Teaching essay writing to the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school, Thanh Hóa province: Difficulties and solutions

j

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
-----***-----

LÊ LAN HƯƠNG

TEACHING ESSAY WRITING TO THE 10TH FORM
STUDENTS AT NGUYỄN MỘNG TUÂN
HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HÓA PROVINCE:
DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS
(Dạy viết bài luận cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Nguyễn Mộng

Tuân, tỉnh Thanh Hóa: Những khó khăn và giải pháp khắc phục)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Languge Teaching Methodolgy
Code: 60.14.10

HANOI - 2013


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
-----***-----

LÊ LAN HƯƠNG

TEACHING ESSAY WRITING TO THE 10TH
FORM STUDENTS AT NGUYỄN MỘNG TUÂN
HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HÓA PROVINCE:
DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS
(Dạy viết bài luận cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Nguyễn Mộng
Tuân, tỉnh Thanh Hóa: Những khó khăn và giải pháp khắc phục)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Huy Kỷ

HANOI - 2013


TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF THE AUTHORSHIP

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ii

ABSTRACT

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

iv

LIST OF TABLES

vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1

1. Rationale of the study

1

2. Objectives of the study

2

3. Research questions

2

4. Methods of the study

2

5. Significance of the study

3

6. Scope of the study

3

7. Organization of the study

4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

5

1.1. Teaching essay writing

5

1.1.1. What is writing?

5

1.1.2. From paragraph to essay

6

1.1.3. What is an essay and its parts?

7

1.1.4. Types of essays

10

1.1.5. Stages of writing an essay

11

1. 2. Approaches to teaching writing

13

1.3. Summary

15

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

16

2.1. The research context

16
iv

2.1.1. The teachers at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school

16

2.1.2. The students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school

16

2.1.3. Writing lessons in the new textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”

17

2.2. The research methodology

18

2.2.1. Participants

18

2.2.2. Data collection instruments

18

2.2.3. Procedures of data collection

19

2.3. Summary

20

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

21

3.1. Data analysis

21

3.1.1. Data analysis of teachers‟ survey questionnaire

21

3.1.2. Data analysis of students‟ survey questionnaire

29

3.2. Data analysis of interviews

34

3.3. Data analysis of classroom observation

35

3.4. Findings and discussions

35

3.4.1. Difficulties in learning essay writing from the 10th form
students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school

35

3.4.2. Difficulties in teaching essay writing to the 10th form students
at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school

36

3.4.3. Suggested solutions to overcome the difficulties in teaching essay writing
to the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school

37

3.5. Summary

43

PART III: CONCLUSION

44

1. Recapitulation of the study

44

2. Limitations of the study

45

3. Suggestion for further studies

45

REFERENCES

46
v


APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1

I

APPENDIX 2

V

APPENDIX 3

VIII

vi


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Teachers‟ opinion about the importance of writing
Table 2: Reasons of teaching writing to the 10th form students

Table 3: Students‟ attitude about writing lessons in teachers‟ viewpoint
Table 4: Teachers‟ view of periods of teaching writing

Table 5: Teachers‟ opinions of difficulties when teaching essay writing
Table 6: Degree of difficulty of stages in teaching essay writing
Table 7: Essay writing activities in the classroom
Table 8: Teachers‟ opinions on the writing lessons
Table 9: Teachers‟ frequency in assigning students more writing tasks
Table 10: Teachers‟ expectation for better teaching and learning situation
Table 11: Students‟ opinion about the importance of writing
Table 12: Students‟ evaluation of their writing skill
Table 13: Difficult writing stage in students‟ opinion
Table 14: Students‟ opinions on causes of difficulties
Table 15: Activities in pre-writing stage
Table 16: Work arrangement while writing
Table 17: Activities in writing lessons
Table 18: Students‟ expectation for better teaching and learning situation

vii


PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Nowadays, English plays an important role in many aspects of life. It has been
taught in Vietnamese schools as one of the most important subjects at all level of
education. The teaching and learning of English in our country has today changed from
the linguistic competence to the communicative competence. As a result, our new English
textbook series were compiled under the impact of the communicative approach which
focuses on four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing. Compared to the other
three skills, writing is considered to be the most difficult skill to master. Therefore,

teaching writing is not an easy job. One of the teachers‟ challenges in high school
education is to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for Vietnamese students to
write English essays effectively. In high school context, where exposure to English is
typically limited to three periods each week, students receive little practice in writing in
English, only one period (45 minutes) per unit. Most teachers are not satisfied with
reading and giving feedback on their students‟ essays because many essays are nonsense,
lack of ideas or even the content of some essays is very similar to each other, especially
when they write about the same topic. Conversely, students are not interested in learning
essay writing. They tend to translate ideas from mother tongue into English, express ideas
in long sentences, and are not aware of different kinds of writing, which leads them
unable to write in real life. Because of limited background knowledge, they often feel
bored when doing written work, especially when lacking support and motivation from
teachers.
I have been teaching writing to the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high
school with the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” for two years, and I encountered many
difficulties in the writing lessons. Therefore, the situation encouraged me to carry out the
study “Teaching essay writing to the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high
school, Thanh Hoa province: Difficulties and solutions” with the hope of improving the
teaching and learning essay writing for my colleagues and my students.

1


2. Objectives of the study
The primary purpose of this study is to explore teachers‟ perception of the
importance of teaching essay writing to the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high
school.
The second aim is to investigate teachers‟ difficulties in teaching essay writing to
the 10th form students with the new textbook “Tieng Anh 10” at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high
school.

Finally, I would like to offer some suggested solutions for improving further the
teaching of essay writing for teachers of English at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school.
This study is carried out with the hope that it will be theoretically and practically
helpful to both teachers of English and the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high
school.

3. Research questions
The study intends to find out the answers for the following questions:
1. What are teachers‟ perceptions of the importance of teaching essay writing to
the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school?
2. What are the difficulties experienced by the teachers who are teaching essay
writing in the textbook “Tieng Anh 10” to the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân
high school?
3. What should be done to help overcome those difficulties for teachers of English
at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school?

4. Methods of the study
With the aim of finding out the difficulties in teaching essay writing with the new
textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” to the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school,
this study adopts mainly quantitative and qualitative methods.
There are three main instruments of data collection are questionnaires, classroom
observation and interviews.

2


Informal interviews with the teachers at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school are conducted.
The purpose of interview is to investigate difficulties teachers face when they teach essay
writing to the 10th form students.
Survey questionnaires for the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school are to

collect information about their views of writing difficulties and causes of them.
Classroom observation is used to record more information from teachers.

5. Significance of the study
The significance of this study is to reveal that problems teachers of English at Nguyễn
Mộng Tuân high school encounter when they teach essay writing to the 10th form
students. The study is intended to find out how the teachers cope and manage their
problems in order to help the 10th form students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school to
write better. Also, this study is carried out with the hope that its findings can give some
suggested solutions for English high school teachers so that they can have teaching
practice better in writing lessons.

6. Scope of the study
The study is conducted at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school in order to recognize
difficulties in teaching and learning essay writing skills of both the teachers and the 10 th
form students with the new textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”. On the basis of findings, some
suggested solutions were advanced to further improve teaching essay writing to students.
Within its scope, the study is limited only to the 10th form students at Nguyen Nguyễn
Mộng Tuân teaching context.

7. Organization of the study
This thesis has 3 main parts: introduction, development and conclusion.
The introduction presents the rationale, objectives of the study, research questions,
methods of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the
study, which offers readers an overview of how the research idea is generated.

3


The development consists of 3 chapters.

Chapter 1 provides the theoretical background of essay writing. It focuses on writing
definitions, from paragraph to essay, essay definitions and its parts, types of essays, stages
of writin an essay, approaches to teach writing.
Chapter 2 discusses the methodology of the study, i.e. describes the study context,
participants and instruments. Besides, the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” is then elaborated.
Chapter 3 is about data analysis and discussion. In this part, questionnaires, interviews
and classroom observation are analyzed and presented. In this chapter, I will give some
feasible solutions for better teaching and learning English essay writing.
The conclusion summarizes the whole study issue and provides suggestions for further
study. Besides, the limitations of the thesis are also pointed out.

4


PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents a review of related literature on essay writing. It includes two main
sections. The first section describes teaching essay writing, with definitions of writing and
definitions of an essay and its parts, types of essays, and stages of writing an essay. The
second section discusses approaches to teaching writing.
1.1. Teaching essay writing
1.1.1. What is writing?
Writing is an essential area of development in a native and foreign language. Therefore,
there are various opinions of writing given by different researchers.
Writing is defined as a social process by Candlin and Hyland. They stated “Writing is
therefore an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects
methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and
persuade them of the claims that are made”. (1999: 107, cited in Phung, 2004).
However, writing, in language teachers‟ opinions, is “a language skill which is difficult to
acquire” (Tribble, 1996: 3). It “normally requires some form of instruction” and “is not a

skill that is readily picked up by exposure” (Tribble, 1996: 11).
As for Byrne, one of several authors on writing skills, gave a long and complex definition
of writing: “When we write, we use graphic symbols that is letters or combinations of
letters which relate to the sounds we make when we speak. On one level, then, writing
can be said to be the act of forming these symbols; making marks on a 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.” (Byrne, 1991:1).
In other words, it can be said that writing is encoding of a message of some kind that is,
we translate our thoughts and ideas into language. So, in a way, writing represents our
thoughts and ideas. What one thinks leads to one‟s writing in the form of sentences and
by organizing the sentences into a cohesive text where we are able to communicate with
our readers successfully.

5


After considering some different views of writing, let‟s see how to write a good paragraph
and then an essay.
1.1.2. From paragraph to essay
Before a student starts writing essays, they should be taught how to write a good
paragraph. Langan (1999) defined “A paragraph is a series of sentences about one main
idea, or point. A paragraph typically starts with a point, and the rest of the paragraph
provides specific details to support and develop that point.”
A paragraph is made up of 3 kinds of sentences (the topic sentence, supporting sentences
and the concluding sentence that develop the writer‟s main idea.
The topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph, and it also limits the topic to one
or two areas that are discussed completely within one paragraph. It briefly indicates what
the paragraph is going to discuss. For this reason, the topic sentence is a helpful guide to
both the writer and the reader. The writer can see what information to include. The reader,
then, can see what the paragraph is going to be about and is, therefore, better prepared to

understand it.
The topic sentence should be written at the beginning of the paragraph because it tells the
reader what you are going to say and you can look back at the topic sentence as you write
the supporting sentences.
The supporting sentences develop the topic sentences by giving specific details,
explanations, or proofs about the topic sentence.
Here are examples of topic sentences and supporting sentences:
Topic sentence: Traditional American family relationships have changed greatly in the
last thirty years.
- x out of x marriages ending divorce
- x out of x children live in homes with only one parent.
- x percent of couples living together are not legally married.
Topic sentence: Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world.
- Cost of a diner at a medium-priced restaurant.
- Rent for an average two-bedroom apartment.

6


- Cost of a ride on public transportation
- Cost of a medium-priced hotel room
The concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph and summarizes the main
points of the paragraph. It gives a final comment on the topic and leaves the reader with
the most important ideas to think about.
The concluding sentence reminds the readers of the topic sentence, it is like the topic
sentence but in different words not copying the topic sentence.
It can be begun with: “All in all, In any event, In brief, Indeed, In other words, In short,
Therefore, In conclusion, In summary, Finally, etc”.
Here are examples of topic sentences:
- River rafting is a challenging sport with special requirements

- Gold, a precious metal is prized for two important characteristics
And here are the concluding sentences:
- In short, if you are fearless and in good physical condition and can react quickly, river
rafting is the ideal outdoor sport for you.
- In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for it utility.
Indeed, a good paragraph contains five elements: a topic sentence, supporting sentences,
possibly a concluding sentence, unity, and coherence. Unity means that in a paragraph a
writer concentrates on one main idea, which is very often stated in the first sentence of a
paragraph, and this idea is developed into further detail with the help of supporting
details. After the students know how to write a good paragraph, they start developing the
entire essay.
1.1.3. What is an essay and its part?
An essay has been defined in a variety of ways.
According to Wikipedia, an essay is “typically a short piece of writing, usually from an
author‟s personal point of view. Essays are non-fiction but often subjective; while
expository, they can also include narrative. Essays can be literary criticism, political
manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of
the author.”

7


Langan (1999) described that an essay does the same thing a paragraph does: it starts with
a point, and the rest of it provides specific details to support and develop that point.
However, a paragraph is a series of sentences about one main idea, or point, while an
essay is a series of paragraphs about one main idea, or point- called the central idea. In
other words “An essay is a group of paragraphs that develops one central idea” by
Smalley and Ruetten (1986).
Oshima and Hogue (1991) gave a similar definition of an essay: “An essay is a piece of
writing several paragraphs long instead of just one or two. It is written about one topic,

just as a paragraph” and an essay has three main parts: an introductory paragraph (or
introduction), a body (two or more paragraphs) and a concluding paragraph (or
conclusion).
The introductory paragraph consists of two parts: general statement and thesis statement.
General statements introduce the topic of the essay and give background information on
the topic. Thesis statement states the main topic, lists the subdivisions of the topic, may
indicate the method of organization.
Ex: A person born in the 20th century has seen a lot of changes take place in almost all
areas of human life. Some people are excited by the challenges that these changes offer;
others want to return to the simpler, less automated lifestyle of the past. Living in the 20th
century has certain advantages such as a higher standard of living but it also has some
disadvantages such as a polluted environment, the depersonalization of human
relationships, and the weakening of spiritual values.
The body consists of one or more paragraphs. Each paragraph develops a subdivision.
Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that introduces the issue to be
discussed in the paragraph, which is followed by further information. A linking sentence
continues the logical flow to the next paragraph.
The concluding paragraph is a summary of the main points or restatement of your thesis
in different words and your final comment on the subject, based on the information you
have provided.

8


Ex: In conclusion, although the 20th century has indeed given us a lot of advantages by
making us richer, healthier, and freer to enjoy our lives. It has, in my opinion, not made
us wiser. The 20th century has also made our Earth dirtier, our people less humane and
our spiritual lives poorer. We should continue to enjoy the benefits of technological
advancements because they free us to pursue our interests and goals. However, we must
make an effort to preserve our natural environment for future generations. Moreover, we

should take the time now to make our lives more meaningful in an increasing impersonal
world.
Of the three parts, the longest part should be the body. To connect the three parts of an
essay, the use of transitional signals is also important.
Transitions are words or phrases that link one idea to the next; they are signals which
help the reader follow your thoughts. Transitions are used to connect ideas within
paragraphs and when leading from one paragraph to the next. Transitions fall into several
categories. The following seven categories list transitions for some of the most common
situations in writing:
To show a time relationship: First, second (etc.); First of all, then, next, after that, finally.
To add an idea or example: in addition, also, another, furthermore, moreover, besides,
similarly, for example, for instance.
To add an opposite idea: On the other hand, however, but, Although, even though
To show comparison: Similarly, likewise, also, and
To show cause-effect: Therefore, thus, consequently, as a result, so, Because, since,
To show conclusion: In brief, all in all, indeed, in other words, in short, in the end.
To clarify: in other words, for instance, that is, put another way
Example of using transitions:
“Betty goes to the Writing Center every Tuesday and Thursday. Consequently, her
English grades have improved dramatically. After two months of tutoring, Betty became
an English tutor. In addition, she visits the math lab every Friday. However, her math
grade has not improved as much. Therefore, she will continue to get help with her math
homework.”

(Fawcett, Susan, and Alan Sandberg. Evergreen: A Guide to Writing)

9


“In addition” signals that Betty goes to The Math Lab and The Writing Center.

“Consequently” signals the effect of English tutoring on Betty‟s grades.
“After” signals the time period between the start of Betty‟s tutoring sessions and her
getting a job as a tutor.
“However” signals a contrast between Betty‟s improvement in English and math.
“Therefore” signals the conclusion that Betty will receive more help in math, which she
lacks.
1.1.4. Types of essays
There exist many types of essays which students, academicians may be involved
with at some point of their lives or career. Essays can be classified by their purposes.
According to Fawcett and Sandberg (1992) there were 8 types of essays: Illustration,
Narrative, Descriptive, Process, Definition, Comparison or Contrast, Classification and
Persuasive. In illustration essays the writer used specific examples to support a thesis or
to prove a statement. Narrative essays required the writer to retell a meaningful incident,
an event or personal experience. The writer had to describe something such as a place, a
product, a piece of equipment or cells under a microscope, etc. in a descriptive essay.
Describing a process or steps in the procedure of doing something was the aim of a
process essay. In definition essays students had to define a scientific term such as Disk
Operating System in computer studies or DNA in biology etc. When writing a
comparison or contrast essay, students might be asked to compare to find the
similarities and differences between two things or two people. They could also use some
criteria to contrast two things or two people to discover which features this person or a
thing had but the other one did not have. Differing from the above-mentioned types of
essays, Classification essays required the writer to use some criteria to classify some
things or people or divide them into groups under some standards. In a persuasive essay
the writer had to take a stand on an issue and tried to convince others to agree with him or
her with a question like “Do you agree or disagree?” He had to choose to agree or
disagree with the given topic. Sample topics of a Persuasive essay could be: “Should

10

everyone go to college?; Are we too dependent on computers?; Should cigarette smoking
be banned?; etc.
Unlike Fawcett and Sandberg, Smalley and Ruetten (1986) gave out only 5 types
of essays with different names: Example essay, comparison and contrast essay,
classification essay, process analysis essay, cause-and-effect analysis essay and
argumentative essay. In Cause-and-Effect essay the writer identified the causes of a
phenomenon, a problem or something or predicted its good or bad effects.
Although there are many types of essays, there are only four major types while
others types are variations from of the four. They are persuasive essays, comparative
essays, narrative essays and expository essays. A comparative essay asks that you
compare at least two (possibly more) items. These items will differ depending on the
assignment. Though the assignment may say “compare,” the assumption is that you will
consider both the similarities and differences; in other words, you will compare and
contrast. The category of expository essay is also known as explanation or illustrative
essay in academic writing because it is commonly used to elucidate and clarify a concept,
a situation or a thought or notion. An expository essay explains a topic in an authoritative
manner. For instance, if you are writing about the film industry, you would narrow your
topic to a specific aspect of this industry and create an essay structure that explains that
aspect thoroughly. The content of the essay is intended to inform the reader.
1.1.5. Stages of writing an essay
Raimes (2005) suggests that the writing process consists of planning, drafting and
revising. However, Brandon (2005) presents a writing process of only three main steps:
prewriting; organizing and developing support; and writing, revising and editing.
Although there are many terms and patterns used in the writing process, the core
elements are similar. According to Pornpan Boonpattanaporn (2007), they can be summed
up as prewriting, writing, revising and editing. Prewriting is the first stage of writing
which helps students to generate ideas and prepares them to write an essay. At this stage,
all ideas are preliminary and subject to change. Techniques for generating ideas for essays
suggested by Wyrick (2002), Trimmer (2004), Brandon (2005) are free-writing or

11


looping, clustering or mind-mapping, brainstorming, interviewing, reading and notetaking, journal writing and surfing the Internet.
Apart from generating ideas for an essay, students should also consider the purpose
of writing an essay and readers‟ knowledge of the topic in order to select appropriate
ideas and information for their essays.
Writing or drafting means producing a preliminary written version from the
outline. It is the way to convert ideas into words. Most writers write straight through the
first draft without stopping to make correction. At this stage, the outline is used as a guide
to form the essay. The writer also uses his/her linguistic competence and discourse
knowledge to get the ideas across to the reader.
Revising is the time to make improvement to a piece of writing. Changes can be
made to content and organization by adding and deleting details, or improving clarity,
style and flow of ideas.
Editing includes checking various aspects on the surface level such as spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, grammar or page formatting to ensure that appropriate
conventions are met.
Writing steps: prewriting, writing, revising and editing are therefore introduced to
students in the hope that they will follow these steps, go through the process using critical
thinking and reasoning skills and be able to produce a good piece of writing.
Hyland (2003) emphasizes that the teachers‟ role is to guide students through the
writing process, avoiding an emphasis on form to help them develop strategies for
generating, drafting and refining ideas. Since writing has always been regarded as a
difficult skill, instructors of English writing skills accept that students‟ writing abilities
may not reach a satisfactory level. They have attempted to deal with student errors in
writing which show that they face severe difficulties due to their lack of essay writing
strategies as well as lack of language proficiency.
Therefore, simply reading students‟ texts, pointing out errors and giving feedback

by instructors might not be enough to help students improve their writing ability. In order
to assist students to overcome difficulties, it is necessary to examine what students

12


actually think and do when they write. The results can reveal their strengths and
weaknesses and will give opportunities for instructors to advise and provide assistance
regarding their writing practice in a more practical and flexible way, leading to a more
supportive classroom environment.
1. 2. Approaches to teaching writing
There are various approaches to teaching writing that are presented by Ann Raimes
(1983) as follows:
1.2.1. The Controlled to Free Approach:
In 1950s and early 1960, the audio-lingual method dominated second language learning
which emphasized on speech and writing through mastering grammatical and syntactic
forms.
Here, the students are given sentence exercises, then paragraphs to copy or manipulate
grammatically. These controlled compositions then followed by correction of errors, so
that it can lead to the free composition. Overall, this approach focuses on accuracy rather
than fluency.
1.2.2. The Free-Writing Approach:
This approach stresses writing quantity rather than quality. This focuses on fluency rather
than accuracy. It is based on the principle that if once ideas are there, the organization
follows. Thus, teachers may begin their classes by asking students to write freely on any
topic without worrying about grammar and spelling for five or ten minutes. The teacher
does not correct these pieces of free writing. They simply read them and may comment on
the ideas the writer expressed. Alternatively, some students may volunteer to read their
own writing aloud to the class. Concern for “audience” and “content” are seen as
important in this approach.

1.2.3. The Paragraph - Pattern Approach:
This approach focuses on organization by copying the paragraphs or model passages. It is
based on the principle that in different culture or situations, people construct and organize
communication with each other in different ways. In this approach, students are provided

13


with such kinds of exercises as sentence ordering, sentence inserting or sentence deleting,
etc.
1.2.4. The Grammar-Syntax Organization Approach:
This approach stresses on simultaneous work on more than one composition feature. In a
way, it is inclusive here that writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills which
are learned sequentially. So, students must be trained to pay attention to organization
while they also work on the necessary grammar and syntax.
1.2.5. The Communicative Approach:
This approach focuses on the purpose of writing and the audience for it. They are given
some tasks where they have to behave as writers so that they can learn by doing it.
- Why am I writing this? Who will read it?
Thus, this approach is quite functional in nature, which can provide the actual experience
to the learners.
1.2.6. The Process Approach:
This approach shows the shift from product to process which shows:
- How do I write this?

How do I get started?

Here, the students are trained to generate ideas for writing, to think of purpose, audience,
and write multiple drafts in order to present written products that communicate their own
ideas. Teachers who use this approach give students time to tray ideas and feedback on

the content of what they write in their drafts. As such, writing becomes a process of
discovery for the students as they discover new ideas and new language forms to express
them. A writing process approach requires that teachers give students greater
responsibility for, and ownership of, their own learning. Students make decisions about
genre and choice of topics, and collaborate as they write.
There are different points of view on the number of stages comprising the writing process.
Byrne (1991) suggests the following as a representation of the stages of writing: Listing
ideas, making an outline, writing a draft, correcting and improving the draft, and writing
the final version. As for Ron White and Valerie Arndt, they are keen to stress that
“writing is re-writing; that re-vision – seeing with new eyes – has a central role to play in

14


the act of creating text”. In their model, process writing is an interrelated set of recursive
stages which include: Drafting, structuring (ordering information, experimenting with
arrangements, etc.), reviewing (checking context, connections, assessing impact, editing),
focusing (that is making sure you are getting the message across you want to get across),
and generating ideas and evaluation (assessing the draft and/ or subsequent drafts).
Oshima and Hogue (1991) mentions four stages of writing such as pre-writing, planning,
writing and revising draft, and writing the final copy to hand in.
Pre-writing is the first stage in the writing process. There are two steps namely choosing
and narrowing a topic and brainstorming. Planning (outlining) organizes the ideas the
learners generated by brainstorming into an outline. There are three steps on planning that
is: making sublists, writing the topic sentence, and outlining.
In writing and revising draft stage, a writer does three steps: writing the first rough draft,
revising content and organization, and proofreading the second draft.
Writing the final copy to hand in is considered as the final activity in a writing process, a
writer has to rework the written drafts and polish them for the presentation or publication.
During the writing process, students engage in pre-writing, planning, drafting, and postwriting activities. However, as the writing process is recursive in nature, they do not

necessarily engage in these activities in that order.
1.3. Summary
In short, this chapter conceptualizes the discussion of issues related to topic of the study.
Firstly, it concentrates on the concepts of writing, theoretical background of teaching
essay writing such as definitions of an essay and its parts, structure of an essay, types of
essays and stages of writing an essay. Secondly, it mentions approaches to teach writing.
As I wrote above, an essay is a group of paragraphs that develops one central idea. An
introduction, a body and a conclusion are 3 parts of essays. There are many types of
essays, and each of these follow a certain structure about which the students are told by
the teacher and each of which they try to analyze before the writing itself. There are six
approaches to teaching writing according to Ann Rimes. The practical contents of the
paper , i.e. research methodology, is to be described in details in the following sections.

15


CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
This chapter deals with the research context including the teachers and students at
Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school, writing lessons in the new textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”,
participants, data collection instruments, procedures of data collection.
2.1. The research context
2.1.1. The teachers at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school
There are totally six teachers of English at Nguyen Mong Tuan high school from 24 to 45.
Their English proficiency and teaching method are not equally qualified. Two of them
graduated from Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of languages
and International Studies, Hanoi National University. Two were trained English as their
second foreign language at Russian Department, Hanoi University. Two graduated from
English Department, Hong Duc University. Half of teachers were trained according to
traditional teacher-centered method, especially to the 10th form students. In classes,
explanation, translation, asking and answering questions are the main class activities. The

teachers are often asked to explain every new word, new structure and even to translate
the text into Vietnamese. Our students are usually passive in the learning process.
The rest were trained to teach English based on the new teaching method, communicative
approach. From my perspective, their interests in teaching are so varied, not all of them
are really devoted to their teaching job.
2.1.2. The students at Nguyễn Mộng Tuân high school
The 10th form students at Nguyen Mong Tuan high school are sixteen years old and have
learnt English, including writing skills, for four years at secondary schools, their English
knowledge is still limited.
As a matter of fact, they are beginners of English. Besides, they have no clear
determination on English learning goal except few students who take English
examinations into universities and colleges. Apparently, applying teaching approaches
and using teaching methods should be taken into account in order to foster and develop
their writing skills efficiently.

16


2.1.3. Writing lessons in the new textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”
The new „Tiếng Anh 10‟ is the fifth volume which succeeds a new series of English
textbook from grade 6 to grade 9. It is designed to develop students‟ communicative
language skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing via different interesting
and well- designed units. The new „Tiếng Anh 10‟ consists of 16 units of six themes
which are related to many aspects of daily life: You and Me, Education, Community,
Nature, Recreation, and People & Places. Each unit presents a topic and is divided into
5 main parts: reading, speaking, listening, writing, and language focus.
Owing to the new syllabus, each writing lesson makes up 20 % of 86 periods of the
English syllabus. Although each lesson is not clearly divided into stages: Pre-writing,
While- writing and Post- writing, it can be easily noticed that the initial tasks are a
preparation for the final task. There are totally 16 units, so 16 writing lessons are designed

with a view to making students familiar with real life situations on text. The required
competences of the writing lesson in each unit are detailed in the following table:
Units

Required tasks

1. A day in the life of...

Writing a narrative

2. School talks

Filling in a form

3. People‟s background

Writing about people‟s background

4. Special education

Writing a letter of complaint

5. Technology and You

Writing a set of instructions

6. An excursion

Writing a confirmation letter

7. The Mass Media

Writing about advantages and disadvantages of the mass media

8. The story of my village

Writing an informal letter: giving directions

9. Undersea world

Describing information from a table

10. Conservation

Writing a letter of invitation

11. National parks

Writing a letter of acceptance or refusal

12. Music

Writing a profile

13. Films and cinemas

Describing a film

17

14. The World Cup

Writing an announcement

15. Cities

Describing a city

16. Historical places

Describing a chart

2.2. The research methodology
2.2.1. Participants
The participants chosen for the study are 165 students from groups of 10A1, 10A2, 10A3,
and 10A5 and six teachers of English at Nguyen Mong Tuan high school, four of whom
are teaching grade 10 at present.
The students are both male and female at the age of 16 and have been learning English for
4 years at secondary school. They are willing to support the study by completing survey
questionnaires and being ready for observation and interviews.
2.2.2. Data collection instruments
In order to obtain adequate data for the study, three main instruments were used and
described as follows:
Instrument 1: Survey questionnaires
The first data collection instrument was two survey questionnaires (appendix 1: survey
questionnaires for teachers, appendix 2: survey questionnaires for students).
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.

First, the questionnaire for teachers consists of 10 questions written in English to find out
teachers‟ perception of difficulties teachers encounter in teaching essay writing to the 10th
form students based on the textbooks „Tieng Anh 10”, and their recommendations for
improving it.
Next, the questionnaire for students consists of 8 questions written in Vietnamese with the
hope to find out students‟ opinions on the writing skill, students‟ assessment of writing
topics and activities based on the textbook „Tieng Anh 10”, the causes that lead to
students‟ difficulties in learning essay writing and students‟ assessment of inappropriate
teacher pedagogical methodology, and their expectations for better study.

18


In 2 survey questionnaires above, the respondents were asked to answer and tick the
closed-questions; however some questions have more than one option.
Instrument 2: Interviews
The second research tool employed in this study was informal interview questions for
teachers. There are 5 interview questions for teachers in English in attempt to explore
further the teachers‟ background, their understanding of teaching essay writing at Nguyen
Mong Tuan high school, and their difficulties in teaching essay writing. While
formulating the interview questions, the interviewer made sure that the questions were
clear, precise and motivating.
Instrument 3: Classroom observation
In order to clarify the information from the questionnaires and interviews about the
difficulties that they are facing, the researcher observed some classes. From these
observations, the researcher got a deep understanding about teaching and learning essay
writing to the 10th forms students at Nguyen Mong Tuan high school.
2.2.3. Procedures of data collection
The data of the research was collected by means of questionnaire, interviews and
classroom observation.

The questionnaire for teachers was easily carried out. Six copies were given to the six
teachers, and data was made for the questionnaire to be given back. Six other dates were
also made with the teachers for interviews. During the interviews, the researcher had to
both ask the questions and write their answers down.
To obtain the data for the investigation, the questionnaires in Vietnamese were delivered
to 165 students during the class time. The students were given clear instruction before
each question so that they could respond appropriately to each question.
After the questionnaire was administered, the respondents were encouraged to read it
thoroughly and answer frankly and truly. Then they will be instructed to take as much
time as they need to complete the questionnaire.
Six teachers were chosen to take part in a one-to-one interview. It was conducted in a
quiet room free from distraction. Before the interview began, the researcher explained the

19