Combining brainstorming and modelling to improve students'''''''' writing skill: an action research at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Information

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ********* PHẠM THỊ NGỌC BÍCH BẢN TÓM TẮT LUẬN VĂN COMBINING BRAINSTORMING AND MODELLING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT PHU

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

*********

PHẠM THỊ NGỌC BÍCH

BẢN TÓM TẮT LUẬN VĂN COMBINING BRAINSTORMING AND MODELLING

TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT PHU THO CENTRE FOR FOREIGN

LANGUAGES AND INFORMATICS

(Nghiên cứu hành động về việc kết hợp hoạt động tìm ý

với bài viết mẫu nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng viết tiếng Anh cho học viên

tại Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Tin học Phú Thọ)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi – 2011

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

*********

PHẠM THỊ NGỌC BÍCH

BẢN TÓM TẮT LUẬN VĂN COMBINING BRAINSTORMING AND MODELLING

TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT PHU THO CENTRE FOR FOREIGN

LANGUAGES AND INFORMATICS

(Nghiên cứu hành động về việc kết hợp hoạt động tìm ý

với bài viết mẫu nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng viết tiếng Anh cho học viên

tại Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ - Tin học Phú Thọ)

M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Dr NGUYỄN HUY KỶ

Hanoi – 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration………i

Acknowledgements……… ii

Abstract……… iii

Table of contents……….iv

List of abbreviations……… vii

List of figures, tables and charts……… viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION………1

1 Rationale……… 1

2 Objectives of the study……….2

3 Research questions……… 2

4 Scope of the study……… 2

5 Method of the study……….2

6 Significance of the study……… 2

7 Design of the study……… 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT……….4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……….4

1.1 Definitions of writing……… 4

1.2 The role of writing in language teaching and learning……….4

1.3 Approaches to teaching writing……… 5

1.3.1 Product approach………6

1.3.2 Process approach……….7

1.4 The pre-writing stage ……….10

1.4.1 Definition……… 10

1.4.2 Types of pre-writing techniques……… 10

1.4.2.1 Brainstorming……… 11

1.4.2.1.1 Definition……….11

1.4.2.1.2 Rules of brainstorming……… 12

1.4.2.2 Modelling……….12

1.4.2.2.1 Definition……… 12

1.4.2.2.2 Rules of modelling……… 13

1.4.2.2.3 Some arguments against modelling……… 13

1.5 Related studies and fitness of the present study into the field………14

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY……….16

2.1 Rationale for the use of an action research……….16

2.2 The context of the study……… 18

2.2.1 An introduction of Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics………18

2.2.2 The English Language Teacher Group……… 18

2.2.3 The writing program for the English supplementary training course at PTCFI……19

2.2.4 Participants………19

2.3 Action research procedures……….19

2.4 Data collection………22

2.4.1 Instruments for data collection……… 22

2.4.1.1 Pre-test and post-test……… 22

2.4.1.2 Pre- and post- questionnaires……….23

2.4.1.3 A collection of students’ writing………23

2.4.2 Data collection procedures……….23

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS……… 25

3.1 Data collected before the action plan implementation……… 25

3.1.1 The results of pre-test……….25

3.1.2 The results of pre- questionnaire……… 26

3.2 Data collected from analysis of students’ writing during the action plan implementation……… 30

3.3 Data collected after the action plan implementation……… 31

3.3.1 The results of post-test……….…… 31

3.3.2 The results of post-questionnaire……….32

3.4 Action research evaluation……… 35

3.5 Some major findings and discussions……… 36

PART C: CONCLUSION……… 39

1 Recapitulation ……… 39

2 Implications for classroom practice……… 40

3 Limitations of the study……….40

4 Suggestions for further studies……… 41

REFERENCES……… 42

APPENDICES………I

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS

Figure 1: Action research cycle

Table 1: Students’ writing performance in pre-test

Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards writing and their interests in writing lessons

Table 3: Students’ writing habits

Table 4: Students’ difficulties in writing lessons

Table 5: Students’ writing performance from Unit 8 to Unit 12

Table 6: Students’ writing performance in post-test

Table 7: Students’ attitudes towards writing and their interests in writing lessons

Table 8: Students’ writing habits

Table 9: Students’ opinions about the combination of brainstorming and modelling activities Chart 1: Students’ writing performance at average to excellent level from pre-test to post-test via the action plan implementation (Pre-test, Unit 8, Unit 9, Unit 10, Unit 11, Unit 12 and post-test)

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Nowadays, the goal of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English

in particular is providing learners with the communicative competence To acquire the communicative competence, four language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing need

to be officially taught at any universities, colleges and schools, among which writing skill is very important because it is one of the two productive skills It is also because of the fact that besides speaking, people frequently have to communicate with each other in writing Moreover, writing serves as an aid to learning “First, writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms, and vocabulary that we have been teaching our students Second, when our students write, they also have a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learned to say, to take risks Third, when they write, they necessarily become very involved with the new language; the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eyes, hand, and brain

is a unique way to reinforce learning As writers struggle with what to put down next or how to put it down on paper, they often discover something new to write or a new way of expressing their idea They discover a real need for finding the right word and the right sentence The close relationship between writing and thinking makes writing a valuable part of any language course” (Raimes, 1983: 3)

Actually, because of the above mentioned reasons, writing is important for any language course with no exception for language courses at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics However, writing skill poses great problems for the students at the centre Particularly, students recognize “the characterization of writing periods as times of sighing, pencil-chewing, foot-shuffling agony” (Hedge, 1988: 5) They find it difficult to generate ideas and organize ideas in a logical sequence but “ideas should arguably be seen as the most important aspect of writing” (Ur, 1996: 163) This fact has inspired the researcher to find out the way to help them overcome difficulties in generating and organizing ideas when writing in English In this regard, brainstorming and modelling are possibly effective activities which provide learners with ideas in writing Thus, the author has conducted a research on combining brainstorming and modelling with a view to helping the students improve their writing skill

2 Objectives of the study

This study is designed to improve the students’ writing skill by combining brainstorming and modelling Thus, it has two objectives:

- Exploring the possible reasons for students’ weak writing competence

- Justifying the effects of the combination of brainstorming and modelling on students’ writing skill

3 Research questions

In order to achieve the objectives mentioned above, the study seeks to answer three

following questions:

1 What are the reasons that lead to students’ weak writing competence?

2 How does the combination of brainstorming and modelling affect students’ writing skill at PTCFI?

3 What are the students’ opinions about the combination of brainstorming and modelling?

4 Scope of the study

The research was carried out in an English supplementary training class with 30 students at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics Regarding its scope, the research focused on justifying the effects of the combination of brainstorming and modelling at the pre-writing stage on the students’ writing performance in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics

5 Method of the study

The method employed in this study is an action research, with the use of a number of instruments, namely pre-questionnaire, post-questionnaire, pre-test, post-test and a collection of students’ writing Action research has proved to be the best choice for this study because the study has the aim of improving the students’ writing skill within a certain context

6 Significance of the study

Being one of the two productive skills, writing plays an important role in language teaching and learning Nevertheless, how to teach and learn writing effectively often poses great problems to both teachers and students The study is carried out in terms of both theory

and practice with the hope that teachers can improve their teaching methods and students can adjust their ways of learning this skill to have better results

7 Design of the study

The study is composed of three parts

Part A is the introduction in which the rationale, the objectives, the scope, the method, the significance and the design of study are presented

Part B consists of three chapters Chapter 1 is the literature review In this chapter, the literature on brainstorming and modelling techniques as well as on writing English as a second

or foreign language is reviewed Chapter 2 presents the methodology in which the information about action research, the context of the study, participants, research procedures and data collection is provided Chapter 3 deals with the results and discussions of the study

Part C is the conclusion which presents the major findings of the study Also in this part, the implications for classroom practice, the limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies are provided

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter will present the theoretical background of the study, including the insights

of teaching writing It reviews issues related to writing such as the definition of writing, the place of writing in second and foreign language learning, approaches to teaching writing, the pre-writing stage with the detail of brainstorming and modelling activities and the fitness of the study into the field

1.1 Definitions of writing:

Writing has been defined in a variety of ways in the literature of research into writing

According to Byrne (1988:1) writing can be seen as “the act of forming graphic symbols” (letters or combinations of letters) However, according to White and Arndt (1991: 3), “writing

is far from being a simple matter of transcribing language into written symbols; it is thinking process in its own right It demands conscious intellectual effort, which usually has to be sustained over a considerable period of time” Sharing the same opinion with White & Arndt,

Harris (1993: 10) states that “writing 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”

Especially, in language teaching, writing is considered to be a productive and taught

language skill Ur (1996: 161) claims that "most people acquire the spoken language (at least

their own mother tongue) intuitively, whereas the written form is in most cases deliberately taught and learned" Furthermore, according to Tribble (1996: 3), “writing is a language skill which is difficult to acquire” and “writing normally requires some form of instruction It is not

a skill that is readily picked up by exposure” (p.11)

In summary, writing may be seen as an act, a process or a taught language skill It is not only an important skill but a difficult one as well which requires a great effort in practice from learners

1.2 The role of writing in the language teaching and learning

Writing plays an important role in language learning and teaching According to Doff (1988), writing helps students to learn so it must be taught from the beginning Learners need

writing to copy letters, words, sentences, grammatical structures and then they need writing for more complicated activities Learners use writing to take note of the lessons, write answers to the reading passage, to the listening tasks, doing exercises and writing examination Brown

(1994: 320) states that “trends in the teaching of writing in ESL and other foreign languages

have coincided with those of the teaching other skills” It is clear that writing is one part of the

process of learning a language It helps develop other skills

In addition, Tribble (1996) indicates specific reasons for including writing in the teaching programmes He states that both school students and adult learners can benefit from writing learning such as opportunities for language practice (especially grammar and vocabulary), accuracy improvement, better examination results and professional enhancement For the former group, writing also helps to foster their creativeness and imagination in language use and ultimately become better writers in their first language

According to Byrne (1988: 2), writing we do regularly relates to our “professional life”

Some people spend a lot of time writing letters, instructions, reports For others, this is only an occasional activity And for the language teachers, they use writing as means of teaching They use writing to write words when presenting new vocabulary, to write grammatical structures to present new languages to students Without writing, this would be more difficult for teachers to explain to students Moreover, teachers need writing for their own profession They use writing

to write their lesson plans, write reports and so forth Especially, writing is a reliable test device for teachers to collect information about their students' progress and then to enable them to evaluate and feedback on students' learning

In short, writing brings a number of benefits to both learners and teachers To the former group, writing provides opportunities for language practice, professional enhancement, development of creative/imaginative language For the latter one, writing serves as a device for evaluation, examination and feedback Therefore, writing in the language learning context should be taken into consideration

1.3 Approaches to teaching writing

It is confirmed that teaching and learning writing is really complicated work For students, they must have knowledge of content, organization, discourse, syntax, lexis, and

mechanical elements For teachers, they may be confused of a variety of approaches In other words, approaches to teaching ESL/ EFL writing have long been a topic of controversy for them, even for researchers Writing is being taught in many different ways And how to teach writing effectively depends on types of students, the text type being studied, the school system and many other factors Here the researcher would like to clarify the two most popular approaches used in ESL/EFL classroom, namely product approach and process approach

1.3.1 Product approach

With the traditional product approach, the final outcome of a writing process is paid much attention to and the production of only one writing version of the task is needed

According to Nunan (1991: 86), this approach “focuses on the end result of the learning

process- what is that the learner is expected to be able to do as a fluent and competent user of the language” Sharing the same opinion, Harmer (2001: 257) states that “when concentrating

on the product we are only interested in the aim of the task and in the end product”

Product approach model comprises of four stages (Steele, 2004, cited in Hasan & Akhand, 2010)

 Stage 1: Model texts are read, and then features of the genre are highlighted For

example, if studying a formal letter, students' attention may be drawn to the importance of paragraphing and the language used to make formal requests If studying a story, the focus may be on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and students focus on where and how the writer employs these techniques

 Stage 2 This consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features, usually in

isolation So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practise the language used to make formal requests

 Stage 3 This is the most important stage where the ideas are organized Those who

favour this approach believe that the organization of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves and as important as the control of language

 Stage 4 This is the end product of the learning process Students choose from a

choice of comparable writing tasks Individually, they use the skills, structures and

vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product; to show what they can do

as fluent and competent users of the language

Using the product approach, students are engaged in imitating, copying and transforming models of the correct language And a great deal of attention is placed on “model” compositions that students will emulate and on how well a student’s final product is measured according to the criteria of “content, organization, vocabulary use, grammatical use, and mechanical considerations such as spelling and punctuation” (Brown, 1994: 320)

There is nothing wrong with attention to any of the mentioned criteria because they are still the concern of writing teachers However, learners should also be seen as creators of language to create meaningful content and message, which means that their own individual intrinsic motives are put at the center of learning

1.3.2 Process approach

On the contrary, Process approach focuses on the process rather than the final product

“Those who advocate a process approach to writing pay attention to the various stages that any piece of writing goes through By spending time with learners on pre-writing phases, editing, redrafting and finally „publishing‟ their work, a process approach aims to get the heart

of the various skills that should be employed when writing” (Harmer, J, 2001: 257) The

process approach devotes increased attention to writers and the activities in which writers engage when they create and produce a text It differs much from the product approach which gives primary focus on the texts Clark (2003: 7) describes the process approach:

"Reacting against pedagogy oriented towards error correcting and formulaic patterns

of organization, the process approach as it evolved during the 1960s and 1970s, was concerned with discovering how writers produce texts, developing a model of the writing process, and helping writers find a process that would enable them to write more effectively and continue to improve as writers"

And according to Nunan, D (1991), Process approach focuses more on the various classroom activities which are thought to promote the development of skilled language use With this approach, writers are encouraged to get their ideas on paper in any shape or form without worrying too much about formal correctness It also encourages collaborative group

work among learners as a way of enhancing motivation and developing positive attitudes towards writing

Many researchers have the same point of view that writing is a process and it consists of some stages and the activities in each stage are similar However, there have been different ways to divide the stages in a writing process, resulting different implications for teaching writing in the classrooms According to Hedge (1988), the writing process is involved with the following stages

Being Getting Planning Making Making Revising Editing and motivated → ideas → and → notes → a first → replanning → getting ready

to write together outlining draft redrafting for publication

Step 3: Revising

In this step, students read over what they have written, decide what ideas need to be improved so that they have as good a paragraph or essay as possible, and - most important – rewrite their draft to achieve the improvements they want When rewriting, they add new points that need to be made or more specific details that better support the points they are making, or they drop some ideas that do not belong, and they rearrange the material they have As they make these revisions, they are guided by the needs and expectations of their audience Now

they have a second draft, which they should revise the same way they did their first When they have a draft that is well developed and logically organized, they begin revising for style At this point, they concentrate on their choice of words and sentence structure as they work to make their sentences flow smoothly and to establish the appropriate tone for their audience They should continue to revise all the further drafts until they are satisfied with the outcome

Step 4: Editing

In this step, students check thoroughly to make sure that their grammar, punctuation, and spelling are correct While editing, they should keep a dictionary handy to use as quick reference tools

In short, in the process approach, writing is viewed as a multi-stage process that the writers have to go through It may include pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading Under the light of this division in particular and the process approach in general, students are seen as independent producers of the text and are able to show their creativeness in

their language However, this approach has also received criticisms “One such criticism is that

the process approach confines children largely to narrative forms and that this represents a serious limitation on their ability to master text types such as reports, expositions and arguments which are essential for academic success at school and beyond” (Nunan, 1991: 87)

Furthermore, Horowitz (1986, cited in Nunan, 1991: 88) criticizes that this approach “gives a

false impression of how university writing will be evaluated, and that choice of topic, an important process writing principle, is irrelevant in most university contexts”

Therefore, it cannot be denied that each approach has both strengths and weaknesses The product approach can provide students with models or sources of language whereas the process one can help students become more creative in producing the target texts Deciding which approach to use depends on many factors such as the teacher, the students and the genre

of the text Formal letters or postcards, for example, in which the features are very fixed, would

be perhaps more suited to the product approach, in which the focus on the layout, style, organization and grammar could greatly help students in dealing with this type of writing tasks Other genres, such as discursive essays and narrative, may lend themselves to process approach which focuses on students' ideas A combination of two approaches is, therefore, necessary to maximize the benefits of writing

1.4 The pre-writing stage

1.4.1 Definition

“Pre-writing is simply the first stage in writing” (O’Keefe, 1991: 2) It is often believed

to be the hardest part of writing A blank page, begging to be filled with ink, can be intimidating for most of us, especially when our words come slowly or when our minds go

blank Also, pre-writing is defined to be “the complex network of initial mental sequences we

undergo when we write a paper” (Gould, DiYanni & Smith, 1989: 106-107) It is the

complicated phase of generating words, rereading words or creating new ideas that have not yet been formulated in writers’ own minds

Pre-writing is considered to be very important in writing as it is “the stage of discovery

in the writing process” (Gordon Rohman, 1965, cited in Clark, 2003: 8) It stimulates the writer’s mind to come up with good ideas, to discover new ideas and fresh insights

1.4.2 Types of pre-writing techniques

There are a lot of pre-writing techniques such as brainstorming, listing and grouping, free-writing, simple outlining and modelling Because of the students’ level and their difficulties at the pre-writing stage as presented in 3.1, brainstorming and modelling are combined to help students overcome difficulties in writing

1.4.2.1 Brainstorming

1.4.2.1.1 Definition

There are many definitions of brainstorming in teaching and learning writing Each definition is the reflection of the underlying theories or perspectives that the authors assume

White & Arndt (1991:18) define “brainstorming is a widely used and effective way of

getting ideas flowing These ideas may be ideas for actual content, or ideas for organizing the content Carried out individually, or better skill, among a group of people, brainstorming involves thinking quickly and without inhibition so as to produce as many ideas as possible in a given area or on a given topic or problem It is an especially fertile means of generating ideas, including unique or unorthodox ones, which can ultimately lead to an interesting piece of writing”

According to Gould, DiYanni & Smith (1989: 108) “brainstorming is a powerful public

strategy for generating information and ideas because it taps a group‟s potential and brings numerous viewpoints and backgrounds to a problem” They also indicate that brainstorming

works particularly well when you really do not know what to do or think, or when you cannot make a decision You must create a receptive atmosphere, an environment that accepts all ideas

as possible solutions for the problems or steps toward the goal

O’Keefe, J (1991) considers brainstorming as a prewriting technique in which you list

as fast as possible whatever comes to mind, regardless of whether or not it makes any sense

Veit, Gould & Clifford (2001) have an agreement that brainstorming is “a way of

bringing to mind as many ideas about a topic as possible Brainstorming not only provides raw material to work with; it also gets your creative juices flowing” (p.15)

In short, the above mentioned researchers have the same opinion that brainstorming is

an effective way of generating ideas It gives students a chance to share ideas about a certain topic before writing Because of its usefulness and fun, brainstorming is well worth trying out

in language classes (Cullen, 1998)

1.4.2.1.2 Rules of Brainstorming

According to Sue Steege (1999), the four guidelines for divergent thinking are critical to the process of brainstorming The guidelines are the rules for successful brainstorming They are deferring judgment, striving for quantity, freewheeling and seeking combinations

 Defer judgment. This guideline is really the basis for the other three guidelines

It implies the process of waiting to judge ideas and options until after there are many ideas and options generated The ability to defer judgment is important both externally (when considering the ideas of others) and internally (when considering one’s own ideas) Deferring judgment helps to generate a higher quantity and quality of ideas

 Strive for quantity. In creative problem solving, we believe that with quantity, one is more likely to get quality If one generates many ideas while brainstorming, there is

a likely chance that one or more of them will be the creative solution to the problem

 Freewheel This guideline suggests capturing every idea that comes into one’s

mind, even if it seems crazy or out there While brainstorming, it is helpful to give one’s self permission to be playful and strive for originality This guideline necessitates use of the imagination

 Seek combinations. This guideline asks brainstorming participants to build on previously stated ideas Old ideas can be modified, altered or combined to generate new ideas This is also known as piggy-backing or hitch-hiking

1.4.2.2 Modelling

1.4.2.2.1 Definition

A number of researchers express their points of view regarding the definition of models and modelling First, we need to understand the term “model” Master (1997: 30) defines that

“a model is a sample of writing that is used for pedagogical purposes” According to Brookes

& Grundy (1990: 22), a model is “the product of another person when it serves as an example

for the writer”

And according to Doff (1988), modelling or giving a short text as a model is one of the two main ways to guide students’ writing (giving a short text as a model, doing oral preparation for the writing) From Doff’s point of view, students need to progress beyond very controlled

writing exercises to freer paragraph writing after they have mastered basic skills of sentence writing And students can make this transition more easily if teachers guide their writing

1.4.2.2.2 Rules of modelling

Doff (1988: 154) briefly explains how a text can be used as a model for writing

“Students read a short text, and perhaps study particular features of it (e.g the way sentences are joined, the use of verb tenses, the use of passive) They then write a paragraph which is similar, but involves some changes” And Raimes (1983: 126-7) states that modelling

encourages students to think that form comes first “They tend to see the organizational plan of

the model as a predetermined mold into which they pour their content” Also, he advises that

modelling should be employed as “a resource rather than an ideal” Students base on the

model to write, gather and shape ideas and then deal with the problem that emerges in their writing process

Scrivener (2005: 199) characterizes some features that learners can study in a model text:

- The layout

- The overall message

- How the items are organized

- Specific phrases and sentences used

- Distinctive grammatical features

- The style and tone

- The effect on the reader

He claims that it is often helpful if students see models of the kind of texts they are working on Teachers can offer this activity early or later in the writing work If this activity is given out early, the final product may be substantially similar to the original, especially in layout and organization, but with substitutions of content If it is given out later, learners will probably see the text as something to give them extra support and ideas, but may not significantly change their own overall structure and content

1.4.2.2.3 Some arguments against modelling

There are some objections to modelling in teaching and learning writing Goby, V.P (1997) argues that in writing, we have to encourage students to be creative If we introduce a

particular topic via a model writing, “we rob students of the chance to assume responsibility for

the creative process” (p.30) He also claims that another drawback to giving models is the

actual models themselves “A model is generally composed by one person whose style of

writing substantially reflects one cultural context….It is difficult if not impossible to incorporate the local usage patterns into these models Communication styles are such deeply entrenced reflections of anthropological facts that they are not easy to eradicate” Thus,

models are not well suited to the local cultural context With the similar point of view, Kees

(2009) mentions the complex high level of models He states that “what students need is

language that is at their target level or very slightly above This kind of language is accessible This kind of language is highly learnable” Model essays, however, often have complicated

language or structures as they are composed by “a native or writer of native-like proficiency”

Writing with model texts has also been criticized by other researchers for laying emphasis on form not on content (Collins & Gentner, 1980; Judy, 1980, cited in Abe, 2008) They assist that language form and the content of composition are inseparable And “one of the problems in teaching writing is to maintain the balance between content and form when defining our requirements and assessing” (Ur, 1996: 163) Ur (1996) also points out that the purpose of writing, in principle, is the expressions of ideas, the conveying the message to the reader; so the ideas should arguably be seen as the most important aspect of writing

In short, due to these limitations of modelling, teachers are required to have full awareness as well as flexibility in their own teaching situation Some researchers suggest that modelling should be combined with other techniques of generating ideas such as brainstorming, mind-mapping, and free-writing to help learners think about the appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and organization for writing in a specific genre (Brown, 1994 & Tangpermpoon, 2008)

1.5 Related studies and fitness of the present study into the field

The use of brainstorming and the use of modelling have been discussed in several studies Ibnian (2011) carried out the study proving the positive effect of using the brainstorming technique on developing students’ essay writing skills Besides, the researcher explains that the use of the brainstorming technique highly contributed to enabling students to

generate ideas, exchange opinions and crystallize new thoughts about the raised topics, which positively affected their performance on the post-essay writing test Furthermore, using the brainstorming technique motivated learners to get involved in the learning process and express themselves freely without hesitation, since they were told that their ideas will not be judged during the brainstorming session Thus, they felt free while generating their ideas and came up with unique and unexpected thoughts

Abe (2008) attempted to identify the role of model essay as a feedback tool for writing construction More specifically, her paper aimed to reveal how Japanese ESL students notice their language problems by comparing their own writing with a model essay

Tangpermpoon (2008) conducted a study to show the importance of using the integrated approaches to improve students’ writing skill for English major learners in the tertiary level He gave an example for providing a model in combination with techniques of generating ideas such as brainstorming, mind-mapping and freewriting His study proved that the strengths of each approach can complement each other and help teachers develop learners’ writing competence by providing appropriate input of knowledge and skills in the writing procedure

Tham Bich Phuong (2008) recommended brainstorming and modelling be two useful separated activities in idea-generating in teaching writing for high school students The research gap is that the combination of these two activities might solve the problem of generating and organizing ideas at the pre-writing stage As a result, this gap has intrigued the researcher to conduct the study “combining brainstorming and modelling to improve students’ writing skill:

An action research at Phu Tho centre for foreign languages and informatics”

In summary, this chapter reviews some theoretical issues of teaching writing and brainstorming, modelling activities at the pre-writing stage Definitions of writing, role of writing and approaches of writing have been elaborated Also, general features of brainstorming and modelling have been presented to clarify their definitions, their rules and the fitness of the study into the field In the next chapter, the methodology of the research will

be described in detail

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides the rationale for the use of an action research in the field of the study

In addition, it gives information about the setting of the study, the participants, and the research procedures as well as research instruments used for this study

2.1 Rationale for the use of an action research

Teachers in general and teachers of English in particular actually carry out action research for most of their time Whenever s/he identifies a problem which is happening in the class, it is his/her task to find ways to solve that problem Therefore, action research is inevitably a very common practice

As defined by Scrivener (2005: 379), “action research is a teacher’s personal study of his/her own teaching or of the students’ learning” Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988, quoted in Nunan, 1992: 17) identify three characteristics of action research, which are “carried out by practitioners”, “collaborative” and “aimed at changing things”

Nunan (1992: 19) defines the framework of an action research consisting of seven steps:

Step 1: Initiation (Identify the problem)

Step 2: Preliminary investigation (Collect data through a variety of means)

Step 3: Hypothesis (Develop research questions)

Step 4: Intervention (Devise strategies and innovation to be implemented)

Step 5: Evaluation (Collect data again and analyze it to work out the findings)

Step 6: Dissemination (Report the result by running workshops or issuing a paper)

Step 7: Follow-up (Find alternative methods to solve the same problem)

A typical action research needs to go from one step to another Ferrance (2000) suggested an action cycle as follows:

According to her cycle, the first step of an action research is to identify the problem Then, data must be collected through means of questionnaires, interviews, etc Next, the data are analyzed to find out problems The fourth step is to design a plan of action that will allow the researcher to make a change and study that change After the intervention has been carried out, it is the researcher’s task to evaluate its effects in order to justify whether the invention worked or not Then, if it has not been very effective, the researcher would have to consider another method so as to improve the situation This study is guided by these steps of an action research

Action research is conducted widely due to its advantages that cannot be denied One

of the most significant features of an action research is that it is very situational, which means

it appears to provide specific solutions to specific problems in each context While other types

of researches focus on experimenting or testing a pre-assumed theory or concept, action research aims at improving the situation Therefore, it is very beneficial to the teaching and learning process When thinking of choosing an appropriate methodology, the researcher found that action research is the best choice for the purpose of improving students’ writing skill because of the fact that action research means “act upon research” An action research

enables the teacher to have a thorough investigation on the writing problems of the students on

a daily basis Thanks to this, the findings of the research would be up to date and mostly reliable

2.2 The context of the study

2.2.1 An introduction of Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics

Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics, which belongs to Phu Tho Department of Training and Education, was established in 1996 As the name has suggested, the Centre has two main training aspects: Foreign Languages and Informatics, which are very important in the globalization age today The Centre has the major task of providing supplementary training courses of Foreign Languages and Informatics for Phu Tho State officials It also cooperates with some universities to open in-service classes of Languages and Informatics

The learners at the centre are adults with the age arranging from 18 to over 50 Most of them come from different Departments of Phu Tho province such as Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Technology and Environment, Department of Medicine and Department of Training and Education, etc They work full time, so they often attend the class

in the evenings, at weekends or in the summer

2.2.2 The English Language Teacher Group

The group now has 11 teachers of English aged between 27 and 58 Among them, three graduated from English Department, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Two of them graduated from English Department, Thai nguyen University And the rest attended in-service training courses at Phu Tho centre for continuing education Thus, their English proficiency and teaching methods are not equally qualified At present, three out of 11 teachers are doing an MA course All the teachers have never taken part in any training courses abroad; they only participated in workshops on teaching methods organized in Phu Tho province In general, the teaching staff is always eager for knowledge, energetic and willing to apply better ways to fortify their teaching quality

2.2.3 The writing program for the English supplementary training course at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics

2.2.3.1 Objectives

Based on the coursebook “Lifelines Elementary” by Tom Hutchinson (1999), English is taught with four skills and language focus on grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation The writing program at PTCFI has the objectives of improving students’ abilities in writing and motivating students in writing lessons in particular and in learning English in general

2.2.3.2 Writing tasks in the coursebook

According to the content of the coursebook, writing is in the same part with reading And the topics for reading and writing are familiar with our daily life: describing yourself and your family, your meals and your home, writing a story, a magazine article about one’s job in your family, writing about a busy week, a holiday, a journey or expedition and writing about a famous person The students practise writing based on pictures, photos, writing based on a model text, writing with a given outline

In general, writing tasks in the coursebook are suitable for the students at Phu Tho Centre for Foreign Languages and Informatics However, some writing tasks in the coursebook are rather difficult and insufficient for the students Thus, teachers at PTCFI need to be flexible

in choosing writing activities to improve students’ writing skill

2.2.4 Participants

The study was carried out with the participation of 30 female students of an English supplementary training class All of these students are working at some kindergartens in Phu Ninh district, Phu Tho province They are adult learners with the age arranging from 22 to 40

2.3 Action research procedures

The study was conducted for 30 female students for twelve weeks (from May, 2011 to July, 2011) Based on the selected model demonstrated in figure 1, the following steps were doneone after another

Step 1: Identifying the problem (weeks 1-2)

The problem perceived was that during writing lessons many students were

“pencil-chewing” They found it difficult to generate and organize the ideas of the writing tasks

So the researcher would like to find out the reasons and solutions to this problem

Step 2: Gathering data (weeks 3 – 4)

The data before the action implementation were collected from the pre-test (Appendix

3) and pre-questionnaire (Appendix 1) in order to confirm the problem stated in step 1 and

identify the reasons for it

Step 3: Interpreting data (week 5)

The data collected from week 3 to week 4 were then interpreted to find out the answer

to the first research question “What are the reasons that lead to students’ weak writing

competence?” And from the discoverable reasons, the researcher formed the hypothesis

whether “combining brainstorming and modelling at the pre-writing stage would improve

students’ writing competence in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, language use and

mechanics and if yes, to what extent?” in writing lessons

Step 4: Acting on the evidence (weeks 6 – 10)

Before implementing action, an action plan of the combination of brainstorming and

modelling at the pre-writing stage was designed by the researcher

At the pre-writing stage, firstly, the teacher asked students to work individually, in

groups or the whole class to brainstorm about the given topic After having relevant ideas

about the topic, they read the model to imitate the organization of ideas and picked up useful

expressions and vocabulary of the model (see the sample in appendix 7)

The action plan was implemented in five writing lessons, each of which consists of 45

minutes (from Unit 8 to Unit 12) In Unit 8, students were asked to write a real or imaginary

description of last week Before writing, they were asked to work individually to brainstorm to

get ideas of their week and next, work in pairs to arrange ideas according to the calendar of the

week Then, the students were asked to read the model and study the organization of ideas

describing where they were and what they did from Monday to Sunday of last week

In Unit 9, students were supposed to write a newspaper article about the story based on

an interview between the woman, Eileen, who did not accept the money offered by Sainbury’s – a property company and the reporter given in the coursebook Firstly, students brainstormed with the whole class to get information about the woman: her age, her house, the reason for not accepting money from the property company and her feelings Next, students looked at the model writing based on the interview between the property company and the reporter, read and found out the organization of ideas: introducing the house, the reason for offering money

to knock down the house, the reason for not accepting the money, change in plans

In Unit 10, students were asked to write about their last holiday Before writing, students were asked to brainstorm in small groups to generate ideas about a holiday such as time to set off, the place to go to, something happened, good time or not, how they felt Furthermore, students looked at the model, read and paid particular attention to the textual organization of a logical flow of ideas: Where? How long? Weather? Transport? Journey time? Stay? Do? Get back?

Unit 11 has the topic “Imagine you are doing exactly what you’d like to do today Write a paragraph Compare what you normally do with what you’re doing today” Firstly, the teacher wrote two columns on the board (normal life, today) and asked the students to brainstorm in small groups about the topic according to those two columns Then, students were asked to study the model and analyze the textual format In addition, they could pick up a

useful expression of comparing in the model “She normally goes to school but this week she’s

appearing at a fashion show”

In Unit 12, students were asked to write the story from the creatures’ point of view with the topic “Are we alone in the universe?” Before writing, students were shown how to generate ideas with the whole class Next, they had to study the model focusing on the textual format to ensure text coherence and a logical flow of ideas answering the questions: “How did you get to the garden? What did you want to do? How did you get the woman? What did she look like to you? What did you do with her? Why? What did you do afterwards?”

After each lesson, the teacher collected students’ writing which was analyzed in the data analysis In addition, at the end of the action implementation phase, post-questionnaire

(appendix 2) was delivered to get students’ information about writing and the effectiveness of the combination at the pre-writing stage And the post-test (appendix 4) was carried out to evaluate how effective the combination was on the students’ proficiency

Step 5: Evaluating results (weeks 11-12)

In this step, the researcher analyzed the students’ writing, questionnaire and test to prove students’ writing improvement and to evaluate whether the intervention was successful or not The collected data answered the second and the third research questions

post-2.4 Data collection

2.4.1 Instruments for data collection

2.4.1.1 Pre-test and post-test

The pre-test was designed to assess the students’ writing ability before the action implementation The students were asked to write 100 – 150 words on the topic “Write a description of your house or your ideal house” in 40 minutes The pre-test was carried out in the fourth week of the course after students were guided to review the basic knowledge No guidance or help was given during the test

The post-test was conducted after the action implementation to find out how the students had made improvement in writing The same topic of “Write a description of your house or your ideal house” was given to the students to write 100 – 150 words in 40 minutes The topic and the requirement of the task were the same as the pre-test so that the improvement in students’ writing could be measured and judged exactly However, with the post-test students were provided with a writing model of house description

The scoring criteria (appendix 5) was adapted from rating scale by Heaton, J.B (1988)

to evaluate the results of two tests in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics Especially, in the focus of the study, the students’ performance in terms of content and organization was paid more attention to

2.4.1.2 Pre- and post- questionnaires

The questionnaires were applied for merely students To make sure that the students understood the questions, the researcher spent about 30 minutes guiding them to answer and explaining difficult terms when she delivered the questionnaires to the students

Pre-questionnaire was distributed to the students before the action implementation with

9 questions (see appendix 1) Questions 1-4 investigated the students’ attitudes towards writing and their interests in writing lessons Questions 5-7 were used to explore the students’ writing habits Questions 8-9 were to find out the students’ difficulties in implementing writing tasks

Post-questionnaire consisted of 6 questions and was delivered to the students after the action implementation (see appendix 2) Questions 1-3 were designed to find out the students’ attitudes towards writing and their interests in writing lessons Questions 4-5 were used to explore the students’ writing habits The last question, question 6 tried to elaborate the students’ opinions about the effectiveness of the combination of brainstorming and modelling

at the pre-writing stage With this question the students could be free to express their thoughts about the usefulness of the action

2.4.1.3 A collection of students‟ writing

Students’ writing was collected after each writing lesson during the action implementation for the purpose of evaluating results at the end of the action The scoring criteria (see appendix 5) was adapted from rating scale by Heaton, J.B (1988)

2.4.2 Data collection procedures

The process of collecting data was carried out in three phases:

Before the action plan implementation

After three weeks of gaining some basic knowledge of English and being familiar with practising four skills of English, in the fourth week of the course, students were asked to do the pre-test Then, pre-questionnaire was delivered to the students to confirm the problem and identify the causes of the students’ writing problem Thanks to the establishment of a good rapport, participants were willing to cooperate with the researcher, which resulted in the collection of 30 completed questionnaires after all

During the action plan implementation

Students’ writing was collected at the end of each writing lesson and then analyzed after the action plan implementation in order to investigate the students’ writing improvement

After the action plan implementation