Đề tài Nghiên cứu đổi mới phương pháp dạy viết luận cho học viên chứng chỉ toefll (a study of an alternative approach to teaching essay writing to toefl learners)

fast because they were lack of ideas and did not know how to begin the introduction. Providing key words or phrases and giving a writing task in a limited time for the learners to work individually and were encouraged by most of the learners (52%/58% respectively) and the slightly higher percentage (58%/ 54%) agreed that their teachers did these activities. Table 6 also shows that 48% of the population needed feedback and correction from their teacher. Most of the learners preferred to check their progress through the teacher’s marks (70%). But only 16 % thought that their teacher gave them enough feedback and 40% found marking was applied by their teacher during the course. The lowest percentage of the sample (6% refer to Table 6) showed an interest in feedback from classmates. The reason was that rarely (8%) did the teacher ask the students to check their writing with their friends. In summary, the reason for most of the learners to learn essay writing was for their future jobs and further study abroad. Some wanted to get good marks in the real test which they were preparing to take soon. The learners commented their writing lessons to be difficult but necessary to learn, which was the most encouraging for the teacher to make the lessons easier and more specific. Besides, learners should know the purpose and the audience of their writing. Frequently writing could make the learners more self-confident in express their opinions on a statement. The subjects of the study still felt out of control with the kind of essay of making an argument, which appeared frequently in the real test. Considering Question 3 in the questionnaire, many students would like the teacher to show them how to write efficiently and naturally (how to start a composition, how to organize ideas). The followings are some of the students’ ideas: “Show me the best way to write English naturally and how to improve my writing.” “Give us more exercises about grammar structures, new phrases, linking words.” “Show me the way to write automatically” “I would like my teacher to give more model essays and force us to analyze in order to remember the way to write.” “I can not brainstorm well so the teacher should make an outline and let us time to write at home and correct at class time.” “I like to learn to write a good paragraph before writing the whole essay but my teacher only gave us the writing tasks and asked us to write at home. I could not handle it and felt bored.” “The teacher should mark our writing at home and choose the typical one to correct at class time.” “Give us one writing task every lesson and spare us 30 minutes to do it. Other time she should correct homework and guide us with exercises, discuss the outline at class…” As far as the materials are concerned, model texts were also in high demand. The learners needed more good writing and even piece of news to get information and to learn. They wanted their teacher to spend more time analyzing model essays carefully and figure out the strength and weakness of the model and gave them the alternative ways of rewriting the sentence structures in the model. “I am not sure about my teacher’s correction so I need more model essays as standard to compare my writing” “I still need the feedback from the teacher because I remember and avoid my mistakes more easily.” “The teacher should keep her promise to mark or give her feedback” Thirdly, the majority of the participants wanted their teacher to be active, creative, and cheerful and make the lessons more interesting. However, some claimed that they did not have much time for writing and only took part in an evening class with 1.5 hours a day studying. They worked most of the time and did not want to have homework. “I want to understand and practice everything in the class. I have to work and have no time at home writing. I want the teacher handle everything in the class.” “I learn to write many times but in every writing class, the atmosphere is boring. We write and the teacher does nothing.” Lastly, the teacher didn’t follow one exact textbook but extract texts and writing tasks from many different books. Therefore, the learners didn’t know much about what they had learnt and needed to achieve more. Some students stated their expectation from the teacher as followed: “I like to get materials every lesson” “Extra exercises will be better for us to follow” In brief, thus, the learner wanted the teacher to guide them the best way to handle the task naturally, provide them with more model texts and play an active role in giving them a variety of exercises and solve the problems during class time. The learners worked or studied other subjects full time. They often took part in an English course in their free time so they wanted everything to be specific and close to the real test. Part 4 in the questionnaire focused on learners’ revising activities. Chart 4: Learners’ revising activities From Chart 4 above, it is clear that most of the students (89%) took care of checking punctuation and spelling because it was easier to recognize this kind of mistakes. Content checking ranked second (75%); however, the students only checked the organization of the essay (the introduction/ body/ conclusion). They did not have the habit of revising whether there were topic sentences for each paragraph; supporting ideas for each topic sentence or thesis statement for the whole essay. Clarity was checked during revising stage, but only by 45% that was much lower than its importance. Sentence transitions were dealt with more than sentence fragments or run-on sentences. Lastly, very few students (5%) used the checklist for their revising stage because the teacher had not introduced this to them before or they had known little about it. Moreover, some of the students did not have time or did not want to reread their writing before handing in. As a result, they only checked in mind and did not notice what should be improved for the next time. II. 3.2 Suggested alternative TOEFL essay writing teaching procedure Based on the common ways of teaching writing; the factors affecting learners in writing an essay discussed in the literature review and the questionnaire is results and discussion, an alternative approach to TOEFL essay writing, a “10-step procedure”, is suggested to activate learners’ motivation in writing better essay. 3. 3.2.1 The 10-step procedure Step 1: Provide students with the knowledge of writing theory (what is essay writing; who is the audience; how many kinds of an essay; how many parts of an essay; what is needed in grammar structures- semantic, syntactic, coherent and sentence types; what is needed in word choice; how to use transition; how to write an essay; and how to use the checklist….). Each lesson delivers one focused topic. Step 2: Give learners a writing topic to read and identify the task (whether it is Making an argument; Agreeing and disagreeing; Stating a preference; Giving an explanation; or other kinds) Step 3: Write the thesis statement on the board Step 4: Ask students to work in-group of three, each student gives one point on the thesis and explains why he or she chooses it by adding supporting points and evidences or examples. Step 5: Call the leader of each group to present their opinions on the thesis statement; teacher take note on the board in an outline form. Step 6: Ask students to choose three main points and supporting ideas that they feel the most interesting and persuasive. Step 7: Divide the class into 5 groups: one group writes the introductory paragraph; three write the body (3 paragraphs) and one writes the conclusion. Step 8: Collect their work, edit at home, and get it photocopied with the model essay. Step 9: Next lesson, let students estimate their edited paper (for example 50%, 80%… according to the checklist and the model) Step 10: Give students free-writing task at home with the same or similar topic; pose the deadline and mark their final version with the checklist. 3. 3.2.2 Discussion of the teaching steps Step 1 aims to acquaint TOEFL preparation learners with relevant background knowledge for the writing, so as to help them relate the material at hand to their previous knowledge. The theory should be typed, printed and attached to the course outline as the guideline. The teacher introduces and helps learners to read during the first lesson or at home in order to save class time. Most Vietnamese learners learn essay writing theory very little before they take the course because they only learn English in textbooks, which mainly focus on grammar structures and vocabulary. To some learners who are supposed to use English in their jobs, they speak, read or communicate in email/ report/ contract writing, which is far different from TOEFL essay writing. This step soundly based on the traditional approach but it is necessary to support learners a fish line before they practice writing from step 2 to the last. Step 2 helps learners go in the right direction for each kind of essay writing which has its own way to expand ideas. The teacher loses gradually her role but she still helps students with TOEFL- specific tasks. Making an argument needs to pose a statement then explain, which is different from agreeing or disagreeing that does not need a statement but an opinion and then give the reason and evidences. Task identification creates a good base to start writing. Step 3 makes sure that everyone knows what they are writing about. One line of the thesis statement on board reminds students that they should focus on this point but not others. Therefore, the writing is good but still scores zero if it is off the point. Step 4 encourages students to interact with each other by giving and getting information about the thesis statement. There will be unbelievable sources of ideas that students create or imagine based on their own knowledge and experience. This step also enables learners to develop their critical thinking and rhetorical skills that are commonly considered a weak point to Vietnamese learners. Making notes and expanding supporting ideas is an obstacle to beginners of writing who often ask what they should or should not write in their own essay. Discussing, talking and posing opinion help students more relaxed and enjoy participating in the lesson. They are doing for themselves-their own writing-not for the teacher; not for the parents; not for the study report and so on. Step 5 moves to speaking section and motivates learners to express their ideas on the thesis statement. When the teacher takes note on the board, the whole class can keep up with the flow of ideas. Besides, students can avoid mispronunciation from the group leaders in speaking. The beginners of writing can base on the outline and develop the essay. Step 6 is for students to choose their own ideas that they prefer and feel more self-confident to write about. Writing is a creative activity to master so step 6 encourages students to make use of creativity in composing. It may be a noisy stage and sometimes an argument but at the end of the day, learners make their own decision to persuade readers according to their belief. Step 7 is a cooperative activity that the whole class work together and create a complete version. The 5-paragraph essay is introduced in this stage as it is commonly known to TOEFL test takers but it is advisable that how the class is divided depend on each writing topic. Step 8 takes the teacher a little time at home to edit the paper by changing a bit grammar structures; word choice; or simply linking words. However, it helps students a lot to know that their contribution works well in the class’s final version. They will have a chance to compare their writing with their friends’. They can share and learn from their own writing, which is supposed to prompt students to write more. Step 9 helps students self-assess their work. The checklist and essay model are given as the target of writing. Nevertheless, students are advised to use sophisticated grammar structures; variety of word choice; and new fresh thread of content. The last step is free writing at home for students to save time in class. Then, it will be easier to get down writing now for learners after the 9 steps above. They can write with the same or similar writing topic under the pressure of deadline. Their work will be marked carefully with the checklist; some correction is also added for a better writing. However, students are encouraged to correct their own writing themselves. 3. 4. Experimental teaching procedure The ten-step essay teaching procedure was experienced in 3 classes of total 30 students. After taking an investigation into what the learners’ opinion on writing lessons and what activities their teachers often did and what they enjoyed, the researcher wanted to experiment an alternative approach to teaching writing. By collecting 20 checklists from students’ writing and the learning logs that the researcher noted down during the course, there were three main points discussed for efficiency of the checklist: content, clarity and mechanics (punctuation and spelling). Analysis of the strong and weak points of the experimental approach was drawn from the comparison of 10 initial checklists and 10 final ones from the same studied subjects. Motivation and students’ attitude change in writing skill would be noted from the learning logs. 3. 4. 1 The checklist collection The 10 checklists of the writing papers at the beginning of the course and other 10 at the end of the course were analyzed to identify errors in content, the clarity and mechanics (punctuation and spelling). The number of errors was counted to show the difference between two columns of the checklist. Table 7: Results of learners’ checklists CONTENT No of initial checklist errors No of final checklist errors Is there a thesis statement or introduction? 0 0 Is there a topic sentence for each paragraph? 13 0 Are there supporting details for each topic statement? 16 1 Is there a conclusion? 3 0 Is there the evidence for the meaning? 22 2 CLARITY Are there run-on sentences or sentence fragments? 24 4 Are there misplaced modifiers or dangling modifiers? 23 3 Are the structures parallel? 20 5 Are there transition words? 10 3 Are the sentences and paragraphs cohesive? 13 0 PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING Are the paragraphs indented? 8 2 Are there punctuation marks such as periods at the end of each sentence? 8 2 Do all the sentences begin with capital letters? 6 0 Are all the words spelled correctly? 30 8 Are all the words chosen relevantly? 32 7 As seen from Table 7 above, it can be said that the number of errors reduces remarkably after the 10 essay writing lessons. First, the content that was claimed to be of the most care by the studied subjects in the questionnaire shows a considerable reduction in the number of errors in this area. Most of the learners understood and paid much attention to the thesis statement, topic sentences and supporting ideas. Before getting down to write, the learners had chances to brainstorm, work out ideas, and then discussed together. Therefore, they were sure not to lack one of the important things, the content. In the first checklist, many students wrote without supporting sentences and the topic sentence often had the same equal meaning as the other sentences in a paragraph. No sentences lead or support the others. So the meaning in the paragraph looked like a circle of repetition and rushed into a blind alley. There were often no examples or evidences to support the general note as in Paper 01 F 4i “First, everyone needs work for their life. If they not work, they can’t live. They feel happy unless they work. Work gives people happiness in life, study, pleasure and entertainment”. This student was supposed to use examples to explain the reason why people attend college rather than trying to show the importance of working. He fell into a bushy trap. An observation tracked this student after the ten lessons of writing with the practice of ten-step procedure. He wrote in Paper 10L106 i “Firstly, studying many subject can help students get jobs more easily. A student major in law faculty could not get a job when he graduated from school. He might work in tourism industry if he learned and used English fluently. He might also run his own business if he understood accounting and marketing strategies. Some jobs need certain skills to fulfill the task but not all jobs need specialized skills to do well.” Regardless of grammar and word choice, he was able to show the evidence for the topic sentence. The content of the whole essay is in unit and coherence and the meaning was in a logical chain: Open with topic – explain by example: law student-not get job-if learn English-work in tourism-if learn accounting and marketing-run own business- then Close. Another interesting point to note is the length of the paragraph. Most of the students wrote longer and when asked during the class, they said they felt more self-confident and were not worried much about mistakes. They wrote and the flow got out of their mind logically into the paper. They could write longer and quicker and the meaning became more complete. Second, the falling number of errors in clarity shows the improvement in grammar structures and vocabulary. Students used to make mistakes in run-on sentence or sentence fragment such as in the following: “Firstly, parents are old and experienced people. They know many things in life and what they know they want their kids can know. Moreover, they work, travel a lot so they meet the difficulty time in their life, they will tell the students to avoid mistakes that they passed. So, parents are the best teachers and they use their experience to teach their children”(Paper: 02 F 5g) This group of students thought and wrote at the same time. They tended to translate word-by-word and wrote down till the end of the flow. The situation was improved in the last lessons of the course as in: “Some university students think only about their career. If the choice is left to them, they might only study courses for their future jobs. They will have a much better future, however, if they study subjects in addition to their career. Therefore, universities should need students to take classes in many subjects” (Paper: 10L 105i) Step 7 in the procedure helped develop the students’ habit of talking before writing. There were still some mistakes in parallel structures and transitional words. Coherence and cohesion were good enough for the writing though they were still far from perfect. Last, punctuation and spelling remains a problem for the learners though the errors in these areas are usually considered minor in comparison with those in the others. They can be easily avoided by practicing writing gradually. Therefore, it would be advisable if the teacher posed enough exercises and controlled that all the tasks were carefully done. In general, after the course of ten lessons applying the ten-step procedure, one remarkable strong point is that the learners succeeded in expressing their ideas in the way of academic writing. It can be said that they avoided the block of ideas and found a better, easier way to go. Particularly, they could identify the writing task quickly and they could point out the general ideas with a little time brainstorming. During the course, four main kinds of essay were mentioned: MA, EX, AD and PR and EX was said to be the easiest because they only explained for the given thesis statement. MA was considered the most difficult and sounded like the combination between EX and AD. Logical division was preferred for essay organization for the learners could use the concept map of web or fishbone (Lin 54). Cohesive devices were encouraged to unify the whole essay and students got used to using numerating words (first, second…). The students were able to use complex sentences instead of simple ones. Adjective clauses were more often applied to explain the ideas but it would be better to mix kinds of sentences in an essay. Word definition was played in the discussion part in order to enrich the word choice among the students. Most of the students were keen on this part because they could relax and know many other synonyms or antonyms from their friends. I considered the students’ errors in spelling and punctuation as a natural phenomenon in practicing writing because they always wrote under the pressure of time. However, as these errors usually worsen the first feeling from examiners, it would be wise to avoid them anyway. 3. 4. 2 The learning logs The learning logs were noted down carefully after each lesson, mainly from unit 1 to unit 5. The students practiced the same procedure from unit 6 to unit 9. Unit 10 was for a final paper. In the learning logs, the researcher highlighted the factors that influenced learners’ motivation and their attitude to learning writing. 3. 4. 2. 1 Factors influencing learners’ motivation From the observation during the course, the most influencing factor in the students’ motivation was the learner-centered teaching method. The reason for the lessons to be successful with the students’ high motivation lay in the fact that the teacher raised topic and question and the students worked themselves and studied the subject matter actively. They could raise their voice to discuss with their classmates or among their groups. They also had a chance to talk about their ideas in front of others. This made the students feel eager and self-confident when they had opportunities to learn from their friends. Then, various activities were also encouraging for most of the students. In the 10-step procedure, the students first listened to the teacher for the revision of writing theory and necessary grammar and word points. Then they were given the task in which they brainstormed, spoke out, discussed and even argued. They first exchanged their ideas in groups and then practiced writing their own papers their own. Equally important, added and extra materials for language input were at some time of great benefit. For example, a copy of model essay for reading at home to evaluate their own writing, the writing paper in each class, the checklist, and the piece of writing task were of help in the learning-teaching process. Next, clear instructions and answers from the teacher also helped a great deal increase motivation among the students. Last but not least, the teacher’s characteristics were decisive factors to help increase motivation. Like in the questionnaire before the course, most of the learners expected their teacher to be helpful, easy-going, friendly and enthusiastic. A sense of humor made the students remember the lesson easily and created a warm atmosphere in the class, especially in the evening TOEFL preparation course. However, there were still some factors that decreased motivation in the class. Firstly, the students had to learn two things at the same time: learning writing theory and learning grammar structures. It was sometimes too confused for the students to handle well. Although writing theory was delivered mainly from lesson 1 to lesson 5 and semantic and syntactic variety were focused from unit 6 to 9, the students still needed both to write completely. That’s the reason why some of the first lessons were hard for the learners. Secondly, long time of discussion among the students led to a boring atmosphere because some students did not talk at all or go to some other thing off the point. Therefore, the teachers must always make sure that the discussion is more or less equal. Lastly, model essays given at the end of the lesson for reference to some extent declined the students’ enthusiasm in writing creatively. Some students copied or made a little change for their essay. However, the teacher should use model essays for beginners who were not used to the way of writing academic English or those who still had the habit of translating word by word from their mother tongue into English in writing. 3. 4. 2.2 Changes in learners’ attitude to learning writing At the beginning of the course, most of the students in the questionnaire thought about writing in TWE as mentioned before: “I don’t care about how to learn writing but I have to take this before I take TOEFL so I have to study” “Because I find essay writing in the course so I follow. (But at first) I don’t think I have to write” “It is the first time I have learned to write officially, when at school, my teacher gave us writing tasks but only letter or description, we rarely wrote” “Writing in this course and we have only a few lessons, not many at the end of the course” “We have to study section I, II, III for listening, structure and reading because they are all difficult so we have no time for writing”. However, after the course, the majority felt that writing was an interesting subject and it was the last step to complete the language skills. They wrote faster and more frequently. In the first and second lessons, only two or three wrote the essay at home but in the last lessons, the students got used to writing and the number of writing papers increased. The reason for this could be explained that firstly they were motivated in writing and learning to write; secondly, their writing was improved after each lesson; and lastly writing was not as difficult as they had thought before. CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION 4. 1 Summary of the findings The findings of the study are summarized as follows: First, the major reason for most of the students to learn essay writing was that when they take TOEFL, they must take TWE. A necessity for high score in the exam was claimed as the main reason though TWE is not included in TOEFL score. The findings showed that high score led to high motivation. During the experimental lessons I insisted on not marking them but all of the students asked what mark they got for their essay. Second, the teachers should combine the core book with other relevant materials and provide students with new structures, vocabulary and regular feedback. However, group and pair-work were rarely applied and individual work took time. Model essays and other teaching aids were not provided regularly. Experimental teaching method based mainly on the product approaches but removed the passiveness and boredom in the classroom by adding more group-work. A variety of all language skills in one lesson reduced the stress and tiredness from writing. For TWE, all the students did not need extra aids such as maps, games, stories to improve writing but marks and rewards should be applied to stimulate students. Third, in the survey questionnaire nearly half of the students enjoyed making outlines or drafts at class, which led to the fact that the learners’ ability to expand the general notes was really good. The 10-step procedure raised the number of students to 90% practicing outlining in-group before writing. As a result, most of the students had enough ideas to write and not trapped in the “circle of ideas”. Moreover, when they had a lot of ideas to write they wanted to write and wanted others to give them feedback. It was an effective natural way to encourage students to write frequently. Last, in revising stage, checklist was not used properly for individual writing by the students surveyed in the questionnaire whereas they were supposed to know what would be tested. The suggested method made use of the checklist for students to self assess their own work. However, marking was still an interest to most students. The teacher should therefore give the immediate feedback and mark at the same time, which would encourage students. 4. 2 Recommendations and suggestions The following are some recommendations and suggestions to the teacher of TOEFL essay writing. First, in order to make the writing learning and teaching process a more motivating experience, instructors need to think carefully about a developing program, which mixes good teaching procedures with motivation from learners. It would be more advisable for teachers of language to join in an exchange club where every language issue will be discussed, shared, experienced and applied. Second, in any course of writing, there must be a core book for students to follow especially for those who are not majored in English and only learn for taking the TOEFL. The class attendance in foreign language centers is not monitored as seriously as in any official class. Therefore, a clear course outline including methodology, books, activities and the like will be posed at the beginning of the course, then students who are absent from the class can still follow or fulfill the missing lesson in this or that way or at least, they can know what they have achieved and what they have not. Third, writing papers, checklists and model essays should be delivered in every lesson and the teacher must track this seriously. The students do everything in the form and practiced it regularly with their own creativity. It is of significance to assist students to build up their own ability to set up their goals as well as their personal judgments of success and failure in essay writing. Last, all classroom settings are considered well equipped and in good condition in Foreign Languages centers in Hanoi now. Yet, the learners who work or study full time during the day can take TOEFL-preparation courses only in the evening. It can’t be said that they can adequately concentrate on the course. The teacher should therefore understand their pressure and create a pleasant learning environment: “learn to relax and relax to learn”. Being humorous, sympathetic and helpful will surely add to the success of the lesson as well. REFERENCES In Vietnamese Canh, Le Van. 2004. Understanding Foreign language teaching method: NXB Dai Hoc Quoc Gia. Hanh, Nguyen Thi Bich. 2003. An investigation into the use of Reference as a cohesive device in the writing tasks by students of English at Chu Van An High School: Unpublished MA Dissertation. CFL-VNU. Hien, Nguyen Thi Thu. 1999. Rhetorical patterns in English and Vietnamese essays written by Vietnamese students: a comparative study: Unpublished MA Dissertation. CFL-VNU. Nhung, Nguyen Thi Mai. 2003. Motivation and factors affecting motivation in learning English writing of the freshmen at the department of English and Anglo-American Culture: Unpublished MA Dissertation. CFL-VNU. In English Anita, P. 1992. Writing in English, Book 1,2,3: Macmillan Publisher. Broukal, M. & Flynn, K. 1994. The Heinle & Heinle TOEFL Test Assistant: Test of Written English. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Byrne, D. 1990. Teaching writing skills, Longman handbooks for language teacher: Longman group, ltd. Caroline, D. Planning lessons around competencies. John, F. H. 1966-1983. Tesol Newsletter: magazine. Cresswell, J.1998. Qualitative inquiry and research Design: SAGE Publications. Ellis, R. 1997. Second language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Elaine, T. and George, Y. 1991. Focus on the language learner: Oxford University Press. Gabi, D. 1995. Essay writing for English Tests: Academic English Press. Gina, W. 2001. The Postgraduate Research handbook: Palgrave, New York. Grabe, W. & Kaplan, R. 1998. Theory and practice of Writing: London and New York, Longman. James, M. C. 1990. Classroom Teaching Skills: New York, DC health and Company. John, D. But how can you teach them English if you don’t speak their language. John F. H. 1966-1983. Tesol Newsletter: magazine. Halliday, M A K & Hasan, R. 1976. Cohesion in English. Longman Harmer, J. 1990. The practice of English Language Teaching, Longman handbooks for language teacher: Longman group, ltd. Heaton, J. B.1989. Writing English test, Longman handbooks for language teacher: Longman group, ltd John, L. English skills with readings, reedited by Nguyen Huu Du, 1997, NXB Dong Nai. Lalonde, R.N. 1982. Second language acquisition: a causal analysis. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. Leki, I. 1976. Academic writing, techniques and task: New York, ST. Martin’s press. Lin, L. 2004. Barron’s How to prepare for the TOEFL essay: Ho Chi Minh synthetic Publisher. Oshima, A. & Hogue, A. 1983. Introduction to academic writing: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Oshima, A. & Hogue A. 1983. Writing Academic English: The United States Press. Raime, A. 1993. Out of the woods: emerging traditions in the teaching writing in Silberstein 1993. New York: Oxford University Press. Ronal, V. White 1989. Teaching Written English, Practical language teaching: Heinemann Teacher’s Edition, issue 15 September 2004, a publication of The English Language Institute: Fitting a Top-down strategy Into a traditional Reading class, Rao Zhenhui, Ph.D. Tribble, C. 1996. Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wilbbert, J. McKeachie. 1986. Teaching tips, a guidebook for the beginning college teacher, eighth edition, New York: DC health and Company. APPENDIX A (The questionnaire) This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into how learners learn to write essay in English. Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated. All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data. Thank you very much for your cooperation! Instruction The questionnaire is in 4 parts, please put a tick (v) in the appropriate box; circle the letter a, b , c,.. or give short answers in the provided space. Please use either English or Vietnamese. Part 1. General information 1. Your gender: a. Male b. Female 2. Your age:______________________ 3. How long have you been learning English:___________________ year(s) 4. How often do you use English for your job, study, or pleasure? a. Very often b. often c. sometimes d. rarely/ never 5. Why do you take part in this course? a. Interest b. gain qualification c. Mark d. future job/study 6. What do you expect to get from the teacher? a. Well-qualified b. humorous c. sympathetic/ helpful d. others:………………… Part 2: Opinion on essay kinds; writing topics, the materials; and writing lessons. 1. How many kinds of essay have you known before? Can you state them? 2. What do you think about your previous textbook? a. Easy b. difficult c. ok d. others:….……………. 3. What do you think about your writing lessons? a. easy b. difficult c. enjoyable d. necessary e, boring f. waste of time g. others:…. Part 3: Opinion on planning and writing stage 1. Did your form teachers advice or impart you the knowledge of writing? Tick (v) Knowledge of writing Yes No A little a. Kinds of essay b. Parts of essay c. Steps of essay d. Coherence e. Unity f. Semantic variety g. Syntactic variety h. Punctuations and spelling 2. Which activities did you want your teacher do and which you felt like during the class time? (Circle the letter a-n) Class activities You enjoyed Teachers did a. Give new structures and vocabulary b. Talk to you about how to write an essay efficiently c. Ask you to write a paragraph then the whole essay d. Let you have time to brainstorm e. Give and guide you how to use cohesive devices f. Make outlines and drafts in class g. Ask you to work in-group or in-pair h. Use a model essay and analyze it i. Use other aids (pictures, maps, music, games, reading texts) j. Give you key words or phrases to identify the task k. Give a writing task in a limited time (work individually) l. Give you his / her feedback/ correction m. Mark your writing n. Give you your classmate’s feedback 3. Which other activities do you like doing during the lessons? Please specify:_______________________________________________________________ Part 4 Learners’ revising activities 1. Did you check the content after writing? If yes, what? Thesis statement- introduction Topic sentence for each paragraph Supporting details for each topic statement Conclusion 2. Did you check the clarity of your writing? If yes, what? a. Sentence fragments b. run-on sentence c. sentence transition 3. Did you check the punctuation and spelling? If yes, what? a. Indent b. capitalization c. marks d. start each paragraph on a new line 4. Did you use the proofing checklist? If yes, what will be checked? a. Content b. clarity c. punctuation and spelling d. other:…………… APPENDIX B (Proofing checklist) Paper:________/ Topic:__________ /Mark: _________ No of errors Checklist Location of errors Suggested correction CONTENT Is there a thesis statement or introduction? Is there a topic sentence for each paragraph? Are there supporting details for each topic statement? Is there a conclusion? Is there the evidence for the meaning? CLARITY Are there run-on sentences or sentence fragments? Are there misplaced modifiers or dangling modifiers? Are the structures parallel? Are there transition words? Are the sentences and paragraphs cohesive? PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING Are the paragraphs indented? Are there punctuation marks such as periods at the end of each sentence? Do all the sentences begin with capital letters? Are all the words spelled correctly? Are all the words chosen relevantly? APPENDIX C (The learning logs) Unit Descriptive notes Reflective notes 1 a. got to know each other 5’ - warmed up by asking qs on writing 5’ - introduction to TWE 5’ - introduced core book, course outline 5’ - guided the checklist and writing paper 5’ b. Raised Topic 1: 5’ Task: Explanation (Ex) Paper: 01 First (01F) Essay Organization: logical division c. Followed flexibly “10 step procedures” major on: patterns of essay organization/ kinds of essays 55’ d. Hw 1-01F: “write an essay of 250 words on topic 1 Ex” 5’ a- relaxed atmosphere, helpful, friendly, attentive, cooperative, eager, curious with the checklist happy when given writing paper. b- not recognized well the task, mistook Ex for AD c- not paid attention to writing, passive, lazy to take part in group work, reacted slowly, not brainstormed, not knew how to start, got only 2 group-work papers completed. (01F1g/ 01F2g) >>> Students still passive but eager to know more. 2 a. got Hw 1-01F (only 2 sts wrote), returned the checklist 01F for 2 group-work papers (repetition/ not clarify/ wrong word choice/ spelling and punctuation mistakes) 10’ b. Raised Topic 2: 15’ Task: Agreeing and Disagreeing (AD) Paper: 02 First (02F) Essay Organization: logical division c. Followed flexibly “10 step procedures” major on: write the thesis statement and think of general notes 55’ d. Hw 2-02F: “write an essay of 250 words on topic 2 AD” 10’ a. Listened and took care (Kept the photo of 2 checklists and 2 samples for the research- 01F1g, 01F2g) b. Could identify AD easily from the task; c. not knew how to rephrase or rewrite the thesis statement, some wrote the same as the task, mistook general note and supporting ideas, got 3 group work papers (02F5g/ 02F6g/ 02F7g) >>> motivated in expanding the general notes; like to brainstorm. 3 a. got Hw 2-02F (only 3 sts wrote 02F8i/ 02F9i/ 02F10i), returned the checklist 01F for 2 individual papers (01F3i/ 01F4i) and checklist for 3 group work paper (02F5g/ 02F6g/ 02F7g/) (repetition/ not clarify/ wrong word choice/ spelling and punctuation mistakes) 10’ b. Raised Topic 4: 15’ Task: Preference (PR) Paper: 03 First (03F) Essay Organization: compare and contrast c. Followed flexibly “10 step procedures” major on: making notes for general ideas and expanding notes to include specific detail- writing paragraphs 55’ d. Hw 3-03F: “write an essay of 250 words on topic 4 PR” 10’ a. -Kept the photo of 2 checklists and 2 samples for the research- 01F3i, 01F4i) -Kept the photo of 4 checklists and 4 samples for the research- (02F5g/ 02F6g/ 02F7g) b. Mistook Compare and contrast with PR c. Had a lot interesting ideas, got 4 group work paper (03F11g/ 03F12g/ 03F13g / 03 F14g) >>>Knew to get example for evidence of the topic sentence. Better at speaking too. 4 a. got Hw 3-03F (4 sts wrote), returned the checklist 02F for 3 individual papers (02F8i/ 02F9i/ 02F10i) 10’ b. Raised Topic 14: 15’ Task: Making an Argument (MA) Paper: 04 Middle (04F) Essay Organization: logical division c. Followed flexibly “10 step procedures” major on: organizing points, using the transition- writing the body 55’ d. Hw 4-04M: “write an essay of 250 words on topic 14 MA” 10’ a. -Kept the photo of 3 checklists and 3 samples for the research-( 02F8i/ 02F9i/ 02F10i) - fewer mistakes b. paid more attention, got used to the way of writing c. more motivated, still weak at transitional devices, got 5 group work papers >>> still needed to learn more about transitional words; encouraged by organizing the Body 5 a. got Hw 4-04M (7 sts wrote), returned the checklist 03F for 4 individual papers (03F15i/ 03F16i/ 03F17i/ 03 F18i) and checklists for 5 group work papers (04M19g/ 04M20g/ 04M21g/ 04M25g/ 04 M26g) 10’ b. Raised Topic 14: 15’ Task: Making an Argument (MA) Paper: 04 Middle (04M) Essay Organization: logical division c. Followed flexibly “10 step procedures” major on: organizing points, using the transition- writing the conclusion 55’ d. Hw 5-05M: “write an essay of 250 words on topic 14 MA” 10’ a. Got better b. MA seemed to be the most difficult c. More motivated/ encouraged >>> talked more natural, happier when everybody sang. 6789 Revised 4 kinds of essay and did the same procedures. Played game to give more definition of words Encouraged sts to write more; their attitude to writing changed, Students needed to write more for themselves. Some sent essay by email. Some were absent but still got the topic for writing task. Sometimes, the teacher talked too much and off the point but it was still good enough for evening class. The students worked full time and took class in the evening, therefore most of them were tired. Some additional activities outside the classroom were good too. 10 a. Returned checklist for the Hw 08L 10’ b. Final trial Test 30’: Paper 10 Last (10L) Test task: “ Some universities require students to take class in many subjects. Other universities require students to specialize in one subject. Which is better? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.” Students did and teacher gave checklist for Hw 09L c. Held a small party 20’ d. Gave the checklists for the last tests 30’ Chose 10 checklists and samples for the research Paper: 10L103i >> 10 L113i >>> Student wrote very carefully and finished on time; happier atmosphere. APPENDIX D (The course outline) Course title: Writing for the TOEFL Class: TOEFL Preparation course- AIC Teacher: Nguyen Thi Chung Mien General Objectives. This course is designed to give students the necessary tools for writing academically acceptable essays in English under test-taking conditions similar to those they will come upon during the TOEFL. Specific Course Objectives: Writing topics from the TOEFL bulletin will be used to build up test-taking essay writing skills. Students will edit and score their own essays and those of other students to sharpen editing skills. Readings from Time, Newsweek, and other sources will provide material for writing. Methodology: The approach is learning by doing. Students will complete certain tasks, such as, reading sample essays, organizing ideas, selecting and ordering information, using transition words, writing coherent paragraphs, writing good openings and closing paragraphs, etc. The various activities and exercises from the textbook, handout, and other sources will provide useful practice for students in the classroom and for homework assignments. Content and Calendar: Week 01 Introduction to the TWE, handout Week 02 Identifying the writing task- writing the introductory Week 03 Making note for general ideas and expanding- writing paragraphs Week 04 Organizing points-Using transitions -writing the body Week 05 Rephrase the thesis statement-giving comments- writing the conclusion Week 06 Writing essays EX Week 07 Writing essay DA Week 08 Writing essay MA Week 09 Writing essays PR Week 10 Final TEST Core Texts: Lin Lougheed, Barron’s How to Prepare for the TOEFL Essay, Ho Chi Minh synthetic Publisher, 2004 References: 1. Broukal, M. & Flynn, K. 1994. The Heinle & Heinle TOEFL Test Assistant: Test of Written English. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. 2. Alice O. & Ann H. 1983. Writing Academic English: The United States. APPENDIX E (The brief handout questions) 1. What is TOEFL essay writing? Time / length 2. How many kinds of a TOEFL essay? 3. How many parts of a TOEFL essay? 4. How to write a TOEFL essay? (The introduction/ the body/ the conclusion paragraph) 5. How to write a good paragraph? (Topic sentence/ supporting details/ examples) 6. How to write a good sentence? Kinds of sentence/ fragment/ run-on sentence/ grammar structure/ word choice/ parallel sentence/ cohesive devices/ modifiers… 7. How to link sentences in a paragraph? How to link paragraphs in an essay? 8. How to use punctuation/ spelling? 9. How to use the checklist? APPENDIX F (The writing paper sample) WRITING PAPER Name:_________________________ Paper:_____________ Task:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Write ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________