Problems experienced by teachers in teaching writing to english major students at hanoi university of industry and suggested solutions

i VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES - BÙI HỒNG VÂN PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY TEACHERS IN TEACHING WRITING TO ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS (CÁC VẤN ĐỀ GIÁO VIÊN GẶP PHẢI TRONG VIỆC DẠY VIẾT CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI VÀ MỘT VÀI HƯỚNG GIẢI QUYẾT) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2010 ii VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES - BÙI HỒNG VÂN PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY TEACHERS IN TEACHING WRITING TO ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS (CÁC VẤN ĐỀ GIÁO VIÊN GẶP PHẢI TRONG VIỆC DẠY VIẾT CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI VÀ MỘT VÀI HƯỚNG GIẢI QUYẾT) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyễn Thu Lệ Hằng, M.A Hanoi, 2010 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Method of the study Contribution of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definitions of writing 1.2 The importance of writing 1.3 Approaches to teaching writing 1.3.1 The product approach 1.3.2 The process approach 3.3 Differences between the two approaches 1.4 Factors affecting the teaching and learning of writing 1.4.1 Learners’ personality 1.4.2 Motivation vii 1.4.3 The first language and culture 10 1.4.4 The textbook 11 1.4.5 Students’ communicative competence 12 1.5 Problems in teaching writing 13 1.5.1 The interference of the first language and culture 13 1.5.2 Lack of motivation 13 1.5.3 Constraints in writing 13 1.5.4 Students’ communicative competence 14 1.5.5 Giving feedback 14 1.5.6 Adapting the textbook 14 CHAPTER TWO: THE STUDY 2.1 The research hypothesis 16 2.2 Methodology 16 2.3 Participants and instruments 16 2.3.1 Participants 16 2.3.2 Instruments 17 2.4 Procedure of data collection 17 2.5 Results and discussion 18 2.5.1 Problems in teaching writing to English major students at HaUI 18 2.5.2 Suggested solutions 25 PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the study 30 Implications 31 viii Limitations of the study 31 Suggestions for further studies 32 REFERENCES 33 APPENDIX (Observation protocols) I APPENDIX (The teacher questionnaire) VIII APPENDIX (Interview questions completed by teachers) XV ix LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES No Content Page Chart1 Teachers’ opinions on teaching writing 18 Chart Factors affecting the teaching of writing 19 Chart Vietnamese interference in students’ writing 21 Chart Mistakes that students make most frequently 22 Chart The frequency of teachers’ feedback giving 23 Chart Using teaching aids to motivate students in writing lessons 26 Chart Using time in the teaching of writing 27 Table Teachers’ problems in giving feedback to students 24 Table Ways to develop students’ communicative competence 28 PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale Of all four language skills, writing seems to be the most difficult one for both learners and teachers It requires both good communicative competence and logical thinking Despite these requirements, writing is very necessary In language learning process, it helps learners not only improve other skills but promote their ways of thinking as well Therefore, teaching writing plays a fundamental role in teaching and learning English as a second/foreign language However, there exist lots of problems in teaching writing, especially at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI), where the author of this thesis works Most of the teachers, particularly teachers teaching writing to English major students, find it uneasy to motivate their students to write, to make their writing lessons more interesting and so forth In spite of these obstacles, there is a lack of studies on teaching writing As a result of the reasons above, the study “Problems experienced by teachers in teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry and Suggested Solutions” is conducted in an attempt to address the gap in the literature and to offer English writing teachers, especially the teachers teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry, some effective solutions to their current problems Finally, this study is also hoped to lay a foundation on which subsequent researches into this matter is based and developed Aims of the study This study is carried out with the wish of achieving the two primary aims: - To find out what the problems that teachers at HaUI experience in teaching writing to English major students are - To suggest some solutions to the problems in teaching writing These aims are shown clearly in addressing the following research questions: - What are the problems that teachers at HaUI experience in teaching writing to English major students? - What are the possible solutions to these problems as suggested by the teachers at HaUI? Scope of the study The study concentrates on problems experienced by teachers teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry Besides, on the basis of the findings, some solutions suggested by these teachers are advanced to further improve teaching writing in Vietnam Method of the study The study is conducted based on survey research which uses observation, questionnaires and interviews to collect data - Firstly, observation is used to find out possible problems in teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry - Secondly, a survey for teachers is conducted to address the problems in teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry In addition, some possible solutions to these problems are also concerned in this survey - Finally, interviews for the teachers teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry are carried out to get better insights into the research questions Contribution of the study That the study is conducted not only finds out the problems in teaching writing and provides some possible solutions but also shows the reality of teaching writing in Vietnam in general and at Hanoi University of Industry in particular Moreover, this study is hoped to address the gap in the literature as well as to lay the foundation for further studies on teaching and learning writing Design of the study This study is divided into four main parts to get better insights into different problems in teaching writing - The first part – Introduction - introduces rationale, aims, scope, method, contribution of the study and provides an overview of the thesis design - Chapter One in the Development reviews background knowledge of writing and problems in teaching writing with five minor parts: definitions of writing, the importance of writing, approaches to teaching writing, factors affecting the teaching and learning of writing and problems in teaching writing and solutions - Chapter Two in the Development is wholly devoted to describing the study with details in the research hypothesis, rationale for using the survey method, participants, instruments, procedure of data collection, results and discussion - Finally, the third part is the Conclusion of the thesis dealing with the summary, implications and limitations of the study Furthermore, this part also provides some suggestions for further studies PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definitions of writing Writing seems to be a familiar activity to human beings and appears in all fields of our society Despite its familiarity, no one can say exactly what writing is because there have been so many definitions of writing, which reflects the complexity of writing itself According to Byrne (1988), writing is not simply the act of forming “graphic symbols”, but the production of “a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and linked together in certain ways” In other words, Byrne defined writing as the process of forming a text However, writing is more than that Also defining writing based on texts like Byrne, Candlin and Hyland (1999) said: “Writing is therefore an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of the claims that are made” In this definition, writing is proved not to be the process of arranging “graphic symbols” to form words or arranging words to form sentences and arranging sentences to form texts But it is considered as the production of texts which connects to a social process embedding methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies Besides, the role of audience is mentioned as the goal of the writing From the different perspective, Murray (1978) and Perl (1979) defined writing as “a creative discovery procedure characterized by the dynamic interplay of content and language: the use of language to explore beyond the known content” However, writing not only shows the reciprocal relationship between content and language and discovers the new content as Murray and Perl’s view but also is responsible for transmitting writers’ messages Lannon (1989) complemented this idea in his definition of writing - “a process transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error or whatever into a message with a definite meaning…, a process of deliberate decision.” Nevertheless, writing is complex, so different perspectives have different definitions of writing Many English teachers like Tribble (1996), Harris (1993) and Oshima & Hogue (1991) viewed writing as a language skill Firstly, Oshima & Hogue insisted that writing was a process, not a product This point of view was supported by Harris (1993) when he considered writing as “a process that occurs over a period 37 Thompson, N (2003) Communication and Language: A Handbook of Theory and Practice USA: Palgrave Macmillan Tomlinson, B (2003) Developing materials for language teaching London Continuum Tribble, C (1996) Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press Tsui, AB.M (1996) Learning how to teach ESL writing In D Freeman & J.C Richards (Eds.), Teacher learning in language teaching Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp 97-119 Ur, P (1991) A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Weir, C (1990) Communicative Language Testing Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International Ltd White, R V (1987) “Approaches to writing” In Long, M.H and Richards, J C (Eds.), Methodology in TESOL: A Book of Readings Boston: Heinle and Heinle, pp.257-266 Williams, D (1983) Developing criteria for textbook evaluation, ELT journal 37(3): 251-255 Woolfolk, A (2001) Educational Psychology - 8th ed USA: A Pearsoson Education Company Yule, G (1996) The Study of Language – 2nd Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 38 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS OBSERVATIONAL PROTOCOL Date: 28/04/2010 Room 302 - A2 Hanoi University of Industry Writing class for First-year English major students Textbook: College Writing (Dorothy E Zemach & Lisa A Rumisek) Length of Activity: 90 minutes Descriptive Notes Reflective Notes Board Unit 5: Opinion Paragraphs Door Teacher’s Desk DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN FACTS - - AND OPINIONS - - - - Seats for Students Seats for Students Sketch of the classroom I Facts and Opinions: Theory - The Teacher (T) comes in, greets the - No warm – up stage students (Ss) and asks them about their - The class is so quiet, and the students are paragraph about rather passive - Only some students get involved in the traditional food – Spring rolls in Vietnam homework: Write a - T raises a question about facts and lesson The others talk (in Vietnamese) or opinions – “What are the differences fall asleep between facts and opinions?” - The teacher uses English to give lessons - T calls some Ss to answer the questions - Blackboard is not used - Good PowerPoint Presentation 39 and to give examples No-one volunteers - The teacher keeps asking and saying, but - T reads aloud some sentences and asks Ss Ss are not active to give responses to define facts and opinions in the whole class - T introduces the outline of the lesson, using PowerPoint Presentation - T gives definitions of facts and opinions through PowerPoint Presentation, and then asks students to read the letter in the textbook to answer questions in five minutes - After minutes, T asks questions in the book T checks Ss’ answers - T asks: “Why writers add facts in their writing?” Some Ss raise their voice to answer T’s questions II Facts and Opinions: Practice Exercise in the textbook: Read a letter to - Although the teacher announce only five the editor of a newspaper Answer the to ten minutes for Ss to exercises, but questions the real time is rather long - T asks students to open the book and - Ss don’t get involved in the lesson - Most of the time T uses English She only exercise - T goes around the class and explains if uses Vietnamese when there is no response from Ss necessary - T asks Ss to share their answers with their - No other activities but doing exercises from time to time partners and to explain why - T checks Ss’ work with the whole class After that, T asks Ss to work in group of 40 three or in pairs to discuss the question: What kind of writing we have? It is an opinion or a fact writing? - T calls some Ss to give the answer T checks Ss’ answers and explains Exercises in the textbook: Decide whether the sentence is a fact or an opinion - T asks Ss to exercises in the textbook in three minutes - After three minutes, T asks Ss to work in the whole class T checks and points out some words that show opinions: “easier”, “best”, “worst”, etc Supplementary Exercise (PowerPoint Presentation): - T gives one more exercise on the projector: Distinguish facts and opinions in sentences Ss are asked to work in whole class T checks and underlines words or phrases that express facts or opinions Exercises in the textbook: - T asks students to write sentences of facts and opinions (10 minutes) - T goes around, checking Ss’ work, and after 10 minutes, T calls Ss to read their sentences T and the rest of the class check these sentences - T announces the end of the lesson 41 OBSERVATIONAL PROTOCOL Date: 10/05/2010 Room 401 - A2 Hanoi University of Industry Writing class for First-year English major students Textbook: College Writing (Dorothy E Zemach & Lisa A Rumisek) Length of Activity: 90 minutes Descriptive Notes Reflective Notes Board Unit 5: Opinion Paragraphs Door USING TRANSITION WORDS TO Teacher’s Desk EXPRESS CAUSALITY - - - - - - Seats for Students Seats for Students Sketch of the classroom I Causal adverbs: Theory - T comes in, greets the students and - The teacher uses English and then revises the previous lesson about opinion translates into Vietnamese paragraph Then she links to the lesson: - T only sits in front of the black board - Good PowerPoint Presentation Causal adverbs - T talks about some causal adverbs: - The teacher speaks very fast, and there is because, since, so and talks about their no response from students uses T gives examples All of these activities are done by using PowerPoint presentation 42 II Causal adverbs: Practice Supplementary Exercise 1: Read sentences - There is no variety in activities Underline the causes Circle the results - T uses English most of the time T speaks (PowerPoint Presentation) very fast - T asks Ss to work in pairs Immediately T - No time announcement calls Ss to give answers T responses and - Ss are rather passive Only some Ss get explain Ss’ answers involved in the lesson - T talks about the position of causal - Blackboard is used by Ss to write adverbs and the use of punctuation in sentences in Supplementary Exercise sentences Ss note them in their notebooks - Some students have troubles in using - T suggests Ss give more causal adverbs “because” and “so” They use both of them in a sentence like thanks to, as a result Exercise 13: Complete the paragraph using because, since, so, and therefore - T requires Ss to exercise 13 in the textbook - T goes around the class while Ss their task - T calls Ss to give their answers T checks and explains their choice - There is a disagreement between some Ss and T in using “therefore” in a sentence of the paragraph Ss suggest using “because” T checks and gives the right answer: because Exercise 14: Use the causal adverbs in parentheses to join the ideas - T asks Ss about the instruction of exercise 14 in the textbook 43 - Ss are required to work in pairs - Two minutes later, Ss are asked to give their answer T checks Ss’ work Supplementary exercise 2: Complete the following sentences by writing the missing part of the sentences (PowerPoint Presentation) - T explains the instructions of the exercise and new words - T requires Ss to work in pairs - T goes around the class and helps Ss their exercise - T repeats some new words to help Ss pronounce correctly - T calls Ss go to the board to write their sentences - T and other Ss check these three Ss’ sentences Homework: T asks Ss to write an opinion paragraph using causal adverbs 44 APPENDIX 2: THE TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into problems experienced by teachers in teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Thank you very much for your cooperation! Bui Hong Van, M.A Candidate at Post-Graduation Department, University of Languages and International studies, Hanoi National University Instructions:  The questionnaire is in two parts with pages Please tick or circle the appropriate choice and give answers in the provided space (please use either English or Vietnamese)  The “writing” used in this questionnaire means “writing in English in EFL classrooms” I Personal information: * Your gender: Male Female * Your age: … years old * How long have you been teaching English? … Year(s) * How long have you been teaching writing to English major students at HaUI? … year(s) 45 II Your opinions on problems in teaching writing What you think about teaching writing to English major students at HaUI? a Easy b Normal c Difficult Please explain your choice! ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, which factor(s) affect(s) your teaching of writing most? a Motivation b Students’ personality c The first language and culture d The textbook e Students’ communicative competence f Other factor(s): ………………………………………………………………… Please explain your choice! ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… How students take part in your writing lessons? a Actively b Passively c Only some students work actively while the others take part in my lessons when I call them d Other ideas ……………………………………………………………………… 46 How often you find any Vietnamese interference in the way your students write? a Very often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never Please describe that interference if there is any! ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… How does time affect your teaching of writing? a I have such limited time that I always have to teach very fast to cover all the contents of my writing lesson b Time for writing is rather long, so I often let my students write or other activities at class c I have enough time for my teaching d Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… From your point of view, what is/ are the mistake(s) that your students make most frequently? a Word choice b Grammatical mistakes c Organization of ideas d Other ideas ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 47 How often you give feedback to your students’ writing? a Often b Sometimes c Rarely d Never Please clarify your choice! ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… What are your problems in giving feedback to your students? a Written comments are time-consuming b The students often make the same mistake again c The students are not interested in my comments d I find it difficult to express my ideas to my students e Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… What you think about your writing textbook? Tick on the appropriate column Illustration (pictures, cover, etc.) the Very bad Bad Ok Good Very good Order of lessons Writing Samples Kinds of Exercises Topics Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 48 10 Do you have any problems in your teaching of writing? a Yes b No If there are any, what are they? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… III Your opinions on solutions to problems in teaching writing Which of the following teaching aids have you ever used to motivate your students in writing lessons? a Pictures b Music c Language games d Other sources/ aids: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… How you motivate your students in writing lessons? a Create the competitive atmosphere in the class b Combine textbook and relevant materials c Give feedback regularly by marking and give comments on students’ writings d Apply reward and punishment policy e Give classroom tests f Use visual aids g Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 49 How you reduce Vietnamese interference in your students’ writing? a Use English most of the time and ask students to use English in the class b Assign more English reading texts as students’ homework c Give more lessons about English culture and require students to write about related topics d Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, how should you use time in your teaching of writing? a Ask students to prepare lessons at home Time at class is used for writing only b Increase the speed of teaching so as to save time for students’ writing c Require students to write at home Time at class is used for teachers’ instruction d Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… In order to develop students’ communicative competence in writing, what will you do? a I will focus on equipping my students with vocabulary b I will concentrate on grammar so that students can write accurately c I will help my students to brainstorm the ideas for given topics d Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… How can you improve your feedback to students’ writing? a Balance positive and negative responses b Develop my qualification so as to give effective feedback to students c Provide additional guidance according with feedback so that students can recognize and limit their mistakes in writing d Write personalized comments to motivate students in writing e Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 50 In your opinion, how should you adapt your textbook in your teaching of writing? a Illustrate it with more beautiful pictures b Add more various kinds of exercises c Give more relevant writing samples d Provide with more topics e Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… - The end Thank you for your co-operation! 51 APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS COMPLETED BY TEACHERS INTERVIEW QUESTIONS In your opinion, what are important factors in teaching writing? Which approaches have you been employing to teaching writing to your students? What have you achieved by employing these approaches? What you think about your textbook? Do you have any problems in teaching writing using the textbook? If you have any, how you solve your problems? Do you have any problems in promoting your students to write? What are they? How you solve these problems? Do you have any other problems in your teaching of writing? If there are any, what are they, and how you solve your problems? ... parts: definitions of writing, the importance of writing, approaches to teaching writing, factors affecting the teaching and learning of writing and problems in teaching writing and solutions. .. definitions of writing, the importance of writing, approaches to teaching writing, factors affecting the teaching and learning of writing and problems in teaching writing Despite the fact that... research into problems experienced by teachers in teaching writing to English major students at Hanoi University of Industry Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information