idea generating activities in teaching writing

Part A: Introduction
1. Rationale
Due to the fast development of the society, the increasing living standard and the
unceasing demand for broader international cooperation, the communication among
different nations is necessary day after day. Communicative competence has become the
major goal of the curricula innovation which has been a burning issue in education in
recent years.
For a long time, the teaching and learning of English in Vietnam has rotated around
teaching grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation with little concern about
communicative competence. Such emphasis on linguistic materials has been the reason
for many communication breakdowns between Vietnamese and foreigners, especially
English-used communication. Consequently, the new English textbook series were
compiled following the communicative approach which focuses on four skills: reading,
speaking, listening and writing. Among these four skills, writing seems to be the most
challenging skill to both teachers and learners. Students often find it difficult to start to
write, which means that they lack of necessary ideas for their writing. Therefore, a study
on idea- generating activities in teaching writing to high school students is conducted.
2. Purposes of the study
The main purposes of the author when conducting the study are:
- To raise teachers’ awareness of the importance of ideas in teaching writing
- To find out the challenge that 11
th
form students face with in getting ideas in
writing
- To work out common activities used by teachers in helping their students generate
ideas in writing lessons
- To help teachers find out effective activities to provide necessary ideas for their
students in writing
3. Scope of the study
Because of the limitation of a minor study, the author only carries out research on
teachers and students at Duong Xa high school in Gia Lam district. The study also

mainly focuses on students’ difficulties in getting ideas for their writing, the teachers’
perspectives about ideas and the activities used in helping students generate ideas in
writing lessons.
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4. Methodology
The theoretical background of the study mainly relies on many published books written
by different authors on language teaching and language acquisition.
The major method used in the study is the quantitative one. That is all comments,
consideration and suggestions given in the research are based on the analysis of the
statistics from the survey questionnaires conducted with 11
th
form students and teachers
of Duong Xa high school in Gia Lam district.
The survey questionnaires are used in order to find out the answers for the following
research questions:
1. What are teachers and students’ perception of the importance of ideas and idea-
generation in writing lessons?
2. What are students’ difficulties in learning writing?
3. What are common activities used by teachers to help students generate ideas in
writing lessons?
Besides, the study is also the combination of quantitative and qualitative research
together with author’s own experiences and observation in teaching.
5. Design of the study
Part A: Introduction
Part B: Development
- Chapter 1: Literature review
- Chapter 2: Practical research
- Chapter 3: Recommendations
Part C: Conclusion
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part B: development
Chapter 1: Literature review
1.1. Overview of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Together with education innovation, new series of textbook for secondary education are
compiled following Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach which has
been known as the “new” or “innovative” approach to teach English as a second or
foreign language within the last quarter century. So what is CLT?
1.1.1. Concept of CLT
CLT is an approach to language teaching in which the goal of language teaching is
“communicative competence”, the ability to use language to communicate. CLT
appeared from 1960s, its scope, however, has expanded since the mid- 1970s. It is also
referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or simply
the “Communicative Approach”. On the website of Wikipedia.org, CLT is defined as
“an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes
interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language.”
CLT places great emphasis on helping students use the target language in a variety of
contexts and places great emphasis on learning language functions. In other words, its
primary focus is on helping learners create meaning rather than helping them develop
perfectly grammatical structures or acquire native-like pronunciation. This means that
successfully learning a foreign language is assessed in terms of how well learners have
developed their communicative competence, which can loosely be defined as their
ability to apply knowledge of both formal and sociolinguistic aspects of a language with
adequate proficiency to communicate.
Both American and British proponents now see it as an approach (not a method) that
aims to
(a) make communicative competence the goal of language teaching
(b) develop procedures for the teaching of four language skills that acknowledge the
independence of language and communication.
1.1.2. Features of CLT
CLT is usually characterized as a broad approach to teaching, rather than as a teaching

method with a clearly defined set of classroom practices. As such, it is most often
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defined as a list of general principles or features. One of the most recognized of these
lists is David Nunan’s (1991: 279) five features of CLT:
(i) An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language
(ii) The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation
(iii) The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also
on the learning process itself
(iv) An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important
contributing elements to classroom learning
(v) An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the
classroom
These five features are claimed by practitioners of CLT to show that they are very
interested in the needs and desires of their learners as well as the connection between the
language as it is taught in their class and as it is used outside the classroom. Under this
broad umbrella definition, any teaching practice that helps students develop their
communicative competence in an authentic context is deemed an acceptable and
beneficial form of instruction. Thus, in the classroom CLT often takes the form of pair
and group work requiring negotiation and cooperation between learners, fluency-based
activities that encourage learners to develop their confidence, role-plays in which
students practice and develop language functions, as well as judicious use of grammar
and pronunciation focused activities.
Language is used for communication. For this reason, CLT makes use of communication
to teach languages. Whereas traditional language teaching places a lot of emphasis on
grammar rules and verb conjugations, CLT emphasizes real-life situations and
communication in context. While grammar is still important in the CLT classroom, the
emphasis is on communicating a message. Richards and Rodgers present some of the
characteristics of CLT as follow:
1. Language is a system for the expression of meaning
2. The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication

3. The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses
4. The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features,
but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse.
(1986:161)
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In summary, Littlewood (1981:1) states “one of the most characteristic features of
communicative language teaching is that pays systematic attention to functional as well
as structural aspects of language”
1.2. Teaching writing in ESL/EFL classes
1.2.1. Writing and the roles of writing
Halliday (1985b) suggests that writing has evolved in societies as a result of cultural
changes creating communicative needs which can be readily met by the spoken
language. He speculates that with the emergence of cultures based on agricultural rather
than hunting and gathering, there developed a need for permanent records which could
be referred to over and over again. This was the initial stimulus for the emergence of
new form of language: writing. (Nunan, 1991:84)
In the past, writing was considered as “talk written down”, “the act of forming graphic
symbol”. Fortunately, no one holds this view today because it is found out that writing is
not just speaking in written form as Byrne in Teaching Writing Skills says that “writing
is clearly much more than the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than
the production of sounds.” (1988:1). 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
that all physically and mentally normal people learn to speak a language and can master
it naturally, but all people have to be taught how to write and it takes much time to
acquire.
Yet writing emerges with its own functions and brings along communicative code of the
writers. When making a piece of writing, the writer implies a message or a certain
purpose. In the modern world, writing (written language) serves a range of functions in

everyday life including:
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.
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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.
(Numan, 1991:84)
In classroom, the teaching and learning of writing also plays an important role. Through
writing we are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people.
We are able to discover and articulate ideas in the ways that only writing makes
possible. Therefore, writing has always occupied a place in the language syllabus.
Discussing about this issue, White points out a number of reasons why writing merits a
place in the language syllabus:
- Writing remains the commonest way of examining student performance in English (all
public examinations include a composition). Consequently, ability to write remains a
key to examination success.
- In the eyes of both parents and students, ability to write may be associated with
evidence of having learnt the language. Writing is tangible- parents and students can see
what has been done and what has been achieved. So it has high ‘face validity’.
- In the classrooms, writing may be used as one of a number of techniques to help add
variety and interest to lesson.
- The teacher may use writing as a testing device to provide feedback on what the
students have learnt. Student writing can provide useful evidence of successes or failures
in learning, of confusions, and errors.
- Writing requires thought, discipline and concentration. It is relatively a permanent

form and readers judge us by our style, content and logic. So writing demands care and
thought.
(White, 1981: 1)
In CLT, the teaching of writing also aims at communication. However, beside used to
communicate, writing helps our students learn. According to Raimes’ opinion, “first
writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that we have been
teaching our students. Second, when our students write, they also have a chance to be
adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learnt to say, to take
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risks. Third, when they write, they necessarily become very involved in the new
language; the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eyes, hand and brain is a
unique way to reinforce learning” (1983:3)
With all the roles mentioned above, writing really becomes an integral part in almost
every language syllabus from elementary to tertiary level.
1.2.2. Writing and Speaking
Due to the fact that writing is not simply speech written down on paper, learning to write
is not just a “natural” extension of learning to speak a language. We learn to speak our
first language at home without systematic instruction, whereas most of us had to be
taught in school how to write that same language. The two processes, speaking and
writing, are not identical. When developing appropriate classroom activities and
procedures for teaching written language, it is significant to be aware of the differences
between spoken and written language.
Spoken and written language exist to fulfill different functions, so they exhibit different
characteristics. Harris differentiates speaking and writing in three aspects: situation,
grammatical choices and lexical density. In terms of situation, speakers and listeners are
in a shared environment; therefore they can easily understand each other with the
assistant of gestures and facial expressions. In contrast, writers and readers do not share
an immediate environment, so writers have to describe the situation and make explicit
the people or objects they refer to. Grammatically, “Speech, typically, consists of chains
of coordinated, weakly subordinated and adjoined clauses; writing, by contrast, is

marked by full subordination and embedding.” (Harris, 1993:4). By lexical density,
writing displays a greater degree of lexical density. This means writing has a higher ratio
of content to structure words than speech. As a result, information is more densely
packed into writing than into speech.
When making comparison between speech and writing, Byrne highlights the main
differences in the table below:
Speech Writing
1. Takes place in a context, which often
makes references clear (e.g. ‘that thing
over there’
1. Creates its own context and therefore
has to be fully explicit
2. Speaker and listener(s) in contact.
Interact and exchange roles
2. Readers not present and no interaction
possible
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3. Usually person addressed is specific 3. Reader not necessary known to writer
4. Immediate feedback given and expected
(a) verbal: questions, comments murmurs,
grunts
(b) non-verbal: facial expressions
4. No immediate feedback possible. Writer
may try to anticipate reader’s reactions and
incorporate them into text
5. Speech is transitory. Intended to be
understood immediately. If not listener
expected to interact
5. Writing is permanent. Can be reread as
often as necessary and at own speed

6. Sentences of ten incomplete and
sometimes ungrammatical. Hesitations and
pauses are common and usually some
redundancy and repetition
6. Sentences expected to be carefully
constructed, and linked and organized to
form a text
7. Range of devices (stress, intonation,
pitch, speed) to help convey meaning.
Facial expressions, body movements and
gestures also used for this purpose
7. Devices to help convey meaning are
punctuation, capitals and underlining (for
emphasis). Sentences boundaries clearly
indicated
Table 1: The differences between speech and writing (Bynre, 1988:3)
Briefly compared with speech, effective writing requires a number of things: high degree
of organization in the development of ideas and information; high degree of accuracy to
avoid ambiguity of meaning; the use of accurate and complex grammatical devices for
emphasis; a careful choice of vocabulary, grammatical patterns and sentence structures
to create a style which is suitable to the subject matter and to attract readers.
From the distinction presented above, it can be inferred that writing seems to be more
complex and causes more challenges for foreign writers of English. That leads to the
essentiality of teaching writing carefully and ways of teaching writing; therefore need to
be taken into account.
1.2.3. Approaches to teaching writing
Writing seems to be a difficult skill and a challenge to both teachers and students.
Identifying approaches adapted in teaching writing can help teachers find out effective
techniques to overcome difficulty and attain the objectives in teaching, therefore help
students improve writing skill. The ways of teaching writing are really diversified due to

various teaching and learning styles and references.
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Ann Raimes (1983: pp5-10) presents six approaches to teaching writing: The Control-to-
Free Approach, The Free-Writing Approach, The Paragraph-Pattern Approach, The
Grammar-Syntax- Organization Approach, The Communicative Approach and The
Process Approach.
1.2.3.1. The Control-to-Free Approach
The Control-to-Free approach in writing is sequential. In this approach, writing is
considered as a reinforcement means of speech and is used to master grammatical or
syntactic rules. In lower level, students are often given sentence-level exercises or
controlled compositions to imitate, copy or manipulate. Students, therefore, make few
mistakes. Only at high or advanced level are students allowed to try some free
composition, in which they can express their own ideas. In short, this approach
emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency and grammar, syntax and mechanics are main
stresses of the approach.
1.2.3.2. The Free-Writing Approach
Contrast to the control-to free approach, the free-writing approach focuses more on
fluency; quantity of writing is more concerned than quality. Students are assigned a vast
amount of free writing on given topics with only minimal correction of errors. They are
allowed to write freely without worrying about grammar and spelling. Content and
fluency are taken into account first.
1.2.3.3. The Paragraph-Pattern Approach
Different from the two approaches mentioned above, the paragraph-pattern approach
stresses on paragraph organization. Students copy a model paragraph, analyze its form
and then write a parallel one. In this approach, students are provided such kinds of
exercises as sentence ordering, sentence inserting or sentence deleting, etc.
1.2.3.4. The Grammar-Syntax- Organization Approach
The name of the approach, the grammar-syntax- organization approach, fully reveals the
characteristics of the approach. Writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills
which are learned one by one. Students need to pay attention to organization while they

also work on the necessary grammar and syntax. For example, to write a clear set of
instructions on how to use a phone card, the writer needs more than the appropriate
vocabulary. He needs the simple forms of verbs, an organizational plan based on
chronology; sequence words like first, then, next, etc. In the preparatory stage, these
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vocabulary and structures are reviewed and taught. In general, this approach is the
combination of the purpose and the form of the writing.
1.2.3.5. The Communicative Approach
The communicative approach aims at communicative competence, so it stresses the
purpose of the writing and the audience for it. Students are regarded as writers in real
life and they are encouraged to ask themselves the key questions: Why am I writing this?
(purpose) and Who will read it? (audience).
Conventionally, the teacher acts as the audience for students’ writing. However, to make
it more real- life- closed communication, students become readers for each other. They
read each other’s writings, respond, rewrite in another form or make comments, but not
correct. Sometimes the teacher creates a context in which students are real readers by
making them role play, exchange letters, reply, ask questions and comment.
1.2.3.6. The Process Approach
The teaching of writing has recently moved away from a concentration on the written
product to an emphasis on the process of writing, which lead to the emergence of
process approach. Process approach to writing came into play in the 1970s. This
approach encourages students’ communication of ideas, feelings and experiences. It is
more global and focuses on purpose, theme, text type, i.e. the reader is emphasized.
Thus, writers not only concern about purpose and audience but also have to make
decisions on how to begin and how to organize a piece of writing.
Writing is a process, so students are given time to set out ideas, make plan, write a first
draft, revise what has been written after a peer feedback, then they can edit their writing
or write other drafts before the final version is produced. Shih points out some features
of process approach as follow:
a. focus on the process of writing that leads to the final written product

b. help student writers understand their own composing process
c. help them to build repertoires of strategies for prewriting, drafting, and rewriting
d. give students time to write and rewrite
e. place central importance on the process of revision
f. let students discover what they want to say as they write
g. give students feedback throughout the composing process (not just the final product)
as they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer to attention
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h. encourage feedback from both the instructor and peers
i. include individual conferences between teacher and student during the process of
composition
(Brown, pp 335-336)
1.2.3.7. The Genre Approach
The 'genre approach' to teaching writing has taken place in different ways in different
parts of the world. It has also had different underlying goals as well as focused on
different teaching situations. In Britain and the United States, for example, teachers have
been mostly concerned with teaching international students in English medium
universities. Genre-based classrooms in Australia, on the other hand, have had a rather
different ideological focus. This, in part, draws from the underlying concern in
Australian genre work with empowering underprivileged members of the community
and providing them with necessary resources for success.
The genre approach to teaching writing focuses, as the terms suggests, on teaching
particular genres that students need control of in order to succeed in particular settings.
This might include a focus on language and discourse features of the texts, as well as the
context in which the text is produced.
1.2.3.8. Combined Product- Process Approach
There are various approaches to teaching writing as mentioned do. It is true to say that
there is not necessarily any ‘right’ or ‘best’ way to teach writing skills. The best practice
in any situation will depend on the type of student, the text type being studied, the
school system and many other factors. (Steele, 2002). Hereunder, the author wants to

clarify the two most popular approaches used in ESL/EFL classroom, namely product
approach and process approach.
Product approach is a traditional approach which is a largely “prescriptive and product-
centered” way of teaching writing. This approach pays much attention to the final
outcome of a writing process and supposes that students need to produce only one
writing version of the task. In this approach, model texts play important parts; the
language and the organisation of ideas are more highly appreciated than the ideas
themselves. The result of the learning process is judged by the final product.
On the contrary, process approach focuses on the process rather than the final product.
Students have chances to generate ideas of their own by brainstorming or discussing.
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The ideas are then evaluated and organised into an outline. Next, the first draft is written
and exchanged among peers. After peer feedback, improvements are made and the final
draft is written. Finally, the students exchange their writings once more to respond or
reply before the teacher’s final feedback.
Comparing the two approaches, Steele summarizes the differences between product
approach and process approach in the table below:
Process writing Product writing
• text a resource for comparison
• ideas as starting point
• more than one draft
• more global, focus on purpose,
theme, text type, i.e., reader is
emphasized
• collaborative
• emphasis on creative process
• imitate model text
• organization of ideas is more
important than ideas themselves
• one draft

• features highlighted including
controlled practice of those features
• individual
• emphasis on end product
Table 2: The differences between process approach and product approach
From the analysis and comparison of the two approaches, it is undeniable that each
approach has its own strength and weakness. Process approach comes out with many
advantages and support. On the other hand, it also receives a lot of criticism. It is also
the fact that there are few classrooms where a teacher is devoted to one approach as to
exclude all others. Normally, the teacher still uses techniques drawn from other
approaches as the students need them and those techniques are useful in the context of
the class. The writing in new textbook series was compiled following both product and
process approach and this combined product- process approach is found to be more
popular, appropriate and effective.
The suggested general outline for writing lesson following the combined product-
process approach may be as follow:
Stage 1: A model is given
Stage 2: Students work on the model, analyze its typical features, pay attention to the
language and structure of the model
Stage 3: Students work in groups/ pairs find out the ideas for the writing topic/ task and
produce an outline
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Stage 4: Students write the first draft individually/ in pairs/ in groups, the model is used
for comparison
Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged, students give comments on each other’s work
Stage 6: Drafts are returned and changes or improvements are made based on peer
feedback
Stage 7: Students write final drafts
Stage 8: Final drafts are exchanged once more; students give response or reply to each
other

Stage 9: Teacher gives feedback
1.2.4. Position of idea generation in teaching writing
Communicative writing is a move away from students writing to test their language
towards the communication of ideas, feelings and experiences. Hence, ideas are more
highly evaluated in communicative writing. In this paper, the author desires to talk
about idea generation in teaching writing.
To study about the position of idea generation in writing, it is necessary to have a look at
a model of writing (following process approach) given by White and Arndt:
Figure 1: Model of process approach
More specifically, process writing can be broken down into three stages:
• Pre-writing
The teacher needs to be stimulate students' creativity, to get them thinking how to
approach a writing topic. In this stage, the most important thing is the flow of ideas, and
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Drafting
Re-viewing
Structuring
Focusing
Generating
ideas
Evaluating
it is not always necessary that students actually produce much (if any) written work. If
they do, then the teacher can contribute with advice on how to improve their initial
ideas.
• Focusing ideas
During this stage, students write without much attention to the accuracy of their work or
the organization. The most important feature is meaning. Here, the teacher (or other
students) should concentrate on the content of the writing. Is it coherent? Is there
anything missing? Anything extra?
• Evaluating, structuring and editing

Now the writing is adapted to a readership. Students should focus more on form and on
producing a finished piece of work. The teacher can help with error correction and give
organizational advice. (Stanley)
Since writing is primarily about organizing information and communicating meaning,
generating ideas is clearly a crucial part of the writing process. Because actually getting
started is one of the most difficult and inhibiting steps in writing, idea-generating is
particularly important as an initiating process. Even in later stages, however, idea-
generating continues to take place, so that techniques used to stimulate ideas at initial
stage may still prove useful.
In the next chapters, students’ difficulties in generating ideas and the techniques used by
teachers to help students stimulate ideas will be exposed and discussed.
Chapter 2: Practical research
2.1. The setting of the study
The study was conducted at Duong Xa high school in Gia Lam district, the suburb of
Hanoi. Like other schools, new series of English textbook have generally been used for
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three years. The surveys were completed by teachers and students of grade 11. The
English textbook 11 has been used for two years. As a result, the teaching of the new
textbook seems to be challenging to teachers.
2.1.1. An overview of English textbook 11
The textbook 11 was compiled following the communicative approach in which
communicative competence is emphasized. The formation and development of
communicative skills are the most important objectives in teaching and learning.
Therefore, the structure of each unit focuses on four skills: reading, speaking, listening
and writing. Language knowledge such as phonetics, vocabulary and grammar are
considered the means and condition to form and improve communicative ability.
In combination with the communicative approach, the learner-centered approach is also
adapted in order to promote students’ activeness and creativeness. The teacher is the
organizer and facilitator in the class.
To achieve the teaching objectives under the two approaches mentioned above, task-

based teaching is the major method applied in the book. In each lesson, tasks are stated
clearly with different activities which provide students with opportunities to interact and
cooperate.
The content of the book was designed under theme-based approach. It is the succession
and development of previous grades textbooks with 16 units covering different topics
which were contextualized and developed naturally to attract and to help students
practise communicative skills. Each unit includes five items corresponding to five
lessons (five periods): reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus. There
are 6 consolidation units entitled “test yourself” to help students revise and check their
achievement.
2.1.2. Description of writing lessons
Writing is the last and the most challenging skill in each unit. It is put after three other
skills because it is a productive skill and bases on other skills input. The required
competences and objectives of writing lesson in each unit are shown in the following
table:
Units Required tasks
1. Friendship Writing about a friend
2. Personal Experiences Writing a personal letter to describe a past experience
3. A Party Writing an informal letter of invitation
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4. Volunteer Work Writing a formal letter expressing gratitude
5. Illiteracy Describing information in a table
6. Competitions Writing a letter of reply
7. World Population Interpreting statistics on population from a chart
8. Celebrations Describing a celebration’s activities
9. The Post Office
Writing a formal letter to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction
10. Nature in Danger Describing a location
11. Sources of Energy Describing information from a chart
12. The Asian Games Describing preparations for the coming Asian Games

13. Hobbies Writing about a collection
14. Recreation Describing a camping holiday
15. Space Conquest Writing a biography
16. The Wonders of the World Writing a report on a man-made place
Table 3: Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 11
2.2. Methodology
2.2.1. Informants
In order to get information to fulfill the aims of the study, two survey questionnaires
were designed. The first questionnaire was completed by 8 teachers who are currently
teaching or used to teach students of grade 11. These teachers are all female, aged from
24 to 46. They all graduated from College of Foreign Languages- Vietnam National
University, Hanoi. In recent years, all of them have taken part in some short in-service
teacher training courses organized by Hanoi Department of Education and Training.
The second questionnaire was administered to 150 eleven form students. They are male
and female students randomly chosen from 11 classes with different study levels. Most
of these students have learned new series of English textbook since sixth form.
However, their knowledge and level are generally weaker than students in other schools
in urban area.
2.2.2. Instrumentation
The information is collected by means of survey questionnaires, containing both closed
and open-ended items. Each survey questionnaire includes two parts: Part 1 is some
personal information and part 2 comprises of questions relating to researched issue.
The survey questionnaire for teachers is designed in an attempt to:
- explore teachers’ opinion about ideas and the importance of helping students to
generate ideas when teaching writing.
- find out common activities used by teachers to assist students to generate ideas in
writing
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The other survey questionnaire for students is carried out in order to:
- learn about the students’ perception of the importance of ideas in a writing

- find out the students’ difficulties in learning writing
2.2.3. Data collection
The survey questionnaires are distributed to teachers and students at Duong Xa high
school in written form and respondents will also give feedback in written form. After
that, data from the questionnaire is collected, coded and analysed.
2.3. Data analysis and discussion
2.3.1. Questionnaire for teachers
2.3.1.1. Teacher’s experience
Experience has great influence on teachers’ opinion and methods in teaching. Therefore,
the first concerning issue is teaching experience which is shown hereunder:
Years of experience N
0
of teachers %
1-3 5 62.5
4-6 0 0
7-9 1 12.5
10 + 2 25
Table 4: Teacher’s experience
As can be seen from the table, most of teachers at Duong Xa high school are very young
(62.5%). This fact leads to certain advantages and disadvantages. Young teachers with
less experience in teaching often have difficulty in controlling students and in dealing
with teaching situations. Less experience does not mean that they are less qualified.
Moreover, young teachers often have great enthusiasm. They have more chance to
approach updated knowledge and new teaching methods. As a result, this may be an
advantage in teaching methodology innovation.
After learning about some personal information, the survey focuses on teachers’ opinion
and methods in teaching writing as well as in idea generating in writing lessons.
2.3.1.2. Teachers’ opinion on writing
Question 1: In your opinion, writing:
Options N

0
of teachers %
helps students revise the vocabulary they have learnt 8 100
helps students practice grammatical structures they
have learnt
7 87.5
provides students with chances of communicating
with each other
3 37.5
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helps students train logical thinking 8 100
lets the teacher have break time 0 0
Table 5: Teachers’ opinion on writing
The table shows that all the teachers consider writing as a means to help students revise
the vocabulary they have learned and train their logical thinking. It is really true that
writing is placed after three other skills, so in writing lesson students have a chance to
recall the topic-related vocabulary as well as vocabulary learned from previous lessons.
Moreover, in order to have a good writing, students need to organize their ideas and
combine the ideas logically. As a result, writing contributes to train students’ logical
thinking.
It can also be revealed from the table that writing is not meant to be a break time for
teachers because no teachers choose the option “writing lets the teacher have break
time”. In fact, teachers are the guider, controller, director and motivator to students in
every lesson including a writing one. If the teachers only give students the task and let
them write on their own, students will certainly meet with difficulty and do not know
what to do and how to do it. Teachers, therefore, in the process of writing have to guide
students to do the task and create activities to help students orient and complete the task.
That is why teachers maybe have no break time even when students are writing, teachers
still need to go around to control and to observe students’ work.
Last but not least important point needs to be discussed from the data shown in the table

is “Writing provides students with chances of communicating with each other”. 37.5%
of the surveyed teachers chose this option. Most teachers think that writing has less
communicative value than other skills. This is a misconception because writing is also a
very effective means of communication. It is also a matter of fact in writing classroom
as students can express their thinking, feelings and opinions. The issue is provision of
authentic tasks so that students have chances to exchange their thinking, feelings and
viewpoints. Each student becomes a real writer and a real reader and they respond to
other’s writing. This problem will be discussed more in the following part.
Question 2: In a writing lesson, how important are the following stages?
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Pre-writing
While-writing
Po st-writing
Figure 2: Teachers’ viewpoint of the importance of different stages in writing
When being asked about the importance of three stages in a writing lesson, 50% of the
teachers chose ‘Pre-writing’ stage the most important of all. Pre-writing is the
preparative phase to equip students the necessities for their writing such as: vocabulary,
structures, form, style and ideas. It is said that the more careful the pre-writing is done
the easier the writing is. Consequently, teachers should carry out suitable and effective
activities in this stage to motivate and to facilitate students as well.
Question 3: In pre-writing stage, which of the following items do you provide your
students?
Items N
0
of teachers %
Vocabulary needed for the writing 8 100
Structures needed for the writing 8 100
Form and style of the writing 8 100
Ideas for the writing 5 62.5
Table 6: Teachers’ opinion on items provided in pre-writing stage

As mentioned above, half of the teachers find pre-writing the most important stage,
question 3 works out what the teachers often provide their students. It can be seen from
the result table that 100% of the teachers help their students with vocabulary, structures,
form and style of the writing. Nevertheless, 37.5% of the teachers do not assist their
students to generate ideas for the writing. When asked “Do your students have difficulty
getting started? Why?” most teachers said “Yes, because they do not know what to
write”. This means that their students lack of ideas to write, so “Why don’t teachers help
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37.5%
50%
12.5%
their students to generate ideas, or elicit ideas from their students?” Teachers’ opinion
on idea generating will be presented in the next part.
2.3.1.3. Teachers’ viewpoint of idea generating in writing
Question 4: In your viewpoint, helping students generate ideas in writing lessons is:
Figure 3: Teachers’ viewpoint of idea generating in writing
The question made in the preceding part is answered through the data shown in the chart
above. A quarter of the teachers believe that helping students generate ideas is
unnecessary. They think that vocabulary and structures are more vital to students.
Hence, when correcting students’ writings, they only concentrate on correcting
grammatical and spelling mistakes and the marking or evaluating is based on the use of
accurate structures and vocabulary. This conception is, perhaps, influenced by prior
teaching methods. The new teaching approach concerns more with communicative
value, so ideas of the writing are required to be put into consideration.
Question 5: How often do you help your students generate ideas in writing lessons?
Figure 4: Frequency of helping students generate ideas in writing lessons
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25%
25%
50%

25%
50%
12.5%
0%
The chart describes the frequency of helping students generate ideas in writing lesson.
Half of the teachers always help students generate ideas before they write. This data is
reasonable because 50% find idea- generating very necessary.
2.3.1.4. Teachers’ activities to help students generate ideas in writing lessons
Question 6: How often do you use the following activities to help your students
generate ideas in writing lessons?
In this question, nine activities are listed; the frequency is from always to never and
marked as follow:
- Always : 4 points - Often : 3 points
- Sometimes: 2 points - Never : 1 point
The total points indicate the using frequency of each activity:
Total points = ∑(N
0
of teachers * point)
Activity
Always
(4)
Often
(3)
Sometimes
(2)
Never
(1)
Total
points
Rank

1 3 0 5 0 22 3
2 0 2 5 1 17 7
3 0 4 3 1 19 5
4 1 4 2 1 21 4
5 0 2 6 0 18 6
6 2 4 2 0 24 1
7 2 4 1 1 23 2
8 1 2 4 1 19 5
9 0 2 3 3 15 8
Table 7: Frequency of using some different activities to help students generate ideas
The table presents the frequency of using some different activities to help students
generate ideas in writing lessons. The most regularly used is activity 6 “Letting Ss
brainstorm to get ideas for the writing topic”. This is an effective activity to mobilize as
much ideas from students as possible. Teachers often get various and interesting ideas
from students and they need to help students to choose the most suitable ones. “Letting
students discuss to draw out an outline for the writing” is also a favorite activity to
many teachers. Discussion makes students get involved more in the topic and provides
them a chance to exchange their thinking and ideas. Therefore, it is a useful and
motivating activity.
On the other hand, the least used activity is number 9 “Using pictures to elicit ideas”.
Although this is a helpful and attractive activity, few teachers use it. They explain that it
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is hard to find appropriate pictures to elicit students. They can only use it when they
teach with power point lesson plans. This is really true because students are more
attracted by color or moving pictures which can only be shown on screen than the black
and white printed ones. Besides, finding topic-related pictures also takes time. For this
reason, using pictures can be applied in combination with other activities to make the
lesson diversified and enjoyable.
2.3.2. Questionnaire for students
In order to have a comprehensive view of the importance of idea provision as well as

activities to generate ideas in writing lessons, a survey questionnaire for students was
implemented among 150 eleventh-form students at Duong Xa high school. They have
been studying English for 8 or 9 years with different levels:
Figure 5: Students’ study levels
2.3.2.1. Students’ opinion on language skills
The first question given to students was “Among the four language skills, which is the
most difficult one to you?” and the result is shown in the chart hereunder:
Figure 6: Students’ opinion on language skills
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65.3%
26.7%
5.3%
2.7%
12%
31.3%
34%
22.7%
When asked about the most difficult language skill, the majority of students chose
listening; the next is speaking; writing ranks the third and the last is reading. This result
is due to the fact that students seem to be more accustomed to reading and writing skills
which are more focused in old teaching method. Although they have followed new
series of textbook, students have very few opportunities to practise listening and
speaking skills outside the classroom.
2.3.2.2. Students’ view of writing lessons
Students’ preferences and opinion on writing lessons on the textbook are revealed
through the result of question 2 “How do you find the writing tasks in the textbook?”
Options N
0
of students %
Interesting 16 10.7

Suitable 24 16
All right 64 42.7
Boring 39 26
Unsuitable 42 28
Table 8: Students’ view of writing tasks
Among 150 students addressed, only 16 students are interested in writings tasks, other
24 have a positive attitude towards these writing tasks. Surprisingly, the number of
students finding the writing tasks in the textbook boring and unsuitable reaches 54%. A
question to be considered is that whether the writing tasks are too difficult to students or
their topics are not interesting and suitable enough. Some students claimed that they
often have difficulty in doing some writing tasks in the book such as describing
information from a table or a chart. Some other tasks are not practical and suitable to
them, for example, writing a letter to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the
services of the post office, writing a report on a visit to a man-made place (Ponagar
Cham Towers) or writing a bout a collection. The reason is that they have never
experienced these issues and they lack of knowledge about them. Actually, this reason is
understandable since students in this school are in the rural area, mostly from farmer
family. Consequently, they have few chances to go here and there as well as to approach
the mass media much. The task set up to the teachers is providing their students with
information and knowledge about the issues that seem to be strange to them. It means
the teachers need to carry out activities to provide ideas or to help students get ideas in
writing lessons.
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Beside students’ general comment on the writing tasks, their concern in writing is also
researched.
Figure 7: Students’ concern in a writing
As can be seen from the chart, vocabulary ranks first in students’ concern when writing
(with 52.7%) and grammatical structures second (accounting for 45.3%). Because when
marking or correcting students writings, teachers mainly correct grammatical and
spelling mistakes which decide the mark of the writing. When writing, therefore,

students are always worried about seeking for correct words and grammatical structures
more than other things. Although suitable words and structures are important in writing,
ideas and form and style should also be taken into consideration. It is a good evidence
that today there are more students concerning about ideas in a writing (34%) because in
modern teaching methodology, ideas are more and more highly appreciated. Hence, in
addition to words and structures the teachers should also focus more on ideas as along
with form and style of the writing when giving feedback on students’ writings.
2.3.2.3. Students’ difficulties in writing lessons
Question 4: In a writing lesson, which stage do you find the most difficult?
Figure 8: Students’ viewpoint of writing stages
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74.7%
20.7%
4.6%
34%
52.7%
45.3%
20.7%
The majority of students meet difficulty in getting started, in other words in pre-writing
stage. Before writing, students need to be fully equipped with necessities of the writing
such as ideas, form, style, vocabulary and structures; otherwise they will be confused
and do not know how to start.
To learn about students’ difficulties in writing lessons more concretely, question 5 was
given to the respondents “What are your difficulties in writing lessons?”
Options N
0
of students %
Unable to find ideas 77 51.3
Unable to find words 82 54.7
Unable to find structures 63 42

Not know the form and style 53 35.3
All 4 2.7
Table 9: Students’ difficulties in writing lessons
It can be seen from the table that more than a half of students have difficulty finding
ideas for their writings. As mentioned, vocabulary and structures are of great concern to
students, but idea is also a considerable problem. This problem might due to students’
knowledge and experience deficiency of the topic or the way the teachers help students
to generate ideas before writing. Besides, there are about 2.7% of surveyed students
having trouble with all the items above. The main reason belongs to students’ study
level. Some students seem to be too weak to follow such writing tasks in the textbook
because their knowledge is empty from prior grades.
2.3.2.4. Activities provided by teachers
Question 6: After giving writing tasks, your teacher often…
□ a. help you with the ideas for the writing
□ b. help you with the vocabulary for the writing
□ c. help you with the structures for the writing
□ d. help you with the form and style of the writing
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