Improving writing skills among students at a high school in hanoi adopting a cognitive meta linguistic approach to teaching english grammatical constructions

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN BÍCH NGỌC IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS AMONG STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI ADOPTING A COGNITIVE META-LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTIONS (Nâng cao kỹ viết cho học sinh THPT Hà Nội thông qua đường hướng nhận thức siêu ngôn ngữ để giảng dạy cấu trúc ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2021 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN BÍCH NGỌC IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS AMONG STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI ADOPTING A COGNITIVE META-LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTIONS (Nâng cao kỹ viết cho học sinh THPT Hà Nội thông qua đường hướng nhận thức siêu ngôn ngữ để giảng dạy cấu trúc ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, PhD Hanoi - 2021 DECLARATION I hereby certify the thesis entitled “Improving writing skills among students at a high school in Hanoi adopting a cognitive meta - linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions” as my own work in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Hanoi, 2021 Student Nguyễn Bích Ngọc i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to send the highest appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, for supporting me all through my journey of conducting this research Without his advice, I would not be able to have a chance to explore a new method of teaching English to my students and find more meanings in my teaching career Secondly, I am extremely grateful to my classmates, all my younger sisters and brothers, who have given me really good advice for collecting the data, analyzing it and writing this final thesis Last but not least, I am thankful to have my husband and daughter who always give me a very strong mental support to go through the difficult days of dealing with the thesis Hanoi, 2021 ii ABSTRACT The aim of the research is to examine the effects of cognitive meta-linguistic approach used in teaching English grammatical constructions on improving high school students‟ writing skills in the EFL context The researcher employed Action Research with 10th grade students at a high school in Hanoi with both qualitative and quantitative data analyses The research was done in two cycles; each cycle consists of three meeting sessions The 40 students received instruction using cognitive meta-linguistic approach to English grammatical constructions in writing The data collection instruments include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, teacher‟s diaries and tests The results obtained from the tests indicated that cognitive meta-linguistic approach used in teaching English grammatical constructions significantly improved the students‟ writing skills Besides, the data collected from the post-treatment questionnaire and the interview revealed that the students had positive attitudes towards the application of the new method The findings from the teacher‟s diary showed that during her lessons in class, the teacher encountered and dealt with some difficulties Based on these findings, some implications for both the teacher and the students as well as recommendations for further studies on adopting a cognitive meta-linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical structures have been drawn The research findings are expected to contribute to the understanding of meta-linguistic approach as a causal factor for better writing performance in ESL students iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims and objectives 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 Definitions of key items 1.8 The structure of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background 2.1.1 Cognitive meta-linguistic approach 2.1.2 Teaching and learning English grammar 10 2.1.3 Writing skills in cognitive meta-linguistic approach 14 2.1.4 The role of mastering grammatical constructions in language learning 18 2.1.5 The application of a cognitive meta-linguistic approach to teaching grammatical constructions to improve writing skills 20 2.2 Previous studies 23 2.2.1 Previous studies in international context 23 2.2.2 Previous studies in Vietnamese context 25 2.3 Summary 27 iv CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28 3.1 Research questions 28 3.2 Research approach 28 3.3 Research setting 32 3.4 Sample and sampling procedures 32 3.5 Principles/criteria for intended data collection 32 3.5.1 Pre-test and Post- test 33 3.5.2 Questionnaire 34 3.5.3 Interviews 34 3.5.4 The teacher‟s diaries 35 3.6 Data analysis 35 3.7 Summary 37 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 38 4.1 Data analysis 38 4.1.1 The extent to which the use of a cognitive meta-linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions enhances high school students‟ writing skills 38 4.1.2 The difficulties the teacher encountered when adopting the cognitive metalinguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions to improve students‟ writing skills 47 4.1.3 The students‟ attitudes towards the use of the cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions to enhance their writing skills 48 4.2 Discussions 52 4.3 Summary 54 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 55 5.1 Recapitulation 55 5.2 Concluding remarks 56 5.3 Limitation of the current research 57 v 5.4 Implications of the findings 57 5.5 Recommendations and suggestions for future research 58 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICES I APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B II APPENDIX C IV APPENDIX D: SYLLABUS V APPENDIX E VI APPENDIX F XII APPENDIX G .XIV vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The intervention plan 30 Table 3.2: Action plan 31 Table 3.3 Population and sample 32 Table 3.4: Procedures for test development 33 Table 3.5: Score interval for test 34 Table 4.1 Results of independent samples t-test for the students‟ performance on the writing pretest 39 Table 4.2.The Pre-test and Post-test results of the class 40 Table 4.3 The students‟ pre-test and post-test results analyzed by using Pair Sample T-Test 41 Table 4.4 Comparison between the students‟ performance before and after the treatment 42 Table 4.5 The students‟ difference of writing complexity during pretest 43 and posttest 43 Table 4.6 Learners‟ writing accuracy during pretest and posttest 45 Table 4.7 The students‟ difference in Fluency in pretest and posttest 46 Table 4.8 Students‟ feedback on cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions 49 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Model of writing process 17 Figure 3.1: The process of CAR in current study 29 Figure 4.2 Comparison of the pre-test and post-test results of the class 41 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study According to Trinh and Nguyen (2014), being proficient in English has been given much attention in Vietnam due to the increasing demands of higher education, employment, business and overseas studies Grabe (2009) and Ahn (2014) believed that among language learning skills, writing has been consistently referred to as complicated especially for non-native speakers due to the limited exposure to writing activities and learning sources Tangpermpoon (2008) suggested the possible reason for this was the various tasks students of English as a foreign language (EFL) are required to focus on during writing production such as choosing proper words, using correct grammatical patterns and checking spelling of words Ibrahim (2006) pointed out that writing is a difficult skill for native and nonnative speakers alike, for writers are expected to consider multiple aspects simultaneously including content, organization, purpose, audience, vocabulary, punctuation, and spelling Ejraee, Baradaran and Sharif (2014) also considered writing as a difficult learning skill that is needed by EFL students from primary to higher education However, according to recent test results from the Educational Testing Service (ETS), writing has been the most problematic for Vietnamese testtakers This could be explained in terms of the low quality of English language teaching in Vietnam (Hoang, 2010), specifically the challenge of teaching EFL writing (Nguyen, 2009) Causes of the low quality in teaching writing, especially in teaching argumentative essays, should be examined in light of current approaches to teaching English writing Therefore, as Ahn (2014) concluded, writing teaching and learning should be re-evaluated by teachers, educators and students as well A number of studies show that English teachers often look for more effective methods to teach writing (Ibrahim, 2006; Watson, 2005) According to Huynh (2014), the cognitive meta-linguistic approach to the teaching of writing skills to EFL learners is to develop learners' communicative teaching English in Education, 28(2), 20-26 77 Tribble, C (1996) Writing Oxford: OUP 78 Valli, K S., & Priya, N S V (2016) A metacognitive approach to develop the writing skills in English of students at college level International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 11(3), 2145–2148 79 Watson, S (2005) The importance of the pedagogy process Nebula, 2(2), 141–152 80 Wittrock, M C (1993) Handbook of Research on Teaching (3rd edn) Washington: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics 81 White, R and Arndt, V (1991) Process writing Longman: London and New York 82 Zhou, A (2009) What adult ESL learners say about improving grammar and vocabulary in their writing for academic purposes Language Awareness, 18(1), 31-46 83 Zhu, W (2004) Faculty views on the importance of writing, the nature of academic writing, and teaching and responding to writing in the disciplines Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, 29-48 68 APPENDICES APPENDIX A WRITING TOPICS IN PRE- AND POST-TESTS Pre-test: Does social media represent individuals authentically? Explain with examples Post-test: What are three of your most profound learning experiences? Where and when did they occur? I APPENDIX B QUESTIONNAIRE Dear students, My name is Nguyễn Bích Ngọc I am conducting the research entitled “Improving writing skills among students at a high school in Hanoi adopting a cognitive meta-linguistics approach to teaching English grammatical constructions” for my postgraduate thesis The objectives are to investigate the use of a cognitive meta-linguistics approach to teaching English grammatical constructions to help you improve your writing proficiency I am appreciative of your helping me finish this questionnaire I hereby confirm that all your responses are for study purposes alone and your personal information is kept confidential Please read carefully each question item below before giving your answers A Respondent Background Choose your appropriate answer Male Female Strong Moderate Weak Very important Important Quite important Not important Gender Self-evaluation of writing Importance of writing skills B Students’ Perception Please select your answer with reference to the following scale: (1) Never (2) Seldom (3) Sometimes (4) Usually (5) Always II No Statements I am more motivated and enthusiastic to participate in lessons with the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions I learnt new things to improve English language writing skills in lessons with the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions I enjoyed the lessons with the use of cognitive meta3 linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions The content of lessons with the use of cognitive meta4 linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions suits my English proficiency Class was more collaborative and interactive with the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions All students participated actively in lessons with the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions It is helpful to use cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions to deal with writing problems Class environment is friendly, motivating and encouraging with the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions Learning become more student oriented 10 Learning the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions is more interesting than my previous classes without III APPENDIX C INTERVIEW PROTOCOL Part 1: Warm-up questions What is your class? How long have you learnt English? Do you like learning English grammar and writing? Part 2: Main questions Before implementing the cognitive metacognitive approach, how did your teacher teach grammar? Do you think that writing skills are important to your English learning? From your point of view, how is grammar important to writing? Do you like the use of a cognitive metalinguistic approach in teaching grammar? Do you think the use of a cognitive metalinguistic approach in teaching grammar improves your writing skills? IV APPENDIX D: SYLLABUS (4 structures: SV, SVO, SVA, SVC that were taught in weeks) WEEK 1, 3, 5, 7, CONTENT OBJECTTIVES - Students will be able to understand the components and meaning/ usage of the structure S-V - Structure: SV - Students will be able use the structure S-V to - Writing Topic: write simple sentences on the given writing topic Write about one of - Students will be able to work individually, in your unforgettable pairs or in groups to write a short paragraph about experiences one of their unforgettable experiences using the structure S-V - Students will be able to understand the components and meaning/ usage of the structure S-V-O - Structure: SVO - Students will be able use the structure S-V-O to - Writing Topic: write simple sentences on the given writing topic Write about your - Students will be able to work individually, in daily routine pairs or in groups to write a short paragraph about their daily routine using the structure S-V-O - Students will be able to understand the components and meaning/ usage of the structure S-V-A - Students will be able use the structure S-V-A to - Structure: SVA write simple sentences on the given writing topic - Writing Topic: - Students will be able to work individually, in Write about a film pairs or in groups to write a short paragraph about you have seen a film they have seen using the structure S-V-A - Students will be able to understand the components and meaning/ usage of the structure S-V-C - Structure: SVC - Students will be able use the structure S-V-C to - Writing Topic: write simple sentences on the given writing topic Write about one of - Students will be able to work individually, in your favorite subjects pairs or in groups to write a short paragraph about and your dream for one of their favorite subjects and their dream for the future the future using the structure S-V-C V APPENDIX E SAMPLE LESSON PLAN WRITING LESSON: WRITE A SHORT PARAGRAPH ABOUT YOUR DAILY ROUTINE (USING THE STRUCTURE S-V-O) Time: 90 minutes (WEEK 3, 4: Lesson 3, 4) Aims: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - understand the components and meaning/ usage of the structure S-V-O - use the structure S-V-O to write simple sentences on the given writing topic - work individually, in pairs or in groups to write a short paragraph about their daily routine using the structure S-V-O Teaching aids: textbook, A0 papers Competence: After the lesson, students can develop their problem-solving ability and abilities of creativity, self-study, and cooperation Procedures: Stage/ Time WEEK 3: I Presentation (10 minutes) Teacher’s activities Students’ activities - Lead in the structure S-V-O: “Today, we will learn about the simplest structure of English, it is SV-O Do you know what does S-V – O stand for?” - Listen to the teacher and answer the teacher‟s question > “I think S-V-O stands for Subject, Verb and Object.” - Listen to the teacher explanation and write down on the notebooks - Confirm the answer and explain more: + S > Subject: a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun Eg (The) student (s), taxidriver, I/ You/ We/ They/ He/ + V > Verb: a word or a group of words representing an action, or state E.g listen, do, get up, VI II Practice (24 minutes) + O > Object: a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun indicating a person, thing or event that is affected/ affected directly or indirectly by a verb in a sentence E.g a tree, a new car, some sugar, - Give some examples to help the students recognize and understand more about the components of the structure These students like English I bought a new car He has done his homework * Activity 1: (8 minutes) Identifying the components in the sentences (10 statements) (This activity helps the students to recognize exactly the components in the sentences) Nga is speaking English I my homework Someone has just sent her a red car My sister likes Korean films The little girl is looking for her dolls - Get students to work in pairs to the task - Call some students to speak out their answers - Check and correct with the whole class * Activity 2: (8 minutes) Identifying the sentences written with the structure S-V-O (10 statements) VII - Look at the example and try to recognize the components of the structure - Listen to the teacher‟s instruction - Work in pairs to fulfill the activity - Speak out the answer in front of the class Nga is speaking English S V O I my homework S V O Someone has just sent her S V O a red car O My sister likes Korean S V O films The little girl is looking S V for her dolls O III (This activity helps the students to recognize exactly the sentences using the structure S-V-O) A The little girl smiles B The little girl was walking quickly C The little girl is reading comic books D The little girl is lovely A Lan is a worker B Lan works very hard C Lan works here D Lan has finished her work A That man can speak English B That man is speaking very fast C That man looks handsome D That man goes to work by bus - Have the students work individually, then in pairs to finish the task - Ask students for the answer - Check with the whole class * Activity 3: (8 minutes) Identifying the missing components in the following sentences (10 statements) She reads In a book The woman is arranging Has written her essay My mother a birthday cake - Get the students to work in groups of or to discuss and give their answers - Ask students to speak out their answers > Check with the whole class - Ask students to work in groups of VIII - Listen to the teacher‟s instruction - Work individually, then in pairs to fulfill the activity - Speak out the answer in front of the class C D A - Listen to the teacher‟s instruction - Work in groups of or to fulfill the activity - Speak out the answer in front of the class O V O S V - Work in groups of or to Production (9 minutes) IV Homework (2 minutes) WEEK 4: I Prewriting (15 minutes) or to make sentences, using the structure S-V-O - Ask some students to read out their sentences or write them down on the board - Give comment on the students‟ work - Ask the students to revise the structure at home and make more sentences with it * Activity 1: (3 minutes) - Call on some students to tell the whole class about the structure S-VO and the meaning of each component in the structure - Check with the whole class and add more if necessary produce five sentences using the structure E.g We are learning English The teacher often gives us a lot of homework The man is looking for his car key The farmers grow rice She has sent me a postcard - Present their sentences - Listen to the teacher‟s comment - Listen to the teacher and the task at home - Some students present the knowledge they learnt in the previous lesson - Listen to the teacher * Activity 2: (2 minutes) - Bring out the writing topic: - Listen to the teacher “Write about your daily routine, using the sentence structure S-V-O you have learned in the last lesson.” - Ask students: “What does daily - Answer the teacher‟s routine mean?” question: > Daily routine means habit of the things we every day * Activity 3: Brain-storming (10 minutes) - Ask students to work in two big groups to write down as many verbs/ phrases about daily activities IX - Work in two big groups In five minutes, try to discuss and write down as many verbs/ phrases about daily activities as they can as possible Give students minutes to discuss - Then, the representative of each group will go to the board to write down their words in minutes (which group has more correct answers will be the winner) - Ask students: + “When writing about your daily routine, which connector you use?” + Which tense of verb you use? - Check the students‟ answers and add more if necessary II Whilewriting (18 minutes) - Divide the class into groups - Give each groups an A0 paper - Ask the students to work in their groups to discuss and write a paragraph of about 80-100 words about their daily routine - Go around to see and help the students if necessary Make sure that all the students take part in their group work - Give the students 15 minutes to write III PostWriting (10 minutes) - Ask the groups to hang on their A0 papers on the wall around the class - Ask the groups to go around to X - The two students representing the two groups go to the board and write down the words they have found E.g - get up - brush my teeth - have breakfast - go to school - have lessons - go home - have lunch - Listen and answer the teacher‟s questions: + We use linking words indicating order: First, Next, Then, After that, + The Present Simple Tense - Work in groups - Take the A0 papers and prepare to write - While writing, ask the teacher for help if there are any difficulties Try to take an active part in the groups‟ work - Try to write and finish their writing within 15 minutes - Hang on their works - The groups go around the IV Homework (2 minutes) read the other groups‟ writing and class to see, read and give take note the strong points and comment on the other groups‟ weak points/ mistakes of the writing Take note if writings necessary - Call on the representative of each - Some students speak out group to give comment on the other their opinions of their friends‟ groups‟ writing and offer correction writing if possible (Peer correction) - The teacher gives comments/ feedback on the groups‟ writing - Listen to the teacher‟s Bring out the good points of each feedback, correction and take group and some common mistakes note made by the students and suggest ways to correct A sample of the student’s writing: I often get up at 5.30 I brush my teeth I wash my face Then, I have breakfast After that, I go to school I have five lessons in the morning I go home at 11.30 Next, I have breakfast And I take a nap In the afternoon, I read books I often help my mother prepare dinner After dinner, I watch TV for one hour Then, I my homework - Ask the students to rewrite the - Listen to the teacher‟s writing about their daily routine at guidance and finish their home writings at home (basing on (In the next lesson, the teacher is their friends‟ and the teacher‟s going to check some of the comments/ feedback) students‟ writing and give marks if possible) XI APPENDIX F STUDENT’S WRITING SAMPLES XII XIII APPENDIX G SAMPLE OF TEACHER’S DIARY 4th treatment with the use of a cognitive mega-linguistic approach Students 1) The major of students have participated in the lesson more actively 2) Some students encountered some problems because of the new approach 3) Students show their improvements in the ability to acquire new grammar structures 4) Students show their improvements in using grammar structures in building sentences Activities and 1) The cognitive mega-linguistic approach is employed materials through the lesson 2) The approach keeps students‟ interest and attention 3) Besides the textbook, other media sources are also employed Classroom 1) Activity duration fits what I have planned management 2) The students understand what to in the learning activity 3) I have provided opportunities for all the students to participate in learning activities Overall Students show some improvements in grammar knowledge and writing skills owning to the use of a cognitive meta-linguistic approach XIV ... meta- linguistic approach in teaching English grammatical constructions To explore the students? ?? attitudes towards the use of cognitive metalinguistic approach in teaching English grammatical constructions. .. linguistic approach in teaching English grammatical constructions but also finds out the students? ?? attitudes towards the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach in teaching English grammatical constructions. .. to teaching English grammatical constructions and the students? ?? attitude towards the use of cognitive meta- linguistic approach to teaching English grammatical constructions to improve high school