An action research study on keeping a writing journal to improve the eleventh grade students’ writing at a high school in yen bai province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ HẰNG AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON KEEPING A WRITING JOURNAL TO IMPROVE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS' WRITING AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN YENBAI PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU CẢI TIẾN SƯ PHẠM VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG NHẬT KÝ GHI CHÉP ĐỂ NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG VIẾT CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 11 Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT TỈNH YÊN BÁI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HÀ NỘI- 2018 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ HẰNG AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON KEEPING A WRITING JOURNAL TO IMPROVE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS' WRITING AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN YENBAI PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU CẢI TIẾN SƯ PHẠM VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG NHẬT KÝ GHI CHÉP ĐỂ NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG VIẾT CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 11 Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT TỈNH YÊN BÁI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: EnglishTeaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã, PhD HÀ NỘI - NĂM 2018 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled " An action research study on keeping a writing journal to improve 11th grade students’ writing at a high school in Yen Bai province" submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Teaching Methodology Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2018 Nguyen Thi Hang Approved by SUPERVISOR i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Vu Thi Thanh Nha, PhD, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher Next, a special word of thanks goes to Mrs Phan Thi Kim Phuong- my collaborator and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my husband and my children for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT This research is the investigation of the predominant problems in learning writing at a high school in Yenbai province and the implementation of new technique to deal with situation, which, in this case, is journal writing The primary purpose of the study is an attempt to find out how to apply journal writing in teaching writing to the 11th grade students and to what extent the journal writing impacted on the students‟ attitudes and their writing performances Action research was adopted in research and conducted in two cycles: cycle and cycle The study data were collected by means of informal interviews, observation checklists and field notes The result indicated that the problems in students were the lack of practice, low writing attitudes, ideas limitation, lexico- grammar mistakes After implementing the journal writing, analysing the collected data, it finds that (1) there were positive changes in students‟ attitudes toward writing (2) there was an improvement of the time to generate ideas in students Two weaknesses were found out at the first cycle: first, some students were demotivated and reluctant to write Second, many students found difficulties in vocabulary mastery and grammar structures Dealing with those weaknesses, the researchers used grammar review strategy The findings showed that the students were motivated in writing and writing journals, they also got progress of the students‟ writing performances Moreover, students built themselves their own writing habits as well as created an intimate study environment in class iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS L1: First language L2: Second language CEFR: Common European Framework for Reference M.A : Master of Arts VNU: Vietnam National University GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1.Number of students with scores below average .41 Table 3.2 Time to think about the ideas in students .39 Table 3.3 Students' positive attitudes and negative attitudes toward journal 45 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 3.1 Manifestation of students‟ attention to the teacher‟s lecture 37 Chart 3.2 Manifestation of the students‟ positive response to journal writing 37 Chart 3.3 Negative attitudes .38 Chart 3.4 Time to think about the ideas in students 40 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF CHARTS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study 3 Research questions .3 Methods of the study Scope of the study Significance of the study .4 Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Writing 1.3 Approaches of teaching writing 1.3.1 The controlled writing approach .7 1.3.2 The freewriting approach 1.3.3 The paragraph-pattern approach .8 1.3.4 The process approach 1.3.5 The communicative approach .10 1.4 Writing assessment 11 v 1.5 Journal .13 1.5.1 Definitions of journal 13 1.5.2 Benefits of Journal writing 14 1.5.3 Overview of previous studies related to journal in teaching writing 14 1.6 Recount texts .17 1.6.1 Social functions of Recount texts 18 1.6.2 Generic structures of Recount texts 18 1.6.3 The language features of Recount texts 19 1.7 Conceptual framework .19 CHAPTER TWO : METHODOLOGY 21 2.1 Introduction .21 2.2 Research setting 21 2.2.1 Description of school and facilities 21 2.2.2 Description of the students 21 2.2.3 Description of English teachers 22 2.2.4 Description of textbook, curriculum, testing and assessment .22 2.4 Research design 23 2.4.1 Research method 23 2.4.2 Action research .23 2.5 Research Instruments .25 2.5.1 Observation checklist 25 2.5.2 Fieldnote 25 2.5.3 Semi structured interview .26 2.5.4 Pre -test and students' journals 26 2.6 Techniques of analyzing the data .27 2.7 Time of the research 28 CHAPTER THREE : RESEARCH FINDINGS .29 3.1 Introduction .29 vi 3.2 Identifying the problem 29 3.2.1 Observation 29 3.2.2 Interviews 30 3.2.3 Pre- test 31 3.3 Research process 33 3.3.1.Cycle I 33 3.3.1.1 Treatment 33 3.3.1.2 Observation .36 3.3.1.3 Reflection 42 3.3.2.Cycle II 42 3.3.2.1 Plan 42 3.3.2.2 Action .43 3.3.2.3 Observation 45 3.4 Suggested solutions for problems of research .52 3.5 Summary 54 PART C: CONCLUSION 55 Overview and summary of the thesis .55 Limitations of study 56 Implications 57 REFERENCES 58 APPENDICES I APPENDIX I APPENDIX III APPENDIX V APPENDIX VII APPENDIX VIII APPENDIX IX vii The present study reinforced the findings of the previous study which concured that journal writing could improve students' attitudes and writing performances The most important one is that guided journal writing may contribute to better students' learning performances, they found it easy to write and it is practical to make it as a habit as well as to create a friendly study environment The drawback of journal writing is time consuming, which can deal with the changes in entire comment process not in final product or encourage students to engaged in correction Regarding to perception of journal writing as a girly activity, it would take a lot of time to convince students to change in their mindset For contemporary solution, writing e-mail or using social network like facebook may be useful for students to avoid false perception of writing journals and to build a writing habit Limitations of study Due to the limitation of time, references and ability, in the study, there are some unavoidable limitations First, this study is an action to deal with the predominant problems at a high school in Yen Bai province However, with the limited number of participants, the results of the study may not be generalized to all students and teachers from other high school in Vietnam In fact, it only serves as reference information for high schools with the students and teachers with similar characteristics as those in this study Secondly, there are still many other barriers related to students‟ writing in learning writing process have not been explored in this study In addition, culture and students' characteristics are also resulted in problems in students' learning writing, but they have not been presented Finally, journal writing is only one of various methods to support students in learning writing process It may not the most suitable to help students to mitigate writing problems 56 Implications Based on the results of this study, the writer would like to give some implications for those who want to use journal writing as a valuable way of practice to enhance the students' writing skill of the students They are: Firstly, journal writing can be valuable for the teacher to apply in the classroom, not only in writing skill but also in other skills like reading, speaking or listening in the effort of gaining the quality of the students in learning English in general Secondly, the activities of journal writing can further be the alternative ones which are interesting to in the classroom The process of journal writing, therefore, can also be done at different levels of education in order to improve the students‟ flow, enthusiasm, and autonomy in the writing process Lastly, it can encourage other researchers to conduct similar studies dealing with improving students' writing ability in writing recount text by using journal writing 57 REFERENCES Atkinson, D (2003a) L2 writing in the post-process era: Introduction Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, (1), 3-15 Atkinson, D (2003b) Writing and culture in the post-process era Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, (1), 49-63 Bean, J C (1996) Engaging ideas: The professor‟s guide in integrating writing, 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Boston: MA: Bedford/St Martin‟s 19 Harmer, J (2004) How to teach writing Essex: Pearson Education Limited 20 Hayland, K (2002) Teaching and Researching Writing Great Britain: Pearson Education 21 Hedge.T (1990) Resource books for teachers Hong Kong: Oxford University Press 22 Herrero, A H (2007) Journals: A tool to improve students‟ writing skills Actualidades Investigativas en Educación, 7(1), 1-37 23 Hyland, K (2003) Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, (1), 24 Kemmis S & Mc Taggart R (1988) The action research planner (3rd ed.) Geelong Deakin University Press 25 Knapp P & Watkins M (2005) Genre, Text and Grammar Sidney: University of New South Wales 26 Lagan, J (2000) College Writing Skills London: Longman 27 Lewis, M (2002) Giving feedback in language classes Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre 28 Maguire, M H., & Graves, B (2001) Speaking personalities in primary school children‟s L2 writing TESOL Quarterly, 35(4), 561-593 29 Maxwell, R J (1996) Writing across the curriculum in middle and high schools Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon 30 Mc Donough, J & Mc Donough, S (1997) Research methods for English language teachers Arnold Delh 59 31 McDonough, J & S McDonough (1997) Research Methods for English Language Teachers London: Arnold 32 Nunan, D (1992) Research methods in language learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 33 Nunan D (2001) Research methods in language learning (9th ed) Cambridge University Press, The United States 34 Ngoh, T.J (2002) From Journals to Weekly Papers Guidelines, Vol 24, June 2002 35 Raimes, A (1983) Techniques in teaching writing Oxford: Oxford University Press 36 Richard, J C & Rodgers, T S (2001) Approaches and methods in language teaching (2nd ed.) 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NJ: Pearson Education, 41 Tuan, L T (2010) Enhancing EFL learners‟ writing skill via journal writing English Language Teaching, 3(3), 81-88 42 Ur, P.(1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 43 Vietnamese Government (2008) The government: No.1400/QĐ-TTg Decision on the approval of theproject entitled “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008-2020” 44 Weigle, S (2002) Assessing Writing Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 45 White, R & Arndt, V (1991) Process Writing London: Longman 60 46 Williams, J (2005) Teaching writing in second and foreign language classrooms Boston: Mc Grow Hill Companies, Inc 47 Williams, J D (1989) Preparing to teach writing Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Inc 48 Wolcott, W & Legg, S M (1998) An Overview of Writing Assessment: Theory,Research, and Practice Urbana, ILL: National Council of Teachers of English 49 Yancey, K (1999) Looking back as we look forward: Historicizing writing assessment College Composition and Communication, 50, (3), 483-503 50 Zamel, V (1982) „The Process of Discovering Meaning‟ TESOL Quarterly 16/2: 195- 209 61 APPENDICES APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN SINH VIÊN ( Trước vòng 1) I Dẫn nhập - Tên em gì? Em tuổi? - Em có muốn học tiếng Anh khơng? Nếu có, sao? Nếu khơng, tai khơng? - Trong chương trình học, kỹ quan trọng với em? Em giành nhiều thời gian cho kỹ ? Tại sao? - Em nghĩ viết nhật ký tiếng Anh? vai trò nhật kí khả viết mình? II Kiểm tra khai thác thông tin Em học thể loại văn viết ? Hãy kể cách thức viết vài loại văn mà em học? Khi em viết văn ( ví dụ văn trần thuật ), em bắt đầu nào? Sau đó? Kết thúc? Với em, khó vấn đề viết? Cách giải em gặp khó khăn gì? Thơng thường, em luyện viết văn nào? Hàng ngày, hay lớp? Trên lớp, em phút để hồn thành viết ? Thơng thường từ? Trên lớp, giáo viên cho em viết thời gian? Em cần thời gian dành cho việc viết lớp ? Khi viết, em hỏi giáo viên hay em bè em gặp khó khăn lần? em hỏi ? Em ln hài lịng với viết mình? Nếu hài lịng em hài lịng điểm gì? Nếu khơng, điểm em khơng hài lịng nhất? Các câu hỏi gợi ý khác: - Em mong đợi giáo viên làm để tạo hứng thú cho em học viết? - Các hoạt động em thích học viết ? - Em nên làm để tạo hứng thú cho học viết ? (Thank the individual for participating in this interview Assure him or her of confidentiality of responses and potential future interviews.) I CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN SINH VIÊN ( Sau vòng 1) I Dẫn nhập - Tên em gì? Em tuổi? - Em có muốn học tiếng Anh khơng? Nếu có, sao? Nếu không, tai không? - Trong chương trình học, kỹ quan trọng với bạn? Em giành nhiều thời gian cho kỹ ? Tại sao? - Em nghĩ viết nhật ký tiếng Anh? vai trị nhật kí khả viết mình? II Kiểm tra khai thác thông tin Theo em, hoạt động dạy viết dùng nhật ký ghi chép so với hoạt động khác em học ? Em kể lại cách em viết lớp ví dụ buổi học gần ? Trong em dùng gì? Tại dùng nó? Mất để em hình thành triển khai ý tưởng? Những khó khăn em gặp phải viết nhật kí buổi học gì? Với khó khăn vậy, theo em làm để giải nó? Em tham gia trả lời câu hỏi giáo viên đặt lần? Với em hiệu hơn, làm việc mình, theo cặp, hay nhóm? Theo em, giáo viên nên thêm bớt phần dạy? Tại em có ý tưởng vậy? Em đạt văn viết tiếng Anh lớp học này? CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN SINH VIÊN ( Sau vòng 2) I Dẫn nhập - Tên em gì? Em tuổi? - Em có muốn học tiếng Anh khơng? Nếu có, sao? Nếu khơng, tai khơng? - Trong chương trình học, kỹ quan trọng với em? Em giành nhiều thời gian cho kỹ ? Tại sao? - Em nghĩ viết nhật ký tiếng Anh? vai trị nhật kí khả viết mình? II Kiểm tra khai thác thơng tin Em cảm thấy học viết văn kể sử dụng nhật ký ghi chép? Em có cảm thấy việc sử dụng viết nhật ký ghi chép cải thiện khả viết văn kể em không? Theo em, tiến em đạt mặt em chưa đạt trình thực viết văn cách sử dụng nhật ký ? Khó khăn lớn mà em phải đối mặt trình viết nhật ký ghi chép ? Em nghĩ phản ứng giáo viên viết em em viết nhật ký ? Theo em, muốn tiến viết, phải làm gì? Em có đề nghị nhằm cải thiện kỹ viết liên quan đến giáo viên, sở vật chất, môi trường học, thân bạn bè xung quanh? II APPENDIX Fieldnote Length of period: 45 minutes Date: Wednesday, 14th,September 2017 Place: Classroom 11A1 Content: writing: Personal experience Descriptive notes Students' facial expression Some feel sad, some are sleepy Students' actions in the writing period Students are noisy and not ready to get to pre-teaching stage Students work in group of four but they are noisy and just some of them work, the others talk and their private things Reflective notes - Motivation is low - Students are excited in teamwork or group work -Some students not take notes Students' voice Students work in group of four but they are noisy and just some of them work, the others talk and their private things - Class is noisy as some students discuss about content of lesson, some only chat Students' activities Only students write sentences in terms of name, age, sex Most students not remember the way to write -Teacher does not move around the class but stands near the table -Students follow teacher‟s requirement -Students begin to write -Students write attentively and hard - Limit of lexico- grammar III - Teacher needs to get more attention from students Teacher's activities - Explain the order of the lesson - Write in the board T asks other Ss to comment on their friends' answers and gives his/ her own feedback - Speak in Vietnamese 3/4 total of 45 minutes IV Teacher seemed not to pay attention to students' comments APPENDIX Behaviour Checklist Cycle : I Students: 11A1 Date: 11/10 Date: 13/10 Time: Time: 9.05-9.50 8.209.05 Task: Recount Task: text Brainsto rming topics Date: 15/10 Time: 9.05-9.50 Task: Writing Topic : Summer holiday Positive attitude -listen to teacher carefully - answer teacher' questions enthusiasticly - give their own opinions - put up questions for teacher - begin to write at once when being asked - attempt to V Date: 18/10 Date: 20/10 Time: 9.059.50 Time: 7.30Task: 8.15 Writing Topic : Task: embarrassi Writing ng Topic : experience Special day Date: 22/10 Time: 10.0511.50 Task: Writing Topic : An excursio n get teacher's attention Negative attitude - chat in class - tease neghbour physically - interrupt neighbour' work with unconcerning questions - show the anxiety on the face - murmur when being asked - sleep in class - copy the parner's product VI APPENDIX PEER REVIEW GUIDELINES Items to be assessed Guideline Content a Do you understand the story? ( Em hiểu câu chuyện không? )  b Does the recount text have 5W+1H questions? ( Nếu không, ta nên làm gì? ) ( Bài văn có trả lời cho câu hỏi gì, đâu, nào, , tai không? ) (What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How)  c Does the writer use enough linking words or where he or she should put sequential words sequential work ( Người viết có sử dụng đủ từ nối hay từ số ( Nếu không, cho bạn vài gợi ý ) thứ tự không? ) (first, next, them, after that, finally, etc)? Grammar Has he/she used the correct tenses (verb) in  his/her recount text? and correct them ( Cơ ấy/ Anh có dùng văn ( Nếu khơng , đề cập đến lỗi không ) sửa chúng) Quality of expression Has he/she used the appropriate and correct  vocabularies? suggestions ( Cơ ấy/ Anh có dùng từ vựng phù hợp ( Nếu không , nhận xét gợi ý ) không? ) VII APPENDIX Scores of students E ( Excellent), G ( Good), A ( Average), P ( Poor), VP ( Very Poor) Topic Topic Topic E G A P VP E G A P VP E G A P VP Content 13 17 17 13 13 14 Organizati on 16 11 2 14 15 17 15 Vocabulary 17 15 13 13 Grammar 13 16 17 13 4 11 14 Mechanics 25 19 2 28 4 Topic Topic Topic E G A P VP E G A P VP E G A P VP Content 16 12 22 10 10 16 Organizati on 14 12 2 17 11 3 11 12 Vocabulary 13 11 12 13 13 14 Grammar 18 17 13 10 14 4 25 20 13 14 Mechanics VIII APPENDIX Analytic score adapted from Cohen (1994:328) Aspect of Writing Range Score Content Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor Organization Vocabularies Excellent Good Average Poor Grammar Mechanics Very Poor Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor Criterion Main ideas stated clearly and accurately, change opinion very clear Main ideas stated fairly clearly and accurately, change opinion relatively clear Main ideas some what unclear or inaccurate, change opinion statement some what weak Main ideas not clear or accurate, change opinion statement weak Main ideas not at all clear or accurate, change opinion statement very weak Well-organized and perfectly coherent Fairly well-organized and generally coherent Loosely organized but main ideas clear, logical but incomplete sequencing Ideas disconnected, lacks logical sequencing No organization, incoherent Very effective choice of words and use of idioms and words forms effective choice of words and use of idioms and words forms Adequate choice of words but some misuse of vocabulary, idioms, and word forms Limited range, confused use of words, idioms, and word forms Very limited range, very poor knowledge of words, idioms, and word forms No errors Full control of complex structure Almost no errors, good control of structure Some errors, fail control of structure Many errors, poor control of structure Dominated by errors, no control of structure Mastery of spelling and punctuation Few errors in spelling and punctuation Fair number of spelling and punctuation errors Frequent errors in spelling and punctuation No control over spelling and punctuation IX ... data were mainly qualitative data taken from the result of observation and interviews The aim was to observe and analyse the data involving students attitudes and their performance, the researcher... teaching writing to the 11th grade students and to what extent the journal writing impacted on the students‟ attitudes and their writing performances Action research was adopted in research and... grammar knowledge, this urges the researcher to conduct the minor research ? ?An action research study on keeping a writing journal to improve 11th grade students’ writing at a high school in Yen