MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS USING MIND-MAPPING STRATEGY TO ENHANCE THE SKILL OF WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS FOR STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI Sử dụng sơ đồ tư duy để cải thiện kĩ năng viết văn mô tả cho học sinh ở một trường cấp 3 ở Hà Nội DANG TIEN ANH Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: LE PHUONG THAO, Ph.D Hanoi - 2023 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “Using mind-mapping strategy to enhance the skill of writing descriptive texts for students at a high school in Hanoi” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language. Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2023 Dang Tien Anh Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date: …………………… 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although credited with a sole authorship, this thesis was made possible through the extensive support of numerous individuals. Foremost, my sincere appreciation extends to Mrs.
Le Phuong Thao, Ph.D, my supervisor, for her unwavering guidance and constructive feedback throughout the entire research process. Besides, gratitude is also extended to the dedicated lecturers at the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University, whose invaluable knowledge and ongoing support greatly facilitated the learning, research, and implementation phases of this thesis. Next, the collaboration of the respondents, 42 grade 10 students at Hoang Mai High School, was pivotal for the thesis's fruition, and I am indebted to them for their willingness to participate and provide crucial data. Special thanks are reserved for colleagues and friends whose encouragement significantly contributed to the completion of this work.
Last but not least, I express deep gratitude to my family, whose boundless love and expectations served as the driving force behind the accomplishment of this thesis. Their unwavering support is truly appreciated. 2 ABSTRACT The primary objectives of the current study are to determine how grade 10 students feel about mind mapping as a teaching tool for English vocabulary and to evaluate the technique's efficacy. 42 pupils from class 10A1 at Hoang Mai school took part in the research.
Pre- and post-tests, questionnaires, and interviews are the data gathering methods used to ascertain the intervention's effectiveness. The author of this study served as both an observer and a teacher in an effort to improve the students' language proficiency through the use of a mind-mapping technique. Planning, doing, observing, and reflecting are all part of the action research process. According to the study's findings, mind mapping facilitates note-taking, problem- solving, creative idea generation, and word retention in pupils.
Students can utilize the mind-mapping approach to reflect on the ideas of supply and demand by considering a variety of impacts, in addition to encouraging reflection and application of learning components. The mind-mapping technique is regarded as an innovative, practical, and accessible tool that students can utilize to enhance their descriptive texts writing abilities, it is concluded. 3 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3. Topics of the descriptive texts in each week during the research.
Score range of the tests. Positive attitudes off students towards mind-mapping teachniques. Students’ positive evaluations on the effectiveness of the mind-mapping strategy. Mean scores of tests.
Comparision of distribution of score range. Model of a library mind map (Internet). Model of a presentation mind map (Internet). Model of a tunnel timeline mind map (Internet).
The action research plan (Kemmis and Taggart, 1988, as cited in Burns, 2010). Mean score of tests. Distribution in results of three tests. Proportion of students find mind-mapping techniques difficult.
The desire to learn with mind mapping techniques .49 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION. Aim and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Design of the study .8 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Review of previous studies. Previous studies in foreign countries. Previous studies in Vietnam. Review of theoretical background.
General concepts of mind-mapping. Definitions of mind-mapping. Types of mind maps. Library mind maps.
Presentation mind maps. Tunnel timeline mind maps. The Advantages of Using mind-mapping Strategies. Parts of Mind-mapping Technique.
The Criteria of Making a Mind Map. General concepts of writing. Defintions of writing. General concepts of descriptive texts.
Definitions of descriptive texts. Generic Structure of descriptive texts. Language Features of descriptive Texts. Selection and Integration of Descriptive Text Topics .25 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Population and sample. Methods of analysis.37 CHAPTER IV: INFLUENCES OF USING MIND-MAPPING STRATEGIES IN ENHANCING GRADE 10 STUDENTS’ SKILLS OF WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS. Findings from the questionnaire. Students’ attitudes towards using mind-mapping strategy.
Students’ attitudes towards writing descriptive texts with mind- mapping strategy. Findings from the tests. Findings from the pre-test and the post-tests. Comparison of the pre-test and the post-test scores.
Findings from the interviews. The effectiveness of mind-mapping strategy in writing descriptive texts. The students’ attitudes towards the application of mind-mapping strategy in writing descriptive texts. Limitations and suggestions for further studies.
Suggestions for further studies .59 APPENDICES: DATA OF THE STUDY. Rationale Writing is the method of conveying ideas through written means, employing letters, words, art, or media, and necessitating a mental process to articulate thoughts (Uusen, 2009). Westwood (2008) posits that the acquisition of written language is particularly challenging due to the intricate coordination required among various cognitive, linguistic, and psychomotor processes. Descriptive texts are one of the several text genres that high school students in Vietnam are expected to compose as part of their curriculum (Depdiknas, 2006).
Some students had trouble producing descriptive writings, the researcher discovered during the teaching practicum at a Hanoi high school. Mind mapping is a method that can be employed to aid students in overcoming challenges in producing descriptive texts (Buzan, 1993). Murley (2007) suggests that mind mapping can enhance the brain's capacity to associate numbers with visual attributes such as space, image, and color. Consequently, this heightened association facilitates improved memory retention, allowing for the storage of more information.
On account of all the aforementioned reasons, the author has decided on the topic for his thesis as “USING MIND MAPPING STRATEGY TO ENHANCE THE SKILL OF WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS FOR STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI”. This current study explores the attitudes and effectiveness of using mind-mapping techniques to improve the skills in writing descriptive texts for students at Hoang Mai High School - a vocational High School. To the best of my knowledge, no studies involving mind-mapping techniques have ever been conducted in my high school. The findings of the study, if done correctly, would be unique.
Aim and objectives of the study The study is conducted with the main aim to help grade 10 students at Hoang Mai High School enhance the skill of writing descriptive texts, thus to achieve the set aim mentioned above, my study tries to fulfill the following objectives: 7 - Finding out the grade 10 students’ attitudes in Hoang Mai High School towards using mind-mapping strategy when writing descriptive texts. - Evaluating the effectiveness of using mind-mapping strategy when writing descriptive texts for grade 10 students at Hoang Mai high school. Scope of the study This study, conducted at Hoang Mai High School – a vocational school during the school year 2023-2024, delves into the effectiveness of implementing a mind-mapping strategy for improving writing skills among 42 students in grade 10. Focused on two pivotal criteria, namely the ease of word retention and the organization of ideas, the research investigates the impact of the mind-mapping technique on the students' learning experience.
Students are taught to write descriptive texts with the use of the mind-mapping strategy that is appropriate with their English levels. Research questions This research paper aims to address the following research questions: - What are the grade 10 students’ attitudes in Hoang Mai High School towards using mind-mapping strategy when writing descriptive texts? - What is the effectiveness of using the mind-mapping strategy when writing descriptive texts of grade 10 students at Hoang Mai high school? 1. Design of the study This study will be divided into 4 chapters; each chapter will be provided with specific ideas that are supporting this research. Chapter I: Introduction outlines the purpose and objectives of the study and provides the justification and scope of the thesis.
This section also includes a summary of the structure, techniques, and research questions. Chapter II: Literature Review covers the concepts relevant to the study: a review of the previous studies related to the topic and the concept of mind mapping strategy, writing and descriptive texts. Chapter III: Research methodology concentrates on describing the research orientation, the research methodology in details and comprises the 8 information of the subjects, instruments of data collection and the process of collecting and analyzing data. Chapter IV: Influences of using mind-mapping strategies in enhancing grade 10 students’ skills of writing escriptive texts begins with the result of data collection and the result of the interview.
Then, it is analysed and discussed. Chapter V: Conclusion summarizes the subject matter covered in the previous sections. The limitations of the research are also presented in this chapter, along with some recommendations for additional research. References and Appendicies come at the end of the study.
9 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW The literature review is organized into two parts: previous studies and a review of theoretical background. The first part summarizes the previous investigations into using mind-mapping strategy when writing descriptive texts both overseas and in Vietnam. The second part aims to review the general concepts of writing, descriptive texts and mind-mapping strategy, which are all related to the study. Review of previous studies 2.
Previous studies in foreign countries According to a few earlier foreign research, students' ability to write descriptive texts may be impacted by their use of mind-mapping strategy: The first is a research conducted by Nurlaila (2013) regarding the efficiency of mind-mapping methods in teaching descriptive texts. Seventh graders from a Bandung junior high school participated. In order to assess the data, this study used a combination of pre-experimental design methods, specifically one group pretest- posttest design, questionnaires, and interview approaches. According to the study's findings, students' writing scores for descriptive texts improved when they used the mind-mapping technique.
Additionally, the students' vocabulary and inventiveness were enhanced and their writing planning was aided by the questionnaire and interview methods. The second research was writen by Romadhloni (2015). She conducted a study to see how well mind mapping works as a prewriting technique to assist students in producing descriptive texts. The findings indicated that the majority of students responded well to the idea of using mind mapping as a technique when composing a descriptive article.
She came to the conclusion that mind mapping helped students better organize their thoughts, plan their writing, handle writing aspects, write with enjoyment, and comprehend the writing context. It can also help students write better. The third was a study written by Ade Aprilia (2017). She came to the conclusion that teaching writing, especially producing descriptive language, can 10 benefit from mind mapping based on her research.
She contrasted the pre- and post- test findings. It demonstrated how mind maps could help students produce more evocative texts. The post-test total score was 1963, while the pre-test total score was 1050. This indicates a 913-point improvement in the pre-test to post-test total score.
Last but not least, a study conducted by Padang and Gurning (2014) with 30 students from class VIII SMP Swasta HKBP Pardamean on the use of mind mapping strategy to improve students' achievement in creating descriptive written texts revealed that the use of this strategy could benefit both the students and the teachers in their writing lessons.