VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------- TRẦN THỊ CẨM VÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE 12th FORM STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS THROUGH SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS AT LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT HIGH SCHOOL, HÀ NAM (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG VIẾT THÔNG QUA CÁC TÀI LIỆU ĐỌC BỔ TRỢ CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 12 TRƯỜNG THPT LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT, HÀ NAM) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------- TRẦN THỊ CẨM VÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE 12th FORM STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS THROUGH SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS AT LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT HIGH SCHOOL, HÀ NAM (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG VIẾT THÔNG QUA CÁC TÀI LIỆU ĐỌC BỔ TRỢ CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 12 TRƯỜNG THPT LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT, HÀ NAM) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Phạm Đăng Bình Hanoi, 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and have been generated by me as the result of my own original research.
I confirm that this thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts and that this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at any other universities or institutions. Hanoi, April, 2015 Trần Thị Cẩm Vân i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Dr. Phạm Đăng Bình for his generous assistance and guidance, especially for his sympathy throughout the research process. My special thanks go to all the teachers in the faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their useful lectures, materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course.
I also highly appreciate the cooperation of my colleagues and Class 12A1 and Class 12D1 students at Lý Thường Kiệt High School in Ha Nam. Last, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and my friends, who have always encouraged me and supported me to fulfill this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of integrating supplementary reading materials in writing lessons of the 12th form students at Ly Thuong Kiet high school. Along with it, the most popular difficulties and possible suggestions to enhance students’ writing skills through reading would be discussed.
The study revolves an experimental research with the participation of 5 teachers and 90 students of 12th form at Lý Thường Kiệt High School, Ha Nam province. To collect data for this study, two pre-task questionnaires, two post-task questionnaires, a pre-test and a post-test were employed. After examining the responses from the pre-task questionnaires, the author designed and integrated a set of nine supplementary reading texts and respective reading and writing exercises into writing lessons of 45 experimental students in 9 weeks of the first semester of the school year 2014-2015. During the same time, 45 students of the control group only received writing exercises.
The results from the post-task questionnaires, the pre-test and post-test showed that there had been a significant improvement in the students’ writing skill in terms of vocabulary, ideas and organization after they took part in the supplementary reading integration programme in comparison with the students of control group. Moreover, most of students of the experimental group acknowledged the benefits of the supplementary reading integration programme and expected that such programme would be applied in the future. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language MOET : Ministry of Education and Training LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students' Writing Proficiency. 22 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Class 12A1 and Class 12D1 Pre-test Score.
25 Figure 2: Class 12A1 and Class 12D1 Post-test Score. 26 Figure 3: Opinions on role of writings skill in learning English. 27 Figure 4: Opinions on time spent for writing skill at school. 28 Figure 5: Students' Writing Practice Frequency.
28 Figure 6: Difficulties that students encounter when writing. 29 Figure 7: Methods Teachers use to instruct students to develop their writing skill. 29 Figure 8: Opinion on effect of the supplementary reading integration programme. 30 Figure 9: Benefits that students could gain from the supplementary reading integration programme.
31 Figure 10: Continue designing supplementary reading materials to develop students' writing skill or not. 32 Figure 11: Tasks students should do. 32 Figure 12: Tasks teachers should do. 33 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration.
iii List of Abbreviations. iv List of Tables. iv List of Figures iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. Statement of the Problem.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Method of the study.
Design of the study. 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definitions of Writing. What is Writing?.
Rationale behind teaching Writing. Approaches to Writing Instruction. Text-Centred Approach. Writer-Centred Approach.
Reader-Centred Approach. Definitions of Supplementary Reading Materials. What is Supplementary Reading Materials?. 9 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Suitable Supplementary Reading Materials for EFL Teaching and Learning Process. The Influence of Reading on Writing. Researches on Adopting Reading Materials to Enhance Writing. 14 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Data Collection Instruments. Pre-Test and Post-Tests. Scoring Rubric for Writing ……………………………………. Experimental Intervention: Supplementary Reading Material 21 Integration.
The Supplementary Reading Materials. Supplementary Reading Material Integration Procedure. 21 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. Analysing Writing Test Results.
Analysis of Writing Proficiency. Analysis of Word Choice. Analysis of Convention. Analysis of Coherence.
Analysis of Ideas. Analysis of Organization. 24 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Analysis of Writing Test Scores.
Evaluating Responses from Questionnaires. Evaluation of Responses from Pre-task Questionnaires. Evaluation of Responses from Post-task Questionnaires. Conclusion on Major Findings.
Limitations of the Study. Suggestions for Further Studies. I vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Although writing is an important skill in teaching and learning English, it seems to be undervalued inside the classroom.
The neglect of this skill causes the 12th graders at Ly Thuong Kiet (LTK) high school to be weak and poor writers though writing is a compulsory part in the national GCSE examination. It is noticed that English teachers in LTK high school often use a methodology based on teacher-talk and note-taking practices, mainly explaining some new words and structures before asking students to write. Therefore, the 12th students could not express well in English due to the lack of format instruction, useful language, topic background, idea organization, etc. Among many methods of improving students’ writing skill, integrating two language skills, reading and writing has been proved to have positive effects on students’ writing skills in many researches.
Brown (1987) stated that “by reading and studying a variety of relevant types of text, students can gain important insights both about how they should write and about subject matter that may become the topic of their writing”. Reading inspires students, helps them to think critically and analytically. Reading also provides students with ideas for their essays because they often lack the experience for complex subjects. Moreover, reading supplies grammar, syntax, language or organization for students as a model.
Despite many advantages, this method hasn’t been deployed in the context of high school in Vietnam. All these mentioned reasons above have inspired the researcher to carry out the study titled “An investigation into the improvements of the 12th form students’ writing skills through supplementary reading materials at Lý 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Thường Kiệt High School, Hà Nam” as an attempt to help improve writing skills of students. Aims of the Study This study aims to evaluate the effects of integrating supplementary reading materials in writing lessons of the 12th form students at LTK high school. Therefore, the researcher’s first objectives are to find out the difficulties the students are facing, and how much the new method helps improve their writing.
A number of lessons which are planned based on this method will be applied in classroom for a period of time to answer that question. In addition, some practical suggestions and strategies will be recommended to teachers at LTK high school with a view of making full use of reading supplementary materials in writing lessons. Research Questions In short, the study is designed to answer the following questions: 1. What possible problems are the 12th form students at Ly Thuong Kiet High School faced with in writing? 2.
To some extent can the application of reading supplementary materials have effects on students’ writing proficiency? 3. What are the possible suggestions to enhance students’ writing skills at Ly Thuong Kiet high school? 4. Scope of the study Due to the time constraints and content of a minor thesis, the research attempts to investigate the effects of supplementary reading materials on writing proficiency of two 12th form classes at LTK high school in 9 weeks. The researcher will employ 90 students and 5 teachers of English for collecting data.
2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Significance of the study This study could be some help to teachers and students at LTK high school. For teachers, they can improve their understanding of the relationship between reading and writing. From this, they can find more suitable and effective teaching methods to help students better their writing.
For students, they can get access to a new teaching method which encourages their involvement and participation in writing process. Method of the study This study is an experimental research conducted by using quantitative methods. Two classes are randomly selected as control group and experimental group. Questionnaires are also employed for both students and teachers to elicit the information on students’ perceptions and attitudes toward writing lessons, difficulties encountered in writing and suggestions to improve the teaching and learning writing skills.
Design of the study The study consists of three parts: - The Introduction: presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the significance, the methods and the design of the study. - The Development: consists three chapters: Chapter 1: Literature Review Chapter 2: The Methodology Chapter 3: Results and Discussions - The Conclusion: summarises the major findings, pedagogical implications, limitations of the study and recommendations for further research 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Definition of Writing 1. What is Writing? In various studies, the nature of writing has been defined as a cognitive process: Nunan (1999:273) asserted that "Writing is a complex, cognitive process that requires sustained intellectual effort over a considerable period of time." In line with Nunan, Kate and Guy (2003:1480) stated that “writing is a process of exploring one’s thoughts and learning from the act of writing itself from what thoughts are”.
These interpretations confirmed the definition of writing as a complex process of exploring one’s thought, discovering ideas and generating meaning (Flower and Hayes, 1980). However, for pedagogical purpose in English as a foreign language (EFL) class, writing is considered as “a language skill which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble, 1996:3). O'Maggio (1986) contended that writing in a second language is not simply a matter of how to write new things down in a new code.