Nghiên cứu hành động về khả năng ứng dụng đường hướng dựa vào thể loại đối với việc phát triển kĩ năng viết của học sinh lớp 12 trường THPT vĩnh yên, tỉnh vĩnh phúc

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************** HOÀNG THỊ NGỌC LAN THE APPLICABILITY OF A

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

**********************

HOÀNG THỊ NGỌC LAN

THE APPLICABILITY OF A GENRE- BASED APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GRADE-12-STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL:

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT VINH YEN HIGH SCHOOL,

VINH PHUC PROVINCE

(Nghiên cứu hành động về khả năng ứng dụng đường hướng dựa vào thể

loại đối với việc phát triển kĩ năng viết của học sinh lớp 12 trường THPT

Vĩnh Yên, tỉnh Vĩnh Phúc)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

**********************

HOÀNG THỊ NGỌC LAN

THE APPLICABILITY OF A GENRE- BASED APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GRADE-12-STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL:

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT VINH YEN HIGH SCHOOL,

VINH PHUC PROVINCE

(Nghiên cứu hành động về khả năng ứng dụng đường hướng dựa vào thể

loại đối với việc phát triển kĩ năng viết của học sinh lớp 12 trường THPT

Vĩnh Yên, tỉnh Vĩnh Phúc)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Trần Thi ̣ Thu Hiền

HANOI - 2017

DECLARATION

I certify that this thesis entitled: “The applicability of a genre – based approach to the development of grade-12- students’ writing skill: An action research project at Vinh Yen high school, Vinh Phuc province.”, which is

submitted in partial fulfillment of MA Degree at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, is the result of my own work The material in this thesis, wholly or in part, has not been submitted for a degree to any other universities

or institutions

Hanoi, 2017 Signature

Hoàng Thị Ngọc Lan

I am grateful to the participants of this study, who generously gave their time to provide me with data and insight about language knowledge Without their help, this study would have been impossible

Finally, to my family and my close friends, words are not enough to express my gratitude They always stood by me and encouraged me in every

stage of this study

ABSTRACT

When teaching writing skill to 12th form students at Vinh Yen High School, the author of this research recognised that students at Vinh Yen High School found writing activities challenging and ambiguous because of the variety of text types required Consequently, they develop a negative attitude towards writing There is a burning need that writing tasks be taught systematically

In an attempt to improve writing skills for grade-12- students and their attitudes towards writing, this study aimed at using the genre based approach through a small-scale action research project.The action research was conducted with five main steps: Problem identification, Preliminary investigation, Hypothesis, Intervention and Evaluation The findings of this study were based on data collected from a number of instruments including a

a questionnaire, a pre-test and a post-test After a preliminary investigation had been carried out, writing course applied genre-based approach was designed The treatment lasted for six weeks with the participation of 35 students from Class 12A1 at Vinh Yen High School and took place in the first term of the academic year 2015-2016

The findings from the tests and the questionnaires revealed that the students‟ writing skill was improved as students were provided with clear structure, language features and given step-by-step scaffolding in four stages Furthermore, the new method positively changed the students‟ attitude towards writing, and made them feel more confident in writing

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Scope of the study 2

1.3 Aims of the study 2

1.4 Research questions 2

1.5 Method of the study 2

1.6 Significance of the study 3

1.7 Design of the study 3

CHAPTER 2:LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Writing and its importance 5

2.2 Different approaches for teaching and learning writing 6

2.3 Phrases of teaching and learning cycle and genre based approach 8

2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of genre based approach to teaching writing 8

2.5 Related studies 12

2.6 Chapter summary 16

CHAPTER 3:METHODOLOGY 17

3.1 Context of the study 17

3.2 Research methodology 19

3.3 Chapter Summary 24

CHAPTER 4:FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25

4.1 Quantitative description of results from the pre-test and post-test 25

4.2 Quantitative description of results from the questionnaire 28

4.3 Chapter summary 33

CHAPTER 5:CONCLUSIONS 34

5.1 Recapitulation 34

5.2 Limitations of the study 35

5.3 Suggestions for further research 35

REFERENCES 37 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 II APPENDIX 3 III APPENDIX 4 VIII APPENDIX 5 X APPENDIX 6 XII APPENDIX 7 XIV APPENDIX 8 XVII

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

L2: Second Language

Ss: Students

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Page

Figure 4.1: Comparison between pre-test and post-test score 26 Table 4.2: The descriptive statistics of the two tests scores 27

Table 4.5: Students‟ attitudes towards genre-based approach 29 Table 4.6: The students‟ self-evaluation on the effectiveness of

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

Effective teaching process is the desire of all teachers Nevertheless, how to achieve it is a challenging question, which requires teachers to have not only excellent qualities, specialized knowledge about their subjects but also appropriate methods to adapt in teaching

In fact, in the late 20th century, the teaching and learning of English in our country has changed from the grammar translation method to communicative language teaching approach Consequently, our English textbook series were compiled under the impacts of the communicative approach which focuses on four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing Also, the English textbooks were designed in a theme-based form As

a result, the writing tasks in each unit vary according to the topic of each unit, which keeps students continually move from this genre to another Students correspondingly find it too strenuous to be able to write in the correct form Realizing that fact, teachers should do more researches to improve writing skill for learners Through reading the literature, the writer of this study was impressed with the notion of teaching writing through a genre-based approach Though, through finding and reading materials related to the topic, the writer realized that this approach to writing was inconsiderably researched in Vietnamese high schools Hence, she determined to conduct the study titled “The applicability of a genre – based approach to the development

of grade-12- students‟ writing skill: An action research project at Vinh Yen high school, Vinh Phuc province” to experiment this approach to her teaching writing to her own students Hopefully, this action research may contribute to ameliorating the writing teaching and learning process

1.2 Scope of the study

Because of the limitation of a minor study, the author only conducted a small research on 35 grade 12th non-English major students at Vinh Yen high

school The study also placed strong emphasis on the effectiveness of using

genre- based approach to help students work well in writing lessons

1.3 Aims of the study

This study is designed to investigate the effectiveness of genre-based approach in helping students at Vinh Yen High School improve their writing performance of English

Secondly, the study also evaluates the students‟ attitudes towards using genre-based approach as a tool to improve their writing skill

2 What are the students‟ attitudes towards the use of genre-based approach

to improve their writing skill?

1.5 Method of the study

The study was based on action research The participants of the research was 35 English non-major grade-12-students at Vinh Yen High School Since the researcher wanted to find out whether genre-based approach was beneficial in writing periods or not, a pre-test and post- test were given to students The purpose of the pre-test was to evaluate the students‟ ability before treatment After treatment, the researcher conducted a post-test to assess the efficiency of genre-based approach after a 10-week- course Additionally, a survey questionnaire was designed and distributed to students

at the end of treatment in order for students to express their thoughts as well

as their judgements about the treatment

1.6 Significance of the study

This study helps to explore and prove the effectiveness of genre-based approach to teaching writing skills to students; therefore, it is hoped that this research will be beneficial in many ways First, participants in the study (the teacher and the learners at Vinh Yen High School) will benefit directly from the experience of reflection Secondly, the findings of the study will contribute information to future researchers to develop some dimensions which have not been developed in this research such as using dissimilar student population or condition

1.7 Design of the study

This study is divided as followed:

Chapter 1: Introduction - provides the rationale, the scope, the aim, the research questions, the method, the significance and the organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review–presents concepts relevant to the topic of the thesis: writing skill and its importance, different approaches for teaching and learning writing skill, advantages as well as disadvantages of genre-based approach to teaching writing, the previous studies related to the fields and some gaps for present study

Chapter 3: Methodology - presents the context of the research including the research settings, teaching materials, research participants This chapter also provides information about action research in general and the instruments, the data collection procedures and data analysis of this study Chapter 4: Findings and discussion - focuses on the results of the tests and the results from the questionnaire This chapter also includes the analyses

and discussions of the results

Chapter 5: Conclusion – closes the thesis with recapitulation, some limitations, recommendations and suggestions for further study

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Writing and its importance

2.1.1 Writing definition

Writing is an important and fundamental area of development in a native language and in a second language; hence, there have been abundant definitions of writing According to Donn Byrne (l998:1), writing can be

regarded as the "act of forming graphic symbols" or the "making marks on the flat surface of some kinds'' Whereas Brannon, Knight and Neverow -Turk

(1982:2) pointed out that " writing is a creative art, not as an assembly line operation of locking words together into sentences and bolting sentences together into paragraphs in accordance with a predefined plan" However, writing, in language teacher' opinions, is "a language skill which is difficult to acquire" (Tribble, 1996:3) It is "a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account the sometimes extended periods of

thinking that precede creating an initial draft" (Harris, 1993:10)

2.1.2 The role of writing in second language teaching

Clay (1983) claimed writing as a very paramount skill is for many reasons The first reason is that writing involves much more than the transcription of speech The second reason for focusing on writing is that it is

in attempting to communicate in the new mode that students most effectively discover and master the relationship between speech and written text The third reason is that writing is a surer way than reading into mastering the written code Another importance for writing is that writing is more than speech written down in another sense Although saying it first and then writing it down may be the way in which students first learn to write, they very quickly discover that the two modes of communication are organized on

different principles Writing is thus potentially a powerful means of developing one‟s own understanding of the topic about which one is writing

Wells (1999)'s point of view is that writing encourages the students to interrogate one‟s interpretations of others‟ utterances as well as of one‟s own personal experiences and beliefs in order to add to the ongoing dialogue in some way that enriches the community‟s understanding of the relevant area

of experience

2.2 Different approaches for teaching and learning writing

Writing for EFL students is not an easy matter, especially when the students‟ English competence is not very well developed There are three approaches for teaching and learning writing: the product approach, the process approach and the genre-based approach

2.2.1 The product approach

The product approach is a traditional approach to teaching writing in which students typically are provided by the teacher with a model and encouraged to mimic it in order to produce a similar product Burden & Larson and Toonen (2005) discussed that prior to the 1970s, most teachers approached writing instruction with the emphasis on only the final product In this “product-focused approach,” instruction primarily emphasized sentence structure and grammar and little on the thinking

2.2.2 The process approach

In the process approach, the steps or stages are illustrated and practiced from the generation of ideas and compilation of information through a series

of activities for planning, gathering information, drafting, revising, and editing (Campbell, 1998: 11) This sequence of activities typically occurs in four stages: “prewriting, composing/ drafting, revising, and editing” (Badger

& White, 2000: 154) Prewriting is the phase of idea gathering Drafting is the

process of writing a rough outline of what will be addressed Once students produce a rough draft, they read it again and share it with peers or a teacher to receive comments Then they make modifications to their writings based on the feedback from their peers or a teacher; revising, or elaborating on the first draft, takes place at this point Editing, correcting mechanical errors like spelling or punctuation, is the last stage Tompkins (1990) assured that this current emphasis in writing instruction focuses on the process of creating writing rather than the end product

2.2.3 The genre-based approach

The genre-based approach depends on the type of the texts that the students write In the genre approach, the knowledge of language is intimately attached to a social purpose, and more focus is on the viewpoint of the reader than on that of the writer Writing is mostly viewed as the students‟ reproduction of text based on the genre offered by the teacher It is also believed that learning takes place through imitation and exploration of different kinds of models Accordingly, learners should be exposed to many examples of the same genre to develop their ability to write a particular genre Through being exposured to similar texts, students can detect the specialized configurations of that genre, and they can also activate their memories of prior reading or writing experiences whenever they encounter the task of creating a new piece in a familiar genre (Badger & White, 2000: 155-156) Martin (1993) explained that genre-based approach is the belief that, in order to master the written genres, students need direct instruction; genre forms should therefore be explicitly taught through the analytic study of models, the learning of genre elements and their sequencing, and the collaborative then solo production of exemplars

2.3 Phrases of teaching and learning cycle and genre based approach

When it comes to explaining writing development in the genre approach, Hammond (1992, cited in Burns, 2001) proposed “a wheel model

of a teaching learning cycle having three phases: modeling, joint negotiation

of text by learners and teacher, and the independent construction of texts by learners” (p 202) Modeling, Hammond noted, is the time when the target genre that students should construct is introduced to the students At this stage, discussion focuses on the educational and social function of the genre, and analysis focuses on the text structure and language

Joint negotiation of text refers to the stage when learners carry out exercises which manipulate relevant language forms It fosters a negotiating process between the teacher and the students It involves reading, research, and disseminating information, and the text of the genre is dependent on those activities The independent construction of texts is the final phase; in which learners produce actual texts through activities such as choosing a topic, researching, and writing (p 202)

Proponents such as Kay and Dudley- Evans (1998) have argued that the genre approach is more effective for learners to advance their writing skills in a second language than the process approach since the model helps free students from their severe worries over writing (p 310)

2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of genre based approach to teaching writing

2.4.1 Advantages of genre based approach to teaching writing

Students generally appreciate the models or examples showing specifically what they have to do linguistically Studying a given genre also provides them with an understanding of why a communication style is the way it is through a reflection of its social context and its purpose Swales

(1990) pointed out how rhetorical instruction plays as pivotal a role in writing improvement as prior knowledge (p 83) In this context, the genre approach

is very beneficial because it brings together formal and functional properties

of a language in writing instruction, and it acknowledges that there are strong associations between them

As Bhatia (1993, cited in Kim & Kim, 2005) recommended, it is meaningful for writing instructors to tie the formal and functional properties

of a language together in order to facilitate students‟ recognition of how and why linguistic conventions are employed for particular rhetorical effects (p.6) If the rhetorical structure of content is analyzed by students in the genre approach, some common patterns can be identified in each genre Naturally, these patterns will form a kind of background knowledge students can activate in the next learning situation

Kay & Dudley-Evans (1998) mentioned that the prior knowledge will make it easier for students to produce acceptable structures in their writing tasks Therefore, an assigned genre seems to serve as an influential tool for both the learning and teaching of writing for both students and teachers Furthermore, the genre approach encourages students to participate in the world around them, to comprehend writing as a tool that they can utilize, and

to realize how writers manage content to promote logical organization It also allows students to become more flexible in their thinking and eventually to realize how authors organize their writings However, some proponents have indicated that the genre approach is more suitable for learners at beginning or intermediate levels of proficiency in a second language rather than those at advanced levels, in that it releases students from deep anxieties about their writing tasks When people learn something new, they commonly want to find some cases that they can refer to or consider as samples There is no

doubt that writing tasks can be more demanding than other language skills, so students at low level of proficiency absolutely need something that they can rely on since they have little exposure to English writing

However, according to Bakhtin (1986), genres always evolve through incorporating a rich variety of voices, styles, discourse features, and points of view The genre approach allows students to be exposed to the plurality of a genre, which implies that students still have chances to develop their creativity in the genre approach Thus, if the genre approach is to remain true

to the fundamental nature of genres, then teaching in the genre approach should include a final step in which students are encouraged to break the style

of the existing genre and let it evolve (H Nguyen, personal communication, October 17, 2006)

Hayland (2004) sees the advantages of a genre based writing instruction that can be summarized as follows:

- Explicit: Makes clear what is to be learned to facilitate the acquisition of

writing skills

- Systematic: Provides a coherent framework for focusing on both

language and contexts

- Needs-based: Ensures that course objectives and content are derived

from students needs

- Supportive: Gives teacher a central role in scaffolding student learning

and creativity

- Empowering: Provides access to the patterns and possibilities of

variation in valued texts

- Critical: Provides the resources for students to understand and challenge

valued discourses

- Consciousness raising: Increases teacher awareness of texts and

confidently advise students on their writing (Hayland 2004: 10-11)

2.4.2 Disadvantages of genre based approach to teaching writing

Much of the criticism has been centered on “the disjuncture between the claim that meaning is encapsulated in textual objects, genres as autonomous systems, and the avowal of a social constructionist functional model of language” (Freedman & Richardson, 1997) From a theoretical perspective, the objection is to the overemphasis on the formal features of genres and the consequent downplaying of the socially situated nature of writing, with its dynamic selection and deployment of a range of generic features to meet the demands of the particular rhetorical context And from a pedagogical perspective, the objection is somewhat similar: Although in presenting the rationale for their approach, the advocates of genre-based pedagogy argue that text construction is embedded in, and responsive to, social context, in classroom practice the study and use of specific genres tends to be approached predominantly from a linguistic point of view; instead

of genuine interest and communicative purpose being the basis for working with a particular genre, the genre is assigned by the teacher and students are instructed in the relevant linguistic features and then required to use them in the construction of their own written texts

Despite genres‟ beneficial roles in helping learners to produce written work with confidence, there are two concerns about the genre approach One

is that it underestimates the skills required to produce content, and the other concern is that it neglects learners‟ self-sufficiency (Byram, 2004, p 236) The genre approach not only places too much emphasis on conventions and genre features but also is less helpful for students in discovering the texts‟ true messages due to the targeted aspects of the specified genre Likewise, if teachers spend class time explaining how language is used for a range of

purposes and with a variety of readers, learners are likely to be largely passive Thus, the genre approach is blamed for limiting learners‟ creative thoughts about content and is criticized in that it overlooks natural processes

of learning and learners‟ creativity (Badge & White, 2000, p 157) Finally, Bawarshi (2000) pointed out that, at its best, it helps learners to identify and interpret literary texts, while at its worst; it interferes with the learners‟ creativity (p 343) This concern means that students may end up writing genres as meaningless reproductions

2.5 Related studies

2.5.1 Related studies worldwide

Tangpermpoon (2008) studied integrating approaches to improve students writing skills for English major students He explained that writing is considered as the most difficult skill for language learners because they need

to have a certain amount of L2 background knowledge about the rhetorical organizations, appropriate language use or specific lexicon with which they want to communicate to their readers To assist language instructors to improve learners‟ writing competence and produce good writing, He aimed to present the combination of genre, product, and process approaches in a writing class To better understand the topic, this paper will be divided into two main parts The first section of this study provided a brief literature review of each traditional writing approach including the strengths and drawbacks as well as an adaptated use of each The second part includes the importance of using the integrated approaches for English major learners in the tertiary level the results showed that integrating the two approaches showed greater effect than using only one approach

Kongpetch (2006) studied using a genre-based approach to teach writing to Thai students as a case study He stated that Thai university

students are required to write expositions for different purposes, for example, for their class assignments and independent study research projects Yet, many are not able to write them successfully as they encounter problems such

as organisation of ideas and appropriate rhetorical style This study discussed issues that arose in using the genre-based approach to teach writing to students at the Department of Foreign Languages, Khon Kaen University, in the northeast of Thailand It also provided insight into the impact of the genre-based approach on students‟ writing and the implications for applying

it to other Thai educational contexts

Burns (2001) described one series of tasks and classroom procedures, which were highly genre- oriented, aimed at the formation of a job application letter, a task very relevant to the learners (pp 203-207) She demonstrated how learners were able to successfully produce a job application letter These results supported the effectiveness of the genre approach: the focus on a genre and the linguistic structure provides learners with a clear idea of what language features should be expressed and how the content should be organized

Badger and White (2000) experimented using the genre and process approaches together as an alternative in a model called the process genre approach Through this research, they affirmed that this dual approach works well if the writing cycle begins with models, description of the key linguistic features, discussion of the social situation in which it happens, and analysis of the recommended rhetorical patterns of each genre Student writing is then subjected to the sequence of drafts in the process approach (p 157).For instance, when a university student creates an advertisement describing his or her used laptop in order to sell it, the following should be considered: this writing is intended to sell the laptop; it should be attractive to some people

who are interested in buying it; it must consist of certain information; and it should follow traditions in which laptop descriptions are offered Then, the person should follow several procedures such as drafting, revising and editing

as well as using rhetorical language skills best suited to this genre (Badger & White, 2000: 158).This demonstration shows how the process-genre approach embraces teaching the appropriate language along with using a set of revision processes by which a final draft can be produced As illustrated in the laptop example above, this combined approach ensures that the writing task is reviewed from both the viewpoint of the writer and of readers at the same time

Henry and Roseberry (1998) did an experimental study in academic classes using short tourist information texts in English Participants in this research were divided into two groups: a group which used the genre- based instructions and a group which did not employ the genre approach in the same writing task After three weeks, participants took a test The genre group did better than the non-genre group, and the data showed that knowledge of the typical structure of the content made it easier for learners to arrange their ideas in terms of both achieving their communicative goals and producing more well-organized writing It proved that the learners‟ understanding of both the rhetorical structure and the linguistic features was increased by the genre-based instructions (Henry & Roseberry, 1998: 154-155)

From a language teaching perspective, it is essential to view genre as consisting of a series of moves (Swales, 1990) He believed that a move is considered as a part of a text which achieves a particular purpose within a text Apart from the analysis of moves, this study also viewed the learners‟ writing in terms of content, structure and language This study considered the

application of genre-based approach to teaching of writing in ESP context, especially for learners aiming to use English in the professional setting The genre-based approach to language teaching attempts to teach learners the

„moves‟ of a genre and to raise awareness of the linguistic features associated with the moves as a way to overcome learners‟ difficulties in writing appropriately and effectively This study addressed the concern to help learners to make their choices in deciding what kind of information should be put in their writing to create meaningful and purposeful texts A number of genre analysis strategies are presented to demonstrate how learners can be taught to modify and blend their choices of words according to the contexts

in which they write 65 Business majors participated in this study The control group (N=30) were taught through the usual lecturing style while the experimental group (N=35) were taught using the genre- based approach Following the multiple trait scoring of the learners‟ texts, the texts were analyzed for content, structure and language while the moves were analyzed using the moves score The results of the study indicated that learners do write better when they are made aware of the rhetoric structure and providing models seem to increase the salience of the communicative moves considered

by the learners for inclusion in their texts

2.5.2 Related studies in Vietnam

Thi Thu Huyen Bui (2010) has applied a genre-based approach in teaching the writing of English to grade 10 students at Tan Tao High School, Tuyen Quang province In her thesis, she pointed out the benefits as well as limitations of a genre-based approach to teaching writing to her students It can be concluded from the study that genre- based approach is new to students and the application of such approach to students still faced with some difficulties

In “The use of genre- based approach to help 10th form students in Tuyen Quang Gifted High School to write better personal recount” by Nghi Nguyen, Phan (2012) and “The impact of a genre-based approach on 11th students writing performance: An action research at Tuyen Quang Gifted High School, Tuyen Quang” by Ha Ngoc, Nguyen (2013), the authors tried to find out the way to help 10th form students and 11th form students write a better personal recount Through students‟ writing results and their responses

to the questionnaires, they both found that most of the students‟ difficulties in writing came from lacking vocabulary, structures, language features as well as ideas to write Students after the treatment are motivated to learn writing skill and have more confidence in writing and using English

Thi Van Anh Nguyen (2014) conducted an action research on applying

a genre-based approach in teaching writing to 10th form students at Son Duong High School, Tuyen Quang province with a view to investigate the problems encountered by the students as they learned writing skill and to explore the impact of genre-based approach to their writing performance The results from her study showed that the difficulties in writing puzzled students However, with the new writing method, students‟ writing ability was improved considerably

2.6 Chapter summary

This chapter was an overview of literature related to the study The first section of this chapter reviewed definitions of writing and its importance The second part discussed different approaches for teaching and learning writing

as well as phrases of teaching and learning cycle and genre based approach Also, some related studies worldwide and in Vietnam were presented with a clear description of the studies and the gained findings

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Context of the study

3.1.1 Research setting

This study was conducted at Vinh Yen High School, located in the suburb

of Vinh Yen city, Vinh Phuc province Thirty- five students were chosen to participate in the action research All of them are Mathmatics major twelfth graders, both males and females They have learnt English for 3 years at primary schools and 4 years at secondary school They can do grammatical exercises relatively quickly but their skills, especially writing skill, are limited Therefore, applying teaching approaches and using teaching methods should be taken into account in order to foster and develop their writing skills efficiently

3.1.2 Teaching material

In the 2015-2016 academic year, the pilot textbook “TIENG ANH 12”, under the general direction of Prof Hoàng Văn Vân, was officially used to teach the twelfth graders within 105 periods during the two semesters

“TIENG ANH 12” is the third and also the last of the three- level English language set of textbooks for the Vietnamese upper secondary school It follows the systematic, clinical and theme-based curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education and Training in November 2012 The aim of this set of textbooks is to develop students‟ listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and improve their English language knowledge with a focus on communicative competence so that when they finish upper secondary school, their English will be at level three of Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Viet Nam (equivalent to B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)

“TIENG ANH 12” is divided into two books: Book 1 and Book 2 Each

book contains five topic-based units, each covering five sections: Getting Started, Language, Skills, Communication and Culture, Looking Back and Project with meaningful and well-structured activities taught in eight 45-

minute lessons The book also provides an input of language and ideas for

students to use in the Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing

Most writing activities in TIENG ANH 12 focus on the text types required by the syllabus The common writing tasks include filling the gaps in sentences or paragraphs, following a model to write a specific text or taking notes during a survey to get information related to a specific topic The section normally contains four or five activities following the three-stage approach to language teaching Like other skills, writing skill covers one period Students often find it difficult to finish writing task in class‟ time and they got low marks for this skill (For more details about the writing tasks in Tieng Anh 12, see Appendix 1)

3.1.3 Research participants

The participants in this study consisted of 35 (15 females and 20 males) grade-12- students from class 12A1 at Vinh Yen High School in the academic year of 2015-2016 After the first semester, the teacher-researcher found that her students‟ writing skill was very poor and their writing strategies seemed to

be ineffective Therefore, the researcher chose them to become volunteer participants in the action research project The total number of students was selected to do two writing tests named pre-test and post-test Then, a survey questionnaire was conducted to get more opinions from students about the treatment

3.2 Research methodology

3.2.1 Action research definition

This study was carried out using action research approach

Action research is first and foremost situational, being concerned with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out.”(Cohen and Manion, 1985).Sharing this idea, Parsons and Brown (2002) stated that action research

is an investigation carried out by teachers attempting to find solutions to problems and improve their professional practices in their own classroom Based on the above definitions, action research is an appropriate method in this thesis The aim of this research is to improve grade-twelve- students‟ writing performance by applying genre-based approach This leads to change the students‟ attitudes positively towards writing lessons

3.2.2 Action research procedure

Different authors and researcher have established and proposed different models of action research In this study, action research was

designed and conducted in line with the cycle adopted from McBride &

Schostak (1995):

Figure 3.1: Action research cycle

Under the light of the above model, the process starts with the identification of the problem area This is followed by collecting initial data, from which a pre-test during forty-five minutes is implemented so as to confirm the problem stated in stage 1 After that, the data collected from the pre-test is analyzed to form a hypothesis The next step of this action research study is planning action In this phase, the researcher presents the alternatives

to the usual practice so that the study could bring about desired changes Implementing action is the process of introducing the genre-based approach

as a major technique to see if there is any development in the students‟ writing skill and their attitudes towards the use of this technique At the phase

of collecting data to monitor change, the students are given the post-test during forty-five minutes to determine the effectiveness of the intervention

(2) collecting data

(3) analyzing data / generating hypotheses

(4) planning action steps

(5) implementing action steps

or a problem

SOCIAL SITUATION

Along with the post-test, the students also receive one survey questionnaire to show their perceptions and opinions about this new technique After the researcher analyzes data collected through tests and questionnaire, reflection identifies the result of the research

3.2.3 Data collection instrument

3.2.3.1 Pre-test and post-test

In this study, the two tests were designed to examine the effectiveness

of genre-based approach to grade-12- students‟ writing skill The test types selected for this study are popular kinds of writing test similar to the tests which students are instructed Therefore, the students are supposed to be familiar with the test format

Actually, the pre-test and the post-test on English writing are similar in format, instruction, length, level of difficulty, and allotted time (See Appendix 2)

To score the pre-test and the post-test, the same marking scale (see appendix 3) will be used This analytic marking scale with specific evaluation criteria was adapted from Jacobs et al‟s (1981) (cited in Weigle, 2002: 115-116) The main reason for the choice of this analytic marking scale instead of

a holistic scale is that it provides more useful diagnostic information about students‟ writing abilities The two test score were marked distinctly by two teachers to assure the accuracy as well as the equality of the grade The final scores (see Appendix 4) were mean of results from the two teachers

3.2.3.2 Survey questionnaire

Questionnaire was selected as the second data collection instrument in this study because “questionnaires are useful ways of gathering information about affective dimensions of teaching and learning, such as beliefs, attitudes, motivation, and preferences, and enable a teacher to collect a large amount of

information relatively quickly” ( Richards & Lockhart, 1994)

In this study, the questionnaire included eight closed-questions and used a five-point Likert Scale with five options ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree The Likert scale is a set of items, composed of approximately an equal number of favorable and unfavorable statements concerning the attitude object, is given to a group of subjects who are asked to respond to each statement in terms of their own degree of agreement or disagreement Typically, they are instructed to select one of five responses: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree

In this study, the students had 10 minutes to answer the questionnaire The questionnaire (see Appendix 5) consisted of two main parts with statements asking the students‟ attitudes towards genre-based approach (item 1,2,3) and their self-evaluation on the effectiveness of this technique (item 4,5,6,7,8)

3.2.4 Data collection procedure

The genre-based approach was applied in 6 weeks in class 12A1 during the first semester of the 2015- 2016 academic year at Vinh Yen High School The following table summarized the procedures of the research in which data was collected and then analyzed

Week 1 The researcher identified the issues to be changed and

prepared the instructional strategy (genre-based approach) which was theoretically effective to improve the situation and solve the problem

Week 2 - The class was given the pre-test before the treatment to

evaluate the student‟s writing ability

-The data collected from the pre-test was analyzed to form

a hypothesis

Week 3 -The researcher made a detailed plan of what she intended

to implement, when it has to be completed, what the modifications to the curriculum are, how the revised teaching strategies will be implemented, etc At this stage information gathering instruments should be prepared Week 4-9 Genre-based approach was implemented in the stage of

teaching and learning writing skill during the 3 units (from unit 2 to unit 4)

Week 10 -The students were administered the post-test to determine

the effectiveness of the intervention

-The students were asked to fill in the questionnaire to figure out students‟ attitudes towards genre-based approach

-The data collected from the post-test and questionnaire were analyzed to identify any improvements and evaluate students‟ opinions about the treatment used

- Evaluated the effectiveness of the treatment and identified the results of the research

Table 3.1: Procedure of the research

As shown in the table 3.1, genre-based approach was applied from week 4 to week 9 in the class 12A1 During six-week treatment, the students had four periods every week and one forty-minute period for writing was taught in each lesson

analyzed by the software names Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20 Here, the researcher used paired samples t-test to compare the means of two sets of test scores before and after the treatment

For the survey questionnaires, after collecting them from the students, the researcher used SPSS to calculate the valid percent of the questionnaires results (see Appendix 6) Then, the researcher compared the valid percent of some agree opinions with some disagree options to get the subject‟s opinions about the treatment

3.3 Chapter Summary

This chapter presented the research settings, the participants and teaching material They were followed by action research definition, action research procedure The chapter was finally concluded by the through description of data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure The following chapter will show the results of the study

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Quantitative description of results from the pre-test and post-test

The analysis of scores from pre-test and post-test aimed at answering the first question of this study

Before and after the treatment, all the students were given a pre-test and

a post-test to test students‟ improvement in writing skills under the treatment

of genre-based approach The researcher and one of her colleagues checked the papers of the two tests independently and used the following score interval

Table 4.1: Score interval of the tests

According to table 4.1, the students were divided into 5 groups including very good group (90 -100), good group (80 -89), average group (70 -79), bad group (60 -69) and very bad group (<60)

4.1.1 Distribution of the test results

After collecting the paper tests of students, the researcher, with the assistance from one of her colleagues marked separately and categorized the scores according to the above score interval The final results were mean of the mark from two teachers After that, the researcher made comparison between pre-test and post-test scores to find out any difference before and