A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10th form non-English major at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
---------------------

ĐẶNG THỊ KIM OANH
A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10 th form non English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school

( Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng hoạt động viết theo nhóm nhằm
phát triển kỹ năng viết cho học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên
Tiếng Anh tại trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu- Nghệ An)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Methodology
Code: 60.14.10


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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
---------------------

ĐẶNG THỊ KIM OANH

A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10th form non English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school

( Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng hoạt động viết theo nhóm nhằm

phát triển kỹ năng viết cho học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên
Tiếng Anh tại trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu- Nghệ An)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Phạm Minh Hiền, M.A.


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Table of contents
Candidate’s statement .................................................................................................. i
Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................ii
Abstract ...................................................................................................................... iii
Table of contents ......................................................................................................... iv
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................... vii
List of tables and charts .............................................................................................. vii
Table of contents ....................................................................................................... vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1
I. Rationales of the study .............................................................................................. 1
II. Aims of the study ..................................................................................................... 2
III. Research questions ................................................................................................. 2
IV. Scope of the study .................................................................................................. 2
V. Methods of the study .............................................................................................. 3
VI. Significance of the study ....................................................................................... 3
VII. Design of the study .............................................................................................. 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 5
I.1. Communicative language teaching (CLT) ......................................................... 5

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I.1.1. An overview of communicative language teaching (CLT) ....................... 5
I.1.2. Communicative activities ........................................................................ 7
I.1.3. Group work in communicative language teaching ................................... 8
I.2. Overview of writing ............................................................................................. 9
I.2.1. Definitions of writing .............................................................................. 9
I.2.2. Writing skills in foreign language teaching ............................................. 9
I. 2.3. Approaches to writing skills in foreign language teaching ................... 11
I.3. Group writing in foreign language teaching ................................................... 14
I.3.1. What is Group writing? ........................................................................ 14
I.3.2. Advantages of using group writing in improving writing skill for high school students. 15
I.3.3. Disadvantages of using group writing in improving writing skill for high
school students. .............................................................................................. 16
I.3.4. How to organize group work ................................................................. 17
I.3.4.1. The formation .......................................................................... 17
I.3.4.2. Group size .............................................................................. 18
I.3.5. Using group writing in the classroom .................................................... 18
I.3.5.1. Pre- writing stage .................................................................... 18
I.3.5.2. While- writing stage ................................................................ 19
I.3.5.3. Post- writing stage ................................................................... 19

CHAPTER II: DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY ..................... 20


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II.1.Setting of the study ........................................................................................... 20

II.1.1. Description of the teaching and learning English at Phan Boi Chau specializing high
school. ....................................................................................................................... 20
II.1.2. Description of writing program in English 10 textbook. ................................... 21
II.2. Design and methodology. .................................................................................. 22
II.2.1. The participants. ............................................................................................... 22
II.2.2. Research instruments. ...................................................................................... 23
II.2.3. Data analysis .................................................................................................... 24
II.2.3.1. Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire .................................. 24
II.2.3.2. Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire ................................. 31

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USING
GROUP WRITING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS .... 38
III. 1. Findings. ........................................................................................................... 38
III. 2. Recommendations. ............................................................................................ 39
III.3. Some suitable activities for group writing ......................................................... 41
PART C: CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 47
1. Summary of the study. ............................................................................................ 47
2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research. ................................. 47
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 49
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I


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Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students ........................................................................ I
Appendix 2: Questionnaire for teachers ...................................................................... III
Appendix 3: Particular samples of group writing activities used in Tieng Anh 10 ........ V
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

PBC: Phan Boi Chau
ELT: English Language Teaching

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Approaches to teaching writing skills .......................................................... 11
Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 10

....................................... 22

Table 3: Students’ attitude toward English learning .................................................. 25
Table 4: Benefits of using group writing in writing classes ........................................ 28
Table 5: Students’ expectations of teachers’ using group writing ................................ 30
Table 6: Benefits of using group work in writing lessons ............................................ 33
Table 7: How to group students ................................................................................ 34
Table 8: Activities at which group writing is used ....................................................... 35
Table 9: Teachers’ solution to overcome their difficulties ........................................... 36
Figure 1: Students’ perspectives towards writing class .............................................. 25
Figure 2: Students’ view on writing lessons ................................................................ 26
Figure 3: Students’ opinions about the way they like to do writing in class ................ 27
Figure 4: The frequency of using group work in writing lessons ................................ 27
Figure 5: The students’ attitude towards group writing ............................................. 28
Figure 6: Difficulties students have experienced when writing in groups .................. 29
Figure 7: Students’ opinions on the stages of group writing ...................................... 30
Figure 8: Teachers’ attitude towards teaching writing .............................................. 31


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Figure 9: The frequency of using group writing ......................................................... 32

Figure 10: The students’ response to group writing. ................................................... 32
Figure 11: Teachers’ preparation for implementing group writing ............................ 34
Figure 12: Teachers’ difficulties in implementing group writing ................................. 36


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PART A: INTRODUCTION
I. Rationales
To get good results in teaching process is the expectation of all teachers. However,
the ways to achieve it are not always easy. This requires the teachers to have not only good
qualities, deep knowledge about their subjects but also suitable methods to adapt in
teaching.
In fact, in the late 20th century linguists, teachers and learners have witnessed the
“birth” of a popular way in teaching foreign language, the so-called “Communicative
Language Teaching”. The approach focuses most on improving four basic skills for
learners: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Equally important to others, writing
skill has been currently paid much attention to because writing is regarded as highly
significant in civilized societies. Through writing human beings transmit their needs,
desires, problems, and thoughts as well as histories, cultures, social evolutions,
advancement in technologies, etc…Writing is a means of connecting the past, the present
and the future. It can transcend space and time giving it the qualities of being eternal and
international.
Realizing that fact, teachers should do more researches to improve writing skill for
learners, especially the high school students. Traditionally, teachers often let students work
individually or in pairs. This led to both good and bad consequences. The good one is that
the student is more independent to express his ideas and knowledge. However, it is no
doubt that his writing contains a lot of errors, thus the result is unpleasing.
To meet the demand of learners of English, teachers of English in Vietnam have
been trying to find out the most suitable and effective method of teaching English. They

always try to catch up with the world's latest frameworks of English Language Teaching.
Therefore, as in other countries, teachers of English in Vietnam are now using
Communicative Language Teaching Approach to teach English to learners of all levels.
They hope that by using this teaching method, they can help their learners improve their
English and use it effectively and fluently in communication.
The effort of this thesis is trying to encourage teachers in creating new methods in
teaching writing skill for learners and to help students to learn writing subject more


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effectively. Having students work in groups not only makes them more involved in
learning but also give them opportunities to practise foreign language. There are many
reasons for choosing the study but the above reasons are the main ones that encourage us to
choose the thesis: “A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for 10 th form
non - English majors at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school”
II. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at:
- Investigating the situation of teaching and learning writing to the 10 th form nonEnglish majors at Phan Boi Chau high school.
- Investigating the effectiveness and difficulties of using group work in teaching
writing to the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school.
- Providing some suggestions and implications for the improvement of writing
teaching at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school by using group writing.
III. Research questions
This study is implemented to find answers to the following research questions:
1. How group work is used in the writing class of the 10 th form non- English majors
at Phan Boi Chau high school?
2. What facilitates and hinders the teachers in using group work in the writing class
of the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school?
3. What recommendations for improvement are needed to make group work successful

in the writing class of the the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school?
IV. Scope of the study
Because of the limitation of a minor study, the author only carries out research on
teachers and students at Phan Boi Chau high school. The study also mainly focuses on the
effectiveness and difficulties in using group writing and the activities used in helping
students work well in writing lessons.
V. Methodology
In order to realize the aims of the study, quantitative method was used. Two survey
questionnaires were used to collect information and evidence for the study.


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- The first survey questionnaire was for 70 tenth form non- English majors from
two classes of Phan Boi Chau specializing high school: one specializes in Literature and
the other specializes in Biology.
- The second one was for 8 English language teachers at Phan Boi Chau
specializing high school.
All comments, remarks and recommendations given in the study were based on the
data analysis.
VI. Significance of the study
Theoretical significance of the study: The study supplies the English language
teachers with the understanding of group work in teaching writing, advantages and
disadvantages when employing them. The study also suggests some ways to exploit group
writing technique successfully during all stages in teaching writing.
Practical significance of the study: The research provides the language teachers and
learners with a variety of group writing activities used in all stages an writing classes based
on new “ Tieng Anh” 10 textbook.
VII. Design of the study
The study consists of the following three main parts:

Part A, introduction, rationale, aims, research questions, scope, methods and design
of the study.
Part B, development, is organized into three chapters.
Chapter I presents the basic theoretical background from the literature on CTL,
writing skill, group work and using group work in teaching writing.
Chapter II presents the design and analysis of the research, provides an overview of
the current situation of teaching and learning writing skills at Phan Boi Chau specializing
high school through the analysis of collected data.
Chapter III are some findings and recommendations, discusses the finding of the
research and suggests practical recommendations for improvement of using group work in
the writing class of the 10th form non- English majors at Phan Boi Chau high school.
Part C is the conclusion which includes the summary of the study, limitations of the
study and suggestions for further studies are also included in this part.


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The thesis has been done firstly in order to make a contribution to the improvement
of teaching writing. The other aim of the thesis is that it suggests some suitable group
writing activities to improve writing skills of high school students. The thesis also gives us
more opportunities to study and research.


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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
I.1.1. An overview of communicative language teaching (CLT)
In its history, language teaching has witnessed many changes in teaching

methodology. In his book Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology, Le
Van Canh (2004) claims that the changes in the second language teaching in general and
the changes in English language teaching in particular are not the changes in the way we
teach. These are the changes in the aims of language teaching and learning.
In the past, foreign language teaching was aimed at enabling learners to read and
write. Learners who had good reading and writing abilities were considered good learners.
That's the reason why for a very long time, grammar translation method, which makes
learners become structure competent and communicative incompetent, was widely used.
Nowadays, the aim of foreign language teaching has changed from structure
competence into communicative competence. At the moment, the ability to express one's
self freely and confidently in communication is the desire of any foreign language learners.
As mentioned above, the changes in the aim of language teaching will lead to the changes
in teaching methodology. To meet the demands of learners, many methodologists have
tried their best to find the most appropriate and effective way to teach English. As a result,
many teaching methods have come into being. These methods are: Grammar-translation
method, Direct method, Audio-lingual method, Audio-visual method and Communicative
language teaching - currently the most widely-used one.
Although among these methods, many have not been in vogue for quite a long time,
they still exist in one form or another simply because each method has its own strong
points and weak points. As each language skill, component, item, etc has its own
characteristics and different groups of learners learn things differently, there does not exist
a one-fit-all method - a method that is suitable to teach all kinds of learners, all kinds of
grammatical items, contents, skills, etc.


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Communicative Language Teaching which emerged in the 1970s and 1980s is
currently the most favorite and the most widely-used method in English language classes
in Vietnam.

Different authors view CLT differently. However, most definitions of CLT come
under its weak version which emphasizes the importance of opportunities to use English
for communicative purposes. Among the available definitions, the one given by Nunan
(1989) seems to be the most widely-accepted and the most favorable one. As for him,
"CLT views language as a system for the expressions of meaning. Activities involve oral
communication, carrying out meaning tasks and using language, which is meaningful to
the learners. Objectives reflect the needs of the learner including functional skills as well
as linguistic objectives ". Nunan also asserts that in communication process, learners are
negotiators and integrators whereas teachers are facilitators.
Language is not simply a system of rules. It is now generally seen "as a dynamic
resource for the creation of meaning" (Nunan, 1989). This point of view really supports CLT.
In general, CLT has the following characteristics:
- Communicative Language Teaching is aimed at
(a) making communicative competence the goal of language of language teaching
(b) developing procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that
acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication. (Le Van Canh, 2004).
- The goal of CL T is to create a realistic context for language acquisition in the
classroom to develop Hymes' notion of communicative competence.
- CLT is also associated with learner-centered and experienced based tasks
- The focus of CLT is on functional language usage and learner's ability to express
themselves. In other words, for CLT, developing learners' skills is more important than the
content of the teaching and learning (Johnson, 1982).
There are 3 major principles of CLT:
- Communication principle: emphasizes activities that involve real communication
promote learning
.- Task principle: purports that activities in which language is used for carrying out
meaningful tasks promote learning.


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- Meaningfulness principle: claims that language that is meaningful to the learners
supports the learning process.
(Le Van Canh, 2004)
- In communicative classes, learners communicate with each other and learning
tasks are completed by means of interaction between learners. It is clear that learners'
completing a task is fore-grounded and communicating with each other is backgrounded.
This may lead to considerable use of pair work, group work and mingling activities.
- In ESL classes, teachers are facilitators and monitors, usually, without
interruption and then to provide feedback on the success.
However, CLT is not a perfect method. There still exist critical remarks on CLT
like: its inappropriateness to local contexts and cultures; its negation of rote-learning,
memorization, displaying questions, teacher's talk, ect.
In spite of its limitations and shortcomings, no one can negate that Communicative
Language Teaching allows teachers to incorporate motivating and purposeful
communicative activities and principles into their teaching, which later results in the
improvement of their learners' proficiency.
For the reasons mentioned above, CLT has served as the dominant approach to
language teaching since the demise of the Audio-lingual Method.
I.1.2. Communicative activities
Communicative activities, defined by Littlewood (1981), are those that provide
whole task practice, improve students' motivation, allow natural learning and create a
context supporting learning as well. "In communicative activities the teacher creates a
situation and sets an activity in notion, but it is the learners themselves who are responsible
for conducting the interaction to its conclusion” (Littlewood, 1981: 18)
Harmer (1991) divides communicative activities into oral and written ones. Oral
and activities include such categories as communication games, problem-solving, reaching
a the consensus, discussion, replaying instructions, role-play, etc. Written communicative
activities consist of writing reports and advertisements; co-operative writing, exchanging
letters, writing journals and so on.

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In addition, according to Littlewood (1981), there are two main types of
communicative activities which he calls: "functional communication activities and social
interaction activities". The main purpose of the former is that learners should use the
language they know in order to get meanings across as effectively as possible. Functional
communication activities include such activities as identifying pictures, discovering
identical pairs, discovering missing information, discovering differences, following
directions and so on. The later activities are those that emphasize on social as well as
functional aspects of communication. Learners, therefore, not only convey meanings
effectively, but also, pay greater attention to the social context in which the interaction
takes place. Simulation and role-playing are important techniques for creating a variety of
social relationships and situations.
I.1.3. Group work in communicative language teaching
One of the dominant ways in which the teacher can help students to practice and
develop language skills is through the use of group work. Group work has been considered
“one of the major changes to the dynamics of classroom interaction wrought by studentcentered teaching”( Nunan and Lamb, 1996: 142).
According to Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied linguistics (1993),
group work is defined as: “A learning activity which involves a small group of learners
working together. The group may work on a single task or on different parts of a large task.
Tasks for group members are often selected by the members of the group”.
Harmer (1996) states that group work is a generic term covering a multiplicity of
techniques in which two or more students are assigned a task that involves collaboration
and self- initiated language.
Adrian Doff ( 1988:137) defines group work as a process that : the teacher divides
the class into small groups to work together ( usually four or five students in each group),
all the group work at the same time.
Group work - collaborative learning between small groups of pupils - encourages

students to be more responsible for their own learning by taking attention away from the
teacher and focusing it instead on a task in which they must take some direct responsibility.
In groups, students can write a group story, role-play a situation, prepare a presentation,


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discuss an issue or come to a group decision. They can also watch, write or perform a
video sequence.
Clearly, group work is a co-operative activity, during which students share aims
and responsibilities, they have chances for greater independence as they take some of their
own learning decisions, without the teacher controlling every move, and they can work
without the pressure of the whole class listening to what they are doing. They learn to
negotiate, to listen to different opinions and points of view. They participate more equally
and in most cases, they feel free to experiment and use the language.
I.2. Overview of writing
I.2.1. Definitions of writing
Writing is a significant and essential area of development in a native language and
in a second language; therefore, there have been numerous definitions of writing.
According to Donn Byrne (l998:1), writing can be regarded as the "act of forming graphic
symbols" or the "making marks on the flat surface of some kinds''. Whereas Brannon,
Knight and Neverow -Turk (1982:2) pointed out that " writing is a creative art, not as an
assembly line operation of locking words together into sentences and bolting sentences
together into paragraphs in accordance with a predefined plan". Byrne does not seem to
share the same view with Brannon, Knight, Neverow-Turk in stating that "writing is a
sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and link together in a certain way".
However, writing, in language teacher' opinions, is "a language skill which is
difficult to acquire" (Tribble, 1996:3). It is "a process that occurs over a period of time,
particularly if we take into account the sometimes extended periods of thinking that
precede creating an initial draft" (Harris, 1993:10) .

I.2.2. Writing skills in foreign language teaching
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 modem world, writing (written language) serves a range of functions in
everyday life including:


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a. 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.
b. Primarily for information: newspapers and magazines, non-fiction books
including textbooks; public notices; advertisement; guidebooks and travel literature, etc.
c. Primarily for entertainment: light magazines, comic strips; fiction books; poetry
and drama; film subtitles; games including computer games.
(Nunan, 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)


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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 risk.
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.
I.2.3. Approaches to teaching writing skills in foreign language teaching
There are various ways to teach writing but the two most common are the product
approach and the process approach. Nunan (1991) introduced the two approaches in
teaching writing and the differences between them clearly as follows:

The product approach

The process approach

- In favour of classroom activities in which - Favour of collaborative group work and
the learners individually imitate copy and conferencing to enhance motivation and
transform model of correct

language, positive attitude toward writing. Model texts

usually at sentence level.

are only for comparison.

- Organization of ideas is more important - Ideas are important.
than ideas themselves
-

Emphasize

grammar

- The learners are encouraged to get their
exercises

and ideas on paper without worrying too much

correctness.

about correctness.

- Focus on the end result of the writing - Focus on the various forms of classroom
process: the writing paper of the learners.

activities which promote the development
of language use.

- Learners only produce one final draft.

- The final draft is the result of a long and
painful process of writing successive drafts.


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Table 1: Approaches to teaching writing skills
a. The product approach
"The product approach to writing usually involves the presentation of a model text,
which is analyzed ane! then forms the basis of a task that leads to the writing of an exactly
similar or a parallel text". (Evans and St John, 1998: 116). To be more specific, this
approach can be used to refer to the concentration on the features of the actual text - the
end- product that writers have to produce that can be summarized in the following
sequence:
Model text  Comprehension / analysis / manipulation  New input Parallel text
(Robinson, 1991 cited in Evans and St John, 1998)
This approach can be used successfully in teaching writing for beginners. All
learners cannot write well as soon as they begin the course but can take progress step by
step with imitation and repetition from the textbooks or the teacher. Additionally in
teaching writing, the important role of using the models for text analysis and as a basis for
thinking about the purposes and readership of a text cannot be denied especially when
teaching writing is integrated with the teaching of reading. So it is a natural process in
writing when the writer bases himself on a model or an example of a text that she! he
intends to write and then adapts it for their specific purpose.

However, the shortcoming of this approach is exposed in its own nature. Using this
approach often leads to a rather simplistic copying of the model text by only changing
certain words from the original text to produce a new text. It is a purely mechanical task,
which prevents learners' creativity and motivation from writing and involves no real
thought about the purpose of the writing, the readership or the expectation of discourse.
b. The Process Approach
Unlike the product approach, the process approach focuses on thinking and writing
processes. The product approach sees the language learners as creators of language,
decision makers of the message and content (Brown 1994: 320). It is argued by Nunan
(1991 : 87) that while the product-oriented approach aims at developing the leamer's


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writing skill mainly at sentence-level, the process-oriented approach aims at language at
discourse-level.
In the view of Hedge (1990), the process contains a lot of stages which can be
illustrated as follows: "being motivated to write - getting ideas together - planning and
outlining – making notes - making a first draft - revising. replanning. redrafting - editing
and getting ready for publication. ", Meanwhile, according to Oshima and Hogue (1991),
the writing process embraces essentially three steps: pre-writing, planning (outlining),
writing, and revising drafts.
Each step involves certain kinds of task that the writers have to fulfill in order to
construct a good piece of work.
* Pre-writing
Pre-writing is any classroom activity that encourages the learners to write. It
stimulates thoughts for getting started. It may include understanding the purpose of writing,
discovering the topic, thinking about the audience, gathering information or inventing
possible content. Once the possible content for writing has been explored, the writers will
feel more confident to move forward to the next stage.

* Planning
In this stage, the learners organize the ideas they have generated. The most efficient
way to do this is to make an outline - a plan in which the learners write down the main
points and subpoints in the intended order.
* Drafting
Once sufficient ideas have been gathered and plan already drawn, the first attempt
at writing - drafting can proceed quickly. At this stage, the writers are focqsed on the
fluency of writing and are not preoccupied with grammatical accuracy or the neatness of
the draft.
* Responding
Responding to student writing has a central role to play in the successful
implementation of process writing. It is a kind of oral or written intervention by teachers or
peers or other possible readers after the writers have finished drafting. This activity is
intended to provide the students useful information to improve their writing.


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* Revising
Revising is done on the basis of the feedback given in the responding stage. The
students reexamine what was written to see how effectively they have communicated their
meanings to the readers. Revising is not just checking for language errors; it is done to
improve the global content and the organization of ideas so that the writer's intention is
made clearer to the readers.
* Editing
At editing stage, the students are engaged in tidying up their texts as they prepare
the final draft for evaluation by the teachers. Editing is vital as it is not done for its own
sake but as a part of the process of making communication as clear and unambiguous as
possible to the reader.
* Evaluating

In evaluating the student writing, teachers normally assign scores which may be
analytical (based on specific aspects of writing ability), or holistic (based on a global
interpretation of the effectiveness of that writing). In order to be effective, the criteria for
evaluation need to be made known to the students in advance.
I. 3. Group writing in foreign languages teaching
I.3.1. Definition of Group writing.
In 1991, Nunan states that group writing is a term referring to the way the teacher
divides the students into groups to accomplish a writing task together.
Greenall (1984) suggests that group writing means a kind of cooperation among
members of the class, who are divided into convenient –sized groups for the purpose of
completing a writing task.
I.3.2. Advantages of using group writing in improving writing skills for high school
students.
There are several good reasons for getting students to work in groups that were
presented by Fries (1945:49).
* Students are more involved
In a whole-class activity, some students often take part in the activity much and
they work really hard while others pay less or no attention to the writing task. The teacher


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cannot monitor all the students at the same time. To solve this problem, it is necessary for
the teacher to divide class into small groups. Working in groups encourages students to be
more involved and to concentrate on the task. Since all members have to make equal
contribution to the work of groups, there is no time and no chance for lazy students to
relax. Group writing also enables the students to invest much on the task. Generally, group
writing promotes students’ responsibility and autonomy.
* Students help each other
When the students work individually or in pairs, many problems will arise. They

may make mistakes because of using wrong grammatical structures, spelling or unsuitable
word choices. However, they can not realize by themselves. Writing skill requires much
accuracy in these factors. One of the most appropriate solutions to these problems is using
group writing. The reason for this is that members of the group can show mistakes and
provide each other with corrective feedbacks. Therefore, all students will learn from each
other’s mistakes. Another reason is that idea and knowledge using to do each writing task
seems to flow best when they are exchanged. Students in small groups have more
opportunities to share or fulfill their opinions of the given writing topics or tasks.
* The teacher has more time to satisfy students’ requirements
In classroom the teacher often acts as an instructor- controller and corrector.
However, while all members are working in their groups, it frees the teacher from her
usual roles and she now freely goes around the class, observing the performance of
individual students, giving help when needed. What’s more, the teacher can also become a
member in any group to help activity go smoothly in cases it gets into difficulty.
I.3.3. Disadvantages of using group writing in improving writing skills for high school
students.
Besides advantages of group writing, Fries also stated three problems arising when
students work in groups as follows
* Students tend to use their mother tongue
It is due to the fact that while all students are writing in small groups, some
students often have difficulty expressing their ideas; they are unable or unwilling to do


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activities in English or their groups get stuck. Others are not under the observation of the
teacher. As a result, they will lapse into their native language easily.
The teacher should quickly realize this problem and try to find solutions as soon as
possible. Students have to be explained and clearly understood that group writing time
enables them to practice using the target language effectively.

* Students are easy to make noise
It is unavoidable that students in groups will make noise easily because they have
chance to express their opinions for the writing task freely. In addition, when students are
not under teacher’s eyes, they may chat together and not concentrate on the task. This
causes lost of noise. Good noise only appears in circumstances when some students try to
talk more loudly than others to show their ability and knowledge or to draw the teacher’s
notice.
* The teacher is difficult to control all groups at once
Working in groups requires all members to pay attention to the task. Nevertheless,
when the teacher is explaining for some groups or devoting a little more time to slower
students, the teacher can not know exactly what other groups are doing. Some students will
be out of order. What should the teacher do with a group that finishes the task early or with
students who will not take part in activities in English? These cases prevent the teacher
much from controlling the whole class. Monitoring the class to work in groups successfully
is not easy for the teacher.
I.3.4. How to organize group work
I.3.4.1. Group formation
According to I- Jung (2004), frequently employed grouping methods include
random, student- selected and teacher- selected groupings.


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a. Random grouping
Random grouping is often used for in- class activities because of its readiness and
convenience. Randomly assigned groups ignore the differences among students, such as
their language level, learning styles and abilities .
Random groups can be set up by seating arrangement, serial numbels given by the
school, counting off, using playing cards, giving out numbered pieces of paper, distributing
cards with different categories on them and letting students group themselves according to

the category. Random grouping is suitable for competitive review activities that do not
take a long time. It can help narrow the gap between the fast and slow students in the class.
b. Student - selected grouping
Student-selected grouping is probably the most preferred option by learners.
Students often cluster with good friends. Students are more likely to participate in activities
if they feel they are among friends. When engaging in group work, learners feel more
comfortable taking risks, making mistakes, and enjoying themselves. However, this runs
the risk that groups will socialize too much and creates a situation where an "outsider" who
joins this group may feel left out. Also, it is possible that stronger learners would assume
the share of work for weaker ones.
c. Teacher - formed grouping
Teacher- formed grouping is acknowledged by most teachers as requiring the most
amount of careful planning. When forming groups teachers take into account students'
prior achievements, level of preparation, work habits, learning preferences and so forth.
Teacher- selected groups usually aim to achieve a heterogeneous mix. Such a mix
promotes peer tutoring, helps to break down barriers among different type's of students,
and encourages on- task behavior.
I.3.4.2. Group size
Size affects various aspects of group behavior and group functioning in some
ways.The group size depends on the task type, the time available, and how skillful the
group members are. How big should groups be? The smaller the group, the more each
member does and the less chance there is that someone will be left out.


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If time is short, smaller groups can usually do an activity more quickly. Smaller
groups also require few group management skills. Thus, when starting with cooperative
learning, groups of two or three may be best. On the other hand, the smaller the groups, the
more groups there are, so the teacher has more monitoring to do, and the less practical it is

to have groups reporting back 10 the class.
Four-member group is suggested by Honeyfield (1991), I-lung, (2004), Ngoh
(1991). Four members in a group might lead to more interesting and challenging tasks,
with a wide range of opinions being expressed, and more negotiation required for the
group members to reach agreement. Six should be the maximum number of participants in
most small groups (Honeyfield, 1991; I-lung, 2004).
I.3.5. Using group writing in the classroom
Writing is seen as a process that comprises 3 stages: pre - writing, while - writing
and post - writing.
I.3.5.1. Group work in Pre - writing stage
Prewriting activities are necessary for students because it helps students prepare
ideas, materials and helps them explore many things on the given topic. In this stage
students are often asked to brainstorm, outline, debate and interview, it requires students
take part in either oral or written activities. By doing this, students can develop linguistic
skills. Group work in this stage is an effective way to assist students in generating, sharing
and focusing ideas, planning the content and organizing the text.
I.3.5.2. Group work in While - writing stage
It is common that students often perform this stage individually. However, group
work can be useful in which each member is responsible for a certain part in the writing
pieces.
I.3.5.3.Group work in Post - writing stage
This stage involves the procedures of giving feedbacks for the written version.
Feedbacks may be given by peers which can be done in groups or by teacher. Peer
correction is very important because it could help students develop their critical ability and
understand how other readers respond to their writing.