TH FORM STUDENTS AT TIEN DU HIGH SCHOOL, BAC NINH – AN ACTION RESEARCH (Sư DơNG MộT Số HOạT Động tr-ớc viết nhằm phát triển kỹ viết cho học sinh lớp 11 tr-ờng thpt tiên du số tỉnh bắc ninh nghiên cứu hành động) MA MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HANOI, 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Department of Postgraduate Studies …………… …………… NGUYEN THI LOI THE USE OF PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS FOR 11TH FORM STUDENTS AT TIEN DU HIGH SCHOOL, BAC NINH – AN ACTION RESEARCH (Sử DụNG MộT Số HOạT Động tr-ớc viết nhằm phát triển kỹ viết cho học sinh lớp 11 tr-ờng thpt tiên du số tỉnh bắc ninh nghiên cứu hành động) MA MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THI VAN QUYEN, MA HANOI, 2009 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… iii List of Tables and Charts…………………………………………………………… iv Table of contents…………………………………………………………………… v CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of problems ……………………………………………………… 1.2 Aims and research questions of the study …………………………………… 1.2.1 Aims of the study … ……………………………………………………… 1.2.2 Research questions of the study …………………………………………… 1.3 Methods of the study ………………………………………………………… 1.4 Significance of the study ….………………………………………………… 1.5 Design of the study…………………………………………………………… CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 2.2 Theoretical background of writing ………………………………………… 2.2.1 Definition of writing ………………………………………………… 2.2.2 Types of writing … 2.2.3 Why students need to write? ………………………………………… 2.2.4 Factors affecting written communication……………………………… 2.2.5 Writing process ………………………………………………………… 2.2.6 The product of writing …………………………………………….… 2.3 Pre-writing stage and pre-writing activities … ……………………… 2.3.1 Pre-writing stage ……………………………………………….……… 2.3.2 Some common pre-writing activities ………………………………… 10 2.3.3 Benefits of pre-writing activities ……………………………………… 14 vi 2.3.4 A warning about pre-writing activities ………………………………… 15 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research method ……………………………….…………………………… 16 3.2 Overview of action research …………………………………………………… 16 3.3 Descriptions of the research …………………………………………………… 16 3.3.1 Description of the participants of the study …………………………… 16 3.3.1.1 The students …………………………………………………… 16 3.3.1.2 The teacher ……………………………………………………… 17 3.3.1.3 The rater ………………………………………………………… 17 3.3.1.4 The textbook …………………………………………………… 17 3.3.2 Planning-identifying the current problems and the causes of the problem s 18 3.3.2.1 Pre-test instrument ……………………………………………… 18 3.3.2.2 Questionnaire instrument ……………………………………… 18 3.3.3 Preliminary investigation ……………………………………………… 19 3.3.4 Hypothesis ……………………………………………………………… 19 3.3.5 Action, developing an action plan and conducting the experiment …… 19 3.3.6 Observation, collecting data and observing the effects of the action …… 22 3.3.7 Reflection, evaluating the action plan and the evaluated effects of the action 23 3.3.8 Data collection instruments and their procedures ……………………… 23 3.3.9 Summary ……………………………………………………………… 23 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1: Data analysis procedures …….………………………………………………… 25 4.2 The results of the pre-test and post-test ……………………………………… 26 4.3 The results of the students’ pre- and post-attitudinal survey ………………… 27 4.3.1: The students’ attitude towards writing …………………………………… 27 4.3.2 The problems that cause the difficulties in students’ writing …………… 28 4.3.3 The students’ preferences for participating in the pre-writing activities … 30 4.3.4 The students’ assessment of some pre-writing activities ………………… 31 4.3.5 The role of pre-writing activities to the improvement of students’ writing 34 vii 4.4 The students’ comments on the pre-writing activities implemented …………… 35 4.5 Discussion ……………………………………………………………………… 36 4.6 Concluding remarks …………………………………………………………… 37 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION 5.1 Suggestions …………………………………………………………………… 39 5.2 Limitations of the study and recommendations for further research ………… 40 5.3 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………… 41 REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: Schedule for writing lessons of the second term …………………… I Appendix 2: Questionnaires for students before and after the action plan ……… III Appendix 3: Tests ………………………………………………………………… V Appendix 3.1 Pre-test ……………………………………………… V Appendix 3.2 Post-test ……………………………………………… VI Appendix 4: Results of the Pre- and Post-tests ….………… VII Appendix 5: Results of the Pre- and Post-study survey questionnaires ………… VIII Appendix 6: Sample lesson plan for applying pre-writing activities in class ……… X Chapter 1: Introduction 1.Statement of problems It is undeniable that English is the international medium of communication in the fields of science, technology, culture, education, economy, politic and so on It is also considered a means to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries in the world Since Vietnam officially joined WTO, the importance of English has been recognized more and more widely For its role, English has been not only a compulsory subject in almost all high schools in Vietnam but one of the three major subjects in the high school final examination and in the entrance exam to some universities and colleges as well Together with the development of English, there are many changes in the curriculum for high school students In the past, the contents in the textbook mainly focused on grammar, reading and speaking Listening and writing in contexts were almost neglected Students could practice listening skill only by listening to their teachers They rarely had a chance to listen to foreigners or listen in situations Their writing skill was even worse Although they were very good at doing exercises in structural forms, they could hardly write a topic in class Only when the new set of textbooks is used, students have more chances to learn writing skill To students in the school where I am teaching, writing seems to be the most difficult skill Many of them see writing lessons as times of sighing, pencil – chewing, foot – shuffling agony Some students even state that “Oh, I’ve no ideas”, “My palms are sweating, my heart is beating fast, and my mind is blocked”, “It’s not easy to get it started at all” Why is it that for large numbers of high school students, writing seems to be a great problem? As a teacher, I have thought a lot about this question There are many things that one can to aid in the writing process such as using visual aids, using multi-media, etc Among the three stages of a writing lesson: pre-writing, while-writing and post-writing, I think prewriting is considered the most important one It helps students to get starting to write easily It is the key in the development of a “good” essay and the “evolution” of good writing skills The above reason has encouraged me to investigate into different pre-writing activities I would like to something with the hope of improving writing skill for our students at Tien Du High School Therefore, the thesis title goes as “The Use of Pre-writing Activities to Improve Writing Skills for 11th form students at Tien Du High School, Bac Ninh – An Action Research” Hopefully, the activities introduced in this study will be of some help for the author and other teachers in writing lessons 1.2 Aims and research questions of the study 1.2.1 Aims of the study The purposes of this study are to investigate the causes of the difficulties which 11th form students at Tien Du high school encounter in learning writing and to investigate the effectiveness of some pre-writing activities employed with a view to improving students’ writing To achieve the above purposes, the study has to follow the steps below: - To investigate the causes of the difficulties in writing lessons from classroom observation and classroom interaction - To devise some pre-writing activities and use them in writing lessons to solve the problem - To examine the effectiveness of these activities to decide whether they are helpful or not 1.2.2 Research questions of the study This study explores the use of different pre-writing activities for 11th form students in Tien Du High School The weaknesses in writing skills of those students have encouraged the researcher to investigate these activities in the light of the following questions: 1- What are the causes of difficulties in students’ writing? 2- How the pre-writing activities affect 11th form students in Tien Du High School in their writing? 1.3 Methods of the study The study was carried out using action research method The data were collected from survey questionnaires, class observation and interviews with students Questionnaires are designed as a means to make the researcher’s evaluation more objective The questionnaires are given to eleventh form students of Tien Du High School to find out their evaluation on the pre-writing activities implemented as well as their comments and suggestions for these activities 1.4 Significance of the study The study highlights the importance of pre-writing stage in the process of a writing lesson It may also provide some useful ideas for teachers and help them implement the activities in the pre-writing stage more effectively Finally yet importantly, the author of the study hopes that the suggested pre-writing activities can help students improve their writing skill in class 1.5 Design of the study The study consists of five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Literature Review; Chapter 3: Methodology; Chater 4: Data Analysis; Chapter 5: Suggestion and conclusion Chapter 1, the introduction, presents the background to the study and statement of the problem, the aims, significance and design of the study It also expresses the author’s reasons for choosing the method to fulfill the study Chapter two, Literature Review, presents the main concepts relevant to the research topic such as different points of views about writing, definition of pre-writing, the importance of the pre-writing stage in a writing lesson, etc Chapter three presents the methodology used in the study The researcher attempts to improve students’ writing practice in classroom Therefore, the methodology employed in this study is action research Chapter provides detailed results of the survey questionnaires and class observation The students’ comments are also given in this chapter The comprehensive analysis on the data collected is supplied in details in this part The last chapter of this study, chapter 5, offers some major findings of using prewriting activities in class It also gives a “Conclusion” to the study, which emphasizes the key issues in the study, points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for the further study Chapter 2: Literature review 2.1 Introduction To provide a theoretical background to the study, this chapter is devoted to the review of concepts most relevant to the thesis’s topic These are the theoretical background of writing, the stages of a writing lesson, and the factors affecting teaching and learning writing 2.2 Theoretical background of writing It is important to identify the skills involved in written communication to devise effective activities to teach writing To identify the skills we need to know what writing actually involves Hence the following parts review the different definitions of writing, the processes involved in writing and the factors that affect written communication 2.2.1 Definition of writing What writing is and how it is developed has been a subject of discussion and debate for centuries, from the time of Aristotle, Cicero, etc to present Through there are different viewpoints, it is commonly agreed that writing is far from being a simple matter of transcribing language into written symbols: it is a thinking process in its own right It demands conscious intellectual effort, which usually has to be sustained over a considerable period of time Given below are some of the views of various writers on the definition of writing In “The world’s writing systems”, Daniels (1996, p3) defines writing as “A system of more or less permanent marks used to represent an utterance in such a way that it can be recovered more or less exactly without the intervention of the utterer” According to Donn Byrne, “Writing involves the encoding of a message of some kind: that is, we translate our thoughts into language” (1979:1) It is obvious that when we write, we use graphic symbols: that is, letters or combinations of letters which relate to the sounds we make when we speak On one level, writing can be said to be the act of forming these symbols: making marks on a flat surface of some kind But writing is clearly much more than the production of sounds The symbols have to be arranged, according to certain conventions, to form words, and words have to be arranged to form sentences As a rule, however, we not write just one sentence or even a number of unrelated sentences We produce a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and linked together in certain ways The page on http://web.mit.edu/writing/Writing_Process/writingprocess.html defines writing as followed: “Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing It is known as a recursive process While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas” The above quotation closely relates to the steps in a writing lesson That is, pre-writing, whilewriting and post-writing It is the teacher’s duty to make the writing lessons more interesting and useful for students 2.2.2 Types of writing There are different opinions about the types of writing Davies and Widdowson (1974), Rivers and Temperley (1978), and Pincas (1982) elaborated writing into six categories: (1) Personal writing is writing for oneself (diaries, journals, shopping lists, reminders for oneself, packing lists, addresses, recipes); (2) Study writing is also for oneself (making notes while reading, taking notes from lecturers, making a card index, summaries, synopses, reviews, reports of experiments/ workshops/ visits, essays, bibliographies; (3) Public writing is as a member of the general public to organizations or institutions (letters of inquiry/ complaint/ request, form-filling, applications for memberships); (4) Creative writing can include poems, stories, rhymes, drama, songs, autobiography; (5) Social writing is a category which includes letters, invitations, notes of condolence/ of thanks/ of congratulations, cablegrams, telephone messages, instructions to friend/ family; (6) Institutional writing relates to professional roles (agendas, minutes, memoranda, reports, reviews, contracts, business letters, public notices, advertisements, posters, instructions, speeches, applications, curriculum vitae, specifications and note-making 2.2.3 Why students need to write? Writing is one skill that students need to learn in class In the past, writing skill was almost neglected in language teaching in Vietnam Students could hardly be able to write a letter or an essay in English successfully Only from some years back to now, writing has been paid much attention to 42 however, I found myself looking forward to the hectic pace that resulted from the pre-writing activities implemented to the students in my school To sum up, the result of this study serves as a starting point for researches into different kinds of pre-writing activities and writing The continuation of research in this area will help teachers more appropriately prepare their students for their higher achievement in writing as well as the other skills in English I APPENDIX SCHEDULE FOR WRITING LESSONS OF THE SECOND TERM Unit 9: THE POST OFFICE (Pg 107) Task 1: Work with a partner Imagine that you have been using some of the services by Thanh Ba Post Office (you have read about this post office in the reading section) Discuss the things that may make you satisfied (or dissatisfied) with the services there Task 2: After a year in the job, the director of Thanh Ba Post Office has invited residents in the neighbourhood to write letters to him describing the quality of the services they have received Write such a letter, using the ideas you discussed in Task Unit 10: NATURE IN DANGER (Pg 120) Write a description of Cat Ba National Park, using the facts and figures below (Page 120) Unit 11: SOURCES OF ENERGY (Pg 130) Task 1: Study the chart about energy consumption in Highland in 2000 and fill in the gaps with the information from the chart Task 2: Continue your description of the trends in energy consumption in the year 2005 in Highland Task 3: Describe the chart, using the information from Tasks and Unit 12: THE ASIAN GAMES (Pg 143) Suppose Vietnam is going to host the coming Asian Games Write a paragraph of 120 words to describe the preparations for the Games, using the cues given Unit 13: HOBBIES (Pg 151) Write about your collection, real or imaginary, following these guidelines Unit 14: RECREATION (Pg 159) Task 1: Last weekend, class 11A2 went to Ba Vi for a camping holiday Below are some of their activities during their two-day holiday Match them with the correct pictures Task 2: Imagine you are one of the students in class 11A2 Write a passage about your class’s camping holiday, using the information in Task Unit 15: SPACE CONQUEST (Pg 174) II Task 1: Below is some information about Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon Put each of the headings in the box in the appropriate blank Task 2: Write a biography of Neil Armstrong from the information given in Task Unit 16: THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD (Pg 184) Write a biography of Mark Twain, using the following information III APPENDIX Appendix 2.1: Questionnaire for students before and after the action plan (English version) This survey questionnaire is intended for the thesis “The Use of Pre-writing Activities to Improve Writing Skills for 11th form students at Tien Du High School, Bac Ninh – An Action Research” I am grateful for your goodwill and cooperation in completing the questionnaires Please, be assured that the information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence Thank you very much! Please answer the following questions in brief or circle in the appropriate answer that you choose You may circle more than one response if necessary Do you like writing at school? A, Not at all B, A little C, A lot D, A whole lot When doing a writing task, you have any trouble thinking about what to write? A, Not at all B, A little C, Some D, A lot Which of the following factors make it difficult for you to write a topic in class? A, The lack of background knowledge B, The lack of vocabulary C, The lack of pre-writing activities in class D Others: ……………………………………… How would you like to take part in the pre-writing activities? A, Work in pairs IV B, Work in groups C, Work individually D, Whole class with teacher directing How you find the following pre-writing activities? (Please tick your choice) Useful Not very useful Useless Brainstorming Asking questions Listing Outlining Clustering Drawing Rapid free-writing How you find the role of pre-writing activities to the improvement of your writing? A, Very important B, Important C, Not very important D, Not important at all Thank you very much for your co-operation! V APPENDIX Appendix 3.1: Pre-test Code number: ………………… Full name: ……………………… Class: 11A3-Tien Du High School Code number: …………………… Final score in number: …………………… In words: ……………… Topic: Write about your collection, real or imaginary, following these guidelines:  Name of your collection  How you collect them  How you keep them  When you started your collection  How you classify them  Why you collect them  Your plan for the future VI Appendix 3.2: Post-test Code number: ………………… Full name: ……………………… Class: 11A3-Tien Du High School Code number: …………………… Final score in number: …………………… In words: ……………… Topic: Below are some notes made by a visitor to the Ponagar Cham Towers in Nha Trang Use his/her notes to write a report on the visit  Brief tour to Ponagar Cham Towers in Nha Trang  Example of Cham architecture in central Vietnam  Consists of towers  Located on Cu Lao Marble Hill, km north of Nha Trang  Built between 8th and 13th centuries  Each tower dedicated to a different god  Largest tower 22.5m high, built in honour of Lady Thien Y, contain sandstone statue, sit on Buddha’s throne  Statue 2.6 m high, with 10 hands, hold objects, illustrate the Buddha’s power  Last hours  Tiring but enjoyable, memorable VII APPENDIX Results of the Pre- and Post-tests Name Pre-test Post-test Name Pre-test Post-test Student Student 24 6 Student 6 Student 25 Student Student 26 Student 7 Student 27 Student Student 28 7 Student Student 29 Student 7 Student 30 Student Student 31 Student Student 32 Student 10 Student 33 Student 11 Student 34 7 Student 12 Student 35 Student 13 Student 36 Student 14 Student 37 Student 15 Student 38 Student 16 Student 39 Student 17 Student 40 5 Student 18 8 Student 41 Student 19 Student 42 Student 20 Student 43 Student 21 Student 44 Student 22 Student 45 6 Student 23 VIII Appendix 5: Results of the Pre- and Post-study survey questionnaire Do you like writing at school? Pre-study Post-study A, Not at all 17 (38%) 12 (27%) B, A little 15 (33%) 14 (31%) C, A lot (20%) 13 (29%) D, A whole lot (9%) (13%) When doing a writing task in class, you have any trouble thinking about what to write? A, Not at all (7%) (15.5%) B, A little 13 (29%) 16 (36%) C, Some 19 (42%) 15 (33%) D, A lot 10 (22%) (15.5%) Which of the following factors make it difficult for you to write a topic in class? A, The lack of background knowledge 10 (22%) 11 (24%) B, The lack of vocabulary 13 (29%) 16 (36%) C, The lack of pre-writing activities in class 17 (38%) 10 (22%) D, Others: …………………… (11%) (18%) How would you like to take part in the pre-writing activities? A, Work in pairs 11 (24%) (13%) B, Work in groups 16 (36%) 21 (47%) C, Work individually (18%) (7%) D, Whole class with teacher directing 10 (22%) 15 (33%) IX How you find the following pre-writing activities? (Please tick your choice) Useful Not very useful Useless Pre-study Post-study Pre-study Post-study Pre-study Post-study Brainstorming 40 (89%) 45 (100%) (11%) 0 Asking questions 32 (71%) 37 (82%) 13 (29%) (18%) 0 Listing 27 (60%) 28 (62%) 12 (27%) 13 (29%) (13%) (9%) Outlining 21 (47%) 24 (53%) 14 (31%) 16 (36%) 10 (22%) (11%) Clustering 17 (38%) 22 (49%) 19 (42%) 16 (36%) (20%) (15%) Drawing 34 (76%) 37 (82%) (18%) (16%) (6%) (2%) Rapid free-writing 14 (31%) 12 (27%) 18 (40%) 20 (44%) 13 (29%) 13 (29%) Pre-study Post-study A, Very important 15 (33%) 22 (49%) B, Important 21 (47%) 19 (42%) C, Not very important (13%) (9%) D, Not important at all (7%) (0%) How you find the role of pre-writing activities to the improvement of your writing? X Appendix 6: Sample lesson plans for applying pre-writing activities in class Textbook: English 11 Unit 13: Hobbies D writing I AIMS - By the end of the lesson, students will be able to write about a collection - Work in pairs/groups effectively II OBJECTIVES - The students will be given writing prompts about collections - Students will be able to write about their collections, real or imaginary III- teaching method|: -Communicative approach V- Teaching aids: - Paper, pen, posters, handouts, laptop, etc VI- ACTIVITIES AND Procedures Warm up -have students play a game: jumbled word -play the game Lolecoctin -call one student to write the word on the board -lead in the lesson: today you are going to learn how to write about your collection pre-writing collection XI -show a picture of a doll collection and ask ss: -look at the picture and answer: +What is it? +It is a doll collection -write the answer on the board It is a doll collection It is a collection of dolls *Activity -ask ss to work in pairs to write the names of -a st writes the answers on board the following collections 1, coin collection 2, stamp collection 3, butterfly collection 4, book collection XII Activity 2: Read the following guidelines and rearrange them into a logical order Name of your collection How you collect them How to keep them When you started your collection How you classify them Why you collect them Your plan for the future -ask ss to work in groups to rearrange them into a -work in groups to rearrange them into a logical order logical order -call one student to write the answer on the board Suggested answer: 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, -give feedback XIII Activity 3: Match the guidelines with the ideas Guidelines Ideas Name of your collection a In albums, in boxes, on shelves… When you started your collection b To relax, to kill time, to entertain, to How you collect them broaden knowledge… How you classify them c A book collection, a coin collection… How to keep them d Continue to collect, make the Why you collect them Your plan for the future collection richer and richer… e Buy, ask, exchange… f Last year, some years ago, when I was 14 years old, when I learned at … g Into categories, ages, countries, colors, Suggested answer: 1c, 2f, 3e, 4g, 5a , 6b, 7d while-writing -Write about your collection, real or imaginary, - Do the writing task as required following the guidelines above -go around the class to observe and offer help when necessary post-writing -show the writing of students to correct - ask students to find the mistakes and correct -listen and correct XIV -call on some others to read aloud their writing -ask some Qs about their writing -Listen and answer Homework -write about your collection in the notebook -prepare “language focus” Suggested writing: I am very proud of my stamp collection I started collecting stamps when I was 15 years old Most of my stamps were bought from post office In addition, there are also foreign stamps which I received from my pen pals in Australia, France, and the United States To add more stamps to my collection, I sometimes exchange stamps with those who share the same hobby with me I classify them into categories: animals, plants, birds, landscape and people Now there are over 100 stamps of all kinds in my collection All of them are kept in album I like collecting stamps because it helps me to broaden my knowledge about landscape, people, animals, plants and trees Therefore I still continue to collect stamps to make my collection richer and richer What a pleasant thing to look at my beautiful stamps!