Luận văn students' perception and attitudes towards pre writing activities at ngo quyen high school master’s thesis vietnam national university hanoi

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES DO THI HUONG HOA STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES AT NGO QUYEN HIGH SCHOOL NIIẬN THỨC VÀ THÁI ĐỌ CỦA HỌC SINII TRƯỜ

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

DO THI HUONG HOA

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES

TOWARDS PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES AT

NGO QUYEN HIGH SCHOOL

NIIẬN THỨC VÀ THÁI ĐỌ CỦA HỌC SINII TRƯỜNG TIIPT XGÔ

QUYỀN ĐÔI VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI VIỆT

M.A MINOR THESLS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

TIanoi, 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVE! [ANOT

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

DO THI HUONG HOA

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES

TOWARDS PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES AT

NGO QUYEN HIGH SCHOOL

NIIẬN THỨC VÀ THÁI ĐỌ CỦA HỌC SINII TRƯỜNG TIIPT XGÔ

QUYỀN ĐÔI VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI VIỆT

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 66 14, 10

Supervisor: Dr NGUYEN HUY KY

Hanoi, 2011

1 Rationale of the study

Objectives of the study

Research questions of the study

Methods of the study

Scope of the study

Significance of the study

7 Design of the study

1.1 Leamer beligis, perception and altitudes towards language learning

1.1.1 DeBnition of beliefs, perceptions and attitudes

1.1.2 Studies on learners’ beliefs, perception and attitudes

1.2 Writing

1.2.1 Whatis writing?

1.2.2 Writing approaches

1.2 Product approach to teaching writing

1.2.2.2 Process approach to te:

hing writing

1,3 Pre-writing stage and pre-writing activities

1.3.1 Some common pre-writing activities at high school

1.3.2 Benefits of pre-writing activitics

1.3.3 A warming about implementing pre-writing activities

2.2 The” "Tiếng Anh LI” textbook

2.3 Tha reality of teaching and leaming vriting skill al Ng6 Quyén High Schoal 2.4, Methodology

2.5 Summary

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND THSC

3.1 Data analysis

3.1.1 Data analysis from students’ questionnaire

3.1.2 Data analysis from teachers’ and stndents’ interview

2 lmplications and suggestions for effective pre-writing activities

3 Limitations of the study

4 Recommendations for further study

REFERENCES

APPENDICE

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES:

Vigure 1 : Students’ attitudes towards writing skill

Figure 2: Students’ mos! difficull stage in writing

Figure 3: Students’ perceptions of the importance of pre-writing activities

Table 1: Students’ assessments of some common pre-writing provided by their

teacher

Figure 4: Students’ attitudes towards pre-writing activities

‘Table 2: Students’ participation in pre-writing activities

Table 3: Students’ most favored activity

Table 4: Students’ preferences for participating in the pre-writing activities

‘Table 5: Students’ perceptions of the benefits of pre-writing activities

Tabla 6: Students’ dissatislactions whan participating in pro-wrilinyg activities

vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EYL English as a Foreign Language

ESL: English as a Second Language

ELI: English Language Teaching

ID: Infonmation Technology

MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

† PART 1 INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Writing is an essential skilll in both the first language and second language It is a means of expressing thoughts in a planned and organized way Llowever, due to its complexity and high requirement of linguistic means, iL is considered the most diffieuh language skill to master

Regarding the context of Ngé Quyén High School in [foa Binh, it is a noticeable that the writing lesson is the most challenging one to both the teachers and the studonts Rarcly

do the teachers choose the writing lessons to perform their teaching practice for colleagues” evaluation due lo the high risk of failuse The students suffer from a certain amount of anxiety when they have to deal with a writing task In writing lessons, they usually complain that they have nothing to write, the writing tasks are too difficult for them, they have too little time to complete their writings but do not recognize the problem is a lack of

preparation This is one reason why the discussion section of a pre-wrifing selivily is so important for ESL students Do the students pertorm pre-writing in reality? Normally, when doing a writing task, they often think in Viemnamese then translate into linglish, they ignore pre-wriling slage and begin writing immediately, and zinploy pre-wriling strategies only when being asked by the teacher Why so? Why they are not enthusiastic about these

High School perceive the pre-writing activities provided by their teacher, how do they response with these? What are the implications for the teachers in teaching writing skill? ‘These questions have drawn my interest in carrying out the current research which focuses on the investigation of the

students’ perecption and attitudes towards pro-writing activitics at Ng Quyền High School.

2 Objectives of the study

This study aims al exploring Ngd Quytn High School students’ perception and

attitudes towards pre-writing activities Some pre-writing activities are proposed and

evaluated by students with a view to giving some recommendations on how to design

effective pre-writing activities Th

© Investigating what the students at Ngd Quyan Tigh School perceive of pre-

wiiting activities in writing lessons

«Exploring their attitudes towards pre

® Giving some snggestions to increase the effectiveness of pre-writing activities to

The stađents at Ngô Quyền High School

3 Research questions of the study

To achieve the objzctives of the study, the thesis is designed lo answer the following

questions:

J Haw da the students at Ng6 Ouvén High School percetve pre-writing activities

provided by the teachers?

2 What attitudes towards pre-writing activities do they hold?

3 What are the students’ preferences for pre-writing activities?

4 Methods of the study

‘This is a survey research ‘[o seek answers to the above research questions, a survey questionnaire was used Mile and Huberman (1994; 253) stale three good reasons for resorting to numbers: “to see rapidly what you have in a large batch of data; to verify a lmmch or hypothesis; to keep yourself analytically honest, protecting against bias” Moreover, using questionnaires in research may help participants approach the problem

sily, For the roasons mentioned above, the survey resvarch sccms to be the most

more ö

suitable for the scope and objectives of my study

Lowever, this method has its own limitation, that is, the results collected may not reflect the matler proposed preaiscly, In order to reduce the invalidity and unreliability, the author will give clear instructions to the students; observe the class to make sure that the students answer each question themselves; or ask students to check their answers.

5 Scope of the study

Duz to the time and length constraint of the sludy, the mulher onty focusss on surveying 11th form students at Ngé Quyén high school to find out their parception of pre- waiting activities in terms of the importance and benefits, their preferences and attitudes Lowards these avtivilics in writing lessons Although the aullior is well aware Ut the survey statistics are not fully representative of all high school students

Binh, she hopes to propose some of the most popular facts that occur in this study

tudying English in Hoa

gnificance of the study

Pedagogically, the findings and comments of the study are believed to be relevant to improving the leaching of writing fo the students, The sluty may help teachers make their writing lessons more effective so that they can help their students develop writing skill as well as other language skills

7 Design of the sludy

‘The study consists of three main parts:

Part Oue - introduction- provides the overview of the study with the rationale, the Ghjoctives, the Teszarch questions, the mothorls, the scape, the significaes and the design of the study

Part ‘Iwo- Development- includes 3 chapters in which chapter 1 deals with the lilsrature review relevanl to the study, Chapler 2 describes the selling of the study and how the study is carried out, and Chapter 3 presents the data analysis and discussion

Part ‘Three- Conclusion- reviews what has been presented in the study and suggests

some implications for improving the effectiveness of pre-wriling avliviti

A PART 2 DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter reviews theories related to writing skill and pre-writing activities, students’ perception and attitudes towards language leaning which can be applied in the twaching of writing Th also revic

s current researches on students’ perceplion anid

attitudes in this issue and summarizes some related studies that have been conducted so

far All of these serve as a basis for seeking insight into students” perception and attitudes

about writing lessons employing pre-writing activitics and their reflected cffectivencss

1.1 Learner beliefs, perception and attitudes towards language learning

Leamers’ s

sin language leaming depends much on their perception and attitudes towards learning a foreign language, Perception and attitndes shape belieiS and are influenced by beliefs ‘lo understand more about this, an overview of leamer beliefs,

perception and allitudes is necessary

LLL Definition of betiefs, perception and attitudes

‘rhere are many definitions of beliefs, perception and attitedes Most often, researchers adopl definitions that suit thz purposes of their own crupirical frameworks and reflect personal ideological viewpoints, In this thesis, the author will quote the following ones because they are simple but comprehensive and she will conduct the study on this theoretical background

© Belief: According fo Oxford Advancod Loamer’s Dictionary, belief is defined as a thing that one accepts as true or real Another definition of belief provided by

Ilorwitz (1987) is a statement that is held to be true, that affects language learning

practices

* Perception: According to Lindsay & Norman (1997) percgplion is the process by

which organisms inlorpret amd organize sơnsaiơn to produce a tsaningful experience of the world Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue,

or skin, Perception, on the other hand, betler describes one’s ultimate experionce of the world and typically involves futher processing of sensory input In practice, sensation and perception are virtually impossible to separate, because they are part

translated into organized experience

For recent years foreign language teaching and teaming have shifted from teacher directed instruction to student- contred tcaming Therefore many researchers have raiscd their interest in leamers* perspectives Numerous studies related to teaching methodology have heen carried oul from Jeamers” perspective because learners are the key figures in teaching and learning process Leaner perception and attitudes not only influence their approaches to language learning but also affect the way they respond to the teaching activities, Tf learners feel dissatisfied with the teaching method, they will lose their motivation in learning language According to Horwitz (1987), some students prefar having more free conversations rather than pattern drills while some other students insist on their teacher's correction If the teacher carmot meet leamers’ need, they will soon become bored and frustrated with learning and this may affcel Izamners" motivation in language learning Henes, it is necessary for teachers to have better understandings of their leamers’ needs as swell as their expectations in order to help them acquire a new language more easily

11.2 Studies on learners’ beliefs, perception and attitudes

Perception and beliefs play a significant role in directing human behavier Research and scholarship on perception and beliefs in the area of language learning has been growing and gaining prominence in the last two decades

Previous psychological studies into leamets’ perception and beliefs about leaming

“opened a whole new Aladdin’s cave of personal beliefs, myths, understandings, and superstitions as they were revealed by the persons’ thoughts and feelings about their leaming” (Thomas & Harti-Augstein, 1983, p 338) These studies concluded that beliefs about leamers’ own capacity and personal models of their own processes were much more

central lo understanding the individuals’ Ieaming performances than more universally accepted theories of learning, and that these personal ‘myths’ explained much more about individual differences in learning than such psychometric measures as intelligence or

aptitude,

6

According to Ameld (1999) leamars’ epistemological beliefs act as very strong Alters af tsality Thoy play @ central role in Isamning oxperisnce and achiovemenls Interdisciplinary research shows that leamers may be directly influenced by their perception

of success m leatning and levels of expectancy (Yang, 1999; Bernat, 2004) It has been argued, thal white some belic(s may bave a facilitative effscl on learning, others can hinder

it Supportive and positive beliefs help to overcome problems and thus sustain motivation, while negative or unrealistic beliefS ean lead to decreased motivation, frustration, and even anxiety

In the classroom context, the perception, belief, attitudes, and metacognitive knowledge that students bring with them to the leaming situation have been recognized as a significant contribulory factor in the tearning process and ultimaie success (Breen, 2001) For example, second or foreign language students may hold strong beliefs about the nature

of the language under study, its difficulty, the process of its acquisition, the success of cortain Toaming strategies, the cxislones of aptitude, their own oxpeelations about achievernent and teaching melhadologics Identification of thesz beliefs and reflection on

their potential impact on language leaming and teaching in general, as well as in more specific areas such as the leamers’ expectations and strategies used, can inform future syllabus design and tcucher practice in the course Pedagogy has the capacity 10 provide the

‘opportunities and conditions within which these leamer contributions are found to have a positive effect upon fearing and may be more fully engaged (Breen, 2001; Amold, 1999)

In summary, stadying on leamors’ bclic&, perception and attitudes scems to appeal

to researchers Great deals of researchers are interested in this field, Most of their studies paid much attention on the importance and the influence of learners” beliefs, perception and attitudes on their language learning So far, there has been no stusly on high school siuđonis"

perception and attitudes towards pre-writing activities Thus, this study is an attempt to

explore high school students’ perception and attitudes towards pre-writing activities ‘The

author hopes thal it will be uscful for those who exre about this field

2

flat surface of some kind’ From another view of writing, Murray (1978:29) and Perl

(1979:43) defined writing as “a creative discovery procedure characterized by the dynartic interplay of content and language: the use of language to explore beyond the known

content.”

Tn language leaching, writing is defined as one of the two productive language skills including speaking and writing skill According to Ur (1996), “most people acquire the spoken language (at least their own mother tongue) intuitively, whereas, the written form is

in most cases deliberately taught and leamed” (p.161) Tle added, “Writing normally

requires some foum of instruction, Itis not a skill that is really picked up by exposur

Writing, in language teachers’ opinions, is “a language skill which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble, 1996, p 3) IL is “a process thal occurs aver a period of time, particularly

if we take into account the sometimes extended periods of thinking that precede creating an

initial draft” ( Harris, 1993, p 10)

The definitions of writing are various However, il is characicrived with some basic

es, ic being linguistics, creative, progressive and infcraptive Resides, the word

“writing” itself may imply an act, a process, or a skill, which needs practice and study to develop it requires both physical and mental powers from the writers

1.2.2.1 Product approach ta teaching writing

Originally, the product approach Ip writing was rooted in Behaviourist Theory: The

fearner is not allowed to ‘create’ in the targei language at all The use of lomguage is the

manipulation af fixed patterns; these patterns are learned by imitation; and not until

thay have been learned can originality occur (Pincas 1962: 185-6)

For the past decade or so, writing rescarch has cmphasized the composcd product

rather than the process of writing itself, Much attention was given to the mechanics of

§

writing the correct form; the correct usage of words or the correct format It was generally

sy, 1977) Cotreciness of mechanics and form influenced writing pedagogy which concentrated on

at the final product, but the students are also being restricted in what they can write, ‘The approach merely resulled in ‘nindless copies of a particular organizational plan or style’ (Eschholz 1980; 24), In other words, the product approach encourages students to use the same plan in a maltitude of settings, applying the same form regardless of content, thereby

‘slultifying and inhibiting writers rather than empowering thom or Hberaling them.” In addition, the

1990: 13)

1.2.2.2 Process approach to teaching writing

xiro activity of writing was scen as “an exercise in habil formation” (Silva

The teaching of writing has recently noved away from a concentration on the written product to an emphasis on the process of writing, which leads to the emergence of Process Approach Process Approach to writing came to play in the 1970s This approach encourages students’ communication of ideas, feclings, and cxpericnecs, It is more global and focuses on purpose, theme, text type, i.e, the reader is emphasized, ‘Thus, wnters not only concem about purpose and audience but also have to make decision on how to begin and how to organize a picee 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 can edit their writing or wrile olher drafls before the final version is produced,

‘There are different points of views on the number of stages comprising the writing

process According to Oshima and Mogne (1991), writing process has four stages’ pre-

writing, planing, weiting and revising draft aud writing the final copy to hand in, Tribble (1996) identified four stages in writing process: prc-writing, drafting, revising and cditing

“The author of this study takes the view that is close to the ways ‘Izibble, Oshima and Houge

In the view of Byme (1988), students generate ideas and also develop fluency in this stage Pre-writing involves activities like brainstorming outlining, debating, interviewing,

Harmer (2004) are self-revision and self-editing ‘lhe second type of post-writing activity is

rewriting based on the feed back or comments from the teachers or their peers

1.3 Pre-writing stage and pre-writing activities

According to Oshima and Hogue (1991:2), when we are faced with writing

assignment, we may sometimes suffer from “wriier block”, that is, ideas will not casily come to in our head, and we sit staring at our blank paper “Writer block” can happen to anyone , even professional writers, pre-writing activities help to generate ideas for the writing assignments, writers can easily overcome this difficulty (writer’s block) and getting

started quickly,

In “The practice af writing”, Reber! Scholes and Nancey R Comlzy (1989) hightight the importance of pre-writing: collecting the thoughts on paper without the pressure of

structuring expression into its final form is the most productive way of beginning almost

any writing task

White and Admt (1991) lnieily categorized pre-writing activities into three types; generating which includes the activities: brainstorming, making note, role-play, using questions and visuals), focnsing (discovering main ideas; considering purpose, andience and form of the writing) and structuring activitics (ordeting information, expetimenting with arrangement and relating structure to focal ideas)

According to Raimes (1983), prewriting process involves ‘gelling ideas’,

“expressing ideas' and ‘conveying meaning”

In short, pre-writing is an important stage in writing process, it refers to any activity

in the classroom that encourages the gonwration and organivation of idgas, Teachers of English as a Sscond Language (FSI) can usc pre-writing activities al the carliest stages of instruction to help their students acquire good language skills, Pre-writing mvolves

energizing students participation in thinking, talking, group interaction, and skeletal writing

activitics thal become componenis of a writing task, It helps students stimulate thoughts for getting started, In fact, it moves students from having to face a blank page to generating tentative ideas and gathering information for writing,

1.8.1, Some common pre-writing activities used at high school

Brainstorming

According to Raimes (1983), brainstorming is a technique whose purpose is to

initiate some sort of thinking process, Whatever the writing assignment is based on — a roading, picture, textbook topiv, personal experiences — it ean he preceded hy student talk, especially by a brainstorming activity, with students producing relevant vocabulary, making comments, asking questions and making associations as freely as they can in a short time Aller brainstorming orally together, students can then do the samc on paper, writing down

as many ideas as they can without worrying about srammar, spelling, organization, or the quality of the ideas

=) Listing and grouping

This method requires students to list all words or phrases related to the topic Students do not stop until they have written a large quantity and completely rm out of ideas They will not be in a hurry to cross out the sccmingly unimportant, repetitive or even unrelated ones as soon as they put them on paper

After listing all the items they can think of, students can begin to check the list, and together to decide to cross out the ones which do not fit, and ones which are repetitive and may put the list into subgroups

* Rapid free writing

Free writing helps you identify subjects in which you are interested It assumes that

you kuow your interes

subconsciously bul may not be able to identify them consciously, and it assumes that you can bring your interests into consciousness by writing about them (as writing equals thinking) Free writing is like stream-of-consciousness writing in which you write down whatever happens fo be in your thoughts at the moment After you do a number of free writings, you may find that you have come back to certain subjects again and again Repealed subjects are good for further davelopiment through writing, as they obviously arc important in your thoughis

© Clustering

12

Clustering or mapping can help you become aware of different ways to think about a subject To do a cluster or "mind map," writs your goncral subject down in the middie of piece of paper Then, using the whole sheet of paper, rapidly jot down ideas related to that subject If an idea spawns other ideas, link them together using lines and circles to form a

=) Making wh-questions

Asking questions is a versatile form of prewriting, You can ask questions to develop a perspective on a subject that you think you want to write about, to narrow a subject that you have already chosen, and to determine whether it’s feasible to pursue your chosen subject Ask Questions to Develop a Perspective on a Subject; Ask the journalist

“who,” “what,* "when," “where,” “why,” and "how" im order to get a sense af the subject's scope ad of the way in which you may wanl to approach the subjecl — the angle that makes sense for you to take when thinking about the subject Ask Questions to Narrow a Subject Ask qnestions abont your subject and use the answer to activate another question until you come lo a question that is a good stopping place a focused question thal you carr answer on your own with examples and details)

For example:

What level of U.S education? education for children What level of childhood education? Tlead Star

‘What do 1 want to know about it? special programs

How effective are Lead Svarl reading readiness prograrns?

students do nol have lo worry aboul whal they are going to say Honee, Ihey can write more

quickly,

* Discussing: Talk to other students, with varying levels of knowledge on the topic, about the piece

2 Benefits of pre-writing activities

Pre-writing is a vital part of the writing process and activities for this stage offer

several benefits to the writer:

Firstly, they can bring a lot of fin, Anything is possible al this point, Sludents may have many ideas and the ideas can be freewheeling, even idiotic It does not matter They Just keep brainstorming, playing with ideas, collecting resources and notes, doing all the

olher activities needed to Finish this stage of the writing process At this point, students’ writings may go in many directions However, they need to explore all the ideas until they hit upon the one that feels right “Oh! That's what I'm going to write."

Sccondly, students can casily cvaluate new idcas that come flooding inte their mind Dogs the idea fit their present writing or not? Is it worth to use in the waiting work?

‘Thirdly, pre-writing allows students to write the first draft more easily because they Jnow what they want fo write at cach writing session il-teally is @ usclul tool thal usually ends up saving the writer fiom having unorganized thoughts, confusing structure, and the

dreaded writer's black

be able lo determine if the project has merit, and if they will be able lo finish the lopie and

actually write that topic.

14

Finally, by the end of the pre-writing process, the students will have a full outline of the topic With that outling, sludents will bs able to sce the whole projec! at a glance When looking at this outline, they will be able to detect: Inadequate organization of the ideas, Gaps in ideas and content, Whether the writing has one paragraph or more; Where the

writing need cutting down in sive

In brief, the main benefits of prewriting activities are: (1) They help students stimulate thoughts for getting started and making writing easier, (2) They help students remove the “writer's block” and distraction that prevent ideas coming out, (3) They help students write in a more motivating and stimulating way, (4) They help crcate a cooperative and enjoyable atmosphere in the writing class

Pre-wriling is a crucial stage of writing any nonfiction work It allaws the writer lo

be prepared, rather than stumbling around in the dark, wondering what to write next, When pre-writing is properly done it can be a real benefit to the writer it-provides a backbone for the paper to be wrillen offering a logical and eohoront train of thought for the paper lo follow Therefore a writer nec not worry about any sort of issues with the struchure of the paper and instead can concentrate his thoughts completely on the content of the paper Even

if the writer does not end up looking back at the actual pre-writing itself, the amount of thought thal wont info forming his pre-wiiting will help give the writer @ beller understanding of what he is writing Prewriting activities not only help students acquire the target language more effectively, but they build interpersonal, thinking, and planning skills that can be utilized in other ficlds

1.3.3 A warning about implementing pre-writing activities

Though, the benefits of pro-writng activities are undeniable, hore is a waming when implementing these activities in class That is teacher and students may become so fascinated by this stage that they do not actually move past it fo create the first draft, and then on tu revision Like

ech, wrilers have a tendency Lo spend tap touch time plarming and never get to implementation (dratting) Consequently, teachers may run out of time in waiting lessons if they do not prepare carefully and students will have not enough time to complete their writing assignment Teachers should concentrate on the individual components of a writing task cnswes that students actually begin writing carly but are not overwhelmed with tasks that they cannot handle,

l5

1.4 Previous researches om pre-wrlting activities

Pro-wriling stage and pro-writing activitios play an imporlant part in writing process

‘That is the reason why many researches relating this ficld have becn carried out

Bala, Suria and Aviz, Zahara Abdul (2009) unveils the implementation of smart

teaching and learning strategics in prc-writing activitics in Bahasa Mclayu (Malay

Language) This is a qualitative case study of four smart schools’ teachers using purposive sampling The result trom interview, non participant observation and documents analysis showed as follows: Furst, pre-writing activitics include brainstorming activitics and mind mapping, reading and interpreting data from print and elecuonie media The ability to convey information helps to develop critical thinking Second, the efforts of smart teachers strengthen learning and teaching which inculcate analytical and critical skills to solve problems, Third, a cyclical model is created fiom the interviews and observations made during the pre-writing activities Etforts to make smart teaching and leaming a success require teachers as well as students to think creatively Fourth, smart characteristics are related to the integration of brain-based leaming theory

Another study related to this field was casried out by Zhang, Liru, Vukelich, Carol (2998) on pre-writing activities and gender explored the influence of pre-writing activities

on the writing quality of male and female students with varying academic achievement across four grade levels Participants were public school students in grades 4, 6, 9, 11 The results indicated that on average, students who wrote with pre-writing activities performed

better than students who wrote without pre-wniting activities Students’ gender and

Koh Sao Ling (1993) doseri

Foundation IT writing class and analyzed the pre-writing process in terms of pre-writing

what goos on during prowriting lime im a

strategies and pre-wriling activities in an ESI composition class al Mara Inslitate of

Technology The participants were 6 learners and their instructor in 2 cornposilion class al

the class instructor to carry out certain pro-wriling activitics according to their abilities and

16

what they dzem important for writing compositions: (4)The pre-writing activities carried

out by the instructor met the needs of the learners

‘There have been some studies related to this field of pre-writing activities in Viemam

Ngoc (2008) pointed out the effects of pre-writing factors on the motivation in learning writing of the grade 11 non-major inglish students at Nguyen Hinh Khiem Ligh School, Hanoi The participants of his study were 80 grade 11h non-major English students and 15 teachers of English at the school Finding from questionnaire for the teachers, questionnaire for slulents im pre-wriling and post-wrifing slage and a collection of students”

writing papers in both pre-improwcment stage and post-improvement one revealed that prc-

writing activities conducled by the teachers điểm! work perfeelly, they mel many

difficulties when implementing these activities and when the teachers changed their 1nethod or aclivitics to motivale students in Lhe writing lessons, students write beller, they also teel more confident when writing,

Loi (2009) claimed the implementation of pre-writing activitics in writing lesson, their effects on the students’ writing at high school 50 students of 11th grade at her own high school participated in her stady The results of the study showed that students’ writing have improves a lot Their attitudes towards writing change positively Students feel more contident and moze interested in the writing lessons

In short, writing is a difficult sldifl both to teachers and students Pre- writing activity

is one of the key factors that facilitates the writing tasks, but the more important one is how students perceive these and how they response to them if their attitudes towards these activities are negative, these activities offer no help Most of the mentioned studies dealt with the application of pre-writing activities in improving writing skill However, none considers high school students’ perception and attitudes towards these activities, As far as I know, the issue of students’ perception and attitudes towards pre-writing activities remains under-researched in the context of High Schools in Vietnam, and this study is an attempt to occupy this research gap

1.5 Summary

In this chapter, the author has reviewed issues, and aspects conceming the topic of the study The knowledge of belief, perception and attitudes in language teaching writing,

writing teaching approaches, pre-wiiting stage and pre-writing activities, previous

researches which related to the topic of the study In the following chapter, the context of the study, the methodology, data collection procedures and data collection and data analysis will be proposed

1?

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 The context of the study

Neg Quyén Tigh School is one of 5 Tigh Schools in Toa Binh city, The school has

12 classes in which there are 4 classes 10, 4 dlasses 11 and 4 classes 12, The munber of

students in each class ranges from 35 to 45 students he total number of English teachers 1s

four (1 male and 3 females), in which 1 teacher has Master’s Degree, the rest all graduated from Vietnamese National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, regular training The average age of English teachers is 38

The school shares common features with classrooms elsewhere in Vietnam: large size, poorly equipped, students sitting in rows of four cach, unmemorable fumiturc, In recent years, the school has been equipped with many modem facilities for English teaching and leaming like computers, videos, projectors, ele Towever, the use of these moder facilities in teaching is not frequent due to the limited basic IT ability of some teachers Students’ learning, and their real English ability should be taken into account, Facts have shown that the majority of students have not high results in English because their level of English is still low Im addition, the students themsclves do not cousidor English to be as important as other subjects like Math, Physies or Chemistry, ete Therefore, they do not spend much time in iinglish learning

As in many other high schools, English is a compulsory subject The text books uscd for students are English 10, 11, 12 (new series of text books — Basic programme) Students have three English lessons every week with 45 minutes per period With the limited time in each period and the high number of the students in each class, il is dificult for English

teaching and leaming to be effective

2.2 The “I lếng Anh 11” texthook

2.2.4 Grade 1] writing objectives

‘The textbook used to teach writing skills to the grade 11 non- English major

students at Ngô Quyển hìph school is English L1 by MOET

In the textbook, reading, speaking and listening lessons are divided into three putts: pre-task, while-task, post-task In contrast, 30% of the writing units consist of one topic and some prompts On this textbook there are a wide range of types to practice writing with

provide 100 - 130 word paragraphs on farniliar topies

2.2.2, The writing lessons in the * Tiéag Anb 11” textbook

In order to realize the course objective, the writing section focuses on daily and popular topics The required competeness and objectives of the writing Icsson in cach unit

are detailed in the following table:

1 Friendship Waiting about a friend

2 Personal experiences Waiting a personal letter to describe a past experience

3.A Paty Waiting an informal letter of invitation

4, Volunteer work Wilting a formal letter expressing gratitude

3 Mliteracy ‘Describing information in a table

6 Competitions “Witing a letter of reply

7 World Population Tnlerpreting slalisties on population from a chart

8 Celebrations Describing a celebration’s activities

9 The Post Oflee ‘Woiting a formal letter to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction

10 Nature in danger Describing a location

11 Sourves of energy Describing information froma char

12 The Asian Games Describing the preparations fer the coming Asian Games

13 Hobbies Wiiting about a collection

14.Recroation Describing a camping holiday

15 Space Conquest Whiting a biography

16 The Wonders of the world | Wilting a report on a man- made place

2.3 The reality of teaching and learning writing skill at Ngé Quyén high school

ESL leamers face difficulties writing and expressing themselves in a different

langnage Lzamers at Ng6 Quyén high school are no exception While teaching writing at

Ngô Quyển high school, 1 realized that majority of students dislike writing Wuiting in

19

English is mainly done within the classroom as a must When faced with a writing task, most siudonls will react with comments Fike, “oh no nol again" or “this is so boring", “T have nothing to write” What do students actually mean when they say "boting"? The possibility is that stndents are actually expressing their insecurity and lack of confidence in completing the task Writing ts a skill hat has not been accorded the allention it doscrvos in high school education, Students have not been taught to make their ideas flow on paper properly Many of them don't know how to write, feel stupid when they can't find the tight words, fear criticism and want to avoid the emotional turmoil experienced when faced with

a topic and a blank picce of paper Teachcrs do not understand much about proccss approach of writing, however, they are trying their best to follow this approach in teaching writing, By observing the writing lessons and having informal talks wilh the teachers and students the researcher finds that the pre-writing activities the teachers often give their students are: generating ideas through brainstorming, asking students to make outline, using

a model assay and analyving il, questioning and answering; listing, rapid froo writing,

ribing picumrss, using other aids Gmmps, music, reading texts), Sludying the reality of teaching and leaming writing at the school provides information on the relevant points and issues for the questionnaire of the study

Though, the leachers have used a lot of pre-writing aetivilics thal lakes the student from insecurity to success It seems that this stage hasn’t conducted efteetively, Students are very passive in writing lessons Their writing competence has not improved much In order

to crcatc an atmosphere that cncouragcs students to write, the students’ perecption and

attitudes towards teacher's use of pre-wnting time and also the pre-writing activities needs

to be looked into

2.4, Methodology

‘The methodology conducted in the research including the participants, instrumentation, dala procedures, data collection and data analysis will be presented in the part

2.41 The participants

The subject of this study was drawn fom Lwo sources divided into two gronps

The first group includes 86 11” form students randomly selected among 165 11"

form students at Ngé Quyé

Nigh School in Lloa Binh ‘The proportion of schools girls to

20 boys was 34/80 (the number of female students accounted for 42,5% of the student

population), They were supposed to be al a pro-nlormodiate level of proficioney in English

‘These stndents have learnt English for at least 5 years

‘rhe reason for selecting eleventh students but 10th or 12th grade was that these students have had ane year’s expericnce of leaning English at the school and they are, therefore, believed to have more to say about pre-wiiting activities Grade 10 students have limited experience whereas, grade 12 are more preoccupied with examination preparation so their response to the research qnestions may he infhaenced by their examination-biased perspectives,

'The second group is composed of four teachers of English teaching writing skills for students al least for 3 years These teachers, whose ages ranged from mid-twenties lo over forties, were invited to join in this study The proportion of famale teachers to male teacher

is prominent, that is, one male, 3 females ‘their experience in teaching English language varied from 5 to 20 years,

‘rhe questionnaire consisted of 10 closed and open-ended questions Its purpose was

the students’ general attitudes towards writing skill

-the students’ difficulties in writing stages

- the students’ perceptions of the importance and useftuiness of pre-writing activities

towards their writing

21

- the students’ perceptions of the benefits and limitations of implementing pre-writing aclivitics in writing Tessons

- the students’ attitudes towards pre-writing activities

- the students” preferences for types of pre-writing activities

GÌ Instrument two: Int

cw

To get better insights mto the research questious and to increase the validity and reliability of the information obtained from the questionnaire for students, the interviews with the teachers and students were conducted The interview questions were sorted ont based on the survey questionnaires to got more information in details, AU the questions and answers in the interview were performed in Vietnamese

2.4.3 Data collection procedure

The copies of the questionnaire were delivered to 80 students trom two different

classes selected among 11 grade 4 classes at NaS Quyan Lligh School during their fast

English classes of the sccond tem And the researcher hersclf delivered the copies to the participants The students were given unlimited time to complete the questionnaire, which

was then collected by the writer herself The researcher observed the class when students

did the questionnaire to ensure [hai they did not copy their friends” answers

4 teachers of English and 10 students were randoutly chosen from 80 questionnaire respondents to discuss for further information about the items raised in the questionnaires,

All the interviews were informal and were conducted face to face, one participant al a Gime,

in quiet and isolated rooms between 8 am and Spm within a week’s time Each one-on one interview lasted about 10 minutes A high quality digital audio recorder was used during all

of the interviews

Before the interview started, the researcher explained the nature of the research, the purpose of the interview and the amount of time to complete the conversation, The researcher was ready to answer any questions that the students had The interviewees were

also informed that the data werc to be recorded and how the data were to be uscd later on

‘The participants were explained that their responses to the questionnaire or interview were anonymous This was lo secure the mos honest and accurate responses from the

participants

24.4, Data analysis procedure

Data colloctsd from different souress wore pal into the valegor

tarticly Students”

patception and their attitudes towards pre-writing activities at Ngé Quyén High School and

students’ preferences for pre-writing activities in writing lessons ‘The data were categorized

in sul a way that the wri

could casily find the answer to the re:

ch questions, The quantitative data fiom the survey questionnaire were presented in the form of tables or charts while qualitative data from open-ended questions in the questionnaire and the interview were presented by analyzing and discussing the relevant responses from the

participants In such a way, the data were analyzed both descriptively and interpretively

2.5 Summary

This chapter presented the overview of the situation of teaching and leaming waiting skill at Np6 Quyén high school, the instruments of data collection and the research procedure ‘Ihe purpose of using two different research instruments namely, survey

questionnairg and interview is to achizve more reliable and valid dala In the next chapicr, the author will present the data analysis and discussions of findings obtained fram the data,

23 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Data analysis

All collected data were read through to obtain a sense of the overall information

‘The interview transcriptions were jotted down, the results were then shown in tables, figures

and charts The following part will deal with the data analysis and findings on the obtained results

3.1.1 Data analysis from students’ questionnaire

3.1.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards writing skill

general, most of the students had negative attitudes towards writing skill, Here are what

they said: “I haven't got any ideas in mind when being requested to write about a topic in

class”; “I don’t understand why I can write only a few lines in writing lessons though my

grammar and my vocabulary are good, I have no ideas or motivation to write”; “I only

write when the teacher said she or he would collect our writings to give mark, if there is no

teacher's grading or assessment, I will do nothing" Some students admitted that “Even

when the teacher said he would give mark for our writings, I still didn't want to write at all,

1

some times Thad nothing to write and I accepted to be given bad mark for the writing”,