Những khó khăn trong việc dạy và học kỹ năng viết theo sách tiếng anh 11 ( hệ cơ bản) đối với giáo viên và học sinh trường THPT Tĩnh Gia 5, tỉnh Thanh Hóa

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


HOÀNG THỊ MAI HƯƠNG


CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING WRITING SKILL
WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 ( BASIC STREAM) AT TINH
GIA 5 HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE

(NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT
THEO SÁCH TIẾNG ANH 11 ( HỆ CƠ BẢN) ĐỐI VỚI GIÁO VIÊN VÀ
HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT TĨNH GIA 5, TỈNH THANH HÓA)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10



Hanoi, 2013

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

HOÀNG THỊ MAI HƯƠNG


CHALLENGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING WRITING SKILL
WITH THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 ( BASIC STREAM) AT TINH
GIA 5 HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE

(NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT
THEO SÁCH TIẾNG ANH 11 ( HỆ CƠ BẢN) ĐỐI VỚI GIÁO VIÊN VÀ
HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT TĨNH GIA 5, TỈNH THANH HÓA)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Đỗ Bá Quý, MEd


Hanoi, 2013
iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1. EFL: English as a foreign language.
2. ESL: English as a second language.

v

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Table 1: The differences between the process writing and the product writing
Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook
Table 3: The purposes of teaching writing
Table 4 : Teachers‟ general thoughts of the writing lesson
Table 5: Problems in teaching writing
Table 6: Students‟ actions in the writing lesson
Table 7: Factors influence students‟ participant and interests
Table 8: Evaluation of forms of writing texts in the textbook
Table 9: Activities to attract students to the lesson
Table 10: Activities to improve students‟ writing skill
Table 11 : Purposes of learning writing skill
Table 12: Problems in learning writing
Table 13: Activities to make lesson more interesting
Table 14: Activities after writing
Chart 1: The importance of writing skill

Chart 2: The capability of using English of the students ?
Chart 3: Teachers‟ general thought of the tasks in textbook
Chart 4: Students‟ feeling of the writing skill
Chart 5: Students‟ general thought of the writing tasks in the textbook
Chart 6: Students‟ frequency in completing the tasks in textbook
Chart 7: Teachers‟ frequency of giving suggestions before writing
Chart 8: Mistakes in students‟ pieces of writing

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration…………………………………………………………………
i
Acknowledgements………. ……………………………………………….
ii
Abstract ……………………………………………………………………
iii
List of abbreviations……… ………………………………………………
iv
List of tables and charts………… ……………………………………….
v
Table of content……… …………………………………………………
vi
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1
1. Rationale of the study…………………………………………………
1
2. Aims and objectives of the study………………………………………
2

3. Research questions …………………………………………………….
2
4. The scope of the study …………………………………………………
2
5. Design of the study……………………………………………………
3
PART II: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
4
1. Definitions of writing :………………………………………………….
4
2. Roles of writing…………………………………………………………
5
3. Approaches to the teaching of writing…………………………………
6
3.1 Controlled-to-Free Approach:…………………………………………
7
3.2 The Free-Writing Approach:………………………………………….
7
3.3 The Paragraph-Pattern Approach:…………………………………….
7
3.4 The Grammar-Syntax- Organization Approach………………………
8
3.5 The Communicative Approach……………………………………….
8
3.6 The Process Approach………………………………………………
8
vii

3.6.1 Product Approach…………………………………………………
10
3.6.2 Process Approach…………………………………………………
10
4. What makes writing difficult to acquire? ………………………………
13
CHAPTER 2 : THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
15
2.1 The context : Tinh Gia 5 high school………………….………………
15
2.2 The new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook…………………….……………….
15
2.2.1Objectives………………………………………… …………………
16
2.2.2. Writing lessons……………………………………… …………….
17
2.3.Method…………………………………………………… …………
18
2.3.1. Participants…………………………………………………………
18
2.3.2 Instruments………………………………………………………
18
2.3.2.1 Questionnaires ……………………………………………………
18
2.3.2.2 Observation…………………………………………………………
19
2.3.3 Procedure …………………………………………………………….
19
CHAPTER 3 : DATA ANALYSIS AND STUDY FINDINGS
20

3.1 Teacher‟s survey questionnaires……………………………………….
20
3.2. Students‟ survey questionnaires………………………………………
28
3.3. Class observation…………………………………………………
34
3.4 Main findings………………………………………………………….
35
3.4.1 Poor facilities and large size classes…………………………………
36
3.4.2 Teachers‟ and students‟ inappropriate attitudes towards the writing
skill…………………………………………………………………………
36
3.4.3 Unsuitable tasks in the textbook ……………………………………
36
3.4.4 Students‟ poor linguistic competence………………………………
36
viii

3.4.5 Students‟ lack of background knowledge…………………………….
37
3.4.6 Passive learning style…………………………………………………
37
3.4.7 Teachers‟ difficulties…………………………………………………
3.5 Suggested solutions to overcome the challenges………………………
37
38
3.5.1 Raising the students‟ awareness of the importance of the writing
skill………………………………………………………………………….
38

3.5.2 Improving students‟ linguistic competence ………………………….
39
3.5.3 Make the work arrangement effective………………………………
39
3.5.4 Making writing lesson vivid and interesting………………………….
40
3.5.5 Providing effective correction work………………………………….
40
3.5.6 Assigning more practical writing tasks ………………………………
41
3.5.7 Creating a positive and supportive learning atmosphere …………
41
PART III: CONCLUSION

1. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………
42
2. Limitations of the study………………………………………………
43
3. Suggestions for further research………………………………………
43
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………
45
APPENDIX ………………………………………………………………
Survey questionnaire (for students)……………………………………….
I
Survey questionnaire (for students)……………………………………….
IV
Lists of classroom observations …………………………………………
IX

1

PART I: INTRODUCTION
This very first part of the thesis is to introduce the rationale for the study, the
aims and objectives of the study as well as the research questions which the study
was to carry out to find out the answers. It also presents the scope of the study as
well as the design of the study.
1. Rationale of the study
Nowadays, as learning a second language is paid more and more special
attention to, there has been a growing tendency towards the emphasis on
communicative competence in language teaching and learning. Writing, therefore,
is regarded as a productive skill which provides students with opportunities to put
all the language elements they have learnt into practice and to show communicative
competence effectively.
However, in fact, writing is not often as important to many students as other
skills such as reading and speaking and it tends to get rather neglected in many
Vietnamese language classes.
Furthermore, writing itself is a very complex and difficult skill to acquire.
Therefore, teaching students to write well is one of the most challenges in
education. In studying the teaching writing skill process at Tinh Gia 5 high school, I
have been found that there are a lot of difficulties in teaching and learning English,
especially the writing skill. Among four language skills, taught in English, writing
can be seen as the most boring and hardest one. Thus, teaching and learning writing
skill at Tinh Gia 5 high school isn‟t paid attention, even that some teachers had to
cut down this skill lessons. Facing up this problem, so many questions about
teaching and learning writing skill always concern me a lot: “What problems might
the students face when learning skill? What should be done to help them overcome
those problems? How should we teach each form of written text so that the students
can learn it effectively? etc….” I, therefore decided to do the research on
“Challenges in teaching and learning writing skill with the textbook English 11

2

(basic stream) at Tinh Gia 5 high school, Thanh Hoa province” in hope that the
findings and solutions mentioned in this study will make a significant contribution
to improve the teaching and learning of the writing skill at Tinh Gia 5 high school
as well as those at other high schools.
2. Aims of the study
The primary purpose of this study is to explore the teaching and learning of the
writing skill by teachers and grade-11 students at Tinh Gia 5 high school. It focuses
on finding out the challenges in teaching and learning the writing skill in the new
„Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook at this school.
The second purpose is to propose some suggestions to deal with teachers‟ and
students‟ challenges and assist them to teaching as well as learning writing more
effectively.
3. Research questions of the study
This study attempts to seek the answers to the following questions:
1. What are the challenges of teachers and eleventh-grade students at Tinh Gia
5 high school in teaching and learning the writing skill in the new „Tieng
Anh 11‟ textbook?”
2. What should be done to help teachers and grade-11students at Tinh Gia 5
high school overcome their challenges?
4. Scope of the study
This minor thesis is conducted at Tinh Gia 5 high school in order to recognize
difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills of both the teachers and the 11
th

form students. Factors causing such challenges are then found out. To go ahead, the
thesis also offers some suggestions to better the current context.
5. Design of the study
This study has three parts: Part A – Introduction, Part B – Development

including literature review, the study, data analysis and study findings, Part C –
Conclusion.
3

The introduction part presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research
questions and scope of the study, and design of the study.
The literature review chapter conceptualizes the framework of the study
through the discussions of writing.
The study gives the specific details of school and the new „Tieng Anh 11‟
textbook. Besides, a general description of method is presented in this chapter.
The last chapter concentrates on the data analysis, study findings and some
suggestions to help the grade-11 students and teachers at Tinh Gia 5 high school
overcome the challenges in teaching and learning of the writing skill with the new
„Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook.
The conclusion part at the end gives a conclusion, limitation and suggestions
for further research.
4


PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, some definitions of writing, the roles of writing will be presented
to help the readers be clearer about writing. Besides, this chapter gives an overview
of relevant literature and researches that deal with approaches in teaching writing
skill and finally the researcher will give the answer for the question „what make
writing difficult to acquire?‟.
1. Definitions of writing
Writing is an important language skill so we have to understand “what is
writing? How to write well ? ” There are many definitions of writing. Byrne
(1991:1) stated about writing that “When we write, we use graphic symbols that is,

letters or combinations of letters which relate to the sounds we make when we
speak. Then, writing can be said to be the act of forming these symbols: making
marks on flat surface of some kind… The symbols have to be arranged, according
to certain conventions, to form words, and words have to be arranged to form
sentences”
Lannon (1989) make a conflicting definition that writing is a process of
transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and
error, or whatever into a message with definite meaning… a process of deliberate
decision. Having the same opinion with Lannon, White (1991:3) assumed that
writing is a thinking process in its own right and is not a simple process but a
complex one “ writing is a form of problem-solving which involves such processes
as generating ideas, discovering a “voice” with which to write, planning, goal-
setting, monitoring and evaluating with which to express exact meanings”
From another view of writing, Candlin and Hyland(1999:
1
07) asserted writing
as “ an engagement in a social process, where the production of text reflects
methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage
colleguages and persuade them of the claims that are made.”
5

In language teaching, writing is “a language skill which is difficult to acquire”
and it is “not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure” (Trible, 1996:3). Rivers
also definited that “ writing is not a skill that can be learned or developed in
isolation but it should be taught and developed in corporation with other skills and
aspects of the language studied”. 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.
In short, writing is an art that writers want to communicate with certain groups
of audience Through the pieces of writing, writers are able to organize

intellectually, manage everyday affairs, express ideas or argue. By writing they can
have control of both information and people.
2. Roles of writing
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) severs a range of
functions in everyday life. Nunan (1991:84) pointed out, writing is:
1. Primarily for action: public signs ( on roads and stations), product labels
and instructions ( on food, tools or toy purchased), recipes, maps,
television and radio guides, bills, menus, telephone directories, etc.
2. Primarily for social contact: personal correspondence, letters, postcards,
greeting cards.
3. Primarily for information: newspapers and magazines, non-fiction books
(text books, public notices, advertisement, guidebooks and travel
literature, etc.)
4. Primarily for entertainment: light magazines, comic trips, fiction books,
poetry and drama, film subtitles, games including computer games.
To master language, obviously it is impossible for learners not to learn writing
skill well. As a basic productive skill, writing provides students with a chance to put
all the language elements they have learned into practice. White (1991:1)
6

emphasized the significance of writing that “Through writing we are able to share
ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people. We are able to discover
and articulate ideas in ways that only writing makes possible.”
3. Approaches to the teaching of writing
Writing seems to be a difficult skill and a challenge to both teachers and
learners. Identifying approaches adapted in teaching writing can help teachers find
out effective techniques to overcome difficulties and attain the objectives in
teaching, therefore help students improve writing skill.

In order to produce a good piece of writing, learners have to deal with a lot of
elements. The following diagram demonstrates these elements clearly:
Producing a piece of writing (Raimes, 1983:6)


















CONTENT
relevance, clarity,
originality,
logics, etc.
SYNTAX
Sentence structure,
sentence boundaries,
stylistic choices, etc.
THE WRITER’S

PROCESS
Getting ideas,
Getting started,
Writing drafts,
revising
GRAMMAR
rules for verbs,
agreements, articles,
pronouns, etc.
MECHANIC
handwriting,
spelling,
pronunciation, etc.
AUDIENCE
The reader(s)
ORGANIZATION
paragraphs,
topic and support,
cohesion and unity
PURPOSE
the reason for writing
WORD CHOICE
vocabulary
idiom, tone

Clear, fluent and
effective
communication
of ideas
7

Raimes (1983:5-10) asserts that on the basis of stressing different features of this
diagram and combining them with how teachers think writing is learned, a variety
of approaches to teaching of writing have been developed. Raimes presents six
approaches to teaching writing: The Controlled-to-Free Approach, The Free-
Writing Approach, The Paragraph-Pattern Approach, the Grammar-Syntax-
Organization Approach, The Communicative Approach and The Process Approach.
3.1 Controlled-to-Free Approach
The Controlled-to-Free Approach in writing is sequential. This approach stresses
three features of the diagram above: grammar, syntax and mechanics. In low level,
students are taught how to write by doing sentence-level exercises or controlled
compositions to imitate copy or manipulate. Therefore, they often make mistakes.
When student reach high or advanced level, they are allowed to try some free
composition, in which they can express their ideas.
In conclusion, this approach emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency. Syntax,
grammar and mechanics are main stresses of the approach.
3.2 The Free-Writing Approach
In contrast with the controlled-to-free approach, the free-writing approach
focuses more on fluency. In this approach, students are encouraged to write as much
as possible and as quickly as possible without worrying about making errors.
Teachers in this approach have stressed quantity of writing rather than quality by
assigning vast amounts 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.
3.3 The Paragraph-Pattern Approach
Different from the two approaches mentioned above, the paragraph-pattern
approach stresses on the organization. In this approach, teachers focus on teaching
students how to construct and organize paragraphs by doing kinds of exercises such
as sentence ordering, sentence inserting or sentence deleting, etc. Students simply
copy paragraphs, analyze the form of model paragraphs and then write a parallel

8

one. Byrne (1991:23) pointed out the advantages of this approach: “this approach
identifies and tries to overcome one of the central problems in writing: getting
students to express themselves effectively at a level beyond the sentence.”
3.4 The Grammar-Syntax- Organization Approach
This approach mainly stresses the necessity to work simultaneously on more
than one feature in the composition diagram: grammar, syntax and organization.
Teachers give students writing tasks that lead them 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 mobile phone, students need more than the
appropriate vocabulary. They need the simple forms of verbs; an organization
planned based on chronology; sequence words like first, next, then, finally, etc. In
general, this approach is the combination of the purpose and the form of the writing.
3.5 The Communicative Approach
The goal of this approach is communicative competence, so it emphasizes on the
purpose of the writing and the audience for it. Students are encouraged to behave
like writers in real life and to ask themselves the key questions: Why am I writing
this? And who will read it?
Conventionally, the teacher acts as the audience for the 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
and make comments, but not correct. Also teachers can specify readers outside
classroom, thus giving student writes a context in which to select appropriate
content, language and levels of formality.
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 leads to the
emergence of process approach. This approach encourages students to share the
ideas, feelings and experience. It is more global and focuses on purpose, theme, text

type, i.e. the reader is emphasized. Thus, students should ask themselves not only
9

questions about the purpose and audience but also the crucial questions: How do I
write it? How do I get started?
This approach lays particular stress on a cycle of writing activities which move
students from the generation of ideas and the collections of data through to the
“publication” of a finished text. The diagram below show the process of writing:

PREWRITING
(Specifying the task/ planning and outlining/ collecting data/ making notes)

COMPOSING/DRAFTING

REVISING
(Reorganizing/ shifting emphasis/ focusing information and style for your reader)

EDITING
(Checking grammar/ lexis/ surface features)

PUBISHING
Brown (1994:335-336) points out some features of process approach as follows:
1. focus on the process writing that leads to the final written product.
2. help students understand their own composing process.
3. help them to build repertories of strategies for prewriting, drafting and
rewriting.
4. give students time to write and rewrite.
5. place central importance on the process of revision.
6. let students discover what they want to say as they write
7. give students feedback throughout the composing process (not just the

final product) as they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer
to attention.
10

8. encourage feedback from the both the instructor and peers.
9. include individual conference between teacher and students during the
process of composition.
There are various approaches to teaching writing as mentioned. It is true to say
that there is not necessarily any “right” or “best” way to teach writing skill. 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, 2004). Hereunder wants
to clarify the two most popular approaches used in ESL/ EFL classroom, namely:
Product Approach and Process Approach
3.6.1 Product Approach
Product Approach is a traditional approach which is a largely “prescriptive and
product-centered” way of teaching. 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. The model of this approach is outlined by Steele (2004)
as follows:
Stage 1: Students study a text model and mimic its highlighted feature. For
example, if studying a formal letter, student should pay attention to the importance
of paragraphing and the language used to make formal requests. If studying a story,
the focus may be on the techniques used to make story interesting, and students
focus on where and how the writer employs these techniques.
Stage 2: Students are involved in controlled practice of the highlighted features,
usually in isolation. If studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practice the
language used to make formal requests.
Stage 3: Students work to organize ideas.
Stage 4: Students choose from a choice of comparable writing tasks.
Individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to

produce the product; to show what they can do as fluent and competent users of the
language.
3.6.2 Process Approach
11

On the contrary, Process Approach focuses on the process rather than the final
product, Steele comes up with a typical sequence of activities.
Stage 1: Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion. Students could be
discussing qualities needed to do a certain job, or giving reasons s to why people
take drugs or gamble. The teacher remains in the background during this phrase
and only provides language support if required so as not to inhibit students in the
production of ideas.
Stage 2: Students extend ideas into note form, and judge quality and usefulness
of ideas.
Stage 3: Students organize ideas into a mind map, spider gram, or linear form.
Stage 4: Students write the first draft.
Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of each
other’s work. By responding as readers, students develop an awareness of the fact
that a writer is producing something to be read by someone else, and thus can
improve their drafts.
Stage 6: Drafts are returned improvements are made based upon peer feedback.
Stage 7: A final draft is written.
Stage 8: Students once again, exchange and read other’s work and perhaps even
write a response or reply.
Comparing the two approaches, Steele summarizes their differences in the table
below:
Process writing
Product writing
* text as 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
* imitate model text
*organization of ideas is more important
than ideas themselves
* one draft
* features highlighted including
controlled practice of those features
* individual
12

* emphasis on creative process
* emphasis on end product
Table 1: The differences between the process writing and the product writing
From the analysis and the comparison of the two approaches, it is undeniable
that each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses. It is also the fact that
there are few classrooms where teachers are devoted to one approach as to exclude
all others. Normally, they still use techniques drawn from other approaches as the
students need them and those techniques are useful in the context of the class. The
writing lessons in new „Tiếng Anh 11‟ textbook were compiled following both
Product Approach and Process Approach. This Combined Product- Process
Approach is found to be more popular, appropriate and effective. The suggested
general outline for a writing lesson following this approach may be:
Stage 1: A model is given.
Stage 2: Students work on the model, analyze its typical features, and pay attention
to the language and structure of the model.
Stage 3: Students work in groups/ pairs to find out the ideas for the writing topic/

task and produce an outline.
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.
13

4. What makes writing difficult to acquire
According to Byrne (1994:4), there are three problems causing writing become a
difficult activity for most people, both in the mother tongue and in a foreign
language. They are psychological problems, linguistic problems and cognitive
problems.
 Psychological problems:
As it is known, speech is the natural and normal medium of communication for
us in most circumstances and accustoms us both to having someone physically
present when we use language and to getting feedback of some kind. On the other
hand, writing is essentially a solitary activity and the fact that we are required to
write on our own, without the possibility of interaction of the benefit of feedback, in
itself makes the act of writing difficult.
 Linguistic problems :
Oral communication is sustained through a process of interaction and except in
special circumstances, such as a lecture, the participants help to keep it going.
Because speech is normally spontaneous, we have little time to pay attention either
to organizing our sentence structures or to connecting our sentence: to some extent
the latter is maintained through the process of interaction. We repeat, backtrack,

expand and so on, depending on how people react to what we say. Incomplete and
even ungrammatical utterances usually pass unnoticed.
In writing, we have to keep the channel of communication open through our
own efforts and to ensure, both through our choice of sentence structure and by the
way our sentences are linked together and sequenced, that the text we product can
be interpreted on its own.
 Cognitive problems :
Writing is learned through a process of instruction: we have to master the
written form of the language and to learn certain structures which are less used in
speech, or perhaps not used at all, but which are important for effective
communication in writing. We also have to learn how to organize our ideas in such
14

a way that they can be understood by a reader who is not present and perhaps by a
reader who is not known to us. Furthermore, writing is a task which is often
imposed on us, perhaps by circumstances. This is not only has a psychological
effect; it may also cause a problem in terms of content – what to say. Being at a loss
for ideas is a familiar experience to most when we are obliged to write.
Summary
This chapter has so far touched upon issues relating to the topic of the study. It
has discussed issues concerning writing: definitions of writing, roles of writing, the
reason for teaching writing, approaches to teaching writing and what make writing
difficult. Although writing in terms of definition can be seen differently, its roles
cannot be denied. Writing skills, therefore, must be taught thoroughly at school. It is
unavoidable that they have a problem with teaching methodology in writing lessons.
Hence, writing activities has taken into consideration because teaching techniques
will be discussed in the next chapter.

15

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
In this chapter, the first part are general details about the context of the study
and the next part introduces about the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook. Later on this
chapter is a detailed descriptions of the methods used in the study.
2.1 The context : Tinh Gia 5 high school
There are totally eight teachers of English, two males and six females. Their
English proficiency and teaching method are not equally qualified. Two of them
have graduated for one year from Hue University so they don‟t have many
experiences in teaching. The rests graduated from English Department in Hong Duc
University. From my perspective, their interests in teaching are so varied, not all of
them are really devoted to their teaching job.
The 11
th
form students at Tinh Gia 5 high school are seventeen years old and
have learnt English, including writing skills, for five years. Because the school has
just changed from semi-public school to the public school, most students are low
profiency in all subjects including English. Therefore teaching English for these
students is a big challenge for the teachers at this school.
There are eleven classes of grade-11. Each class includes 40 students. Generally
speaking, the average class size of 40 students is rather big and inconvenient. The

desks are arranged traditionally with two rows of six desks. There is a narrow isle in
the middle and two narrower ones on the sides, no other empty space left where the
teachers and the students can move to and fro if they implement different interactive
activities. Moreover, the classrooms are not equipped with modern facilities such as
television, computer, and projector, except for a board.
2.2 . The new ‘Tieng Anh 11’ textbook
The new „Tieng Anh 11‟ consists of sixteen units and six revision lessons. Each
unit presents a topic and is represented via five lessons: reading, speaking, listening,
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writing and language focus respectively. Such division aims to improve students‟
communicative skills and systematize important linguistic components.
2.2.1 Objectives
* General objectives:
The textbook helps students with the following general objectives:
(i) Using English as a communicative tool to read, speak, listen and
write in target context at basic level.
(ii) Acquiring fundamental and systematic target English knowledge
(iii) Getting an overview of English speaking countries: people and
cultures; conserving and developing out national traditions and
cultural identity.
* Specific objectives:
Students will be able to achieve certain goals of each language skills
underpinning in the textbook.
(i) Reading: comprehending texts via practicing different reading skills:
skimming, scanning, etc… enriching vocabulary and structures.
(ii) Speaking: asking – answering, presenting the given topics, using daily
communication species: asking and giving opinions, instructions, asking
directions, and so on.
(iii) Listening: comprehending main and specific information of the text or

dialogue; improving basic listening skills.
(iv) Writing : writing short compositions or forms based on model writing
To sum up, the objectives are concrete, relevant and appropriate to the high
school context in Vietnam. Overall, the ultimate goal of English language teaching
is to enable students to acquire the target language knowledge and communicative
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skills in practice. In brief, the objectives set in „Tieng Anh 11‟ by the writers are
aligned with the world tendency of English language teaching.
2.2.2 Writing lesson
The new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook is designed to develop both students‟
linguistic competence and communicative competence. Therefore, its contents are
divided into 5 main parts taught in 16 units and after every three units students have
a revision lesson called “test yourself”. The required competences of writing lesson
in each unit are detailed in the following table:
Units
Themes / Topics
Forms of writing
1
Friendship
Writing about friend
2
Personal experience
Writing a personal letter to describe a past
experience
3
A party
Writing an informal letter of invitation
4
Volunteer work

Writing a formal letter expressing gratitude
5
Illiteracy
Describing information in a table
6
Competition
Writing a letter reply
7
World population
Interpreting statistic on population form 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 location
11
Sources of energy
Describing information from a chart
12
The Asian Games
Describing the preparations of the coming
Asian Games
13
Hobbies

Writing about collection
14
Recreation
Describing a camping holiday
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15
Space conquest
Writing a biography
16
The wonders of the world
Writing a report on a man-made place
Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in the new ‘Tieng Anh 11’ textbook
2.3 Method
2.3.1 Participants
A total of 200 grade-11 students chosen randomly from five classes and 8
teachers of English from the language group at Tinh Gia 5 high school participated
in the study.
The students are both male and female at the age of seventeen. They have
been learning English for 5 years.
All the teachers of English at Tinh Gia 5 high school chosen for the research
have taught the new textbook for at least one year. Of these 8 teachers, two are male
and six are female.
2.3.2 Instruments
In this study, two instruments employed for collecting data were
questionnaires and classroom observation.
2.3.2.1 Questionnaires
Questionnaires can be seen as the main instrument to get information from
students and teachers. It is believed that survey questionnaires are the most
commonly used descriptive method in educational research. Two sets of

questionnaires were delivered to 200 grade-11 students and 8 teachers of English at
Tinh Gia 5 high school in order to investigate the challenges that teachers and
students face up with in learning and teaching the new „Tieng Anh 11‟ textbook.
The questionnaires for students consisted of 9 questions and the questionnaires for
teachers include 10 questions.