A study on students’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing and suggested solutions

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ LIÊN A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ LINGUISTIC DIFFICULTIES IN TOEFL IBT ESSAY WRITING AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS (NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN VỀ MẶT NGƠN NGỮ CỦA HỌC SINH KHI VIẾT BÀI LUẬN TOEFL IBT VÀ NHỮNG GIẢI PHÁP) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Hanoi, 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ LIÊN A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ LINGUISTIC DIFFICULTIES IN TOEFL IBT ESSAY WRITING AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS (NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN VỀ MẶT NGƠN NGỮ CỦA HỌC SINH KHI VIẾT BÀI LUẬN TOEFL IBT VÀ NHỮNG GIẢI PHÁP) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi, 2013 CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY OF THE THESIS I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: “A study on students’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing and suggested solutions” in terms of Statement for thesis and Field Study Reports in Master’s Programs Issued by the Higher Degree Committee Nguyễn Thị Liên October, 2013 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The current research could not have been completed without the wholehearted support of people who all deserved my deepest gratitude Firstly, I want to show my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Hoang Van Van, my supervisor, for his encouraging this research and giving helpful comments on earlier drafts of this thesis I would also like to thank 88 TOEFL IBT learners at EQuest center for their enthusiasm for responding to the questionnaires and answering the interview Finally, my thank is due to my family, and in particular my two younger brothers, for their logistical and technical support Any remaining flaws concerning this research are merely mine ii ABSTRACT TOEFL IBT is becoming a prerequisite for students’ studying abroad in recent years How to get high scores on TOEFL IBT is a much-discussed topic among test-takers and educators alike Among four skills – speaking, listening, reading, and writing, the last serves as the most challenging skill according to many students Composing a TOEFL IBT essay poses many difficulties for both experienced and inexperienced learners The principal aim of this study, basing mainly on survey questionnaire and interview, is to find out common problems encountered by EQuest learners in TOEFL IBT Writing and simultaneously to investigate ways to solve these problems Data were gathered from 88 TOEFL IBT learners at EQuest center over a four-week period The data obtained from the questionnaire, augmented by interview suggest that (i) considerable linguistic difficulties faced by EQuest learners in TOEFL IBT essay writing task involve expression, word choice, spelling, taking notes and how to relate the ideas from reading passage with those of listening passage; (ii) linguistic difficulties faced by EQuest learners in TOEFL IBT essay writing task are brainstorming, word choice, academic vocabulary, language formality, expression, sentence structure, and spelling; (iii) some preferred suggested solutions to these above problems are providing writing templates, checking ideas for students before writing, giving in-class feedback, teaching extra vocabulary, and supply students with further listening and reading exercises to practice note taking skills (exclusively for TOEFL IBT task 1) Basing on the findings of the research, some practical suggestions for TOEFL IBT learners and teachers are put forward The study, to some extent, hopefully contributes a small part to the realm of teaching and learning TOEFL IBT in general and at EQuest in particular iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Learners’ background information Figure Reasons for learners’ taking TOEFL IBT course Figure Learners’ experience in learning English Figure Learners’ experience in learning TOEFL IBT Figure Learners’ opinions of writing skill Figure Learners’ attitudes towards TOEFL IBT writing skill Figure Number of essays that learners compose per week Figure Learners’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT writing task Figure Correlation between learners’ levels and their possibilities of encountering difficulties in taking notes, paraphrasing, and relating points of reading to those of listening Figure 10 Learners’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT writing task Figure 11 Correlation between learners’ levels and their possibilities of encountering difficulties with word choice, expression, and academic vocabulary Figure 12 Correlation between frequency in which learners compose essays per week and their possibilities of encountering difficulties in brainstorming ideas Figure 13 Suggested solutions to improve learners’ TOEFL IBT essay writing iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Abstract ii List of figures iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Aims and research questions Significance of the study Scope of the study Organization CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Academic writing 1.1 Definition of writing 1.2 Approaches to teaching writing 1.3 Writing academic essay TOEFL IBT test 2.1 Insight into TOEFL IBT test 2.2 Insight into TOEFL IBT writing section 2.2.1 Format of TOEFL IBT writing section 2.2.2 Scoring standards and scoring rubrics of TOEFL IBT writing section 2.2.2.1 Scoring standards 2.2.2.2 Scoring rubrics 13 Earlier studies on academic writing 14 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY Context of the study 17 Selection of the subjects 17 Research instruments 18 Procedures of data collection 19 v Procedures of data analysis 20 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Data analysis and discussion 21 1.1 General information about learners 21 1.2 Students’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing 27 1.3 Suggested solutions for improving students’ TOEFL IBT essay writing 32 Findings 35 2.1 Research question 35 2.2 Research question 36 Implications 37 3.1 For students 37 3.2 For teachers 37 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION Summary of findings 39 Limitations 39 Suggestions for further research 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: TOEFL IBT WRITING QUESTION TYPES APPENDIX 2: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORM APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION Problem statement and rationale for the study Globalization and economic booming open up a whole new world of opportunities in education According to ETS (Educational Testing service, the world’s largest educational testing and assessment organization), TOEFL IBT (Test of English as Foreign Language) score can be viewed as a passport to study abroad Statistics from ETS in 2013 indicate that more than 9,000 colleges, agencies and other institutions in over 130 countries accept TOEFL scores For this reason, the youth is trying to get as high TOEFL IBT score as possible to get better impression on their university’s applications, hence, maximize their chances to be accepted into top international colleges, American ones included However, the road to high TOEFL IBT score is not a broad one for every test-taker TOEFL IBT is indeed a tough test; unlike other proficiency tests, TOEFL IBT not only requires learners’ integrated listening-speaking-readingwriting skills but it also involves learners’ computer skills TOEFL IBT Writing is a compelling example of a big challenge brought by the new generation of TOEFL As an English instructor majoring in teaching TOEFL IBT at EQuest for more than three years, I empirically realize that TOEFL IBT learners ranging from intermediate to advanced ones have to struggle a lot to write a TOEFL IBT writing essay Some students think that their main problems lie in time constraint or typing skills while others blame their troubles for lack of vocabulary or ideas More seriously, some others are unaware of their weaknesses and unconsciously replicate their writing mistakes What are real problems experienced by EQuest learners in TOEFL IBT writing? What should be done to improve their writing skills? Those questions are my overriding concerns when teaching TOEFL IBT Writing that spark my interest in carrying out the current research on students’ difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing and suggested solutions Aims and reasearch questions The study is conducted with the aim of finding out the linguistic difficulties that EQuest learners often experience in TOEFL IBT writing essay Added to this, some useful suggested solutions to resolve the problems are studied The present study is designed to address two following questions:  What are linguistic problems encountered by EQuest learners in TOEFL IBT writing essay?  What should be done to improve EQuest learners’ TOEFL IBT writing skill? Significane of the study The present study is the author’s great endeavor in investigating learners’ major headaches in TOEFL IBT essay writing and ways to eradicate them This is hoped to offer both teachers and learners substantial benefits in teaching and preparing for the TOEFL IBT test Students will directly benefit from this study in a sense that they will be aware of major challenges posed by TOEFL IBT writing essay, hence will know their ways to avoid or beat off them As for teachers, by being able to anitipate some awakwardness in their students’ writing, they can adjust their teaching methods appropriatetly according to students’ competence, preferences, and expectations to better help ungrade their students’ writing levels Moreover, personal boon is also accounted My main job is teaching TOEFL IBT for those who want to study overseas Hopefully, this study would somehow help me in teaching my students in the right way This research is also expectedly a beneficial reference source to teachers working in the same field feeling the same concern Scope of the study Because of constrained time and limited knowledge, this study only deals with two following issues:  Linguistic problems encountered by EQuest learners in TOEFL IBT writing essay vocabulary Some other problems such as taking reading notes, expressing ideas clearly, writing introduction and conclusion, writing under time pressure, and ensuring word requirement are less serious Some parts of the problems can be explained that TOEFL IBT task puts a lot of burden on listening skill, so students may be beset with note taking skill under time pressure When students miss some points from the listening, they will surely fail to relate the points from the listening to those from the reading This will adversely affects students’ ability to write the body part in which students are required to show relevant relationship between listening and reading passages Concerning TOEFL IBT task 2, some enormous linguistic problems posed in this task are word choice, academic vocabulary, expression, brainstorming ideas, and writing body paragraphs Formality of language, time limitation, conclusion, length of essay, and introduction rank the next challenges of TOEFL IBT task Spelling is the least frequently made mistake by learners Research question 2: What should be done to improve EQuest learners’ TOEFL IBT essay writing skill? In order to tackle all problems confronted by students in TOEFL IBT writing, a number of solutions have been given The optimal solution among students is teachers’ providing of a writing template for each question type Writing templates are most favored because they can help students shorten time for writing and create a safe feeling for them when commencing writing Teachers’ in-class checking and giving students more homework after each lesson are two next preferable kinds of assistance Teachers’ supply of sample essays, motivating students to write (such as encouraging group discussion, providing writing forums, and updating essay competitions for students), giving students more listening and reading exercises for taking note (for task only), and checking ideas before writing are of no less importance 36 Implications The outcomes of learners not depend on the lesson programs only, but more important is how the teachers assist their students and how students enhance their autonomy Basing on the findings of the present study, several pedagogical implications could be worked out as follow: 2.1 For the students Students should be as diligent as possible in order to get their target score for the TOEFL IBT They should sharpen their skills by reading academic topics which are frequently tested in TOEFL IBT, practicing taking notes on a regular basis, broadening and learning vocabulary by various means Writing skill can be uplifted only by practising, so learners should try to produce at least one essay per week and send to their instructors for checking TOEFL IBT is a proficiency test which involves a number of skills in one section; therefore, balance development of all skills is placed much weights Moreover, its requires the test takers to know some basic computer skills such as typing and other word processing skills; hence getting to know these things can help the test takers be more confident on the test day 2.2 For the teachers TOEFL IBT teachers should be the ones who inform their students about changes of TOEFL IBT, especially TOEFL IBT writing in comparison with other kinds of proficiency test, which enables their students to be more well-prepared for the actual test More importantly, students should be taught criteria in which their essays are graded so that they can go into the right track When teaching writing, teachers should creates as many chances as possible for their students to write because writing is a skill which is almost always improves with regular practice Teachers then really should make their feedback helpful and meaningful If time limitation in class hinders teachers from giving comments on their students’ writing, they can contact their students through email or other mediums 37 Writing templates is favored by a lot of students because they help students reduce much time spent on writing However, preparing for writing templates requires much of teachers’ effort and devotion Therefore, teacher should research deeply before teaching a TOEFL IBT course to ensure high quality of materials used Challenging and Agreement questions types are often considered the most troublesome writing tasks Accordingly, teachers can facilitate their students by spending more lessons and placing more emphasis on these question types than the others so that students can really master them Lastly, if teachers equip their students with further exercises relating to note taking and paraphrasing skills, this would take powerful effects for their students’ writing enhancement For each TOEFL IBT course, teachers should build proper materials to fit students’ levels of each typical course 38 CHAPTER CONCLUSION This chapter is aimed at summarizing the findings of the research, addressing some limitations, and opening up suggestions for future researches Summary of findings The current study emphasizes linguistic difficulties learners confront in TOEFL IBT writing and propose some useful solutions to those problems The study was undertaken at EQuest, an English center in Hanoi 88 TOEFL IBT learners at EQuest voluntarily participated in the research Survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were two research methodologies adopted Two principal findings of the research were: (1) Linguistic problems faced by TOEFL IBT learners in writing task are: paraphrasing, taking listening notes, writing body paragraphs, relating points from listening with those from reading passage, using academic vocabulary, taking reading notes, expressing ideas clearly, writing introduction and conclusion, writing under time pressure, and ensuring word requirement respectively Linguistic problems experienced by TOEFL IBT learners in writing task are word choice, academic vocabulary, expression, brainstorming ideas, writing body paragraphs, formality of language, time limitation, conclusion, length of essay, and introduction, and spelling The problems are ranked from the most serious to the least ones (2) Solution of these above problems take various forms such as teachers’ providing of a writing templates, teachers’ checking and giving in-class feedback, teachers’ assigning students more homework, teachers’ supply of sample essays, motivating students to write, giving students more listening and reading exercises for taking note (for task only), and checking ideas in pre-writing stage Limitations Even though much effort was put into the work, limitations are unavoidable In the very first place, due to difficulty in approaching all TOEFL IBT learners at EQuest, the researcher had to restricted the number of the participants 39 to 88 students Therefore, high generality of the results found in this study can not be perfectly assured Moreover, it is a shortcoming of the research when classroom observation was not employed Because of the constrained time, the author could not conduct any classroom observation to verify the results gained from the survey questionnaire and interviews The above limitations somehow affect the outcome of the present study, which should be taken into consideration in future research Suggestions for further research As sated before, the researcher investigated the problems faced by learners in TOEFL IBT essay writing However, other researchers could have different approaches to the same issue as follow: The present study was conducted among 88 students at EQuest center A similar study could be conducted in a different context In other words, if any researchers have advantageous timing and financial conditions, studies with expansion of the scope could be done In addition, other researches can touch upon the efficacy of giving TOEFL IBT students writing templates or types of activities to motivate students to write 40 REFERENCES Asaoka, C., & Usui, Y (2003) Students’ perceived problems in an EAP writing course JALT Journal, 25 (2), 143-172 Byrne, D (1988) Teaching writing skills London: Longman Clenton, J (2004) Academic writing: Towards an integrated approach Retrieved from www.sussec.ac.uk/languages/documents/academicwritingessay.pdf Cohen, L., & Manion, L (1865) Research methods in education London: Routledge Gear, J., & Gear, R (2006) Cambridge preparation for the TOEFL test New York: Cambridge University Press Hoa, N.T (2008) How to cope with difficulties in teaching writing skill to the first year students with the textbook Writing I at the English Department, Hung Vuong University Hanoi: Unpublished MA thesis, English Department of Post Graduate, University of Languages and International Studies Lan, B.P (2007) The first year-language students’ difficulties in paragraph writing and some appropriate strategies to solve these problems at the National Economics University Hanoi Hanoi: Unpublished MA thesis, English Department of Post Graduate, University of Languages and International Studies Lannon, J M (1989) The writing process: a concise rhetoric Massachusettes: Southeastern Massachusettes University Mallick, K., & Verma, G (1998) Researching Education: Perspectives and Techniques Oxford : Taylor & Francis McDonough, J., & McDonough, S.H (1997) Research methods for English language teachers London: Routledge 41 McNamara, C (1999) General guidelines for conducting interviews Minnesota: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (1992) Research methods in language learning New York: Cambridge University Press Oshima, A., & Hogue, A (2006) Writing academic English New York: Pearson Education Reid, J M (1993) Teaching ESL wirting New Jersey: Prentice Hall Sokolik, M (2003) Writing In D Nunan (Ed.) Practical English language teaching (pp 87-108) China: McGraw-H Higher Education Press Stanley, G (2002) Approaches to process writing Retrieved www.teachingenglish.org.uk/ think/ write/ pr Steele, V (2002) Product and process writing: A comparison Retrieved www.teachingenglish.org.uk/ think/ write/ ap Stricker, L.J., & Attali, Y (2010) Test takers’ attitudes about the TOEFL New Jersey: ETS Test and score summary for TOEFL Internet Based test: December 2006 test data (2007) New Jersey: ETS Tribble, C (1996) Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press Wolfe,E.W., & Manalo, J.R (2005) An investigation of the impact of composition medium on the quality of scores New Jersey: ETS http://www.ets.org/toefl https://www.ets.org/toefl/why?WT.ac=toeflhome_why_121127 https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/who_accepts_scores https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/understand 42 APPENDIX 1: TOEFL IBT WRITING QUESTION TYPES Integrated task 1.1 Type 1- Challenging Sample question: Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they challenge the points made in the reading 1.2 Type - Supporting Sample question: Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they support the points made in the reading 1.3 Type - Problem-solution Sample question: Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they suggest solutions to the problems mentioned in the reading Independent task 2.1 Type - Agreement Sample question : Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Boys and girls should attend separate schools Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion 2.2 Type - Preference Sample question: When people move to another country, some of them decide to follow the customs of the new country Others prefer to keep their own customs Which one you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion 2.3 Type - Details Sample question: People many different things to stay healthy What you for good health? 2.4 Type - Assumption Sample question: If you could change one important thing about your hometown, what would you change? I APPENDIX 2: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORM EQuest Academy, Northern Region Academic Department EQuest Academy, Northern Region 99 An Trach, Dong Da dist., Hanoi Phone: (84 4) 3734 7224/25 Fax: (84 4) 3734 7223 Email: infohn@EQuest.edu.vn Investigator’s name: Nguyen Thi Lien Investigator’s title: M.A PARTICIPANT INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORM Name of Study: Students’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing and suggested solutions You are invited to take part in a study of students’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing and suggested solutions The study is being carried out by Nguyen Thi Lien, a TOEFL IBT teacher at EQuest, Northern Region If you have any ethical concerns about this research, you may contact Ms Pham Thi Kim Lien, Deputy Academic Manager, EQuest Academy, Northern Region If you participate in the study, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire relating to TOEFL IBT writing When you finalize the II questionnaire, some of you will be invited to partake in interviews which are audio-recorded to guarantee the accuracy of your responses In the interview, you will be asked to give more details to your earlier responses to the questionnaire The interview is planned to take place after delivering the questionnaire days Participation in this study is not compulsory Please confirm your willingness to take part in the research by putting a tick next to the box below: □ Yes, I would like to participate in the survey questionnaire □ Yes, I would like to participate in the interview After collecting and processing data from the questionnaire and interviews, the results of data can be sent to you Please confirm your longing to receive the results of the data by putting a tick next to the box below: □ I want to receive a summary of the research findings □ I not want to receive a summary of the research findings If you are willing to take part in the study, please fill in some brief notes as following:  Your name: _  Your email/ phone number: _  Youschoolinwhichyouarecurrentlystudying:  The TOEFL IBT course at EQuest you are currently taking: _ THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR WILLINGNESS! III APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS Dear TOEFL IBT learners, I am Nguyen Thi Lien majoring in TESOL, English Department, Post Graduate Program, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies I am carrying out a research on “Students’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing and suggested solutions” This survey questionnaire is designed with the aim of collecting data for my study Your assistance in responding to the following questions is highly appreciated There are no right or wrong answers when you respond to these questions because this is not a test You can be also confident that your identities will be kept confidential Therefore, your honest answers are expected to be captured Thank you very much for your help! _ Please put a tick next to your answer and fill in the information where necessary Part General information Gender: □Male Age: □ 15-16 The course you are currently taking: Why you take part in this course? □ to apply for a scholarship and study □ to get a certificate abroad □ to get good mark at school □ for □ to get a job interest □ because of parents’ force others (specify) _ How long have you been learning English? □ less than a year □ year-2 years □ 3-5 years How long have you been learning TOEFL IBT? □ month-3 months □ 4-6 months □ 7-9 months □ 10-12 months What is your opinion of writing skill? IV □ over years □ very important □ important □ not very important What is your attitude towards TOEFL IBT writing skill? □ very difficult □ difficult □ not very difficult How much are you interested in learning TOEFL IBT writing skill? □ very □ not very □ not at all 10 How many TOEFL IBT essays you compose per week? □ None □ One □ Two □ Three □ More than three Part Students’ difficulties in TOEFL IBT essay writing 11 What are your linguistic difficulties in writing a TOEFL IBT essay task 1? (you can choose more than one option) □ Read the passage and take note under time pressure □ Listen to the lecture and take note under time pressure □ Relate the points in the listening passage to those in the reading passage □ Express ideas clearly □ Use correct word choice □ Lack academic vocabulary □ Paraphrase wording from the listening and reading passages □ Use formal language □ Write correct spelling □ Write the introduction part □ Write the body part □ Write the conclusion part □ Write under time constraint □ Fulfill requirement of word limit 12 What are your linguistic difficulties in writing a TOEFL IBT essay task 2? (you can choose more than one option) □ Brainstorm ideas and make an outline V □ Express ideas clearly □ Use correct word choice □ Lack academic vocabulary □ Use formal language □ Write correct spelling □ Write the introduction part □ Write the body part □ Write the conclusion part □ Write under time constraint □ Fulfill requirement of word limit 13 Which of the following question types in TOEFL IBT writing task you find difficult to write? (Rank the options from the least difficult to the most difficult with for the least difficult): □ Challenging □ Supporting □ Problem and solution 14 Which of the following question types in TOEFL IBT writing task you find difficult to write? (Rank the options from the least difficult to the most difficult with for the least difficult): □ Agreement □ Preference □ Details □ Assumption 15 What you want your teacher to help you in writing a TOEFL IBT essay effectively? (you can choose more than one option) □ Provide students with sample writing □ Provide students with specific templates of all question types □ Assign students more writing task at home □ Check ideas before writing □ Edit writing in class □ Allow peer-check among students □ Motivate students to write □ Provide students with supplement listening and reading exercises (for writing task 1) VI If you need additional information concerning the research or assistance in responding to the questionnaire, please contact me via my cell phone 09 7979 2858 or through my email katieliennguyen@gmail.com THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERARTION! VII ... academic essay An essay is a piece of writing of several paragraphs which tie to the same topic An essay has three main parts: an introduction, body (usually two or more paragraphs), and a conclusion... importance in TOEFL IBT writing test 2.2.2 Scoring standards and scoring rubrics of TOEFL IBT writing section 2.2.2.1 Scoring standards Integrated writing scoring standards Score A res from inform... TOEFL IBT essay writing Question11 What are your linguistic difficulties in writing a TOEFL IBT essay task 1? Figure Learners’ linguistic difficulties in TOEFL IBT writing task Difficulties Read