luận văn ca học tiếng anh the steps of conducting project – based learning in a languagec lassroom

The aim of this research was to improve the writing skills of 11th graders at Nong Cong 2 High School through project-based learning.. The results of this research showed that the implem

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor,Tran BaTien, Ph D for his whole-hearted guidance, valuable comments, and support in thepreparation and completion of this thesis

My special thanks go to the organizers of this master course, especially Mr.Ngo Dinh Phuong, vice director of Vinh University and I wish to thank all staffmembers at Department of foreign languages for their help and moral support I amalso grateful to all students who are fully completed the questionnaires and sincerelyprovided me with valuable information for this study Without their participation andsupport, this thesis would never have come into existence

Last, but not least, I express my thanks to my husband and all my friends whohave continually encouraged me to complete my study

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF APPENDIXES

ABSTRACT…

i ii iii v vi vii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Rational

Aims of the research

The significant of the research

The scope of the research

The research questions

The organization of the research

1 2 3 3 3 3 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.1.5 2.1.6 2.1.7 2.1.8 2.1.9 1.1.10 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4 2.2.5 2.3 2.4 The nature of writing

The definition of writing

The characteristics of written language

Sub – skills of writing

The process of writing

Strategies in teaching writing

Types of classroom writing performance

Principles of teaching Writing

Teaching writing in high school

Accessing writing

Feedbach on writing

Project – based learning

The definition of project – based learning

The characteristics of project – based learning

The significant of using project – based learning

The steps of conducting project – based learning in a languagec lassroom

The role of the teachers and students in project – base learning

Relevant studies

Conceptual framwork

5

5 6 7 9 11 12 13 15 16 18

18

18 20 21

23 24

26 27

Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODS

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.4.1

3.4.2

3.4.3

3.5

3.6

Research methods

Setting of the research

Subjects of the research

Data collection and data analysis technique

Perception questionaires

Classroom observation

Written tests

The techniques of the data analysis

The research procedures

29 29 30 30 30 31 31 32 33 Chapter 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1. 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.1.4.1 4.1.4.2 4.2. 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.4.1 1) 2)

3)

4) 4.2.4.2 1)

2)

3)

4) 4.2.5 Results of studentss perception toward project – based learning approach Benefits of project – based learning approach

Students’ autonomy

Students’ teamwork

Discussion

Students’ perception toward the project – based learnin

Students’ perception toward teamwork

Results of improvement in students’ writing performance

Identification of the Field Problems

Selecting the Problems

Determining teh Actions to Overcome the problems

Research process and Results

Report of cycle 1

Planning

Actions and observation

Reflection

Findings of cycle 1

Report of cycle 2

Planning

Actions and observation

Reflection

Findings of cycle 2

Discussion

35

35 36 38 39 39 40

43

43 45 47 48 48 48 49 56 60 61 61 62 67 71 74

4.2.5.1.

4.2.5.2

4.2.5.3

The design of actions in cycle 1

The design of actions in cycle 2

The students’ score

74 75 76 iii Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 Conclusions

Implecations

Suggestions

To the teacher

To the students

To the other researchers

79 80 81 81 81 81 REFERENCES 83

APPENDIXES… 86

iv

LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Questionnaires items on students’ attitude toward project – based learning

Table 4.2: Questionnaires items on students’ autonomy

Table 4.3: Questionnaires items on students’ teamwork

Table 4.4: A sample of students’ writing in the pretest

Table 4.5: Another sample of student’s wrting in the pretest

Table 4.6: The pretest mean scores of each writing aspect

Table 4.7: Problems found at class 11A4 of Nong Cong 2 high school

Table 4.8: The actions implemented to solve the problem

Table 4.9: The action plan and the expected improvement to achve

Table 4.10: The mean score of cycle 1 test for five aspects of text writing

Table 4.11: The sample of students’ writing on cycle 1

Table 4.12: The comparison between before and after implementation of Research

Table 4.13: The students’ end product of cycle 2

Table 4.14: Another students’ end product of cycle 2

Table 4.15: The mean score of Cycle 2 test for five aspects of writing performance

Table 4.16: The change results of the improvement of the actions during the teaching and learnign process

Table 4.17: The results of Pre and Post test in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 paired single statistic

Table 4.18: The details Quantive analysis of the Pre and Post test paired single Correlations

35 36 39 44 44 45 46 47 49

58 59

60 69 69 71 71 77 77

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The chart of writing process 10Figure 2: The students’ project in cycle 1 58Figure 3: Students do project work in group 68Figure 4: The chart of the mean of the test scores for five aspects of writing texg 76Figure 5: The results of Pre and Post – test in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 in mean scores 78

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Course Grids 86

Appendix 2: Questionnaires for students 94

Appendix 3: Observation Checklist 101

Appendix 4: Writing Assessment Rubric 103

Appendix 5: The samples of Students’ Writing 105

Appendix 6: Students’ Score 108

Appendix 7: Photographs 118

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The aim of this research was to improve the writing skills of 11th graders

at Nong Cong 2 High School through project-based learning It was expected thatproject-based learning could be used to improve the students writing skills of 11thgraders at Nong Cong 2 High School

This research was classified as action research It was conducted in twocycles The main subjects of this research were 50 students of class 11A4 at NongCong 2 High School The data obtained were qualitative and quantitative Thequalitative data were gained from the questionnaires, writing tests and observationwith the students Meanwhile, the quantitative data were gained from the writing teststhat were conducted before the action implementation and at the end of every cycle.There were several validity principles applied in this research; they were democraticvalidity, outcome validity, process validity, catalytic validity, and dialogic validity.Furthermore, to test the trustworthiness these three triangulation principles wereimplemented: time triangulation, space triangulation, and investigator triangulation

The results of this research showed that the implementation of based learning in the English teaching and learning process was able to improve thestudents’ writing abilities Project-based learning can develop students’ motivation inlearning the language It also provided feedback for them The various activitiesemployed in PBL facilitated the students to understand the lesson more easily Thegroup work conducted during the implementation of project-based learning gavepositive impact to the students’ involvement and participation The students madegood improvements in text organization, content, grammar, vocabulary andmechanics Moreover, the mean of the students’ writing score in the pretest was 4.73meanwhile that in the post-test was 7.31 The improvement by 2.58 is significantaccording to the t-test The standard deviation of the students’ scores in the pretestwas 0.903935 while that in the post-test was 0.773886

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale

Nowadays, English has become a means of international communication andone of the most popular languages in the world It is used for almost all aspects ofhuman life, such as mass media, business, sports, science and technology, educationculture and so forth Many countries and governments, including Vietnamesegovernment, realize that it is urgently needed in order to be able to compete withother countries in global context Therefore, the knowledge and skills of English arehighly valued As a result, some educational institutions in Vietnam have introducedEnglish since the pre-elementary level, although it is officially taught at the juniorhigh school level as a compulsory subject Moreover, it is one of subjects tested inthe national examination

Most of all, writing performance is very significant because nowadays,people use not only verbal communication to communicate with each other, but alsonon-verbal communication In other words, writing is an essential form ofcommunication and is used as a means of communication to connect peopleregardless time and places A good writing skill enables students to convey theirthoughts and communicate their ideas so that those can be well-perceived by others.Hence, writing is one of the most prominent skills which must be mastered by theEnglish language learners

In addition, writing performance is important because it determinesstudents’ success in learning English On the other hand, writing skill is one of theindicators which can be used to measure students’ English ability This idea isfurther supported by Kingston et al (2002:3) who stated that the achievement of

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students while learning English is measured by the productive skills, particularlytheir writing performance Ferris (2002:328) said that students of ESL will not beable to succeed outside the ESL class until they are able to produce a good writingproduct and learn how to reduce their writing errors Therefore, students of English

as a foreign language are required to be able to write in English to internalize theEnglish language that they learn

Although the importance of mastering writing skill is clear, in fact,students’ writing skill can be said far from being satisfactory Writing is considered

as the most difficult skill to be mastered by the second language learners (Richardsand Renandya, 2002:303) It could be called so since there are many problems andmatters arise during the teaching and learning process of writing in the EFLclassroom

The use of Project-based approach in English classrooms has becomemore popular in recent years There are numerous studies in the English languageteaching context which suggest that it provides more contextual environment tolearn the four macroskills of English, enhances the teaching-learning quality,enhances learners' higher-level cognitive development and improves learners'language learning achievement (Meyer: 1997; Ozdemir: 2006 in Baş and Beyhan:2010) There was a possibility to improve the 11th grades English writingperformance through Project-based Learning, since it is potentially motivating,empowering and challenging to them It proposes a student-centered, cooperative,interdisciplinary and integrated teaching-learning process which contextualizes thestudents’ real life (Solomon: 2003) Instead of sitting in the whole lesson to learnwriting, learning writing by accomplishing, a project will be more motivating forthem It facilitates them to construct language meanings and constructions throughthe series of activities leading to the accomplishment of the project In addition,group works in accomplishing the project make the students share ideas or correctone another

Therefore, based on some considerations above, the researcher was

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interested to conduct an action research to solve the problem which was related to

improving the 11th graders English writing performance through project-based learning at classes 11A4 of Nong Cong 2 High School.

1.2. Aims of the research

This research aims to find out measures to improve the 11th graders Englishwriting performance at class 11A4 of Nong Cong 2 high school through project –based learning

1.3. The Significance of the research

The researcher wished that the results of this research could be a piece

of meaningful contribution to TEFL practitioners in particular the researcherhimself and the English teacher, and the students The contributions were boththeoretical and practical Theoretically, it provides TEFL practitioners with ascientific research on the implementation of project-based learning in teachingwriting Practically, it helps the students to improve their writing skills

1.4. The Scope of the research

This study limited itself to focus on improving the 11th graders writingperformance at classes 11A4 of Nong Cong 2 High School Fifty students involvedparticipation

1.6. The organization of the research

The thesis is divided into five chapters and appendices, organized asfollows:

Chapter 1, “Introduction", the author presents an account of the importance andnecessity for the conduct of the study, states the aims of the study, researchquestions, the significance and scope of the study It also outlines the organization

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of the thesis.

Chapter 2," Literature review", provides overview of literature on definition ofcategorization of the nature of writing; Teaching writing in English as foreignlanguage; and project – based learning The findings of the previous studies intolearning styles are also enclosed in this chapter

Chapter 3,"Research methods", discusses the methodology for this study and theprocedures for carrying out the study The subjects of the study were also presented

in this chapter

Chapter 4,"Findings and discussion" presents and discusses the results of the study

by using statistical analysis, it also addresses the limits of the study

Chapter 5,"Conclusion, implementations, and suggestions”, summarizes the mainfindings of the study This is followed by some recommendations for the study andalso suggestions were made for further study

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Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

As what has been stated previously, this research study aims atimproving students’ writing skill In line with the purpose of the study, this chapterpresents the theoretical review, review of related studies and conceptual framework

In the theoretical review, the research examines some theories that become theframes of thoughts of the study In the review of related studies, the researchpresents some reviews of previous studies taken by several researchers In theconceptual framework, the research relates the theories to the study

2.1. The nature of writing

2.1.1. The definition of writing

Generally, language is divided into two major skills, receptive skillsand productive skills Receptive skills are skills needed to perceive and understandthe language Receptive skills consist of reading and listening Meanwhile, writingand speaking belong to the productive skill of the language Productive skills areskills which enable students to produce language by themselves (Harmer, 2007:265) On the other hand, productive skills are required for learners to be able tobuild communication through the language

Writing is a productive skill of the English language which needs to bemastered by the English language learners because writing is a means ofcommunication and is considered as the indicator of communication competence ofthe target language A good writing skill represents learners’ ability incommunicating through English Written language is used to communicate withothers who are removed in time and space (Nunan, 1999:275)

Furthermore, Harmer (2004) states that writing is the only skill whichenables learner to produce a real product, in which the product is touchable,readable, as well as keep able for a long period of time Written language can be re-read again in accordance with what the readers need According to Nunan (1999:275) people also need permanent records which could be referred to over and over

again Furthermore, written language tends to be more exact and precise rather thanspoken language Therefore, it will not cause any confusion, misunderstanding, ormisinterpretation to the readers.

Other than that, writing can be defined a learning process whichinvolves critical thinking to convey one’s ideas and thoughts It is also an action or aprocess of discovering and organizing ideas into a paper as well as reshaping andrevising It is something which can be learnt through Oates (2000) claims thatwriting is a unique way of learning since writing is integrative, requiring the activeparticipation of both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, resulting in theproduction of meaning

Therefore, it can be concluded that writing is a productive of alanguage which requires critical thinking process and is used as a means ofcommunication to aspire someone’s thoughts Students of EFL can learn aboutwriting in order to be able to be a good writer as well as convey and express theirideas as it is a learning process

2.1.2. The characteristics of written language

According to Brown (2001: 341), there are at least seven characteristics

of writing based on the perspective of a writer:

2.1.2.1. Permanence

When a writing product is finalized and is delivered to the intendedaudience, a writer abdicates a chance to correct, to clarify, and to deprive thewriting

2.1.2.2. Production time

To be able to complete a writing product, the writer is given appropriatestretches of time Through the given time, the writer can become a good writer bydeveloping efficient processes to achieve the final goal However, writing in thecontext of education usually demands students to write within the time limits

2.1.2.3. Distance

In making a writing text, a writer must anticipate the readers in the way

of how words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs will be interpreted The distancefactor demands the writer to have an ability to read their writing from theperspective of the reader The writer will have to predict the reader’s generalknowledge, cultural and literary schemata, and how their language choice will beinterpreted.

2.1.2.6. Vocabulary

Written language requires more vocabulary use than spoken language.The richness of vocabulary is very helpful for writers since their writing will beinteresting and not be monotonous as they do not repeat the same words over again

2.1.2.7. Formality

When dealing with any writing activity, the writer has to consider aboutthe convention of the writing form In the context of ESL, students commonly findout that the most difficult convention can be found in academic writing inwhich they are required to learn how to describe, explain, compare, contrast,defend, argued etc

2.1.3. Sub-Skills of writing

In dealing with the writing skills, there are things which need to behighlighted They include: 1) micro and macro skills of writing 2) aspects of writingskill

Students’ writing competence is represented through some skills,namely micro skills and macro skills of writing According to Brown (2004), thereare several micro and macro skills to consider in writing Those skills can be used

as a measurement to students’ writing competence The followings are the microand macro skills of writing:

2.1.3.1. Micro skills of writing:

1) Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.

2) Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.

3) Produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate word order patterns.

4) Use acceptable grammatical systems (e.g tense, agreement,

and pluralisation), patterns and rules.

5) Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms.

6) Use cohesive devices in written discourse.

2.1.3.2. Macro skills of writing:

1) Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.

2) Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written texts according to form and purpose.

3) Convey links and connections between events, and communicate such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization, and exemplification

4) Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing.

5) Correctly convey culturally specific references in the context of the written text.

6) Develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately assessing the audience’s interpretation, using pre-writing devices, writing with fluency in the first draft, using paraphrases and synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor feedback, and using feedback for revising and editing.

The micro skills of writing focus more on the writing mechanics andthe word level, such as cohesive devices, tenses, etc On the contrary, the macroskills of writing deal with a wider area of writing, for example the form and thecommunicative purpose of a written text, the main idea and the supporting idea of atext, the literal and implied meaning writing, etc Therefore, the writing process andactivity must require the mastery of micro and macro skills of writing as it aims athelping students to construct the idea effectively and making it easier for them towrite various kinds of texts

Furthermore, Brown (2001) argues that there are six aspects of writing

skill which must be taken into account They are content, organization, discourse,syntax, vocabulary, and mechanics Firstly, the content aspect of writing paysattention to the thesis statement, related ideas, and ideas development throughpersonal experience, illustration, facts, and opinions Secondly, the termorganization concerns on the effectiveness of introduction, logical sequence ofideas, conclusion, and appropriate length of writing Thirdly, discourse takes care ofthe topic sentences, paragraph unity, transitions, cohesion, fluency, and variation.Fourthly, vocabulary aspect deals with the word choice, or diction, throughout thewriting Lastly, syntax is related to the sentence structure or word order in a writingtext.

In addition, Spratt et al (2005: 16) claim that writing includes severalsub skills to fulfil They are related to accuracy and communicating ideas Thewriting sub skills related to accuracy involve spelling correctly, forming and joiningletters correctly, writing legibly, punctuating correctly, joining sentences and usingparagraphs correctly Meanwhile, those related to communicating ideas are usingappropriate style and register, organizing ideas in helpful way, using the textfeatures and appropriate functions

Based on the explanation above, many experts propose their ideasregarding with the aspects of writing It can be concluded that there are severalpoints to pay attention while writing, such as the micro and macro skills of writingand the aspects of writing which involve content, organization, discourse, syntax,vocabulary, mechanics, and accuracy

2.1.4. The Process of writing

Nunan (1999:273) sees writing process as a complex, cognitive processwhich requires sustained intellectual effort within a period of time Seow (2002)argues that writing process provides the learners with sequences of planned learningexperiences to help them understand the nature of writing In order to make a goodwriting quality, there are several steps which need to concern about These stages ofwriting are related one to another, forming a cycle of writing in which one stage will

Figure 1: The chart of writing process

The further explanation of the writing process chart proposed by Seowmay be described as follows:

2.1.4.1. Planning

At the stages of writing, planning can be referred to the pre-writingactivity Pre-writing activity is any kinds of activity which can stimulate students tostart writing The pre-writing stage concentrates on stimulating students’ creativityand letting them think about what they are going to write and how to approach thechosen topic (Bae: 2011) This very first step of writing is prominent because it mayhelp students to generate ideas and collect information for writing Providingstudents with various ways of getting information students in the pre-writingactivity will encourage them to write

2.1.4.2 Drafting

Harmer (2004) states that drafting is a form of raw writing which needs

to be revised before the final product is completed At the drafting stage of writing,the students drive their focus on the fluency of their writing without devoting theirthoughts too much on the grammatical accuracy and the neatness of their writingdraft At this stage, students must also pay attention to the content of their writing

As said by Bae (2011), students need to emphasize more on global issues, which aretopic, organization, and evidence, while ignoring surface problems, like spelling,punctuation, and wordiness.

2.1.4.3 Revising

When dealing with making revision for their writing, students need tore- examine and recheck what they write to make sure that they communicate theirmeanings to the readers in an effective way At the stage of revising, the studentsmust pay attention to not only the language errors but also to the content andorganization of ideas

2.1.4.4 Editing

The editing stage is the stage in which the students put their pieces ofwriting into final form (Bae, 2011) Ferris (2002) states that editing process refers tocorrecting grammatical, lexical, and mechanical errors, before turning in the finalproduct of writing At this stage, students ought to tidy up their writing and preparethe final product of their writing to be evaluated by their teacher They need to takecare of their grammar, spelling, punctuation, diction, sentences structure and theaccuracy

2.1.5. Strategies in Teaching Writing

It is very prominent for students to be taught about writing skill.Teaching writing to students is significant because it can reinforce students’language acquisition, support students’ language and learning development, andhelp students to master the basic skills of language (Harmer, 1998:79)

According to Nunan (1999: 272), there are two basic approachesunderlying the teaching of writing They are product-oriented approach and process-oriented approach The very first approach, that is product-oriented approaches,concerns on the result or the final product of students’ writing, the coherent, and theerror-free text Meanwhile, the process-oriented approach focuses on the stepsinvolved in drafting and redrafting a piece of work

The teaching of writing for many years concerns more on the writing

product than the writing process, in which this is called as product approach(Harmer: 2007) As cited from Brown (2001: 335), a half century ago, the teaching

of writing is emphasized more on the final product, such as the essay, the report, thestory, and what that product should be like However, the teacher needs to payattention more on the writing process as students will not only concern about whattext they can produce but also how to construct a writing text Students will have tofocus on both the process of making the text and the final product of their writing

Regarding with this issue, Harmer (2007) proposes some strategieswhich can be considered by teachers in dealing with the teaching of writing:

2.1.5.1 The way the teacher gets students to plan

Before starting to write, the teacher may support students to think aboutwhat they want to write The teacher can help students in building their knowledgebefore they start writing

2.1.5.2 The way the teacher encourages students to draft, reflect, and

revise

The teacher can involve students to collaborative writing activity as itallows students to draft, reflect, and revise This way enables students to respond toother students’ writing

2.1.5.3. The way the teacher responds to students’ writing

At this point, the teacher can help students by giving suggestions tostudents’ draft Teacher’s suggestion can be very useful to make some betterment instudents’ writing Other than the teacher’s feedback, peer response is one alternative

to give some suggestions to students’ writing

2.1.6 Types of classroom writing performance

According to Brown (2001: 343), there are five types of writingperformance:

2.1.6.1 Imitative, or writing down

At this stage of writing, students only need to write down Englishletters, words, and sentences to learn the conventions of the orthographic code At

some points, the teacher may do some dictations to students as well.

2.1.6.2 Intensive, or controlled

Intensive writing commonly appears in controlled-written grammarexercises and does not offer much creativity on the writer’s side Intensive writingusually presents students with a paragraph in which they need to correct a givenstructure Other than that, intensive writing often appears in the form of dicto-comp

in which students need to rewrite the paragraph Controlled writing may loosen theteacher’s controls but can function as stimulators

2.1.6.3 Self-writing

Self-writing is writing with only the self in mind as the audience Thereare several forms of writing which fall into this writing category, such as note-taking and journal writing

2.1.6.4 Display writing

Display writing is highly related to academic world It is a requirement

in which the students need to master in the school context as at school they need to

be able to take short answer exercises, essay examinations, as well as the researchmethods Those short of things can be categorized into display writing

2.1.6.5 Real-writing

Real-writing aims at transferring and communicating information andmessages to the audience who needs the messages

2.1.7.Principles of teaching writing

Nation (2009) claims that there are some principles in teaching writing.The following principles can be used to evaluate teaching and learning activities

2.1.7.1 Meaning-focused Input

Learners should bring experiences and knowledge to their writing Writing

is most likely to be successful and meaningful for the learners if they are wellprepared for what they are going to write This preparation can be done through thechoice of topic, or through previous work done on the topic either in the first orsecond language

2.1.7.2 Meaning-focused output

Learners should do lots of writing and lots of different kinds of writing.There are many elements of writing skills which are peculiar to writing Differentgenres use different writing conventions and draw on different language features(Biber, 1989 in Nation, 2009) and so it is useful to make sure that learners aregetting writing practice in the range of genres that they will have to write in

Learners should write with a message-focused purpose Most writing should

be done with the aim of communicating a message to the reader and the writershould have a reader in mind when writing Learners should experience a feeling

of success in most of their writing They should use writing to increase theirlanguage knowledge The section on guided tasks in this chapter focuses on this.Besides, they should develop skill in the use of computers to increase the qualityand speed of their writing Writing instruction should be based on a careful needsanalysis which considers what the learners need to be able to do with writing, whatthey can do now, and what they want to do

2.1.7.3 Language-focused learning

Learners should know about the parts of the writing process and should beable to discuss them in relation to their own and others’ writing They should haveconscious strategies for dealing with parts of the writing process Spelling should

be given an appropriate amount of deliberate attention largely separated fromfeedback on writing In addition, teachers also should provide and arrange forfeedback that encourages and improves writing

2.1.7.4 Fluency development

Learners should increase their writing speed so that they can write verysimple material at a reasonable speed Fluency development can occur throughrepetitive activities and through working with easy, familiar material The followingsection looks at how tasks can be designed

2.1.8 Teaching writing in high school

When it comes to the discussion of teaching writing in high school,

there are several things which need to take into accounts The first one is theregulation of ministry of education in the form of content standard and the other one

is the age range of senior high school students

Writing is one of the indicators of measuring students’ communicationcompetence in learning English One of the scopes of English language teachingand learning is students’ communicative competence, including students’ ability tounderstanding and producing text, either written or spoken, that is carried outthrough four language skills, they are: reading, listening, writing, and speaking

Therefore, students need to be taught literacy which covers thefollowing levels:

At the informational level, students should be able to access knowledge

by making use their knowledge in English Students are expected to reachinformational level since they need to be prepared for their further educational level,whether it is in international exams

The standard of competence and the basic competence are the basis todevelop the indicators of assessment, the materials, and the teaching and learningactivities

Another point which needs to be highlighted in teaching writing insenior high school is the students’ age range The students of senior high school’sage range falls between twelve to eighteen years old, in which that age range iscommonly called as puberty (Brown, 2001:91) Students which are in that age range

are known as teenagers At this phase, students experience the process of transition,confusion, self-consciousness, growing, as well as changing bodies and minds.Students at this phase start to develop attention span However, it can be shortenedeasily due to many diversions which happen in their lives.

Therefore, there are some considerations which the teacher should takewhen they teach the students As cited from Brown (2001: 92), the high schoolteacher needs to put concerns to keep students’ self-esteem high by: (a) avoidingembarrassment of students at all costs, (b) affirming each person’s talents andstrengths, (c) allowing mistakes and other errors to be accepted, (d) emphasizingcompetition between classmates, and (e) encouraging small- group work whererisks can be taken more easily by a teen

Further, writing helps engaging students to language acquisition as itaids students’ language and learning development as well as facilitating students inmastering the basic skills of language (Harmer, 1998: 79) In other words, a goodwriting skill helps students to master the target language as well as the other skills

of the language It is for this reason that teaching writing is very prominent andplays an important role toward students’ language acquisition

To sum up, in the teaching and learning process of English in seniorhigh school, writing is a compulsory subject to be taught In addition, writing needs

to be taught since it helps students acquiring the language and so does the otherlanguage skills Therefore, teaching writing undoubtedly plays an undeniable roletoward students’ success in learning English

2.1.9 Assessing writing

In the teaching and learning process of writing, assessment needs to bedone to measure students’ writing abilities Moreover, the success and theeffectiveness of the teaching and learning process of writing can also be measuredthrough an assessment activity

Hyland (2003: 213) states that assessment refers to the ways ofcollecting information on learners’ language ability or achievement Additionally, it

is said that there are five main reasons to evaluate learners:

On the other hand, analytical scoring requires separated score for each

of a number of aspects of a task, Hughes (2003: 100) In analytic scoring, students’writing is assessed based on detail grades for aspects of writing, such as vocabulary,grammar, organization, etc This approach of scoring has several advantages First,

it disposes of problem of uneven development of sub skills in students Second, itconsiders the aspects of performance and third, because the scorer has to give an

exact number of score, this scoring approach tends to be more reliable However,this kind of scoring takes a lot of time.

Based on the reviews between the holistic and the analytic approaches

of scoring, the researcher decided to implement analytic approach on her researchbecause analytic approach provides more details information on writing aspects andtherefore, it was easier for the researcher to analyze the aspects in which thestudents lack and need improvement

2.1.10. Feedback on writing

When feedback is applied upon written works, it should affect thelearners’ language use in future Furthermore, feedback can be focused on bothcontent and form Feedback on content emphasizes on text organization, ideas, and

a number of details Harmer (2001:110) divides the techniques into two

2.1.10.1 Responding

Responding is different from assessing or evaluating since it focuses onthe thought of the writing works The important thing in responding is that thefeedback has to support the students’ writing improvement and raise theirmotivation instead of increasing their anxiety towards writing

2.1.10.2 Coding

This technique enables the students to realize their mistakes and errors

By using certain codes, the correction seems to be neater, more understandable, lessthreatening, and more helpful compared with the use of random marks

2.2. Project-based learning

2.2.1. The definition of project-based learning

Project-based learning (PBL) is centered on the learners and affordslearners the opportunity for in depth investigations of worthy topics (Grant; 2002;1) According to Bell (2010; 39), Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a student- driven,teacher-facilitated approach to learning Project-based learning is an instructionalmethod centered on the learner Students develop a question and are guided throughresearch under the teacher‘s supervision (Bell, 2010) Instead of using a rigid lesson

plan that directs a learner down a specific path of learning outcomes or objectives,project-based learning allows indepth investigation of a topic worth learning moreabout (Harris and Katz, 2011) In addition, Fried-Booth (2002) state the definition

of project-based learning as student-centered and driven by the need to create anend-product PBL is a means to create an end-product in real-world environmentwith confidence and independence

Solomon (2003) says that project-based learning is a process oflearning that students are responsible for their own education Students workcollaboratively to solve problems that are authentic, curriculum-based, and ofteninterdisciplinary PBL is potentially motivating, empowering and challenging tolanguage learners; it usually results in building learners’ confidence, self-esteem,and autonomy as well as improving students’ language skills, content learning, andcognitive abilities (Simpson, 2011; Solomon, 2003)

Project-based learning engages students in gaining knowledge andskills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authenticquestions and carefully designed products and tasks Project-based learningenhances the quality of learning and leads to higher-level cognitive developmentthrough the students’ engagement with complex and novel problems Students areexposed to a wide range of skills and competencies such as collaboration, projectplanning, decision making, and time management through project-based learning.Project-based learning increases the motivation of students Teachers often noteimprovement in attendance, higher class participation, and greater willingness to dohomework (Bottoms and Webb in Jacklin, 2008)

Thomas (2000) defines PBL as an in-depth learning, focusing on world problems and challenges that engage students who work as a team throughmeaningful activities resulting an end product

real-From the definitions above, it can be concluded that project-basedlearning is a teaching method centered on the learners It engages learners ingaining knowledge through activities creating an end product

2.2.2. The characteristics of project-based learning

Project-based learning shares the following features:

2.2.2.1. Project-based learning is an authentic learning.

Project-based learning is an experiential learning (Phillips et al., 1999)

It enables students to experience relevant and real-world task Through based learning, students are exposed to the real world situations while theycomplete their project (Markham et al., 2003) Project-based learning makesstudents’ learning meaningful as they link their prior knowledge to their currentstudy based on the real situation

project-2.2.2.2. Project-based learning is student-centered.

Project-based learning focuses on students to be an active learner Itgives students wide opportunities to discover the solution to the given project usingtheir skills and knowledge In project-based learning, students are responsible fortheir own learning (Savery, 2006) Moreover, through project-based learning,students are urged to plan, complete, and present the task (Simpson, 2011)

2.2.2.3. Project-based learning is cooperative.

Through project-based learning, students can work together as a group.Project-based learning allows students to work collaboratively and cooperatively tosolve problems and investigate what they learn They work together and shareresources ideas, resources, and expertise Projects lend themselves to students’working and learning collaboratively In project-based learning, students areexposed to motivating and challenging activities which require collaboration as well

as motivation (Herrington and Herrington, 2006)

2.2.2.4. Project-based learning leads to the integration of skills.

Project-based learning assimilates students’ skills and knowledge.Stoller (2002) states that through project-based learning, students need to processinformation from various sources The tasks given project-based learning alsomirrors real-life tasks Project-based learning entails students to merge theirknowledge and skills to be able to complete the given task The integration of skills

is an essential component of project-based learning and should be identified in theproject outcomes Students need to learn, practice, apply, and extend these skills aspart of the project design.

Furthermore, through project-based learning, language which isintroduced and practiced within a project is directly related to the tasks that thestudents do Thus, the project introduces and practices language, as well asintegrates language skills in a natural way (Phillips et al., 1999)

2.2.2.5. Project-based learning culminates in an end product.

Project-based learning results in the tangible product The result of theproduct can be shared and shown with others The products can be in the form ofpresentation, poster, bulletin board, wall magazine, report, or performance Thevalue of the product lies both in the final product and in the process of making theproduct as the project work has a process and product orientation (Stoller, 2002).Other than that, through the final product that the students produce, the studentswill get the real sense of achievement as they have something which can be shown

as the indication of the progress they make (Phillips et al., 1999)

2.2.3. Significances of using project-based learning

Project-based learning has several advantages, particularly when it isconducted in the context of learning English as a foreign language Here are somebenefits of implementing project-based learning in the English teaching andlearning process:

2.2.3.1 Project-based learning increases autonomous learning.

Project-based learning fosters students to learn independently Inproject-based learning, the students are asked to work on their own while theteacher’s role is limited as students’ facilitator Project work necessitates students totake responsibility for their own work, (Phillips et al., 1999)

2.2.3.2 Project-based learning develops higher order thinking skills.

In project-based learning, students will have to deal with solving activities which reflect the real-world situation Project-based learning

problem-requires students to solve problems using a higher order critical thinking skill(Fragoulis, 2009) Thomas (2000) reported that problem- based learning can have apositive effect on students' acquisition of critical thinking skills Project-basedlearning helps students to think critically to solve the problems as well as to producethe final product The students need to decide how to complete tasks, how to getinformation, and how to evaluate their final product (Phillips, 1999).

2.2.3.3 Project-based learning increases motivation.

Project-based learning increases students’ motivation to learn and tostudy Through the project that the students work on, they are stimulated to workhard to be able to produce the final product Stoller (2002) states that project work

is potentially motivating, stimulating, empowering, and challenging Project-basedlearning is said to have great influence in enhancing students’ motivation andsupporting information collection and presentation (Blumenfeld et al., 1991)

Since project-based learning is based on the authentic learning and world situation, the students will find that the given project is meaningful to them.Hence, it can draw students’ interest, motivation, engagement, and enjoymenttowards the activities and the learning process (Fragoulis, 2009) Furthermore,project-based learning builds students’ intrinsic motivation and commitment whichleads students to get involved in the learning process (Simpson, 2011) Project-based learning usually results in building learners’ confidence, self-esteem, andautonomy as well as improving students’ language skills, content learning, andcognitive abilities (Ponpoon, 2011)

real-2.2.3.4 Project-based learning is suitable for mixed-ability classes

A classroom may consist of students with different kinds of ability,interests, and needs Project work is suited to the classroom with varied- abilitystudents as it can bridge students to work together Project work enables students togive different contributions, based on their capabilities and interests (Phillips et al.,1999) By doing so, each student will be able to take parts in the lesson andparticipate well in the project

2.2.4. The steps of conducting project-based learning in a language classroom

Project-based learning has a procedure to follow in order to help theteacher to develop the project as well as to guide students with the project that theytake The procedure consists of the phases on how to implement project- basedlearning and functions as the foundation to carry out the project-based learningprocess in the classroom There are different steps in developing the project-basedlearning which are proposed by the researchers, education practitioners and higherinstitutions, such as Stoller (2002) and The George Lucas Educational Foundation(2005) Nevertheless, the steps of project development proposed by The GeorgeLucas Educational Foundation seem to be the most effective and appropriateprocedure to be implemented in this research For that reason, the researcherdecided to employ this procedure in conducting her research The procedures areexplained as follows:

2.2.4.1 Start with the essential question

At this phase, the teacher starts the teaching and learning process bygiving students essential questions The questions need to be the ones which engagethe students and relevant to the goals that the students must achieve during theproject development The questions must be in relation to the knowledge that thestudents must construct and the topic must fit to their proficiency level It ought to

be related with students’ daily life

2.2.4.2 Design a plan for the project

The design of a plan for the project involves not only the teacher butalso the students In designing the plan for the project, the teacher gives studentschance to participate by sharing their ideas on the projects which they are about towork on in order to make the project meet with the students’ interest, capability, andexpectation The design of plan for the project includes the explanation about therules of the project development, the selection of the materials, the activities leading

to the project accomplishment, and the tools needed for the project

2.2.4.3 Create a schedule

At this stage, the teacher and students discuss about the time allocation

of working on the project The teacher and students make an agreement about thedeadline of the project development in which the students must submit their endproduct

2.2.4.4. Monitor the students and the progress of the project

Monitoring students’ progress on the project is the most crucial stage ofproject development It is very prominent since the success of projectaccomplishment is determined by how good the students do their project Moreover,

it is at this stage in which the teacher is required to play the role as a monitor Theteacher is responsible to facilitate the learning process, to guide the students duringthe project development, to help students when they find difficulties, and to ensurethat the student is involved in the project

2.2.4.5. Assess the outcome

After the students turn in their end product, the teacher conductsassessment to measure the students’ achievement It can be product- oriented orprocess-oriented The teacher also provides students with feedback at this phase.Assessing the outcome helps teacher in designing instruction to teach moreeffectively

2.2.4.6. Evaluate the experience

This is the last stage of project development where the teacher andstudents reflect on the project they have done At this stage, the teacher needs tomake sure that the students are able to find answers of essential question Theteacher and students share their experience of conducting the project and discussabout the projects, what needs change and improvement for the following project,

as well as share ideas on the new projects

2.2.5. The roles of the teacher and students in project-based learning

2.2.5.1 The roles of the teacher

Teacher’s roles in project-based learning are different from theteachers’ role in the traditional learning In the traditional learning, the teaching and

learning process is teacher-centered, it focuses more on the teacher as the center ofthe teaching and learning activity and the students tend to be passive Meanwhile,project-based learning requires students to be an active learner It focuses more onthe students rather than the teacher.

Project-based learning alters the role of the teacher from contentprovider to learning coordinator If in the traditional method, the teacher transfersthe material directly to students Thus, the teacher spends more time to giveexplanation to students However, in project-based learning the teacher spends lesstime to explain or to lecture the material The teacher spends more time to observeand coach the students The teacher plays a role as a facilitator and gives guidance

to students

2.2.5.2 The roles of the students

While creating the project, the students may find some difficulties ontheir way of making the final product, and this is the teacher’s duty to model, guide,and support the students to be able to do their projects successfully (Simpson,2011) Other than that, the teacher should monitor the progress which the studentsmake and give them feedback and suggestions for better ways to achieve the endproduct (Savery, 2006)

Students also play a very important role in project-based learning.According to Simpson (2011), students play three major roles in project- basedlearning Firstly, the student is as a self-directed learner It is because they need toselect the topic which is in line with their areas of interests as well as theirexperiences Moreover, they have to assign the tasks within the groups, undertakeprojects, find resources and information, and both evaluate and revise the projects

Secondly, students work as a team member or as a collaborator Everystudent in the group is responsible for different duty based on their capabilities andinterests The students need to work in team and support each other to succeed theproject (Simpson, 2011)

Thirdly, students play a role as knowledge manager or leader In the

context of project-based learning, students need to be able to manage their ownlearning They are responsible to collect information, analyze and interpret data, andpresent them as the outcome of their learning (Simpson, 2011).

In brief, it is clear that the teacher role in project-based learning is as afacilitator which supports students to be able to do the project successfully Otherthan that, the teacher provides guidance and monitors the project that the studentsundertake Beside the roles that the teacher takes, the students also responsible totake care of several roles, they are: 1) acting as a self- directed learner, 2) working

as a collaborator, and 3) becoming knowledge manager

2.3. The relevant studies

There are several studies related to project based learning to improvestudents’ writing skills One of the researchers who conducted the research aboutproject-based learning and writing is Bayu Pratomo (2014) The researchinvestigated the implementation of project-based learning in teaching writingthrough collaborative classroom action research The subjects of his research werejunior high school students The study was conducted because he found out that thestudents’ writing ability was far from being satisfactory, particularly in writingdescriptive text Based on the research, it is found that project-based learning couldeffectively improve students’ writing skill

The other relevant research study about the implementation of based learning is a study conducted by Kornwipa Ponpoon (2011) The researcherconducted the research in an English course at a Thai university in 2009 to find outabout students’ opinions towards the implementation of project-based learning inEnglish language class and how project-based learning could enhance their fourlanguage skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) The findings show that

project-by using an interdisciplinary-based project, most students thought that theinterdisciplinary-based project should be retained in the English course because itwas appropriate and useful for them Furthermore, it is stated that through the use ofthe project-based learning, students’ English skills were successfully enhanced

Therefore, based on the successful implementation of project-basedlearning in the previous relevant study, the researcher decided to investigate theimplementation of project-based learning in writing hortatory exposition text atgrade 11 of Nong Cong 2 High School, in which the students were required to dothe projects collaboratively.

2.4. Conceptual framework

Writing is one of English productive skills which should be mastered

by the English language learners Students’ achievement in learning English can beseen from their mastery of English productive skills, especially the writingperformance Hence, it is very important for students to master writing skill

Although writing skill has undoubtedly-significant role, students’writing skill is still far from being satisfactory Most students still find it hard to findideas to start their writing Other than that, students often fail to choose theappropriate vocabulary for their writing Furthermore, it is also confusing forstudents to organize the ideas and details for their writing In addition, students’grammar mastery can be said as low since most of them cannot use the right form ofgrammar Some cannot differentiate when to use present tense or past tense

This situation gets even worse because students have bad attitudetowards learning They have no motivation to learn further about English.Therefore, to overcome this situation, the use of teaching technique which canprompt students to writing is needed One of the teaching techniques which can beused to improve students’ writing skill is project-based learning technique Projectbased learning technique is good to improve students’ writing skill due to somereasons

Project-based learning technique is very useful in engaging students towriting activities The projects given by teachers help prompting students to startand gather ideas for their writing Project-based learning generates students’ interest

to the projects or challenges the students should fulfil Based on projects that theywork on, students can find ideas to contribute in their writing product

Moreover, the projects can make students interested and motivatedtowards writing Project-based learning technique is a way of learning in which itrequires students to actively participated and involved in the teaching and learningprocess Through the given projects, students are stimulated to writing.

Furthermore, project-based learning is beneficial to help studentsunderstand the subject better Project-based learning requires students to experimentand explore with the projects It helps students to be an active and creative learner

as well as supports students to be a critical thinker

To conclude, writing is an important skill which needs to be mastered by students Since the students have not met the requirements needed for a good writing, using project-based learning as a way to improve students’ writing might be very helpful Project-based learning helps engaging students to writing activities, motivating students, making students to understand the subject well, and training students to becritical, creative and active thinkers

Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODS

3.1. Research methods

This study belongs to the field of action research It is a small-scaled andcollaborative research which investigates a problematic situation in order to bringimprovements in practice (Burns: 1999; 2010) The research on improving the 11thgraders writing skills through the implementation of PBL was an action researchfocusing on the action to improve the condition of the English teaching-learningprocess at class 11A4, and 11A6 of Nong Cong 2 High School It involved fourbroad phases i.e planning, action, observation and reflection as proposed byKemmis and McTaggart (1988) in Burns (2010) In addition, this research iscollaborative research since collaboration is considered essential in an actionresearch As Burns (1999) mentions, it allows the researcher and the collaboratorcollaboratively share the common problems and examine the research data.Therefore, the researcher collaborated with collaborators during the research Thisresearch adopted a descriptive-qualitative design However, the researcher also usedquantitative data to support the qualitative data To achieve the aim, this study seeks

to answer the following research questions:

Question 1: What is students’ perception toward project – based learning approach

to writing?

Question 2: Does project – based learning help students improve their writing skill?

If so, to what extent?

3.2. Setting of the research

This research was conducted at class 11A4 of Nong Cong 2 HighSchool The school is located in Nong Cong district, Thanh Hoa province Thereare 50 students consisting of 20 females and 30 males students in the class Theresearch was done on the first semester of 2016/ 2017 academic year It began from10th September to the 29th December 2016 The research was conducted by

following the school’s calendar and also considering the classroom teacher’sschedule and syllabus of English lessons which was taught in class 11A4 of NongCong 2 High School.

3.3 Subjects of the research

The main subjects of this research were the 11th graders of class 11A4

of Nong Cong 2 High School In total, there are 50 students consisting of 20 femaleand 30 male students in the classrooms

3.4. Data collection and data analysis techniques

The data was analyzed in a qualitative way because most of it relates tothe perception toward the project – based learning approach to writing skill, andthey are almost impossible to be tabulated in a quantitative way

The background investigation followed the guidelines provided by thequestionnaires students, and teachers had to answer, and it included topics as thecharacteristics teachers must have, how a lesson has to be planned, and also how toimprove the way evaluation is carried out, etc

As this is a research done in class with the students, and that is going tohave practical implications for the success of English teaching and learning, themethods used in order to obtain information were:

- Questionnaires designed to the students

- Writing tests for students

- Classroom Observation

3.4.1. Perception questionaires

The survey for the study was carried out at the end of the experiment.The designed questionnaires were administered to the subjects – 100 students of theclass 11A4 at Nong Cong 2 High School The questionaires is composed of threemain parts: perceptions toward project work, perceptions toward autonomy, andperceptions toward teamwork The questionaires was validated by the three expertsand piloted before the main use In order reach the same understanding, thequestionairs were translated into Vietnamese before being administered with thestudents The students were asked to rate the degree of agreement on each item, the

rating cirteria are a five point Likert scales:

The evaluation criteria of the questionaires follows:

1.00 – 1.50 The possitive perception towards the project – based learning

approach is very low

1.51 – 2.50 The possitive perception towards the project – based learning

4.51 – 5.00 The possitive perception towards the project – based learning

approach is very high

3.4.2. Classroom observation

The classroom observation was conducted before the implementation

of the actions to get information about the students’ and the English teacher’sbehaviors during the English teaching and learning process

Furthermore, the first collaborator in this research also conductedclassroom observations during the actions of the research to observe and monitorstudents’ attitude when the researcher replaced the English teacher’s place to teach

in the classroom by implementing project-based learning

In addition, to encourage the trustworthiness of the study, thephotographs were used to capture every important moment which happened duringthe research

Observation checklists were used to make sure that the researcher didthe research as what it had already planned before Other than that, observation