VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRỊNH THỊ HIỀN ASTUDY ON IMPROVING ESSAY WRITING SKILLS THROUGH PROCESS-BASED APPROACH FOR STUDENTS IN AN IELTS PREPARATION COURSE (ACADEMIC, TARGET BAND 6.5) AT EQUEST ENGLISH CENTER, HANOI Nghiên cứu cải thiện kỹ năng viết luận bằng đường hướng tiếp cân theo quá trình cho học viên đang theo học khoá học luyện thi IELTS (bài thi học thuật, mục tiêu 6.5) tại trung tâm Anh ngữ EQuest, Hà Nội. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRỊNH THỊ HIỀN ASTUDY ON IMPROVING ESSAY WRITING SKILLS THROUGH PROCESS-BASED APPROACH FOR STUDENTS IN AN IELTS PREPARATION COURSE (ACADEMIC, TARGET BAND 6.5) AT EQUEST ENGLISH CENTER, HANOI Nghiên cứu cải thiện kỹ năng viết luận bằng đường hướng tiếp cân theo quá trình cho học viên đang theo học khoá học luyện thi IELTS (bài thi học thuật, mục tiêu 6.5) tại trung tâm Anh ngữ EQuest, Hà Nội. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor : Dr. Trần Thị Thu Hiền HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis “A study on improving essay writing skills through process-based approach for students in an IELTS preparation course ( Academic, target band 6.5) at EQuest English center, Hanoi.” is my own work and effort has not been submitted anywhere for any purpose.
In addition, the contributions of my colleagues and students are involved. Other sources of information have been used and acknowledged. I cede copyright of the thesis in favor of Post-graduate Department- Vietnam National University. Hanoi, 2017 Signature Trinh Thi Hien i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Dr.
Tran Thi Thu Hien who has enthusiastically helped and encouraged me during the period of writing this research paper. Without her experienced guidance, valuable comments and tireless support, I could not have completed the study on time. My gratitude also goes to all of the instructors in my M.A course at the Post- graduate Studies, College of Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University. With their precious and professional lecturers and tutors, I can understand thoroughly difficult basic concepts regardless English teaching methodology.
I am also very grateful to my colleagues at EQuest, English center, Hanoi, who have created favorable conditions for me and have helped me with priceless advice and suggestion on this research. I also give my sincere thanks to all 10 students accompanying with my during the 12-week course of the research. Without them, I could not have these data as convincing evidence for my study. Last but not least, I would like to send my thanks to my beloved relatives, close friends and classmates who are always by my side and give me a lot of support.
Thanks to them, I have more motivation and inspiration to complete this study on time. Hanoi, 2017 Trinh Thi Hien ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The present study intended to examine the effectiveness of process-based approach on improving the IELTS writing essay‟s skills among EQuest learners. To this end, 10 Vietnamese intermediate EFL students aged 17-25 were selected from among available learners who ever joined more than one of the IELTS preparation course based on the result of the Cambridge Placement Test (CPT). Initially, a pre-survey questionnaire was carried out.
Next, using the CPT as a pre- test for assessing writing skills of participants which were administered. Then, they received the conventional classroom instruction on writing skills which were based on process-based approach. After 10 weeks of instruction based on process-based approach, the questionnaire of autonomy was again done by 10 chosen students, and a post-test for writing was implemented to the participants in. The raw data collected were subject to statistical analysis.
The results are evidence to prove the effectiveness of process-based approach on the proficiency of learners‟ writing essay skills. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration. iii Table of contents. iv List of abbreviations .vii List of tables and figures.
viii PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Structure of study. 3 PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Product-based approach. Genre-based approach.
Process-based approach. Process-based approach. Stages of process-based in essay writing. Steele‟s process-based writing cycle.
Widodo‟s process-based writing cycle. Advantages and disadvantages of process-based approach. 14 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 2. 17 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
IELTS academic writing task 2. Public IELTS writing task 2 band descriptors. EQuest language center, Hanoi. Mixed method research.
Data collection instruments. Pre-survey and post-survey. Pre-test and post-test. In-depth interview.
Observation and personal experience. Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure. 26 CHAPTER THREE: FINDING AND DISCUSSIONS 3.
Survey Questionnaire Analysis. Pre-test and post-test Analysis. 35 PART THREE: CONCLUSION 1. Limitations of the study.
Suggestions for further study. I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CC: Coherence and Cohesion CPT: Cambridge Placement Test EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language ESOL: English for Speakers of Other Languages GRA: Grammar Range and Accuracy IELTS: International English Language of Testing System LCD: Liquid crystal display LR: Lexical Resource MAP: Meaningful, Authentic and Purposeful Pre-S : Pre-survey Post-S : Post-survey TR : Task Response vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Page Table 1: Differences between process-based, product-based approach and 7 genre-based approach Figure 2.1: Action research cycle 21 Table 2.1: Action plan 23 Flow-chart 2.1: Steps of data collection procedure 26 Table 3.1: Results of pre-survey and post-survey in pre-writing stages 28 Table 3.2: Results of pre-survey and post-survey in while-writing stages 30 Table 3.3: Results of pre-survey and post-survey in post-writing stage 31 Table 3.4: Results of the pre-test 32 Table 3.5: Statistics of the pre-test result 33 Table 3.6: Results of the post-test 33 Table 3.7: Statistics of the post-test result 34 Table 3.8: Comparison of the pre-test and post-test 35 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale There are 4 skills; listening, reading, speaking and writing which are involved in learning a second language. In fact, the fundamental skill that learners are supposed to master is writing.
Jordan (1997) stated that writing is a result of long, laborious and intensely personal process in which writers address several questions ranging from “What do I write about? to Who is my audience ? to How do I structure my essay?” and “to What sort of language and voice should I use?” Compared to other skills, writing needs greater demands on the learners because it is necessary to follow a process and to get feedback in written interaction which cannot see the immediate improvement. The first reason why this thesis was chosen is that although students ever learned how to write an essay in one or two pre-IELTS courses, they still naturally write whenever they get the topic. It is reflected in their unsatisfactory and disappointing outcome which are collected in the Cambridge Placement Test (CPT). It is not surprising because the learners in the traditional classes will be doing nothing further with their writing after three-hour class attendance and they often pay little or no attention to their teacher‟s comments or error correction.
As Parson (1985) highlighted in his research, under those conditions, the sense of ownership, invention or investment in the writing is highly ignorant and indifferent. Next, it is true that the process has affected the quality of the process of teaching writing and learning writing. In the time between 1970 and 1980, the process-oriented paradigm would be a big concern for current researchers and book writer such as Smith (2000), Applebee (1986), Faigley (1996). These most current studies on process-based approach have aims at investigating the application of process-based approach and its effects on the students writing achievement.
Indeed, writing is always one of the most important skills for all learners mostly because it is related to academic certificates and it also inspires students in a wide range of ways including self-study, diaries or some people interested in writing and editing. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Finally, there are many researchers studying academic writing; however, there are not many researchers having work on IELTS academic writing based on process-based method. Being a teacher in charge of teaching IELTS with hope of supporting and improving students‟ writing essay skills, this thesis was decisively chosen. However, this thesis is personally known to be a challenging one simply because there are a lot of teachers teaching IELTS academic writing essay in many language centers who care about applying process-based in essay writing and do research about it but there are not official versions of study in terms of improving students‟ IELTS academic writing essay skills publically posted.
With all above reasons, this thesis was chosen and seriously carried out in order to find out the effectiveness of the process-based approach in improving IELTS academic writing‟s skills for learners. Aims of the study The aim of this study is to improve essay writing skills through process- based approach for students in an IELTS preparation course (Academic, target band 6. Research question In order to improve learners‟ IELTS essay writing skills through process- based approach at EQuest English center, an action research study has been conducted to answer the following research question: “How process-based writing approach helps students improve IELTS essay writing skills at EQuest English center. Scope of the study This is a study which uses process-based approach in writing to improve essay writing skills for students at EQuest English center (Academic, target 6.
Hence, neither are other approaches for teaching writing nor other academic band-score targets related to the scope of this study. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Significance of the study This research was severely completed to determine the effectiveness of using process-based approach in improving essay writing skills for students in an IELTS preparation course. Based on findings of this study, there is a possibility that its outcome could be a reference for other teachers who are teaching essay writing.
Besides, it would be duplicated in other classes at the center. Last but not least, it would be a primitive road for others‟ further studies and mine in other students and other band-score targets in the future. Structure of study In this study, basically, it is divided into three parts including introduction, development and conclusion. Part one: Introduction - presents the rationale, aims, research question, scope, significance and the structure of the study.
Part two: Development – includes 3 chapters Chapter 1 – Literature review – provides theoretical basis for the previous study, some approaches for teaching academic writing and process-based approach consisting definitions, stages, instruction and advantages and disadvantages of this approach. Chapter 2 – Methodology – is consisted of setting such as an overview of the IELTS test, IELTS academic writing task 2, EQuest English center, participants. Next, research method, data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure are listed. Chapter 3 – Findings and discussion – reports the findings of the survey and discusses the prominent aspects.
Part three: Illustrates recapitulation, implications, limitation of the study and suggestions for the further studies. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.