Some suggested activities for teaching and learning the writing sections in the textbook english 10

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

VO THI THUY LINH

SOME SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING
AND LEARNING THE WRITING SECTIONS IN THE
TEXTBOOK “ENGLISH 10”

maSTER thesis in education


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Vinh - 2011

2


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

VO THI THUY LINH

SOME SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING
AND LEARNING THE WRITING SECTIONS IN THE
TEXTBOOK “ENGLISH 10”

(MỘT SỐ HOẠT ĐỘNG GỢI Ý CHO VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC KỸ NĂNG
VIẾT TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA “TIẾNG ANH 10”)

FIELD:

THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE:

60.14.10

SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. PROF. DR. LE HUNG TIEN

VINH - 2011
i


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that I am the sole author of this study.
The study is submitted in partial fulfilment for the Master degree of Theory and
Methodology of English Language Teaching at Vinh University and has not been
submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfilment of any other degree or
qualification.

Signature

Vo Thi Thuy Linh

ii


ACKNOWLEDEGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Hung Tien, who has supported me
throughout my thesis with his enthusiasm and knowledge. I attribute the
level of my Master degree to his encouragement and advice and without him
this thesis, too, would not have been completed.
Secondly, I am grateful to all lecturers at Faculty of Foreign
Languages, Vinh University, College of Foreign Languages, University of
Danang and University of Languages and International Studies, VNU for
their endless enthusiasm, valuable teaching and assistance that have
enlightened my research path.
I also wish to express my sincere gratitude to all colleagues and
students at Nguyen Truong To upper-secondary school who willingly
participated in my study.
Finally, many thanks are for my family, whose support has been
very important to me. This thesis would not have been successfully
conducted without their support and encouragement.

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ABSTRACT
This study investigates how the writing sections in the textbook “English 10”
are taught at some upper-secondary schools in Nghe An with reference to designing
and utilizing activities. The study addresses issues of teachers’ and students’ attitudes
towards teaching and learning writing skill, difficulties confronting both students and
teachers, teachers’ adaptation and use of activities in their writing classes, the

influences of adaptive activities on teaching and learning writing from teachers’ and
students’ perspectives, together with useful implications to the teaching of writing at
upper-secondary schools, and some suggested activities for each stage in teaching
writing, which are illustrated by particular writing tasks in the textbook.
To achieve the aims of the study, two questionnaires for 100 students and 20
teachers were designed and used as the data collection tools. Both qualitative and
quantitative methods were employed to analyze collected results and create a detailed
description of the real teaching context.
The findings of the research indicate that most of the teachers and students
appreciate the role of activities in teaching and learning writing. However, the scope
is still limited, and there exist certain difficulties that hinder the teachers and students
in exploiting writing activities. Such reasons as class size, students’ different levels of
proficiency, curriculums, the textbook, time limit, and lack of teaching facilities have
negative influences on adapting and using activities in teaching writing.
From the outcome of the research, other studies on issues related to teaching
and learning writing as well as other skills can be carried out. Such researches can
improve material adaptation, curriculum design, and classroom activities in the real
contexts of teaching. Hopefully, this study has made a small contribution to these
fields.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Page

SUB COVER PAGE........................................................................................i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP..............................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................iii
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................iv
Vinh - 2011...................................................................................................................2
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................................................................................1
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS..........................................................3
LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................4
LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................5
CHAPTER I:.................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................6
1.1. Rationale......................................................................................................................6
1.2. Purposes of the Study..................................................................................................7
1.3. Research Questions.....................................................................................................7
1.4. Scope of the Study.......................................................................................................7
1.5. Organization of the Study............................................................................................7

CHAPTER II.................................................................................................................9
LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................................9
2.1. Teaching Writing.........................................................................................................9
2.1.1. Writing and the Roles of Writing ............................................................................9
2.1.2. Approaches to Teaching Writing...........................................................................11
2.1.3. The Stages of Teaching Writing.............................................................................15
2.1.4. Principles for Teaching Writing.............................................................................16
2.1.5. Microskills for Writing...........................................................................................17
2.1.6. Writing Activities...................................................................................................18
2.2. Material Adaptation...................................................................................................19
2.2.1. Adapting Techniques..............................................................................................19
2.2.2. Instructions for Adapting Textbooks.....................................................................21

CHAPTER III..............................................................................................................24
THE STUDY...............................................................................................................24
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3.1. An Overview of the Textbook “English 10”.............................................................24
3.2. Methodology..............................................................................................................25
3.2.1. Participants ............................................................................................................25
3.2.2. Instrumentation.......................................................................................................26
3.2.3. Data Collection Procedures....................................................................................27
3.2.4. Data Analysis..........................................................................................................27
3.2.5. Summary ................................................................................................................27
3.3. Findings.....................................................................................................................28
3.3.1. Students’ Attitudes towards Writing Skill.............................................................28
3.3.2. Students’ Problems in Writing Classes..................................................................30
3.3.3. Students’ Favorite Activities in Writing Lessons..................................................32
3.3.4. Students’ Attitudes towards Classroom Interaction...............................................37
3.3.5. Students’ Feedback on the Implementation of Activities in Writing Classes.......40
3.3.6. Teachers’ Evaluation on Writing Sections in the Textbook “English 10”............42
3.3.7. Teachers’ Conduct of Three Stages in Teaching Writing.....................................43
3.3.8. Teachers’ Implementation of Writing Activities...................................................44
3.3.9. Types of Adaptive Activities Commonly Used in Writing Classes......................47
3.3.10. Kinds of Interaction Used in Writing Classes......................................................53
3.3.11. Teachers’ Assessments on Benefits of Adapting Activities to Writing Classes.54
3.3.12. Problems the Teachers Encounter When Designing and Conducting Activities in
Teaching Writing..............................................................................................................56
3.4. Discussion..................................................................................................................58
3.5. Summary....................................................................................................................64

CHAPTER IV.............................................................................................................65

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING..........................................................................65
4.1. Implications for Writing Classrooms .......................................................................65
4.2. Suggested Activities for Teaching Writing...............................................................67

CHAPTER V...............................................................................................................82
CONCLUSIONS.........................................................................................................82
5.1. Conclusion of the Study............................................................................................82
5.2. Limitations of the Study............................................................................................83
5.3. Suggestions for Further Research.............................................................................84

REFERENCES............................................................................................................85

2


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

N

:

Number of Informants

Q1

:

Questionnaire Number One

Q2

:

Questionnaire Number Two

%

:

per cent

ESL

:

English as a Second Language

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1:

Checklist of Writing Tasks in the Textbook “English 10”

Table 3.2:

Students’ Favorite Post-writing Activities

Table 3.3:

Frequency of Classroom Interaction that Students Favor

Table 3.4:

Benefits That Writing Activities Bring to Students

Table 3.5:

The Content of Adaptive Activities

Table 3.6:

Frequency of Using Adaptive Activities at Writing Teaching Stages

Table 3.7:

Teachers’ Frequently Used Activities at Post-writing Stage

Table 3.8:

Kinds of Interaction Used in Writing Classes

Table 3.9:

The Outcomes of Writing Classes without Adaptation of Given Tasks

4

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1:

Students’ Opinions on the Four Skills in Learning English

Figure 3.2:

Students’ Opinions on Writing Sections in the Textbook “English 10”

Figure 3.3:

Students’ Problems in Writing Classes

Figure 3.4:

Students’ Favorite Activities at Pre-writing Stage

Figure 3.5:

Students’ Favorite Activities at While-writing Stage

Figure 3.6:

Frequency of Favorite Activities at Post-writing Stage

Figure 3.7:

Students’ Attitudes towards Carrying out Writing Activities

Figure 3.8:

Teachers’ Assessment towards Writing Sections in the Textbook
“English 10”

Figure 3.9:

Teachers’ Conduct of Three Stages in Teaching Writing

Figure 3.10: Teachers’ Sources of Material Used for Designing Activities
Figure 3.11: Teachers’ Frequently Used Activities in Teaching Writing
Figure 3.12: Teachers’ Frequently Used Activities at Pre-writing Stage
Figure 3.13: Teachers’ Frequently Used Activities at While-writing Stage
Figure 3.14: Teachers’ Opinions about the Benefits of Using Writing Activities
Figure 3.15: Teachers’ Difficulties in Adapting Activities in Writing Classes

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CHAPTER I:

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
It is undeniable that the English language has gained more and more
significance in every aspect of society in general and in education in particular.
Realizing the importance of English in education, many policies and renovations have
been promulgated in teaching and learning English during the recent years. In an
attempt to innovate Vietnamese education to meet the demand of the society in the
process of integration and development, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and
Training has reformed English textbooks concentrating on the four skills: speaking,
listening, reading and writing for secondary school students since the school year

2006-2007. With this reform, both teachers and students have certain advantages and
disadvantages in mastering the four skills in the process of teaching and learning
English.
Of the four skills, writing, in general, is considered the most difficult one for
not only students but teachers to master. In writing section in the textbook “English
10”, students are asked to perform tasks of various kinds such as descriptions,
narratives, letters, etc. However, it seems that some of the writing tasks in the new
textbooks have not supported students’ language acquisition appropriately. Besides,
teachers also face certain difficulties in teaching writing skills.
Being a teacher of English at upper-secondary school for six years, the
researcher has understood the reality of teaching writing in English. The researcher
realizes that the upper-secondary school students in general and 10th form students in
particular do not acquire writing skill efficiently. They seem to follow the
requirements of writing tasks in each lesson in order without achieving the objectives
of the lesson through completing the main tasks with appropriate skills. Because of
the practicality in teaching English writing, this study was carried out, entitling
“Some suggested activities for teaching and learning the writing sections in the

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textbook “English 10””. The study is intended to investigate types of activities
teachers use in their writing classes and the efficiency of these activities as well. In
addition, it also seeks to find out to what certain extent these activities have influence
on students’ study achievements. Finally, through the study, some suggestions are
offered so that teachers can adapt the writing tasks in the textbook appropriately to
improve students’ writing skill.

1.2. Purposes of the Study
The purposes of the study are:

- to find out the challenges that teachers and 10th form students face with in teaching
and learning writing skill
- to investigate how the writing sections in the textbook “English 10” have been
taught at upper-secondary schools with particular reference to task adaptation
- to suggest some activities for the adaptation of the tasks in the writing sections.

1.3. Research Questions
For the above purposes, the following research questions are posed:
1. What common activities do teachers apply in teaching writing?
2. How useful are these activities to teaching and learning writing skill?

1.4. Scope of the Study
The study only focuses on investigating common activities used in writing
teaching and their benefits to 10th form students at some some upper-secondary
schools in rural areas of Nghe An province. From the findings of the research,
suggested activities will be given to improve teaching English writing to 10th form
students.

1.5. Organization of the Study
Beside the abstract, bibliography and appendices, the study is organized into 5
chapters as follows.
Chapter 1, “The Introduction”, presents the rationales for the research,
defines the purposes, research questions, scope and organization of the study.
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Chapter 2, “Literature Review”, attempts to present the theoretical
background related to the study. It consists of two main sections: teaching writing and
material adaptation. The theoretical background of teaching writing deals with the
nature of teaching writing in foreign language such as writing and the roles of

writing, approaches to teaching writing, stages of teaching writing, principles for
teaching writing, microskills for writing and writing activities. Besides, in the part of
material adaptation, adapting techniques and instructions for adapting textbooks are
presented.
Chapter 3, “The Study”, presents the research methodology including the
participants, methods and procedures used to collect and analyze the data.
Preliminary survey results, data analysis, research findings and discussion on the
findings are also presented in this chapter.
Chapter 4, “Implications for Teaching”, presents some suggestions for
writing classrooms and provides suggested activities for teaching writing sections of
particular units in the textbook “English 10”.
Chapter 5, “Conclusions”, presents an overall conclusion of the study.
Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are also included in this
chapter.

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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Teaching Writing
2.1.1. Writing and the Roles of Writing
Writing has been defined in a variety of ways, which shows different
viewpoints by authors. Traditionally, researchers focused mainly on form and the
final product of writing while current researches stress on the writing process and
strategies employed to attain the final product.
According to “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” (1989), writing is to
“make letters or other symbols on a surface (usually paper), especially with a pen or
pencil”.

Byrne (1988: 1) considers writing as the act of “forming graphic symbols”,
that is, letters or combination of letters. He also discusses the importance of
producing a coherent ‘text’ by arranging the graphic symbols to form words, which in
turn are arranged to form sentences, which are then arranged in an appropriate
sequence and linked to form a coherent whole.
Tribble (1996: 3) considers writing as language skill which involves not just a
graphic representation of speech, but the development and presentation of though in a
structured way and is difficult to acquire. He also emphasizes that writing “normally
requires some forms of instruction” and that “it is not a skills that is readily picked up
by exposure” (1996: 11).
In Ur’s point of view, “most people acquire the spoken language (at least their
own mother tongue) intuitively, whereas the written form is in most cases deliberately
taught and learned” (1996: 161).
In one word, writing involves many different aspects and “writing” itself
may imply an act, a process or a skill, which needs practice and study to develop. It
can also be understood as a way of presenting writers’ thoughts and ideas the form

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of sentences in a cohesive text where there is successful communication with the
readers.
In the classroom, teaching and learning writing skill play an important role in
the process of language teaching and learning. White (1981) points out a number of
reasons why writing occupies a place in the language syllabus. First of all, writing is
the commonest way of examining student performance in English. Therefore,
students’ writing ability is a key to examination success. Second, from both parents
and students’ views, ability to write may be associated with “evidence of having
learnt the language”. In other words, parents and students can see what has been done
and what has been achieved during the learning process. Moreover, in the classroom,

writing may be used as a helpful technique to help add variety and interest to lesson.
Another important thing is that in the classroom, the teacher may use writing as a
testing device to provide feedback on what the students have learnt. Students’ writing
can provide useful evidence to prove for success or failure in learning. Finally,
writing requires thoughts, discipline and concentration. Our writing will be judged by
the readers in terms of style, content and logic. So writing demands a great deal of
care and thought from the writers.
According to Raimes (1983), writing also helps students learn. She shows three
ways in which students can learn through writing:
-

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 that they have just learned to say, to take
risks.

-

Thirdly, when they write, they necessarily become very involved with the new
language, the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eye, hand and
brain is a unique way to reinforce learning.
Thus, through the act of writing, students will realize what they are already

good at and what they still need to learn to become a better writer.

10

With all the roles mentioned above, writing really becomes an integral part in
teaching and learning language skills at any levels.
2.1.2. Approaches to Teaching Writing
In terms of language teaching, writing seems to be a challenging skill to
teachers because it is supposed to require a higher level of language skill than the
others. In addition, there are many ways of teaching writing due to various teaching
and learning styles. Therefore, it is necessary to identify approaches adapted in
teaching writing so that teachers can find out effective techniques to overcome
difficulties and apply them successfully in their teaching.
Raimes (1983) presents six approaches to teaching writing, namely 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.
1) The Controlled to Free Approach
In this approach, writing is considered as a reinforcement means of speech and
is used to master grammatical or syntactic rules. The Controlled to Free Approach is
sequential: first, at low level, the students are given sentence exercises, then
paragraphs to copy or manipulate grammatically by, for instance, changing questions
to statements, present to past or plural to singular. With these controlled
compositions, students make few mistakes, and therefore the teacher’s job of marking
papers is quick and easier. Only at advanced level, students are allowed to try some
free composition, in which they can express their own ideas. Overall, this approach
focuses on accuracy rather than fluency, and grammar, syntax and mechanics are
stressed.
2) The Free-Writing Approach
Contrast to the control to free approach, the free-writing approach focuses
more on fluency. This approach stresses writing quantity rather than quality. It is
based on the principle that if once ideas are there, the organisation follows.

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3) The Paragraph Pattern Approach
Different from the two approaches above, this approach stresses on
organization by copying the paragraphs or model passages. Students copy a model
paragraph, analyze its form and then write a parallel one. Here, students are provided
such kinds of exercises as sentence ordering, sentence inserting or sentence deleting,
etc. It is based on the principle that in different culture or situations, people construct
and organise communication with each other in different ways.
4) The Grammar-Syntax Organization Approach
This approach stresses on simultaneous work on more than one composition
feature. 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.
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. And it is necessary for students to ask themselves the main
questions about purpose and audience: Why am I writing this? and Who will read
it?
Normally, the teacher acts as the audience for students’ writing. However,
some feel that writers do their best writing when writing is a communicative activity.
Therefore, students become readers for each other is a good way of organizing
communicative writing act. Students read each other’s writings, respond, rewrite in
another forms, summarize, or make comments, but not correct. Or the teacher can
create a context in which students are real readers by providing them suitable content,
language and level of formality.
6) The Process Approach

In the process approach, the teaching of writing has begun to move away
from a concentration on the written product to an emphasis on the process of
writing. All writers make decisions on how to begin and how to organize the task.
12


Students are given time to set out ideas, make plan, write a first draft, revise what
has been written after a peer feedback, then they can edit their writing or write
other drafts before producing the final version. In this approach, particular stress is
paid on a cycle of writing activities which move learners from the generation of
ideas and the collection of data through to the “publication” of a finished text as
follow:
PREWRITING

COMPOSING/ DRAFTING

REVISING

EDITING

PUBLISHING
In short, with the process approach, the students are trained to generate ideas
for writing, to think of purpose, audience, ways of communication and so on.
Beside 6 approaches presented by Raimes (1983), the Product Approach is
also a popular one in teaching writing and is discussed by other authors.
7) The Product Approach
For a long time, product approach has been considered as a main approach to
the teaching of English as second language in general and the teaching of writing in
particular. According to Brown (2001: 335), this approach greatly focuses on the
linguistic knowledge such as the appropriate use of vocabulary, syntax, and cohesive

devices. Four stages in teaching and learning writing included in product approach
are familiarization, controlled writing, guided writing, and free writing. Robinson

13


(1991) claims that the product approach to writing usually involves the presentation
of a model text which is analyzed and the basis of a task that leads to the writing of an
exactly similar text and this approach can be summarized in the following figure:
Model text

comprehension/analysis/ manipulation

NEW INPUT

PARALLEL TEXT
8) Process Approach versus Product Approach
Although there are various approaches to teaching writing, the product and the
process approaches are two most popular ones used in “English as a Second
Language” (ESL) classroom.
Product approach is a traditional approach which pays much attention to the
final outcome of a writing process. In this approach, model texts play important parts;
the ideas of the writing are not as much highly appreciated as the language and the
organization of these ideas. The result of the learning process depends on the final
product.
By contrast, in the process approach the focus of teaching and learning is
placed on the process of writing rather than the final product. “Process writing is a
way of bringing about improvement in learners’ writing by providing help at the
various stages of the process instead of focusing only on the finished product”
(Nation, 1990: 84). In the process approach, students do not have to write on a given

topic in a restricted time and hand in the composition for the teacher to correct, but
they have chances to generate their own ideas and put the ideas in an outline. The, the
first draft is written and exchanged among students for peer correction. After peer
correction, the first draft is improved and the final draft is written. Finally, students
exchange their writings once more before handing in the writings for teacher’s final
feedback.
By comparing the two approaches, Steele (2004) summarizes the differences
between them in the table below:
Process writing
● text as resource for comparison

Product writing
● model text for imitation
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● ideas as starting point

● organization of the ideas is more
important than the ideas themselves

● more than one draft

● one draft

● more global, focus on purpose, theme, ● features highlighted including
text type, i.e., reader is emphasized

controlled practice of those features

● collaborative

● individual

● emphasis on creative process

● emphasis on final product

As can be seen from the table, each approach has its own strength and
weakness. However, in the process of teaching and learning writing, we can reach a
conclusion from Brown (2001: 337) that the current emphasis on process writing
must of course be seen in the perspective of a balance between process and product
because according to him, after all, the final product is the ultimate goal and it is the
reason that we go through the process of prewriting, drafting, revising and editing.
2.1.3. The Stages of Teaching Writing
Based on the process of writing, teaching writing includes three stages, namely
pre-writing, while-writing, and post-writing.
a. Pre-writing
This stage is aimed at preparing students with everything necessary for writing. Some
activities are:
• introducing the writing topic to stimulate interest
• doing the pre-writing stage of the process of writing
• working with the model
• presenting key words related to the topic
• outlining
b. While-writing
This stage consists of three steps: drafting, revising, and rewriting.
The students write the first draft from their notes or plan. They can refer to
dictionaries, grammar reference books and model texts for some conventions; for
example, the salutations and standard phrases used in formal letters. When the

15


students finish their first drafts, they can correct and improve the drafts. Then the
students can work in pairs or groups to get peer evaluation in terms of content,
language accuracy, organization, style, etc. the teacher can participate in students’
discussion. After receiving comments from their peers and the teacher, they write out
the final version.
In one word, at this stage, students start their writing after having ideas,
necessary vocabulary and structures from the previous stage.
c. Post-writing
At this stage, students’ writings are given feedback in different ways with
different techniques. Feedback plays an important role in learning process since it can
help students identify what their strengths and weakness are.
2.1.4. Principles for Teaching Writing
According to Forseth et al. (cited in Khuong, 2006), there are 10 principles for
teaching writing:
1. Writing should be considered as a means to communicate meaning about
oneself and the real world, not just as a process of using grammatical structures
correctly or writing with clear penmanship.
2. Start with controlled activities and later with freer communication.
3. Have students start writing about concrete subjects early in the course.
4. Also have students practice the use of basic action words (eat study…) and
the language functions (introducing, describing…) early in the course. As the
student’s ability of writing progresses, give them writing practice of more abstract
things like ideas, opinions and feelings.
5. Whenever possible, relate the writing assignments to the speaking topics.
6. Expect the level of writing to be higher than the level of speaking,
especially the standard of correctness.
7. Provide an audience broader than just the teacher.

8. State a purpose for the assignment.

16


9. Provide several kinds of feedback which should not be overly negative, but
specific and related to what has been taught.
10. As in speaking, provide topics of interest for the students to write about.
2.1.5. Microskills for Writing
According to Brown (2001: 343), writing involves the microskills as presented
in the list below:
1. Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.
2. Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.
3. Produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate word order patterns.
4. Use acceptable grammatical systems (e.g. tense, agreement, pluralization),
pattern, and rules.
5. Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms.
6. Use cohesive devices in written discourse.
7. Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.
8. Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written texts
according to forms and purpose.
9. Convey links and connections between events and communicate such
relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information,
generalization, and exemplification.
10. Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing.
11. Correctly convey culturally specific references in the context of the written
text.
12. Develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately assessing
the audience’s interpretation, using prewriting devices, writing with fluency in the
first drafts, using paraphrases and synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor feedback,

and using feedback for revising and editing.
Brown’s list of micro skills for writing includes sufficient aspects required by
a writer, yet, it does not have a clear balance for application. Ur (1996: 163)
emphasizes on the balance between the importance of expressing the ideas and that of
17


formal aspects. Accordingly, the content, or the ideas should be of fair balance with
the form, i.e. the correct spelling and punctuation, acceptable grammar and careful
selection of vocabulary. Ur (1996) also stresses the importance of this fair balance in
defining and assessing requirements in teaching writing.
2.1.6. Writing Activities
According to Khuong, Luu Quy (2006), writing activities are classified under
the headings of controlled writing, guided writing (directed writing) and free writing.
Controlled writing involves activity like copying, which is completely
mechanical and does not require the learners to understand the meaning of the
sentence or to use their imagination. That is why this activity is uninteresting for
learners and is only useful for beginners. Other controlled writing activities include
gap-filling, re-ordering word, substitution and correcting the facts. These activities
help learners practice and give correct sentences. Another form is dictation, which is
more challenging to learners. Dictation includes normal dictation and alternative
dictation. This inceptive activity helps develop both listening and spelling but does
not develop writing skill as learners do not have to express ideas or find ways to
constructing sentences.
Guided writing stage is considered a transitional stage between controlled
writing and free writing. Guided writing can be carried out in two main ways,
namely, writing based on a text and oral presentation for the writing. In the former
way, learners are provided a short text and asked to study particular features of the
text (e.g: ways of joining sentences, uses of verb tenses, of the passive). Then, they
have to write a similar text or paragraph containing some changes by giving their own

information or information provided by the teacher. With the latter way, a topic is
given, learners make suggestions by speaking. From learners’ suggestions, the teacher
builds up an outline or a list of key expressions which are used as a basis for learners’
writing. Guided writing activities are considered to be interesting because learners
themselves can suggest ideas to build up the outline.

18


Unlike controlled and guided writing, in free writing learners have choices to
write what they want without the teacher’s controlling or guiding. Free writing
activity can be done by giving learners a full assignment to write about with their
choices on the ideas.

2.2. Material Adaptation
When discussing the materials in ESL, McDonough and Shaw (1993) classify
the factors related to materials which affect teaching and learning process under the
headings of “external” and “internal”. External factors include both the overt claims
about materials and the characteristics of particular teaching situations. Internal
factors deal with content, organization and consistency. And adapting materials is “to
try to bring together the individual elements under each heading, or combinations of
them, so that they match each other as closely as possible.” (McDonough and Shaw,
1993: 83). In other words, adaptation is essentially a process of “matching” whose
purpose is “to maximize the appropriacy of teaching materials in context, by
changing some of the internal characteristics of a coursebook to better suit our
particular circumstances” (McDonough and Shaw, 1993: 85).
2.2.1. Adapting Techniques
McDonough and Shaw (1993) suggest five techniques for adapting textbooks,
including Adding, Deleting, Modifying, Simplifying, and Re-ordering.
1) Adding

The notion of addition implies supplementing materials by putting more into
them, while taking into account the practical effect on time allocation. Adding
includes the techniques of expanding and extending, which are applied in different
situations of teaching. Adding by extension is carried out on an aspect of content
within the framework of the existing materials, that is, the model itself is not changed.
Unlike extending, expanding adds to materials by moving outside them and
developing them in new directions. In other words, this change can be created in the
overall system.
2) Deleting or Omitting
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