Examining the effectiveness of using the process approach in developing paragraph writing to high school students

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ THU HIỀN EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING THE PROCESS APPROACH IN DEVELOPING PARAGRAPH WRITING TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION NGHỆ AN, 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ THU HIỀN EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING THE PROCESS APPROACH IN DEVELOPING PARAGRAPH WRITING TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: Nguyễn Gia Việt, Ph D NGHỆ AN, 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I declare that this thesis entitled “Examining the effectiveness of using the process approach in developing paragraph writing to high school students” is the result of my own research except as cited in the references This thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently of any other degree Author Nguyen Thi Thu Hien i ABSTRACT Writing is one of the basic skills in language learning However, it is a skill that is often neglected in Vietnamese high school writing classes, where the emphasis is on the development of reading comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary and structural patterns for the purposes of passing the end-of-school and university entrance examination So, learners always find it difficult to develop writing skill in general and paragraph writing in particular This study deals with the importance of process writing approach in enhancing high school students’ paragraph writing The process approach to writing has been considered as an improvement over the traditional methods of writing instruction in recent years and has been applied in many high schools However, its effectiveness to teaching writing skill in high school has not been verified This study focuses on the results of the implementation of the process approach in teaching high school students how to write paragraphs It is aimed at examining the effectiveness of using this approach in facilitating students’ written content and organization It also investigated students’ attitudes towards writing when this strategy is applied Evidence was the scores through pre-test and post-test assessed and recorded between two groups to ensure inter-rater reliability To evaluate this, an experimental design was conducted The total population of this study included 85 tenth graders from a High School in Ha Tinh Province Samples of high school students were purposefully chosen and assigned to a control group (42 students) and an experimental group (43 students) in academic year 2017-2018 In addition, the results of the questionnaires illustrated students’ awareness that the process approach could enhance their writing skill, especially paragraph writing So, through the obtained results, we suggested some recommendations to teachers ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have directly or indirectly contributed to the completion of this research study First and foremost, I am especially thankful to Ph.D Nguyen Gia Viet, my dedicated supervisor for giving me his valuable time, guidance and support to complete this study I would like to express my appreciation to all my lecturers throughout my study in Vinh University Thank for the input and knowledge imparted I should also like to thank my students who took part in my research study Without their help, I might not have been able to my research Last but not least, my thanks go to my friends, colleagues and especially my beloved family for their encouragement and motivation I feel greatly indebted to them for their support, strength and unfailing love given to me to complete this study iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Design of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background for the study 2.1.1 Writing skill 2.1.2 Effective writing 2.1.3 Principles of teaching writing 2.1.4 Approaches to teaching writing 11 2.1.5 The importance of process writing approach in enhancing writing skill 19 2.2 Review of previous studies related to the current research 27 2.3 Summary 31 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 32 3.1 Research questions 32 3.2 Study setting 32 3.3 Participants 33 3.3.1 The Control Group 33 iv 3.3.2 The Experimental Group 34 3.4 Instruments 34 3.4.1 Pre-test and post-test 34 3.4.2 Pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire 36 3.5 Materials 37 3.6 Procedure 37 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 40 4.1 Results and discussion from the experiment 40 4.1.1 Written content improvements 40 4.1.2 Written organization improvements 46 Results and discussion from the pre-and post-questionnaire 54 4.2.1 Students’ attitudes towards writing in the pre-questionnaire 54 4.2.2 Students’ attitudes towards writing in the post-questionnaire 56 4.2.3 Changes in students’ attitudes after the process writing treatment 63 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 67 5.1 Summary of the study 67 5.2 Pedagogical implications 68 5.3 Limitations of the study 68 5.4 Suggestions for the further study 69 REFERENCES 70 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESL : English as Second Language EFL : English as Foreign Language GCSE : General Certificate of Secondary Education vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 The Control Group’s background information 33 Table 3.2 The Experimental Group’s background information 34 Table 4.1 The average total scores, standard deviation, median, mode of pre-and post-test in terms of content in the control group and experimental group 41 Table 4.2 The score and the percentage of the two groups in terms of written content before the intervention 42 Table 4.3 The score and the percentage of the two groups in terms of written content after the intervention 44 Table 4.4 The proficiency of the two groups in terms of written content after the application 45 Table 4.5 The average total scores, standard deviation, median, mode of pre and post- test in terms of organization in the control group and experimental group .47 Table 4.6 The score and the percentage of the two groups in terms of written organization before the intervention 48 Table 4.7 The score and the percentage of the two groups in terms of written organization after the intervention 50 Table 4.8 The proficiency of the two groups after the application 52 Table 4.9 Students’ attitudes towards writing before the treatment 55 Table 4.10 Students’ attitudes towards writing after the treatment 57 Table 4.11 Students’ wiews on using process writing to learn more about ideas/content 60 Table 4.12 Wiews on using on process writing to learn about the organization of ideas 62 Table 4.13 Responses to some questions in the pre-questionnaire and postquestionnaire 63 Table 4.14 Students’ attitudes towards writing 64 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Stages in Writing Process (Hyland, 2003) 21 Figure 2.2 Circulatory diagram of process writing 22 Figure 4.1 The mean of two groups’ content in the pre- and post-tests 41 Figure 4.2 The score and percentage of two groups in terms of written content in the pre-test 42 Figure 4.3 The score and percentage of two groups’ written content after the intervention 44 Figure 4.4 The comparison of the pre-and post-test’s proficiency in terms of content 46 Figure 4.5 The mean of two groups' written organization in the pre- and posttests 47 Figure 4.6 The score and the percentage of the two groups’ written organization before the intervention 49 Figure 4.7 The score and the percentage of the two groups in terms of written organization after the intervention 51 Figure 4.8 The comparison of the pre- and post-test’s proficiency in term of organization 53 viii Ho, B (2006) Effectiveness of using the process approach to teach writing in six Hong Kong primary classrooms Working Papers in English and Communication, 17(1), (53-72) Hyland, K (2009) Teaching and Researching Writing Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited Jacob & Heaton (1981) Testing ESL composition Profile: A Practical Approach Rowley MA New Bury House Johnston, S (2008) What can we learn about teaching from our best university teachers? Teaching in Higher Education, 1(2), 213–225 Johnson, A P (2008) Teaching Reading and Writing: A Guidebook for Tutoring and Remediating Students USA: Rowman & Littlefield Education Knapp and Watkins (2005) Technologies for Teaching and Assessing Writing UK: UNSW Press Knapp, Peter & Watkins, Megan, Genre, text and grammar Sydney: University of New South Wales Press Ltd., 2005 Macarthur, C A Graham, S Fitzgerald, J (2006) Handbook of Writing Research New York: Guilford Press Mahon, T & Yau, R 1992 Introducing a process approach in the teaching of writing in a lower primary classroom ILEJ, 9:23-29 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology London: Prentice Hall Oshima, A., & Hogue, A (2007) Introduction to Academic Writing New York, NY: Longman Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary Pickett, S T A., M L Cadenasso, J M Grove, C H Nikon, E V Pouyat, W C Zipperer, and B Constanza 2001 Urban ecological systems Linking terrestrial ecological, physical, and socioeconomic components of metropolitan areas Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 32, 127157 Raimes, A (1985) What unskilled ESL students as they write: A classroom study of composing TESOL Quarterly, 19 (2), 229-258 71 Raimes, A (1983) Techniques in Teaching Writing New York: Oxford University Press, 2008 Scott, V.M (1996) Rethinking Foreign Language Writing Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle Tong Wen "Teach Writing as an Ongoing Process: Tips for EFL Learners on Reviewing EFL composition." US-China Foreign Language 5.11 (2007): 53-56 Print Tribble, Christopher Writing Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996 Print Trinh Thanh Hien (2017) Application of process writing to improve college students’ composition skill M.A thesis Vinh University Nghe An, Viet Nam White, R.V (1981) Approaches to writing: Guidelines for writing Activities: A magazine for language Teachers Singapore: RELC 72 APPENDIX A PRE AND POST – TEST Write a paragraph (120 – 150 words) about a film you have seen Use the questions as below as suggestions What is the name of the film? What kind of film is it? What is it about? Where is it made? What is it based on? Who is/are main character(s)? What you know about character(s)? How does the film end? (Does it have a happy or a sad ending?) 73 APPENDIX B RUBRIC FOR EVALUATION OF THE PARAGRAPH IN TERMS OF CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION Score Content The writing is clear and focused It holds the reader’s attention Main ideas are developed by supporting details suitable to audience and purpose The writer does most or all of the followings: • clearly addresses topic, purpose and audience; 2.0 • provides thorough, balanced, relevant support of topic; • provides strong, credible support (details, or examples, and/or fact) using appropriate resources; • selects details/ideas which go beyond the obvious or predictable; shares insights The writing is mostly focused, and the reader can easily understand main idea Support is present although it may be too general The writer does most or all of the following: • generally addresses the topic, purpose, and audience; 1,5 • provides support which at times may be too general or out of balance with the main idea; • generally provides support (details, and/or examples, fact); may use appropriate resources; • expresses mostly predictable details/ideas; may occasionally share insights The ideas are somewhat unclear or the attempted development is minimal, too simple, irrelevant, or incomplete The writer does most of all of the following: 74 1.0 • attempts to address the topic, purpose, and audience; • attempts support but may be limited or irrelevant; • provides evidence which is not supported by credible resources; • limits details/ideas to the predictable The ideas are somewhat unclear or the attempted development is minimal, too simple, irrelevant, or incomplete The writer does most or all of the following: 0.5 • shows little attempt to address the topic, purpose, or audience; • includes little or no support; • expresses only simplistic or random ideas Score Organization The organization enhances the central ideas; the sequence and structure are strong and move the reader through the text The writer does most or all of the following: • selects an organizational structure that advances the purpose and is 2.0 appropriate for the audience; • constructs an inviting introduction/opening and a satisfying conclusion; • selects effective transitions which clearly show how ideas connect among all elements (sentences of the paragraph); • employs well – controlled, purposeful pacing; The organization is generally clear and logical; a structure is present but may be predictable The writer does most or all of the following: • uses an organizational structure that fits the purpose and audience; 1.5 • develops a recognizable beginning that may not be particularly inviting and/or a conclusion that may lack insight or overview; 75 • provides adequate transitions which serve to connect ideas but may be stilted or formulaic; • pacing is fairly well controlled, but at times the writer may speed up or slow down without a sense of purpose The writer has made an attempt to organize the text, but the overall structure may be inconsistent The writer does most of all of the following: 1.0 • uses a structure that is not always consistent with the purpose and/or audience; • writes a beginning and/or conclusion which is undeveloped or too obvious; • provides weak, overused, or ineffective transitions; • demonstrates little knowledge of pacing: all parts of the text seem equally important The writing lacks organizational structure and may be haphazard and/or disjointed The writer does most or all of the following: • uses a structure that is not appropriate for purpose and/or audience; 0.5 • provides no apparent beginning and/or conclusion; • provides transitions that are poorly chosen and fails to provide transitions; • demonstrates no knowledge of pacing 76 APPENDIX C STUDENTS’ PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE Name: _ Class: _ Dear respondent! This questionnaire is designed to investigate students’ attitudes towards process approach The researcher really appreciates your cooperation and participation INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following items by ticking the alternative which appears most applicable to you and give only one answer for each statement Please not leave any unanswered questions The researcher would urge you to be as accurate as possible since the success of this study depends upon it The results will be used only for research purposes Put a tick (√) in an appropriate box for the following statements = Strongly Disagree = Disagree 3= Neutral = Agree 5= Strongly Agree No Statements I think I enjoyed learning writing I found it easy to express ideas when writing I always have sufficient/enough ideas for writing It is easy to find vocabulary and expressions for writing It is easy for me to make a draft for writing 77 I always proofreading after writing I know how to edit the draft I know the strategies to write complete pieces of writing by myself I am willing to exchange ideas with classmates in the group discussion 10 I know how to organize ideas when I write paragraphs 11 It is straightforward to follow steps of writing process 12 It is easier to rewrite than writing the first paragraph in terms of: a content b organization 78 APPENDIX D STUDENTS’ POST-QUESTIONNAIRE Name: _ Class: _ Dear respondent! This questionnaire is designed to investigate students’ attitudes towards process approach The researcher really appreciates your cooperation and participation INSTRUCTION: Please answer the following items by ticking the alternative which appears most applicable to you and give only one answer for each statement Please not leave any unanswered questions The researcher would urge you to be as accurate as possible since the success of this study depends upon it The results will be used only for research purposes Put a tick (√) in an appropriate box for the following statements = Strongly Disagree = Disagree = Neutral = Agree = Strongly Agree 79 No Statements Now I think I enjoyed learning writing under process approach I found it easy to express ideas when following process approach I have more sufficient/enough ideas for writing It is easy to find vocabulary and expressions for writing It is easy for me to make a draft for writing I always proofreading after writing It is straightforward to follow steps of writing process I enjoyed writing the drafts with my partners I find the drafting activities useful for: a getting ideas? b organizing ideas? 10 11 I am willing to exchange ideas with classmates in the group discussion I have tried my best in helping my classmates to improve his/her writing quality I have learned the following things from my classmates’ 12 writing: a ideas 80 b organization 13 I have a better idea on how to proof – reading 14 The process approach helps me to extent and organize ideas It is easier to rewrite than writing the first paragraph in terms of: 15 a content b organization I think following process approach, I have improved my writing as far as are concerned 16 a content b organization 81 APPENDIX E The control and experimental group’s score in terms of written content in the pre-test and post-test Control group Pre-test Post-test Experimental Group Pre-test Post-test C1 2.7 3.5 E1 2.1 3.4 C2 2.2 2.0 E2 2.2 3.2 C3 3.0 2.6 E3 2.2 2.6 C4 2.2 2.4 E4 2.3 3.7 C5 2.3 3.0 E5 2.3 3.1 C6 2.5 2.5 E6 2.3 3.6 C7 2.7 3.1 E7 2.3 4.1 C8 2.7 2.5 E8 2.3 3.9 C9 3.3 2.8 E9 2.3 3.7 C10 2.2 2.7 E10 2.4 C11 2.8 3.1 E11 2.4 3.8 C12 2.8 3.2 E12 2.4 4.0 C13 3.5 2.0 E13 2.4 3.2 C14 2.5 2.7 E14 2.5 3.9 C15 2.7 3.7 E15 2.5 3.0 C16 2.7 2.1 E16 2.5 2.8 C17 2.7 2.8 E17 2.5 3.0 C18 2.9 3.1 E18 2.5 2.8 C19 3.3 2.8 E19 2.5 3.2 C20 3.3 3.2 E20 2.5 4.0 C21 2.5 2.9 E21 2.6 3.6 C22 2.7 3.2 E22 2.6 2.7 C23 2.6 1.8 E23 2.7 3.0 82 C24 2.6 2.5 E24 2.7 3.6 C25 2.8 2.8 E25 2.7 3.7 C26 3.3 3.3 E26 2.7 3.4 C27 2.3 2.9 E27 2.8 3.5 C28 2.4 3.0 E28 2.8 3.7 C29 2.7 3.5 E29 2.8 3.2 C30 2.7 2.9 E30 2.8 3.7 C31 2.9 2.9 E31 2.8 2.5 C32 2.9 3.0 E32 2.8 4.0 C33 3.0 3.6 E33 2.8 3.8 C34 2.8 3.5 E34 2.8 3.9 C35 3.1 2.8 E35 2.9 3.8 C36 2.5 2.8 E36 2.9 4.2 C37 2.8 2.0 E37 3.0 2.6 C38 2.4 2.5 E38 3.0 3.5 C39 2.9 2.8 E39 3.1 4.9 C40 2.9 3.3 E40 3.2 2.9 C41 2.8 3.0 E41 3.3 3.6 C42 2.9 2.8 E42 3.8 3.7 E43 4.6 3.8 Mean 2.69 3.49 Mean 2.75 2.84 83 APPENDIX F The control and experimental group’s score in terms of written organization in the pre-test and post-test Control group Experimental Pre-test Post-test C1 3.3 3.0 E1 2.4 3.7 C2 2.0 2.0 E2 2.5 3.5 C3 2.2 2.4 E3 2.1 2.5 C4 2.3 2.5 E4 1.8 3.9 C5 2.4 2.4 E5 2.6 3.7 C6 2.6 2.3 E6 2.0 3.9 C7 1.7 3.0 E7 2.4 4.2 C8 2.4 2.5 E8 2.7 4.1 C9 2.7 2.0 E9 2.6 3.8 C10 2.3 2.5 E10 2.8 4.3 C11 3.0 3.0 E11 2.6 3.9 C12 2.0 3.0 E12 2.2 4.5 C13 2.9 2.0 E13 2.4 3.4 C14 2.8 2.0 E14 2.6 3.9 C15 3.6 3.7 E15 2.4 3.3 C16 2.2 2.0 E16 2.2 3.0 C17 2.6 3.2 E17 2.2 3.4 C18 2.7 3.1 E18 2.3 2.6 C19 2.4 2.7 E19 2.3 3.3 C20 2.8 3.0 E20 3.3 4.2 C21 2.9 2.5 E21 3.2 3.9 C22 2.7 2.6 E22 2.7 2.9 C23 2.5 1.8 E23 2.8 3.6 Group 84 Pre-test Post-test C24 2.2 2.6 E24 2.0 3.9 C25 2.3 2.6 E25 2.8 3.9 C26 2.6 3.0 E26 2.2 3.5 C27 2.7 2.5 E27 2.5 3.7 C28 2.0 2.6 E28 2.4 3.8 C29 3.1 3.0 E29 2.3 3.3 C30 2.6 2.6 E30 2.4 3.9 C31 2.5 2.8 E31 2.1 2.8 C32 2.4 3.0 E32 2.3 4.3 C33 3.0 3.6 E33 2.9 4.0 C34 3.1 3.4 E34 3.0 4.1 C35 2.5 2.7 E35 2.4 4.0 C36 2.6 3.1 E36 3.8 4.3 C37 2.0 1.6 E37 2.1 2.8 C38 2.2 2.6 E38 2.6 3.9 C39 2.6 2.4 E39 4.4 4.8 C40 3.1 3.0 E40 2.6 2.6 C41 3.0 3.2 E41 3.1 3.9 C42 2.4 2.3 E42 2.5 3.9 E43 3.7 4.1 Mean 2.53 3.69 Mean 2.56 2.66 85 ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ THU HIỀN EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING THE PROCESS APPROACH IN DEVELOPING PARAGRAPH WRITING TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. .. entitled ? ?Examining the effectiveness of using the process approach in developing paragraph writing to high school students? ?? is the result of my own research except as cited in the references This thesis... in the editing stage of process writing, and the free -writing approach can be adapted to promote the pre -writing stage of process writing Depending on the writing topics, certain paragraph- patterns