enhancing learners’ writing fluency, syntactic maturity, and writing learning motivation through journal writing practice

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ENHANCING LEARNERS’ WRITING FLUENCY, SYNTACTIC MATURITY, AND WRITING LEARNING MOTIVATION THROUGH JOURNAL WRITING PRACTICE A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by DUONG NGUYEN HOANG PHUONG TRAM Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr NGUYEN THANH TUNG Ho Chi Minh City August, 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY DUONG NGUYEN HOANG PHUONG TRAM ENHANCING LEARNERS’ WRITING FLUENCY, SYNTACTIC MATURITY, AND WRITING LEARNING MOTIVATION THROUGH JOURNAL WRITING PRACTICE Major: TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Major code: 60140111 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr NGUYEN THANH TUNG Ho Chi Minh City, 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “Enhancing learners’ writing fluency, syntactic maturity, and writing learning motivation through journal writing practice” is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Ho Chi Minh City, 2018 Duong Nguyen Hoang Phuong Tram i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This M.A.-in-TESOL thesis is the result of a fruitful collaboration of all the people who have kindly supported and contributed with enormous commitment and enthusiasm in my study Without their respectful help during the research time and in all possible ways, it would not have been feasible for me to complete my thesis First of all, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thanh Tung, from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, whose compassion, encouragement, enthusiasm, and guidance throughout the research have helped me in the completion of this thesis I have truly learned from the excellence of his skills and wide experience in research; no words are adequate to describe the extent of my gratitude I am also sincerely grateful to all lecturers of the Open University in Ho Chi Minh City for providing me with invaluable sources of intellectual knowledge during my study here This knowledge was very useful when I conducted this research Furthermore, I am deeply grateful to my lovely students whose participation was very essential for data collection of this thesis Without them and their contribution, the collection for data could not have been implemented Last but not least, I would like to express my wholehearted gratitude to my family, my parents, and my best friend for their unconditional love, encouragement, spiritual support, and understanding over the time and distance ii ABSTRACT The tendency of teaching and learning English writing in Vietnam has caused the lack of vocabulary complexity, richness in ideas, and a variety of free-error sentence structures in Vietnamese second language (L2) learners’ compositions when they are required to produce texts for specific topics Writing in English, therefore, appears to be a challenge for them The purpose of the present study is to investigate to the extent to which the journal writing practice enhances writing fluency and syntactic maturity of L2 student writers With that purpose, the study reviews relevant literature of journal writing practice with the themes of definition, target, appropriate place and time, way of journaling, effects, and empirical research to form the core theoretical framework of the study The study was conducted at the Bilingual Education Council to investigate students’ writing fluency and syntactic maturity Twelve students at an intermediate level, females and males aged 13-14, participated in the study as an experimental group for this study Data were collected through the two research instruments of tests and a questionnaire The findings of the study indicate that journal writing practice positively enhanced the twelve students’ writing fluency and syntactic maturity as well as their writing learning motivation after the 15-week intervention period iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .ii ABSTRACT .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iv LIST OF CHARTS viii LIST OF TABLES ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Problem statement 1.3 Research aim and research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: THE REVIEW OF JOURNAL WRITING PRACTICE 2.1 Definition of journal writing .7 2.2 The target of journal writing .9 2.3 The most appropriate place for writing journals 14 2.4 The most appropriate time for writing journals 15 2.5 The way of writing a journal entry 16 2.6 The effects of journal writing practice .20 2.6.1 Writing ability .20 2.6.1.1 Fluency 20 2.6.1.2 Syntactic maturity 25 2.6.2 Learning motivation .27 2.7 Empirical research 28 iv 2.8 Chapter summary .31 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 32 3.1 Research site 32 3.2 Participants 33 3.3 Methodology 34 3.3.1 Overall approach 34 3.3.2 Research method 35 3.3.3 Research instruments 35 3.3.3.1 Tests 35 3.3.3.2 Questionnaire 38 3.4 Analytical framework 40 3.4.1 Tests 40 3.4.2 Questionnaire .42 3.5 Issues of validity and reliability 42 3.5.1 Tests 42 3.5.2 Questionnaire .43 3.6 Chapter summary .44 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS 45 4.1 Tests 45 4.1.1 Inter-rater reliability .45 4.1.2 General analysis of writing abilities 47 4.1.2.1 Pre-test analysis 47 4.1.2.2 Post-test analysis 48 4.1.3 Discrete analysis of writing abilities .51 4.1.3.1 Writing fluency 51 4.1.3.2 Syntactic maturity 58 v 4.2 Questionnaire 67 4.2.1 Questionnaire reliability analysis 67 4.2.2 Questionnaire themes 67 4.3 Chapter summary 74 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 75 5.1 Overall findings 75 5.2 Findings on journal writing practice enhancing L2 learners’ writing abilities 75 5.2.1 Writing fluency 75 5.2.2 Syntactic maturity 77 5.3 Findings on L2 learners’ opinions and writing learning motivation through journal writing 78 5.4 Chapter summary 80 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 81 6.1 Conclusions 81 6.2 Evaluation of methodology 82 6.2.1 Strengths 82 6.2.2 Weaknesses 83 6.3 Recommendations for teachers and students 83 6.3.1 For teachers 83 6.3.2 For students 84 6.4 Suggestions for further research 85 6.5 Chapter summary 85 REFERENCES 86 vi APPENDICES 96 Appendix A: Criteria for evaluation of writing abilities 96 Appendix B: Pre-test and post-test topics 98 Appendix C: Lesson plan 99 Appendix D: Questionnaire (English version) .102 Appendix E: Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) .106 Appendix F: Total score and category assessment in the pre- and post-test 111 Appendix G: Examples of journal entries showing learning motivation .113 Appendix H: The number of words in students’ journal entries 118 Appendix I: Category evaluation of students’ writing abilities in journal entries 119 Appendix J: Detailed assessment for writing fluency 122 Appendix K: Total score and category assessment for writing fluency 124 Appendix L: Syntactic maturity assessment 126 Appendix M: Total score and category assessment for syntactic maturity 127 Appendix N: Example essays in the 45-minute pre-test .128 Appendix O: Example essays in the 45-minute post-test 129 vii LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1 Category classification of writing abilities in the pre-test 48 Chart 4.2 Category classification of writing abilities in the post-test 49 Chart 4.3 Category classification of writing fluency in the pre- and post-test 52 Chart 4.4 Category classification of syntactic maturity in the pre- and post-test 60 viii Example 116 Appendix G (continued) Examples of journal entries showing writing learning motivation A journal entry discusses social issue 117 Appendix H The number of words in students’ journal entries Journal Entry Name N.S T.N M.T Q.K P.A V.L T.A T.T P.N T.L K.N A.T Total No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 134 124 112 103 98 122 116 112 83 61 68 65 1198 142 130 105 96 86 102 97 107 82 63 64 69 1143 148 136 116 114 94 118 124 115 80 59 61 62 1227 155 143 113 117 112 114 125 123 91 72 64 73 1302 178 171 128 123 119 116 137 130 106 74 72 78 1432 192 198 143 132 121 124 152 146 119 68 81 85 1561 216 218 152 142 144 135 167 164 121 83 82 96 1720 222 221 164 155 149 143 176 172 126 85 88 104 1805 225 230 168 163 164 157 192 167 132 102 103 112 1915 234 236 172 176 184 178 206 192 134 113 112 117 2054 247 242 180 190 205 196 214 190 148 126 124 127 2189 262 257 165 185 213 203 238 221 160 137 134 134 2309 269 261 181 183 221 211 242 228 168 158 125 145 2392 118 Appendix I Category evaluation of students’ writing abilities in journal entries JOURNAL WRITING ABILITY Total no of words No.1 No.2 No.3 1198 1143 1227 Fluency - E-VG: journal Content - G-A: journal - F-P: journals Vocabulary - VP: journals Syntactic maturity Flexibility in using T-units 1302 No.5 1432 - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal - G-A: journal - G-A: journals - G-A: journal - G-A: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals Accuracy of T-units - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal Variety of T-units No.4 - G-A: journals - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal - G-A: journal - G-A: journal - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journal E-VG = Excellent-Very good; G-A = Good-Average; F-P = Fair-Poor; VP = very poor 119 Appendix I (continued) Category evaluation of students’ writing abilities in journal entries JOURNAL WRITING ABILITY Fluency Total no of words Content Vocabulary No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 1561 1720 1805 1915 2054 - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journals - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - VP: journals - VP: journals - VP: journal - VP: journal - VP: journals Syntactic maturity Accuracy of T-units - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal - E-VG: journal Variety of T-units - E-VG: journals - E-VG: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - VP: journals - VP: journal - VP: journal Flexibility in using T- VP: journals units - VP: journals E-VG = Excellent-Very good; G-A = Good-Average; F-P = Fair-Poor; VP = very poor 120 Appendix I (continued) Category evaluation of students’ writing abilities in journal entries JOURNAL WRITING ABILITY Fluency Number of words Content Vocabulary Syntactic maturity Accuracy of T-units Variety of T-units Flexibility in using Tunits No.11 No.12 No.13 2189 2309 2392 - E-VG: journals - E-VG: journals - E-VG: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journal - F-P: journals - VP: journal - VP: journal - VP: journal - E-VG: journals - E-VG: journals - E-VG: journal - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - G-A: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - F-P: journals - VP: journal - VP: journal - VP: journal E-VG = Excellent-Very good; G-A = Good-Average; F-P = Fair-Poor; VP = very poor 121 Appendix J Detailed assessment for writing fluency Rater Number of words Pre-test Word Score number 160 164 152 118 123 223 10 127 127 117 121 115 120 Content Post-test Word Score number 302 10 298 10 215 10 172 175 174 184 168 141 154 153 160 Pretest (score) Posttest (score) 14 14 13 10 11 6 5 17 17 16 15 14 14 14 15 12 11 12 15 Vocabulary PrePosttest test (score) (score) 15 15 11 12 5 12 5 17 16 15 14 13 13 11 14 12 10 10 11 Rater Number of words Pre-test Word Score number 160 164 152 118 123 223 10 127 127 117 121 115 120 Content Post-test Word Score number 302 10 298 10 215 10 172 175 174 184 168 141 154 153 160 122 Pretest (score) 14 14 13 10 10 5 5 Posttest (score) 17 17 16 15 14 14 14 14 12 11 12 15 Vocabulary Pretest (score) 15 15 11 12 5 11 5 Posttest (score) 17 16 15 14 13 13 11 14 12 10 11 Appendix J (continued) Detailed assessment for writing fluency Final score Number of words Pre-test Word Score number 160 164 152 118 123 223 10 127 127 117 121 115 120 Content Post-test Word Score number 302 10 298 10 215 10 172 175 174 184 168 141 154 153 160 123 Pretest (score) 14 14 13 10 10.5 5.5 5.5 5 Posttest (score) 17 17 16 15 14 14 14 14.5 12 11 12 15 Vocabulary Pretest (score) 15 15 11 12 5 11.5 5 Posttest (score) 17 16 15 14 13 13 11 14 12 9.5 10 11 Appendix K Total score and category assessment for writing fluency Rater Pretest 36 36 30 25 21 19 15 27 14 14 13 13 Cat G G AV AV F F P AV VP VP VP VP Posttest 44 43 41 37 35 35 34 37 30 27 28 32 Cat VG VG VG G G G G G AV AV AV G Pretest 36 36 30 25 21 19 15 25 13 13 13 13 Cat = Category Cat G G AV AV F F P AV VP VP VP VP Posttest 44 43 41 37 35 35 34 36 30 26 28 32 Cat VG VG VG G G G G G AV AV AV G Rater EX = excellent; VG = very good; G = good; AV = average; F = fair; P = poor; VP = very poor 124 Appendix K (continued) Total score and category assessment for writing fluency Final score Pretest 36 36 30 25 21 19 15 26 13.5 13.5 13 13 Cat = Category Cat G G AV AV F F P AV VP VP VP VP Posttest 44 43 41 37 35 35 34 36.5 30 26.5 28 32 Cat VG VG VG G G G G G AV AV AV G EX = excellent; VG = very good; G = good; AV = average; F = fair; P = poor; VP = very poor 125 Appendix L Syntactic maturity assessment Rater 1-Rater Ratio between T-unit sentences and total sentences Pre-test Post-test Student T-unit Total T-unit Total sentences sentences sentences sentences 12 13 17 22 10 13 19 22 10 12 14 17 12 14 13 15 12 13 14 17 10 15 13 11 15 16 10 14 14 13 17 15 10 14 11 19 10 12 12 Rater 1-Rater Detailed assessment for syntactic maturity Accuracy Variety Pre No Post No Pre No Post 18 10 20 17 18 19 20 19 18 19 20 14 13 15 19 11 13 13 12 20 20 10 20 14 18 16 20 11 13 10 20 10 13 16 18 20 19 1 0 19 0 19 126 No 10 10 7 7 4 4 Pre 0 0 2 0 Flexibility No Post 4 2 0 0 0 No 2 1 0 0 Appendix M Total score and category assessment for syntactic maturity Rater 1-Rater Pre-test 27 25 25 17 22 28 24 11 19 21 Cat AV AV AV P F AV F VP F F VP VP Post-test 46 45 35 36 34 29 35 35 24 25 25 25 Cat EX VG G G G AV G G F AV AV AV Cat = Category EX= excellent; VG= very good; G= good; AV= average; F= fair; P= poor; VP= very poor 127 Appendix N Example essays in the 45-minute pre-test Topic: Write an essay (180-220 words) about dangerous or frightening thing(s) that happened to you Example Example 128 Appendix O Example essays in the 45-minute post-test Topic: Write an essay (180-220 words) retelling the most unforgettable memory(ies) in your life Example 129 Example 130 ... Can journal writing practice enhance L2 learners’ writing ability in terms of writing fluency and syntactic maturity? Can journal writing practice influence L2 learners’ writing learning motivation? ... AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled ? ?Enhancing learners’ writing fluency, syntactic maturity, and writing learning motivation through journal writing practice? ?? is my own work Except where reference... EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY DUONG NGUYEN HOANG PHUONG TRAM ENHANCING LEARNERS’ WRITING FLUENCY, SYNTACTIC MATURITY, AND WRITING LEARNING MOTIVATION