“AN INVESTIGATION ON SOME COMMON PROBLEMS IN WRITING A LETTER WITH GIVEN TITLE OF NON- MAJORED STUDENTS AT TAY NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

For these reason, the researcher would like to carry out our assignment “AN INVESTIGATION ON SOME COMMON PROBLEMS IN WRITING A LETTER WITH GIVEN TITLE OF MAJORED STUDENTS AT TAY NGUYEN

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter includes statement of the problem, objectives of thestudy, significance of the study, and outline of the study

1.1 Statement of the problem

As we know, English is becoming a language which is used in all the world It’s used to communicate with people in the world With this reason, today, the employers remand that all employee must have a basic English knowledge to communicate and use in their job The employers require their employees who apply to company, must have certificate of language, such as: IELTS, TOEIC, certificate

of English in B level and C level, most commonly is certificate of English in B level

In Tay Nguyen University, specific requirements of language for undergraduates from course 2012 onward at Tay Nguyen University

is level 3 ( or so called B1) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) In the language exam consists of 4 skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Through each of skills, we can improve language skills

- Listening skill- can understand straightforward instructions or public announcements

- Speaking skill- can express simple opinions on abstract/culturalmatters in a limited way

- Reading- can understand routine information and articles

- Writing- can write letters or make notes on familiar or

predictable matters

Beside that writing skill is one of basic skill, which requires good language abilities It is important that candidates leave themselves enough time to answer all three parts of the Writing component as

this carries the same weighting as the Reading component i.e 25%

of the total exam It is suggested that candidates spend at least 40 minutes on the Writing component Parts 2 and 3 of the Writing component focus on extended writing and candidates need to think carefully about who the target reader is for each task and try to write in an appropriate style and tone It is important to write clearly

so that the answers are easy to read However, it is not important if candidates write in upper or lower case, or if their writing is joined

up or not It is also important that candidates realise that Writing Part 3 carries 15 marks out of the total of 25 It takes up 60% of the total marks

Writing a short letter about 100 -120 words for a friend from abroad answer about one of your favorite films, TV programs, music,cuisine, restaurant or give advice Main content of the written letter similar to the theme of the section 2 (presentation themed lottery) Thus, students can refer to this section to outline some of the post This form is important part of writing section So, it requires

students must have a good English knowledge However, students face many problems when they write this form

For these reason, the researcher would like to carry out our

assignment “AN INVESTIGATION ON SOME COMMON

PROBLEMS IN WRITING A LETTER WITH GIVEN TITLE OF MAJORED STUDENTS AT TAY NGUYEN UNIVERSITY ” this

NON-assignment is conducted with the hope that it will help students to identify some problems in writing a letter with given title and to propose effective solutions

1.2 Objectives of the study

The main objectives of the study are:

- To identify some problems in writing a letter with given title

- To suggest some effective solutions.

1.3 Significance of the study

Through this study, the researcher would like help the second year Preschool of Pedagogy students in Tay Nguyen University to

determine some common problems in writing a letter with given title Beside that, the researcher hope the researcher can suggest some effective solutions after the researcher have finished this study

1.4 Outline of the study

The assignment is divided into 5 chapter:

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides the background information for the whole assignment: statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, and outline of the study

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter composed of 3 main parts:

The first part is overview about writing letter

The second part is some common problem in writing a letter with given title In this part, I will give 4 basic problems are: poor

sentence structures, problems with commas and other punctuation issues, subject- verb agreement and word usage which students usually get in writing a letter with given title

The third is some require of writing a letter with given title in Englishcertificate following B1 standard

Chapter 3: CONTENTS AND METHODOLOGY This chapter describes the method use to this study It is composed three main parts:

Subjects of the study, scope of the study, contents of the study and research methods.

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS This chapter reports and discusses the result from this study After the findings of the study, the study gives a summary of the assessment

Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS This chapter refers to two issues: conclusions of the study and recommendations

of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview about writing letter

2.1.1 The important of writing skill

Writing skills is an important in 4 basic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing Writing skills are an important part of

communication Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than through face- to- face or telephone conversations

2.1.2 Some factors of writing skill

Letter writing is an essential skill Despite the prevalence of emails and text messages, everyone has to write letters at some point Letters of complaint, job applications, thank you letters, letters

requesting changes or making suggestions — the list goes on and on

Handwriting too is an essential element In the Standard AssessmentTests (SAT) Level 2 handwriting is required:

- To be legible

- Have a consistent size and spacing of letters

- Show flow and movement

- Show a confident personal style

2.2 Some problems in writing.

Before I do this study, I looked up in the Internet and found some problems which students usually get in writing a letter with given

title Below are 4 basic problems which according to Paul R

Hensel- Professor of Political Science,University of North Texas, the author of “Common Writing Problems”, the students

usually make a mistakes They are poor sentence structures,

problems with commas and other punctuation issues, subject- verb

agreement (singular- plural issues) and word usage (Paul R

Hensel, 2008)

2.2.1 Poor sentence structures

2.2.1.1 Definition of sentence structure

According to the website “wise GEEK- clear answers for common questions” ( http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-sentence-

structure.htm#didyouknowout), sentence structure is the order and arrangement of the clauses in a sentence, which is a group of words that express a complete thought Three of the most common types

of sentence structure are simple, compound, and complex

sentences Each of these can be identified by the number and types

of clauses found within them

2.2.1.2 Some kinds of sentence structures

According to Elizabeth O’Brien- the author of the Grammar

Revolution, there are 4 kinds of sentence structures

For example: - "The man walked down the street to see if the

newspaper had arrived at his favorite corner store,"

It is simple, with only a single independent clause, though it is much longer than the previous example ( Elizabeth O’Brien)

- Compound

Compound sentences consist of two or more simple or independent clauses, joined by a coordinating conjunction such as "and" or a coordinating adjective like "however."

For example: - "I walked to the store," and "The clerk waved hello," are both simple sentences They can be joined together to create the compound, "I walked to the store, and the clerk waved hello." ( Elizabeth O’Brien)

- Complex

A complex sentence has one independent clause joined together with a dependent clause Since dependent clauses do not express

complete ideas, they often become subordinate clauses that do not have as much strength as independent ones ( Elizabeth O’Brien).

- Compound-Complex

The combination of the compound and complex forms create a

sentence structure known as "compound-complex." This occurs when a simple and complex sentence are combined together, or twocomplex types become connected

In here, the problem of students that they lack of sentence structurewhen writing a letter They just use simple sentence to write

because it’s easy But using one sentence structure in whole letter isn’t a good way They must combine all sentence structure to write

a good letter ( Elizabeth O’Brien)

2.2.2 Problems with commas and other punctuation Issues

According to Jane Straus, author of “the Blue book of grammar and punctuation”, commas help your reader figure out which words go together in a sentence and which parts of your sentences are most important Using commas incorrectly may confuse the reader, signalignorance of writing rules, or indicate carelessness Although using commas correctly may seem mysterious, it can be easy if you follow

a few guidelines (Jane Straus)

Beware of popular myths of comma usage:

- Long sentences need a comma A really long sentence may beperfectly correct without commas The length of a sentence does not determine whether you need a comma

- You should add a comma wherever you pause Where you pause or breathe in a sentence does not reliably indicate

where a comma belongs Different readers pause or breathe indifferent places

- Commas are so mysterious that it’s impossible to figure out where they belong! Some rules are flexible, but most of the time, commas belong in very predictable places You can learn

to identify many of those places using the tips in this handout.Beside commas, they also note the using way of dot, dash, colon- and- dash, semi- colon in a letter To make sure that

sentence is enough long to finish by commas or dot Using dash, semi- colon in suitable cases (Jane Straus)

2.2.3 Subject- Verb agreement (singular- plural issues)

According to Jane Straus, author of “the Blue book of grammar and punctuation”, the correspondence of a verb with its subject in person (first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural).The principle of subject-verb agreement applies to finite verbs in the present tense and, in a limited way, to the past forms of the verb to

be (was and were)

2.2.4 Word usage

According to Wikipedia word usage is how a word, phrase, or concept is used in a language Lexicographers gather samples of written or spoken instances where a word is used and analyze them

to determine patterns of regional or social usage as well as

meaning

This is the basic problem that students usually get They don’t know way to use suitable word for each case Beside that they don’t distinguish kinds of word, it is noun or verb to use

This is some example of word usage in “A Dictionary of Usage (from the UVic Writer's Guide; the following problems are a few of

my favorites from their guide that didn't make my top twenty list)”

posted by The Department of English, University of Victoria, 1995 (This page updated September 22, 1995).

A lot / Alot / Allot

All together / Altogether

Among / Between

Amoral / Immoral

2.3 Some requirements of writing a letter with given title in English certificate following B1 standard.

Following the website http://tienganhb1.com/ Writing a short letter about 100 -120 for a friend from abroad answer about one of your favorite films, TV programs, music, cuisine, restaurant or give advice Main content of the written letter similar to the theme of the section 2 (presentation themed lottery) Thus, students can refer to this section to outline some of the post

Here is some requires of writing a letter with given title in English certificate following B1 standard:

• To make sure to answer all of the respondents Before starting to write, read the topic, write down your questions and point out the answers in the form of the phrase Avoid writing complete sentencesbother

• To use a variety of vocabulary, grammatical structures

• To use the appropriate connection, note the punctuation and

paragraph appropriate division

• Articles in the form of a letter, to ensure the structure of an article directory

• The test does not need to write the address B1 of the writer,

- Starting your letter: You can use one of the following phrases

to begin the letter

- Thanks for your letter (Cảm ơn bạn đã viết thư)

Lovely to hear from you (Rất vui khi nhận được tin tức từ bạn)

How are you? (Bạn khỏe không?)

How are things? (Mọi việc thế nào)

Hope you're well (Mình hi vọng bạn khỏe.)

- And comment on the information in the letter that your friend wrote to you

I'm sorry to hear/learn Mình rất tiệc khi nghe được/ biết rằng I'm so pleased to hear Mình rất vui khi biết rằng

I’m so pleased to hear that you are getting married next month/you have got a new job

It's great to hear Thật vui khi biết rằng…

What wonderful news about

Part 2 : The body

- Writing to main content, answering questions in the

assignment Use one of the following ways forward: in

Anyway, the reason I'm writing

I thought I'd write to tell/ask you

Anyway, I was wondering

Part 3 : Ending letter

- Using one of the following ways:

Well, that's all for now

Write back soon.

Looking forward to hearing from you again

All the best/ Best wishes/ See you soon/ Take care/ Yours/ Love/ Lots of love ….(All words / phrases are comma (,) behind)

In section 3 (question 7 or question 8) of Writing B1 exam,

students usually write types of letter are: Giving instructions/ advice and describing something- hobbies/ favourite…This part take up 60% of writing section so it requires that students must have a good language abilities to write

CHAPTER 3: CONTENTS AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Subjects of the study

The subjects in this study are 70 second year Pedagogy of Nursery students at Tay Nguyen University

3.2 Scope of the study

Due to the time and resource limitation, these assignment focus on studying some common problems in writing a letter with given title of the second year non- English majored students at Tay Nguyen University

3.3 Contents of the study

When student write a letter with given title, they get some problems This problems makes them don’t improve their writing skill For these reason, I would like to carry out my assignment: An investigation on some common problems in writing a letter with given title of the second year non- English majored students at Tay Nguyen University To study my assignment, the researcher

implement follow steps:

- To overview about writing

- To design 2 writing practice tests

- To ask my supervisor- Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, MA to help mark and comment on the papers

- To collect data of mistakes students that students usually make in writing practice tests

3.4 Research methods

Main method: Writing practice tests

The writing practice tests were designed for the purpose of investigating some common problems in writing a letter with given title 100 copies of writing tests are delivered to the second year Pedagogy of Nursery at Tay Nguyen University for completing

Two writing test are written in English Each writing test has a difference title Students must write a letter following some require

of the writing test The letter have about 100 words