An investigation into the use of information technology in learning writing for the third year students of english at vinh university

university of foreign languages & international studies FACULTYof POST-graduate studies ***---*** PHẠM XUÂN ĐẠT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING WRITIN

university of foreign languages & international studies FACULTY

of POST-graduate studies *** -***

PHẠM XUÂN ĐẠT

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING WRITING for THE THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS OF

ENGLISH AT VINH UNIVERSITY

Nghiên cứu ứng dụng công nghệ thông tin trong học kỹ năng viết của sinh viên tiếng Anh năm thứ 3 trường Đại Học Vinh

M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: Đỗ Tuấn Minh, PhD.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 Data collection procedure 21

2 Reality of the students’ use of computer for writing learning 26

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS

Figures

Tables

Table 3- Students’ evaluation of the usefulness of computer for the writing 28

stagesTable 4- Students’ assessment of the effectiveness of the computer-assisted 29

writing learning

Charts

Chart 5- The students' habit of using computer for each skill 25

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

I Rationale

Information technology (IT) has made the globe quite different in many fields such aseconomy, science, politics, especially education English teaching and learning have beenmade much easier and more effective in higher education under the assistance of computer.The reality shows that learners are popularly applying the computer and its accompanyingtools to facilitate their listening, speaking, reading and writing activities IT application toESL (English as a second language) teaching is, therefore, a need

Like it does to the teaching and learning of the other skills, IT has changed the way studentsdeal with writing It helps, for instance, learners correct their mistakes easily, do peerproofreading online, submit their works to their teachers by e-mail, learn from samples andupdate information to better their writing

In spite of the potential outcome, the application of IT to promote learning of the writing skill

of third-year students at Vinh University is still constrained Moreover, even though IT hasever been used for writing learning, studies related to the reality of this application is stilllacking

The aforementioned facts lead the author to the study on the following topic: An investigationinto the use of information technology in writing learning of the third-year students of English

at Vinh University

II Purposes of the study

The thesis focuses on studying the extent to which IT can facilitate the third-year students tolearn the writing skill at Vinh University Specifically, it aims at:

- Investigating the influence that IT has on writing learning of the third-year students at Vinh University

- Studying the reality of applying IT to writing learning of the students

- Making recommendations for the administrators, the lecturers and the students to better the EFL learning and teaching by means of IT application

III Scope of the study

The study is in the following scope:

IT can be broadly applied to ELT but in the framework of this minor thesis, the researcherwould focus on studying the reality in which the students are using the computer in theirlearning of the writing skill

Although IT is preferably used for listening, speaking and reading, the application to writinghas been so far limited, for both teaching and learning This is a reason for the researcher tochoose the writing skill to be studied.

Moreover, as stated above, the study aims at investigating the reality of the students' IT usingfor learning the writing skill because the computer is really important for them to learn and towrite from the third year However, it is difficult to carry out this research in a larger scalebecause of time limit and the framework of a minor thesis Therefore, the study is narrowed to

a group of 100 third-year students The students are at the English Faculty of Vinh University

IV Research questions

a What are the effects of IT in learning the writing skill of the third-year students?

b What are the difficulties the students have in using IT in their writing learning?

c What changes can be made for better use of IT in learning writing?

V Methods of the study

This is a descriptive case study Data is collected through a questionnaire for the students andinterviews for the lecturers The data is then analyzed, compared, contrasted, and synthesizedboth qualitatively and quantitatively

We conduct a survey into the third-year students of English at Vinh University usingcomputer in learning the writing skill Questionnaires are sent to 100 students and interviewsare made on the lecturers

The aim of the survey questionnaire and the interview is to investigate the extents to whichthe students at the University use IT for learning the writing skill; advantages and difficultiesthey have and solutions to the problems Results of the data analysis will be the answers to theresearch questions mentioned above

VI Significance of the study

The study will play an important part in defining benefits of using IT for learning English as asecond language, especially the writing skill at university Besides, the thesis will provide anoverview of the reality of using IT for language learning at universities of the samebackground and conditions

Moreover, the study would help discover drawbacks of CALL in the context of higherlearning and the findings will be a useful tract of information for lecturers and educationadministrators to enhance the application of IT to their practices Last but not least, this isexpected to provide information and materials for other researchers to carry out their studies

in the same field

VII Organization of the thesis

The study consists of three main parts: introduction, development and conclusion

The introduction provides the rationale, purposes, scope and significance of the thesis as well

as research questions and methods of study The development part consists of four chapters:literature review, research methodology, results and discussion, and recommendations Inchapter one, the literature review will provide a brief history of computer in foreign languageeducation It also discusses the influence of computers on EFL teaching, especially on writingteaching and learning The second chapter details the methodology in terms of setting andresearch procedure In chapter three, findings will be analyzed and discussed beforeimplications are referred to In chapter four, the researcher will produce somerecommendations and suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of using computer forlearning the writing skill The last part will summarize the key issues, enclosing somelimitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Introduction

We have experienced essential changes in teaching and learning technology, from the simpletool such as a blackboard and chalk to the modern machine such as computer and LCDprojector The following will consist of studies already made on how technology is applied toforeign language teaching and learning in each period of time, especially to writing teachingand learning These theoretical backgrounds will be the basis of the investigation in fulfillingthe thesis

2 Educational technology and EFL teaching and learning

Educational technology involves the simplest things such as chalk to the most complicatedones such as computer According to Warschauer, M and Carla Meskill (2000), each type ofteaching has certain technological items to support it The grammar-translation method is, forexample, perfect with blackboard which allows teachers to transmit information one-way.Harmer states that boards “provide a motivating focal point” and can be used for differentpurposes such as a note pad, explanation aid, picture frame, public workbook, game board,notice board (Harmer 2001, pp.137-139)

These means are still in need in language classrooms; however, the social development andmore advanced technologies have decided teaching methods to keep their pace As a result,teaching tools such as pictures, charts, radios, cassette players, recorders, overhead projectors(OHPs), television sets have changed to facilitate instructors’ performance These means haveplayed an important part in language teaching and learning OHPs can help showing texts orexercises, pictures or diagrams or students’ writing of very high quality (Harmer, 2001:136).Songs and stories recorded on radio tapes create an exciting classroom environment Videoshelp bring the real-life things and events into the classroom

Though educational technologies have bettered language teaching and learning, the realchange in effectiveness of these things goes with information and communication technology

in which the computer is central The following will be about the computer and itsapplications in EFL teaching and learning

3 Computer and EFL teaching and learning

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is a rapidly evolving academic field thatexplores the role of computer technologies in language acquisition A lot of teaching andlearning activities can be carried out with the support of computers, the Internet, CDs, VCDs,

DVDs, projectors, cameras, CD ROMs, radio, television The following will give an overview

of CALL in respect of its definitions and history

3.1 Definitions of CALL

As posted up on the website Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-assisted language learning), CALL is defined as an approach to language teachingand learning in which computer technology is used to aid to the presentation, reinforcementand assessment of material to be learned, usually including substantial interactive element; anapproach that drew heavily on practices associated with programmed instruction This termoriginated in the USA and was in common use until the early 1980s, when CALL became adominant term

Also according to the website, an alternative of CALL is TELL, short for TechnologyEnhanced Language Learning This term emerged in the early 1990s, but failed to provide amore accurate description of activities which fall broadly within the range of CALL.Therefore TELL is not widely accepted as CALL

Levy (1997:1) similarly stated that CALL is the search for and study of applications of thecomputer in language teaching and learning As aimed in this thesis, CALL is used to talkabout the assistance of computer in language teaching and learning

3.2 History of CALL

As suggested by Wang and Cadiero-Kaplan (2004, pp.144-151), CALL has evolved from abehavioristic model, to communicative and integrative models, to include finally a morecollaborative approach The following figure is about the evolution of CALL created by theauthors

More specifically, according to Warschauer (1996), behavioristic CALL, conceived in the 1950s and implemented in the 1960s and 1970s, was based on the then-dominant behaviorist

theories of learning which emphasized repetitive language drills in language learning In thisphase, computer served as a vehicle for delivering instructional materials to the student Hereasons as follows:

- Repeated exposure to the same material is beneficial or even essential;

- A computer is ideal for carrying out repeated drills, since the machine doesn't get bored withpresenting the same material and since it can provide immediate feedback;

-A computer can present such material on an individual basis, allowing students to proceed at their own pace and freeing up class time for other activities

Following behavioristic CALL is communicative CALL, started in the late 1980s and early1980s This phase experienced the rejection of behavioristic approach theoretically andpedagogically and the introduction of personal computers Communicative CALLcorresponded to cognitive theories which stressed that learning was a process of discovery,expression, and development (Warschauer, M & Healey, D., 1998) In communicativeCALL, learners can communicate with the computer and each other in a work group CALLactivities focus more on communication rather than rigid forms as the previous approach did.Grammar is taught implicitly rather than explicitly This helps activate more language fromstudents by using forms more freely

Compared with behavioristic CALL, communicative CALL is a breakthrough However, bythe late 1980s and early 1990s, there were several criticisms against it According to Kenning

& Kenning, the approach is “an ad hoc and disconnected fashion” and concentrates only on

“marginal rather than central elements” of the FL learning process (Kenning & Kenning,

1990, cited by Warschauer, M & Healey, D., 1998) Therefore, a trend towards a moresocial-cognitive view in FL teaching was found, emphasizing the use of language in authenticsocial contexts This opened up a new phase in technology and FL teaching and learningnamed integrative CALL

Integrative CALL involves multimedia computers and the Internet Multimedia technologyallows a variety of media such as text, graphics, sound, animation, video to be accessible on asingle machine When multimedia resources are linked together, this technology becomesmore powerful and is called hypermedia Thanks to hypermedia, language learning is mademuch easier by a more authentic learning environment By this mean, different skills areintegrated; students can control their learning To this end, the current collaborative CALLidentifies technology more as a tool for individual and societal development rather than justisolated language and literacy skills

In summary, ESL practitioners are standing between the phase of integrative CALL and thephase of collaborative CALL and what the technology has advanced has helped us enhancethe effectiveness of teaching and learning English From the drill and practice approach ofbehavioristic CALL to the cognitive one of communicative CALL and then to the presentintegrative CALL in which reading, speaking, listening and writing are integrated in a moreauthentic learning environment.

3.3 Applications of IT in English language teaching and learning

The most common application of IT in ELT is the use of computer-mediated material.Teachers and students can seek information from websites because the Internet is aneverlasting, valuable and multifarious resource supply Meloni (1998) even called it a goldmine of materials for ESL teachers According to Robertson (2006), the resources on the webrange from sites specifically designed for teachers and learners to sites from national andinternational newspapers, museums, galleries and so on Encarta is one of the importantpieces of software for its latest and varied information It is considered as an encyclopediaand teaching and learning material can be easily found out by typing some key words into thesearching box The following is another site which teachers and learners often go to

Figure 2 Example of search website

Teachers can use materials much the same way as they would with other printed-basedresources, to create worksheets and exercises for their classes Or teachers can ask theirstudents to fill online questionnaire, research specific topics, prepare presentations usingonline information, graphs and diagrams, find answers to questions set by the teacher, dointeractive grammar, vocabulary and even pronunciation exercises, read and summarize thelatest news, and contribute to online discussions and debate (Bowen, 2006)

The Internet also offers many other services which are very useful for learning and teachinglike email discussion group, message boards, chat rooms, interschool contact, Internet RelayChat (IRC), etc Thanks to these services, students have the power and freedom tocommunicate instantly across the globe (Robertson, 2006) Language educators have beenutilizing chatting in their FL teaching to see how it can help learners An example is Mynard’ssmall scale study (2002), which investigated the extent to which CMC facilitates thedevelopment of learner autonomy in female Emirati learners It shows that CMC can helpparticipants with certain aspects of autonomous learning while interacting with guests in chatrooms Those aspects comprise self-reliance, decision-making, prioritization, audienceawareness, collaboration, reflection, applying a range of comprehension and coping strategiesand risk taking Based on these services, teachers can create tasks to help their studentsdevelop their language skills.

Another means of communication offered the Internet is e-mail It is one of the main forms ofasynchronous CMC which has been called “the mother of all Internet application” (Warschauer,Shetzer and Meloni, 2000:3, cited in Gonglewski, M., 2001) It holds a great deal of pedagogicalbenefits to inside as well as outside FL classrooms In the article named “Using E-mail in ForeignLanguage Teaching: Rationale and Suggestion”, Gonglewski, Meloni and Magaret (2001) suggest

a few pedagogical benefits of e-mail as: (1) extending language learning time and place, (2)providing a context for real world communication and authentic interaction, (3) expanding topicsbeyond classroom-based ones, (4) promoting students-centered language learning, (5)encouraging equal opportunity participation and (6) connecting speakers quickly and cheaply.Harmer (2001) appreciates the use of e-mail exchanging as greatly increasing students’ Englishimprovement, especially their motivation E-mail is also very useful in language teaching andlearning The most popular activities using e-mail are group exchanges, e-mail interaction withinthe class, e-mail interaction between classes, between the teacher and learners in forms ofinformal messages, electronic feedback on writing assignments, dialogue journals, etc(Gonglewski, Meloni, and Brant, 2001)

The most common use of IT for English teaching and learning involves office software,especially PowerPoint Teachers often prepare their lessons by designing slides on thecomputer, which interests learners With the help of LCD projectors, teachers can bringpictures, graphs, sounds, video clips, texts, etc to the classroom Lessons are more realisticand informative and learning outcome is, therefore, higher

Word processor is one of the computer software used earliest in FL learning and teaching Inthe article published in 1987, Alison Piper suggested that the most successful educational use

of computer at that time was as a word processor (Piper, A., 1987, cited in Harmer, J.,2001:150) Moreover, a word processor can be used in writing compositions, in preparing aclass newsletter or in producing a school home page In such a web page, students can publishtheir project work so that it can reach a wider audience That makes them feel moreresponsible for the final product and consequently makes them work more laboriously (Lee,2000) Because of this, the word processor can be a very successful tool for FL writing skill

In short, the fact that the computer is used as a wikipedia, a means of communication, a toolfor presentation and a word-processor has enhanced the effectiveness of FL teaching andlearning IT is wonderful but it does not make teaching and learning methods As mentioned

by Garret (1991), cited in Warschauer, M (1996), “the use of the computer does notconstitute a method” It is a “medium in which a variety of methods, approaches, andpedagogical philosophies may be implemented.”

3.4 Computers and writing in EFL

3.4.1 Computers used in EFL writing teaching and learning

The following focuses on (1) how computers are used in writing classroom; (2) programsused writing teaching and learning; and (3) variables that can affect computer-assistedwriting

3.4.1.1 Models of computer labs in EFL writing

There are different models of computer labs that have been used in EFL writing such as computer classroom, several-computer classroom, networked classroom When to use eachtype of model depends on students’ level of proficiency and school financial condition

one-For one-computer classroom, all students sit in front of a computer screen to do group writingactivities More common is several-computer classroom where each student is equipped withone computer and the computers can be linked to each other through a local area networksystem (LAN) For a networked classroom, students can sit anywhere, at home, at a café or in

a different country to do writing activities and communicate online

Each model has its advantages; however, the several-computer classroom is preferred andused in teaching and learning context in Vietnam

3.4.1.2 Programs used in writing teaching and learning

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has been playing a very important part infacilitating students’ writing learning and teachers’ writing teaching Warschauer, et al

(1994) claim that CMC is the most revolutionary development in computer-assisted languagelearning since it is the only one which involves direct human-to-human communication ratherthan human-to-machine Warschauer (1996) argues the greatest impact of CMC on languagelearning and teaching by showing that for the first time, language learners can communicatedirectly, inexpensively, and conveniently with other learners or speakers of the targetlanguage 24 hours a day, from school, work, or home He adds that this communication can

be asynchronous (not simultaneous) through tools such as electronic mail (e-mail), whichallows each participant to compose messages at their time and pace, or can be synchronous(real time), using programs such as MOOs (Multiple-user-domains Object Oriented), whichallow people all around the world to have a simultaneous conversation by typing at theirkeyboards It also allows not only one-to-one communication, but also one-to-many, allowing

a teacher or student to share a message with a small group, the whole class, a partner class, or

an international discussion list of hundreds or thousands of people

Also according to Warschauer (1996), via computer-mediated communication, users are able

to share both brief messages, and lengthy documents Collaborative writing is thereforeencouraged Using the Internet, students can search through millions of files around the world

in a short time to locate and access authentic materials such as newspaper and magazinearticles, radio broadcasts, short videos, movie reviews, book excerpts which exactly suit theirown personal interests They can also use the Web to publish their texts or multimedia

materials to share with partner classes or with the general public

More about the facilitation of computer-mediated communication and the Internet,

Warschauer (1996) writes as follows:

Students of English for Science and Technology in La Paz Mexico don't just study general examples and write homework for the teacher; instead they use the Internet to actually become scientific writers (Bowers, 1995; Bowers, in press) First, the students search the World Wide Web to find articles in their exact area of specialty and then carefully read and study those specific articles They then write their own drafts online; the teacher critiques the drafts online and creates electronic links to his own comments and to pages of appropriate linguistic and technical explanation, so that students can find additional background help at the click of a mouse Next, using this assistance, the students prepare and publish their own articles on the World Wide Web, together with reply forms to solicit opinions from readers They advertise their Web articles on appropriate Internet sites (e.g., scientific newsgroups) so that interested scientists around the world will know about their articles and will be able to read and comment

on them When they receive their comments (by e-mail) they can take those into account in editing their articles for republication on the Web or for submission to scientific journals.

Apart from the programs which tutor writing learning and teaching such as SentenceCombining, Sentence Maker, and Typing Tutor, most software for supporting writing belongs

to the Computer as Tool category, including word processing, e-mail exchanging, chatting,blogs, feedback software, grammar checkers, concordancers, collaborative writing, reference,authoring The following will provide details of word-processing, e-mail exchanging,feedback software, and grammar checkers

3.4.1.2.1 Word-processing

Among the programs mentioned above, word-processing is the most frequently used tool inwriting learning In “Learning to Write in the Laptop Classroom”, Warschauer, M (2009)reported that most children found it easier and more enjoyable to write by computer than byhand And for a teacher at Henry Elementary school, laptops facilitate the writing becausethere is less fatigue involved than with cursive or print Snyder (1993) report that studentsthink they write better with word-processors and believe it enhances their capacity to write.However, though Schramm (1989) notes that students have positive attitude toward writingwith word-processors, he does not agree on the idea that this attitude is associated with betterwriting Apart from him, Schipke (1986, p.26) support that “established rituals and habits andrelative writing abilities and skills appeared to be more important factors in determining thevalue of the technology than any influence of the computer itself.” Thus using a word-processor will not simply make a student a better writer, and according to Bunker, A andCronin, M (1997), the writer’s experience, style, and ability to use their knowledge of word-processing features strategically decide the success in word-processor use in writing

Word-processing has many functions supporting the second language writing such as spellchecking, formatting, word or phrase moving and deleting, storing, clear screen displayingand hardcopy printing However, there are advantages and disadvantages arising from eachfunction According to Warschauer (1998), spell checking eases students’ fear of makingspelling error and helps them to produce essays with fewer spelling errors but Joram et al.(1990) argue that it may encourage surface-level revisions that focus on spelling of words Byrecopying texts, students can revise and edit their writing easily (Bean, J C 1983) Copyingand pasting, however, as Dickenson (1986) remarked, may make students do fewer re-readings and prevent in-depth revisions As for storage, Daiute (1983) said students can putdown their thoughts in a non-permanent mode, which eases their fear of making mistakes;they can also put their thoughts into a permanent mode so they need not fear losing their ideasnor be blocked by perfectionism Related to screen displaying and hardcopies, Hooper (1987)

stated that they may heighten student’s pleasure and pride in their writing, and facilitatestudents’ development of a sense of their audience but a counter-argument goes that they mayprevent student writers from revising their superficially neat-looking but unfinished writing(Gerrard, 1989).

In comparison with pen and paper, word-processing is a very versatile tool, which helpsstudent writers save their time from having to trace spelling mistakes and correct them or re-write the whole text in case of wanting to delete, move, or copy part of a discourse.Formatting is also easier, so written products look neater and smarter Apart from not fearing

to lose what written thanks to its storing tool, on the computer screen, students can revisetexts both superficially and deeply With such advantages, writing with a computer is veryencouraging

Cochran in Bangert Drowns (1993) supported the idea by supposing that a range of variablessuch as length, number of revisions, number of errors and neatness have been used asindicators of quality when he compared word-processing with writing with pen and paper incontrol situations and concluded that word-processed writing generally scores better thanwriting with pen and paper Owston (1991), measuring overall competence qualitatively, alsofound that students wrote better with word-processors

Mark Warschauer, in “Learning to Write in the Laptop Classroom” detailed the use ofcomputer in each stage of writing In the pre-writing stage, he observed that studentsfrequently consulted the Internet to get background information related to their writing or heldonline discussions to generate ideas before essay writing This allowed students to try outphrases, ideas, and ways of explaining things in writing before beginning a formal essay Headded that the most common use of technology in pre-writing reported by teachers was theuse of graphic organizers He listed a variety of software related to graphic organizing likeInspiration (Inspiration Software, 2005), Smart Ideas (Smart Technologies, 2006), My Access(Vantage Learning, 2006), or simply Autoshapes in Microsoft Word These tools provide avariety of types of scaffolding for planning writing At this planning stage of writing, Snyder(1993) reports that word-processors seem to suit the writer who plans extensively and thenwrites an almost complete first draft However, both Haas (1987) and Schipke (1986) positthe problem with a word-processor is that it focuses the writer at the sentence, word, andformatting levels too early in the writing process Therefore, many writers fail to plan the firststage of writing carefully when using word-processors

In the draft writing stage, Warschauer M (2009) gave two important advantages of drafting

by computer They are the physical ease of writing by computer and the types of scaffolding

of writing made available via computer

As for the stage of reading and proof-reading, Warschauer M (2009) reported that teacherand students found it much easier to read word-processed texts than hand written ones Moreimportantly, one draft can be duplicated and sent to many peers very quickly at the same timevia the Internet tools As a result, chances for peers’ reading and teacher’s reviewing arebigger At this revision stage, Oliver and Kerr (1993) found tertiary students who chose toword-process their work made more revisions than those who use pen and paper Collier (inHaas 1987) notes that words, phrases and clauses drew much attention when students madetheir revisions

In the editing stage, Warschauer M (2009) emphasized the ease of making changes on processed essays rather than on hand-written ones by simply deleting unwanted words orcutting things out and pasting them where is needed

word-The above is what the prior researchers wrote about the computer as a word- processor word-Thenext part will be focus on how writing is practiced with the tool of e-mail

3.4.1.2.2 E-mail exchange

Warschauer M in “Technology and Writing” puts that electronic mail, which has been a tool

in both first language and second language education, is similar to classroom discussion withthe assistance of computer and is used both for communication between teacher and student

as well as long-distance exchanges between students in different locations In his studies, herelated Hartman et al (1991) found (a) that teachers using e-mail substantially increased theircommunication with students over time compared to teachers using traditional modes such asface-to-face, paper and phone; (b) that teachers using e-mail interacted substantially withlower- performing students compared to teachers using traditional modes who interactedoverwhelmingly more with higher-performing ones; (c) that students in computer networkedsections communicated more with each other than did students in non-networked sections; (d)that students with lower SAT verbal scores made use of e-mail most frequently; and (e) thatwriting anxiety limited participation less in e-mail than in it did in traditional modes He alsorelated Mabrito (1991, 1992) in his findings that writers of high level of proficiency (a)contributed more equally to e-mail discussions than they did in face-to-face discussions, (b)made more text-specific comments in e-mail discussions than in face-to-face discussions(1991), (c) offered more ideas for revision during e-mail discussions than during face-to-face

discussions, (d) were influenced more by group comments received during e-mail discussionsthan during face-to-face discussions and produced better papers after e-mail discussions thanafter face-to-face discussions (1992).

Gonglewski, et al (2001) suggest that activities can be planned for interaction within the class

or between classes through group e-mail exchanges, and one-to-one exchanges may bebetween the teacher and the FL learners through informal messages or electronic feedback onwriting assignments or dialogue journals, between two individual FL learners learning thesame target language or different target languages

When comparing the discourse of ESL students’ dialogue journals written in both e-mail andtraditional paper format, Wang (1993) found that the students using e-mail journals wrotelonger texts, asked more questions, and use different language functions more frequently thandid students writing on paper

After analyzing linguistic improvement achieved by an adult learner of German who carriedout a lengthy e-mail exchange with a native speaker, St John and Cash (1995) found that thelearner systematically studied the new vocabulary and grammatical structures in his incominge-mail and used this information to improve his own letter writing, with dramatic results bythe end of six months What the learner achieved from the e-mail exchange was much moresignificant than what he could get out of classroom discourses

Tella (1991, 1992a, 1992b) carried out an ethnographic study based on a semester -long series

of e-mail exchanges between many upper secondary school classes in Finland and England

In his document, Tella found that:

1 Emphasis switched from teacher-centered, large-group sponsored teaching toward a moreindividualized and learner-centered working environment, while the content of the class

shifted from that of a standard syllabus to the students’ own writings (Tella, 1992b)

2 The e-mail communication gave a good chance for practicing language in open-endedlinguistic situations A shift from form to content was achieved; a free flow of ideas and with itsexpressions, idioms, and vocabulary (Tella, 1992b)

3 The whole writing process changed to some extent Rather than writing their compositionsonly once, as is the norm, the Finnish students naturally edited and revise their compositions,poems, and other messages to make them appropriate for their English peers Instead of writingmost of their compositions and other work alone, they made use of peer tutoring and othercollaborative methods in order to compose their e-mail messages together (Tella, 1992b)

4 Writing quality improved as writing changed from teacher- sponsored and led, only to be marked and graded, to real-purpose writing with genuine audiences worldly (Tella, 1992b).

5 The modes of writing became more versatile, including not only the narrative anddescriptive genres usually found in regular class, but also personal, expressive, and argumentativeuse of language (Tella, 1992b)

6 Reading also became more public and collaborative, with students actively assisting eachother in studying incoming messages Students also use different reading strategies to read thewide variety of messages, notices, and documents that came in (Tella, 1992b)

Cummins and Sayers (1995) show that e-mail exchanges are carried out by diverse groups oflearners from around the world They are students of different languages, abilities, ethnicgroups, life experiences, and viewpoints The exchanges consequently help them amplifyliteracy and intellectual skills collaboratively with peers in culturally and geographicallydistant settings

Kern (1996) also supports the benefits of cultural and historical knowledge as well as theenhancement of students’ motivation given by e-mail exchanges He studied a French-Englishexchange between students in the United States and France based on e-mail communicationand an exchange of essays on topics related to the immigrant experience He noted that “whileostensibly an exercise in communicative language use, this e-mail exchange has been at least

as significant in enhancing students’ cultural and historical awareness as well as their overallmotivation in learning French (p.118).”

Considering the motivational benefits of e-mail communication, Warschauer (1996b), whomade a survey on the attitude toward using computers of 167 ESL and EFL students 12university academic writing courses, found that the students overall had a positive attitudetoward using computers and that attitude was consistent across a number of variables,including gender, typing skill, and access to a computer at home He suggested threemotivational factors resulted from students using e-mail exchanges in ESL learning Thesefactors were the feeling of personal empowerment, the enhancement of learning opportunities,and the sense of achievement The study also showed that the results must be more significantwhen online activities were well- integrated into the ongoing structure of student assignmentsand interaction rather than included as an informal sub-tool

3.4.1.2.3 Feedback software

With the advance of technology and the availability of the Internet, teachers of English cannow save their time from marking their students’ compositions thanks to a number of writing

evaluation tools Since providing individual feedback on multiple drafts per student is anextraordinary time-consuming work, many automated writing evaluation programs have beendeveloped as a way to meet this challenge One of the most well-used programs is MyAccess!TM, a web-based program that has been used in public schools in the USA for severalyears As recommended by Elliot (2003), this scoring engine can analyze some 300 semantic,syntactic and discourse features of an essay and compare them to features of sample essaysthat were previously scored by humans It does not claim to independently evaluate either thecontent or the organization of an essay, but rather to determine the similarity along a number

of dimensions to the sample essays such as focus and meaning, organization, content anddevelopment, language use and style However, My Access!TM should be used incombination with an assisting tool called My Editor which provides advice on spelling,grammar and word usage, similar to that provided by Microsoft Word’ s spelling andgrammar check

Another well-known feedback program is CriterionSM, developed by Educational TestingServices What makes this program more special is that its Natural Language Processingtechniques and a companion tool called Critique allow it to make a broader range oflinguistics diagnoses, and thus provide individualized feedback not only on spelling,grammar, and word usage, but also on style, organization and development Thus, according

to Warschauer M and Ware P (2006), Criterion can be used to provide feedback on anywriting meanwhile My Access!TM is designed to give feedback based on previously normedprompts

The third main scoring engine is the Intelligent Essay AssessorTM (IEA) Landauer et al.,

2000 in Warschauer, M & Ware, P (2006) puts that IEA trains the computer on aninformational database of textbook material, sample essays, or other sources rich in semanticvariation surrounding a particular essay The system is trained to focus specifically onevaluating conceptual content, and less attention is paid to mechanical correctness, stylisticcontrol, or organizational structure Compared with My Access!TM and CriterionSM , IEArequires fewer human-scored essays because scoring is obtained by analyzing an essaysemantically other than comparing that to a previously scored work statistically

Burstein, Chodorow, & Leacock, 2003; Burstein & Marcu, 2003(cited in Ware, P., &Warschauer, M (2006)) claimed that although automated feedback can save time, it should beconsidered a supplement to classroom instruction and the importance of social interaction cannot

be underestimated and added that these automated programs are theoretically grounded

in the human cognitive process, and fails to account entirely for the learning that takes place

in social and interactional situations

3.4.1.2.4 Grammar checkers

As shown on the site

http://www.yourdictionary.com/dictionary-articles/free-online-grammar.html, it is very difficult for a machine to understand properly and completely whatpeople put in the language In written English, there are a number of expressions that havemultiple meanings depending on the context of a word's usage These subtleties are simplyimpossible for a machine to fully comprehend, thus leaving grammar checkers with threemain drawbacks:

- A grammar checker may miss important errors such as no comma after an introductoryelement in a sentence, missing prepositions, comma splice, no comma in a compound sentence,vague pronoun references, tense shift, incorrect use of the possessive apostrophe, pronounagreement error, sentence fragment, run-on sentence

- A grammar checker may accidentally suggest corrections that are inaccurate

- A grammar checker flag grammatically correct text as incorrect

Despite the limitations a grammar checker may have, students who are learning English assecond language may find that grammar checkers help them learn to spot their writing errorsmore easily Apart from the Microsoft Word’s grammar checker, there are now free onlinegrammar checking resources such as Spellchecker.net, Abiword, Language Tool, GrammarSlammer which are all convenient for perfecting one’s writing

3.4.1.3 Variables that can affect computer-aided writing

The outcome of the computer-aided writing lessons may depend on a few variables.Pennington (1993, cited in Scott, 1996) points out that the main variables are of the students,the teacher, and the setting

The first and second variables are of the students and the teacher Students are different intheir background knowledge, economic capacity, attitudes, typing skills, and learning styles

On the teacher side, attitudes, knowledge of computer, and instruction are very important.Attitudes may change from time to time and be different from teacher to teacher However, it

is true that changes in the teacher’s attitudes will change those of the students The thirdvariable involves software programs used in writing The programs aforementioned are veryuseful in writing; however, not all are always available for every lesson

4 Conclusion

We have gone through the theoretical background related to the project being studied It hasmentioned the development of CALL, computer and language teaching in general, andwriting teaching in particular Besides, software programs as the aided tools for writing andthe variables have been intensively discussed All of these set the ground for the study on thereality of IT application to writing learning and teaching among the third year students ofEnglish language at Vinh University The next chapter will focus on the researchmethodology and the findings

CHAPTER II: THE STUDY

I Setting of the study

1 Information technology at Faculty of English Language at Vinh University

Being a well-known training cradle in the central Vietnam, Vinh University has paid muchattention to technology advancing to ceaselessly enhance the human resource quality Below

is the system of ELT classrooms

- There are 10 classrooms which are equipped with the wifi network Each has one computeraccompanied with loudspeakers, headphones, microphones, and an overhead projector Theseclassrooms are intended for e-learning

- An audio-visual classroom equipped with one computer for the teacher, a cassette player, avideo player, headphones for teacher and students, and loudspeakers This room is mainlydesigned for listening teaching and learning

2 Writing learning and teaching at the faculty

Teachers and students seem to get familiar to the terms of application of informationtechnology to foreign language learning and teaching However, the reality of using IT in thisfield is different among universities and the level of usage also varies from skill to skill AtFaculty of English Language at Vinh University, the performance with the assistance of IT ismore popular with the skills of listening, reading, and speaking than that of writing skill As aresult, the IT application to writing learning and teaching is likely a new practice to manystudents and teachers though the outcome will be significant if IT is applied to writingscientifically and popularly Despite some restriction on this application, the students of thefaculty in general and the third year students in particular have certain writing practices such

as finding resources, looking up relevant words and phrases, writing drafts, proofreading andgiving comments

The above are the general features of the information technology and the situation of writinglearning and teaching at the study site The following will be about the detailed procedures ofthe study

II Procedures

1 Subjects of the study

The participants of the study are divided into two groups One is of 100 third-year students ofEnglish and the other is of two lecturers of writing in the Faculty of English Language at VinhUniversity The former is studied with a questionnaire and the later with an interview

The one-hundred third year students who participate in answering the questions are from 3classes They come from different regions and have different family backgrounds Theirattitudes toward using computer for learning as well as knowledge related to it are not similar.The reasons for selecting the third year students are that they get more familiar with writingwith computer; the number of assignments in terms of essays students have to do isincreasing, and therefore the demand for using computer as well as the ownership ofcomputer is higher The writing course book intended for the students is GRAPH They havetwo writing periods per week.

The number of lecturers standing writing classes is limited to two They have never beenofficially trained any IT skills before and have only first-hand experience of teaching withcomputer They are very willing to answer the questions and have provided real and reliableinformation concerning the reality of learning the writing skill with computer of the third-yearstudents

2 Measurement instrument

In order to collect data, two methods are employed They are the questionnaire for thestudents and the interview for the teachers The questionnaire and the interview are usedtogether to ensure the reliability and validity

2.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire is applied to the students only It consists of 11 questions regarding theissues being studied such as how the lecturers and students use IT in their writing teachingand learning, effects of using IT in learning and teaching writing skill of the students andlecturers, and what changes can be made for better use of IT The questions are mainlymultiple choice ones apart from some open-ended and closed ones, which aim to exploitvaried pieces of information from the students

2.2 Interview

The interview was conducted on two lecturers of writing The interview questions involve theissues raised in the research questions The questions and the lecturers’ answers closelycorrelate with the information given by the students in the questionnaire By means ofinterviewing the lecturers in person, the information collected from the students wasconfirmed The reliability and validity of the data, therefore, are high enough without studentinterviews

3 Data collection procedure

First, the questionnaires were distributed to 100 third-year students in three classes.Fortunately, the students had time to read and think of the questions carefully before givinganswers

Second, the semi-structured interview was conducted on the two lecturers about the reality ofusing computer in their students’ learning of the writing skill The two lecturers wereinterviewed at the same time and gave similar opinions about on the matter raised

Third, the data collected from the questionnaire was classified and synthesized The content

of the interview was transcribed and fully discussed

4 Data analysis procedure

The researcher followed the statistical procedure, from coding the questionnaire data toclassifying, summarizing, and reporting the data in a reader-friendly way Besides, the face-to-face interview was transcribed and discussed in order to provide a deeper insight into theresearch matter

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents and discusses the study results on the base of the literature review Theresults are divided into four categories They are (1) students’ technological background, (2)the extents to which lecturers and students use computer in teaching and learning the writingskill, (3) lecturers’ and students’ evaluation of teaching and learning the writing skill with thehelp of computer, (4) difficulties in using computer in teaching and learning the writing skill,(5) some suggestions to raise the outcome of computer in teaching and learning writing

I Presentation of statistical results

1 Students’ technological background

Firstly, having a computer is significant to the students who are learning a foreign languagesince it creates a computer habit at the beginning and then improves the outcome of Englishlearning The students’ computer ownership is shown on the following pie chart:

38%

62%

Having computer Having no computer Chart 1: Students' computer ownership

As shown on this chart, the students having their own computers outnumber those who have

no computer The number of students having computers makes up 62 % while only 38% is the percentage of students who do not own any computer From this figure, we see that computer is not popular among every student To account for the situation, one of the

lecturers having been interviewed said that most of the students come from rural areas and their families’ standard of living is still low; therefore, they cannot afford a computer

Undoubtedly, this limited popularity of computers among the students has discouraged them from learning with the computer and caused the lecturers a lot of difficulties to apply IT to English teaching in general and writing teaching in particular

Owning a computer does not tell us how frequently the students use it in learning A questionraised is whether the students who have no computer can use it as frequently as those whohave one In fact, students having no computer still have chance to use their roommates’ or