Diary keeping by efl students a motivation of english writing ability for the 10th graders at a high school

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY LÊ THỊ THỦY DIARY KEEPING BY EFL STUDENTS: A MOTIVATION OF ENGLISH WRITING ABILITY FOR THE 10th GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION Nghệ An, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY LÊ THỊ THỦY DIARY KEEPING BY EFL STUDENTS: A MOTIVATION OF ENGLISH WRITING ABILITY FOR THE 10th GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8.14.01.11 MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Ngơ Hữu Hồng Nghệ An, 2019 DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled “Diary keeping by EFL students: a motivation of English writing ability for the 10th graders at a High school” is the result of my own study and the substance of this research has not been submitted for degree to any other university or institution Vinh, July 10th 2019 Signature Lê Thị Thủy ACKNOWLEDGEMENT On the very outset of this paper, I would like to extend my sincere and heartfelt thanks to a number of people who have contributed to the final result in many different ways To commence with, I express my sincere and deepest to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Ngơ Hữu Hồng for his generous assistance, precious guidance, excellent suggestions and critical feedback for this thesis Without his continual inspiration, it would have not been possible to complete this study I am extremely thankful to the students from grade 10 for their help and cooperation during my research at their class I am also grateful to my colleagues from Diễn Châu High School who helped and encouraged me a lot when I was conducting my research I also own my special thanks to some friends of mine who supported me a lot and provided me valuable advice during my work Finally, I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to members in my beloved family for supporting me constant encouragement morally and economically Vinh, July 10th 2019 ABSTRACT This study sought to investigate the effectiveness of diary keeping in the improvement to the learners' writing skills as well as how this activity motivated the learners in learning process Pre-test and post-test were the main instruments in this research A pre-test was conducted on 20 students of grade 10 at Diễn Châu High School in order to find the initial capacity of the students in writing skills In terms of some aspects including content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics, the pre-test presented the reality of the learners' ability Besides, the post-test was conducted as an indicator to check the effectiveness of the interference from the researcher The study also focused on using diary as a solution to improve the condition of low level in writing skills from the students After some cycles of pilot teaching, the feedback from the students showed that they enjoyed this new kind of activity Also, the result from the post-test presented a big change in the the students' learning process in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics The results from post-test indicated that diary keeping can be used as an effective tool in improving learners' writing skills in a durable process This activity somehow showed its benefit in learning writing when it helped enhance the learners' motivation both in classroom and outside classroom Key words: writing skills, diary keeping, teaching and learning process, pretest, post-test, effectiveness, Diễn Châu High School TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the research 1.3 Questions of the research 1.4 Scope of the Study 1.5 Design of the study Chapter THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Overview 2.2 Relevant Studies 2.3 Writing Skills 2.3.1 Definitions of Writing Skills 2.3.2 The Characteristics of Written Language 2.3.3 Micro and Macro Skills of Writing 2.3.4 The Stages of Writing 10 2.3.5 Types of Classroom Writing Performance 11 2.3.6 Measures of Evaluating Students Writing 12 2.3.7 The Roles of Teachers in Teaching Writing 16 2.4 Diary keeping 17 2.4.1 The Definition of Diary 17 2.4.2 Benefits of Diary keeping in Education 18 Chapter METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Overview 20 3.2 Setting of the Study 20 3.3 Participants 22 3.4 Instruments of the Research 23 3.5 Data Collection 24 3.6 Validity and Reliability of the Data 24 3.7 Procedures of the Research 25 Chapter FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 27 4.1 Overview 27 4.2 Findings 27 4.2.1 Identification of the Problems .27 4.2.2 Action Process 37 4.2.3 Findings from the Colleagues after Class Observation 51 4.2.4 Findings from Students' Questionnaire 53 4.2.5 Findings from the students' diaries 57 4.3 Discussion 59 Chapter CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 66 5.1 Overview 66 5.2 Conclusions 66 5.3 Teaching Implications 68 5.4 Limitation 69 5.5 Suggested Further Research 69 REFERENCES 70 APPENDICES 74 LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Writing Score of Students in the Pre-Test 31 Table 4.2: The Result of the Writing Skills in the Pre-test in Each Aspect 32 Table 4.3: Writing Score of Students in the Post-Test 33 Table 4.4 The Result of the Writing Skills in the Post-test in Each Aspect 34 Table 4.5: Students' Mean Score of Writing in the Pre-test and the Post-test 59 Table 4.6: Students' Improvement after Pilot Teaching 61 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: A Cyclical Action Research Model by Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1998) 20 Figure 4.1: The students' Mean Score in Writing Aspects 37 Figure 4.2: Students' Evaluation to Their Writing Skills 53 Figure 4.3: Students' Attitude to the Writing Lessons in Pilot Teaching 54 Figure 4.4: Students' Feedback to Diary keeping Activity 54 Figure 4.5: Time Students Used in Writing 55 Figure 4.6: Students' Feedback to the Effectiveness of Diary keeping 55 Figure 4.7: Students' Feedback to their Improvement in Writing Skills 56 Figure 4.8: Students' Response in Maintaining Diary Keeping 57 Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Writing is a very important skill in language learning EFL learners' success in English writing brings them benefits not solely in their English learning but also in their life long careers In the first place, writing is an extremely important skill to evaluate people’s background knowledge, thinking, behavior and attitude Students need to express the most appropriate words and phrases, structures the usages of the structure of the paragraphs, spelling and punctuation in written form In addition, writing can be seen as a standardized system which must be acquired through special instruction It is a cultural and educational participation (Grabowski, 1966:75) However, it takes many years to achieve proficiency Even if the learners are talented or gifted, they need a teacher to guide in learning process For numerous EFL learners, English writing seems to be challenging In fact, the nature of writing itself is not interesting enough to motivate English learners to practice regularly Moreover, doing a writing task in the assessment of the teacher is not comfortable to many students Time pressure also a factor which hinders learners' writing effectively In the EFL classroom, the students are asked to perform their writing tasks within a certain length of time Thus, numerous students cannot occasionally accomplish their tasks Theoretically, writing is taught following a process of learning However, in reality it is very complex activity that requires hard work In general, being at a loss for the ideas is a common situation that teachers can recognize at writing classes Non-native learners may not have enough ideas to write down or even worse, they have nothing to say As a result, they fail to have the final product in writing In addition, in the process of teaching it is easy to see that learners at Diễn Châu High School are lacking essential skills in writing They often produce the writing at low level and under their teachers' expectation As a result, they encounter a large number of difficulties such as shortage of motivation, limited background knowledge Not only the researcher but also other teachers interviewed can see this pessimistic 68 As for the implication of the study, some suggestions are recommended to contribute to the success of teaching English language writing skills at upper secondary schools Also, some ideas of adapting diary keeping are presented as a useful source for teachers to raise students’ motivation and eagerness in writing skills 5.3 Teaching Implications After conducting this action research, some suggestions are provided as below  For the English teachers It is important for the English teacher, especially the teachers at Diễn Châu High School to consider at giving more investigation on the teaching writing skills The teachers may adapt some more activities to attract the students in learning process It is suggested that teacher may take into the consideration of using diary keeping as a media to offer more writing practice to the students both in the classroom and outside the classroom It may take time, however, the teachers need maintain the regular feedback to the students' writing as this will help them avoid making mistakes in the next writing as well as improve the quality of their writing Through reading and responding to learners' writing, teachers are able to measure each learner competence and understand their needs, thoughts, and feelings, which help teachers accommodate their teaching strategies to learners' preferences and give learners appropriate assistance to their problems along the writing course  For the learners It is necessary for the learners to keep writing diary as a daily habit It enables them not only to record something in the past but also improve their writing skills in the way they can not expect because the more the students write, the better their writing will be The importance is the learner must be patient and maintain this activity long lasting because of its benefit to their writing skills Some tips are given as follow to keep this durable habit - You write an entry everyday (7 days a week without excuses) - You can write more or less depending of your fee tie, inspiration or mood 69 - You can write about anything you like such as daily experience, the person you had impression, ect - While writing your diary you are also keeping a record of the work done - You can check your progression by looking back at what you wrote in the past - If one day you not know what to write about, just write about what you did during the day - Finally, you should get help from your teacher who may support you in feedback and techniques to have better writings 5.4 Limitation Although the research has offered some helpful findings, it has also shown some unavoidable mistakes due to the researcher’s limitation of experience and knowledge Firstly, the study aims to investigate the current situation in teaching writing skills for 10th graders at an upper secondary school in Nghệ An Therefore, the participants of the survey were limited The results may not reflect fully the whole situation of learning and teaching writing skills Finally, due to time constraint and some other objective factor made it impossible for the researcher to carry out the investigation into the relationship with other skills, which restrict more precise of the research 5.5 Suggested Further Research Due to the limitation of the research, it can be extended to a large scale with other students and teachers at upper secondary schools In addition, on the basis of the research, the next further study may be suggested: Strategies to enhance diary keeping in writing classes 70 REFERENCES Barjesteh, H., Vaseghi, R., and Gholami R 2011 The Effect of Diary keeping on EFL College Students' Writin Improvement and Attitude International Conference on Languages, Literature and Linguistics IPEDR vol.26 (2011) Retrieved : October 13, 2013 at 9.40 p.m from http:// www.ipedr.com/vol26/29ICLLL%202011-Looo72.pdf Borrowman, S (2005) Trauma and the Teaching of Writing State University of New York Press Brown, D (2007) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, (5th ed.) Longman: Pearson Brown, D.H 2003 Language Assessments: Principles and Classroom Practices New York: Longman Brown 2001 Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy-2nd Edition New York: Longman Calhoun, F E (1999) Teaching Beginning Reading and Writing With the Picture Word Inductive Model The University of British Columbia Carol A Chapelle, A C & Shannon Sauro, S (2017) The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning Wiley Blackwell Clark, L I (2011) Concepts in Composition: Theory and Practice in the Teaching of Writing Routledge Cook, V (2008) Second Language Learning and Language Teaching Hodder Education 10 Cooper, Charles R., and Lee Odell Evaluating Writing: Describing, Measuring, Judging Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 1977, 37-39 ED 143 020 11 Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment Cambridge University Press 12 Curtis, A., & Bailey, K M (2009) Diary studies: Research digest OnCUE Journal, 3(1), 67-85 71 13 Dayton, E A (2015) Assessing the Teaching of Writing: Twenty-First Century Trends and Technologies Utah State University Press 14 Ellis, et al (2009) Implicit and Explicit Knowledge in Second Language Learning, Testing and Teaching Multilingual Matters 15 Ferris, Dana R 1997 The influence of teacher commentary on student revision TESOL Quarterly 31: 315-39 16 Ferris, R D (2011) Treatment of Error in Second Language Student Writing (2nd Edition) University of Michigan Press 17 Fitzpatrick, M 2005 Engaging Writing Paragraph and Essay London: Longman 18 Harmer, J 2001 The Practice of English Language Teaching-3rd Edition London: Longman 19 Harmer, J 2004 How to Teach Writing London: Longman 20 Harmer, J 2007 The Practice of English Language Teaching-4th Edition London: Longman 21 Harmon, John "The Myth of Measurable Improvement." English Journal, 77(5) September 1988, 79-80 EJ 376 076 22 Hashemi, Z., & Mirzaei, T (2015) Conversations of the mind: The impact of journal writing on enhancing EFL medical students’ reflections, attitudes, and sense of self Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 199, 103-110 23 Kemmis, S and McTaggart, R 1998 The Action Research Planner Victoria: Dankin University 24 Komorowska, A & Szcześniak, K (eds.) (2014) Awareness in Action: The Role of Consciousness in Language Acquisition Springer International Pub 25 Langan, J 2011 College Writing Skills with Readings - International Edition 8th Edition New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc 26 Langan, J 2011 College Writing Skills with Readings-International Edition 8th Edition New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc 27 Larsen-Freeman, D (2000) Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching Oxford University Press 72 28 Littlemore, J (2009) Applying Cognitive Linguistics to Second Language Learning and Teaching Palgrave Macmillan 29 Long, M (2014) Second Language Acquisition and Task-Based Language Teaching Wiley-Blackwell 30 Majchrzak, O (2018) Learner Identity and Learner Beliefs in EFL Writing Springer International Publishing 31 Manchon, M R (ed) 2009) Writing in Foreign Language Contexts: Learning, Teaching, and Research Multilingual Matters 32 Manchón, M R (Editor) (2011) Learning-To-Write and Writing-To-Learn in an Additional Language (Language Learning & Language Teaching (LL<), V 31) John Benjamins Publishing Company 33 Masiello, Lea 1986 Writing in Action New York: MacMillan Publishin Company 34 McCarthy, Michael 2000 Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 35 McDonald, C.R and McDonald, R.L 2002 Teaching Writing America: Southern Illinois University Press 36 McDonald, C.R and McDonald, R.L 2002 Teaching Writing America: Southern Illinois University Press 37 Nation, I.S.P 2009 Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing New York: Routledge 38 Niżegorodcew, A & Pawlak, M (eds.) (2012) New Perspectives on Individual Differences in Language Learning and Teaching Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 39 Oshima, A and Houge, A 2006 Writing Academic Essay: Forth edition White Plains: Longman 40 40 Pawlak, M & Waniek-Klimczak, E (2015) Issues in Teaching, Learning and Testing Speaking in a Second Language Springer 41 Richards, C J & Lockhart, C (2007) Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms Cambridge University Press 73 42 Richards, J.C., and Renandya, W A 2002 Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 43 Robinson, P (2011) Second language task complexity: researching the cognition hypothesis of language learning and performance John Benjamins Pub 44 Stanley, L.C., Shikin, D., anh Lanner, A.H 1988 Ways to Writing: Purpose, Task, and Process - 2nd Edition New York: MacMillan Publishin Company 45 Tuan, L.T 2010 "Enhancing ELF Learners' Writing Skills via Journal Writing" English Language Teaching Journal, Vol.3, No 3, p 81-88 Retrieved: October 13, 2013 at 9.39 p.m from ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/download/7217/5568 http://www 74 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Pre-test Appendix 2: Post-test Appendix 3: Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version) Appendix 4: Questionnaire for students (English version) Appendix 5: Teachers’ feedback to pilot teaching 75 Appendix 1: PRE-TEST Name: Class: Write a diary about the best event that ever happened to you Do not forget to tell how you felt about it Content: Organization: Vocabulary: Language use: Mechanics: 76 Appendix 2: POST-TEST Name: .Class: Write a diary about the best event that ever happened to you Do not forget to tell how you felt about it Content: Organization: Vocabulary: Language use: Mechanics: 77 Appendix 3: Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version) PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA Bảng câu hỏi nhằm mục đích tìm hiểu phản hồi học sinh hoạt động viết nhật kí việc học kĩ viết Câu trả lời bạn học sinh quan trọng thành công đề tài nghiên cứu Vì mong hợp tác bạn! Hãy đánh dấu (X) vào phương án bạn thấy phù hợp ……………………………………………………………………………………… I Thông tin cá nhân học sinh Giới tính: Nam Nữ Số năm bạn học Tiếng Anh: năm/tháng II Ý kiến học sinh việc học viết Tiếng Anh việc viết nhật kí (Ở số câu hỏi bạn chọn nhiều phương án phù hợp) Bạn đánh giá kĩ viết trước nào? Rất tốt Tốt Trung bình Kém Rất Bạn có thích học tiết dạy viết giáo viên thực nghiên cứu khơng? Rất thích Có Khơng thích Khơng thích tí Bạn có thích hoạt động viết nhật kí khơng? Có Khơng Khơng có ý kiến Bạn thường dành thời gian để viết nhật kí ngày? 78 Khoảng tiếng ngày Khoảng nửa tiếng ngày Ít nửa tiếng ngày Khơng phải hàng ngày Bạn có nghĩ việc viết nhật kí cải thiện kĩ viết Tiếng Anh bạn khơng? Có Khơng Khơng có ý kiến Lĩnh vực bạn nghĩ cải thiện sau việc ứng dụng hoạt động viết nhật kí vào việc học kĩ viết? (bạn chọn nhiều phương án phù hợp) Cách thể ý tưởng viết Cách tổ chức ý tưởng Cách sử dụng từ vựng để chuyển tải ý tưởng Cách sử dụng ngữ pháp Cách thể hình thức viết sử dụng dấu câu, viết hoa, chữ Bạn tiếp tục giữ thói quen viết nhật kí khơng? Có Khơng Khơng có ý kiến 79 Appendix 4: Questionnaire for students (English version) QUESTIONNAIRES The questionnaires were designed to serve the aim of discovering students' feedback to the diary keeping in learning writing skills The answers, therefore, should be frank to your learning circumstance since your answers will be a valuable input for my study Thank you very much for your cooperation Please put a cross (X) on the answer you choose ……………………………………………………………………………………… I Students’ Profile Your gender: Male Female How long have you been learning English? years/months II Students’ Opinions in Learning Writing Skills and Diary keeping (More than one choice is acceptable in some sentences) How you evaluate your writing skills before this study? Very good Good Fair Poor Very poor Are you interested in the writing lessons you have in two cycles of teaching? Very much Yes Not much Not at all Do you like writing diary activity? Yes No No idea How much time you spend writing diary entries every day? About an hour a day About half an hour a day 80 Less than half an hour a day Not every day Do you think diary keeping can improve your writing skills in learning English? Yes No Noidea What aspects you think you improve after the implementation of diary keeping? The way to show the ideas The way to organize the ideas The way to convey thought into words The way to use language The way to use punctuation, capitalization and spelling Will you keep your habit of writing diary in the future? Yes No Noidea 81 Appendix 5: Teachers’ feedback to pilot teaching OBSERVATION CHECKLIST (For Teachers) Date: …………… Meeting cycle: Observer: Observation Item Material The teacher distributes handouts / worksheet The activities are balanced and various Examples and illustration are used effectively The lesson is smooth, sequenced and logical Method The teacher provides help and has eye contact with students The teacher positively reinforces the students The teacher corrects the students' error and mistakes The teacher uses the allocated time well The teacher guides the students in every stage in the process of doing the tasks Participation The teacher encourages the students' participation Yes No Comment 82 The students actively take part in each class activity The teacher offers chance for students to ask questions Motivation The teacher creates motivated condition of learning Students are interested in the lesson The teachers give students positive feedback The teacher summarizes and reflects the lesson The students have enthusiasm/motivation during the teaching process ... involve the language fluency that are the content and organization, and the language accuracy that are the vocabulary, language use, and mechanics By writing a diary and receiving a regular feedback,...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY LÊ THỊ THỦY DIARY KEEPING BY EFL STUDENTS: A MOTIVATION OF ENGLISH WRITING ABILITY FOR THE 10th GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL Field: Theory and Methodology... EFL students: A motivation of English writing ability for the 10th graders at a high school" 1.2 Aims of the research The purpose of this study is to conduct an action research which serves the