(LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ) The benefits and limitations of a genre - based approach to teaching writing to grade 10 students in Tan Trao high schoool, Tuyen Quang province

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDY – VNU POST – GRADUATE FACULTY  BÙI THỊ THU HUYỀN THE BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF A GENRE – BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING WRITING TO GRADE 1

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDY – VNU

POST – GRADUATE FACULTY



BÙI THỊ THU HUYỀN

THE BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF A GENRE – BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING WRITING TO GRADE 10 STUDENTS IN TAN TRAO HIGH

SCHOOL, TUYEN QUANG PROVINCE

(Những lợi ích và hạn chế của đường hướng dựa vào thể loại đối với việc dạy viết cho

học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Tân trào, Tuyên Quang )

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Methodology

Code: 601410

Ha Noi - 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1.LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Theoretical Backgrounds of Writing

3

3

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1.1.2 Role of writing skill in Foreign Language Learning 4-5

1.2 Theoretical Backgrounds of Genre-Based Approach (G.B.A) 6 1.2.1 Why choose a genre based approach to teaching writing ? 6-7

1.2.5 The curriculum cycle of G.B.A 10-11 1.2.5.1 Building knowledge of the field 11-12

1.2.5.4 Independent construction of the Text 14-15-16-17

CHAPTER 2.THE STUDY

2.1 The setting of the study

21

21

2.1.2 The writing program of the grade 10 students 21

2.4.1.1 The two groups‟ writing performance before the experiment 26-27

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2.4.1.2 The two groups‟ writing performance after the experiment 27-28

2.4.1.3 The experimental groups‟ improvement in writing proficiency 29-30

2.4.2.1 Students‟ attitude to writing before and after the experiment 30-31-32-33

2.4.2.2 Students‟ participation before and after the program 33-34-35

3.1.1 Benefits of G.B.A on students‟ writing proficiency 35-36-37

3.1.2 Limitations of G.B.A to teaching writing 37-38

1.The benefits and limitations of the genre-based approach in teaching

writing to my own students

39-40

Appendix 3:Post-questionnaire IX, X

XIV,XV

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

L2: Second language

GBA: Genre based approach

ELL: English language learning

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1.The activities done in the teaching learning using GBA

Table 2 Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 10

Table 3.Pre-test descriptive statistics

Table 4.Post-test descriptive statistics

Table 5.Pre-post test descriptive statistics of experimental group

Table 6.Students‟ interest in writing skill

Table 7.Students‟ opinions of writing in English

Table 8 Students‟ preferences for form of activities

Table 9.Students‟ participation in writing lessons

Figure 1: Pre-test results of both groups

Figure 2: Post-test results of both groups

Figure 3: Pre- post test results of experimental group

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Many language teachers in Vietnam are aware that teaching writing is more difficult than teaching other language skills This is cultural interference due to the difference in the style of literacy and rhetorical patterns of expression in their native language and the target language Consequently, when students write in English, they do not create the text themselves; they only translate their thoughts word by words from their native language into English, often with grammatically incorrect results

In my school, both teachers and students are faced with many difficulties in teaching and learning the writing skills First, according to the curriculum of the MOET, there are three English lessons per weeks for the students in high school, and the level of the students is pre-intermediate when entering high school but in fact, many of them are not good at the four skills, especially writing Second, each of the lessons lasts 45 minutes The students have to read the model, study the text type and write their writing

in such a short time so they cannot practice well Another important reason is the fact that

in the final examination, the students always do MCQs instead of writing sentences Therefore in teaching and testing, the teachers usually use MCQs to measure their knowledge and skills In writing lessons, the students are helped with vocabulary, model, grammar but they encounter great difficulty in applying them in their writing as well as using the correct text type in their work Besides, the opportunity of self-correction and classmates‟ evaluation is also lacked This causes students‟ failure to improve their skill For these reasons, the students can rarely produce a good piece of writing

In order to solve these obstacles, I‟ll try to introduce a genre-based approach in teaching writing for the grade 10 students at Tan Trao High School in Tuyen Quang province, where I have been teaching Although it is new to Vietnamese teachers and learners, the approach has been proved an effective method in improving learners‟ writing abilities

2 Purposes of the Study

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits and limitations of using a

genre-based approach on improving the students‟ writing skill and motivating students to write a narrative text and to explore their attitudes towards learning to write with this approach

3 Research Questions

In order to find out the fact whether a genre-based approach improves students‟ writing proficiency and motivates them to learn, this study was designed with the following questions:

1 What are benefits of a genre-based approach to teaching writing to grade 10 students

in Tan Trao High school in Tuyen Quang province ?

2 What are limitations of a genre-based approach to teaching writing to grade 10 students in Tan Trao High school in Tuyen Quang province ?

4 Scope of the Study

The study was carried out only the grade 10 students of Tan Trao High school in

Tuyen Quang province These students were measured their writing narrative proficiency

in correlation to the application of an experimental GBA

5 Research Method

The first method applied in this study is a quasi-experimental which involves the three components of experiments according to Selinger and Shohamy (1989): the population (the grade 10 students at Tan Trao High school), the treatment (GBA activities), and the measurement of the treatment (t-test)

In addition, pre and post-questionnaires were delivered to students who took part in the Genre based approach class as a supporting tool to obtain their change in attitude towards writing What is more, observation was also employed during the teaching time

to recognize the participation of students in the control group and the experimental group

6 Design of the Study

The study is composed of three main parts: Introduction, Development which

consists of three chapters, and conclusion

The Introduction gives an overview of the study with the rationale for the research, the aims, and the research hypothesis and research questions of the study It also narrows the scope, presents the research methods and outlines the content of the study

The Development includes three chapters:

Chapter one presents the literature review relevant to the study including the theoretical background of wring and a genre-based approach

Chapter two contains the setting of the study, the experimental program, the collection and analysis of the data for the research

Chapter three discusses the research questions

The Conclusion presents a discussion of the major findings It also provides some limitations and suggestions for further study

7 Summary

The first part has given an overview of the study including the background, the purpose as well as the research hypothesis and questions of the study Also all research method employed to get data and the designs of the study have been presented In the next part, a theoretical framework for the study will be discussed

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DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1.LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Theoretical Backgrounds of Writing

1.1.1 Definitions

Writing has been defined in a variety of ways, which shows a lack of consensus as to what it is, and reflects the complexity of the writing process Traditionally, researchers focused mainly on form and the final product while current researchers on writing emphasize the writing process and strategies which are utilized by the 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 flat surface 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 of transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, or whatever into a message with a definite meaning…, a process of deliberate decision‟‟ (p.9) From another view of writing, Murray (1978: 29) and Perl (1979:43) defined writing as “a creative discovery procedure characterized by the dynamic interplay of content and language: 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 the claims that are made ‟‟ (p.107) As for Tribble, writing is “a language skills which is difficult to acquire” (1996: 3).He also stressed that writing “normally requires some forms of instruction‟‟ and that “it

is not a skills that is readily picked up by exposure‟‟ (1996: 11) Harris (1993: 10) affirmed that writing is a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account the sometime extended periods of thinking that precede creating an initial draft; From my personal 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 and developed in cooperation with other skills and aspects of the language studied‟‟

1.1.2 Role of writing in English language teaching and learning

From the concepts declared above, it can be inferred that writing is essential to

enhance language acquisition as the process of communicating ideas and critical thinking

as writing need focused thoughts and intellectual capacities

As part of language acquisition, Rothery in Sawyer and Watson (1987) describes Writing as the following: Firstly, it provides the students with records and notes of work, which they may need to use for their own revision purposes or for developing a more extensive project of some kind Secondly, it is used to test both students‟ understanding of work and his or her ability to develop a particular kind of genre

Therefore, writing becomes essential and useful to be taught to the students of EFL

to enhance their language mastery, to their ability in producing certain kind of genre and

to develop their critical thinking Harmer (1998) states some reasons why writing should

be taught to students The first reason is reinforcement-students will benefit greatly from seeing language written down The visual demonstration of language construction is invaluable for both the understanding of how it all fits together and as an aid to committing the new language development It is the actual process of writing that helps students learn as they go along The mental activity they have to go through in order to construct proper written text is all part of the ongoing learning experience The third reason is learning style-writing is appropriate for students that needs time to produce language It can also be a quite reflective activity The last reason is writing as a skill-writing is one of the four skills that must be mastered by students Students need to know how to write letters, how to put written reports together, how to reply advertisements, etc However, writing is not very easy to do (Alwasilah, 2002; Nunan, 1999) Students find it difficult to produce a good and well arranged text To help the students to write, they should be taught to write through a process Students should be taught undergo

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the process of writing where the students learn to write through stages in order to overcome the students‟ difficulties in writing One of the method which is regarded as a suitable method to teaching writing is the genre based approach This approach helps students become more successful writers and readers of academic and workplace text ( Hyon, 1996:700 cited in Emilia, 2005:61); and to help students make sense of not only the structure of the texts but also a wide range of compositional concerns (Brook, 200 cited in Emillia, 2005:61) More theories about Genre Based approach will discussed below

1.2 Theoretical Backgrounds of Genre-Based Approach (G.B.A)

1.2.1 Why choose a genre based approach to teaching writing?

Over the last few decades, there have been numerous L2 writing pedagogies developed to improve students‟ writing proficiency In the 1970s and for the most of the 1980s, experts were primarily interested in the process approach which focus on developing students‟ linguistic skills through pre- writing activities such as planning, drafting, editing and revising (Badger&White,200;Feez,2002;Muncie,2002).In the last 1980s and the 1990s, however, theoretical interest in writing instruction shifted to a genre approach that considers writing as a purposeful act and focus on the analysis of the contextual situation in which writing takes place (Atkison,2003;Cheng,2006, 2007, 2008; Hyland, 2003a, 2004b, 2007, Johns, 2003; Paltridge, 1996, 200, 2001, 2002, 2007; Swami,2008) The genre approach was developed in response to the criticism of the limitations of the process approach which left students to find the recurring text structures for themselves through experimentation and exploration Feez (2002) argue that the Genre approach specifically compensated for this deficit Patridge (2007) also claim that many writing conventions would remain opaque for L2 learners unless teachers brought these forms and patterns of language use to their conscious awareness He (2007) claimed that since drafting, planning and editing were only a part of the entire writing process the process approach was deficient as it did not provide students with clear guides in how to construct different kinds of written texts

Instead the genre approach, particularly at the early learning stage, emphasizes on developing the students‟ awareness of reoccurring textural structures The teacher‟s active involvement, through explicit explanation of the contextual dimension, can scaffold for students the distinctive use of the language appropriate to the various genres (Henry & Roseberry,1998) When L2 students are left to discover for themselves the complexities

of how language works in different genres, they are likely to be thrown back on the discourse conventions of their own cultures (Christie, 1999) Then they may fail to produce texts that are either contextually adequate or educationally valued in the Australian context (Freedman, 1993, 1999; Freedman & Medways, 1994)

The beneficial aspects of the genre approach have been asserted by a significant number of genre theorists For example, the genre approach enables students to make sense of the world around them and to become aware of writing as a tool that can be used and manipulated (Kay & Dudley-Evans, 1998) As Paltridge (2001) claims the genre approach focuses on increasing students‟ awareness of different ways of organizing information in writing, by discussing distinctive features of different purposeful texts As

a result of this process, students systemically acquire a meta-linguistic awareness of the English language, which empowers them to manipulate information and accomplish different purposes through writing

Furthermore, it is also claimed that the genre approach provides students with the confidence to handle „„real world ‟‟ writing as it improves students‟ attitudes and desire toward language teaching (Swami, 2008) Many arguments have been forward in support

of genre as an organizing principle for the development of L2 learning programs which is why it is arguably the most established and popular writing approach in Australian school context

1.2.2 Definitions

Genre , according to Martin (1998, cited in Callaghan and Rothery ,1998:25 ) is defined as a staged , goal oriented social process achieved primarily through language Martin , Christie - Rothery, ( 1987;59 ),Christie, ( 1991:236 ), Martin ( 2004: 4 ) in

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Emilia (2005) declare that genres are social processes because members of culture interact with each other to achieve the goal oriented It is a staged because it usually takes more than one step to achieve their goals

The term genre could be explained in relation to the meaning of a text (Christie, 2005: 233), which is identified by Biber (1998, cited in Paltrige, 1996 ) as a class of texts having similarities in linguistic forms regardless of the genre In this sense, a text is designed as many meaningful stretch of language, either in oral or written form (Derewianka, 2004 ) and its held together cohesively, through meaning ( Feez and Joyce, 2004:4 ) ; whether a stretch of language is a text or not , it has had nothing to do with its size or form It has had nothing to do with the meaning of the stretch of language working

together as unified whole for example, the single word stop on a road sign is a text,

because it can stand as a unified whole

1.2.3 Genre-Based Approach (G.B.A)

GBA teaching writing, which based on Systemic Functional Linguistics developed

by Halliday ( 1994 ) has been developed mainly in Australia (John, 2002:5 ).Then the GBA becomes increasingly influential in the field of teaching of English This approach has been adopted in primary, secondary, tertiary, professional and community teaching programs for the native speakers of English as well as ESL and EFL learners( Derewianka, 2003:133 ).In relation to the teaching of English in EFL context, the GBA has been adopted as a part of the centralization of the 2006 English curriculum

The GBA came out as a result of combination of Halliday‟s functional model of language and Vygotsky‟s Zone Proximal Development (ZPD) and Brunner‟s scaffolding Both Halliday and Vygotsky regard language as a semiotic tool They united in their interest in the part that language plays in the development of the individual as a member

2004:6) In this approach, teaching and learning focus on the understanding and production of selected genres of texts

1.2.4 Basic Principles of Genre-Based Approach

Genre-Based Approach as mentioned earlier is a kind of approach to teaching language It has several basic principles According to Emilia ( 2005 ) the basic of GBA involves three aspects of language learning as social activity, explicit teaching and apprenticeship teaching

The first principle is language learning as a social activity According to Fees and Joyce (1998:24 ) language learning is a social activity and is the outcome of collaboration between the teacher and the students and between student and other students in the group This principle derives from Halliday‟s theory about language as a resource for meaning whose structural shape, so to speak, reflects its socio-cultural functions Under this principle, Derewianka (1990) and Butt et al (2000) state that language learning in the Genre-based approach should result in three outcomes, such as students learn language, students learn through language and students learn about language

The second principle is learning requires explicit teaching Explicit teaching is teaching language to encourage students to use the language in real context Regarding this principle, Gibbons provides a comprehensive concept of explicit teaching in ESL/EFL

Teachers are suggested to teach explicitly in relation to what is being studied, why

it is being studied and what will be expected from the students at the end of the course (Gibbons, 2002: 52- 60 ).The role of teachers is to use methodologies which collaborate with the students in the learning process The teacher intervene where necessary in the learning process to support students as they build knowledge and skills which have been negotiated In short, the GBA is concern with providing students with explicit knowledge about language The teachers are suggested to be more explicit in teaching: how language works to make meaning; the text organization and linguistics forms that characterize different genre According to Christie (1991:254-255), the Genre theories argue that

Another concept related to this principle is the Zone proximal Development which refers to the gap between a level of independent and a level of potential performance Vygotsky (1978 in Gibbons, 2002:10 ) says that zone proximal development refers to distance between actual development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers Vygotsky‟s concepts on learning have been used in genre-based approach through the notion of the curriculum cycle This

is a simple model for developing complete lesson units or cycles around text types or

genres to be taught

1.2.5 The curriculum cycle of Genre-Based Approach

As mentioned earlier, teaching based on genre approach moves through certain stages known as curriculum cycles The curriculum cycles are an important aspect to draw students‟ attention to recognize and analyze the salient schematic structures and linguistic features of a genre (Macken-Horarik, 2002, Gibbons, 2002).Teachers are suggested to take account of the cycle and implement it appropriately

There are several models of curriculum cycles in genre-based approach Cope and Kalantzis (1993:10) mention three phrases of the cycle of teaching and learning:

1) Modeling; students are exposed to a number of texts that exemplify the genre in question

2) Joint Negotiation of a class Text; the students participate in the process of writing a text, guided by the teacher

3) Independent construction of a Text; the students independently construct their own texts

Meanwhile, Derewianka (2004: 6-9 ) and Gibbons ( 2002: 60-67 ) states four phrases in GBA:

1 Building knowledge of the field; the aim of this stage is to build up students‟ background knowledge of the topic

2 Modeling of the Text; the students are exposed to a number of texts that exemplify the genre in question

3 Join Construction of the Text; the students are ready to think about writing

4 Independent construction of the Text; the students write their own text

Regarding several models of Genre-based approach cycle as mentioned above, this

study uses the four stage models of GBA: Building knowledge of the field (BKOF),

Modeling of the text (MOT), Join Construction of the Text (JCOT) and Independent construction of the Text (ICOT).These models has been used in Indonesia; the 2006 English Curriculum The four stages are: Building knowledge of the field (BKOF), Modeling of the text (MOT), Join Construction of the Text (JCOT) and Independent construction of the Text (ICOT).The four stages will be discussed as follows:

1.2.5.1 Building knowledge of the field

This stage is the first cycle of GBA which is aimed at building up background

knowledge; so the focus is primarily on the content of the topic ( Gibbons, 2002:61).In this stage teachers are suggested to encourage students to read relevant material to genre discussed, viewing pictures and taking part in role play Teacher also needs to highlight the expression and vocabularies used in the text( Feez, 2002 ).If necessary, the teacher may translate the vocabularies into the students‟ first language to nurture students‟

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understandings that their language pattern is different from the pattern of English(Firkin, 2007; Elimia, 2008)

In the stage of BKOF, Derewianka (1990) argues that it would be better for teachers

to introduce more than one text to build up students‟ understanding of the genre taught The teachers give opportunities to students to experience and explore the cultural and situational aspects of the social context of the text According to Gibbons (2002), the stage of building knowledge of the field is a time consuming stage as many relevant text should be presented to build the students knowledge of the genre discussed

1.2.5.2 Modeling of the text

The second stage of GBA is modeling of the text In this stage, the students are

exposed to a number of texts that exemplify the genre in questions This stage is text exploration aimed at familiarizing learners with the target text type or genre and to draw attention to organizational and linguistic features commonly found in the texts belonging

to it ( Butt et al, 2001 ).In this study the target text type is narrative

In the modeling of the Text, Derewianka (2004) declares that modeling involves introducing the purpose and the features of the text Similar to Derewianka , Burns (1990) declares the modeling involves discussion of the cultural and social purpose of the genre and sharing experience with in that context , followed by example of a model text Macken-Horarik (1989) also add that modeling includes teachers build up the context relevant to the field of inquiry and provides learners with model of the generic in focus the context, the social purpose, the prototypical element of structure and the distinctive language feature

The activities involved in this stage are such as familiarizing students with purpose and social function of the text and presenting schematic structure of the text In this stage the schematic structure of the genre is presented and explained explicitly to the students Having explored the social function and the schematic structure, the activities then continued to present a model text of a genre A model text of a genre is then presented as a whole ( Feez and Joyce, 1998; Gibbons, 2002 ).In this part the teacher and

the students discuss the linguistic features of the text, such as grammar, the expression, connective words, the use of relational process and the use of punctuation Gibbons (2002) says that the teachers are suggested to give meaningful drills related to the linguistic features In conclusion, this stage is designed to familiarize students with social purpose, generic structure and language features of particular text type by means of model texts

1.2.5.3 Join Construction of the Text

Having understood the social function, the schematic structure and the language

features of the text, then the students exercised to write a text collaboratively This activity can be jointly constructed by the whole class, by a small group, or by a teacher and students during conferencing ( Derewianka, 1990:8 Gibbons, 2002:66).Burn (1990) suggests that joint negotiation includes the teachers and learners in a join construction of the text in the same genre, followed by a join construction of another text by learners working in groups

According to Emilia (2005, there are some activities done in this stage, such as:

*Grouping students into a group of four and familiarizing them with the task they will

do in this stage Writing in groups‟ aims to allow the students to practice activities that make up skill which can best nurtured by communicating with others and engaging in dialogue It is also intended to lead students to exchange and to examine ideas in an open and organized way

* Approaching each group at the start of the joint construction It aimed to see if the

students have difficulties in starting their writing The teacher can ask some guiding questions to those who seemingly have difficulties

* Observing students; development and control of the genre The teacher encourages

the students to focus on all aspects of Writing (Gibbons, 2002) and assistance is given not only to shape the genre but also to use language that is appropriate foe written text (Callaghan and Rothery, 1998)

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* Consultation with each group on their draft It is conducted in a context of shared

experience, with the teacher play as authoritative role (Derewianka, 1990).Callaghan and Rothery (1998) declare that assistance in constructing texts is of two kinds: one might be

a direct telling of what to say and the other might be a questions and comments that provide scaffolding for the students to make the text better The students rewrite the jointly constructed text and then consult again with the teacher if there are some expressions which are not clear

Although in this stage the teacher is still a guide, the students enter into more active participation in learning to write genre The teacher gradually step back further into the role of facilitator (Gibbons, 2002:67, Feez in Johns, 2002:67).When there are not students who need further assistance, the activities move to the independent construction of the text

However, this stage can be skipped if the students have had clear understanding on the genre taught Emilia (2005, 2008) says that in Indonesian context, the stage of joint construction is quite problematic since only few students give contribution during this stage

1.2.5.4 Independent construction of the Text

Independent construction of the Text is the last stage of the cycle in GBA In this

stage the student write their own text Cope and Kalantzis (1993: 182 ) declares that at this stage student work independently with the text, either spoken or written Furthermore, Rose (2008) adds that independently construction involves students in writing their own text independently, using the same genre and some of language features that they have practiced in the joint construction

There are some activities during this stage, such as pre-writing (choosing topic, generating and organizing idea, developing the idea), drafting ,revising and editing ( Derewianka, 2004, Macken-Horarik,1989).Similar to Derewianka and Macken-Horarik, Callaghan and Rothery (1988:48-49) say that this stage has six steps : choosing a new topic and researching the topic as preparation for writing, writing a draft with referring

back to the models: including the jointly constructed text, revise the stage of genre; consulting with the teacher about the draft, assessing the students‟ development in writing genre, editing and publishing provide an optional final step in the teaching cycle and getting the point where they can undertake writing a genre in a completely independent manner

As suggested by Callaghan and Rothery (1988) and Derewianka (2004), the activities done in the teaching learning using Genre based approach can be concludes as follow:

2 Modeling of the text

-Present a model text on the blackboard or using OHP

-Discussing the social function of the text related

to the students society

-Identifying the schematic structure (stages) and linguistic features of the text

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-Introducing the linguistic features of the text directly It can also be done by giving some questions or careful guidance This intended to lead the students discover the features themselves

3 Join Construction of

the Text

-Researching topic, the teacher and students work

on researching skills such as note making and finding some information from the books in the library

-Pooling information, the teacher guides the students to construct their ideas and information through charts, columns, headings etc

-Revising the structure, the teacher can lead the students to revise the schematics structure of the text by referring to model text

-Jointly constructing a text, the teacher lets the students to contribute information and ideas in creating a text Teacher can guide the students in constructing good schematic structures of the text through questions or suggestion

-Assessing the students‟ progress, teacher decides group of students who can follow the independent text or further modeling

-Guiding the students to choose a topic

-Giving a text model to let the students writing

-Doing one to one conference

-Editing or publishing the students‟ text

Table 1: The activities done in the teaching learning using Genre based approach 1.3 Theoretical Backgrounds of narrative text

There are thousands of texts around us, the text can be classified into genre through three characteristics, they are purpose of communication, organization structure and language features The purpose of communication or social function is the reason why we speak or write or create the text Organization structure of the text or generic structure is the text organization or text arrangement Language features or lexical grammar that is such things as the grammar, vocabulary and connectors that we use There are six genres or types of texts that should be taught at High School They are narratives, recounts, expositions, explanations, description, and information reports The chosen genre in this study is narrative text because narrative texts are not just telling them

a story but how from the study they get something valuable for their lives It is a moral, lesson, or literary ending .It can help students apply in their daily lives to live better, more meaningful In selecting the text to be taught to my students, I try to make content

as close as possible to their real life

To improve writing skill, the students have to understand the purpose, types, structure and language features of a narrative, which are shown as followed:

Purpose: Derewianka (1996, cited in Ian Bruce, 2008) emphasizes “The basic purpose of

a narrative is to entertain, i.e to gain and hold the reader‟s interest in a story But narrative may also seek to reach information, to embody the writer‟s reflections on experience, and – perhaps most important, to nourish and extend the reader‟s imagination The focus of the text is on a sequence of actions”

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Types of Narrative: There are many types of narrative They can be imaginary, factual or

a combination of both They may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, romances, horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legends, historical narratives, ballads, slice of life or personal experience Personal experience is one type of the narrative text which should be taught for the tenth grade students because they could write their experience which they met in their real life

Structure:

Anderson (1997, cited in Narith, 2000) shows that a narrative text has main parts:

Orientation: (introduction) in which the characters, setting and time of the story are

established They usually answer the questions: Who? When? Where?

Complication or problem: This is the event that influences what will happen in the

story

Resolution: In resolution the characters sort out the complication of the story

Coda (optional) – lesson from the story (a moral message)

Sequence of events: In a traditional narrative, the focus of the text is on a series of actions which describe the characters‟ reactions to the complication

Grammar

Specific characters with defined identifies They can be people, animals or things that are important to the story;

Uses detailed noun groups to create images in reader‟s mind;

Often uses time connectives to sequence events throughout the story;

Verbs focus on action, feelings, thought and speech;

Usually written in past tense (this may change during dialogue);

Written in first or third person

Language features of a narrative:

Anderson & Anderson (1995) emphasizes that the writer has to use specific forms to describe the characters, the time words that connect events to tell when they occur, the verbs to show the actions that happen in the story and descriptive words that portray the characters and settings

To apply these methods I have to design the model texts and introduce the

structure and language features to the students After that, they will use them to practice

so that they can produce their own writing and improve their writing skill

1.4 Benefits and limitations of GBA

The application of the genre-based approach to teaching writing had some benefits and limitations

1.4.1 Benefits of GBA

First, on the positive side, students generally appreciate the models or examples showing specifically what they have to do linguistically Studying a given genre also provides them with an understanding of why a communication stile is the way it is through a reflection of its social context and its purpose Swales (1990) pointed out how rhetorical instruction plays as pivotal a role in writing improvement as prior knowledge (p.83) In this context, the genre approach is very beneficial because it brings together formal and functional properties of a language in writing instruction, and it acknowledges that there are strong associations between them

As Bhatia (1993, as cited in Kim & Kim, 2005) recommended, it is meaningful for writing instructors to tie the formal and functional properties of a language together in order to facilitate students‟ recognition of how and why linguistic conventions are employed for particular rhetorical effects (p.6) If the rhetorical structure of content is analyzed by students in the genre approach, some common patterns can be identified in each genre Naturally, these patterns will form a kind of background knowledge students can active in the next learning situation Eventually, the prior knowledge will make it easier for students to produce acceptable structures in their writing tasks Therefore, an assigned genre seems to serve as an influential tool for both the learning and teaching of writing

Furthermore, the genre approach encourages students participate in the world around them, to comprehend writing as a tool that they can utilize, and to realize how writers manage content to promote logical organization It is also allows students to be

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come more flexible in their thinking and eventually to realize how authors organize their writings However, some proponents have indicated that the genre approach is more suitable for learners at beginning or Intermediate levels of proficiency in a second language rather than those at advanced levels, in that it releases students from deep anxieties about their writing tasks When people learn something new, they commonly want to find some cases that they can refer to or consider as samples There is no doubt that writing tasks can be more demanding than other language skills, so students at low level of proficiency absolutely need something that they can reply on since they have little exposure to English writing (Kay & Dudley-Evan, 1998: 310)

1.4.2 Limitations of GBA

Despite genres‟ approach beneficial roles in helping learners to produce written work with confidence, there are two limitations of the genre approach One is that it underestimates the skills required to produce content, and the other concern is that it neglects learners‟ self-sufficiency ( Byram, 2004: 236) The genre approach not only places too much emphasis on conventions and genre features but also is less helpful for students in discovering the texts‟ true messages due to the targeted aspects of the specified genre Likewise, if teachers spend class time explaining how language is used for a range of purposes and with a variety of readers, learners are likely to be largely passive Thus, the genre approach is blamed for limiting learners‟ creative thoughts about content and is criticized in that it overlooks natural processes of learning and learners‟ creativity (Badge&White, 2000:157) Finally, Bawarshi (2000) pointed out that, at its best, it helps learners to identify and interpret literary texts, while at its worst; it interferes with he learners‟ creativity (p.343) This concern means that students may end up writing genres as meaningless reproductions Moreover, the negative side of the genre-based approach is that learners may not have enough knowledge of appropriate language or vocabulary to express what they intend to communicate to specific audience an other weakness, as Badger and White (2000) point out, is that the genre approach undervalues the writing skills which learners need to produce a written product and ignores the writing abilities learners have in other areas Similarly, Kamler (1995: 9 ) criticizes the genre

approach because of … its narrow focus on language and text and its lack of attention to the instructional and disciplinary contexts in which texts are constructed

However, according to Bakhtin (1986), genres always evolve through incorporating a rich variety of voice, styles, discourse features, and points of view The genre approach allows students to be exposed to the plurality of a genre, which implies that students still have chances to develop their creativity in the genre approach Thus, if the genre approach is to remain true to the fundamental nature of genres, then teaching in the genre approach should include a final step in which students are encouraged to break the style of the existing genre and let it evolve (H Nguyen, personal communication, October 17, 2006)

1.5 Conclusion

This chapter has provided theoretical background of the study including a detail

explanation of the concept of writing theory of Genre-Based Approach which covers

Genre-Based Approach to Teaching Writing; Definitions of Genre, Genre-Based

Approach, Basic Principles of G.B.A, Curriculum cycle of G.B.A and a theoretical background of narrative text, Benefits and limitations of GBA

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CHAPTER 2.THE STUDY

2.1 The setting of the study

The grade 10 students at Tan Trao High school are sixteen years old and have learnt English, including writing skills, for seven years at primary-secondary schools As

a matter of fact, they are beginners of English More importantly, few students take English examinations into universities or colleges, therefore they don‟t have motivation to learn English In order to help students learn English well, especially writing skill, there is

no way except that the teachers themselves have to make teaching methodology flexible and helpful

2.1.2 The writing program of the grade 10 students

The new “Tiếng Anh 10” has totally 16 units, so 16 writing lessons are designed with a view to making students 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

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

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

Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 10 2.1.3 The participants

The subjects chosen for the study are 90 students from groups of 10A2, 10A5 at Tan Trao High School They were selected firstly on the basis of cluster sampling Each group consisted of 45 students who are 16 years old The sample involved two groups: the control group and the experiment one The experimental group was taught in a genre

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based approach for 8 weeks such techniques as 4 stages The control group was taught in the traditional method of the teacher- centre approach

2.2 The Experimental program

The program was aimed at helping the students develop writing proficiency so

that they could produce a good English narrative text at the end In addition, it also motivated the students to learn writing

The experiment lasted for 5 weeks, during which the students learned how to write

2.2.3 Role of the teacher and the students

In the experimental programme, the teacher acted as an instructor who organized groups, stated the stages as well as made all the students certain of what to do Then I played a role of facilitator to ask open-ended questions, praise and encourage all the students so that they could extend their participation and involvement in activities As such, I observed and intervened during the students work when necessary

The students, on the contrary, were much more active in learning They talked and shared ideas with the teacher and their friends

2.3 Data collection

2.3.1 Data collection Instruments

2.3.1.1 Pre-test and Post-test