Integrating reading and writing teaching to improve VNUH ULIS first year english majored students writing skills

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstracts iii Table of contents iv List of figures, tables and abbreviations .vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem and the rationales for the study Objectives of the study Research questions of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER – LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Teaching reading 1.1.1 Definition of reading 1.1.2 Theoretical background of teaching reading 1.2 Teaching writing .16 1.2.1 Definition of writing .16 1.2.2 Theoretical background of teaching writing 19 1.3 Integrating Reading and Writing 27 1.4 Overview of related research 33 v CHAPTER – METHODOLOGY 2.1 Rationale for using experimental method 38 2.2 Variables 42 2.3 Participants 43 2.4 Intervention 43 2.5 Data collection instruments 47 2.6 Data collection procedures 50 2.7 Data analysis methods 50 CHAPTER – RESULTS 3.1 Comparison of experimental and control groups’ writing performance 52 3.2 Comparison of writing performance between groups 53 3.3 Survey questionnaire 53 3.3.1 Students’ opinions about the provided course 53 3.3.2 Students’ evaluation of the program 55 3.3.3 Students’ suggestions 58 CHAPTER – DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS 4.1 Discussion of the research questions 60 4.1.1 Comparison of experimental and control groups’ writing proficiency 60 4.1.2 Students’ opinions about the program 61 4.2 Discussion of the research hypotheses 65 4.3 Implications 65 4.3.1 Theoretical implications 65 4.3.2 Pedagogical implications 66 vi PART C – CONCLUSION Conclusions 70 Limitations of the study 70 Suggestions for further study 71 REFERENCES 73 APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX vii LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS, AND ABBREVIATIONS List of tables and figures Figure Stages of writing process Table Schedule of the writing course Table Descriptive statistics for the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental and control groups Table Mean gains of the experimental and control groups Table Experimental students’ opinions about the reading materials Table Experimental students’ opinions about the program Table Experimental students’ suggestions for future program List of abbreviations ESL English as a second language EFL English as a foreign language L2 Second language TESOL Teaching English to speakers of other languages FELTE Faculty of English Language Teacher Education ULIS University of Languages and International Studies VNU Vietnam National University PET Preliminary English Test SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences PART A: INTRODUCTION This part is dedicated to introducing the rationale of the study, the problem to be addressed in the study, the aims and the objectives of the study, and the research questions to be answered It will also present the scope of the study, an overview of the employed methods, and the design of the study Statement of the problem and rationale for the study English teachers often ask themselves what their students‟ problems are and how they can help their students One of the sources which allows teachers to know more about their students‟ difficulties is students‟ test results The author has realized that her students‟ performance of achievement tests is very poor, especially students‟ bad performance of writing tests The most frequent answer of students when asked about difficulties in writing is that they cannot express their ideas in English and they find it hard to choose a suitable word or structure in order to make their writing sound English One of the most frequentlymade errors relates to the use of unsuitable expressions; moreover, students‟ writing pieces are affected seriously by their mother tongue It is clear that students not have adequate knowledge of sets of vocabulary, grammatical structure, culture, etc Thus, they encounter difficulties in writing and cannot produce creative writing works With the purpose of improving the above situation, the author decided to research on the topic “Integrating Reading and Writing Teaching to Improve VNUH University of Languages and International Studies First-year English-majored Students’ Writing Skills” Providing supplementary reading materials was believed to bring students the best progress in a short time because first year students lack background knowledge Reading passages and doing supplementary exercises give them a chance to acquire target language and cultural knowledge, sets of vocabulary and structures as well to help students write better However, this method of teaching and learning also has some shortcomings, for example the preparations, teaching techniques, syllabus, students‟ assessment, etc In L2 literacy contexts, Krashen's (1984) argument that “it is reading that gives the writer the 'feel' for the look and texture” (p.20, cited in Hirvela, 2004) paves the way leading writing researchers and instructors to the vision of reading/writing connection He claims that reading, which builds the knowledge base of written texts, helps L2 learners acquire necessary language constructs such as grammatical structures and discourse rules for writing, and facilitates the process of language acquisition The author is always interested in studying writing instructions and has received the permission and support of the faculty and colleagues; therefore, this study has been motivated It is hoped to provide educators and teachers with a clearer insight into how the theories of integration of reading and writing can influence and correspond to actual classroom practices Objectives of the study Firstly, this study is carried out to investigate the theories and findings of the earlier studies and provide more empirical evidence for the effects of integration of reading and writing on learners‟ writing performance to support the tendency of integrated skills teaching in the context of Vietnam and the author‟s workplace Secondly, it is an attempt to meet the needs of the first year students in University of Foreign Languages and International Studies (ULIS) to improve their writing ability Thirdly, it is expected that the results of the study would be useful in some ways for teachers and educators in university who are teaching reading and writing at the same time or anyone who is interested in this field of the English language teaching Finally, the study is aimed at providing more information for the trend of integrating skills to teach English language learners in the division This study specially has the following objectives: Investigating the effects of the integrated reading and writing instruction program on first year students‟ writing performance in EFL settings Investigating the students‟ opinions about the integrated reading and writing instruction program Offering some practical recommendations for improvement of first year students‟ writing skills at English I Research questions of the study In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the research questions of the study are set out as follows: (1) Is there a difference between the writing performance scores of the control group and those of the experimental? (2) What are the students‟ opinions of the integrating reading and writing instruction program and their suggestions for future research? The study was conducted to test the following research hypotheses: H0: There is no difference in writing performance between students who take part in the integrated reading and writing instruction program and those who not H1: Students who take part in the integrated reading and writing instruction program will make more progress in writing proficiency test than those who not participate in such a program Scope of the study This study focuses on the present context at English I, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (FELTE, ULIS,VNUH) This study investigates the impact of the program of integrating reading and writing teaching on first year students‟ writing performance in 15 weeks These students‟ writing proficiency was measured in correlation to the application of an experimental reading – writing integration program Methods of the study The research method employed in this study is a quasi-experimental design to propose the research questions and to find out the answers The method involves the three basic components of experiments as presented by Selinger and Shohamy, that is, the population (ULIS first year students), the treatment (the program of integrating reading and writing instruction) and the measurement of the treatment (t-test) (1989, p.136) It is conducted with the participation of 52 first year students Data collection instruments include pre and post tests, and a survey questionnaire More details can be seen in Chapter Design of the study This study consists of five chapters Chapter introduces the research topic, the rationale for it and provides the aims, the scope, the method, and the research questions as well Chapter has an overview of the literature on the field of writing and integration of reading and writing teaching Chapter describes the methodology of the study including information about the respondents, data collection instruments and the procedure of data collection and analysis Chapter presents the results of tests and survey questionnaire Chapter discusses the findings, draws conclusions, provides pedagogical implications, discusses the limitations of the study and provides some suggestions for further research In this chapter, the author has mentioned the rationale, the scope and the objectives of the study The research questions are also presented as well as the employed methods and design of the study In the next chapter, she is going to review the relevant literature to provide a theoretical framework for the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER – LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides the theoretical background for the study It includes theories about definitions of reading and writing, teaching reading and writing skills, and previous related research 1.1 Teaching reading 1.1.1 Definition of reading There are many definitions of reading, the most frequently quoted of which were proposed by Foertsch (1998), who has suggested three basic definitions of reading According to the first definition, learning to read means learning to pronounce words In the second definition, learning to read means learning to identify words and get their meaning The third definition is that learning to read means learning to bring meaning to a text in order to get meaning from it Anderson (1985) defines reading as the process of constructing meaning from written texts Skilled reading is constructive: learning to reason about written material using knowledge from everyday life and from disciplined fields of study; fluent: mastery of basic processes to the point where they are automatic so that attention is freed for the analysis of meaning; strategic: controlling one‟s reading in relation to one‟s purpose, the nature of the material and whether one is comprehending; motivated: able to sustain attention and learning that written material can be interesting and informative; and a lifelong pursuit: continuous practices, development, and refinement Nowadays, the literacy research has brought us a more comprehensive definition of reading It recognizes the importance of skill instruction as one piece of the reading process It also supports balanced reading instructions for all students (Allington & Cunningham, 1996) Balanced reading instruction usually means a combination of whole language and phonics approaches which help students develop awareness of individual sounds, cueing strategies, and learn to decode the text and comprehend the material (Kelly, 1997) Teachers should pay attention to students‟ learning styles, some students are "analytic and auditory” ones who benefit from phonics instruction; some students who have "visual, tactile and global learning styles" profit from a whole language approach (Carbo, 1996, cited in Stoicheva, 1999) Suleiman (2005) states that reading can be seen as an “interactive” process between a reader and a text which leads to automaticity or reading fluency In this process, the reader interacts dynamically with the text as he/she tries to elicit the meaning and where various kinds of knowledge are being used: linguistic or systemic knowledge as well as schematic knowledge Since reading is a complex process, Grabe argues that “many researchers attempt to understand and explain the fluent reading process by analyzing the process into a set of component skills” (1991, cited in Suleiman, 2005) in reading; consequently he proposed at least six general component skills and knowledge areas: (1) Automatic recognition skills (2) Vocabulary and structural knowledge (3) Formal discourse structure knowledge (4) Content/world background knowledge (5) Synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies (6) Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring 1.1.2 Theoretical background of teaching reading Reading is an essential part of language instruction at every level because it supports learning in multiple ways Rabideau (1993) states the important role of reading activities for learners to acquire English as a second language: for example, students dictate stories to the teacher or share orally a common experience The stories are accessible because they reflect the language and experience of the learners These stories and sharing experiences create reading texts for beginning-level ESL students whose command of vocabulary and structures in English is limited, as well as for those who are learning to read for the first time D'Annunzio (1990) describes a bilingual version of the Language Experience Approach Bilingual tutors take whole-class dictations on a class-selected theme, each learner is encouraged to provide a sentence or two After the story is completed, it is translated into English by the tutors, and related reading and writing activities are carried out in English and the native language Learners gradually move from these stories to more extended, expressive writing In literature-based programs, learners often select their own reading texts which are of high interest and low level, fiction or non-fiction books for instance Books of high level are sometimes acceptable if cultural concepts and idiomatic expressions are accessible When the text is written at an accessible level and the story is engaging, readers usually get past unfamiliar words and derive meaning from the context From reading these stories, students enhance their knowledge and acquire language competence as well such as vocabulary, VII 15 There are enough exercises to help you understand the reading passages thoroughly 16 Exercises are various 17 Exercises are too difficult 18 There are not enough in-class activities 19 You like post-writing activities 20 Reading passages bring you a clearer insight into different types of writings 21 Reading helps you write better 22 You can improve 22.1 Background knowledge 22.2 Syntax 22.3 Word choice 22.4 Expression 22.5 Organization 23 Teacher gives enough instruction 24 Teacher does not explain clearly enough 25 Teacher does not encourage students to learn 26 You are satisfied with teacher‟s feedback Section 3: Suggestions for future course 27 Materials should be more carefully chosen 28 Materials should be more challenging 29 Teacher should provide more reading materials 30 Teacher should design more activities 31 Teacher should give various activities 32 Teacher should give more detailed feedback on student‟s assignments 33 Other suggestions: ………………………………………………… VIII APPENDIX HANDOUT 1A Describing a person Read the two emails There are five spelling mistakes in Claudia’s email Can you correct them? From: Stephanie To: Claudia Subject: Hi from Scotland Dear Claudia, I hope you‟re well I‟ve just had an email from your friend Christelle She wants to rent a room in my house this summer Could you tell me a bit about her (age, personality, etc and what she likes doing) so that I can see if she would fit in with my family? Please be honest! Send my regards to your family and I hope to hear from you soon Best wishes Stephanie From: Claudia To: Stephanie Subject: Hi from Switzerland Hi Stephanie, Thanks for your email Of course I can tell you about Christelle She‟s 21, and she‟s studing law with me She has short black hair and very dark eyes I think she‟s quite extrovert, funny and very sociable – she has lots of freinds She‟s IX also very good with children She has a young step – brother and several young cousins, and I know she likes playing with them She‟s incredibly hard – working, intelligent and responsable – she passes all her exams last year, which is more than I did! She likes going out, seeing films, listenning to music, but not rock or heavy metal – so don‟t worry about noise! And she‟s happy to things on her own – she‟s very independent, so you won‟t really have to look after her Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother and stepfather, but she also sees her father regularly The only negative things I can think of are that she‟s a bit untidy – her room is usualy in a mess – and that her English is, well, not brilliant But I‟m sure she‟ll learn fast! I think she‟s really nice and that you and the family will get on well with her I hope that‟s useful Let me know if you need any more information about her Love Claudia PS: I attach a photo of the two of us Answer the following questions: Which adjectives describe Chritelle‟s personality? Which does she like doing in her free time? What negative things does Claudia say about Christelle? Discuss with your partner: How many paragraphs are there in the email? What are main ideas of each paragraph? What tense does the writer use? What kinds of words are used to describe the character? X Language Notes Paragraph 1: name, nationality, age, family, work, study She is / comes from/ He is quite She is a bit +…negative Adj In her mid-forties She studies/ works as Paragraph 2: physical appearance She looks…/ looks as if It looks/ seems… She often has a grin on his face She‟s wearing… She‟s dressed in … Paragraph 3: personality She is always … She is described as … Paragraph 4: hobbies and interests/ abilities/ any negative things She has the habit of She likes/ is interested in/ is fond of/ loves … She dislikes/ hates He‟s good at … TASKS Write a letter about you Write a description of a member of your family Describe your idol Write a description of your future partner XI HANDOUT 1B Describing a person Part 1: Appearance Age Complete the phrases mid- early about late forties He‟s so 20 = 19, 20, or 21 He‟s in his = between 41 and 49 She‟s in her thirties = between 34 and 36 She‟s in her sixties = between 67 and 69 He‟s in his seventies = between 71 and 73 Height and build Match the sentences and pictures A – C He‟s tall and slim He‟s short and a bit overweight He‟s medium height and well built A C C XII Hair Match the sentences and pictures She has fair (or blonde) hair and a ponytail She has long wavy hair She has grey hair and a beard She has short brown curly hair, She has red shoulder – length hair He‟s bald and has a moustache She has straight dark hair and a fringe General adjectives: Are these adjectives positive or negative? Are they used for men, women, or both? Attractive Handsome Beautiful Plain Good-looking Pretty Ugly XIII Part 2: Personality a Compete the sentences with the personality adjectives affectionate aggressive competitive independent reliable selfish ambitious jealous sensible bossy charming manipulative sensitive moody sociable spoilt children behave badly because they are given everything they want people always want to win people think about themselves and not about other people people get angry quickly and like fighting and arguing people have an attractive personality that makes people like them people have common sense and are practical people are friendly and enjoy being with other people people are good at influencing other people to what they want people are happy at one minute and sad the next, and are often bad – tempered 10 people like doing things on their own, without help 11 people like giving orders to other people 12 people show that they love or like people very much 13 people are people you can trust or depend on 14 people understand other people‟s feelings or are easily hurt or offended 15 people want to be successful in life 16 people think that someone loves another person more than them, or wants what other people have b With your partner, look at the adjectives again Are they positive, negative or neutral characteristics? Opposite adjectives Match the adjectives and their opposites extrovert hard – working self – confident stupid mean talkative XIV clever generous insecure lazy quiet shy Negative prefixes Which negative prefixes you use with these adjectives? Put them in the correct column ambitious organized un- friendly patient honest reliable dis- imaginative responsible kind selfish in- / im- / ir- sociable sensitive tidy XV HANDOUT 2A Descriptive Narrative Reading 1 Read the text Christmas As Christmas approaches, excitement mounts to a pitch There are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, and rooms to be decorated Parents are faced with difficult task of concealing presents from inquisitive young children If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real problem On Christmas Eve, young children find the excitement almost unbearable They are torn between the desire to go to bed early so that Santa Claus will bring their presents quickly, and the desire to stay up late in case they miss any of the fun The desire for presents usually proves stronger But though children go to bed early, they often lie awake for a long time, hoping to catch a glimpse of Father Christmas Last Christmas, my wife and I successfully managed to conceal a few large presents in the store-room I was dreading the moment when my son, Jimmy would ask me where that new bicycle had come from, but fortunately he did not see it On Christmas Eve, it took the children hours to get to sleep It must have been nearly midnight when my wife and I crept into their room and began filling stockings and pillow cases as quietly as we could After this was done, I wheeled in the bicycle I had bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree We knew we would not get much sleep that night, for the children were sure to wake up early At about five o‟clock next morning, we were woken by loud sounds coming from the children‟s room The children were blowing toy trumpets, banging tin drums and shouting excitedly Before I had time to stagger out of bed, young Jimmy came sailing XVI into the room on his brand new bicycle, and his younger sister, Elizabeth, followed close behind pushing her new pram Even the baby arrived He crawled into the room dragging a large balloon behind him All of the sudden it burst That woke us up completely We jumped out of bed and began to play with the children The day had really begun with a bang! Give short answers to these questions Why are children torn between two desires on Christmas Eve? Why children often lie on Christmas Eve? Where did the writer and his wife conceal the large presents they had bought? Complete the text with no more than words After …… the children‟s room on Christmas Eve, the writer and …… not only filled stockings and pillow cases with ……., but left …… Beside the Christmas tree The children woke them up very early next morning Jimmy …… into his parent‟s bedroom on his …., followed by his …… and the baby When the balloon the baby was holding suddenly … , the writer and his wife got up and began to …… the children Tasks In not more than 250 words, write an imaginary account of how the family described in the passage spent Christmas Day Use the ideas given below Do not write more than four paragraphs Title: Christmas Day Introduction: Early morning – played with children – breakfast – exchanged presents – church Development: Home again – dinner prepared – guests arrived – excitement – more presents – dinner – Christmas party – fun and games Conclusion: Afternoon – sat by fire – everybody exhausted but happy Reading Read the text XVII Smash and Grab The expensive shops in a famous arcade near Piccadilly were just opening At this time of the morning, the arcade was almost empty Mr Taylor, the owner of a jewelry shop was admiring a new window display Two of his assistants had been working busily since o‟clock and had only just finished Diamond necklaces and rings had been beautifully arranged on a background of black velvet After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr Taylor went back into his shop The silence was suddenly broken when a large car, with its headlights on and its horn blaring, roared down the arcade It came to a stop outside the jeweler‟s One man stayed at the wheel while two others with black stockings over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars While this was going on, Mr Taylor was upstairs He and his staff began throwing furniture out of the window Chairs and tables went flying into the arcade One of the thieves was struck by a heavy statue, but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain The raid was all over in three minutes, for the men scrambled back into the car and it moved off at a fantastic speed Just as it was leaving Mr Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves The had got away with thousands of pounds worth of diamonds Give short answer Did a large car enter an arcade near Piccadilly or not? Where did it stop? How many thieves got out of the car? XVIII Did they smash the window or not? Where was the owner of the shop? What did he and his staff throw at the thieves? Did they hit any of the thieves or not? How long did the raid last? Did the thieves drive away or not? 10 Did the owner run after the car or did he stay in the shop? 11 What did he throw at the car? 12 Did the thieves get away or were they caught? 13 What had they stolen? Further discussion How would you feel if you were the main character in the story? Which part of the story you love or hate most? Why? Does the story remind you of anything? What does the author try to say in the story? Do you like the way the author wrote the story? Why? What is your biggest problem reading this story? Is the language of the story within your grasp? Did you learn some new words, expressions, or structures? What? What you think of the title of the story? Does it imply the theme the author intended to convey? Is it catchy enough for readers? Do you like the first sentence and the first paragraph in the story? Are they interesting enough to carry your further in the story? 10 In what voice/viewpoint (first person or third person) was the story told? What‟s the difference between telling a story in first person and doing it in third person? 11 Are the images of the characters in the story clear to you? Are they clearer when they speak? Do you think dialogue helps in developing characters? 12 Is the plot/incident intriguing to you? Is there a conflict or climax? 13 Do you like the ending of the story? Why? Tasks XIX 1) Composition: In not more than 200 words continue the above passage using the ideas given below Do not write more than three paragraphs Title: They Got Away Introduction: The thieves‟ car joined the traffic – Mr Taylor took a taxi – followed the thieves‟ car Development: A mad chase through the streets – the thieves‟ car hit another car – did not stop – the police chased both taxi and thieves – Mr Taylor‟s taxi stopped at traffic lights – the thieves got away – the taxi-driver was stopped by the police – he had been speeding – Mr Taylor explained the situation Conclusion: The thieves‟ car was found ten minutes later – side street – abandoned – the thieves escaped on foot 2) Letter writing: Suppose that you had witnessed an incident similar to the one described in the passage Write a letter of about 100-150 words to a friend describing what you saw Supply a suitable Introduction and Conclusion Use the following ideas to write: Tuesday morning – busy street – a man smashed the window of an antique shop – chased by passers-by – you joined in – the man was caught XX APPENDIX ERROR CORRECTING SYMBOLS Symbol Explanation Symbol Explanation General Items: Modifiers: // New paragraph Adj Use adjective ? Meaning unclear Adv Use adverb  Add omitted word/s poss Use possessive form  Omit word/s; not Prepositions WF Right word but wrong Prep expr form Add preposition Expression (affected by L1) Punctuation: Syntax: C/CAP Capitalize ( ) F/ Frag Fragment error P Incorrect punctuation ( ) R/ R-O Run- on sentence S/V Subject/ verb needed WO Wrong order coh Coherence Nouns: pro agr Pronoun agreement art mistake ger/ G Article mistake does not lead to the N Use gerund next) num/ # Use noun ss pro/PR Number; singular  Connectors REF plural) Conj/ Conn idea Sentence structure Incorrect conjunction / connective Use pronoun Pronoun (one reference unclear Verbs: L Link/combine R/PR Add relative pronoun Lexical VC Voice change SV Subject/ verb agreement sp Incorrect spelling agr Wrong verb tense wch/ ww Word choice/wrong word items XXI vt/VT Incorrect verb form Style vf/VF Modal problem Informl Too informal mod Auxiliary verb PAR Faulty parallelism aux Use infinitive T/S Improve topic sentence inf Incorrect use/ formation of PARA/U Lack of paragraph unity a conditional sentence N Transition needed cond TRANS Source : Writing Focus (2006), Division 1, FELTE, ULIS – VNU , Vietnam National University Press ... definitions of reading and writing, teaching reading and writing skills, and previous related research 1.1 Teaching reading 1.1.1 Definition of reading There are many definitions of reading, the... the program of integrating reading and writing teaching on first year students? ?? writing performance in 15 weeks These students? ?? writing proficiency was measured in correlation to the application... Moreover, easy materials help students to be motivated to read more and study more, and to be able to ladder up as their foreign language and reading skills improve, they must be reading texts that reflect