The challenges in teaching and learning writing skill with the textbook english 11 basic stream at tinh gia 5 high school thanh hoa

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES HOÀNG THỊ MAI HƯƠNG CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING WRITING SKILL WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 ( BASIC STREAM) AT TINH GIA HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE (NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT THEO SÁCH TIẾNG ANH 11 ( HỆ CƠ BẢN) ĐỐI VỚI GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT TĨNH GIA 5, TỈNH THANH HÓA) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES HOÀNG THỊ MAI HƯƠNG CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING WRITING SKILL WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 ( BASIC STREAM) AT TINH GIA HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE (NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT THEO SÁCH TIẾNG ANH 11 ( HỆ CƠ BẢN) ĐỐI VỚI GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT TĨNH GIA 5, TỈNH THANH HÓA) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Đỗ Bá Quý, MEd Hanoi, 2013 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a foreign language ESL: English as a second language iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: The differences between the process writing and the product writing Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook Table 3: The purposes of teaching writing Table : Teachers‟ general thoughts of the writing lesson Table 5: Problems in teaching writing Table 6: Students‟ actions in the writing lesson Table 7: Factors influence students‟ participant and interests Table 8: Evaluation of forms of writing texts in the textbook Table 9: Activities to attract students to the lesson Table 10: Activities to improve students‟ writing skill Table 11 : Purposes of learning writing skill Table 12: Problems in learning writing Table 13: Activities to make lesson more interesting Table 14: Activities after writing Chart 1: The importance of writing skill Chart 2: The capability of using English of the students ? Chart 3: Teachers‟ general thought of the tasks in textbook Chart 4: Students‟ feeling of the writing skill Chart 5: Students‟ general thought of the writing tasks in the textbook Chart 6: Students‟ frequency in completing the tasks in textbook Chart 7: Teachers‟ frequency of giving suggestions before writing Chart 8: Mistakes in students‟ pieces of writing v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements……… ……………………………………………… ii Abstract …………………………………………………………………… iii List of abbreviations……… ……………………………………………… iv List of tables and charts………… ……………………………………… v Table of content……… ………………………………………………… vi PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study………………………………………………… Aims and objectives of the study……………………………………… Research questions …………………………………………………… The scope of the study ………………………………………………… Design of the study…………………………………………………… PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of writing :………………………………………………… Roles of writing………………………………………………………… Approaches to the teaching of writing………………………………… 3.1 Controlled-to-Free Approach:………………………………………… 3.2 The Free-Writing Approach:………………………………………… 3.3 The Paragraph-Pattern Approach:…………………………………… 3.4 The Grammar-Syntax- Organization Approach……………………… 3.5 The Communicative Approach……………………………………… 3.6 The Process Approach……………………………………………… vi 3.6.1 Product Approach………………………………………………… 10 3.6.2 Process Approach………………………………………………… 10 What makes writing difficult to acquire? ……………………………… 13 CHAPTER : THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 15 2.1 The context : Tinh Gia high school………………….……………… 15 2.2 The new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook…………………….……………… 15 2.2.1Objectives………………………………………… ………………… 16 2.2.2 Writing lessons……………………………………… …………… 17 2.3.Method…………………………………………………… ………… 18 2.3.1 Participants………………………………………………………… 18 2.3.2 Instruments……………………………………………………… 18 2.3.2.1 Questionnaires …………………………………………………… 18 2.3.2.2 Observation………………………………………………………… 19 2.3.3 Procedure …………………………………………………………… 19 CHAPTER : DATA ANALYSIS AND STUDY FINDINGS 20 3.1 Teacher‟s survey questionnaires……………………………………… 20 3.2 Students‟ survey questionnaires……………………………………… 28 3.3 Class observation………………………………………………… 34 3.4 Main findings………………………………………………………… 35 3.4.1 Poor facilities and large size classes………………………………… 36 3.4.2 Teachers‟ and students‟ inappropriate attitudes towards the writing 36 skill………………………………………………………………………… 3.4.3 Unsuitable tasks in the textbook …………………………………… 36 3.4.4 Students‟ poor linguistic competence……………………………… 36 vii 3.4.5 Students‟ lack of background knowledge…………………………… 37 3.4.6 Passive learning style………………………………………………… 37 3.4.7 Teachers‟ difficulties………………………………………………… 37 3.5 Suggested solutions to overcome the challenges……………………… 38 3.5.1 Raising the students‟ awareness of the importance of the writing 38 skill………………………………………………………………………… 3.5.2 Improving students‟ linguistic competence ………………………… 39 3.5.3 Make the work arrangement effective……………………………… 39 3.5.4 Making writing lesson vivid and interesting………………………… 40 3.5.5 Providing effective correction work………………………………… 40 3.5.6 Assigning more practical writing tasks ……………………………… 41 3.5.7 Creating a positive and supportive learning atmosphere ………… 41 PART III: CONCLUSION Conclusion …………………………………………………………… 42 Limitations of the study……………………………………………… 43 Suggestions for further research……………………………………… 43 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………… 45 APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………… I Survey questionnaire (for students)……………………………………… Survey questionnaire (for students)……………………………………… IV Lists of classroom observations ………………………………………… IX viii PART I: INTRODUCTION This very first part of the thesis is to introduce the rationale for the study, the aims and objectives of the study as well as the research questions which the study was to carry out to find out the answers It also presents the scope of the study as well as the design of the study Rationale of the study Nowadays, as learning a second language is paid more and more special attention to, there has been a growing tendency towards the emphasis on communicative competence in language teaching and learning Writing, therefore, is regarded as a productive skill which provides students with opportunities to put all the language elements they have learnt into practice and to show communicative competence effectively However, in fact, writing is not often as important to many students as other skills such as reading and speaking and it tends to get rather neglected in many Vietnamese language classes Furthermore, writing itself is a very complex and difficult skill to acquire Therefore, teaching students to write well is one of the most challenges in education In studying the teaching writing skill process at Tinh Gia high school, I have been found that there are a lot of difficulties in teaching and learning English, especially the writing skill Among four language skills, taught in English, writing can be seen as the most boring and hardest one Thus, teaching and learning writing skill at Tinh Gia high school isn‟t paid attention, even that some teachers had to cut down this skill lessons Facing up this problem, so many questions about teaching and learning writing skill always concern me a lot: “What problems might the students face when learning skill? What should be done to help them overcome those problems? How should we teach each form of written text so that the students can learn it effectively? etc….” I, therefore decided to the research on “Challenges in teaching and learning writing skill with the textbook English 11 (basic stream) at Tinh Gia high school, Thanh Hoa province” in hope that the findings and solutions mentioned in this study will make a significant contribution to improve the teaching and learning of the writing skill at Tinh Gia high school as well as those at other high schools Aims of the study The primary purpose of this study is to explore the teaching and learning of the writing skill by teachers and grade-11 students at Tinh Gia high school It focuses on finding out the challenges in teaching and learning the writing skill in the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook at this school The second purpose is to propose some suggestions to deal with teachers‟ and students‟ challenges and assist them to teaching as well as learning writing more effectively Research questions of the study This study attempts to seek the answers to the following questions: What are the challenges of teachers and eleventh-grade students at Tinh Gia high school in teaching and learning the writing skill in the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook?” What should be done to help teachers and grade-11students at Tinh Gia high school overcome their challenges? Scope of the study This minor thesis is conducted at Tinh Gia high school in order to recognize difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills of both the teachers and the 11th form students Factors causing such challenges are then found out To go ahead, the thesis also offers some suggestions to better the current context Design of the study This study has three parts: Part A – Introduction, Part B – Development including literature review, the study, data analysis and study findings, Part C – Conclusion The introduction part presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions and scope of the study, and design of the study The literature review chapter conceptualizes the framework of the study through the discussions of writing The study gives the specific details of school and the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook Besides, a general description of method is presented in this chapter The last chapter concentrates on the data analysis, study findings and some suggestions to help the grade-11 students and teachers at Tinh Gia high school overcome the challenges in teaching and learning of the writing skill with the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook The conclusion part at the end gives a conclusion, limitation and suggestions for further research - Avoid over-correction With each set of students‟ paper, don‟t try to mark all errors but decide which errors teacher will deal with Teachers might decide to mark only important mistakes in grammatical points taught in class or concentrate on the errors that make students difficult to understand In addition, the teacher should find the factors cause these errors and then explain for students why students make these mistakes and how to correct it 3.5.6 Assigning more practical writing tasks The more practice, the better you Only practicing in the class is not enough so the teachers are supposed to give students more chance to practice writing by assigning some extra writing tasks at home 3.5.7 Creating a positive and supportive learning atmosphere Writing itself is always regarded as a difficult and complicated skill for most students so many students feel tense with anxiety in writing lesson Accordingly, the teachers play an important role to minimize students‟ difficulties during their writing process Teachers should create an encouraging and comfortable learning environment for students It also makes the writing lesson more attractive and takes effectiveness for the lesson Summary After presenting the methodology, the participants, the instruments, and the data collection procedures, the researcher has analyzed the data thoroughly with a view to showing the challenges perceived by the teachers and the students, the factors affecting the students‟ participation and interests, and some recommendations for bettering the situation Lastly, the findings were viewed by extracting from the data analysis and form that some solutions are suggested to help the teachers and students overcome 41 PART III: CONCLUSION The very last part of the thesis is to cover the final conclusion of the study and also presents the limitations of the research and suggestions for further researches Conclusions The analysis and discussion in the previous chapters has made it possible to draw the following overall conclusions of the study Writing is an important skill in teaching and learning foreign language However it is regarded as complicated and difficult skills Therefore in learning and teaching process, there are many challenges that teachers and students often face up with Through collecting and analyzing the data from questionnaires, observations and interviews of teachers and grade-11 students at Tinh Gia high school, some challenges were pointed out They are challenges of poor facilities and large size classes, teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards the writing skill, unsuitable tasks in the textbook, students‟ poor linguistic competence, students‟ lack of background knowledge, passive learning style, teachers‟ difficulties To overcome the mentioned, possible solutions have been suggested Among those, are raising the students‟ awareness of the importance of the writing skill, improving students‟ linguistic competence, making the work arrangement effective, making writing lesson vivid and interesting, making writing lesson vivid and interesting, providing effective correction work, assigning more practical writing tasks, creating a positive and supportive learning atmosphere are In short, teaching and learning the writing skill in the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook still have many difficulties so both the teachers and students need to try their best to overcome these difficulties Limitations of the study 42 The researcher has tried best to offer some insightful findings; however, there still remain some limitations as follows: Regarding of time, the thesis was carried within one month which was not long enough to have an incentive overview of the real problems All the items for selection in the questionnaires were designed and supported by the researcher Therefore they cannot fulfill all aspects of the situation Questionnaire, classroom observation and interview instruments were employed unevenly and frequently among all 11 classes Also, activities of both the teachers and the students may not be true to what were really going on in the writing lessons due to the participation of the observer As the matter of fact, the data based on classroom observations and interviews may not reflect all the challenges facing the teachers and the students One of the matters the researcher has not expected is the influence of introducing new English textbook and its testing standardization on writing skills as well as other communicative skills In other words, there are not any progress or achievement assessments that encourage teachers and students‟ attitudes, interests and motivation The 111h grade students are not affected yet by more high- state examinations or any official evaluations in writing skills Hence, their responses to some suggested issues may make no sense to the real problems Suggestions for further study On the basis of the findings and the limitations of the study, several suggestions for further research are made As indicated in the findings, both the teachers and the students have coped up with a number of difficulties which remain unsolved for the time beings The root of the teachers‟ perceived difficulties may be either in the textbook itself or in 43 the teachers‟ professional knowledge and experience Therefore, some of their perceived challenges may be taken-for-granted assumptions Also, more studies on techniques for improving writing skills and the effectiveness of the writing lessons Apparently, an analysis on students‟ motivation and needs should be carried out to get deeper insights into this issue 44 REFERENCES Brown, H.D (1994), Teaching by Principles An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Prentice Hall Regents, New Jersey Byrne, D (1991), Teaching Writing Skills, Longman handbooks for language teachers, Longman, London Dornyei, Z (2001), Questionnaires in second language research, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publisher Harris, J (1993), Introducing writing, London: Penguin Halliday, M A K (1985), Spoken and written language, Oxford: Oxford University Press Candlin, N C et al (1999), Writing: Texts, Processes and Practices, New York: Longman Hyland, K (2004), Disciplinary Discourse, Social interaction in academic writing, The University of Michigan Press Lannon, J M (1989), The Writing Process: A Concise Rhetoric, Southeastern Massachusetts University Nunan,D (1991), Language Teaching Methodology, Prentice Hall International Ltd, Great Britain 10 Perl, S (1979), The Composing Process of Unskilled College Writers Research in the Teaching of English 13 11 Raimes, A (1983), Techniques in Teaching Writing, OUP 12 Steele, V (2004), Product and process writing: A comparison, British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, UK 45 13 Tribble, C (1996), Writing, Oxford University Press, Oxford 14 White, R.V (1981), Approaches to Writing Guidelines for Writing Activities, A Magazine for Language Teachers, RELC 15 White, R.V (1991), Process Writing, Longman Group UK Limitted 46 Survey questions for students The questions in this survey are designed for my research into “The challenges in teaching and learning writing skill with the textbook English 11 (basic stream) at Tinh Gia high school, Thanh Hoa province – Some resolutions” Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All information provided by you is reserved 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 help ! Instruction s : Please put the tick in the appropriate box or circle the letter you choose or give short answer in the space provided I Your personal information : Your gender : Male Female Your age : ………… How long have you learnt English ? ………… year(s) II Your opinion : Are you interested in writing skill in your textbook? a Yes b No What you think about the writing task in the textbook “ Tieng Anh 11” a Very difficult b difficult c neutral I d easy d very easy What is/are your purpose(s) of learning writing? To fulfill the portfolios To practice the vocabulary I have learned To invite, give advice, pursude, argue and so on To practice the grammartical structures that I „ve learned in a specific contexts Do you and your classmates often complete all tasks in the textbook? a always b often c sometimes d rarely d never When writing, which problems often happen with you? Poor grammar Lack of vocabulary Bad ideas organisation Lack of background knowledge Limmited time Teachers‟ uncareful guidance Others Does your teacher give some suggestions before writing? A always b often c sometimes d rarely d never What activities does your teacher to make the lessons more interesting? Adaptation the tasks in the textbook Using extra visual aids Giving suggestions for difficult writing tasks Creating an interesting and comfortable learning environment Often changing work arrangements in stages of writing lesson II Creating more interesting topics for you write about Designing some activities or games to make you relax Are there any mistakes in your pieces of writing? a So many b many c few d very few d no What does your teacher for your writing? Asking me to exchange my writing with my friends Collecting the pieces of writing to home then give feedback on them Asking me to present my writing on board and ask other students to correct if necessay then he (she) gives the final feedback Collecting my writing then pointing out the mistakes in it then ask me to rewrite Do nothing III Survey questions for teachers The questions in this survey are designed for my research into “The challenges in teaching and learning writing skill with the textbook English 11 (basic stream) at Tinh Gia high school, Thanh Hoa province – Some resolutions” Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All information provided by you is reserved 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 help ! Instruction s : Please put the tick in the appropriate box or circle the letter you choose or give short answer in the space provided I Your personal information : Your gender : Male Female Your age : ………… How long have you been teaching English ? ………… year(s) What is your highest qualification ? ………………………………… II Your opinion : How important is writing skill in the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook in comparison with other skills (reading, listening, speaking and language focus)? IV a More important b Equally important c Less important What is (are) the purpose(s) of teaching writing at high school? To help students revise the vocabulary they have learned ? To give more chance for students to practice grammatical structures To teach students how to write effectivelly in different genres To provide students with chances of communicating with each other To have students express themselves To help teacher check students „ability of using English Is the contents in the textbook suitable to your students‟ ability? a Difficult b Neutral c Easy What you think about the writing lessons in the textbook? Agree Disagree Lesson length matches with lesson time Type of writing are variety Tasks are suitable to students‟ ability Tasks are designed from low level to high one Topics are familiar with students What problems you often face up with when teaching writing? Students‟ low profiency in English Students‟ low motivation to learn English The classes are crowded and noisy so the teacher cannot control as well as help each student There is no cooperation of the partners or group The textbook activities are not suitable and atractive Students‟ passive learning style V Teachers‟ low profiency in English Teacher‟s lack of professional training in task design / adaptation Teachers‟ understanding/ application of CLT Students‟ low background knowledge Others How are your students in the writing lesson? They feel bored and don‟t pay attention to the lesson They are nervous because of difficult tasks and uninteresting topics Most of them cannot write They are motivated to the task levels in each lesson They interested in different forms of writing They only sit on their seats and don‟t take part in the given atcivities What factors influence your students‟ participant and interests in the writing lesson? Agree Disagree Tasks Facilities Learning environment Topics Your methodology in teaching writing Students‟ background knowledge Tests and exams Students‟ motivation On the basis of your teaching experience, which forms of written texts in the textbook you find difficult for your students to write? Writing about a friend VI Writing a personal letter to describe a past experience Writing an informal letter of invitation Writing a formal letter expressing gratitude Describing information in a table Writing a letter of reply Interpreting statistic on population from a chart Describing a celebration‟s activities Writing a formal letter to express satisfaction or disatisfaction Describing a location Describing information from a chart Describing the preparations for the coming Asian Games Writing about a collection Describing a camping holiday Writing a biography Writing a report on a man-made place What have you done to attract your students to your lesson? Adaptation the tasks in the textbook Using extra visual aids Giving suggestions for difficult writing tasks Creating an interesting and comfortable learning environment Often changing work arrangements in stages of writing lesson Create more interesting topics for students write about Design some activities or games to make students relax 10 What activities have you done to improve your students‟ writing skill? Giving other writing tasks outside the textbook Ask students to practice more and more at home Creating the chances for students to communicate with each other and learn VII from each other Giving feedback about their writing Broadening students‟ vocabulary source Encourage students to be more motivated in the writing lesson Make the writing lessons more attractive Improve the teachers‟ profiency in English Others VIII LISTS OF CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS Unit Unit : Writing lesson Class Teacher Describing a celebration 11B2 Mr Phuong Describing a celebration 11B9 Mrs Thao Unit : Writing a letter to express 11B3 Mr Khanh THE POST OFFICE satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) Unit 10: Write a description of Cat Ba 11B7 Mrs Hong NATURE IN DANGER National Park Unit 11 : Describing information from a chart 11B11 Mrs Hien CELEBRATION Unit : CELEBRATION SOURCE OF ENERGY IX ... revealed the following seven challenges that the 11th graders and their teachers at Tinh Gia high school face in their teaching and learning the writing skill in the new „Tieng Anh 11? ?? textbook. .. and grade -11 students at Tinh Gia high school It focuses on finding out the challenges in teaching and learning the writing skill in the new „Tieng Anh 11? ?? textbook at this school The second... information about the challenges that the grade -11 students and teachers at Tinh Gia high school often meet when teaching and learning the writing skill in the textbook These main findings are valuable