The effect of consciousness raising activities on the 10th grade students grammatical competence at tran nhat duat upper secondary school002

However in this study I chose the task based approach as the best to improve writing to the 8th students at Quang Vinh secondary school which is recognized to be able to adapt this appro

Page

DECLARATION ……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… ii

ABSTRACT……… iii

APPENDICES……… iv

ABBREVIATION……… v

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES……… vi

TABLES OF CONTENT……… vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale……… 1

2 Aims of the study……… 2

3 Research questions……… 2

4 Scopes of the study……… 2

5 Significance of the study……… 3

6 Methodology……… 3

7 Design of the study……… 4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1.1 Definition of tasks……… 5

1.1.2 Types of tasks within Task-based language teaching ……… 7

1.1.3 The principles of Task-based language teaching……… 8

1.1.4 The role of teacher and learner in Task-based language teaching……… 9

1.1.5 The performance of task……… 10

1.2 Theoretical background of writing skills……… 12

1.2.1 Definitions and roles of writing……… 12

1.2.2 Types of writing……… 14

1.2.3 Approaches of teaching writing skills……… 14

1.2.4 Marking scheme of test……… 16

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Setting of the study……… 21

2.2 Subjects……… 23

2.3 Data collection……… 23

2.3.1 Questionnaire ……… 23

2.3.2 Pre test……… 23

2.3.3 Post test……… 24

2.3.4 Interview……… 24

3.1 Data analysis……… 25

3.1.1 Data analysis of students’ and teachers’ survey questionnaire……… 25

3.1.1.1 Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire……… 25

3.1.1.2 Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire……… 30

3.1.2 Data analysis of students and teachers’ direct interview……… 34

3.1.2.1 Data analysis of the interview for the students……… 34

3.1.2.2 Data analysis of the interview for the teachers……… 35

3.1.3 Data analysis of pre and post tests……… 36

3.2 Findings ……… 38

3.3 Suggested techniques for application of the task based approach to improve 8th graders’ writing skills 41 3.3.1 3.3.1 Suggestions for the teachers……… 41

3.3.2 Suggested techniques to motivate students’ writing……… 41

3.3.2.1 Extra tasks……… 41

3.3.2.2 Group work……… 42

3.3.2.3 Using games……… 42

PART III: CONCLUSION 4.1 Summary of the study……… 43

4.2.1 Limitation of the research……… 44

APPENDIX

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

The general goal of teaching a foreign language is to train students‟ communicative abilities English writing is one of the most communicative abilities among others such as listening, speaking and reading and it is also one of the most difficult skills that students get

at school According to David Nunan (1979:35) “Writing can be a tough activity for students, even though the writing activity is in their first language Learning to write fluently and expressively is the most difficult of the four macro skills for all language users regardless of whether the language in question is a first, second or foreign language”

There appear many reasons why students are encountering too much difficulty in writing something in English such as the inappropriate teaching methodology, students‟ low motivation on learning English, and limited time of teaching and learning process Among these factors, teaching methodology is considered as the most manageable one to be studied influencing directly students‟ writing difficulties since motivation is difficult to measure and time is a fixed factor The boring and repetitive teaching method can‟t arouse students‟ interest in writing English

One of the other reasons I decided to study this thesis is the fact that students graded 8 are considered as the first class to begin learning how to write long texts related to real contexts with a little control They are asked to write an invitation and replies, a process, an event happened in the past, a brief personal letter and so on These situations often happen in daily life However, due to lack of vocabulary and new structures, students make many mistakes in spelling, punctuation, grammar Generally their common errors focus on syntax and semantics Because lesson time is limited and class size is large, teachers can not cover all the students‟ mistakes Students are given much control before writing but less guide or help from teachers after their writing As a result, mistakes repeat again and again whenever students write Whereas many other students pay a little attention to writing, or even no interest in it Therefore their writing skill is hardly improved

At present many approaches are being applied in teaching writing skill such as genre based

approach, process based approach ect… At the secondary school, these approaches are combined However in this study I chose the task based approach as the best to improve writing to the 8th students at Quang Vinh secondary school which is recognized to be able

to adapt this approach Task based approach has been widely used since the 1980s, emphasizing “learning while doing” and regards students themselves as the center of teaching Writing lessons in the textbook 8 are mainly based on the tasks, but teaching methods doesn‟t bring effectiveness On contrary, it causes students tiredness, boredom and laziness when learning writing skill The author carried out an action research on the subjects of 8th students at Quang Vinh secondary school to find out how effective this approach can bring After a two- week period of practice, students‟ writing is significantly improved and they become more interested in writing class as well as have more confidence in writing something in English

2 Aims of the study

The study is expected to get the following aims:

– - to find out the difficulties in the learning of writing skills that are facing 8th graded

students and teachers at Quang Vinh secondary school after 3 first writing lessons?

– - to explore how the task based language teaching is implemented in classroom to

improve the 8th graded students‟ writing

3 Research questions

To achieve the above aims, the following questions should be answered in the study:

- What are the difficulties in teaching and learning the writing skills of teachers and 8thgraded students at Quang Vinh secondary school after 3 first writing lessons?

- What is the current teaching method applied to teaching writing skills for the 8th grader after 3 first lessons in Quang Vinh secondary school?

- - What is the effectiveness of application of task based approach in teaching writing skills to 8th graders at Quang Vinh secondary school?

These research questions served as a guide in the findings of the study

4 Scopes of the study

The study was conducted to investigate the application of the task based approach in teaching writing skill to 8th graded students at Quang Vinh secondary So, first of all the author tried to find out the difficulties of 8th students in studying writing skill as well as the

current teaching methods implemented there However, the study can‟t cover all difficulties due to its diversity; it focuses on the students‟ difficulties in learning writing skill and the ones related to teachers‟ teaching methods The author doesn‟t also go into deeply all approaches being implemented in classroom to teaching the writing, instead she focuses on the task based language teaching and how it is performed to improve 8th graded students writing skill at Quang Vinh secondary school

To cover the scopes of the study, a survey questionnaire was distributed to the number of

120 8th- graded students selected randomly from three classes and 3 English teachers, aiming to collect their difficulties, opinion, attitude and suggestions on learning to write English Moreover, an interview is also conducted with the participation of 9 students selected upon their result of post- test and one, those who helped to observe the class to investigate what the author has actually done during the program The practice of task based writing teaching was done on during two weeks

5 Significance of the study

Firstly, the study was conducted to investigate how the task based language teaching has effect on the 8th students‟ writing skills Through action research applying the task based approach, student‟s writing skills at the Quang Vinh secondary school improve after the program

Secondly, the study matches the modern approaches to language learning with the application of the task based approach The study will be the first in finding out some activities to support the tasks in the English textbook 8 at the Quang Vinh secondary

school

6 Methodology

The study was designed to use an action reseach which the collection and analysis of data related to the author‟s teaching practice According to Michael J Wallace the aim of the action research is “not to turn the teacher into a researcher, but to help him or her to continue to develop as a teacher, using action research as a tool in this process” (p.18) Firstly, the author observed the class to see the problem during first three weeks Then, based on books, journals, newspapers and some sources on the internet she read, the author carried out the collection of the data and practicing her teaching Finally, she summerized

some findings and gave suggestions to make full use of the task based approach in teaching writing skills to the 8th graders at Quang Vinh secondary school Two methods used to collect the data are qualitative and quantitative

The qualitative method was used to get information about students‟ opinions, attitude to learning and teaching writing skills (before and after the task based language teaching was implemented) including: questionnaire and interview The data then was interpreted and analyzed

The quantitative method was used to evaluate the students‟ level in writing English including pre and post tests Both are non-controlling writing that means; free writing which asked students to write a short composition about a given topic in limited time of 20 minutes

7 Design of the study

The study consists of three main parts:

- The introduction gives the background, the limitation of thesis, the research method, and the significance of the study This part helps provide a general knowledge about the study

- The development is divided into three chapters numbered from one to three Chapter one provides the theoretical background as well as the most general review of previous researches In other words, it gives the foundation for deeper and broader insight into the topic in consideration Chapter two provides the information of the study context It includes the reality of teaching and studying English writing skills in Quang Vinh secondary school, teachers and students and the writing lessons which were taught based

on tasks Chapter three deals with some findings and gives some recommendations to make writing teaching better

- The last part “conclusion” summarizes the main points studied in the thesis and emphasizes some suggestions for further research

PART II DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical background of task based approach

1.1.1 Definition of tasks

The term “task” appeared since the twentieth century Since its birth until now, there exist

a lot of different definitions about “task” Brabhu, an Indian linguist, is the first person who raised the definition of “task” He defines a task as "an activity which required learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that process" (p.24) In the other word, tasks are carried out as a result of processing and understanding language like a response in which teachers play role in introducing a variety of tasks, evaluating to what extent their students complete them

Whereas Nunan (1989) defines a task as “a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form" (p.10) In his opinion tasks is the outcome of the process to understand, solve the problem and use language for communicative purpose It is the completeness with focusing on meaning rather than form It means that meaning is paid more attedtion to; however it cannot be separated from form In contrast, meaning always goes with form to express communicative ideas, thought and attitude

According to Willis (1996) “tasks are always activities where the target language is used

by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome” (p.23) She gave her view that “the aim of tasks is to create a repurpose for language use and to provide a natural context for language study" (p.1) However, she didn‟t yet clarify that task can be any communicative activities, of any various kinds available in the textbook and practiced in the classroom

Skehan (1998:95) highlighted four basic features of tasks He wrote that task is "an activity

in which: meaning is primary; there is some communication problem to solve; there is

some sort of relationship to comparable real world activities; task completion has some priority; and the assessment of task performance is in terms of task outcome"

Another definition is that “a task is a device that guides learners to engage in certain types

of information-processing that are believed to be important for effective language use and/or for language acquisition from some theoretical standpoint” (Ellis, 2000, p.197) It means that learners use the linguistic knowledge to communicate effectively through the information processing Like other language activities, a task can engage productive or receptive, and oral or written skills

While the above definitions of the task are different in some way, they all emphasize that task in classrom is the use of second language in term of communicative view, in which focuses more on meaning than grammatical form In other words, learners are free to use whatever language they want to convey their intended meaning and maintain interaction It

is applied in all skills for learning a target language with a variety of real world situations and in the end it brings about an outcome through the exchange of meanings presented or reported by learners …

1.1.2 Types of tasks within Task-based language teaching

Ellis (2003) classified tasks into the following types:

a Unfocused Tasks

An unfocused task is one that encourages learners to use English freely without concentrating on just one or two specific forms (i.e., a replication activity)

b Pedagogic (rehearsal, activation)

Pedagogical tasks are the tasks which occur in classroom rather than outside the world Pedagogic tasks can be:

The teacher gives pairs of student two different pictures, and then asks each one to talk to their partner about the differences between the pictures

Real-world tasks

Tasks are everywhere in everyday life Washing our face is a task, as is preparing breakfast, going to work by car, etc Tasks are a part of our lives to such an extent that there is hardly any activity that cannot be called a task

c Focused Tasks

A focused task is a consciousness-raising activity that focuses on examining samples of language to explore particular features These are sometimes called "meta-cognitive" activities Examples of this are classifying the uses of a verb plus – "ing" forms that appear

in a reading text or identifying phrases from a spoken transcript containing the preposition

in and categorizing them into time, location, or other, or a task used because it is likely to encourage the comprehension of, and/or the use of, particular language forms

Unlike Ellis, Willis (1996: 149) listed the following types of tasks of TBLT:

1 Listing: Including a brainstorming and fact-finding, the outcome is a completed list or

draft mind map This type of task can help train students' comprehension and induction ability

2 Ordering, sorting: Including sequencing, ranking and classifying, the outcome is a set

of information ordered and sorted according to specific criteria These types might foster comprehension, logic and reasoning ability

3 Comparing: This type of task includes matching, finding similarities, or differences

The outcome can be appropriately matched or assembled items This type of task enhances students' ability of differentiation

4 Problem solving: This type of task includes analyzing real situations, reasoning, and

decision-making The outcome involves solutions to the problem, which can then be evaluated These tasks help promote students' reasoning and decision-making abilities

5 Sharing experience: These types of tasks include narrating, describing, exploring and

explaining attitudes, opinions, and reactions The outcome is usually social These tasks help students to share and exchange their knowledge and experience

6 Creative tasks: These include brainstorming, fact finding, ordering and sorting,

comparing and many other activities The outcome is an end product that can be

appreciated by a wider audience Students cultivate their comprehensive problem-solving abilities as well as their reasoning and analyzing abilities

These tasks are listed from easy to difficult, and all of them reveal the recognition process

of students The tasks in TBLT should be applicable to real life to help students accomplish the tasks and show their communicative competence in classroom teaching and real life situations (Willis, 1996: 149)

1.1.3 The principles of Task-based language teaching (TBLT)

Ellis (2003) stated that task based language teaching is considered as a form to treat language as tool to communicate rather than a subject for study It is the fact that if learners want to develop their competence, they need to use a target language easily and effectively

in all situations outside the class They need to see and experience how language used in real world For this reason, tasks are served as the most effective means to organize teaching in line with the lines

TBLT is based on a theory of language learning rather than a theory of language structure Richards and Rodgers (2001: 228) suggest that because the reason for this is that "tasks are believed to foster processes of negotiation, modification, rephrasing, and experimentation that are at the heart of second language learning"

Whereas, according to Shehadeh (2005), the use of tasks as a central component in language classroom because it provides better contexts for activating learner acquisition processes and promoting L2 learning

Feez (1998: 17) summarizes the following basic assumptions of TBLT:

- The focus of instruction is on process rather than product

- Basic elements are purposeful activities and tasks that emphasize communication and meaning

- Learners learn language by interacting communicatively and purposefully while engaged

in meaningful activities and tasks

- Activities and tasks can be either those that learners might need to achieve in real life, or those that have a pedagogical purpose specific to the classroom

- Activities and tasks of a task-based syllabus can be sequenced according to difficulty

- The difficulty of a task depends on a range of factors including the previous experience

of the learner, the complexity of the tasks, and the degree of support available (Richards and Rodgers, 2001: 224)

Breen (1987a) considers that the TBA is a result of

i) New views on language

ii) New views on teaching methodology

iii) New views on the contribution of the learners to the learning process

iv) New views on how to plan teaching and learning

1.1.4 The role of teacher and learner in Task-based language teaching

According to Willis (1996), the teachers and learners play different roles for the framework

in the task based language learning

 Teacher’s roles

In the pre-task, the teacher should:

- Present and define the topic

- Use activities to help students memorize/learn some useful words and phrases

- Ensure that students comprehend the task instructions

- Play recordings of others performing the same task or a similar one

In the task cycle, the teacher should:

- Act as monitor and motivate students

- Ensure that the purpose of the report is clear

- Act as a language advisor

- Help students review oral reports

- Act as chairperson; selecting who will speak next

- Offer brief feedback on content and form

- Play a recording of others doing the same or similar task

In the post-task (language focus), the teacher should:

- Review each analysis activity with the whole class

- Bring other useful words, phrases and patterns to students' attention

- Review language items from the report stage

- Conduct practice activities after analysis activities where necessary, to build confidence

 Students' Role

In the pre-task, students should:

- Write down useful words and phrases from the pre-task activities and/or the recording

- Spend a few minutes preparing for the task individually

In the task cycle, the students should:

- Perform the task in pairs or small groups

- Prepare to report how they performed the task and what they discovered to the class

- Rehearse what they will present to the entire class

- Present their spoken reports to the class

In the post-task (language focus), the student should:

- Perform consciousness-raising activities to identify and process specific language features from the task and transcript

- Ask about other features they noticed

- Practice words, phrases and patterns from the analysis activities

- Enter useful language items in their language notebooks

1.1.5 The performance of task

There are various views on the stages or components of a lesson in which task is applied in the language However, all of them have in common three principal phases These phases reflect the chronology of a task-based lesson The first phase is 'pre-task' and concerns the various activities that teachers and students can undertake before they start the task The second phase, the 'during task' phase or “task cycle”, focuses on the task itself and involves activities that teachers and students can do under certain time The final 'post-task' phase is following-up procedures on the task performance

The pre-task phase

The purpose of the pre-task phase is to prepare students to perform the task in ways that will promote acquisition Skehan (1996) refers to two broad alternatives available to the teacher during the pre-task phase: An emphasis on the general cognitive demands for task, and/or an emphasis on linguistic factors, then engaging in activities which reduce cognitive load will release attentional capacity for the learner to concentrate more on linguistic factors These alternatives can be tackled procedurally in one of four ways:

(1) Supporting learners in performing a task similar to the task that will perform in the during task phase of the lesson

(2) Asking students to observe a model of how to perform a task

(3) Engaging learners in non-task activities designed to prepare them to perform the task (4) Strategic planning of the main task performance Performing a similar task

The use of a 'pre-task' is a key feature of the Communicational Teaching Project (Prabhu, 1987) It was carried out as an activity involving the entire class with the teacher, and involved the learners in completing a task of the same type and content as the main task

Thus, it served as a preparation for performing the main task individually

The task cycle

Richards and Rodgers (2001) asserted that the task is undertaken by students (in pairs or groups) and gives students a chance to express themselves and write whatever they want to write The teacher should move around the classroom and monitor students‟ activities, encouraging everyone's attempts at communication in the target language Moreover, the teacher should help students to formulate what they want to write, but not intervene to correct errors Success in achieving the goals of task increases students' motivation There are three components of a task cycle:

- Students draft and rehearse what they want to say or write

- The teacher circulates among the students; offering them advice about language, suggesting phrases and helping them polish and correct their language

- Emphasis is placed on clarity, organization, and accuracy, as appropriate for an open representation

- Individual students often take the opportunity to ask questions about specific language items

c Report

- The teacher asks some pairs or groups of students to report briefly to the entire class so

that every student can compare findings, or begin a survey

- The teacher runs the discussion, comments on the content of the students' reports, rephrase, but does not make corrections in public

Post-task

- The students listen to an authentic recording of fluent speakers performing the same task, and compare it to the ways in which they performed the task

1.2 Theoretical background of writing skills

1.2.1 Definitions and roles of writing

Over many years ago, human beings used the different forms of writing to record history and communicate various types of information At that time, the earliest and simplest form

of writing was the pictogram which was used to communicate about crops and taxes Then, the signs developed into the scripts when the society outgrew the power of man‟s memory Writing became a reliable means to transfer information, maintain financial accounts, keep historical records, and similar activities It is not completely “art of forming graphic symbols” (Byrne, 1988) That is far more complicated process than the production of graphic symbols It is “a process of transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, or whatever into a message with a definite meaning writing is a process of deliberate decision” (Lannon, 1989: 9) In fact, “writing is far from being a simple matter of transcribing language into written symbols: it is a thinking process in its own right It demands conscious intellectual effort, which usually has to be sustained over

a considerable period of time.” (White & Arndt, 1991:3) This is totally true in the sense it naturally, but all people have to be taught how to write and it takes much time to acquire

Writing is also defined as a complex process which involves a number of separate skills

“from the basics of handwriting and spelling to the subtler nuances of tone and organization.” Therefore, the essence of writing is choice and writing is also considered the means to communicate in a way that is “profound, or funny, or provocative, or highly persuasive” (Veit, Gould & Clifford, 2001)

Actually, it is not simple that writing is to put letters, symbols, numbers or words on the paper or computer screen to express or explain ideas According to Candlin and Hyland (1999: 107), “writing is also defined as a social process” They stated “Writing is therefore

an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies,

arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of the claims that are made.”

However, writing, in language teachers‟ 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) Tribble also stressed that writing “normally requires some form of instruction” and that “it is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure” (1996: 11)

When making a piece of writing, writer implies a message or a certain purpose In modern world, writing serves some following functions:

1 Primarily for action: public signs, e.g on roads and stations; product labels and instructions, e.g on food, tools or toy purchased; recipes; maps; television and radio guides; bills; menus; telephone directories, etc

For social contact: personal correspondence; letters, postcards; greeting cards

2 Primarily for information: newspapers and magazines, non-fiction books including textbooks; public notices; advertisement; guidebooks and travel literature, etc

3 Primarily for entertainment: light magazines, comic strips; fiction books; poetry and drama; film subtitles; games including computer games

(Nunan, 1991:84)

In summary, writing is the expression of language in the letter, words, numbers or symbols The primary purpose is to communicate between a person or a group of people and audiences/readers by a variety of ways such as letters, postcards, books, public notices, advertisement and so on…Man is not born to have the ability of writing Writing needs to

be taught through a period of time patiently and carefully Through the mastery of writing, writer will become more effective in intellectual organization, in the expression of ideas, thought and attitudes, in the solution of problems

1.2.3 Approaches of teaching writing skills

First of all, it is the introduction of product approach According to Pinsca (1982b),

“writing is considered as being primarily about linguistic knowledge, with attention focused on the appropriate use of vocabulary, syntax, and cohesive devices In this approach, learning to write has four stages: familiarization; controlled writing; guided writing; and free writing The familiarization stage aims to make learners aware of certain features of a particular text In the controlled and guided writing sections, the learners practice the skills with increasing freedom until they are ready for the free writing section, when they „use the writing skill as part of a genuine activity such as a letter, story or essay‟ (1982a: 22) In short, the most important thing is the outcome that means, a piece of writing

or the product that student produce in target language using their linguistic knowledge

In process approach, the teaching of writing has begun to move from the concentration on written products to the emphasis on the process of writing In this approach, writing is to do with language skills such planning, drafting, not focusing much on linguistic knowledge such grammar or text structure It concentrates on writing as a recursive process in which writers have the opportunity to plan, draft, edit, and revise their work (Hillocks, 1987; Murray, 1982) The writer is taught to review and revise several drafts, which enables and encourages new ideas Grammatical changes and conventional editing occur during the revision or editing stage (Ballator, Farnum, & Kaplan, 1999; Flower & Hayes, 1981) Students to produce a piece of writing often go through four stages: prewriting; composing/drafting; revising; and editing (Tribble 1996: 39)

The recent approach is the writing based on genre It can be regarded as the extension of product approach The genre-based approach is based on a systemic functional theory of language developed by Halliday (1978, 1994), and elaborated by Martin (1992), Christie (1999) and Macken-Horarik (2001) among others The goals and objectives of genre-based approach are to enable learners to use genres which are important for them to be able to participate in, and have access to The view of language that underlies a genre-based approach is that language is functional; that is, it is through language that things got done and certain goals are achieved Writers, thus, use particular genres in order to fulfill certain social functions and to achieve certain goals within particular social and cultural contexts

It emphasizes the various kinds of writing or genres such as: articles, reports, letters… Each genre has different ways or forms to write… According to Painter (1986) The learning-teaching cycle, involves three stages:

- Modelling a text

- Joint construction of a text

- independent construction of a text

Teaching can start at any one of these stages, and whichever stage is introduced first the teacher should offer maximum assistance to the students The aim is that there is a shift of responsibility from teacher support to learners taking responsibility for their own learning

In our case where students were learning a foreign language we tended to offer greater

support in the modelling of a text and joint construction These two stages were repeated a number of times using a range of texts and tasks incorporating activities which modelled the target genre

The task based approach in teaching writing skills is said to be a combination of the above approaches among other skills despite its identity Wheas many scholars consider the task

as the process of using target language for communicative purpose, in this case communication via written form, the task should be the sense of completeness with the stages the beginning, middle and the end The writing product is reported in public, corrected and compared vv…To understand the task, the requirement of task should also be comprehended, and it means that language learners need to master the writing genres throught models and instruction of controlled writing In spite of this similiaries, the task based approach has its characteristics It is the process of completing a task in limited time

in which learners are free to use language knowledge serving for communicative purpose Its outcome is the result of cooperating in pairs, in groups with certain product reported in post task stage

1.2.4 Marking scheme of test

The marking criteria is based on the one used in IELTS exam (International English Language Testing System), which is the world‟s proven English test

Task Achievement Coherence and Cohesion Lexical Resource Grammatical Range and

9  Fully satisfies all

attention

 Skillfully manages paragraphing

 Uses a wide range

of vocabulary with very natural and sophisticated control of lexical features; rare minor errors occur only as „slips‟

 Uses a wide range

of structures with full flexibility and accuracy; rare minor errors occur only as „slips‟

8  Covers all

requirements of the

 Sequences information and

 Uses a wide range of

 Uses a wide range

of structures

task sufficiently ideas logically

 manages all aspects of cohesion well

 Uses paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately

vocabulary fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings

 Skilfully uses uncommon lexical items but there may be occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation

 The majority of sentences are error-free

 Makes only very occasional errors or inappropriacies

points but could be

more fully extended

 Logically organises information and ideas; there is clear progression

throughout

 Uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately although there may

be some use

under-/over- Uses a sufficient range of

vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision

 Uses less common lexical items with some awareness of style and collocation

 May produce occasional errors

in word choice, spelling and/or word formation

 Uses a variety of complex structures

 produces frequent error-free sentences

 Has good control

of grammar and punctuation but may make a few errors

progression

 uses cohesive devices effectively, but cohesion within and/or between sentences may be faulty or

mechanical

 May not always use referencing clearly or appropriately

 Uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task

 Attempts to use less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracy

 Makes some errors in spelling and/or word formation, but they do not impede communication

 Uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms

 Makes some errors in grammar and punctuation but they rarely reduce communication

5  Generally

addresses the task;

the format may be

inappropriate in

places

 May present a

purpose for the

letter that is unclear

at times; the tone

may be variable

and sometimes

inappropriate

 Presents information with some organisation but there may be a lack of overall progression

 Makes inadequate, inaccurate or over-use of cohesive devices

 May be repetitive because of lack of

 Uses a limited range of

vocabulary, but this is minimally adequate for the task

 May make noticeable errors in spelling and/or word formation that may cause some difficulty for

 Uses only a limited range of structures

 Attempts complex sentences but these tend to be less accurate than simple sentences

 May make frequent grammatical errors and punctuation may

be faulty; errors can

 Presents, but

inadequately

covers, key features

/ bullet points; there

may be a tendency

to focus on details

referencing and substitution

the reader cause some difficulty

for the reader

4  Attempts to

address the task but

does not cover all

key features / bullet

points; the format

may be

inappropriate

 Fails to clearly

explain the purpose

of the letter; the

is no clear progression in the response

 Uses some basic cohesive devices but these may be inaccurate or repetitive

 Uses only basic vocabulary which may be used repetitively

or which may be inappropriate for the task

 Has limited control of word formation and/or spelling;

 Errors may cause strain for the reader

 Uses only a very limited range of structures with only rare use of

subordinate clauses

 Some structures are accurate but errors predominate, and punctuation is often faulty

ideas which may be

 Does not organize ideas logically

 May use a very limited range of cohesive devices, and those used may not indicate a

 Uses only a very limited range

of words and expressions with very limited control of word formation and/or

 Attempts sentence forms but errors in grammar and punctuation predominate and distort the meaning

largely

irrelevant/repetitive

logical relationship between ideas

 Uses an extremely limited range of

vocabulary;

essentially no control of word formation and/or spelling

Cannot use sentence forms except in memorized phrases

1  Answer is

completely

unrelated to the task

 Not communicate any message

 Can only use a few isolated words

 Cannot use sentence forms at all

Table 1: Marking scheme of test

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Setting of the study

The study was carried out at Quang Vinh secondary school in Thanh Hoa where the author spent a half of year teaching here as a temporary teacher The school is located

near the beach in the East of Thanh Hoa Province It is a small school with 20 rooms

English is one of the compulsory subjects for all students in the school The students here start to learn English at the beginning of grade 6 So English is a new subject at the secondary school for most students The majority of them are weak at all skills English for the 8th graders is learnt during two semesters, divided into105 class hours including units, reviews and tests The first semester has 54 periods and 51 left for the second one 8th graders will have 3 periods of English per week There are 16 writing lessons in the English textbook 8, including:

hour

Contents

1 Unit 1: My friends

6 1 - Write about oneself and

about other people

2 Unit 2: Make arrangements 11 1 - Write a message

3 Unit 3: At home

16 1 - Write a description of a

room

4 Unit 4: Our past

25 1 - Write a short imaginary

story

5 Unit 5: Study habits 29 1 - Write a letter to a friend

6 Unit 6: The young pioneers

- Write a letter to a friend

9 Unit 9: A first- aid course 58 1 - Write a thank- you note

10 Unit 10: Recycling

63 1 - Write a set of

instructions

11 Unit 11: Travelling around

- Complete a narrative

12 Unit 12: A vacation abroad 76 1 - Write a postcard

13 Unit 13: Festivals

81 1 - Write a paragraph about

what was done

14 Unit 14: Wonders of the world 86 1 - Write a letter to a friend

15 Unit 15: Computers

94 1 - Write a set of

instructions

16 Unit 16: Inventions 99 1 - Write about a process

Table 2: List of writing lessons

All skills are taught in the program of textbook 8 in order to provide students basic skills of English for their communication However, of four the above, writing is considered the most important one since others are not tested very often Students often pay more attention to what will be tested Writing takes part in all kinds of test, which acts as the measurement to evaluate the result of students in English It is also regarded as demanding skill for the 8th graders since it is the first time they make accustomed to genres of long texts

The author carried out doing a survey after first 3 lessons and practicing teaching in two next weeks Normally the writing lessons include from two (Unit 4, 5) to three small tasks (Unit 1, 2, 3) The topics focus on writing a letter (Unit 5,), a message (Unit2), a story (Unit 4), a description (Unit1 and 3) However students have got so many difficulties in writing First, students face problems of vocabulary and grammar Most of them are bad at writing complete sentences correctly The cues given in the writing lesson seem to be completely new to them and they don‟t know how to arrange them or add some items to make a sentence Secondly, because students don‟t do the first tasks well, they fail to write a long paragraph based on the former one to complete the final task Moreover, students are lack of awareness of writing English They look at the reference book with the given writings Finally, students‟ weakness at writing skills is also blamed to teachers‟ method It is said that the teachers don‟t give clear model at the beginning of the task; as a result, students are difficult to image what they will write at first In other words, they are not

motivated through pictures, real objectives, graphs or even situations introduced or modeled by the teachers

2.2 Subjects

The study was done for students graded 8 in three classes with the total number of

120 people Most of them are at the same age of 13 and weak in English writing skills They reported that they have never learnt English before going to the secondary school English subject was completely new to them when they stepped into the grade 6 The majority of them doesn‟t go to any language center or give any tutor to improve their English because the English center is far from home and partly they can‟t support study fee They only study English at school

2.3 Data collection

To collect the data to investigate the application of task based approach in teaching

writing skills, questionnaire and tests are administrated in class Besides that, interviews were conducted to collect additional information about the teachers‟ and students‟ attitude on the task based approach

2.3.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire (See Appendix 1 and 2) was designed to investigate teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards English writing and difficulties they face in teaching and learning English writing skills The questionnaire was written in English for teachers and in Vietnamese for students It was given to teachers and students after first 3 writing lessons Students and teachers spent about twenty minutes to complete the questionnaire All students and teachers completed the questionnaire

2.3.2 Pre-test

The pre-test (See Appendix 3) was designed to assess the students‟ writing ability A paper sheet with the topic “Write a letter to your parents describing your new friend” was provided for the students graded 8 The students were asked to write a paragraph

of 100 words on the topic with the first sentence given The pre-test was done during thirty - minute period and no guidance or help given

The pre-test and post-test of each student were marked independently by two teachers

to ensure reliability The scores were recorded on separate record sheets and the two teachers were not allowed to write anything on the scripts, so as not to affect the

marks given by their partners

2.3.3 Post-test

A post-test (See Appendix 4) was conducted after the program in the same way as the pre-test to find out if the students had made any improvements in their writing The topic of the post-test for the students was “Writing a letter to your friend telling about your last summer vacation” The students were only given the task sheet The marking procedure was the same as those in the pre-test

2.3.4 Interviews

Follow-up interviews (see Appendix 5) were conducted to collect additional information about the students‟ and teachers‟ opinions on the writing program applying task based approach Nine students from three classes were selected to be the interviewees The teachers interviewed are the observers of class taking notes and giving comments after each lesson applied the task based learning teaching The interviews were conducted in Vietnamese to ensure that the students could understand the questions and express their opinions freely The interviews were note- taken

CHAPTER III: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Data analysis

3.1.1 Data analysis of students’ and teachers’ survey questionnaire

3.1.1.1 Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire

Students’ opinions towards writing skill (after the first 3 lessons)

Question 1 According to you, writing skill is …?

Chart 1: Student’s opinion on writing skills

The majority of students assume that writing is a difficult skill Only 4.1% think that

it is easy and 8.3% think it is so-so These figures are less than the number of students who don‟t have any ideas on writing skills (accounting for 12.5%) This reveals that a few students don‟t pay much attention to writing skills

Question 2 If you selected A, to what extent is it difficult?

Table 3: Students’ opinion on the difficult level of writing skills

When asked about the degree of difficulty they found in writing skills, nearly a half of respondents (41.6%) selected the answer C, which means “rather difficult” The other percentages were divided for “extremely, very and a little” (8.33%, 33.3% and 16.6% respectively) This explained that writing is difficult for the 8th graders at Quang Vinh secondary school but it is not too difficult Writing skills can be improved in some ways