Using graphic organizers to improve 10th graders’ paragraph writing

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY HÀ ANH TUẤN USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS TO IMPROVE 10TH GRADERS’ PARAGRAPH WRITING MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION NGHE AN - 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY HÀ ANH TUẤN USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS TO IMPROVE 10TH GRADERS’ PARAGRAPH WRITING Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 8.140.111 MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN GIA VIỆT, Ph.D NGHE AN – 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that no other person‘s work (published or unpublished) has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis It was written by me under my supervisor‘s guidance Date submitted: July 2018 Student Supervisor Ha Anh Tuan Nguyen Gia Viet, PhD i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My assignment would not have been completed without the valuable assistance and encouragement of many people for whom I am grateful including my teacher, my family and my friends Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Nguyen Gia Viet who supported my work in this way and helped me a lot with assistance, support in overcoming numerous obstacles I have been facing through my research Secondly, to complete this thesis, I cannot forget the support and th encouragement from 10 grade students at Vu Quang upper secondary school or their cooperation and support in collecting data for this paper Then, I wish to send my gratitude and thank to my friends, my classmates, as well as my colleagues from whom I have received whole hearted help and support I would like to thank my family for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my my life in general These people deserve all the credit I highly appreciate all these support and contribution ii ABSTRACT This research examines the use of graphic organizes in enhancing the quality and the effectiveness in paragraph writing among the 10th graders at Vu Quang upper secondary school Specifically, it dealt with the extent to which graphic organizers help improve writing score in the process of paragraph production The study will employ an experimental approach to collect the data and analysis Students will be assigned pre-tests and post-tests to establish the quality and effectiveness In addition, questionnaires will be distributed to participating students to explore their attitudes to the use of graphic organizers in English classrooms Based on the results, pedagogical implications and suggestions regarding using graphic organizers in teaching writing skill will be proposed From the results of this research, the effectiveness of different types of graphic organizers in teaching and learning writing skills ought to be affirmed in other studies in the future to make sure that graphic organizers is really necessary and they can help language teachers teach writing skill more and more effectively The textbooks and other writing materials should be used graphic organizers so that the learners will have opportunity to learn English writing better and more effectively Teachers will be more effective in their work, and their lesson plans will yield greater results Therefore, the macro view of using graphic organizers, envisions thousands of teachers imparting academic gifts to millions of students-and each of these more prepared than previous generations to take their places of leadership in our rapidly developing nation iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale for the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions .3 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 The thesis outline CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND.6 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Literature Review in Brief 2.3 Effective writing teaching requirements 2.4 Theoretical Background .8 2.4.1 Teaching English writing 2.4.1.1 Definition of writing .8 2.4.1.2 Some views of teaching and learning writing 10 2.4.1.3 Approaches to teaching writing 12 2.4.2 Paragraph writing 17 2.4.2.1 Definition of paragraph .17 2.4.2.2 Structure of a paragraph 18 2.4.2.3 Criteria for a good paragraph 19 2.4.2.4 Common problems and their sources in paragraph writing 20 2.4.3 Graphic organizers in writing 22 iv 2.4.3.1 Oragnization 22 2.4.3.2 Word choice 23 2.4.3.3 Graphic Organizers 23 2.5 Summary 30 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 Introduction 31 3.1.1 An overview of Vu Quang high school 31 3.1.2 Research Methods 32 3.2 The Context of the Study 33 3.2.1 The participants 33 3.2.2 Research Instruments 34 3.3 Data Collection Procedure 36 3.4 Summary 36 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 38 4.1 Introduction 38 4.2 Results of students‘ survey questionnaire A 38 4.2.1 Students‘ attitude and their difficulties in writing lessons .38 4.2.2 Summary 45 4.3 Findings from the Questionnaire B 46 4.4 Students‘ attitudes toward graphic organizers 48 4.5 Results of students‘ tests 49 4.6 Summary 53 CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 54 5.1 Summary of the study 54 5.2 Implications for effective writing lessons 56 5.3 Limitations of the study .60 5.4 Suggestions for further study .60 REFRENCES 62 v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 4.1 Students' attitude towards the steps they usually follow 41 Table 4.2 Students' difficulties in writing a paragraph 42 Table 4.3 Activities carried out by teachers in class 43 Table 4.4 Students‘ assessment towards graphic organizers 46 Table 4.5 Students' attitudes towards graphic organizers 48 Table 4.6 Results of students‘ tests 50 Table 4.7: Pre-test and post-test results by experimental group .52 Figure 4.1: Opinions about the most important skill 38 Figure 4.2: Students‘ enjoyment to the writing lessons 39 Figure 4.3: Students‘ ideas about writing a paragraph 40 Figure 4.4: Students‘ ideas the necessity of teacher‘s guidance in the English writing lessons 44 Figure 4.5: Students‘ ideas about teacher‘s guiding and support activities 45 Figure 4.6: Pre-test and post-test mean scores by the control and experimental groups 51 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT : Communicative Language Teaching EFL : English as Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language L1 : First Language L2 : Second Language vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study Regarded as an international language, English plays an important role in our modern society Now it is used medium of communication in many aspects of life all over the world In Vietnam, English is a compulsory subject in the national curriculum, it is taught in all schools in Vietnam as a foreign language Teaching English in Vietnam will give students a good chance to take advantage of globalization, and teachers are always trying to renew teaching methods to improve their techniques for more effective lesson plans and higher cognitive retention among their students at all levels Together with other skills such as reading, speaking, listening the role of writing is very important It also has been introduced in order to keep pace with the society development, the need for writing is put in one of the top demand for English language In fact, when we learn the first language and second language writing skill is very necessary Furthermore, it is the ways planned and organized thought expressions However, writing is considered one of the most difficult skills due to its complication and high demand of language means In spite of the fact that there is high awareness of the field of teaching and learning English language writing, it seems to be a neglected area in English language teaching at upper secondary school level in Vietnam The main reason for this negligence owing to the fact that most examinations in English in Vietnam only test the students‘ knowledge about grammar and referenced standard In addition, students even some teachers not spend much time and efforts on teaching and learning writing leads to Vietnamese high school students‘ dissatisfying results in their writing Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching & Learning Heinle & Heinle Publishers, Inc Pincas, A 1982a Teaching English Writing London: Macmillan., Pincas, A 1982b Writing in English London: Macmillan Phung, T K D (2004), A Study on Teacher’s Written Feedback on the Writings by the Second-year Students at the English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Retrieved October 20, 2017 from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/Thesis_Kim.pdf Raimes, A (1983) Teachniques in Teaching Writing Oxford: Oxford Universiry Press Reid, J M (1993) Teaching ESL writing NJ: Prentice Hall Regents Richards, J C., & Renandya, W A (2002) Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp 145-147) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Silva, T., & Matsuda, P K (2002) Writing In N Schmitt (Ed.), An introduction to applied linguistics(pp 251-266) London: Oxford University Press Strangman N.& Dalton ,B.(2005) Using technology to support struggling readers Handbook of Special Education Technology Research and Practice Whitefish Bay, WI: Knowledge by Design, Inc White, R., & Arndt, V (1991) Process Writing Harlow Longman 64 APPENDIX 1A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This questionnaire is designed for research purposes only and is done on an anonymous basis All the information will be kept confidential Your assistance in completing the survey is appreciated Work as quickly as you can without being careless Thank you very much for your cooperation! I PERSONAL INFORMATION Full name: (optional)………………………………………………………… Age: ………………………………………………………………………… Gender: Male: Female: Where you come from? Rural areas: Urban areas: How long have you been learning English? II QUESTIONS Which of the following skills you think the most important? a listening b speaking c reading d writing c little d not at all c rather difficult d not difficult at How much you like writing lessons? a a lot b not very much How you find writing a paragraph? a very difficult b difficult all Which step(s) you often follow in your writing a paragraph? a Collecting ideas b Organizing c Write the draft d Revise and Edit e Rewrite What problem(s) you often meet in writing a paragraph in class? (You I may circle more than one option) a poor grammatical knowledge b limited vocabulary c lack of ideas d inability to express your ideas in English e difficulty in arranging and generating ideas logically f difficulty with doing the task on your own g lack of interest in the topic of writing What activities does the teacher when giving you a writing task? (You may circle more than one option) a Have you it on your own without discussion with your classmates b Ask you to follow the instruction of the task and it without any guidance c Provide you with key vocabulary, structures and ideas d Help you to collect ideas by giving some questions e Help you to make an outline In your opinion, how is the teacher‘s role in guiding students to write paragraph? a Very necessary b Not very necessary c Unnecessary 8: How effective are the activities carried out by teacher? a a lot b not very much II c a little d not at all APPENDIX 1B QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This questionnaire is designed for research purposes only and is done on an anonymous basis All the information will be kept confidential Your assistance in completing the survey is appreciated Work as quickly as you can without being careless Thank you very much for your cooperation! I PERSONAL INFORMATION Full name: (optional)………………………………………………………… Age:………………………………………………………… ……………… Gender: Male: Female: What is your mark of the pre-test? What is your mark of the post-test? II QUESTIONS Here are some strategies that your teacher used when teaching writing a paragraph Please tick in the appreciate box according to the effectiveness scale you assess A lot Collecting ideas Organization by using graphic organizers Giving outline by using framed paragraph Providing checklists for editing and revising III Quite a lot A little Not at all APPENDIX SAMPLE OF PARAGRAPH EDITING CHECKLIST (Self-assessment or Peer-assessment) Directions: Listed below are key elements of a well-written paragraph Review your writing and check off what has been done Student: ……………… Class:……… Date:……………………… YES MARKING CRITERIA ()/NO(X) CONTENT - Is the paragraph content relevant and focused to the assigned topic? - Do all the details support the main idea? - Do the ideas relate to one another? STRUCTURE/ ORGANIZATION - Does the introduction supply suitable background information? - Does each paragraph have a topic sentence that states the main idea? - Does each paragraph have a concluding sentence transitioning to the next paragraph? - Is there a concluding paragraph that summarizes the main points of the paper? DEVELOPMENT - Are the paragraphs well-arranged? Are there enough details, examples, and evidence to support each main point? - Does each sentence and paragraph support the thesis? UNITY/ COHERENCE IV COMMENTS - Does the paper ―flow‖ smoothly? Are transitional words and phrases used between sentences, and can any transitions be improved? - Have you incorporated appropriate quotations effectively? - Do the sentences vary in length? GRAMMAR - Sentence fragments: Does each sentence have a subject, a verb, and a complete thought? - Subject-verb agreement: Are singular verbs used with singular subjects and plural verbs used with plural subjects? - Tense: Is each sentence in the appropriate tense? MECHANICS - Does the paragraph contains correct spellings? - Does the paragraph contains correct use of punctuation mark? NUMBER OF WORDS - Is your writing 150 words long? (Adapted from: https://www.unbc.ca/sites/default/files/sections/academicsuccess-centre/revisioneditingchecklist.) APPENDIX V CATEGOR Y 4- 3- Above Standards Meets Standards - Approaching 1- Standards Below Standards All supportive Almost all facts and supportive facts facts and statistics facts and statistics are and statistics are are reported statistics were reported reported inaccurately accurately accurately reported Sentence All sentences Most sentences Most sentences are Most sentences Structure are well- are well- Accuracy Most supportive accurately Most supportive well constructed, but are not well- constructed with constructed and there is no variation constructed or varied structure there is some is structure varied Author makes varied sentence structure in the essay Grammar Author makes Author makes Author makes 3-4 & Spelling no errors in 1-2 errors in errors in grammar or more than grammar or grammar or spelling that distract errors in spelling that spelling that the reader from the grammar or distract the distract the content spelling that reader from the reader from the distract the content reader from the content content Sequencing Arguments and Arguments and A few of the support Many of the support are support are details or arguments support details provided in a provided in a are not in an or arguments logical order fairly logical expected or logical are not in an that makes it order that makes order, distracting the expected or easy and it reasonably reader and making logical order, interesting to easy to follow the essay seem a distracting the follow the the author\'s little confusing reader and author\'s train of train of thought making the thought essay seem very confusing VI Score Closing The conclusion The conclusion The author\'s There is no paragraph is strong and is recognizable position is restated conclusion - the leaves the The author\'s within the closing paper just ends reader solidly position is paragraph, but not understanding restated within near the beginning the writer\'s the first two position sentences of the Effective closing restatement of paragraph the position statement begins the closing paragraph (adapted from http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?ts=1532066939 VII APPENDIX SAMPLE LESSON PLAN UNIT 13: FILMS AND CINEMA I Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - write about a film they have seen II Materials and Equipment: - English textbook, teacher book – Grade 10 (Unit 13) - Chalk, blackboard, hand-outs III Procedures: WARMER: Talk about the film -T asks Ss to close their book T asks : What you know about the Titanic? -Expected answer: -Large luxury liner -famous -Sink -iceberg -Lovers -Many people died Pre – writing  Activity 1: Working with the model -T asks Ss to open their textbook and read through the passage -T helps them to elicit some new words: + sink (v): + disaster (n): + generous (adj): + occur(v)= happen + engaged (adj): VIII -T asks Ss to read these words after T‘s explanation -T asks Ss to answer the questions and draw the table of summary on the board -T goes around to help Ss to complete the task -T calls on some ss to answer and gives the correct answer Suggested answer: Write them on the board Title Titanic Type Love story film Plot A tragic story of love and the sinking of a luxury ship in the Atlantic Ocean , causing more than 1,5000 people died Filming(place) America Based on The true story of the Titanic disaster in 1912 Main character Jack: young and generous adventure who died in the disaster Jose: was saved by Jack and with whom she fell in love later  Activity 2: Complete the spider map about a film you‘ve seen: - Give handouts - T has students work individually and complete the spider map about a film they have seen - Ss exchange the answers KIND OF FILM CHARACTERS WHERE IS IT MADE NAME OF THE FILM HAPPY OR SAD ENDING? WHAT ISIT ABOUT? IX WHAT IS IT BASED ON? While-writing - T has students write a draft about the film they‘ve seen, using the information from the spider map - T goes round to help - Ss presents on board - Others give comments and feedback Post- writing - T has students talk about a film they‘ve written - St works individually - Others give comments and feedback Homework: - T has students complete their writing at home Teacher’s self evaluation: X APPENDIX 5A PRE-TEST VU QUANG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH GROUP 15-MINUTE- TEST Code 1: Write a paragraph about the advantages of the Internet (no more than 150 words) Code 2: Write a paragraph about the disadvantages of the Internet (no more than 150 words) XI APPENDIX 5B POST-TEST VU QUANG UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH GROUP 15-MINUTE- TEST Code 1: Write a paragraph about causes of land pollution and give some solutions (no more than 150 words) Code 2: Write a paragraph about causes of air pollution and give some solutions (no more than 150 words) XII APPENDIX RESULTS OF STUDENTS’ TESTS Control group Experimental group Sign Pre-test Post-test Sign Pre-test Post-test C1 3.0 3.5 E1 3.0 4.0 C2 4.5 4.5 E2 4.0 5.0 C3 4.0 4.0 E3 4.5 6.0 C4 5.0 6.0 E4 4.0 4.0 C5 4.0 4.5 E5 4.0 4.5 C6 5.0 4.0 E6 3.5 4.0 C7 5.0 7.0 E7 6.0 7.0 C8 4.5 4.5 E8 4.0 5.5 C9 6.0 6.5 E9 6.5 8.0 C10 3.0 4.0 E10 4.0 4.0 C11 6.0 7.0 E11 6.0 6.5 C12 3.0 4.0 E12 6.0 7.5 C13 5.0 4.5 E13 4.5 6.0 C14 4.0 4.0 E14 4.5 5.0 C15 3.5 5.0 E15 4.0 6.0 C16 6.5 6.5 E16 6.0 7.5 C17 3.0 4.0 E17 4.0 5.5 C18 5.0 6.0 E18 6.0 6.5 C19 4.5 4.0 E19 3.0 4.5 C20 4.0 4.5 E20 2.0 3.5 C21 6.0 7.0 E21 6.0 7.5 C22 3.0 3.0 E22 3.0 5.0 C23 3.5 6.0 E23 6.5 6.5 C24 5.0 6.0 E24 6.0 7.5 XIII C25 3.0 3.0 E25 3.5 5.0 C26 6.5 6.0 E26 6.0 6.5 C27 4.0 4.0 E27 3.5 4.0 C28 5.0 6.0 E28 5.0 7.5 C29 5.0 5.0 E29 4.5 7.0 C30 4.00 4.5 E30 5.5 6.0 XIV ... to use it independently when using graphic organizers to teach writing Graphic organizers can prove to show success in all areas of academics when implemented carefully Before using graphic organizers. .. 2.4.3.3.2 Roles of graphic organizers in teaching writing Teachers can use graphic organizers to motivate students to plan and brainstorm their topic before starting to write According to (Egan, 1999,... aims: - to examine students‘ attitudes towards writing skill - to look into the difficulties students cope with during writing paragraph - to evaluate the effectiveness of using graphic organizers