An investigation into writing strategies of 11th grade students at Huu Lung upper secondary school, Lang Son

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG VINH AN INVESTIGATION INTO WRITING STRATEGIES OF 11th GRADE STUDENTS AT HUU LUNG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL, LANG SON (Nghiên cứu chiến lược học viết tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường Trung Học Phổ Thông Hữu Lũng- Lạng Sơn) MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.0111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG VINH AN INVESTIGATION INTO WRITING STRATEGIES OF 11th GRADE STUDENTS AT HUU LUNG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL, LANG SON (Nghiên cứu chiến lược học viết tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường Trung Học Phổ Thông Hữu Lũng- Lạng Sơn) MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.0111 Supervisor: Trần Thị Thu Hiền, Ph.D Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION I hereby certify the thesis entitled “An Investigation into writing strategies of 11th grade students at Huu Lung Upper Secondary School, Lang Son” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Hanoi, September 2014 Signature Le Thi Hong Vinh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On the completion of this thesis, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude and deep gratitude to my supervisor, Tran Thi Thu Hien, PhD, who gave me benefits of her wisdom and her expert knowledge in teaching methods as well as her constant encouragement from the beginning stage of working out the research proposal to the final stage of writing up the thesis for her Without her valuable suggestions, careful and detailed critical comments, this thesis would not have been fulfilled My sincere thanks also go to all my grade-11 students and teachers at Huu Lung Upper Secondary School for their assistance during the process of data collection Also, my appreciation goes to my family and friends for their support whose encouragement and assistance are of extreme importance during the course of my writing ii ABSTRACT The present study aimed at exploring writing strategies employed by the eleventh graders at Huu Lung Upper Secondary School (HLUSS) Participants were eighty eleventh graders identified as successful and unsuccessful writers The data for the study was gathered utilizing questionnaire and interview Oxford’s theory (1990) and Petric Czarl’s writing strategy questionnaire (2003) were used to formulate students’ writing strategies The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS 16.0 software The findings of this study revealed that twelve writing strategies were used at the highest degree by eleventh graders at HLUSS in which while-writing ones were most frequently employed Despite no variation in the frequency of the overall writing strategy use between two parties of writers, several differences were found in the use of individual items Some implications and suggestions for learning and teaching writing strategies were offered to enhance students’ writing performance iii LIST OF TABLES Page Tables Table Writing strategy use in each stage by students in the writing class 24 Table Overall writing strategies most frequently used 25 Table Mean and standard deviation of overall writing strategy between successful and unsuccessful students Table Mean and standard deviation of writing strategy at different 27 27 stages Table between successful and unsuccessful students Mean and standard deviation of prewriting strategies used by 28 Table successful and unsuccessful students Mean and standard deviation of while-writing strategies used by Table 29 successful and unsuccessful students Mean and standard deviation of revising strategies used by unsuccessful and unsuccessful students 31 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a foreign language ESL: English as a second language HLUSS: Huu Lung Upper Secondary School LLSs: language learning strategies SD: Standard deviations SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Science WSQ: Writing Strategy Questionnaire v TABLE OF CONTENT Declaration i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………… ii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………… iii List of table ………………………………………………………………… … iv List of abbreviations…………………………………………………………… v Table content ……………………………………………………………………….vi PART A: Introduction…………………………………………………………… 1 Rationale……………………………………………………………….…… Aims of the study ………………………………………………………… Research question….……………………………………………………… Method of the study…… ……………………………………………….… Scope of the study…………………………………………………………….3 Significance of the study ……………………………………………………3 Organizations of the study ……………………………………………… .3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT …………………………………………………… Chapter Literature Review.… ……………………………………………… 1.1 Learning language strategies ……………………………………………….5 1.1.1 Definition of learning language strategies……………………… 1.1.2 Classification of learning language strategies……………………… 1.2 Writing strategies………………………………………………………… 1.2.1 Definition of writing strategy……………………………………… 1.2.2 Writing strategy questionnaire…………………………………………9 1.3 Writing approaches……………………………………………………… 10 1.3.1 Product approach…………………………………………………… 11 1.3.2 Process approach…………………………………………………… 12 1.4 Previous studies ………………………………………………………… 13 1.4.1 Previous studies on language learning strategies……………………13 vi 1.4.2 Previous studies on writing strategies………………………………14 1.5.Summary……………………………………………………………………16 Chapter Methods………………………………………………………………18 2.1 Setting of the study……………………………………………………… 18 2.2 Participants…………………………………………………………………19 2.2.1 Students……………………………………………………………… 19 2.2.2 Teachers……………………………………………………………….19 2.3 Instruments ……………………………………………………………… 19 2.3.1.Questionnaire…………………….……………………………………19 2.3.2 Interview…………………………………………………………… 20 2.4 Data collection procedure ……………………………………………… 21 2.4.1 Questionnaire………………………………………………………….21 2.4.2 Interview………………………………………………………………22 2.5 Data analysis……………………………………………………………….22 2.6 Summary………………………………………………………………… 23 Chapter 3: Results and Discussion………………………………………………24 3.1.Results ………………………………………………………………………24 3.1.1.Questionnaire………………………………………………………… 24 3.1.1.1.Writing strategies most frequently used by 11th HL students……24 3.1.1.2 Differences in writing strategy use based on proficiency level…26 3.1.2 Interview……………………………………………………………… 31 3.2 Findings and discussions………………………………………………… 32 3 Chapter summary ………………………………………………………… 34 PART C: Conclusion…………………………………………………………… 35 Recapitulation …………… ……………………………………………… 35 Implications………………………………………………………………… 35 Limitations of the study and suggestion further studies…………………… 37 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………… 39 Appendix ……………………………………………………………………….I vii Appendix ……………………………………………………………………….III Appendix ……………………………………………………………………… V Appendix …………………………………………………………………… XIV viii APPENDIX SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS’ SCORE IN PREVIOUS SEMESTER Successful students (SS) Gender Previous semester Male 8.7 Female 9.3 Female 8.0 Female 9.5 Female 7.8 Male 7.7 Female 8.1 Male 8.3 Female 8.2 Female 7.7 Female 8.8 Male 8.2 Male 7.7 Female 9.1 Male 8.9 Male 8.3 Female 9.2 Female 8.4 Male 8.8 SS1 SS2 SS3 SS4 SS5 SS6 SS7 SS8 SS9 SS10 SS11 SS12 SS13 SS14 SS15 SS16 SS17 SS18 SS19 I Male 7.6 SS20 Female 8.9 SS21 Female 8.1 Female 8.8 Female 8.5 Female 7.5 Male 8.2 Female 7.7 Male 7.3 Female 8.1 Female 8.3 Male 8.1 Male 8.6 Male 8.3 Female 8.8 Male 8.9 Male 8.1 Female 9.1 Female 7.7 Male 8.4 Male 7,6 SS22 SS23 SS24 SS25 SS26 SS27 SS28 SS29 SS30 SS31 SS32 SS33 SS34 SS35 SS36 SS37 SS38 SS39 SS40 II APPENDIX UNSUCESSFUL STUDENTS’ SCORE IN PREVIOUS SEMESTER Unsuccessful students (US) US1 US2 US3 US4 US5 US6 US7 US8 US9 US10 US11 US12 US13 US14 US15 US16 US17 US18 US19 US20 US21 US22 US23 US24 US25 US26 US27 US28 US29 US30 US31 US32 US33 US34 US35 US36 US37 US38 Gender Male Female Female Male Female Male Male Male Female Female Male Female Male Male Female Female Female Male Male Male Female Male Male Female Male Male Female Female Female Female Male Female Male Female Female Female Female III Previous Semester result 4.7 4.6 3.8 4.3 4.1 4.3 4.5 4.9 4.1 4.6 4.7 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.4 4.9 4.6 4.6 4.5 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.8 3.9 4.8 4.7 4.4 4.4 4.7 4.6 4.5 4.2 4.9 4.7 4.7 3.9 4.1 4.9 US39 US40 Female Female IV 4.6 4.2 APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE Section 1: Subject’s Background Questionnaire Age: …… The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather some information about your personal background Please answer the following questions, but not discuss any of them with your friends This takes minutes to complete How long had you learned English before moving to high school? (Tick one) years years over years How you think about the role of writing skill to your learning English? (Tick one) Very important Important not so important For you, what skill is the most difficult to acquire? Please rank them according to the degree of difficulty (1 is the most difficult and is the easiest) Listening Speaking Reading Writing How often you apply writing strategies in learning writing? Usually Sometimes Never Have you ever been taught writing strategies and how to use them? Yes No Thank you very much for your kind cooperation! Adapted from Oxford (1990) V Section 2: WRITING STRATEGY QUESTIONNAIRE (WSQ) (Petric and Crarl , 2003) THE WRITING PROCESS In this part, you will find statements about the different stages of writing in English: before writing, while writing, and when revising Please read each statement and circle the number indicating how true of you the statement is Never or almost never true of me Usually not true of me (less than half of the time) Somewhat true of me (about half of the time ) Usually true of me (more than half of the time) Always or almost always true of me BEFORE I START WRITING never true usually Somewhat usually Alway not true true true s true Before I start writing I revise the requirements I look at a model written by a native speaker or more proficient writer I start writing without having a written or mental plan 5 5 I make a timetable for the writing process I think about what I want to write and have a plan in my mind, but not on paper I note down words and short notes related to the topic I write an outline of my paper I write notes or an outline in my native language VI WHILE WRITING never usually true not true somewhat usually Always true true true 5 I stop after a few sentences or a whole paragraph, covering one idea I reread what I have written to get ideas how to continue 5 I go back to my outline and make changes in it I write bits of the text in my native language and then translate them into English 7.I go for sure in grammar and vocabulary I simplify what I want to write if I don’t know how to express my thoughts in 5 10 If I don’t know a word in English, I find a similar English word that I know 11 If I don’t know a word in English, I stop writing and look up the word in the 12 I use a bilingual dictionary 13 I use a monolingual dictionary 14 I ask somebody to help out when I have problems while writing I start with the introduction I stop after each sentence to read it again English If I don’t know a word in English, I write it in my native language and later try to find an appropriate English word dictionary VII never usually WHEN REVISING true not true somewhat usually Always true true True I read my text aloud 1 2 I only read what I have written when I have finished the whole paper When I have written my paper, I had it in without reading it I use a dictionary when revising 5 I make changes in vocabulary I make changes in sentence structure I make changes in the structure of the essay I make changes in the content or ideas I focus on one thing at a time when revising (e.g., content, structure) 10 I drop my first draft and start writing again 11 I check if my essay matches the requirements 12 I leave the text aside for a couple of days and then I can see it in a new 13 I show my text to somebody and ask for his/her opinion 14 I compare my paper with my friends’ on the same topic 33 4 5 perspective VIII 15 I give myself a reward for completing the assignment 16 I check my mistakes after I get back the paper with feedback from the teacher, and try to learn from them IX Section 2: WRITING STRATEGY QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese) CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC VIẾT QUÁ TRÌNH VIẾT Trong phần này, bạn thấy rõ giai đoạn viết khác viết tiếng Anh: trước viết, viết, sau viết Hãy đọc câu khoanh tròn số mà theo bạn Không với bạn Đúng với bạn Đúng nửa với bạn Đúng với bạn Rất với bạn Chọn câu trả lời với bạn khoanh tròn số:1,2,3,4 5 TRƯỚC KHI VIẾT 1.Tơi lập thời gian biểu cho q trình viết Trước bắt đầu viết tơi rà sốt lại u 5 5 5 cầu 3.Tôi nhìn vào mẫu viết người xứ người viết tốt Tôi bắt đầu viết mà khơng có kế hoạch đầu Tơi suy nghĩ tơi muốn viết có kế hoạch tâm trí tơi, giấy Tôi ghi từ ghi chép ngắn liên quan đến chủ đề Tôi viết thảo cho viết X Tôi viết ghi phác thảo ngôn 5 Tôi bắt đầu với việc giới thiệu 2.Sau viết xong câu tơi lại dừng 5 5 7.Tôi xem cho chắn ngữ pháp từ vựng Tôi đơn giản hóa tơi muốn viết tơi 5 5 12 Tôi sử dụng từ điển song ngữ 13.Tôi sử dụng từ điển đơn ngữ 14.Tơi hỏi để giúp đỡ tơi gặp khó khăn ngữ mẹ đẻ TRONG KHI VIẾT lại để đọc Tôi dừng lại sau vài câu toàn đoạn, bao gồm ý tưởng Tơi đọc lại tơi viết để có ý tưởng để tiếp tục Tôi quay trở lại phác thảo thực vài thay đổi Tơi viết tình ngơn ngữ mẹ đẻ sau dịch chúng sang tiếng Anh khơng biết làm để bày tỏ suy nghĩ tiếng Anh Nếu từ tiếng Anh, dịch sang ngôn ngữ mẹ đẻ sau cố gắng tìm từ tiếng Anh phù hợp 10 Nếu từ tiếng Anh, tìm từ tiếng Anh tương tự mà tơi biết để thay 11 Nếu từ tiếng Anh, tơi dừng lại tìm kiếm từ từ điển viết XI SAU KHI VIẾT XONG Tôi đọc to viết Tôi đọc tơi viết tơi hồn Khi viết xong, nộp mà không đọc Tôi sử dụng từ điển sửa đổi 5 Tơi có thay đổi từ vựng Tơi có thay đổi cấu trúc câu Tơi có thay đổi cấu trúc viết Tôi có thay đổi nội dung ý tưởng Tôi tập trung vào việc thời điểm 5 5 5 5 thành toàn viết sửa đổi (ví dụ, nội dung, cấu trúc) 10 Tơi bỏ thảo bắt đầu viết lần 11 Tôi kiểm tra tiểu luận phù hợp với yêu cầu đầu 12 Tôi bỏ viết vài ngày sau tơi tìm hiểu góc độ 13 Tơi cho tơi với hỏi xin ý kiến 14 Tôi so sánh viết với viết viết bạn bè chủ đề 15 Tơi cho thân phần thưởng cho việc hoàn thành nhiệm vụ 16 Tơi kiểm tra lỗi sai sau có thơng tin phản hồi từ giáo viên, cố gắng học hỏi từ XII APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW (For teachers) How often you instruct writing strategies in your writing classes? What writing strategies did you teach? What stages did you apply to teaching writing strategies most? XIII SAMPLE OF THE INTERVIEW Participants : 1)….Teacher (T2)…… Interviewer (I) : Le Thi Hong Vinh Line T2: Good morning, Mrs Hai T2: Good morning I: I would like to ask you some questions relating to your writing teaching T2 Ok I: How often you instruct writing strategies in your teaching writing? T2 Sometimes I: What writing strategies did you teach? T2 Yeah It depends on the level of students I: Can you explain more concretely? 10 T2: In my writing teaching, I am completely aware that students have 11 different learning styles Some are fast learners and some are slow 12 learners Depending on these,……um I make use of some different 13 learning strategies so that my instruction will be interesting and 14 motivating to learning…(pause)… 15 First, I instructed all students to read the requirement, arranged 16 suitable time, made plans and clarified their tasks before writing and 17 simplify what they wanted to write if they could not know how to express their thoughts in English…… 18 fast learners were often encouraged to work in groups for exchanging 19 ideas and drafting Moreover,….(um)… I am interested in their 20 difficulties in writing process I always help my slow learners solve 21 grammar and vocabulary problems When they did not know how to XIV More specially, 22 write I suggested they should ask for help from the teacher or friends 23 For fast learners, I also helped them address vocabulary and grammar 24 but they were proposed to generate more ideas when writing 25 26 I: How about revise stage? 27 T2: At the revising stage, I often required my students to reread their 28 writings and compare with their peers’ Then I guided them to correct 29 mistakes and give some feedback Um……Sometimes, I asked my 30 students to rewrite the tasks at home and handed it in the following 31 period Good learners are proposed to drop their first draft and write the second one again more often 32 I: When did you often ask your students to rewrite their writings? 33 T2: For difficult tasks students could not complete in writing classes 34 I: What stages did you apply to teaching writing strategies most? 35 T2: I often instructed my students to use more while – writing strategies 36 because this stage allows writers more time to accomplish their 37 writing tasks 38 I: 39 You mean you focus on more writing strategies at the while – writing stage in comparison with the two rest stages because of the pressure of time 40 T2: That’s right 41 I: Thanks very much XV