Pre-writing strategies used by students at Center for International Cooperation and Training - Electric Power University = Các chiến lược sinh viên trung tâm đà

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES MAI THỊ THỦY PRE-WRITING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS AT CENTER FOR

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

MAI THỊ THỦY

PRE-WRITING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS AT CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING,

ELECTRIC POWER UNIVERSITY

(CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC SINH VIÊN TRUNG TÂM ĐÀO TẠO VÀ HỢP TÁC QUỐC TẾ, TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC ĐIỆN LỰC SỬ DỤNG TRONG

GIAI ĐOẠN TRƯỚC KHI VIẾT)

M.A Minor Program Thesis

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoàng Văn Vân

Hanoi, 2014

i

DECLARATION

I, Mai Thị Thủy, hereby declare that the thesis entitled PRE-WRITING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS AT CENTER FOR

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING,

ELECTRIC POWER UNIVERSITY

is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Education at University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi I

confirm that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees

Student’s Signature

Mai Thị Thủy

me to this research I would like to send my gratitude to him for his precise instruction and endless feedbacks which have enhanced my arguments in the research He has thrown his full support behind me from the period of choosing appropriate topic to finalizing the chapter conclusion

Secondly, I am indebted to 50 students at the Center for International Cooperation and Training, Electric Power University for having taken part in the data collection process using survey questionnaire and interviewing

Thirdly, warm thanks are given to all my classmates in K20D for their contributive suggestions as well as experience sharing which has become a motivating stimulus during the time of conducting the research project

Last but not least, I owe my deep gratitude to my beloved family for their whole-hearted encouragement and great support during my time of fulfilling this thesis

iii

ABSTRACT

It goes without saying that a good beginning is half the battle Accordingly, pre-writing strategies are considered an essential tool for students, especially third-year students at Electric Power University who have not been familiar with academic writing In order to carry out this research project, 50 students were involved in this study to bring various and critical viewpoints about the main aspect of pre-writing skill illustrated by the term “strategies” Using two research methods including quantitative and qualitative and two instruments including questionnaire and semi-structured interview, the study attempts to answer to the question: “What strategies are used by students at the Center for International Cooperation and Training, Electric Power University, at the pre-writing stage?” The results shared that the strategies students at Center for International Cooperation and Training, Electric Power University use at the pre-writing stage include brainstorming, outlining, talking it out, categorizing and clustering Meanwhile, they rarely or never use journaling, questions-asking, branching and free-writing It is also found that they are not really aware of the importance of these pre-writing strategies This explains partly why their writing is of poor quality The study‟s results suggested that teachers should be more flexible to convert such useful strategies into activities in class to make sure students can understand pre-writing strategies and apply them to writing skill effectively

iv

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… ii

ABSTRACT……… iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… iv

LIST OF CHARTS……… vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……… vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale……… 1

2 Research aims and research questions……… 2

3 Significance of the study……… 3

4 Scope of the study……… 3

5 Methods of the study……… 3

6 Design of the study……… 4

PART II : DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: Theoretical and Practical Backgrounds to the study 5

1 The concept of writing ……… 5

2 The importance of writing in second language teaching……… 6

3 Writing process ……… 7

3.1 Pre-writing……… 7

3.2 While-writing……… 7

3.3 Post-writing……… 8

4 Previous studies on the strategies students use at the pre-writing stage………… 8

4.1 Free writing……… 11

vi

4.2 Brainstorming/ Listing……… 12

4.3 Clustering/mind mapping……… 14

4.4 Branching……… 15

4.5 Outlining……… 16

4.6 Questions – Asking……… 17

4.7 Journaling……… 18

4.8 Talking it out……… 19

4.9 Categorizing……… 19

5 Context of the study……… 20

5.1 Center for International Cooperation and Training, EPU……… 20

5.2 Teachers……… 21

5.3 Students……… 21

5.4 Teaching materials……… 22

6 Summary……… 23

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY……… 24

1 Research site……… 24

2 The participants ……… 24

3 The research instruments……… 24

4 Distribution of data……… 25

5 Data collection procedures……… 26

6 Analysis of data……… 26

7 Summary……… 26

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS……… 27

1 Results from survey questionnaire……… 27

1.1 Students‟ use of pre-writing strategies……… 27

vii

1.2 Students‟ frequency of using pre-writing strategies……… 29

1.3 effectiveness of pre-writing strategies for generating idea………… 31

2 Results from interview……… 32

2.1 Students‟ knowledge about pre-writing strategies……… 32

2.2 Students‟ awareness of the importance of pre-writing strategies…… 33

3 Summary……… 33

PART III: CONCLUSION……… 35

1 Summary……… 35

2 Recommendations……… 36

3 Limitations of the study……… 37

4 Suggestions for further studies……… 37

REFERENCES ……….39

Appendix 01: Survey questionnaire I

Appendix 02: Survey interview……… VII

Appendix 03: Data statistics for questionnaire……… VIII Appendix 04: Results from interviewing section……… X

viii

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Students‟ use of pre-writing strategies

Chart 2: Prewriting strategies students often use

Chart 3: Prewriting strategies students do not often use

Chart 4: effectiveness of pre-writing strategies for generating ideas

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 EPU: Electric Power University

2 CICT: Center for International Cooperation and Training

Practically, there have been a number of studies on students‟ writing strategies

so far but now has been on strategies used by students at the pre-writing stage That is one of the reasons why I decided to conduct this project in order to find out something meaningful to fill in the gaps

In addition, although the necessity of examining writing strategies is increasingly recognized recently, after entering the university, lots of students are actually unfamiliar with academic writing At university, students were taught to speak, read and write through various approaches, methods and techniques in order to achieve proficiency in the language Specifically, the main objective of writing is to enable students to write a composition during which they are guided through the process of writing, pre-writing-planning, drafting, revising and editing This is to ensure that students are given proper guidance when producing a good piece of writing Ironically, writing is still the skill most students are least proficient in They still find it difficult to

do any writing task, especially from very first steps of writing Although a sizable

2

portion of time is being given to develop writing skills yet students are unable to produce good pieces of essay writing This problem becomes worse when there is no support on how to prepare the draft before getting into the full writing phase

What I notice in my students‟ composition is that ideas are left out or ideas presented without being fully developed Further, it can be seen that they lack cognitive strategies of generating and developing ideas in the topic they chose to write on Thus, they lack the skills to elaborate on the points they are writing, and they lack cognitive strategies to reflect on what had been learnt White and Arndt (1991) suggested questions will prompt to help stimulate thinking, to draw on experiences and to develop and shape ideas As such students have the opportunity to openly express their ideas and thoughts and keep them actively involved in the lessons

In recognition of importance of pre-writing stage in the writing process, the current situation and the need of practicing pre-writing strategies in English classes, I decide to carry out this study in order to find out what strategies they often use and what they do not use in the hope of helping them improve the quality of their writing

2 Research aims and research questions

The research aim is to explore the strategies used by students at center for international cooperation and training, EPU at the pre-writing stage In brief, this aim

can be realized by the following research question:

“What strategies are used by students at the Center for International Cooperation and Training, Electric Power University, at the pre-writing stage?”

3 Significance of the study

As mentioned in the Rationale, it is a fact that many students struggle with

generating ideas as well as how to put their thoughts into a cohesive product In order

to assist students in becoming better writers, educators need to thoroughly and explicitly articulate how to effectively complete each stage of the writing process One

of the most important facets of the writing process is the prewriting stage; students

3

need to be taught on how to successfully produce ideas and once they have generated those ideas, tools need to be provided on how to turn the raw ideas into a complete draft Therefore, this study can improve education because it will give students a

multitude of resources that they can use in order to be successful in beginning a writing

task To overcome difficulties and frustration in generating a piece of writing, they can

be equipped with strategies to deal with their roadblocks improve their writing skills

With this study, I hope to make a small contribution to teaching/learning writing effectively, which may help students retain prewriting strategies and help the teachers find appropriate approaches when teaching writing

4 Scope of the study

In carrying out the study, I do not have an ambition to cover a big topic, but just intend to concentrate mainly on strategies what are used by students at center for International Cooperation and Training, EPU at the pre-writing stage

The time limitation and ability is the small scale of research which is restricted

to 50 third – year students at the center for international cooperation and training, EPU

5 Methods of the study

The research will use both quantitative and qualitative methods which are realized through the following instruments:

 Document analysis: Reading materials of teaching writing in general, strategies students use during teaching writing process and strategies they use at the pre-writing stage

 Survey questionnaire: 4 out of 10 classes were invited to take part in the questionnaire-answering process The selection process was taken according to cluster sampling basis, which means that 4 classes will be chosen at random Questions are all in close-ended form to ensure the participants‟ willingness to respond actively and truthfully

4

 Interview: 5 volunteers from these classes will be invited to take part in the interview with the aim of checking data collected from the questionnaire and gaining further insights into the research matters

6 Design of the study

The research is divided into three parts

The first part, Introduction includes the rationale for the study, aims of the

study and research question, significance of the study, scope of the study, method and design of the study

The second part is Development which consists of three chapters Chapter one – Theoretical and Practical Backgrounds to the study, looks at some issues related to

writing, teaching writing, the writing process, previous studies on strategies students

use at the pre-writing stage and context of the study In chapter 2, Research Design and Methodology, reports on the participants and instruments of the research Chapter

3, Research Findings and Discussion, presents the results and discussions of the

results

Finally, part three, Conclusion, sums up the main issues studied, points out the

shortcomings of the research and make some suggestions for further research

5

PART 2 : DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BACKGROUNDS TO

THE STUDY

1 The concept of writing

It goes without saying that writing seems to have taken on different definitions for different groups of people in order to suit their different needs and purposes for writing After studying various sources of document data, the researchers have perceived writing from many different aspects

Byrne (1988:1) considers writing “the act of forming graphic symbols” such as letters or combination of letters According to this definition, any act that results in the forming of letters with or without a meaning can be defined as writing

On the other hand, Lannon (1989) views writing as “the process of transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, or whatever into a message with a definite meaning – writing is a process of deliberate decision” (p.9) In this way, writing must convey a message with a meaning

Another definition by Tribble (1996:3) considers writing a language skill involving “not just a graphic representation of speech, but the development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way”

Besides, writing is defined by several contrasts (Sokolik, 2003:8) Firstly, in her opinion, writing is both “a physical and mental act” in the sense that it requires writers

to commit words or ideas to some medium and at the same time to invent ideas, think about how to express them, and recognize them into statements and paragraphs Secondly, writing aims at expressing and impressing It is, actually, the representation

of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols (known as

a writing system) Here, writers typically try to express their ideas or feelings; meanwhile they need to impress their readers in certain ways Thirdly, writing is a

6

process and product Writers have to generate ideas, organize, draft, edit, read, re-read

to produce a product – a paragraph, an essay or a report

In a nutshell, researcher is actually impressed with one of the most famous sayings of the philosopher and essayist Sir Francis Bacon that “Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man and writing makes an exact man.”

2 The importance of writing in second/foreign language teaching

The importance of teaching writing to the second language learner has been emphasized by a number of authors and researchers over the past years Writing plays

an important role in our life Through writing we can share ideas and feelings, and attempt to persuade and convince other people Raimes (1983: 6) believes that writing

is a crucial language skill; it helps the learners to learn Students can improve grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary when writing Then, they become very involved with the language: try to make an effort to transfer all their mother tongue into English as a second language

The teaching of writing enables learners to acquire knowledge of the new language they are learning and using (Franco, 1996: 120) It is not only related to the use of a range of right vocabulary but also the use of style, format, and organization in English In other words, writing helps students acquire how a new language is used

According to Clark and Routledge (1997), five factors causes us to write: the distance between communicators; the need to avoid face-to-face interaction; the opportunity to take time and care over wording; the opportunity to integrate verbal and visual and means of communication; the need to keep evidence of the communication; and finally in some cultures, to add weight to the message It is important to note that there is a relationship between the ability to write and social power Writing ability enables a writer to play an effective role in society In this way, writing becomes an important means of social interaction with people in different situations

7

White, (1995: 225) mentions that the importance of teaching writing has grown because writing as an activity has evolved through its connection with commerce Some written documents deal with these kinds of commercial activities even in the world of electronics, which depends on written messages used in the occupational field and in both commercial and personal relations (Gains: 1999: 81) This importance will increase in a world where commerce is conducted electronically

The use of real messages and material used in an occupational field related to the learners' needs will help to increase their motivation as they can readily perceive the relationship between what they are learning and what they need Tomlinson (1983: 7) argues that writing should be directed forward in both teaching and learning, and emphasizes the importance of combining what is taught and why it is taught with the learners' writing needs

3 Writing process

3.1 Pre-writing

Firstly, as searching from Oxford learners dictionary: pre-writing is the work

done before writing, the preparatory work needed before a piece of writing is begun,

e.g the formation of ideas, organization of material, and discussion

According to Raimes (1983), prewriting is the first stage of the writing process and the point at which we discover and explore our initial ideas about a subject Prewriting helps us to get our ideas on paper, though not usually in an organized form, and brainstorm thoughts that might eventually make their way into our writing The objectives are to produce as many ideas as possible Activities that are involved in prewriting process are collecting ideas through reading, free writing, brainstorming, mind mapping and listings (Raimes, 1983)

3.2 While-writing

While writing is very personal, or subjective, it creates an object space, a place apart from the individual and we measure it against objective standards derived from

8

the context It creates space both for the individual (subject) and the idea (the object) to coexist so that we can both judge the merits of the individual voicing the idea and contend with the idea on the objective form of a page ( Kimberly and Abels, 2003)

3.3 Post-writing

According to Lannon (1989), post-writing is what students do after they have all ideas in their papers sorted out properly The aim is to make students‟ paper as clear and easy to read as possible, not to correct grammatical, punctuation and spelling error

4 Previous studies on the strategies students use at pre-writing stage

Strategy is a plan that is intended to achieve a particular purpose A pre-writing strategy is a device that helps writers get organized before they begin writing The point of the pre-writing strategy is to accumulate all ideas about the topic on paper, and

then writers can choose the best one's and use them in writing

Peacock (1986: 57-58) understands the pre-writing stage as one which prepares the learners before they start the writing process by helping them to start writing with confidence and understand the objective of their writing In this respect pre-writing helps in exploring the topic, the vocabulary needed and the sentence structures to be used It also helps the learners to communicate their ideas on the topic before writing, and to plan for writing Adegbija (1991: 228) explains that this stage helps the learners

to focus their minds on the writing task It enhances their prospects of producing a well-ordered, well-organized, fluent and coherent text if they prepare themselves with the linguistic tools for communicating exactly what they intend

This stage is very important because the writer sets his/her goals, and generates and organizes his/her ideas The writer prepares to write the text by choosing the ideas, suitable expressions, vocabulary and styles The pre-writing stage concerns the process

of generating ideas, and thinking how they will be related to one another (Caudery, 1997: 11) Writing a text necessitates some thinking before launching into it The writer needs time to develop his/her thoughts through generating and preparing the

9

ideas, diction and expressions which may fulfill the aim of the text Murray (1982: 15, 19) emphasizes the importance of the prewriting (preparation) stage in producing a text according to the process, because this stage often takes as much as 85% of the writer's time

Moreover, pre – writing is any activity in the classroom that encourages students

to write It stimulates thoughts for getting started Pre – writing activities help students prepare raw materials for the composing stage, and organize them in the best way (Coffin et al, 2003); therefore, they develop students‟ fluency (Byrne, 1988)

In order to improve pre-writing skill for students, teachers often introduce a variety of strategies for getting started with a writing task to students and encourage them to work out which strategies are the best for them (Kroll, 1991)

However, different researchers in the field of teaching writing to both first and second/foreign language learners suggest different strategies students use at the pre-writing stage Fletcher (1996) says that he does not use each strategy of these following strategies each time he writes Students will probably find that some of these strategies work better than others They will have to try them out and see which ones work best for them among 6 following prewriting strategies:

10

Starkey (2004) points out that the six prewriting strategies explained below may

be used both to generate new ideas and to clarify those students-writers already have Some strategies are better suited to a longer writing process while others may be adapted for when students have just a short period of time to complete a writing topic

11

It can be seen that different writers offer different strategies But a closer look at them will show that they have things in common What they share will be presented in the following pages

do not stop Instead, they can write the last thought over and over until they have something else to write At the end of the five minutes, they read over what they have written and underline any parts they think have interesting ideas, or ideas that might be useful to their paper Then students write these in point form at the top of a new sheet

of paper, and then free-write again for another 5 minutes What they will have at the end of several free-writings will not be something that can be turned into an outline for

a paragraph

In addition, Starkey (2004) said that when free writing, writers should never

stop to look back, to cross something out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word or thought to use, or to think about what they are doing The only rule to follow in free writing is simply not to stop writing

Similarly, Fletcher (1996) said that free writing is simply the practice of writing

whatever comes into writers‟ head without stopping to judge the output To begin, record whatever is going through their mind at the moment, without worrying about grammar, spelling, organization or even making basic sense

Furthermore, Baroudy (2008) said that free writing is a tool which writers use simply to get their ideas out onto paper The point is not to write a full-blown draft, but just to focus attention on the topic and let what ideas come, come There is no need at

12

this point to over-think anything that students write down, but rather, just keep writing Like other prewriting techniques, free writing asks students to focus on ideas, not grammatical or mechanical correctness (spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.)

All the three writers agreed that free writing is a writing technique in which the writers get their ideas out onto paper without stopping to judge the output or without regarding to spelling, grammar, or topic They only have to write all the ideas come from their minds or they write freely and unconsciously

(Dorothy E Zemach and Carlos Islaln, 2006:37)

4.2 Listing/brainstorming

In brainstorming, the writer creates a "storm" of ideas, not passing judgment on

any of them or censoring any idea that comes to mind, no matter how apparently absurd it is Many teachers use graphics to help students organize thinking These are called mind mapping or thinking maps, webs, fishbone maps or graphic organizers, they have proved to be particularly effective at increasing students‟ understanding and retention of information Perhaps this is because these visual devices make it possible

to see connections between aspects of the information that are not obvious in a linear form, such as outline or a narrative The structure of these frameworks resembles the structure used by the brain to organize information Remember that the various aspects

of a memory, or of a learned fact, are not stored in a single, specific location in the brain, but are stored in networks Images are stored in the visual cortex, sounds in the

13

auditory cortex and so forth This may be why visually mapping information has proved productive for enhancing students‟ storage and retention of information: It mirrors the structure used by the brain These organizers have a number of uses They can be used during prewriting to help students brainstorm aspects of a topic they might include in their composition (Wolfe, 2001) When they recall how powerful visuals are storing and recalling information process it is not surprising that they play a role in many visual organizers used such as mind maps By the time the students are ready to write, they are much more likely to really understand the ideas and are much better prepared and motivated to write through process writing

On the other hand, Wells (2009) divides braining into 2 types: ideas map and

idea list:

Brainstorming Method 1: Idea Map: Drawing a map of your ideas is helpful in many ways The center of the map is a circle with main idea Then the supporting ideas are around the circle

(Wells, 2009) Brainstorming Method 2: Idea List: The top of your list is the topic Then, list the ideas

in the order that they come Writers can use many lists to find supporting points for each main idea

Topic: Ideas of brainstorming done on teenage rebellion

 teenage rebellion – cause of:

14

 parental absence

 money problems

 no one to turn to

 misunderstanding with family members

 confusion at physical changes taking place

 approaches – to address teenage rebellion

According to the website: http://www.ukans.edu/~writing, clustering is defined

as a technique that allows writers to map out their thoughts and connect them visually

By beginning with a general subject written in the center of a blank page, writers can branch out into subtopics, and from the subtopics into supporting details Connect each word or phrase to related items by drawing arrows between them, and soon writers will have a topical map of their entire writing project Clustering is an ideal prewriting method for situations with time constraints, such as timed writing assignments

On other hands, Cameron (2008) suggested the following definition of clustering: “Clustering is the process in which writers take their main subject idea and draw a circle around it Then, they draw lines out from the circle connecting topics that relate to the main subject in the circle.”

There are many definition of clustering given by many experts but after a long time researching, I found that David Owen (2009) has given the most sufficient meaning of clustering when he described detailed steps to make a cluster: clustering also known as the Bubble diagram, the mind map or webbing This method of prewriting performs the same function as listing, but in a visual/ schematic form The writer places the topic in the middle of page; draw a circle around it and then branches off from this central idea by producing the sub-topics, tangential ideas, tentative concept and the like As clusters radiate further from the center, ideas become more specific In addition to illustrating relationship between ideas, the clustering method is

15

an effective way to narrow the scope of a topic Thus, in refining the focus of the topic, the writer will begin to notice how these random associations form part of a larger design; in other words, some sort of logical pattern should emerge from the seemingly

in choate mass of circle in the paper

(David Owen, 2009)

4.4 Branching

According to Fletcher (1996) defines branching in a different way: Branching is

the same thing as mind-mapping, but starting at the top of the page and working downwards in what looks like an upside-down family tree

On the other hand, David Owen (2009), branching is a similar to clustering except that it is a bit more structured Key ideas are written down and circled or boxed, usually at the top of the page, with complementary ideas branching off of the main ideas

Vividly, two authors have different opinions about branching Nevertheless, both of them have a common with position which branching should be placed and its significance

As far as many researchers pointed, branching plays an important role in writing because students know just how frustrating it can be to try to guess what they

According to Starkey (2004), outlining is more structured than free writing or

clustering As with clustering, outlining allowed you to bring your ideas together into specific subtopics and details Using bullet points or letters and numbers, write your subtopics flush with the margin, and indented under each one, write your supporting

details With the same view, Ede (2001) agreed that outlining is a way of writing down

the first sentence of every paragraph you think you might write

According to Lahl (2008), an outline is a sequential list of the main ideas that a

writer plans to incorporate in a composition, essay, book or other written text Roman numerals assigned to each main idea correlate with the number of chapters in a book or with the number of paragraphs in an essay

In general, outlining plays an important role in writing; it will help writers as well as readers understand writers‟ opinion easier and faster

17

(Ede, 2001)

4.6 Questions –Asking

According Fletcher (1996), the strategy means that writers close their eyes until

they conjure up the face of the audience Then, put them into the audience‟s place Ask all the questions they might have about arguments:

o What is your point?

o Do you know that for a fact? Prove it

o Who in the field agrees with you?

o Who in the field disagrees with you?

Lahl (2008) emphasized that this is one of the most useful approaches to get writers started on writing a paper, especially if they really have no idea where to start Learners write down all the questions that seem relevant to their material These should definitely be legitimate questions, possibly ones they have themselves By generating a lot of questions, as well as forcing themselves to contemplate answers to those questions, they will get out a lot of the ideas, issues, thoughts, etc that could potentially get you started on paper writing Similarly, a lot of topics come out of a

18

question By focusing on a question that is not easily answered, writers will have a framework for their argument

Example: Question-Asking for Jobs of the future

 What industries will be growing in the future?

 Which of today‟s jobs will soon be obsolete?

 What changes in society render some jobs obsolete?

 What qualifications does a person need to be hired in aerospace ?

4.7 Journaling

According to Ede (2001), journalists have six important questions they need to answer about any story they report: who, what, when, where, why, and how By answering these questions, journalists can be certain that they have provided the most important information about an event, issue, or problem to their readers These questions are also useful to writers when they are describing an event or writing an informative essay As with the exploded moment, this strategy allows them to make sure they have provided all of the important and specific details of a situation

For example: write about the political conflict in the Middle East

 Who is involved in the conflict?

 What issues most clearly divide those engaged in this dispute?

 When did the troubles East begin, and how have they developed overtime?

 Where does the conflict seem most heated or violent?

 Why have those living in this area found it so difficult to resolve the situation?

 How might this conflict be resolved?

Lahl (2011) claims that this strategy is “best used as an on-going process.” While brainstorming, free-writing, clustering, mind mapping, and question-asking can wait until students-writers have their paper assignment and are thinking about where to start, journaling is best throughout their engagement with whatever material they could potentially be writing on Journaling can involve aspects of all previously mentioned

19

strategies However, the idea behind it is to write down whatever strikes them about the material when it strikes That way, rather than trying to remember their first impressions and ideas about the material, they will have them already conveniently written down

4.8 Talking it out

Students will discuss the assigned topic with a friend or classmate They will talk for about three minutes on the topic while their partner listens He/ She can ask speaker to provide more information, clarify an idea, or even introduce a different opinion These responses can be:

• I‟m not sure what you mean by Can you clarify that thought?

• That sounds interesting Tell me more!

• Can you give me some examples?

• But aren‟t you assuming ?

• What if someone said the opposite? How would you respond?

When time is up, speaker just may have some ideas to work with! They might also be more aware of opposing positions on the issue they been discussing

Fletcher (1996) states that “Talking It Out” is one of the most effective

prewriting strategies students should use Sometimes students get together with a friend

to kick around an idea they are thinking about There is a little danger here-if they talk too much you they talk the mystery out of an idea They have found that a little talk goes a long way

4.9 Categorizing

Cameron (2008) states that categorizing is this strategy of exploring ideas which

is particularly useful for assignments which some type of comparison is required Categorizing can also help students identify the views expressed by the authors of the articles and books you are reading, which may lead students to find the thesis for their

20

own paper Below is part of one example which shows how categorizing can be used

to compare ideas and keep track of their own responses

For example: World Aid

(Cameron, 2008)

5 Context of the study

5.1 Center for International Cooperation and Training, EPU

CICT, EPU was established under Decision No 72/QD-DHDL-TCHC on January 24th 2007 CICT is responsible for promoting and implementing training programs of high quality to be signed between Electric Power University and prestigious universities in the world The goal of CICT is to become a leading collaborative training unit in order to train human resources for engineering in general and power industry in particular

Programs of CICT, EPU currently include:

o International cooperation training program between Vietnam – China

o International cooperation training program between Vietnam – Australia

o The language training

CICT has conducted courses in English, Chinese including basic, advanced and specialized training for officers and employees of the power plant and the power center, staff of Electric Power University