Reducing high school students writing anxiety through specific scaffolding activities

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ************************* VŨ THỊ THU GIANG REDUCING HIGH SCHOO

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

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

VŨ THỊ THU GIANG

REDUCING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ WRITING ANXIETY THROUGH SPECIFIC SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES

MỘT SỐ HOẠT ĐỘNG HỖ TRỢ NHẰM HẠN CHẾ LO LẮNG TRONG GIỜ HỌC VIẾT CỦA HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG

M.A MINOR THESIS Field: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODLOGY Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi, September, 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

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

VŨ THỊ THU GIANG

REDUCING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ WRITING ANXIETY THROUGH SPECIFIC SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES

MỘT SỐ HOẠT ĐỘNG HỖ TRỢ NHẰM HẠN CHẾ LO LẮNG TRONG GIỜ HỌC VIẾT CỦA HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG

M.A MINOR THESIS Field: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODLOGY Code: 601410

Supervisor: ĐỖ BÁ QUÝ, MEd

Hanoi, September, 2010

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

PART A INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Method of the study 3

6 Design of the study 3

PART B DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Writing skill in second language (L2) teaching and learning 5

1.1.1 Product writing 5

1.1.2 Process approach to teaching writing 7

1.1.3 Process vs Product 9

1.2 Anxiety in L2 learning .10

1.2.1 Writing anxiety in L2 learning 10

1.2.2 Sources of writing anxiety 11

1.3 Scaffolding second language teaching and learning 11

1.3.1 The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) 12

1.3.2 The definition of Scaffolding .13

1.3.3 Features of Scaffolding .15

1.3.3.1 Extending understanding 15

1.3.3.2 Temporary support 16

1.3.3.3 Principles of scaffolding 17

v

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 19

2.1 The context of study 19

2.1.1 The school 19

2.1.2 Description of writing section in English 10 textbook 19

2.2 Research questions 21

2.3 Research methods 21

2.3.1 The teachers .22

2.3.2 The students 22

2.3.3 Instruments and procedure 23

2.4 Data analysis process 24

2.5 Summary .24

CHAPTER 3 DATA ANALYSIS AND DICUSSIONS 25

3.1 Teachers’ questionnaire……… 25

3.1.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards writing skill………25

3.1.2 Teachers’ perceptions on scaffolding strategies in teaching writing……… 25

3.1.3 Teachers’ opinion on proposed scaffolding activities in writing………26

3.1.4 Teachers’ judgments on difficulties faced by students in learning writing skill … 28

3.1.5 Teachers’ real practice in teaching writing skill……….28

3.2 Students’ questionnaire……….30

3.2.1 Students’ attitudes towards writing skill ……… 30

3.2.2 Students’ difficulties in learning writing skill……… …31

3.2.3 Students’ preference for some scaffolding activities……….32

3.3 Findings from interview … 34

3.4 Findings from classroom observation 35

3.5 Summary……… 36

PART C CONCLUSION 38

1 Conclusions 38

2 Pedagogical implications .39

3 Limitations .40

4 Suggestions for further study 40

References 42 Appendices