Differentiated effects of reformulation versus reconstruction task on EFL high school students writing performance within the context of genre based instruction a thesis submitted in parti

Genre-based writing instruction has been suggested after some inadequacies have been found concerning the product and process-based approach to writing teaching.. An experimental study w

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

DIFFERENTIATED EFFECTS OF REFORMULATION VERSUS

RECONSTRUCTION TASKS ON EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING

PERFORMANCE

in terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Theses in Master’s Program issued

by the Higher Degree Committee The thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institutions

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016

NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC CHÂU

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Chau, being the candidate for the degree of Master

of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of thesis

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016

NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC CHÂU

Secondly, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all lecturers in the Ho Chi Minh City Open University who provided me with invaluable sources of knowledge during my study there and all the staff members of the Department of Post Graduate Studies for their help during the course Especially, I would like to express my great thanks to Dr Pham

Vu Phi Ho as a devoted counsellor for my class TESOL7 whose advice, support and encouragement are significant to us

Thirdly, I am very grateful to the Board of Directors of Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School for creating all the best conditions for me to take this MA course and finish the thesis

Also, I would like to thank all of my English-majored students from Cohort 4, who took part in this research, for their great efforts to complete various tests and questionnaires This thesis would not have been completed without their outstanding cooperation

I also would like to acknowledge my colleagues and friends who directly or indirectly contributed to my thesis My deep gratitude goes to Mr Nguyen Dang Hoang Duy, for his invaluable supports in sharing the challenges at work so that I could devote time to completing the thesis I owe my thanks to Mr Nguyen Dang Hoang Duy, Mr Le Xuan

Ho, Ms Mai Hong Ngoc who helped me with grading the post-tests

Finally, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to my parents, family members whose prayers, love and best wishes were a source of inspiration, encouragement and motivation for me as I was successfully completing this study

ABSTRACT

Written communication is an issue that EFL teachers have to address within the setting of internationalization Genre-based writing instruction has been suggested after some inadequacies have been found concerning the product and process-based approach to writing teaching Different methods of genre-based writing instruction have been introduced; however, few studies have focused on the effects of the application of reformulation and reconstruction tasks An experimental study was attempted to find out the differentiated impacts of the two types of tasks on EFL high school students’ writing performance on their attitudes to writing in the light of genre-based writing instruction

A single group of students with a stratification of three levels of proficiency were conveniently selected to join two phases of the study The reformulation tasks were introduced in Phase 2, experimental time while reconstruction tasks were implemented in the control time in Phase 1 The quantitative data from the pretest and the post-test of the two phases were analyzed to find out whether or not students made progress over ten weeks in their writing ability Also, the qualitative data acquired from a questionnaire-based survey after the treatment and students’ written feedback were considered to get more insights into the extent of confidence and challenge experienced by the students when the tasks were applied The study shed light into the role of noticing in introducing the different aspects of discourse types (genres) in teaching writing to high school students

TABLE OF CONTENT

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

ABSTRACT v

LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES xii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xiv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the Problem 1

1.1.1 An overview of writing approaches proposed by theorists and practitioners 1

1.1.2 Writing Teaching and Curriculum in the Study Setting 4

1.2 Aims of the Study 6

1.3 Research Questions 7

1.4 Research Hypothesis 7

1.5 Significance of the Study 8

1.6 Organization of the Study 8

1.7 Definition of Terms 9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 Views and Trends in Teaching Writing 10

2.2 Writing Approaches in the History of L2 Composition Teaching 11

2.2.1 Product approach 11

2.2.2 Process approach 12

2.2.3 Genre-based approach 15

2.2.3.1 The concept of genre in the SFL view 15

2.2.3.2 The properties of three approaches to genre 16

2.2.3.4 The positive and negative sides of the genre-based approach 20

2.3 A comparison of writing approaches 20

2.4 Reconstruction and Reformulation 23

2.4.1 Reconstruction 23

2.4.2 Reformulation 24

2.4.3 Properties of “Focus on Form” ( RF) and Focus on Forms (RC) 25

2.4.4 Studies on RC and RF 26

2.4.5 Explicit and Implicit Instruction 30

2.4.5.1 A distinction between implicit and explicit instruction 30

2.4.5.2 An overview of formal instruction from previous studies 31

2.4.5.3 The correlation among implicit and explicit instruction, implicit and explicit learning, implicit and explicit knowledge 33

2.5 The genre-based approach applied in the study 35

2.5.1 Writing teaching in the study setting 35

2.5.2 The Sydney School applied in the study setting 35

2.5.3 The argumentative essays in the study 38

2.5.4 The application of genre-based approach to teaching English writing at the study setting 39

2.6 The conceptual framework 40

2.7 Chapter summary 42

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 43

3.1 Research Design 43

3.2 Research Site 43

3.3 Teaching Materials 44

3.4 Research Participants 44

3.5 Data Types and Methods of data collection 45

3.5.1 Experiment 45

3.5.2 Tests 46

3.5.2.1 Proficiency test 46

3.5.2.2 Writing post-test 1 and post-test 2 46

3.5.3 Journals 47

3.5 4 Questionnaires 47

3.5 5 Reliability of the questionnaire 49

3.6 Experimental teaching process 50

3.6.1 Pre-treatment stage 52

3.6.2 Treatment stage 52

3.6.21 Reconstruction 52

3.6.2.2 Reformulation 52

3.6.2.3 Speaking-writing activities 53

3.6.3 Post-treatment stage 54

3.6.4 A comparison between RC’ s and RF’ s procedures 54

3.7 Data collection 56

3.8 Methods of analysis 56

3.8.1 Descriptive values 57

3.8.1.1 Frequency (f) 57

3.8.1.2 Percentage (%) 57

3.8.1.3 Mean 57

3.8.1.4 Standard deviation (S.D.) 58

3.8.1.5 Bivariate Correlation 58

3.8.2 Analysis of students’ essays 58

3.8.3 Descriptive data analysis of post-tests 59

3.8.4 Descriptive data analysis of questionnaire 60

3.8.5 Textual analysis of journals 60

3.9 Scoring criteria 62

3.9.2 Scoring for writing post-tests 62

3.10 Chapter summary 63

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 64

4.1 Results in the writing tests 64

4.1.1 Statistical analysis of test results among the three groups 64

4.1.1.1 Statistical analysis on group High level during Post-test 1 and Post-test2 65 4.1.1.2 Statistical analysis on group Middle level during Post-test 1 and Post-test2 66

4.1.1.3 Statistical analysis on group Low level during Post-test 1 and Post-test2 67 4.1.1.4 Statistical analysis of test results among the three groups 68

4.1.2 Statistical analysis of writing abilities among three groups 70

4.1.2.1 High level group 70

4.1.2.2 Middle level group 71

4.1.2.3 Low level group 72

4.1.2.4 Statistical analyses on three groups’ writing abilities after three tests 72

4.2 Results on the relationship between language proficiency and writing performance 78

4.3 Results from journals and questionnaire 81

4.3.1 Participants’ background 82

4.3.2 Students’ attitudes toward RC and RF 83

4.3.3 Students’ affection, confidence and challenges on RC phase 84

4.3.3.1 Students’ keenness and confidence on RC phase 84

4.3.3 2 Students’ anxiety and challenges on RC phase 86

4.3.4 Students’ affection, confidence and challenges on RF phase 88

4.3.4.1 Students’ keenness on RF phase 88

4.3.4.2 Students’ confidence on RF phase 89

4.3.4.3 Students’ anxiety and challenges on RF phase 90

4.3.5 Reasons for students’ priority in Reconstruction phase 93

4.3.6 Reasons for students’ priority in Reformulation phase 94

4.4 Chapter summary 97

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS 98

5.1 Findings on research questions 98

5.1.1 Students’ writing achievement 98

5.1.2 The relationship between language proficiency and writing performance 99

5.1.3 Students’ reflection on the innovation 99

5.2 Findings on writing notification to teaching writing 103

5.2.1 The “ visibility” of the sample essays in RF tasks 103

5.2.2 The role of implicitness in RF tasks 103

5.3 Findings on the innovative roles 104

5.3.1 New teaching approach 105

5.3.2 New teacher’s role 105

5.3.3 New learners’ role and opportunity 106

5.3.4 New curriculum designer’s role 107

5.4 Chapter summary 107

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 108

6.1 Summary of key findings 108

6.2 Implications 109

6.3 Limitations 111

6.4 Recommendations for further research 112

6.5 Chapter summary 112

REFERENCE 114

APPENDIX 1: MARKING SCALE FOR GRADERS’ EVALUATION 119

APPENDIX 2: A SUMMARY OF WRITING TASKS AND GENRES INVOLVED 122 APPENDIX 3A: PROFICIENCY TEST 124

APPENDIX 4A: POST-TEST 1 133

APPENDIX 4B: SCORES OF POST-TEST 1 133

APPENDIX 4B: POST-TEST 2 134

APPENDIX 4B: SCORES OF POST-TEST 2 134

APPENDIX 5A: POST-TEST ESSAYS FROM HG 136

APPENDIX 5B: POST-TESTS FROM MG 141

APPENDIX 5C: POST-TESTS FROM LG 146

APPENDIX 6A: (ENGLISH VERSION) 152

APPENDIX 6B: (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 159

APPENDIX 7: THE RECAST 166

APPENDIX 8: IN-CLASS WRITING 167

APPENDIX 9: CLASSROOM HANDOUTS 168

LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES

TABLES

Table 2.4.5.1: Imlicit and explicit instruction……… 27

Table 2.4.5.2b: Some characteristics of formal instruction ……… 29

Table 2.4.5.3: Typical tasks for investigating two types of learning ……… 30

Table 3.4: Group Attribution according to proficiency test scores……… 41

Table 3.8a: Structure and aim of the questionaire……… 50

Table 3.9b: Description of Reliability Statistics of the Questionnaire……… 51

Table 3.13.2: Writing scores in the study……… 58

Table 4.1.1.1.a: High level group statistics of three test results……… 60

Table 4.1.1.2a: Description of test scores from Middle level among three tests… 61

Table 4.1.1.3.a Description of test scores from Low level among two tests…… 62

Table 4.1.1.4a: Description of test results among three groups……… 63

Table 4.1.2.1.Description of writing abilities in High-proficiency Group……… 65

Table 4.1.2.2: Description of writing abilities in Middle level Group……… 66

Table 4.1.2.3: Description of writing abilities in Low level Group……… 66

Table 4.1.2.4: Summary of the table and chart on three groups’ writing abilities after three tests ……… 67

Table 4.1.2.10: Correlations on the relationship between port-test 1 and post-test 2… 71 Table 4.2.1: Pearson correlation coefficient results between proficiency and post-test 2 73

Table 4.2.2: Spearman correlation coefficient results between proficiency and post-test 2……… 73

Table 4.2.3: Skewness correlation coefficient results between proficiency and post-test 2……… 74

Table 4.3.1 Students’ extra classes……… 77

Table 4.3.2.a: Students’ preference for RC and RF……… 77

Table 4.3.3.1a: Students’ keenness on RC……… 80

Table 4.4.3.1b: Students’confidence on RC……… 80

Table 4.3.3.2: Students’ anxiety and challenges on RC phase……… 81

Table 4.3.4.1 Students’ keeness on RF phase……… 83

Table 4.3.4 2 Students’ confidence on RF phase……… 84

Table 4.3.4.3 Students’ anxiety and challenges on RF phase……… 85

Table 4.3.5: Reasons for Reconstruction phase……… 87

Table 4.3.6: Reasons for Reformulation phase……… 89

Table 4.3.7: Students’ feedback and recommendation on RC and RF……… 90

FIGURES Figure 2.2.2: The process wheel proposed by Harmer ……… 12

Figure 2.4.5.2a: Types of formal instruction ……… 28

Figure 2.5.2: Demonstration of Teaching and learning cycle ……… 34

Figure 2.6: The conceptual framework……… 37

Figure 3.6.2.3: The Discussion Clock ……… 46

Figure 4.1.1.1.b: High-proficiency group’s writing scores between two post-tests… 61

Figure 4.1.1.2b: Middle-proficiency group’s writing scores between two post-tests… 62 Figure 4.1.1.3b: Low-proficiency group’s writing scores between two post-tests…… 63

Figure 4.1.1.4.b: Summary of students’ achievement among three groups ………… 64

Figure 4.2.4:Scattergram showing relationships between proficiency and post-test 2 75

Figure 4.2.5: Scattergram showing groups’ performance at proficiency test……… 75

Figure 4.2.6: Scattergram showing groups’ performance at post-test 2……… 76

CHARTS Chart 4.1.2.5 Improvements of content ……… 68

Chart 4.1.2.6 Improvements of organization ……… 69

Chart 4.1.2.7 Improvement of vocabulary ……… 69

Chart 4.1.2.8 Improvement of language use ……… 70

Chart 4.1.2.9 Improvements of mechanics……… 71

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CEFR : Common European Framework Reference EAP : English for Academic Purpose

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

ELT : English Language Teaching

ESA : Engage-Study- Activate

ESP : English for Specific Purpose

FFI : Form-focused instruction

SFL : Systemic Functional Linguistics

SPSS : Statistical Package for Social Sciences WTO : World Trade Organization

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Sir Francis Bacon, in the Essays or Counsels Civil & Moral of Francis Bacon (1625)

wrote, “ Reading makes a full man; Conference a ready man and Writing an exact man” Writing is in deed an essential skill for students of English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language ( EFL), which is not restricted to a particular age group Also, writing proves its pivotal role not only in school curriculum, in currently required examination but also in real life Writing in high school curriculum is regarded

as one of the four required language skills so as to serve as a foundation for acquiring English competence in tertiary education To meet the requirement of written communication in the setting of internationalization and globalization, high school teachers in Vietnamese context have applied lots of writing approaches proposed by theorists and practitioners However, the effectiveness of writing approaches in Vietnamese context has not been distinctly confirmed so far Similarly, students in Nguyen Quang Dieu gifted high school have often encountered such difficulties as idea development, organization and other writing problems though they have been presented plenty of linguistic knowledge and experienced various writing approaches This reason has incited the researcher to get involved in the study to seek for the application of the innovation tasks in writing teaching which might respond the satisfaction of learners’ needs and expectation

1.1 Background of the Problem

1.1.1 An overview of writing approaches proposed by theorists and practitioners

The two last decades witnessed the major changes in the teaching of writing The three major movements were brought out to meet the new requirements: “ Focus on Form”, “ Focus on the writer” and “ Focus on the reader” (Tribble, 2006, p.44 ) and lots of studies were done to shed some light on writing practicality Both process approach and genre

orientation seem to prioritize learners’ awareness of the nature of writing and basic principles of writing situation (Matsuo & Bevan, 2012) Anderson (1993) states that genre-awareness is a prerequisite for “successful written communication” (as cited in Matsuo & Bevan, 2012) and the outmoded that “writing =grammar/ translation” has been defeated by the fact that successful writing requires “both rhetorical structure and control

of grammar” (Hyland, 2009, p.64) The researchers firmly conclude that learners’ management towards genre-consciousness, forms and strategies, is a “means to empowerment” (Matsuo & Bevan, 2012) It cannot be denied that genre approach has proved itself a promising and a popular approach, together with process approach, it is believed to provide students with the knowledge about the nature of writing as well as the social and cultural contexts and the constraints of the writing context

In the teaching context of Vietnam, how widespread and significant any improvements in writing instruction are is not yet clear In reality, it is somehow similar to what Hamp-Lyons & Heasly (2006) states “the skill has, however, been “the last language skill to be acquired … for foreign/ second language learners” ( p.2) Writing is a solo and an important skill for writers to convey their messages to readers, yet whether or not the messages might be effectively understood is entirely based on how they organized and infused readers with their thoughts and spirit This is indeed a challenge to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and learners who have been facing with “the rhetorical conventions of English texts” (Yan, 2005) They are required to grasp and manage the differences between the structure, style, and organization in writing English and those in their mother tongue The Vietnamese writing teaching context has highlighted the challenge of writing since there are many language-focused writing classes that focus on

“ exam-orientation purpose” rather than “the purposes of plurality of real readers outside classroom context” (Luu, 2011, p.1471) It is widely known that school leavers still possess an insufficient awareness of writing nature and the social and cultural contexts and constraints in which writing takes place (Matsuo & Bevan, 2012 ) From the reality

apprehend plenty of linguistic knowledge but achieve little practical performance – students have struggled with assigned “normally have to write about what is assigned by their teacher rather than about what bears much relevance to them.” (Luu, 2010, p.81) Luu (2011) firmly states that the majority of writing teachers just concentrate on supplying students with vocabulary connected to the required topic and some questions to

“ help them shape ideas into the completed paragraphs” (p.1471) The researcher acknowledges “Teaching writing in this way only benefits them to an extent that it can assist them in producing the error-free texts following the models of correct language However, it does not contribute to help students realize and master such features as purposes, audiences, context and linguistic conventions of text which are the important features of any text-types” Hoang (2007) also reports that the Vietnamese common routine of instruction and practice is purely product-oriented approach through which students are required to read the given instruction, think it over and write As a matter of fact, towards product-oriented writing teaching in Vietnam, the evaluation is merely based on the knowledge of linguistic features according to “a set of conventions largely derived from samples or model of a certain genre” (Ly, 2007 )

In addition, Ellis (1996) observes that language teaching principles that emphasize processes are a whole new experience for Vietnamese EFL teachers Also, Tran (2001;

as cited in Ly, 2007), mentions writing as an activity performed by individuals with the teacher-sole audience and students-quiet performers It cannot be denied that their reticence might be traced back to not only teachers’ ignorance of writing as a process, but also the reality that they have not helped students to recognize the social conventions

of a certain genre that need to be met in order to successfully communicate through their writing The lack of sufficient linguistic input and writing characteristics required in these genres has resulted in a superficial display of ideas which fails to meet the expectation of readers Students may gradually have low motivation in learning to write , which makes it harder and harder to enhance writing skills

Apart from changes of writing practicality, the two last decades also witnessed the innovation and requirement in the teaching and learning this skill in our country The challenges and opportunities from economic reforms in 1996, the 1994 degree issued by the Vietnamese Prime Minister for an intermediate level of English proficiency for all government officers and WTO membership in 2006 made English in Vietnam much more important than ever before (Ton and Pham, 2010) That is to say, the blossom of innovations in English teaching and learning in the light of Common European Framework Reference (CEFR) One example is the English Project 2020 of Ministry of Education which strongly mentions the role of high school education in developing students’ language competence In terms of writing tests, EFL high school leavers are expected to achieve the competence of Pre-Intermediate (Level B1 in CEFR) so that they can easily adjust themselves to the demands of using English in integration era Actually, learners’ competence in English for both academic purposes and daily communication is powered up by the educational setting The last decade also witnessed lots of changes in teaching English in Vietnam in terms of exhortations from MOET, new teaching textbooks and innovations in teaching methodology and writing instruction is not an exception That is to say, the notion of writing closely linked to grammar and translation has been disillusioned by innovations in writing instructions However, how widespread

or substantial the changes in writing instructions has not been clearly proven

With such demands for academic purposes and the reality of the contemporary teaching

of writing, how are teachers of writing ever going to gauge the effectiveness of current writing approaches to scaffold students’ writing performance? This is also the researcher’s long-nurtured theme after thirteen years working at high school context and four teaching years at the research site

1.1.2 Writing Teaching and Curriculum in the Study Setting

Nguyen Quang Dieu is a five-year-old gifted high school in the center of Cao Lanh city, Dong Thap province Like other Vietnamese schools to the English Project 2020 of the

Ministry of Education (MOET), its mission is to enhance students’ language competence

In reality, the 11th-form textbook or Tieng Anh 11 in both curricula is presented with a focus on many text-genres such as recounts, narratives, discussions, expository essays, information reports, letter writings, etc Those who join English-major classes are much more involved in training English in comparison with their counterparts in other classes Though writing curriculum is officially prescribed by the Ministry of Education, the selection of textbook for English class is up to school authority In order to meet the learners’ need and the requirement of gifted education, books from international publishers are officially selected together with supplementary materials for pre-intermediate level

Actually, genre-based approach introduced in these books has interested the researcher for the last two years Nevertheless, she is still uneasy about students’ performance from the reality Students have not completely made progress in writing skills though they have acquired lots of forms, lexical and grammatical rules The mini conference with students at the beginning and at the end of each semester reveal that students always harbor a dream about improving their writing skills and feel an “ invisible pressure” from imitating a model text in the first stage of a writing class and such challenges in writing

as the appropriate style, idea development and time constraint

The role of the model text and how to fix common challenges in writing can be seen in the tasks of “focus on form” and “ focus on forms” Reformulation which was first proposed by Levenston (1978) and reconstruction introduced by Corder (1971) seem to

be promising in the case since reformulation is effective in noticing stimulation and tasks providing to engage learners (Swain & Lapkin, 2002) Long (1983, as cited in Ellis, 1994) states that learners’ levels of proficiency supported by formal instructions are much higher than those who do not since the counter-productive instructions of focus on form leads to faster learning However, Montogomery and Eistenstein (1985, as cited in Ellis, 1994) propose that “form-oriented” should be combined with “ meaning-oriented”

to benefit students’ learning instead of using the former alone The prior studies also reveal various trends and opinion in writing approaches and Vietnamese writing instructions are not exceptional Despite the fact that reconstruction and reformulation tasks hold the potential scaffolding, the feasibility of the two tasks have not been proven

in Vietnamese teaching context and no research have been conducted In one word, the continuing deficits of writing instruction and the reality of teaching writing at the school setting raise some questions in the researcher’s mind:

1 Which task in genre-based writing instruction is conducive to teaching argumentative genre, reconstruction or reformulation?

2 What happens if students are freed from reading the model essay? Will they better their writing attainment? Will such a release of ideas be effective in argumentation writing?

3 Does the level of grammatical proficiency help much in improving writing skills?

4 Does it really work if EFL high school students are exposed to life-related topics in their daily life?

5 Is implicit instruction conducive to genre-based instruction in general and essay training in particular? Which retains a long-term effect, explicit or implicit instruction?

From my own perspective, I would like to put forth a study to implement the tasks to the teaching of writing so as to help improve students’ performance as well as motivation in class

1.2 Aims of the Study

The thesis therefore aims at (1) investigating the impact of reformulation and reconstruction tasks on EFL high school students’ writing ability within the context of genre-based writing instruction, (2) examining the relationship between language proficiency and writing performance in the research pool and (3) exploring students’

perspectives on the application of reformulation and reconstruction tasks in the study setting

1.3 Research Questions

The study was conducted to answer the ensuing questions:

1 Is there any difference in writing performance when executing the reconstruction and the reformulation tasks in writing instruction?

2 Is there any correlation between proficiency and writing performance?

3 How do students perceive the effectiveness of the reformulation task stage?

(a) To what extent do they feel confident about reformulation task construction? (b) To what extent do they have anxiety over reformulation task instruction presented?

- for the second question, there should be a correlation between grammar proficiency and writing ability, which means that a good knowledge of grammar helps students perform well in writing

- for the last question, with reference to learners’ view on RF and RC, there should be a relationship between students’ perspectives and students’ performance They are supposed to express their anxiety and confidence on the two types of tasks It is assumed that implicit instruction is conducive to genre-based writing instruction and the “ real-world” genre might help students in training argumentative essay

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study is expected to be significant for both teachers and students involved in the research site Since writing is one of the two productive skills, a good ability of writing not only helps students with their English learning and academic results but also enables them to express and update themselves with latest changes in business, science and profession For the students, the study results may contribute to improve their writing skills on argumentation as well as boost their confidence through tasks involved during the study For teachers, the study is an endeavor to have them share perspectives and introduce an appropriate approach for teaching writing skill Also, the study might help consolidate the orientation of writing instruction in the setting of gifted high school context By and large, the study may be useful, informative and applicable to the research site context

1.6 Organization of the Study

The study consists of six chapter Chapter 1 introduces the background of the study which is followed by research aims, research questions, hypothesis, significance of the study, and organization of the thesis Chapter 2 gives a scholarly discussion of issues related to the thesis which is specified by theoretical concepts and empirical studies and the conceptual framework Chapter 3 presents the research design and methodology employed in the study in terms of the research site, research participant, research design, instrument, procedures and methods of analysis Chapter 4 is about the results of the study from collected data of proficiency, post-tests and questionnaire and students’ journal Chapter 5 is confined within the discussions of the findings and followed by Chapter 6, an introduction of conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research as well as several limitations of the study

1.7 Definition of Terms

For the sack of clarity, the following terms used in this study gives particular meanings as explained below:

Reconstruction : a forms-focused approach and bottom-up process with explicit

instruction to focus on accuracy through three stages of Presentation-Practice-Production

Reformulation: a form-focused and top-down process with implicit instruction to focus

on both accuracy and fluency through three stages of Composing-Recast-Revising

Recast: the reformulated and native-like text by teacher and the starting point for learners

to first expose and then reconstruct

Explicit instruction: the instruction directed at enabling learners to achieve the rules

during the learning process

Implicit instruction: the instruction directed at enabling learners to infer rules without

awareness

EFL learner: The term EFL learner refers to those who learn English as a foreign

language

Genre-based approach: The genre approach is more socially oriented and focuses on the

ways in which writers and texts need to interact with readers In this approach, writing is seen as an essentially social activity in which texts are written to do things, the assumption being that if the reader cannot recognize the purpose of a text, communication will not be successful (Tribble, 1996, p.37)

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

As proposed in the previous chapter, reformulation and reconstruction tasks within based approach can be fruitful alternative approaches in the present English writing instruction situation at gifted high schools The present chapter is aimed at providing a theoretical framework as a basis for the study conceptual framework Hence it first attempts to clarify key terminologies embodied in the study Then a brief review of past and more recent literature relating to the issue will be systematically discussed in terms of both achievements and shortcomings Also, a review of theoretical concepts of three schools of genre, reformulation, reconstruction and the relationship among them together with implicit versus explicit teaching is mentioned in order to make a comparison and contrast among their characteristics as well as fully understand how they work The researcher reassesses the writing context in which argumentative essay is a top priority Lastly, the conceptual framework is introduced as the lodestar of the study

genre-2.1 Views and Trends in Teaching Writing

In contrast to the traditional view which considered writing “ primarily a means of recording speech even though it must be acknowledged as a secondary medium of communication in its own right” (Morris 1996: 24), the viewpoint of regarding writing as

a communication skill and a complex process has appreciated new roles and positions of writing in language teaching and learning The notion of being “ a complex, cognitive process that requires sustained effort over a considerable period of time” (Nunan 1999: 273) and “ writing in a second language is a worthwhile enterprise in and of itself” ( Weigle 2002) Similarly, Hyland (2003) acknowledges writing in the complexity of a relationship triangle among such elements as the audience ( the writer, the reader), the

text and the context (reality) Writing, therefore, is no longer a means of speech learning but a means of linguistic expression and communication

The three most significant trends in teaching writing over the last 30 years are focusing

on the structures, focusing on the process and focusing on the genre Such trends as

“Focus on Form”, “Focus on the writer” and “Focus on the reader” (Tribble, 2006, p.44 ) The first two tendencies relatively highlight the emphasis on “format text units on grammatical of a text” and paying attention to the writer as an “ independent producer of text” (Hyland, 2003, p.3) Reader-focused trend, however, emphasizes “more on the reader and on the convention that a piece of writing needs to follow in order to be successfully accepted by its readership” (Muncie, 2002)

All writing-related issues mentioned above can be seen as fundamental background for forming writing approaches in L2 composition teaching which are discussed one after another in the following section

2.2 Writing Approaches in the History of L2 Composition Teaching

2.2.1 Product approach

Product-based approach, the traditional one has been called by several names such as the

controlled-to-free approach, the text-based approach, and the guided composition (Raimes, 1983; Silva, 1990; as cited in Tangpermpoon, 2008) According to Brown (1994), the approach focuses on the final piece of writing by criteria measurement of grammar, syntax, and mechanics (as cited in Yan, 2005) Badger and White (2000, p 154) defines that product-based approach sees “ writing as mainly concerned with knowledge about structure of language, and writing development as mainly the result of the imitation of input, in the form of texts provided by the teacher”

Obviously, the approach is deemed to be supportive to student writers, especially those who are at low level of proficiency Students are supported by knowledge of grammar,

vocabulary and the analyzed model text before starting their own writing, which might help create students’ products as error-free pieces of writing Also, product-based writing seems to benefit teachers and students at such writing-based tasks as sentence transformation and grammar exercises It, therefore, not only helps boosting students’ confidence but also meets exam-driven teaching

Product writing also contains limitations Firstly, the prepared model imitation results in students’ false assumption on writing purposes Students might focus their attention on producing a need-to-evaluate text by the teacher, not creating a product which can significantly communicate with another person in the real world (Nunan, 2000) No motivation and much imitation might lead to students’ discouragement and interest loss

in writing

Not only do students lack the sense of target audience but they gain no knowledge of writing process to form a piece of writing In this approach, several substantial understandings on writing such as content analysis, idea development are disregarded

In fact, product-based approach does not enhance creativity Writing tasks seem to rely

on teachers’ decision and design Students are required to practice and reproduce the given language patterns rather than be instructed how to generate their own ideas This is against the nature of writing, a productive and communicative skill since students have

no chances to negotiate meaning and discuss about the ideas in in-class activities Also, the fact that the reproduced text is shaped and deprived of creative ideas lessens the importance of product-based approach in relation other approaches

2.2.2 Process approach

The mid-1970s witnessed the spreading of process-based approach which emphasizes

revision and feedback as well as the process of composing The four stages included are (1) pre-writing, (2) composing/drafting, (3) revising, and (4) editing (Tribble, 1996) In

comparison with the previous approach, the new one is greatly concerned with improving “linguistic skills”, such as “planning, drafting” but belittles “linguistic knowledge” in terms of “grammar, and text structure” (Badger and White, 2000, p.154)

In other words, process approach seeks to promote students’ writing skills through enhancing their use of effective composing processes

In fact, writing instructions and process benefit students through feedback exchange Students learn from peer and teacher reviews to rewrite, to better their writing and gain a sense of target audience It is the process of writing that supports students in developing effective ways of expressing what they want to convey Actually, having students write more than one draft and receiving feedback does good to students’ final product Harmer (2004) mentioned process writing “not a linear, but rather recursive” and suggests the process wheel as in Figure 2.2 of many directions Such a recursive process highlight the importance of revising in coming back to drafting so as to make necessary changes and form a completed final product sent to an intended audience

Figure 2.2.2: The process wheel proposed by Harmer (2004, p.6)

It cannot be denied that process-based approach has merits to L2 writing teaching Firstly, the writer-focused approach helps students their competence in planning what to write, defining rhetorical problems, identifying writing purposes and evaluating solutions

Secondly, student writers have good chances of exploring ideas, negotiating the meaning

as well as improving a sense of audience ( Murray, 1985) Together with the teacher- the facilitator, students become more dynamic and creative and effectively involved in writing process

It is clear that the focus of process writing on language skills rather than linguistic knowledge also receive disagreements as well as some drawbacks The merits of process writing which free students from the tension of copying the given model might become the shortcomings Rodrigues (1985; as cited in Nunan, 1999, p.272) criticizes that

“Writing without structure accomplishes as little as writing a mock structure … [Students] need structures, they need models to practice, they need to improve even mechanical skills, and they still need time to think about their ideas, to revise them, and

to write for real purposes of real audiences” Badger and White (2000) also confirm that linguistic knowledge input are not sufficient to learners, which might not lead to fruitful writing output

Secondly, the approach regards writing as being created by the same set of processes Student writers are therefore ignorant about the target audience and the content of the text Also, the approach seems to fail in taking the social and cultural aspects into consideration since the practice of in-class writing mainly focus on the skills and process only (Atkinson, 2003) In reality, non-proficient L2 learners are in short of specific genres structures, text format and topic-related ideas Being deprived of the stage of text exploration and brainstorming ideas cause inexperienced L2 learners lots of difficulties in meeting readers’ expectations In other word, genre-based approach is deem to be essential to L2 learners

2.2.3 Genre-based approach

2.2.3.1 The concept of genre in the SFL view

In the 1980s, genre-based approach which is based on a systemic functional theory of

language turned out to be popular since it did benefit students in learning various types of written texts The approach is based on the teaching and learning cycle that involves (1) modeling of a text, (2) joint construction of a text and (3) independent construction of a text “Focus on Writer” approach allows writer to make a connections of ideas between his own experiences and new discoveries in the topic (Yan, 2005) Apart from a high evaluation on linguistic in teaching writing, genre approaches emphasize the social context in which writing varies Swales (1990, p.58) sees genre “as a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes.” (as cited in Badger and White, 2000, p.155) Badger and White also concludes that writing, to genre-based approaches, is as crucially concerned with language knowledge and closely connected to a social purpose

Hyland (2007) refers the concept to an “abstract, socially recognized way of using language It is widely known that genre is “ a term for grouping texts together, presenting how writers typically use language to respond to recurring situations” (Hyland, 2009, p.15) Beyond the implication to types of literary text, “genre” in contemporary education refers to the predictable and recurring patterns of everyday, academic and literary texts which occur within a particular culture (Hammond & Derewianka, 2001) Actually, learning genre is a fundamental part of language development and our ability is to predict the composition structure and length of genres to communicate, Bakhtin (1986) confirms

in his research

“Genre” or “text-type” in the western countries, either spoken or written, is often identified/ grouped according to its primary social purposes Swale (1990) echoes that the classification of genres, the same text-types can be up to the same purposes they share

Derewianka (1990) identifies further six main school text-types according to their primary social purposes: (1) Narratives: tell a story, usually to entertain; (2) Recount: To tell what happened; (3) Information reports: provide factual information; (4) Instruction: tell the listeners or readers what to do; (5) Explanation: explain why or how something happens; (6) Expository texts: present or argue a viewpoint The social purposes of the text-genres in turn decide the linguistic inputs of the text or the linguistic conventions which are often in form of schematic structure and linguistic features The former refers

to internal structure or text organization of the text-type in forms of introduction, body and conclusion while language features consist of linguistic aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, connectors and similar elements the writers have to use in order to purposefully and meaningfully convey their message The following part will function as

a genre description in terms of three schools of genre

2.2.3.2 The properties of three approaches to genre

It is known that genre-based approach put the great emphasis on the relationship between text-genres and the context (Hyon, 1996) to help students effectively get involved in their academic and professional environment and the wider communities Therefore, some properties of the approach will be discussed by identifying (a) the Australian work in the tradition of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), (b) the teaching of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and (c) the New Rhetoric studies developed in North American composition contexts (Hyon, 1996; John, 2002, as cited in Hyland, 2009)

About the first approach which is known in the United States as “Sydney School”, Martin (1992) sees model genre as “ a staged, goal oriented social process” ( as cited in Hyland,

2009, p.63) It is a “social process” as writers (members of a culture) interact to attain genres They must take more than one step (staged) to evolve to achieve things and reach their goals (goal oriented) The most developed approach reminds us that “ successful writing demands an awareness of both rhetorical structure and control of grammar”, that

“ not the old disembodied grammar of writing as object approach but one linked to the specific purposes of a genre ( Hyland, 2004b, 2009) Provided with clear options for writing, I mean typical stages and features of valued genres, writers can construct a well-formed and appropriate to readers For the teachers, such clear options promise to help strengthen weak texts and suggest remedies to give assistance to learners

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) emphasizes the formal properties and communicative purposes of genres but varies in adopting a much narrower concept of genre The ESP approach regards genres as “the property of specific discourse communities” (Hyland, 2009, p.66) He also confirms that teaching methods in ESP are more varied than those in SFL and tend to specific to target groups However, a variety of genres and a requirement of reflection these genres into practice are highlighted in this approach

Each approach conceptualizes genres in a different way but the same purpose “to reveal the rhetorical patterning of a genre together with its key features” (Hyland, 2007) SFL seeks the emphasis on language rather more in the process while ESP stresses the importance of the existence of genres in particular contexts through “rhetorical consciousness-raising” (Hyland, 2007) Both approaches share the same view when they consider the ability to recognize how texts are similar or different and to appropriately respond to texts as key points to achieve L2 literacy

The last approach regards genres as “more flexible and less straightforward to teach” It concentrates less on genre forms than how these forms work Therefore, qualitative research tools to “explore connections between texts and their contexts rather than those which describe their rhetorical conventions” (Miller, 1984, as cited in Hyland, 2009, p.67) Genre-based approach with its properties is going to be elaborated in the section below

2.2.3.3 Characteristics of genre properties

Created since 1980s, genre-based approach has promised itself a beneficial approach to help students develop their relationship, their communication and attain their goal Genre-based approach in L2 teaching is related to guiding learners how to exploit language patterns to achieve a coherent and purposeful composition (Hyland, 2003) Different genres of writing with peculiar structures and grammatical forms reflecting communicative purposes of the genre could benefit learners through investigating various genres This section focuses on seven characteristics of genre-based approach which aims

at making learners effective participants and professional environment as well as in their broader communities (Hammond & Derewianka, 2001)

Hammond & Derewianka (2001; as cited in Hyon, 1996) addresses that writing context decides text purpose and text structure in terms of language features and text features in the form of linguistic conventions Genre-based approach which focuses on the significance of analyzing the social and cultural context of language use might help students succeed in producing an approved piece of writing successfully by reflecting the context of the text in their own writing

The second property of genre-based approach, as Munice (2002) mentioned, highlights the significance of the target readers and linguistic conventions which can be seen as a need-to-follow points for any pieces of writing to be approved The writing product, thus, has to meet English- language discourse reader’s expectations in terms of grammar, organization and content

Genre-based approach also reflects genre orientation originating from the social-cultural theory by Vygotsky (1978) The theory stresses collaborative learning when learners support each other and acquire knowledge from knowledgeable peers and teachers In this sense, verbal interactions among class members, task negotiation with more

way not only helps free students from isolation but reinforces the positive feelings as well

as their writing abilities in terms of linguistic knowledge and idea development through meaning exchange and negotiation

Fourthly, it’s the central belief “we do not just to write, we write something to achieve some purpose” Hyland (2003, p.18) that encourages writing teachers to look beyond content, process and linguistic forms to interact with the target audience Apart from learning how to accomplish coherent and purposeful prose by using language patterns, students are supposed to take social purposes into account when composing a text

Genre-based approach also highlights the interaction between writer and reader on a piece

of writing (Reid, 1995) The genre-based student writer is reminded to figure the intended

or potential readers so as to expect and tailor appropriate content, language use and styles Such reader-related factors as their educational and cultural background, their concerns and belief are anticipated during the process of writing Also, readers exploring the text keep questioning themselves such questions about the writing purpose, writer’s point of view, kind of language features as well as text organization It is the invisible written communication exchanged between writer and readers makes genre a more distinctive and communicative than other approaches

Teacher’s role as authoritativeness rather than authoritarian is the sixth characteristic of genre-based approach (Rothery, 1996; Wyattt-Smith, 1997; as cited in Luu, 2001, p.1472) Being provided with systematic instruction and careful support through a variety of writing tasks, students ultimately take control of written genres Teacher also appreciates the significance of students’ dedication to the process of teaching and learning

Finally, genre-based approach emphasizes the explicit teaching of linguistics conventions for L2 novice student writers (Christie, 1990; as cited in Luu, 2011, p.1472) In this sense, only when students are explicitly taught about linguistic conventions of the text-type in

terms of language features and schematic structures can they produce such a successful product Thus, genre-oriented teachers should get his students exposed to these conventions

at the early stages

The characteristics mentioned give a hint that genre-based approach contains both strong points and shortcomings

2.2.3.4 The positive and negative sides of the genre-based approach

The fact that writing takes place in a social situation and writing reflects a particular purpose makes genre an effective approach in relation to its counterparts Badger and White (2000) affirm a conscious learning which results from imitation and analysis in genre-based approach Bhatia (1993) stresses the importance of linking formal and functional properties taught in classroom activities to raise students’ awareness of linguistics conventions for particular rhetorical effects Another merit from genre approach is guiding students how to evaluate the acquired knowledge and the ways in which knowledge is valued and in which it reflects underlying assumptions ( Coe, 1994)

However, there remains some doubt about the downsides of genre approach application Freedman (1983) addresses that presenting genres to students might unexpectedly convert into teaching arbitrary models and textual organization which has fewer connections to students’ learning aims The role of students in genre-based approach is mainly passive Also, skills required for producing a text are not highly recognized and developed

2.3 A comparison of writing approaches

It cannot be denied that each approach positively supports writing teachers and learners Badger and White (2000) explicitly shows both strengths and weaknesses of these approaches The traditional approach is deemed to raise learners’ awareness of learning

through imitation and of the need to grasp linguistic knowledge about the texts However, the learners’ knowledge and skills are not highly valued in “focus on form” approach The process approach is more advanced in evaluating and exploiting learners’ knowledge and skills to develop their writing competence The drawbacks of the process approach are considering and implementing the same set of processes to all writing types Also, the input given to learners is somehow insufficient, especially in terms of linguistic knowledge Genre-based approaches acknowledge the social situation in which writing takes place and diversifies Writing is also regarded as a “reflection of a particular purpose” Through this approach, “learning can happen consciously through imitation and analysis” (Badger and White, 2000, p.157)

Seen as an advanced improvement of good features of “focus-on form” approach and

“focus-on-writer” approach, genre-based approach seems to bridge the gap of previous approaches It stresses a three-dimensional relationship among a final product, reader expectations and linguistic conventions which is also a must-to-follow writing principle Furthermore, the approach emphasizes social purposes of a text and required steps for writers to follow to reach their goals (Christie & Rothery, 1987) The process of exploring the context and the text, drafting the paper, receiving feedback from peers and teacher as well as revising before publication are examples for such elaborate steps In this sense, genre approach is somewhat similar to process approach in a multi-step process but not a single attempt in order to have a finished product (Nunan, 2000) The teaching-learning cycle can be seen as the three main stages to achieve product-focused and process-focused writing Actually, the modeling and joint-construction stage are to support students with such form-focused knowledge as grammar, content and organization in a specific required text-type The two stages also give instructions on how these forms are structured in the text in order to attain social functions The last stage, independent construction supports students in their own practice to apply accumulated forms and meanings into individual writing This means that a gap between form and

function in product writing and process writing was balanced by applying a genre-based approach

However, there remain different features between genre-based approach in relation to the two counterparts

While product-based approach excludes contextualization and views writing as habit formation and highlights the practice of imitation, genre-based approach focuses on contextualization and sees the intimately connected interaction between text and context (Butt et al, 2003) Though both approaches appreciate linguistic conventions, each one show its own differences The product-based approach appreciates the importance of formal correction and grammatical rules but not put these points into writing instructions

In contrast, a close connection between form and function is thoroughly reflected in based orientation Another difference can be seen in the role of teacher and students If the product-based writing students seem to be passive recipients and teacher acts as knowledge giver, genre-based writing students are encouraged to be more of less friends of the teacher They are motivated to express and share the ideas during the process of meaning exploration and negotiation Genre-based writing teacher works as an instructor and facilitator at the beginning steps and moves back once his students gradually grasp the required forms and functions to independently begins their construction

genre-Genre-based approach is also quite different from its preceding counterpart The based approach regards writing as the process of thinking when students make use of their internal resources while genre-based approach considers writing a social activity In the process writing, there is no interaction since students work individually to brainstorm their ideas on the given topic, the purposes and the audience The social interactions among students do take place after students finish their first draft and exchange for peers’ and teacher’s feedback On the contrary, there seems to be more interactions during the process

process-ideas in the first two stages of modeling and joint construction They are once again motivated to share the ideas and comments after finishing their independent construction

In other words, genre-based approach creates more interactions between teacher and students, among students and students compared with process-based approach

The process-genre approach is a combination of the process model and the genre

theories to meet both the requirements of writing practice and learners’ needs The combined approach helps teachers not rigidly adopt one approach in writing class, but scaffold learners by new ways of thinking about writing In fact, students are allowed to study the connection between purpose and form by the implementation of the nonlinear processes of pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing Yan (2005) confirms that the new approach enhances students’ awareness of various types of texts and of the composing process

Through comparison and contrast above, genre-based approach proves itself focused on the context of a language use on a specific text-type In L2 writing classes, students should be instructed such factors as contexts, readers, purposes and linguistic conventions

in order to meet readers’ expectations The two types of writing tasks, reconstruction and reformulation might do well to improve factors mentioned The next part will function as

a description of what the two tasks are and how they work on genre writing instruction

2.4 Reconstruction and Reformulation

2.4.1 Reconstruction

The term initiated by Corder in 1971 refers to “replacement of a learner’s idiosyncratic sentence that carries grammatical errors with a well-formed sentence with the same meaning” (Qui & Lapkin, 2001, p.281) It is obviously seen that reconstruction is forms-focused or grammatical error-focused at sentence level

If the reformulated text, the native-like text (the recast by teacher is the center of reformulation activity, the starting point here is the teacher’s text which learners first expose and then reconstruct It is then used for “matching” with the original one While

in reformulation, a kind of top-down and task-based activities, students are exposed to interaction and corporation, they are not necessarily required for comprehension and communicative activities through bottom-up processes in reconstruction (Marton, 1988 Thornbury, 2007) To this aspect, Swain and Lapkin (1995; cited in Thornbury, 2007) judge that L2 learners with “extra effort” may also prompt L2 themselves by producing the target language and recognizing linguistic problems and other attention about their second language

Among “tried-and-true classroom activities” which “fall within this generic type” (Thornbury 1997, p.330) such as copying, memorization and recitation of text, dictation,

“rhetorical transformation”, translation and re-translation, Storyboard-type computer games, linguistic heterogeneity may be superior in case of using authentic texts

2.4.2 Reformulation

First proposed by Levenston (1978), the idea refers to rewriting an L2 learner’s composition by a native speaker ( as cited in Barjesteh, 2014), “the modification of the text during the writing process, with the meaning of transforming the text being built while being built” according to Camps, Guash, Milian and Ribas (1997) The content of the original draft is maintained but “its awkwardness, rhetorical inadequacy, logical confusion, style, and so an as well as lexical in adequacy and grammatical errors are tidied up” (as cited in Qui & Lapkin, 2001, p.281) One of the strong points from the innovation is that the recast promotes learners to “make the best use of whatever language they use” by finding “ways of encoding the meanings they have in order to achieve the outcome” as Willis (1990) mentioned (cited in Tribble, 1996, p.127)

According to Johnson ( 1988, as cited in Thornbury, 1997, p.326), it is the stage when learners are immersed to “the target behavior after the event” rather than provided “a model beforehand” that helps themselves re-dispose the problems in the first draft Thus,

in terms of writing noticing, reformulation task is significant since learners from different stages and various needs might experience and discover dissimilar language features In terms of writing methodology, the reformulation tasks (composing, contrasting and revising) really reverses the traditional instruction model (Presentation, Practice, Production) All in all, reformulation task is a conducive and an immediate L2 input to enhance writing skills

2.4.3 Properties of “Focus on Form” ( RF) and Focus on Forms (RC)

Long (1991, as cited in Ellis 1994) highly appreciated the significant distinction between the two terms “focus-on-form” and “focus-on-forms” Form-focused teaching is closely connected to a structural syllabus and the fact that linguistics forms are taught and tested separately as “alternating in some principled way between a focus on meaning and a focus on form” (Long 1991) Such a classroom instruction when teachers follow a task-based syllabus leads learners’ attention to specific linguistics properties during classroom’s communicative activities while its counterpart, focus on forms is “counter-productive” resulting in faster learning and higher levels of proficiency

Doughty’s (1991) in his study made a good comparison among a meaning-orientated group, a rule-orientated group and a control group Both the meaning-orientiated and rule-orientated group outperformed the control one in the ability of relativity Also, the group of meaning orientation performed an advantage in terms of comprehension of the text content

From empirical study of Alamari (1982), Carroll Swain and Roberge (1992), Schachter (1991) The Lightbrown and Spada (1990), Ellis (1994, p.835) concluded that a form-

focused approach proved itself an attractive one since “it provides a way of integrating “ fluency” and “ accuracy work” However, form-focused approach may be “premature to reject” forms-focused approach with regard to the new and learned linguistics features introduced in classroom instruction This means that there is a lot of evidence to suggest the practicality of formal instruction, forms-focused approach since it can help learners enhance their accuracy rather than both “fluency” and “accuracy” as planned in form-focused approach

In conclusion, focus-on-form approach motivates learners to center on the formal languages properties in the context of trying to communicate Though by the means of meaning negotiation of corrective feedback, form-focused approach seems to “facilitate acquisition” (Lightbrown and Spada 1990; as cited in Ellis 1994, p.646) Other research,

N Ellis (1991), Fotos (1993), Van Pattern and Cadierno (1993) adaptation, proved that this approach should be implemented with some care Firstly, it should go with explicit presented rules and supported examples Secondly, the instruction is aimed at

“developing explicit knowledge through consciousness-raising activities” Lastly, it is connected to making learners’ establish form-meaning connection during

“comprehension”

2.4.4 Studies on RC and RF

On demonstrating argumentation, Tribble (1996) mentioned “ the Jordan materials” , a bottom-up approach which goes from writing activities to text and “ the White and McGovern materials”, a top-down way which moves from text to writing activities The ideas are more or less related to the terms “reformulation” and “reconstruction” discussed

in the study

Thornbury (1997) realized the potential for focusing learners’ attention on form (that is noticing both what is present in input and absent in output) has not received much