Errors made by tenth graders at thuan thanh II high school in their writing in english

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* ĐỖ VĂN LẬP ERRORS MADE BY TENTH GRADERS AT THUAN THANH II HIGH SCHOOL IN THEIR WRITINGS IN ENGLISH NHỮNG LỖI HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THUẬN THÀNH II GẶP PHẢI KHI VIẾT BẰNG TIẾNG ANH M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 Hanoi, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study Objectives of the study Scope of study Method of the study Design of study PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW I.1 Approaches to teaching writing I.1.1 Process approach I.1.2 Product approach I.1.3 Genre approach I.2 Major elements of writing I.2.1 Cohesion I.2.2 Coherence I.3 Errors in writing I.3.1 Previous studies on error analysis I.3.2 Errors vs mistakes I.3.4 Types of errors I.3.4 Sources of writing errors I.3.3.1 Intralingual and developmental factors I.3.3.2 Interlingual transfer I.3.5 Importance of errors to teaching and learning writing CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY II.1 Participants II.2 Instrumentation II.2.1 Survey questionnaire v II.2.2 Writing test II.3 Data collection procedure II.4 Methods of data analysis CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS III.1 Survey Questionnaire Analysis III.1.1 The students‟ attitudes towards learning writing III.1.2 Students‟ perceptions of writing tasks in the textbook III.1.3 Students‟ attitudes towards the teacher‟s writing lessons III.2 Errors analysis of students’ writing papers III.2.1 Errors in language III.2 1 Grammatical errors III.2.1 Lexical errors III.2.2 Errors in organization CHAPTER FOUR: MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS IV.1 Synthesis of the findings and discussions IV.2 Implications PART THREE: CONCLUSION Conclusions Limitations of the study Suggestions for further study REFERENCES Appendices Appendix1: Questionnaires for students Appendix 2: Writing tests Appendix 3: Verb- related errors Appendix 4: Preposition- related errors Appendix 5: Article -related errors Appendix 6: Pronoun -related errors Appendix 7: Lexical errors vi Appendix 8: Errors in sentence structures and usage Appendix 9: The students’ writing papers vii VIII PART ONE: INTRODUCTION This section devotes to five introductory parts: rationale, objectives, scope, method and design of the study Rationale for the study Basically, language learning involves the proficiency in the four language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking The four skills are divided into receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (speaking and writing) It is undeniable that writing plays an important role in English language learning As one is aware, language is learned Consequently, the ability to produce good writing pieces is not an innate skill but has to experience a set of teaching and learning practices It is possible to regard the writing ability as a type of communicative competence Writing is to convey messages to readers, but the conveyance of information from the writer to the audience is not always smooth In other words, writing effectively is not an easy task to master In principle, language learners must be provided with input data before they produce the results In the same vein, students‟ learning to write usually stick to accumulate amount of writing knowledge over time such as vocabulary, grammatical structure, writing styles and genres Learners‟ achievements in writing may be assessed in terms of their self-practice and writing products and many other criteria depending on different learners, situations and requirements Writing as a skill should not be confused with the act of writing The skill does not include writing separate sentences simply, but is writing series of sentences which have intended meaning and connections Therefore, writing will be under learners‟ control as long as they are taught with and learn through comprehensive and effective methods The importance of writing is undeniable in language teaching and learning There are a large number of benefits that students can receive from teaching and learning writing The first one is that learning is an effective way to enhance grammatical constructions, vocabulary, and idioms whereby learners can improve their capacity of producing native-like writing pieces Secondly, writing means that learners have to engage in using language and making effort to express ideas, which activates learners to explore their own way to write effectively Thirdly, as writing and thinking have close relationship, writing forms a valuable part of language course (Raimes, 1983) It is certain that there are more reasons for language leaner not to neglect writing no matter how the skill is difficult dry In order to realize learners‟ proficiency in writing, it is hard to find another more effective way than examine their writing papers Assessing their writing products can help the teacher measure how far learners travel in their language learning and what remains for them to strive for Not only writing pieces which have good organization, clear expression of ideas and are free of errors but also those containing full of errors and incoherent ideas provide the teacher with valuable sources of reference for teaching writing There have been various studies regarding analysis of students‟ writing papers For instance, Darus (2009) implemented the analysis of English essays written by secondary school students in Malaysia The researcher finds that learners often make mistakes in grammatical items such as verb tense, preposition, and subject-verb agreement Mungungu (2010) conducted a study regarding the analysis of papers written by ESL Namibian graders 12 The researcher identifies the four main categories of errors committed by such learners: tense, articles, prepositions and spelling The results found out by Mungungu are similar to what explored by Azimah (2005) who also pointed out the most common types of mistakes committed by learners are concerned with tense and prepositions These studies are conducted on different learners and learning environments As a teacher at a high school, I find that my students are weak at learning writing Many of them cannot write a paragraph; if some can write, their papers contain many errors I decide to conduct this study to fulfill the gap in the literature and to explore what stands behind students‟ difficulties and what are their specific errors in their writing pieces Objectives of the study The study is conducted to explore the problems that the high school students encounter whereby I can deal with such disruptions and find out the effective teaching methods to improve students‟ writing ability In order to realize the goals, the following research questions need to have their answers: What are the students’ attitudes towards learning writing? What are the types of errors made by the tenth graders in writing an English paragraph? Scope of the study This study is limited to the exploration of students‟ errors in writing short paragraphs because in the English textbook 10, the highest requirement on them is to write a short paragraph The researcher will classify types of mistakes by the learners and trace the root of their committing such errors I will analyze grammatical, lexical and mechanical errors Based on such analysis, I will figure out the solutions for the problems Method of the study The writer will conduct a research to examine which writing errors tenth graders often make and the causes of such errors A questionnaire is designed to elicit information of the students‟ attitudes towards learning writing The questions in the questionnaire are both close and open-ended Based on the students‟ answers, I will make some statistical data and the analysis of such data In addition, students will a writing test so that I can determine the real writing problems facing the students The requirement of the test is that learners write two paragraphs of about 100 words I will collect and analyze errors in these papers This is intended to be a quantitative and qualitative research study using compositions as a technique of eliciting data for the analysis, statistical counting as measurement of results The causes of errors will be examined based on criteria suggested by Richards (1971) Design of study There are three main parts in the study The first one is the introduction, the second is the development and the last one is conclusion The study starts with an introduction that gives an overview of teaching and learning writing; the reasons why the issue is chosen for research and the way to conduct the research After introduction, there are four chapters presenting the study in detail as the main part of the research In chapter one, some of the issues related to writing and errors in writing will be reviewed Regarding writing, main approaches to teaching writing and components of teaching writing will be reviewed Some of the main views regarding writing errors such as types, causes and contribution of errors to learning writing will be presented In chapter two, the method of the study is presented It includes the thoroughly descriptions of subjects, instrument and data collection The next chapter presents data analysis and discussions In this part, questionnaires and writing samples collected from students are analyzed to find out students‟ typical errors and their causes in order to recommend effective strategies for teaching paragraph writing In the last chapter, major findings will be summarized and some discussions, limitations, and suggestions are also presented PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, some the issues related to teaching and learning writing activities and error analysis will be reviewed briefly I.1 Approaches to teaching writing I.1.1 Process approach According to Trible (1996), process approaches lay emphasis on “writing activities which move learners from the generation of ideas and the collection of data through to the „publication‟ of a finished text.” However, the final product should not be the central focus, and the teachers play the role of facilitating students to brainstorming ideas, plan, revise, and edit Badger and White (2000) supposes that writing in process approaches is mainly concerned with linguistic aspects such as revising, editing, knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and text structure Kroll (1990) affirms that student writers have to undergo a cyclonical approach during their writing tasks There are different views on the cyclonical process, for example, Trible (1996) proposes four typical stages that students have to go through, which are: prewriting, composing/drafting, revising, and editing In this process, student writers may go back to the first stage of prewriting after they revise and edit their papers According to Steele (2004), there are eight stages for students to experience during their creation of writing pieces  Brainstorming: Students may discuss to work out as many ideas as possible to meet the requirements of the writing tasks  Planning/structuring: Students figure out the most appropriate qualities of their ideas  Mind mapping: Students arrange their ideas into a mind map, which reveals the hierarchical relationship of ideas and helps students to shape the text structure  Writing the first draft: Students produce the first draft based on the ideas they filter and organize Writing the first draft in the class can be done in pairs or groups  Peer feedback: Students exchange their drafts with each other, and to some extent they can improve their own writing pieces  Editing: Students will improve their own drafts based on peer feedback  Final draft: Students produce the final draft after editing  Evaluation and teacher feedback: Teachers will assess and provide feedback on students‟ writing papers As the process approach pays attention to linguistic knowledge and skills, it “promote the development of language use” (Hasan, 2010) In addition, the approach offers students chances to release their potential to deal with rhetorical concerns of writing (Bazerman, 1980) However, there remain drawbacks with the process approach As the approach regards writing process the same irrespective of “what is being said and who is writing…and may ignore the context in which writing happens” (Badger and White, 2000) Another disadvantage is that the process approach does not provide enough amount of input of academic discourse that can satisfy students‟ academic writing needs (Bizzell, 1982) I.1.2 Product approach Gabrielatos (2002) defines product approach as “a traditional approach in which students are encouraged to mimic a model text, usually presented and analyzed at an early stage.” Pincas (1982) has a more specific view when they consider writing in the product approach mainly concerning linguistic knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, syntax and cohesive devices In addition, Pincas suggests that in the product approach students have to experience four stages in learning writing: familiarization (some features of a text become known to students), controlled writing, guided writing (students practice writing with more freedom) and free writing (they can write about authentic tasks) Steele (2004) also shares the view when affirming that the product approach is made up of four stages: Hãy đánh dấu tích vào ô bên phải để thể mức độ em đồng ý không đồng ý với phát biểu sau = đồng ý = đồng ý = không = không đồng ý = không đồng ý Cảm nhận em viết SGK Các viết SGK thú vị Các viết SGK thực tế Các viết SGK dài Các viết SGK phức tạp Thái độ em giáo viên dạy kỹ viết tiếng Anh 10 Em thấy dễ viết giáo viên hướng dẫn 11 Em muốn giáo viên đọc sửa viết 12 Em sợ viết sau chữa lỗi mắc nhiều lỗi 13 Em thấy tự tin sau đước viết điểm cao II Appendix 2: Writing tests ENGLISH WRITING TEST Full name: Class: Choose and write about one of the following topics Task 1: Describe one of your favorite films The length of your description is from 100 words The following information should be included: the name of the film, kind of film, what it is about, where it is made/based on, the main characters, its ending (happy or sad) Task 2: Describe Hanoi capital city The length of your description is about 100 words You can use the following suggestions: where it is located, how big it is, its population, kind of city, what it is famous for, history of the city III Appendix 3: Verb-related errors I see it on TV twice I never go to Hanoi before The film made in Korea Sung Yo was lost his money Hanoi located in the North They were lived happily Hanoi has extended recently It founded in 1066 He is handsome and be fond of… There is many songs about Hanoi It talk about a cat and a mouse Every day Tom want imprison Jerry Jerry gradually defeat Tom Watching "Tom and Jerry" make me feel happy and funny It keep me excited and relaxed He stand against bad people The film have a happy ending They was kept in prison People in Hanoi is friendly Hanoi have thirty six streets Hanoi have apartment buildings, universities, and entertainment areas The main characters is Lee Joon and Kim Na Na Two brothers is studying The film make the audience moving It near Bac Ninh province When from America to Japan to find his father… It famous for long streets It me cry If we to Hanoi, The film about the fights "Tom and Jerry” the film I prefer Tom and Jerry happy with each other Appendix 4: Preposition related errors Hanoi city is in the north Vietnam Hanoi has a lot good food "Full house" is a kind love story film Micheal helps his brother and his friend escape prison where the late president lies the 3rd floor In the films I have seen It is famous by the beauty and by friendliness of people Hanoi is one in the two biggest cities of Vietnam Jerry was beaten by a stick I usually watch film in home V Appendix 5: Articles related errors It is about sinking of luxury liner "Tom and Jerry" is first cartoon I like One of famous films is "Gia dinh da quy" shown in 1999 It's love story film and action film City is crowded Hanoi is capital of Vietnam This place is cultural center of nation "Prison break" is a action film Van Mieu is a place to memorize the most brilliant scholars of nation Film is about student who lives far from home Family has five children The film is about conflicts in family Hanoi is large city Hanoi is business center of Vietnamese One of four seasons is cool When country was united, it was called Hanoi It is based on true story He is composer loved by Korean people It is important city of country Hanoi is largest city of country VI In short, Hanoi is a interesting city It is a largest city in the North Hanoi has a long history of culture and development Hanoi is a capital of Vietnam It is a most interesting film Unnecessary use of articles Hanoi is the largest center in the Vietnam I have seen the many famous films Appendix 6: Pronoun -related errors The film is about Dung who is an orphan Hanoi which has large population is the capital of Vietnam I love the city that has many famous places Hoan Kiem lake is the place for that Hanoi is famous Dung saw he in a rainy day Appendix 7: Lexical errors Dong Hac is a cook young Seawa is a lady intelligent The city covers an area large The city is a city big It is about the men intelligent Jerry is a very character intelligent Tom is a cat lazy and Jerry is a mouse friendly It has a culture thousand year old Hanoi is a city big and beauty It is a development city with famous landscapes The film is made in American cartoon films It attracttion many visitors A Tinh is a good cooker He met much difficults I have visted much famous places in Hanoi Hanoi has old street Visitors can enjoy many historical pagoda The main character are Park Min, Song Hoo… Appendix 8: Errors in sentence structures and usage "Tom and Jerry" is the like best Hanoi, which in the capital city of Vietnam The film audience delights Hanoi is "Thap Rua" and Hoan Kiem Lake Hanoi is a interesting city has many new things About Hanoi's food, has a lot of serious foods Nowadays have a lot of interesting films about friendship It is a comedy cartoon, talks about two characters is Tom cat and Jerry mouse This film came watchers comfortable and laughs I love Jerry because it lovely and I hate Tom because it badly The film have parent live happy with children always love children and look after it Hanoi is capital very beautiful Hanoi is the largest city in the Vietnamese Although difficult but they always help Hanoi capital city is one place very beautiful In Hanoi have many visit place famous Special Hanoi center have Hoan Kiem lake Between lake have one tower beautiful What a beautiful Hanoi it is! Come to Hanoi, visitors will enjoy many delicious food Its stands second finish population with million people Lie in the middle of the Red river plain populous and wealthy Hanoi be one of two a economy center of the country Hanoi a cultural and educate center Have very many songs about Hanoi IX "City hunter" is films fit action and sentiment romantic to continue to be compassion people The first, no one takes part in it… In film, Jerry often vitory Tom I like watch film and I like watch cartoon film Hanoi in Vietnam, Hanoi is a places very beautiful Hanoi is name Thang Long Hanoi is to exist the parks I am a fan's Lee Min Ha who played Lee Joon Seung Hanoi has a place of many visiting foreign tourist Yunho host a party goodbye with people X ... the teacher‟s writing lessons III.2 Errors analysis of students’ writing papers III.2.1 Errors in language III.2 1 Grammatical errors III.2.1 Lexical errors III.2.2 Errors in organization CHAPTER... general interests in writing skill, their feelings of tasks in the English textbook 10, and their attitudes towards the writing teacher III.1 The students‟ attitudes towards learning writing It... following research questions need to have their answers: What are the students’ attitudes towards learning writing? What are the types of errors made by the tenth graders in writing an English