MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HCMC UNIVERSITY OF LAW FACULTY OF LEGAL LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS B. DEGREE IN ENGLISH EFFECTIVENESS OF USING TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING ENGLISH WRITING OF LEGAL ENGLISH STUDENTS OF HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF LAW Supervisor: Mrs. PHAM THI PHUONG ANH Student: DUONG THI THU DAO Student ID:1952202010011 Class: LE44A Ho Chi Minh City, 2023 STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY I hereby declare that this thesis represents my own work and has not been previously included in a thesis or dissertation submitted to this or any other institution for a degree, diploma, or other qualifications. As the author of this study, I present myself as an up-and-coming specialist in the field of the English language, with a particular interest in applying technology to English writing instruction.
As a senior in the Legal Faculty of Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, I have amassed a vast amount of knowledge through the numerous coursework and research assignments assigned to me throughout my academic career. The combination of my theoretical and practical knowledge of language learning and education within the context of the English language curriculum positions me as an authority on the subject. In addition, my personal experience as a student in the Legal Eglish Faculty has given me insight into the significance of English writing in the future profession and what students may need to succeed in a globally-oriented industry where proficiency in writing, among other essential skills, is crucial. As such, I present myself at this juncture as a respected partner willing to collaborate with instructional professionals in the field to develop well-informed strategies based on the study's findings and recommendations.
Ho Chi Minh City, June 21, 2023 Duong Thi Thu Dao ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Even though I wrote my thesis, I wouldn't have been able to complete it without the help of my friends and family. I am writing to express my gratitude to everyone who has offered encouragement and support while I work on my thesis. My self- assurance has been bolstered, and my resolve strengthened by the comments, recommendations, and praise I've received. I owe outstanding gratitude to Mrs.
Pham Thi Phuong Anh, my advisor, who spent many hours helping me complete my thesis. Thesis work is already challenging and time-consuming, and it would be much more so without the teacher's careful supervision. Due to my lack of previous research experience at university, this project is both an exciting and daunting opportunity. In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to our current and former instructors and the other lecturers in the Legal English department.
All of our instructors provided us with the most essential information in the field. In addition, the instructors' energy is the primary reason I want to complete the thesis. As a culminating experience in my undergraduate career, I want to do original research. I would like to thank Mr.
Luong Minh Hieu, our head teacher, for always responding promptly to our queries. I'd also like to thank the faculty and staff at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law and so many others. Finally, I want to thank my loved ones for supporting me throughout my life, keeping me safe, and allowing me to make this choice. When I'm most vulnerable, my family is there to unconditionally love and cheer me on as I progress through life.
I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents for providing me a first-rate place to study and develop my skills. So many people cheer me on at this critical turning point that I would be here all day if I named everyone who has supported me in silence over the last several months. Last but not least, I want to express my deepest gratitude to all the individuals iii I hold dearest, even if their names aren't included above, for helping me when I needed it most and inspiring me to become the best version of myself. June 27th, 2023 / Ho Chi Minh City iv ABSTRACT The study investigates the effectiveness of technology in improving English writing skills among students in the Legal Faculty at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law.
The research aims to identify the most effective form of technology for improving English writing skills and to understand students' perceptions of using technology for learning. Two main research questions guide this study: What is the most effective application to improve English writing skills among Ho Chi Minh City University of Law students? And, what are the perceptions of students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law about using technology to learn writing skills? A survey and interviews were conducted with Legal Faculty students as part of a mixed-methods study designed to address these issues. The survey data investigates how frequently and effectively students use various technological applications to enhance their command of the English language. In contrast, the interview data aims to shed light on how students perceive the efficacy of such educational approaches.
After conducting research, the author concluded that Grammarly is the most effective application for acquiring English writing skills among students of the Legal English Faculty at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law. In addition, most students positively perceive using technology to teach writing skills. The outcomes of this study can potentially improve the teaching and learning of English composition at the Legal English Faculty by recommending effective technological combinations for this purpose. The findings also propose methods in which English composition instructors may incorporate students' preferable technological applications.
In addition, the overarching objective of the research is to improve communication between educators and their students by increasing the latter's understanding of the former's attitudes towards the application of technology to the study of English. v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY. v TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi LIST OF FIGURES.
ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .1 Background to the Study .3 Aims Of The Study .4 Scope of the Study .5 The Significance of the Study. 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 What is technology? .2 Technology in Learning English Language. Forms of technology used to improve writing skills.1 Definition of writing skills .2 Importance of writing skills .3 Challenges in learning writing skills .2 Limitations of the Study. 46 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.
In your opinion, writing skill is… .What is the most challenging stage when you write? .Do forms of technology (writing tools) help you in solving problems?. How often do you use forms of technology in learning writing skills? .Which is the most effective form of technology for learning writing skills?. The advantages of using forms of technology in learning writing are… .The disadvantage of using technology in learning writing is that…. Do the advantages of using technology in learning writing outweigh its disadvantages?.
32 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study Friggard (2002), Miner (2004), and Timucin (2006) all concur that the use of technology in the classroom contributes to the growth of both pedagogical practices and students' understanding. The fundamental reason is that in today's environment, knowledge is more accessible than ever because of the widespread availability of technological tools. For example, recent data suggests 5 billion mobile phone users globally (eWeek, 2017). Users may access any training and instructional content whenever and wherever they choose, thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices like PDAs, mobile phones, iPods, laptops, Tablet P.s, and wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G, 4G, and satellite systems.
With the advent of CALL (computer-assisted language learning) programs and networked settings (e., Lafford, 2009), information technology has also played an essential part in learning foreign languages. Solanki and Shyamlee (2012) and Pourhosein Gilakjani (2017) agree that technological advancements have altered language instruction practices. They said that using technology in this way enables students to tailor their education to their passions. Students' auditory and visual needs are met.
Lam and Lawrence (2002) and Pourhosein Gilakjani (2017) argue that students benefit from technology because it allows them to personalize their Education and access resources that traditional classrooms cannot provide. The English language is now the most widely used and studied international language. Rao (2019) claims that English's global reach has resulted in almost 360 million native and 500 million non-native speakers. Moreover, Szmigiera (2022) says that English is spoken by around one-third of the world's population, or 1.
Nishanthi (2018) adds that English's usefulness has been recognized in fields as diverse as medicine, engineering, and teaching. People all across the globe utilize English as a foreign language to act as brokers of growth by sharing, exchanging, and 1 acquiring information and expertise with one another. Each country's citizens should be fluent in English if they are to benefit from these changes. Writing is one of the four basic skills of English proficiency and is seen as "a basic communication skill and a unique asset in the process of learning a language" (Chastain, 1988, p.
As one of the four primary linguistic abilities that all language students must acquire, Banat (2007) emphasized the importance of writing to students' ability to communicate and grasp the interconnected nature of the language's many components. Writing is both an internal and external process, requiring one to think about what one wants and how to say it and then lay down those thoughts in a manner that makes sense to the reader (Sokolik, 2003).2 Rationale As more and more cutting-edge tools become accessible in classrooms, it is vital to assess how well they are being used (Iriti et al. Boosting student learning outcomes, broadening access to education, and increasing student engagement are just a few examples of the many reasons to include technology in the classroom (Bower, 2017). In addition, several high-quality meta-analyses (Clark et al., 2016; Merchant et al., 2014) find that technology usage has a constant, somewhat favorable impact size.
In addition, some studies show the effectiveness of integrating technology in learning and teaching languages, especially English. Students' abilities to synthesize information, participate with digital material and challenging text, and use their comments to express ideas were all enhanced when Shamburg and Craighead (2009) had them use computer programs to remix video and audio from their lives with the words of Shakespeare's plays. After incorporating new literacy practices into their study of 1920s American literature, Gainer and Lapp (2010) concluded that such initiatives had the "potential to expand students' understandings about race, history, society, and their participation" (p. Kimbell-Lopez et al.
(2018) developed a process for incorporating digital storytelling in the classroom. They argued that it 2 "allows students to recognize and appreciate that they each have a story to tell and that the classroom community would be incomplete without each" (p. Regarding writing skills, because of their importance in everyday life (Keshta, 2013), in the workplace (Keshta, 2013), and in the arts and sciences (So & Lee, 2013), writing is often seen as a more complex language skill to acquire. It asks authors to craft compositions that effectively express meaning via writing while satisfying strict criteria for content, organization, structure, and mechanics (Brown, 2007).
Due to a lack of originality and proper understanding of English writing abilities, students of English as a Second Language (ESL)/English as a Foreign Language (EFL) need help properly articulating their thoughts on paper (Adas & Bakir, 2013). This makes the writing process more challenging for all students. However, Melor & Nur (2011) noted that the progress of ESL/EFL students in their command of the English language could have been much better. Accordingly, So & Lee (2013) proposed that one solution to this issue was to provide students with additional writing practice and activities that targeted the parts of these abilities.
Therefore, effective methods of practice and instruction are necessary to improve students' written expression and prepare them for future careers.