e use of scaffolding in teaching writing in the english 10 textbook (10 year program) at vietnam’s upper secondary schools a case study

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER The use of scaffolding in teaching writing in the English 10 textbook (10-year program) at Vietnam’s upper-secondary schools A case study Supervisor: Tran Thi Lan Anh, Ph.D Student: Nguyen Ha Trang Course: QH2017.F1.E2.SP.CLC Hanoi - 2021 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP Hoạt động hỗ trợ (Scaffolding) sử dụng giảng dạy kỹ Viết Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 (chương trình 10 năm Bộ) trường Trung học Phổ Thông Việt Nam: Nghiên cứu trường hợp Giảng viên hướng dẫn: TS Trần Thị Lan Anh Sinh viên: Nguyễn Hà Trang Lớp: QH2017.F1.E2.SP.CLC Hanoi - 2021 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Nguyen Ha Trang, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (fast-track programme) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature Date Trang 8/6/2021 Nguyen Ha Trang TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i ABSTRACT .ii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background and rationale 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 An overview of the rest of the paper CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Writing 2.2 Writing approach 2.3 Scaffolding CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Research approach 19 3.2 The research design 20 3.3 Data collection procedure 23 3.4 Research instrument 25 3.5 Data analysis method 28 3.6 Data analysis procedure 29 3.7 Research ethics 33 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34 4.1 Research question 1: What scaffolding activities are present in the writing sections in the “English 10” textbook (10-year program)? 34 4.2 Research question 2: What scaffolding tools teachers use in English writing lessons for tenth graders at Vietnamese upper-secondary schools? 58 4.3 Research question 3: What underlie English teachers’ employment or rejection of scaffolding tools for students in the classroom? 71 4.4 Discussion 77 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 83 5.1 Summary of main findings 83 5.2 Implications 84 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 85 5.4 Concluding thoughts 86 REFERENCES 88 APPENDICES 100 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3.1 Participants’ background 21 Figure 3.1 Data collection procedure 23 Table 3.2 Data sources and focus of data collection and analysis 24 Table 3.3 Participants’ observation details 26 Table 3.4 Participants’ interview details 28 Table 3.5 The coding framework for six scaffolding activities 30 Table 3.6 Descriptive coding in interview analysis 31 Table 3.7 In Vivo coding in interview analysis 32 Table 3.8 The coding framework for six scaffolding tools 32 Table 4.1 Writing tasks and scaffolding activities presented in the 47 English 10 textbook Table 4.2 Types of scaffolding activities designed in the English 10 49 textbook Table 4.3 Scaffolding activities and tools used by the teachers in 62 observed lessons Table 4.4 Scaffolding tools used in writing lessons 64 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research paper could not have been accomplished without the support from numerous individuals First and foremost, I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to my devoted supervisor Ms Tran Thi Lan Anh, who provided me with extensive knowledge about research design, useful suggestions and detailed comments during the completion of this research This project would not have been possible without her constructive critique and continuous guidance, for which I am immensely thankful and feel appreciated Furthermore, I want to express my deepest appreciation for the support staff from the University of Languages and International Studies in providing me with the letter of introduction to the research site Their professionalism in processing relevant paperwork and documents enabled me to carry out the project on time and gain permission to collect data In addition, I am extremely thankful to my three participants for their time and cooperation, without which I could not have been able to complete my research project I am also grateful for my former teachers who assisted me in the process of contacting the interviewees and collecting data On top of that, I can never disregard the mental support from my family and friends who motivated me to overcome all the adversities that I encountered along the way My boyfriend was also a source of encouragement that I treasured in this long and challenging journey Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my previous research team members, who were always supportive and constructive These incredible individuals gave me valuable suggestions that helped me to amend my writing despite insurmountable difficulties i ABSTRACT Scaffolding, a concept related to the zone of proximal development (ZPD) developed by Vygotsky (1978), has been widely perceived as a significant instructional tool by a number of scholars and educators However, existing research investigating the use of scaffolding in textbooks and in writing lessons has been scarce The current research aims to explore the scaffolding activities developed by the textbook writers in the English 10 textbook, teachers’ employment of scaffolding tools and reasons behind their choices of scaffolding for writing lessons for 10th graders at upper secondary schools in Vietnam To attain the aforementioned objectives, the study employed a qualitative case study design To collect data, textbook analysis, three teaching observations and nine semi-structured interviews with three participants were conducted Results from analysing the textbook revealed five scaffolding types namely modelling, contextualizing, bridging, schema building and developing metacognition utilized in the design of the textbook Of these, developing metacognition and schema building were ranked as the most commonly used scaffolding activities The quantitative and thematic analysis of observed data also showed that participants employed six scaffolding tools in their English writing lessons Noticeably, questioning and feeding back were extensively employed by the participants while explaining and modelling were the least preferred means of scaffolding Teachers shared three common underlying reasons for adopting these tools, which are learners’ academic background, learners’ motivation and learners’ cognitive development and some other individualized reasons The results of this research could be a reference for teachers to reflect on their use of scaffolding activities and the underlying rationales for each tool used, and for textbook designers, educationalists and the policy makers to review and propose applicable adjustments to the new English 10 textbook to cater for different learning styles The study proposes implications for researchers in similar teaching contexts who wish to conduct further studies on related topics KEYWORDS: Scaffolding, EFL writing, learning ii textbook analysis, English language CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background and rationale Textbooks are, according to Sheldon (1988), the core of any ELT (English Language Teaching) program However, there have been some reservations about making use of the textbook series Allwright (1982) concerned that textbooks are implicitly prescriptive, affecting the methods and procedures of classroom practice Richards (2005) was also worried that textbooks may not meet the needs of all learners and require further adaptation to yield desired learning outcomes Recently in Vietnam, the textbook series (10-year program) for upper secondary school students were written for innovative purposes to replace the old textbook series Given that textbook evaluation is of paramount importance in any language program, the need for detailed analysis and evaluation of English textbook series currently in use in Vietnam has emerged The significance of writing skills in ELT has been emphasized by many researchers such as Byrne (1984), Celce-Murcia (1991), Graves (1994), Tribble (1996), Harklau (2002), Car-valho (2005) and Graham & Perin (2007) and Nguyen (2015) However, a study by Ueda (1999) stated that “writing activities have been generally disregarded” in classroom settings (as cited in Kobayakawa, 2011, p.28) High school students not acquire the necessary writing proficiency that they may use for college (Chait & Venezia, 2009; Graham & Perin, 2007; Escher, 2015) This can be attributed to some problems such as the difficulty of writing exercises and topics in English textbooks, problems in generating and constructing ideas with vocabulary, sentence and paragraph organization (Nguyen, 2015; Richard & Renandya, 2002) Some exercises are too complicated for students to without teachers’ support Laksmi (2006) & Monphonsri et al (2013) pointed out that the lack of background knowledge for writing can be one of students’ obstacles as well Therefore, the need for not only book designers but also teachers to adopt scaffolding techniques and activities to facilitate learners’ transition from assisted to independent performance is raised In short, scaffolding techniques refer to “a temporary INTERVIEW PROTOCOL Post-teaching Interview Name of the participant: Date/ time: Lesson: GIỚI THIỆU: Em xin phép giới thiệu, em tên Nguyễn Hà Trang Hiện em sinh viên năm cuối lớp QH2017.E2, Khoa Sư phạm tiếng Anh, hệ Chất lượng Cao, trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội Như trao đổi với thầy/ cô, em thực nghiên cứu có đề tài “Hoạt động hỗ trợ (Scaffolding) sử dụng giảng dạy kỹ Viết Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 (chương trình 10 năm Bộ) trường Trung học Phổ Thơng Việt Nam” cho khóa luận tốt nghiệp Cuộc vấn sau nhằm tìm hiểu hoạt động sử dụng buổi học Viết ngày hôm thầy/ cô Cuộc vấn dự kiến kéo dài khoảng 10-20 phút Nếu thầy/ cô đồng ý, câu trả lời thầy cô ghi âm lại để dùng cho mục đích phân tích liệu sau: CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN: Thầy/ thấy học sinh đạt hết mục tiêu đặt học ngày hôm chưa ạ? (Nếu có, thầy/ giải thích thêm Nếu chưa, thầy/ cô nêu mục tiêu chưa đạt giải thích sao.) Trong buổi học này, em có thấy thầy/ sử dụng hoạt động … (Nêu Hoạt động hỗ trợ Scaffolding cụ thể giáo viên) Thầy/ chia sẻ thầy/ lại dùng hoạt động khơng ạ? Trong buổi học này, em có thấy thầy/ cô bỏ hoạt động … (Nêu Hoạt động hỗ trợ Scaffolding ghi sách giáo viên khơng sử dụng) Thầy/ chia sẻ thầy/ lại dùng hoạt động không ạ? Thầy/ cô nêu cảm nghĩ việc học học sinh buổi học ngày hôm không ạ? Trong buổi học này, thầy/ làm để khắc phục vấn đề mà học sinh gặp phải học Viết mà thầy/ cô đề cập đến buổi vấn trước? Em xin trân trọng cảm ơn thầy/ cô tham dự vấn Kính chúc thầy/ ln giữ đam mê, nhiệt huyết với nghề thành công nghiệp “trồng người” ạ! 109 APPENDIX E: WRITING SECTIONS IN THE ENGLISH 10 TEXTBOOK SERIES 110 :ULWLQJ v0DQ\KDQGVPDNHOLJKWZRUNw  Work in pairs Discuss the meaning of the saying above Do you agree with it? How does this saying apply to doing housework in the family? Read the text about Lam’s family below and  complete the chore chart I live in a family of four: my parents, my younger sister and I We are all very busy people: both my parents work, my sister and I spend most of our time at school, so we split the household chores equally My dad is responsible for mending things around the house He also cleans the bathroom twice a week My mum does most of the cooking and grocery shopping Being the elder child in the family, I take up a large share of housework I the laundry, take out the rubbish, and clean the fridge once a week My younger sister An’s responsibilities include helping Mum to prepare meals and washing the dishes My sister and I take turns laying the table for meals, sweeping the house, and feeding the cat We our share of housework willingly as we know that if everyone contributes, the burden is less and everyone can have some time to relax  Read the text again and answer the questions How many people are there in Lam’s family? Why are they very busy? How they split the housework in the family? What household chores does each member of the family do? Do the family members enjoy the housework? What are the benefits of everyone in the family sharing the housework? Make your family chore chart Then, using the ideas in the chart, write a paragraph about how people in your family share housework based on the ideas in the chart You can use the questions in  as cues for your writing Family Chore Chart 0XP Name: _ _ Chore List _ _ _ 'DG _ Name: _ Chore List _ _ _ _ _ _ HOUSEHOLD CHORE CHART Dad Name: _ _ Chore List _ _ _ Mum Name: _ Lam Chore List _ _ _ _ _ _ _ An 12 8QLW)DPLO\/LIH /LVWHQLQJ :ULWLQJ 7KHIRRGS\UDPLG    What you usually have for lunch or dinner? Do you care about the nutritional value of the things you eat? Look at the picture below What you think the listening is about? Listen to the recording and decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F) T F The Healthy Eating Pyramid is a complex guide to choosing your diet Daily exercise and weight control are key to staying healthy according to the Pyramid You are advised to eat more things on the top of the Pyramid It’s suggested that half of your plate consists of vegetables and fruit Fish, poultry, beans, or nuts make up the other half of the dinner plate ‘The Food Column’ is a consultation section in the local newspaper in which people write in to ask for advice on what to eat and what not to eat  Build a list of foods from your own experience that may give you _ allergies _ bad breath _ stress _ sleeplessness _ sleepiness then share and compare your list with your friends’  Now, read the facts below Do you have some of these foods on your list? Which ones? Allergies The foods most commonly causing allergies are milk, wheat, eggs, soya, fish, peanuts, shellfish (including mussels, crab and shrimp) Bad Breath The foods which may spoil your breath for days after a meal are onion, garlic, cabbage, curry, alcohol Stress Foods and drinks which strongly stimulate the body can cause stress These foods are coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, alcohol, refined sugar, white flour, salt, and processed foods such as junk foods and fast foods Sleeplessness There are foods that can help you fall asleep or keep you awake Foods that stop your sleep are: caffeine containing drinks, alcohol, sugar, fatty or spicy food, food additives (seasonings, artificial colours, flavourings)  Listen again, divide the plate into sections and label which food should be in each section  Write some sentences to describe the plate you have just made in  8QLW