(Luận văn thạc sĩ) designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 english majored students at bien hoa gifted high school, ha nam

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES - - LẠI THANH TÌNH Designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School, Ha Nam (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH VIẾT BỔ TRỢ CHO HỌC SINH CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH LỚP 10 THPT CHUYÊN BIÊN HÒA, HÀ NAM) (M.A Minor thesis) Field: English methodology Code: 60140111 Ha noi - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES - - LẠI THANH TÌNH Designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School, Ha Nam (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH VIẾT BỔ TRỢ CHO HỌC SINH CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH LỚP 10 THPT CHUYÊN BIÊN HÒA, HÀ NAM) (M.A Minor thesis) Field: English methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Hoàng Văn Vân, Prof Dr Ha noi – 2012 DECLARATION This paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts I confirm this is my own research and this thesis has not been published or submitted for any other degrees Researcher's signature Lại Thanh Tình i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân for his generous assistance and guidance while I was conducting this study I am grateful for his precious advice, constructive criticism and constant support Without his help, this study would not have been completed My special thanks go to all the teachers in the faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Language and International Studies for their useful lectures I also wish to acknowledge the cooperation of my colleagues and all grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School in Ha Nam Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family, especially my dear husband, who have always encouraged me wholeheartedly and supported me to fulfill this study ii ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to design a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School, Ha Nam province in order to be used in extra classes The author of the study hopes that it will provide the teachers with a useful teaching document to improve students' writing ability The study begins with a small survey research with the participation of teachers and 35 grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School, Ha Nam province The aim is to find out the needs for a supplementary writing syllabus Then, basing on the current situation of teaching and learning writing of grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa gifted High School, the review on syllabus design and the data gained from the survey a supplementary writing syllabus is proposed with clear goals, objectives, contents, time allotment Suggestions for teaching methods and assessment were also presented Hopefully, the proposed supplementary writing syllabus will meet the teaching and learning needs and point out the contents that the teachers have to teach in order to fulfill the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) for the gifted as well as of the tests for the gifted students with the aim of enhancing the students' results iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration .i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of content .iv PART I INTRODUCTION Rationale .1 Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study .3 Design of the study .3 PART II DEVELOPMENT Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of syllabus design 1.1.1 Definitions of syllabus in language teaching .4 1.1.2 Types of syllabus 1.1.3 Steps in designing a language syllabus 10 1.2.Literature review on writing syllabus design .10 1.3 Summary .12 Chapter SITUATION ANALYSIS 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 The school 13 2.3 The teachers .13 2.4 The students .14 2.5 The Contest for gifted students in Northern Coastal Area provinces 15 2.6 The textbook .19 2.7 The needs to have a supplementary writing syllabus 22 2.8 Summary .22 Chapter THE supplementary writing syllabus 23 iv 3.1 Goals and objectives of the syllabus 23 3.2 Principles of designing the syllabus 23 3.3 Selection of contents 24 3.23.1 Difficulties of students in writing 24 3.3.2 Types of writing task and topics in the syllabus 26 3.3.3 Language functions in the syllabus .29 3.3.4 Aspects of writing 30 3.3.5 Language items .30 3.3.6 Time allocation of the syllabus .30 3.3.7 The organization of the syllabus 31 3.3.8 The proposed writing syllabus 31 3.3.9 A sample unit 34 3.4 Teaching methods 34 3.5 Assessment .34 3.5.1 Forms of testing 35 3.5.2 A sample of a test 35 3.6 Summary 35 Chapter Conclusions and suggestions 37 REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX I APPENDIX III APPENDIX V v PART I INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Bien Hoa Gifted High School is the only school in Ha Nam province to train gifted students in some subjects, one of which is English In April every year, there is a contest for grade 10 and grade 11 students coming from gifted high schools in Coastal Area of the North, Viet Nam English is one of the subjects to be tested in this contest The test level in this contest is nearly the same as that of the National Contest held every year for gifted students all over the country This is a great opportunity for students to broaden their experience in test-taking, to get to know students from other gifted high schools as well as to improve knowledge and skills for their coming National Contest Writing is one of the three language skills (listening, reading, writing) to be tested in the Contest It is often considered to be a real challenge for students, particularly for grade 10 students, who are new-comers at high school and just start to get familiar with writing skill To help students gain the best results, the teachers of English specializing classes have to work hard to select materials from different sources such as the Internet and different materials, etc That is because the current textbook for grade 10 students does not help students to reach the level as required by the test even though it is designed for students of the advanced category? They need more than what are provided in the text book in order to achieve better results in the tests for the gifted Therefore, all these above mentioned issues have inspired me to carry out the study "Designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa gifted High School, Ha Nam Province" with the hope to help teachers at Bien Hoa Gifted High School to have an insight into language syllabus design and writing syllabus design and provide an example of supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 students so that they can improve the quality of writing of their grade 10 students Aims and objectives of the study The main aims of the study are: To establish the theoretical and practical bases for a supplementary writing syllabus To propose a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 Englishmajored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School To offer some suggestions for suitable teaching methods and assessment In order to achieve the above aims, the study sets the following objectives for exploration: - providing a brief overview of Bien Hoa Gifted High School including the school, the teachers, the students and of the English Contest for gifted students in Northern Coastal Area provinces - identifying the needs for a supplementary writing syllabus - providing an overview of the main syllabus types which are relevant to the content of the study - considering some suggestions for teaching and assessment methods Research questions This study is carried out to find the answers to the following questions: Why is a supplementary writing syllabus needed for teaching and learning at Bien Hoa Gifted High School? How to design a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 Englishmajored students to prepare for the English Contest for gifted students in Northern Coastal Area provinces? What are suggestions for teaching methods and ways of assessment? Scope of the study This study would focus on only designing supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10, English-majored students so that they can perform successfully in the English Contest for gifted students in Northern Coastal Area provinces Methods of the study In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims, qualitative method and quantitative method are used Qualitative method is with situation analysis and document analysis, which aim at finding out the need to design a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School Quantitative method is used to identify and confirm the needs for a supplementary writing syllabus Design of the study The study is organize into three main parts: The first part, INTRODUCTION, provides the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope, methods and the design of the study The second part, DEVELOPMENT, consists of chapters: Chapter 1: "LITERATURE REVIEW" provides an overview of syllabus design, definitions of syllabus in language teaching, types of syllabus, steps in designing a language syllabus and literature review on writing syllabus design Chapter 2: "situation ANALYSIS" analyzes the context of the study including the school, the teachers, the students, the textbook, the Contest for gifted students from Northern Coastal Area provinces to find out the necessity to design a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School Chapter 3: "THE SUPPLEMENTARY WRITING SYLLABUS" presents the content of the writing syllabus with the description of the aims, objectives, principles of designing, selection of contents and suggestion on teaching and assessment methods The third part, CONCLUSION summarizes what has been studied and offers some suggestions for further research identifying needs clarifying aims and objectives selecting the contents suggesting teaching methods and assessment methods The syllabus proposed in this study composes the time allotment for each unit, title of the unit, content of each unit (including language functions and language items) and the resources where teachers can find helpful materials for their teaching This study is carried out with the hope that the proposed syllabus will be implemented in the teaching situation in Bien Hoa Gifted High School and develop grade 10 English-majored students' writing ability, which can be seen in the result of the contest for the gifted at the end of the school year Suggestions for further research This study has been carried out with a great effort of the author to work out a supplementary for grade 10 English-majored students However, limitations are unavoidable Because of the small number of teachers (8) and students (35), the questionnaire was administered to a very limited number of participants, so the validity of the study would increase if it is carried out with a larger population Moreover, the effectiveness of this supplementary writing syllabus has not been evaluated yet Further work should overcome this shortcoming Due to the time limitation, the syllabus only focuses on grade 10 English-majored students at intermediate level Hopefully, supplementary syllabi for grade 11 and grade 12 English-majored students at gifted high schools may be an interesting subject for further research 36 REFERENCES Allwright, R.L, “Perceiving and pursuing learners’ needs in Geddes, M and Sturtridge, G, Individualization, Modern English publications, 1982 Anh, N H "Writing tasks, an authentic task approach to individual writing needs" Cambridge University Press Barbier, S (2008) Approaches in teaching writing" An article on Growing Teachera Blog, Antioch University New England Department of Education, retrived on 11th August, 2013 on the website: http://growingteachers.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/approaches-to-teaching-writingby-sophie-barbier/ Brumfit, C.J (1984) "The limits of the language syllabus" in Read, J.A.S(ed) "Trends in language syllabus design" Singapore: SEAMEO Regional language center Byrne, D (1990) "Teaching writing skills, Longman handbooks for language teacher", Longman group Ltd Candlin, C.N & Hyland, K (1999) "Writing: Texts, Processes and Practices" New York: Addison Wesley Longman Limited Chu, P.V (2003) Designing a writing syllabus in the light of learner-centered approach for the 3rd year students of English at the Teacher Training Faculty of Hong Duc university" M.A thesis, Hanoi, VNU Chuyen, T.T (2009) "Designing an English business letter writing syllabus for the second year students of tourism and foreign language department at Sao Do College of Industry M.A thesis, VNU, Hanoi 10 Dave W (1990) "The lexical syllabus" Bell and Brain Ltd, Glasgow 11 Dorothy, E Z & Carlos, I "Paragraph writing" 12 Dubin, F & Olshtain, E (1986) "Course design Developing programs and materials for language learning" America: Cambridge University Press 13 Gibbons, J (1983) "Sequencing in Language syllabus design", In John, A.S Read, Trends in language syllabus design, SEAMEO Regional Language Center 37 14 Ha, T T (2010) "Teaching essay writing to English language specializing students at Le Hong Phong specialized secondary school, Nam Dinh city" M.A thesis, VNU, Hanoi 15 Holliday, A.R., & Cooke, T.M An ecological approach to ESP In A Waters (Ed.), Issues in ESP (Lancaster practical papers in English language education 5) (pp 124–144) Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982 16 Hutchinson, T and Waters, A “English for specific purposes, a learning centered approach”, Cambridge University Press, 1987 17 Kiefer, K (1983) Making writing work, effective paragraphs" Department of English Colorado State University McGraw-Hill Book Company 18 Krahnke, K 1987 "Approaches to syllabus design for Foreign Language Teaching" Prentice Hall Regents 19 Jordan, R.R “English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., 1997 20 Munby, J., “Communicative syllabus design”, Cambridge University Press, 1978 21 Nhan, N T T (2007) "Designing a writing syllabus for the national team of English at Vinh Phuc gifted secondary school" M.A thesis, VNU, Hanoi 22 Nunan D (1988) "Syllabus design" New York Oxford University Press 23 Oshima, A & Hogue, A (1991) "Writing Academic English" The United States Press 24 Peter, T D & Bright, W "The world's writing systems" Oxford University Press 25 Raimes, A (1983) "Techniques in teaching writing" Oxford, Oxford University Press 26 Richterich, R., & Chancerel, J.-L “Identifying the needs of adults learning a foreign language.” Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1977 27 Robinson, P.C (1991) "ESP Today: A practitioner's Guide" UK Prentice Hall International Ltd 28 Ur, P (2012) "A course in English language teaching" Cambridge University Press retrieved on 8th August on the website http://books.google.com.vn/books?isbn=1107684676 38 29 Wilkins, D.A (1976) "Notional syllabus" Oxford: Oxford University Press 30 Willis, D 1990 "The lexical Syllabus: A new approach to language teaching" William Collins sons &Co Ltd 31 Yalden, J ( 1996) Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 39 APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS I am Lại Thanh Tình, teacher at Bien Hoa gifted high school I am conducting a research on “designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 Englishmajored students at Bien Hoa gifted high school”, which aims at helping teachers of English specializing classes in Bien Hoa high school in particular and other gifted high schools in general have an insight into language syllabus design and writing syllabus design based on learners' needs as well as proposing an extra writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students I would be grateful if you could spend some of your precious time completing this questionnaire Thank you for your cooperation Section 1: Difficulties of grade 10 students in terms of writing skills Indicate how often your students have difficulty in writing with each of the following items No Writing difficulties Very often Grammar Vocabulary Content organization Unity and coherence Writing style I Often Sometimes Never Section 2: Topics of writing tasks to be covered in the supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students Following are topics of writing tasks your students are to learn in grade 10, please indicate: Which of them you think are necessary to teach? No Topics Necessity Yes No School talks/ Education 27 People's background 26 Daily activities 11 24 Technology 24 11 School outdoor activities 20 15 The Mass media 28 7 Life in the community 23 12 Undersea world 11 24 Conservation 20 15 10 National parks 10 25 11 Music 21 14 12 Theater and Movies 20 15 13 The World Cup 27 14 The Pacific Rim 30 15 Historical places 12 23 II APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I am Lại Thanh Tình, teacher at Bien Hoa gifted high school I am conducting a research on “designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 Englishmajored students at Bien Hoa gifted high school”, which aims at helping teachers of English specializing classes in Bien Hoa high school in particular and other gifted high schools in general have an insight into language syllabus design and writing syllabus design based on learners' needs as well as proposing an extra writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students I would be grateful if you could spend some of your precious time completing this questionnaire Thank you for your cooperation Section 1: Difficulties of grade 10 students in terms of writing skills Indicate how often you have difficulty in writing with each of the following items No Writing difficulties Very often Grammar Vocabulary Content/ ideas Unity and coherence Writing style Often Some- Never times Section 2: Topics of writing tasks to be covered in the supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English-majored students Following are topics of writing tasks you are to learn in grade 10, please indicate: Which of them you think are necessary to learn? III No Topics Necessity Yes No School talks/ Education 27 People's background 26 Daily activities 11 24 Technology 24 11 School outdoor activities 20 15 The Mass media 28 7 Life in the community 23 12 Undersea world 11 24 Conservation 20 15 10 National parks 10 25 11 Music 21 14 12 Theater and Movies 20 15 13 The World Cup 27 14 The Pacific Rim 30 15 Historical places 12 23 IV APPENDIX Sample unit Unit 2: Unity and coherence I, Unity within a paragraph A paragraph must have unity A paragraph has unity when all the sentences support a single idea - The paragraph must have one controlling idea in the topic sentence Otherwise the paragraph loses focus - The supporting sentences must support or explain the controlling idea with examples, details, steps, or definitions Otherwise, the paragraph will not be about one single idea - The concluding sentence should restate the idea in the topic sentence Otherwise, the main idea might not be clea Topic sentence My friend Macarena is generous Supporting sentences She often lets travelers stay in her home She has hosted many students temporarily She sends money to her family in Chile every month to help them with their bills She always brings flowers or food to her friends when they are sick or have a need Concluding sentences Macarena is one of the most generous people I know Note that all the sentences are about Macarena's generosity A sentence about the way she looks or about her job will not support the unity of the paragraph unless it somehow relates to Macarena's generosity Exercise 1: Reading a student paragraph Read a paragraph Where did the pink ship come from? V The Pink Sheep Many years ago, a special gift came to me in an interesting way When I was a small boy, I enjoyed playing in my garden One day, I found a hole in the wall of my garden It was near the ground, so I could not see through the hole, but I knew that behind the wall was my neighbor's garden Who made that hole? I felt really interested, so I used rocks to make the hole wider One day, when I was trying to break through the wall, I noticed a small hand appear from the hole The hand was holding a rubber sheep It was pink and it had wide eyes I caught that rubber sheep Then I pushed my favorite wooden truck through the hole to give to that child on the other side Sometimes I bought toys with my lucky New Year money A long time later, when I was old enough to go out, I went around the corner to find the child who gave me that special gift, but nobody was in that house My neighbor said that the girl used to live there, and she was the same age as me I never found her, but the gift has a special meaning for me Exercise 2: Analyzing a student paragraph for unity Examine the organization of the paragraph by answering the questions below Then compare your answers with a partner Circle the topic and underline the controlling idea After you read the controlling idea, what did you expect the supporting ideas to explain Write your answer in your own words One sentence in the paragraph is off-topic and does not support the unity of the paragraph Draw the line through it Why does this sentence hurt the unity of the paragraph? Write your explanation below VI Exercise 3: Recognizing unity in supporting sentences Read the following topic sentences Put a tick (√) next to each sentence below that supports the topic sentence I am an organized person _a My desk is always neat and tidy _b I have a system for organizing my papers, and I can always find what I need _c I feel uncomfortable when I am in a strange environment _d My friends always want me to help them put their closets in order Twenty questions is an easy game to play when you are travelling _a The person who is "it" must think of a person, place or object _b Sometimes people travel by car, and sometimes by train or airplane _c It is very important to travel with people you get along with _d The other players can take turns asking questions that can only be answered with "yes" or "no" Tea and coffee are very different from each other _a Coffee has more caffeine than tea does _b Coffee and tea both have caffeine _c People enjoy tea and coffee during social occasions _d Tea is much more common around the world than coffee is In my opinion, people spend too much money on cars _a Some drivers spend a fourth of their income for a car payment, which is unnecessary _b Cars not increase in value, so they are not a great investment _c Car companies are always looking for ways to make vehicles safer on the road _d People who not pay cash must also pay interest, so they lose even more money It is easy to get a sports injury VII _a Many people enjoy sports _b Runners often have problems with their ankles and knees _c Basketball players can break their fingers or get knocked over by another player _d Many people make the simple mistake of joining a gym, and then they never go there to exercise My city is famous because of its architecture _a We have ancient red-tiled buildings around the main square _b The restaurants near the beach serve great seafood _c It has expensive tree-lined boulevards with beautiful limestone buildings and monuments _d A famous university is located on the side of a mountain Exercise 4: Editing for unity Read the paragraph below Cross out the two sentences that are not about the controlling idea Life in a New Place I am a Thai girl living in the U.S., and there are many adjustments that I must make First of all, I must get used to a new kind of food I am learning to eat a lot of hamburgers because they are not expensive and they are easy to buy The people are different and I am learning to meet new foreign friends For example, two of my new friends are from Pakistan Pakistan is also an interesting country to visit The weather requires another kind of adjustment Some days, it is hot just as in my country, but on other days, it is cold and this is very strange for me I came to the U.S to study and I enjoy my classes and my teachers I am adjusting to the U.S in many ways, but it is not a problem for me because I like to know about different places and people VIII Exercise 5: Developing unity Write two supporting sentences for each of the following topic sentences Then exchange books with a partner and check your partner's sentences for unity Computers are useful in many ways There are certain characteristics that I always look for in a good restaurant When I want to look nice for a party, I follow a few simple steps There are activities in a park for family members of all ages There are many ways to show respect to older people When you are going camping, there are some things you should always take with you IX II Coherence within a paragraph A paragraph must also have coherence This means that the supporting details are organized so that information that goes together appears together Writers often use time, space or order of importance to present the supporting information in a paragraph coherently The following example is organized by space When you drive into the airport, you will see many signs for the different terminals After you pass the signs, you will drive over a hill The airport is on the other side of the hill On your right, you will see the international terminal The terminal is two stories tall The front is all glass On the left, you will see the domestic terminals Exercise 6: Identifying patterns of coherence Read the paragraphs below Then circle the word that best describes the way the paragraph is organized Paragraph My favorite restaurant is in an old house It is very convenient because it is in my neighborhood We can drive, or if the evening is pleasant, we can walk It has a nice atmosphere and friendly service We know some of the waiters and waitresses so we enjoy talking to them because they ask us about our children We especially like the decorations The walls are soft yellow, and candles and fresh flowers are on the tables inside and outside Finally, the food is excellent The cook is the owner and he makes delicious dishes with fresh ingredients We always enjoy our meals Time Space Order of importance X Paragraph My favorite restaurant is in an old house My husband and I enjoy eating there one summer evenings We usually walk from our house so we can enjoy our neighbors' gardens and get a little bit of exercise The afternoon sun shines through the trees but it is not too bright We arrive at dusk, and if we are lucky, we can sit outside The waiter brings a basket of warm bread and a cold drink We have an appetizer or a salad while the sun goes down Then the waiter lights the candles while we enjoy the main course By the time we finish desert, it is night time We walk home slowly, feeling full but happy in the moonlight Time Space Order of importance Exercise 7: Evaluating coherence within a paragraph Read the following paragraphs Which one has better coherence? What is the pattern of organization? Paragraph Soccer brings the world together in many ways During the World Cup, people from all over the world are tuned in If they can not see it in person, they watch it on television Many countries participate in the world cup People learn about the teams from different countries, and they learn something about those countries When people are watching the World Cup, they not care if the game is on at four a.m in their country They will stay up to watch it They learn about the flags from different countries because they will see the fans Paragraph The best way to meet new friends is to take a class First, all the people in a class have something in common They all want to learn about the subject, so there is something to talk about Second, everyone sees each other every time the class meets, so thee are many opportunities to get to know others Third, there are often activities and group projects so students can work together, and this is the best way to get to know people By the end of the class, it is hard not to know your classmates XI ... theoretical and practical bases for a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 English- majored students at Bien Hoa Gifted High School and to propose a supplementary writing syllabus In order to achieve... QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS I am Lại Thanh Tình, teacher at Bien Hoa gifted high school I am conducting a research on ? ?designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 Englishmajored students at. .. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I am Lại Thanh Tình, teacher at Bien Hoa gifted high school I am conducting a research on ? ?designing a supplementary writing syllabus for grade 10 Englishmajored students at Bien