teaching and learning writing has been a really challenging job at kinh mon upper secondary school

Within this purpose, the three central objectives are: i To describe the difficulties perceived by the teachers and the 10 th form students when teaching and learning writing skills in t

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

Writing is often not as important as other skills such as reading and speaking and ittends to get rather neglected in many classes Since the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook was inuse, teaching and learning writing has been a really challenging job at Kinh Mon upper-secondary school

In literature so far, a few studies have been conducted on difficulties in teaching andlearning writing a foreign language Most of researchers have come to a general agreement to

a list of common problems facing both students and teachers Not many have studieddifficulties in teaching and learning writing perceived by upper- secondary school teachers andstudents in using the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook Hence, it is in an urgent need of taking aserious look at such issue

1.2 Purpose of the study

The main purpose of the study is to probe difficulties in teaching and learning writingskills among the teaching staff and the 10th form students at Kinh Mon upper- secondaryschool, in Hai Duong province Within this purpose, the three central objectives are:

(i) To describe the difficulties perceived by the teachers and the 10 th form students when teaching and learning writing skills in the new “Tiếng Anh 10” textbook

(ii) To investigate factors affecting the success of this process in the writing lessons.

(iii) To suggest some solutions to stimulate the students and make recommendations to improve teaching method for the teachers at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school.

1.3 Scope of the study

This minor thesis is conducted at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school in order torecognize difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills of both the teachers and the 10thform students Factors causing such challenges are then found out To go ahead, the thesis alsooffers some suggestions to better the current context

1.4 Design of the study

This study is divided into four chapters to get better insights into different aspects ofthe problem Chapter 1 introduces rationale, purpose, scope, and overview of the thesis design.Chapter 2 deals with definitions of writing, roles of writing, approaches to writing teaching,and writing teaching procedure Chapter 3 presents the study of which the Kinh Mon upper-secondary school context is first discussed The introduction of the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’textbook is then elaborated After that, the method underlying the research and descriptions ofdata analysis are shown In terms of method, the background information of the researchquestions, the subjects, the data collection instruments, and data collection procedure areintroduced More importantly, data analysis provides specific explanations and the findings ofthe study Chapter 4 offers some personal recommendations for such current problems inteaching and learning writing skills at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school Limitations andsuggestions for further research are also explained

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Definitions of writing

Writing has been defined in a variety of ways, which shows a lack of consensus as towhat it is, and reflects the complexity of the writing process Traditionally, researchersfocused mainly on form and the final product while current researches on writing emphasizethe writing process and strategies which are utilized by writers to attain the final product.According to Byrne (1991), writing can be seen as an “act of forming graphic symbols”; that

is letters or the combination of letters Simply, writing is like “making marks on the flatsurface of some kinds” (p.1) Lannon (1989) made a conflicting definition that writing, in fact,

is a far more complicated process than the production of graphic symbols It is “a process oftransforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, orwhatever into a message with a definite meaning …, a process of deliberate decision” (p.9).From another view of writing, Murray (1978, p 29) and Perl (1979, p 43) defined writing as

“a creative discovery procedure characterized by the dynamic interplay of content andlanguage: the use of language to explore beyond the known content.” Writing can also be seen

as a social process by Candlin and Hyland (1999) They has asserted that “writing is therefore

an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies,arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of theclaims that are made” (p.107) Noticeably, language teachers have defined writing sodifferently As for Tribble, writing is “a language skills which is difficult to acquire” (1996, p.3) He also stressed that writing “normally requires some forms of instruction” and that “it isnot a skills that is readily picked up by exposure” (1996, p 11) Harris (1993, p 10) affirmedthat writing is “a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into accountthe sometime extended periods of thinking that precede creating an initial draft” From mypersonal experience as a classroom teacher, I share with Rivers’ definition (1981) that “writing

is not a skill that can be learned or developed in isolation but it should be taught anddeveloped in cooperation with other skills and aspects of the language studied.”

2.2 Roles of writing

Writing emerges with its own functions and brings along communicative code of thewriters When making a piece of writing, the writer implies a message or a certain purpose Inthe modern world, writing (written language) serves a range of functions in everyday life AsNunan (1991:84) aptly points out, writing is:

(i) Primarily for action: public signs (on roads and stations), product labels and instructions (on food, tools or toy purchased), recipes, maps, television and radio guides, bills, menus, telephone directories, etc

(ii) Primarily for social contact: personal correspondence, letters, postcards, greeting cards (iii) Primarily for information: newspapers and magazines, non- fiction books (textbooks, public notices, advertisement, guidebooks and travel literature, etc.)

(iv) Primarily for entertainment: light magazines, comic strips, fiction books, poetry and drama, film subtitles, games including computer games.

In classroom, teaching and learning writing also plays an important role Throughwriting, learners are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people

We are able to discover and articulate ideas in the way that only writing makes possible.Therefore, writing has always occupied a place in the language syllabus Discussing about thisissue, White (1981, p 1) points out a number of reasons why writing merits a place in thelanguage syllabus as follows:

(i) Writing remains the commonest way of examining students’ performance in English (all public examinations include a composition) Consequently, ability to write remains a key to examination success.

(ii) In the eyes of both parents and students, ability to write may be associated with evidence of having learnt the language Writing is tangible parents and students can see what has been done and what has been achieved So it has high ‘face validity’.

(iii) In classroom, writing may be used as one of a number of techniques to help add variety and interest to lesson.

(iv) Teachers may use writing as a testing device to provide feedback on what students have learnt Students’ writing can provide useful evidence of successes or failures in learning, of confusions, and errors.

(v) Writing requires thought, discipline and concentration It is relatively a permanent form and readers judge us by our style, content and logic So writing demands care and thought.

In CLT, the teaching of writing also aims at communication However, besides beingused to communicate, writing helps students learn In Raimes’ opinion (1983, p.3), “firstwriting reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that students have beentaught Second, when students write, they also have a chance to be adventurous with thelanguage, to go beyond what they have just learnt to say, to take risks Third, when they write,they necessarily become very involved in the new language, the effort to express ideas, andthe constant use of eyes; hand and brain is a unique way to reinforce learning”

With all the roles mentioned above, writing really becomes an integral part in almost everylanguage syllabus from elementary to tertiary level

2.3 Approaches to teaching writing

It is confirmed that teaching and learning writing is really complicated work Forstudents, they must have knowledge of content, organization, discourse, syntax, lexis, andmechanical elements For teachers, they may be confused of a variety of approaches In otherwords, approaches to teaching ESL/ EFL writing have long been a topic of controversy forthem, even for researchers It is being taught in many different ways, and each approach can

be effective, if the teacher believes in what he or she teaches Ann Raimes (1983, pp 5- 10)presents six approaches to teaching writing: (i) The Control- to- Free Approach, (ii) The Free-Writing Approach, (iii) The Paragraph- Pattern Approach, (iv) The Grammar- Syntax-Organization Approach, (v) The Communicative Approach, (vi) The Process Approach

(i) The Control - to- Free Approach

The Control- to- Free Approach in writing is sequential In this approach, writing isconsidered as a reinforcement means of speech and is used to master grammatical or syntacticrules At lower level, students are often given sentence- level exercises or controlled

compositions to imitate, copy or manipulate Students, therefore, make few mistakes Only athigh or advanced level are students allowed to try some free compositions, in which they canexpress their own ideas

In short, this approach emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency Syntax and mechanicsare main stresses of the approach

(ii) The Free- Writing Approach

Contrast to the Control- to- Free Approach, the Free- Writing Approach focuses more

on fluency, and quantity of writing than quality Students are assigned a vast amount of freewriting on given topics with only minimal correction of errors They are allowed to writefreely without worrying about grammar and spelling Content and fluency are taken intoaccount first

(iii) The Paragraph- Pattern Approach

Different from the two approaches mentioned above, the Paragraph- Pattern Approachstresses on paragraph organization Students copy a model paragraph, analyze its form andthen write a parallel one In this approach, students are provided with such kinds of exercises

as sentence ordering, sentence inserting or sentence deleting, etc

(iv) The Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach

The name ‘the Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach’ fully reveals thecharacteristics of the approach Writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills whichare learned one by one Students need to pay attention to organization while they also work onthe necessary grammar and syntax For example, to write a clear set of instructions on how touse a phone card, the writer needs more than the appropriate vocabulary He needs the simpleforms of verbs, an organizational plan based on chronology; sequence words like first, then,

next, etc In the preparatory stage, these vocabulary and structures are reviewed and taught Ingeneral, this approach is the combination of the purpose and the form of the writing

(v) The Communicative Approach

The Communicative Approach aims at communicative competence, so it stresses thepurpose of the writing and the audience for it Students are regarded as writers in real life andthey are encouraged to ask themselves the key questions: Why am I writing this? (purpose)and who will read it? (audience) Conventionally, the teacher acts as the audience for students’writing However, to make it more real- life- closed communication, students become readersfor each other They read each other’s writings, respond, rewrite in another form or makecomments, but not correct Sometimes the teacher creates a context in which students are realreaders by making them role- play, exchange letters, reply, ask questions and comment

(vi) The Process Approach

The teaching of writing has recently moved away from a concentration on the writtenproduct to an emphasis on the process of writing, which leads to the emergence of ProcessApproach Process Approach to writing came into play in the 1970s This approachencourages students’ communication of ideas, feelings and experiences It is more global andfocuses on purpose, theme, text type, i.e the reader is emphasized Thus, writers not onlyconcern about purpose and audience but also have to make decisions on how to begin and how

to organize a piece of writing Writing is a process, so students are given time to set out ideas,

make plan, write a first draft, revise what has been written after a peer feedback, then they canedit their writing or write other drafts before the final version is produced Brown (1994, pp

335- 336) points out some features of Process Approach as follows:

(1) focus on the process of writing that leads to the final written product

(2) help students understand their own composing process

(3) help them to build repertoires of strategies for prewriting, drafting, and rewriting

(4) give students time to write and rewrite

(5) place central importance on the process of revision

(6) let students discover what they want to say as they write

(7) give students feedback throughout the composing process (not just the final product) as they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer to attention

(8) encourage feedback from both the instructor and peers

(9) include individual conferences between teacher and students during the process of composition

There are various approaches to teaching writing as mentioned It is true to say thatthere is not necessarily any ‘right’ or ‘best’ way to teach writing skills The best practice inany situation will depend on the type of students, the text type being studied, the schoolsystem and many other factors (Steele, 2002) Hereunder wants to clarify the two most popularapproaches used in ESL/ EFL classroom, namely (i) Product Approach and (ii) ProcessApproach

(i) Product Approach

Product Approach is a traditional approach which is a largely “prescriptive andproduct- centered” way of teaching writing This approach pays much attention to the finaloutcome of a writing process and supposes that students need to produce only one writingversion of the task The model of this approach is outlined by Steele (2002) as follows:

Stage 1: Model texts are read, and then features of the genre are highlighted For

example, if studying a formal letter, students' attention may be drawn to the importance ofparagraphing and the language used to make formal requests If studying a story, the focusmay be on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and students focus on where andhow the writer employs these techniques

Stage 2: This consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features, usually in

isolation So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practise thelanguage used to make formal requests

Stage 3: This stage is very important Those who favour this approach believe that the

organization of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves and as important as thecontrol of language

Stage 4: Students choose from a choice of comparable writing tasks Individually, they

use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product; to showwhat they can do as fluent and competent users of the language

(ii)Process Approach

On the contrary, Process Approach focuses on the process rather than the final product.Steele comes up with a typical sequence of activities:

Stage 1: Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion Students could be

discussing qualities needed to do a certain job, or giving reasons as to why people take drugs

or gamble The teacher remains in the background during this phase and only provideslanguage support if required so as not to inhibit students in the production of ideas

Stage 2: Students extend ideas into note form, and judge quality and usefulness of

ideas

Stage 3: Students organize ideas into a mind map, spider gram, or linear form This

stage helps to make the (hierarchical) relationship of ideas more immediately obvious, whichhelps students with the structure of their texts

Stage 4: Students write the first draft This is done in class and frequently in pairs or

groups

Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of each others

work By responding as readers, students develop an awareness of the fact that a writer isproducing something to be read by someone else, and thus can improve their own drafts

Stage 6: Drafts are returned and improvements are made based upon peer feedback Stage 7: A final draft is written.

Stage 8: Students once again, exchange and read each other’s work and perhaps even

write a response or reply

Comparing the two approaches, Steele summarizes their differences in the table below:

* text as a resource for comparison

* ideas as starting point

* more than one draft

* more global, focus on purpose, theme, text

type, i.e., reader is emphasized

* collaborative

* emphasis on creative process

* imitate model text

*organization of ideas is more important than ideas themselves

* one draft

* features highlighted including controlled practice of those features

* individual

* emphasis on end product

Table 1: Differences between Process Approach and Product Approach

From the analysis and the comparison of the two approaches, it is undeniable that eachapproach has its own strengths and weaknesses It is also the fact that there are few classroomswhere teachers are devoted to one approach as to exclude all others Normally, they still usetechniques drawn from other approaches as the students need them and those techniques areuseful in the context of the class The writing lessons in new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook werecompiled following both Product Approach and Process Approach This Combined Product-Process Approach is found to be more popular, appropriate and effective The suggestedgeneral outline for a writing lesson following this approach may be:

Stage 1: A model is given.

Stage 2: Students work on the model, analyze its typical features, and pay attention to

the language and structure of the model

Stage 3: Students work in groups/ pairs to find out the ideas for the writing topic/ task

and produce an outline

Stage 4: Students write the first draft individually/ in pairs/ in groups The model is

used for comparison

Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged Students give comments on each other’s work.

Stage 6: Drafts are returned and changes or improvements are made based on peer

feedback

Stage 7: Students write final drafts.

Stage 8: Final drafts are exchanged once more; students give response or reply to each

other

Stage 9: Teacher gives feedback

2.4 Writing teaching procedure

According to Brown (1994), teachers should follow the teaching procedure includingtwo main stages: Pre- writing and While- writing This procedure is a combination of differentapproaches, especially the communicative approach and the process approach

(i) Pre- writing

- Exploiting the model text in terms of form, vocabulary, grammar, organization, etc

- Defining the task such as describe , write a letter of

- Limit the topic

- Generate the ideas

(ii) While- writing

that language teachers may be confused by such various approaches It is unavoidable thatthey have a problem with teaching methodology in writing lessons Hence, writing activitieshas taken into consideration because teaching techniques will be discussed in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY

3.1 The context: Kinh Mon upper- secondary school

3.1.1 Teachers

There are totally six teachers of English Their English proficiency and teachingmethod are not equally qualified Three of them graduated from English Department, VietnamNational University, Hanoi College of Foreign Languages Two were trained English as theirsecond foreign language at Russian Department, Vietnam National University, Hanoi College

of Foreign Languages One graduated from the in- service center in Hai Duong province.Since the new textbook was introduced, they have attended the provincial textbookintroduction workshops run by the local trainers for the past three years to get the ideas aboutthe textbook and new teaching method From my perspective, their interests in teaching are sovaried, not all of them are really devoted to their teaching job

3.1.2 Students

The 10th form students at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school are sixteen years old andhave learnt English, including writing skills, for four years at lower- secondary schools As amatter of fact, they are beginners of English More importantly, few students take Englishexaminations into universities and colleges, therefore they are likely to be demotivated easily.Apparently, applying teaching approaches and using teaching methods should be taken intoaccount in order to foster and develop their writing skills efficiently

3.1.3 Facilities

Generally speaking, the average class size of 50 students is rather big andinconvenient The desks are arranged traditionally with two rows of six desks There is anarrow isle in the middle and two narrower ones on the sides, no other empty space left where

the teachers and the students can move to and fro if they implement different interactiveactivities Moreover, the classrooms are not equipped with modern facilities such as television,computer, and projector, except for a board.

3.2 The new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook

The new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ is the fifth volume which succeeds a new series of Englishtextbook from grade 6 to grade 9 It is underpinned by the communicative approach and task-based teaching to the introduction of language input The units are arranged according totopics which are true to life and familiar with upper- secondary school students This is animportant advantage of the textbook as it is relevant to the students’ needs, which may arousetheir interests The purpose underlying in the textbook is to develop students’ communicativelanguage skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing via different interesting andwell- designed units

The new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ consists of sixteen units of six themes which are updated and

related to different aspects of daily life: You and Me, Education, Community, Nature, Recreation, and People & Places Each unit presents a topic and is represented via five

lessons: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Language Focus respectively Suchdivision aims to improve students’ communicative skills and systematize important linguisticcomponents Teaching procedure of each lesson is divided into two main stages to achievedifferent language skills or knowledge on purpose This refers to the domination ofcommunicative approach and characterized features of the new textbook

3.2.1 Objectives

3.2.1.1 General objectives

The textbook helps students with following general objectives:

(i) Using English as a communicative tool to read, speak, listen, and write in target contexts at basic level.

(ii) Acquiring fundamental and systematic target English knowledge

(iii) Getting an overview of English speaking countries: people and cultures; conserving and developing our national traditions and cultural identity.

(iv) Writing: writing short compositions or forms based on model writings

To sum up, the objectives are concrete, relevant, practical and appropriate to the secondary school context in Vietnam Overall, the ultimate goal of English language teaching

upper-is to enable students to acquire the target language knowledge and communicative skills inpractice In brief, the objectives set in the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ by the writers are aligned withthe world tendency of English language teaching

3.2.2 Teaching approaches

The new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook is designed basing on two popular approaches:learner- centered approach and communicative approach Task- based teaching, of course,goes through the textbook The two approaches are widely used not only in the world but also

in Vietnam because they are suitable to the demands of Vietnamese traditional economy andintegration into the world communication Students are seen to be the center of teaching-

learning; their activity, and creativity are fostered In details, teacher plays roles as anorganizer, an advisor, a consultant, an elicitor, a participant, a negotiator, a facilitator, aninitiator and a knowledge resource Students’ roles are not only to listen to a teacher but alsowork in pairs, in groups, and to be ready for required tasks eagerly In the communicativeapproach, communicative competence gained by reading, speaking, listening, and writing isregarded as the goal of teaching- learning while linguistic competence is considered to be ameans to achieve the set communicative goal To be honest, although the two approaches are

by no means new to Vietnamese language teachers, they still have been controversial.Generally speaking, teachers have not been sufficiently trained to apply the approachesflexibly

As far as the researcher is concerned, the textbook writers designed all activitiesunderpinned by task- based teaching with clear instructions, which brings a lot of advantages

to both teachers and students Firstly, by creating native- like and communicative situations,students make use of their linguistic knowledge and skills in practice Secondly, it easesteachers of methodological burdens; especially those who are in rural or remote areas, and indeficiency of necessary facilities Thirdly, students can be involved in diversified and flexibleactivities: individual work, pair- work, group- work, and teacher- student interactions, or thewhole class Such multiform activities, together with convenient learning conditions andstudents’ strong motivation are believed to be the decisive factors affecting the success inlanguage learning

In short, it is required that teachers must develop teaching method and applyappropriate approach underpinning the new textbook When lessons are expected to provide agenuine means of communication using all the four language skills, as well as a means ofcomprehending how the language works, teachers need to perceive new teaching method and

to improve their English proficiency for pedagogical purposes

3.2.3 Writing lessons

The new “Tiếng Anh 10” textbook fosters to develop four language skills and allaspects of language Indeed, writing lessons make up 20 % of 86 periods of the Englishsyllabus Although each lesson is not clearly divided into stages: Pre- writing, While- writingand Post- writing, it can be easily noticed that the initial tasks are a preparation for the finaltask There are totally 16 units, so 16 writing lessons are designed with a view to makingstudents familiar with real- life situations on text The required competences of writing lesson

in each unit are detailed in the following table:

1 A day in the life of Writing a narrative

2 School talks Filling in a form

3 People’s background Writing about people’s background

4 Special education Writing a letter of complaint

5 Technology and You Writing a set of instructions

6 An excursion Writing a confirmation letter

7 The Mass Media Writing about advantages and disadvantages of the mass media

8 The story of my village Writing an informal letter: giving directions

9 Undersea world Describing information from a table

10 Conservation Writing a letter of invitation

11 National parks Writing a letter of acceptance or refusal

13 Films and cinemas Describing a film

14 The World Cup Writing an announcement

16 Historical places Describing a chart

Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 10

3.3 The study

3.3.1 Method

3.3.1.1 Participants

The participants chosen for the study are 150 students from groups of 10 A3, 10 A5and 10 A9, and six teachers of English (four of them are teaching grade 10 at present).

3.3.1.2 Instruments

In order to obtain adequate data for the study, three main instruments were used anddescribed as follows:

(i) Instrument one: Questionnaires

One questionnaire for the students comprising of ten closed- ended questions wasconducted in Vietnamese to enable the students to understand easily and to allow their fullexpression of ideas It included two main parts: Part one was to obtain personal informationabout the student participants Part two aimed to elicit the information concerning thestudents’ opinions about their problems with writing learning, factors affecting theirparticipation and interests in the writing lessons, and their recommendations for improving it

One questionnaire delivered to the teachers with 10 closed- ended questions wasstrictly conducted in English It also consisted of two sections: Section one was given to obtainthe personal information of the teacher respondents Section two was to investigate theteachers’ opinion about their problems with writing teaching, factors affecting their students’participation and interests in the writing lessons, and their recommendations for improving it

(ii) Instrument two: Interviews

The interviews help to get better insights into the research questions The interviewquestions include 10 items on the survey questionnaires to get more information in details Sixteachers and 15 students were invited to discuss for further information about the items raised

in the questionnaires

(iii) Instrument three: Classroom observations

Class observations were applied to clarify and test the validity of information about theactual writing teaching and learning context: the challenges in the writing classes

3.3.1.3 Data collection

On the first day of the survey, six sheets of questionnaire were delivered to theteachers While the teachers were completing the questions, the researcher also sat besidesthem to give them clarification if any confusion arose

On the next three days, three sets of questionnaire were delivered to the students Therequired permissions needed to gain access to the students had been obtained in advance 150sheets were handed out and returned by 135 While the respondents were working on thequestions, the researcher was also present to give any explanation, if any confusion orproblems arose 15 students were chosen by chance from the surveyed population to take part

in a one- to- one interview It was conducted in a quiet room free from distraction Before theinterview began, the researcher explained the nature of the research and the purpose of theinterview and the amount of time to complete the conversation She also informed theinterviewee about how the data were to be recorded, and how the data were to be used later on

in an attempt to cope with the informants’ shyness and fear of expressing their own ideas Theobservation was carried out in four lessons in different classes

3.3.2 Data analysis

This part of the thesis is the treatment of all the data collected from the surveyquestionnaires conducted on six teachers and 135 students, the direct interviews with 15students, and the classroom observations

3.3.2.1 Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire

3.3.2.1.1 Teachers’ personal information

There were three males and three females taking part in the survey The teachers’ agesranges from 28 to 52 Their experience in teaching English varies from five to 18 years duringwhich they have spent from one to three years teaching writing skills to the 10 form students

Of these six teachers, four are currently taking charge of English 10

3.3.2.1.2 Analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire

How important is writing skills in the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook?

5

1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

More important Equally important Less important

Chart 1: Importance of writing skills

According to the chart, the teacher respondents valued the importance of writing skills

in comparison with other skills nearly in the same way Five of them thought that writingskills was as important as other skills, and only one viewed it less important

What is (are) the purpose(s) of teaching writing skills at upper- secondary level?

Agree Disagree

To help students revise the vocabulary they have learnt 5 1

To help students practice grammatical structures they have learnt 5 1

To provide students with chances of communicating with each other 5 1

Table 3: Purposes of teaching writing skills

It can be seen from the table that the teachers might teach writing skills for severalreasons In their opinions, teaching writing helped their students revise the vocabulary,practise grammatical structures they had learnt, provided their students with chances ofcommunicating with each other, and train logical thinking These reasons accounted for five,which means five among six teachers supported the importance of writing skills One utilized

it as a means to let him/ her have break time

How are your students in the writing lessons?

Agree Disagree They are highly motivated to the task levels in each lesson 5 1

They are interested in the types of writing 5 1

They are nervous because of difficult tasks, and uninteresting topics 1 5

They are bored because of repeated activities 1 5

Table 4: Students’ actions in the writing lessons

As can be seen from the table, the majority of the respondents believed that thestudents seemed to be in favor of the writing lessons Five teachers stated that their studentswere highly motivated to the task levels and interested in the types of writing One respondent

reported that the difficult tasks, the uninteresting topics, and the repeated activities made thestudents nervous and bored This resulted in the fact that most of them could not write.

What are your current problems with teaching writing skills? (Rank them in order of priority: 1-9)

1 Students’ poor English ability (inability of finding words, and structures)

2 Students’ low background knowledge (inability of finding ideas)

3 Students’ low motivation

4 Lack of necessary facilities

5 Large size classes

6 Your inappropriate method in teaching writing

7 Time shortage

8 Your inexperience in teaching new textbooks

9 Fixed seat arrangement

The data showed that the teachers’ most problematic point was their students’ lowbackground knowledge, which has been realized by 100% of the teachers in the survey Thestudents’ poor English ability is their second difficulty in teaching writing skills The third one

is students’ low motivation Generally, they put lack of necessary facilities, large size classes,their inappropriate methodology in teaching writing, time shortage, their inexperience inteaching new textbook, and fixed seat arrangement in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh,and eighth place respectively It can be proposed that their current problems are mainlyblamed on the students themselves

What factors influence your students’ participation and interests in the writing lessons?

Agree Disagree