VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT TRẦN THỊ THU HƯỜNG EXPLOITING MODEL ESSAYS IN TEACHING IELTS WRITING TO STUDENTS IN FOUNDATION STUDIES DEPARTMENT, HANOI UNIVERSITY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (TEFL) Hanoi, May 2010 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgement i Abstract ii List of tables and figures v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 An overview of the rest of the paper CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview 2.1.1 IELTS test 2.1.2 IELTS Writing test 2.1.3 Model essays 2.2 Context of teaching IELTS Writing 2.2.1 In Vietnam 2.2.2 In Foundation Studies Department, Hanoi University 2.3 Related studies and fitness of the present study into the field 10 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 12 3.1 Participants 12 3.2 Instruments 13 iv 3.3 Data collection procedure 14 3.5 Data analysis procedure 15 CHAPTER 14: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 16 4.1 Results 16 4.1.1 Research question 16 4.1.2 Research question 21 4.1.3 Research question 24 4.2 Discussion of results 26 4.2.1 Research question 26 4.2.2 Research question 28 4.2.3 Research question 30 CHAPTER 5: PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 32 5.1 When to exploit model essays 32 5.2 What elements to exploit from model essays 33 5.3 How to exploit model essays 34 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 38 REFERENCES I APPENDICES III v List of tables and figures Table 1: Summary of IELTS writing teachers Table 2: Challenges in using model essays of IELTS Writing Task Table 3: Challenges in using model essays of IELTS Writing Task Figure 1: Aspects of model essays most exploited by teachers in IELTS Writing Task Figure 2: Aspects of model essays most exploited by teachers in IELTS Writing Task CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction The first chapter states the research problem and justifies the rationale for the study Afterwards, three research questions, the aims, scope as well as the methods of the study are presented The chapter ends with an overview of later chapters, which acts as a clear outline for the whole paper 1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study Over the decades, there have been a growing number of English learners wishing to study at tertiary level in English speaking countries As a result, many non-native students are trained to go through English language tests such as the International English Language Testing Systems (IELTS), which is widely recognized as a language requirement for entering universities mainly in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand In the standardized IELTS test, academic essay writing is one of the important skills which international students must acquire both for their prospective studies in Englishmediated courses and for obtaining the required score in the writing section However, due to the complexities of learning to write well in a second language, there has been vigorous debate on more effective teaching methods and feedback among many IELTS writing teachers In recent years, several studies on strategic tools for teaching IELTS writing have been conducted Emerged from Rick VanDeWeghe’s theory about teaching: “whatever we want our students to well, we first have to show them how” (2006), the use of model essays as one type of strategic tool, unquestioningly plays a crucial role in assisting teachers to better facilitate students in their writing skills Being intrigued to further explore how teachers apply this efficient tool, the researcher makes investigation in the context of Vietnam for two main reasons Initially, in Vietnam recently, teaching IELTS is getting more and more popular in a larger proportion of educational settings to meet the learners’ demand However, research on methods or tools for teaching IELTS in general and IELTS writing in particular has just kept a modest number As far as the researcher could find, there has been no research delving into the exploitation of model essays in teaching IELTS writing Therefore, the researcher hopes to fill this gap to certain extent by digging deeper into the exploitation of this powerful teaching tool Secondly, referring to Vietnamese pedagogical context, teaching IELTS writing is proven to be challenging due to its nature as well as the high pressure of achieving the target band score Such a fact highly demonstrated the need for researching ways, strategies or tools that help promote effective teaching Among those teaching tools, model essays are selected to be the subject matter of investigation The researcher expects the study can provide guidelines for Vietnamese teachers to fully employ model essays as substantial assistance for teaching IELTS writing In Foundation Studies Department of Hanoi University, where IELTS has been taught as one subject to prepare students for the final conditional test, writing section has kept a part of every lesson Nevertheless, due to a number of reasons, teaching writing component still appears hard for teachers owing to their ineffective application of strategic tools In this context, the researcher feels an urge to carry out a study on employing model essays as one efficient teaching tool to guide students for the IELTS writing sub-test at the end of term 1.2 Aims of the study At the outset, this study is an attempt to shed more light on what aspects teachers explore from the model essays to teach IELTS writing in the target educational setting Moreover, this study also aims at investigating some difficulties for teachers when employing model essays as a teaching tool Finally, through discovering those problems, the paper could also serve as a detailed proposal to efficiently exploit model essays in facilitating students to perform better in IELTS writing test In order to achieve the abovementioned aims, the study will be conducted to answer three research questions: What aspects of model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class? What challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing? What measures could be taken to help teachers overcome those challenges? 1.3 Significance of the study As the present study investigated the use of model essays to teach IELTS writing in Foundation Studies Department, its benefits to the target population, which are the teachers of Foundation Studies Department are substantial Specifically, the study serves as: firstly, an overall review of what aspects of model essays have been employed in teaching IELTS writing; secondly, a critical analysis of challenges of applying these strategic tools; and lastly, a concrete proposal to exploit them effectively in teaching IELTS writing in the investigated department Apart from that, teachers who have been teaching IELTS writing in other educational settings throughout the country can also benefit tremendously from this paper 1.4 Scope of the study The study focused on exploiting model essays to teach writing in IELTS format in particular, not writing skill in general Apart from that, due to the small scale of the study, only Foundation Studies Department, Hanoi University was chosen as the research setting The samples of the study, as a result, were restricted to eight teachers This number of participants is sufficient to provide valid and reliable information, the contributions of which are vital to the success of the study Students were not involved because the research exclusively delved into how exploitation of model essays assisted the teaching of IELTS, not the learning process 1.5 Methods of the study In order to achieve the aforementioned aims, the study applied such methods as follows As for data collection methods, interviews and observations were delivered to collect data Semi-structured interviews were conducted among eight teachers from different eight classes in Foundation Studies Department For lesson observations, two were done and chosen as representative samples to be analyzed in order to validate the data collected from the first instrument As for data analysis methods, the researcher recorded all eight interviews and they were then transcribed, analyzed and synthesized so as to provide a deeper insight into the matter Regarding two lesson observations, detailed descriptions were provided first, followed by in-depth analyses 1.6 An overview of the rest of the paper The rest of the paper includes five chapters as follows: Chapter provides the background of the study, including a review on key concepts relating to the research topic This chapter also briefly discusses the literature in the field to reveal the research gap that needs to be filled Chapter presents the research methods adopted in the study Justifications of the chosen research instruments as well as their implementation are also provided Chapter reveals the results of the research and gives critical interpretations and analyses of those results Subsequently, the discussion refers back to the literature in the research areas to show both the similarities and differences in the findings Chapter gives recommendations for employing model essays effectively to teach IELTS Writing at the target department from pedagogical perspectives Chapter summarizes the major findings of the study, and then indicates some contributions as well as limitations of the study In addition, suggestions for further study are put forward Following this chapter are Appendices and References Conclusion In brief, the chapter has discussed the research problem, rationale for the study, significance, scope as well as methods of the study Ending the chapter is the overview of the rest of the paper With such contents, this chapter acts as a guideline or orientation for the development of the later chapters of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction This chapter gives an overview of the literature of the study, including the key concepts and related research in the field to disclose the research gap, which will be filled to a certain extent by the present study Simultaneously, it also provides the context of teaching IELTS writing in Vietnam in general and in the investigated department in particular 2.1 Overview 2.1.1 IELTS test IELTS is a set of examinations managed by the British Council, the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, and IDP IELTS Australia IELTS has become increasingly recognized as a “secure, valid and reliable indicator of true to life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration and professional accreditation” (UCLES, 2007, p.3) It has been adopted by many English-medium universities all over the world, mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia There are two modules in IELTS, namely academic and general The former is for candidates expecting to study at tertiary level, while the latter is mainly for immigration purposes The test is divided into four sections: speaking, listening, reading, and writing Speaking and listening sections in both general and academic module are the same while reading and writing tasks are completely different This study particularly works on the academic module, which serves study purposes 2.1.2 IELTS writing test 2.1.2.1 Test format The IELTS writing test (academic module) embraces two distinct tasks In Task 1, examinees are required to write a short description of information presented in the visual data such as charts, tables and diagram The minimum length of their essay is 150 words In Task 2, candidates are expected to write an argumentative essay in response to controversial issue or emerging problem They have to show an ability to demonstrate an argument from a certain standpoint, suggest the solution and justify their opinion by drawing on their own knowledge and experience The candidate must write at least 250 words (UCLES, 2007, p.3) 2.1.2.2 Assessment Criteria Each task is marked separately and the total score is reported on a scale of to at intervals of 0.5 Although the total band for the writing section is calculated by marking results for both, the weight of Task is more than Task The official assessment criteria for Task and Task are as follows: (1) Task Achievement (Task 1) / Task Response (Task 2): This examines how much candidates fulfill task requirements using the limited number of words Task achievement refers to how visual data is described whereas task response is whether candidates construct an argument responding to the matter given in the task and whether the argument is supported by their knowledge, personal experiences, solid evidence, and concrete examples (2) Coherence and Cohesion: these two criteria relates to the clarity and fluency of the passage Specifically, coherence means how each sentence and paragraph are logically linked and cohesion concerns the proper use for cohesive device (e.g., conjunction, pronoun, repetition of synonym) to achieve the referential relationships between sentences and paragraphs (3) Lexical Resource: This refers to the range of vocabulary the candidate uses and how appropriate the use of vocabulary is (4) Grammatical Range and Accuracy: This criterion examines how variedly and accurately the candidate uses grammatical resources at sentence-level 2.1.3 Model essays 2.1.3.1 Definition Very often, answer keys in Writing Test refer to either model essays (model answers) or sample essays (sample answers).‟ As defined by Abe Makoto (2008, p.15), a model essay “tends to refer to a model text written by a native or a writer of native-like proficiency” while a sample essay usually VII - “Another obstacle confronting me is using model essays to illustrate vividly how data is described It is not simple at all because some charts are quite complicated to read.” 2.2 Task 2: - “To be honest, not all model essays for Task are well-written Some are very complicated and too advanced for my students Thus, choosing a suitable one is not easy.” Suggested measures to overcome those challenges  Tackling the challenge of choosing appropriate model essays (in Task & Task 2) - “If the model essay is too complicated for students to understand, it fails to help teachers I therefore tend to choose the one with simple use of vocabulary together with simple structures You know, my students are just of intermediate level.” Teacher (T2) I Personal information Gender: Female Age: 25 Years of teaching English: Years of teaching English at Hanoi Foreign Languages Specializing School: II Perceptions of model essays Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class 1.1 Task 1: - “For Task 1, I care about teaching students how to select and describe data, then how to use language” 1.2 Task 2: - “Of course, idea delivery is what I exploit most from model essays It is not simple at all for students to learn how to support main ideas So I use model essays for clear instruction and illustration.” - “Well yes, I also ask my students to select and analyze good sentences from model essays because I want them to learn and apply those sentences into their own writing.” VIII - “Vocabulary is the final aspect I choose to teach from model essays” Challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing 2.1 Task 1: - “I also have trouble with selecting appropriate model essays There are a lot of things to consider: students’ level, lesson’s content etc.” 2.2 Task 2: - “Sometimes, I am not so successful in showing students how the writer of the model essay supports his ideas I have to point out which are the main ideas and which are just supporting details However, some model essays might not have clear idea delivery And that leads to students’ confusion.” - “We all know that IELTS Writing Task has different formats for different types of essays If teachers are not clear about it, they make face trouble in analyzing the format of model essays.” Suggested measures to overcome those challenges  Tackling the challenge of using model essays to analyze IELTS format for different types of essays (in Task 2) - “It is vital to choose the very standard one Model essays are available in many IELTS books but teachers need to be selective Choose the ones with clear and logical structures.” This solution, unquestioningly, was enormously helpful in erasing students’ confusion.” Teacher (T3) I Personal information Gender: Female Age: 26 Years of teaching English: 4 Years of teaching English at Hanoi Foreign Languages Specializing School: II Perceptions of model esssays IX Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class 1.1 Task 1: - “IELTS Writing test differed from that of TOEFL, GMAT or any other tests in that students have to describe visual information (data) presented in charts, diagrams…Thus, when teaching Task 1, this is what I focus on” - “Apart from data description, I also teach my students how to structure their essays through model ones.” 1.2 Task 2: - “Model essays are very beneficial for students to notice the convincingness of good ideas When students have opportunities to read a good piece of writing, they will be impressed by how the author supports their opinions Then it will be the right time for teachers to encourage students to learn how to argue in Task 2.” - “The second element I pick up from model essays for Task is language My students’ word choices are not good enough So model essays are kind of convenient sources for them to learn.” Challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing 2.1 Task - “As I said earlier, IELTS Writing Task is totally different from tasks in other tests Students have to describe data And in fact, teaching them this job is challenging.” - “Also, I find designing activities related to model essays quite a hard job I know that model essays are extremely helpful but how to make full use of them through activities is still a kind of headache for teachers.” 2.2 Task - “First, I have difficulty in choosing a satisfying model essays A satisfying must be the one that matches the lesson objective and students’ level.” Suggested measures to overcome those challenges - “Actually, I think teachers need to be critical when using model essays.” X Teacher (T4) I Personal information Gender: Female Age: 28 Years of teaching English: Years of teaching English at Hanoi Foreign Languages Specializing School: II Perceptions of model essays Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class 1.1 Task 1: - “Unlike in Writing Task 2, IELTS Format in Task is not so difficult for students to follow All my students know very well the structure of one essay for Task They are well aware of what to write in the introduction, main body and conclusion after some beginning lessons Therefore, I don’t have to spend time analyzing the essay organization anymore.” - “The thing I analyze in model essays is the use of vocabulary It is very important because language for task is quite different from other writing tasks.” 1.2 Task - “In contrast to Task 1, language use in Task is rarely what I select to analyze from model essays Topics in Task varied greatly, so it is very difficult for teachers to teach students how to remember and use vocabulary I focus more on the ideas and arguments.” - “In addition to ideas, I tend to teach students how to organize a particular type of essay for Task 2.” Challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing 2.1 Task - “The major problem goes to the use of model essays to illustrate how to describe data.” 2.2 Task XI - “Similar to Task 1, to meet the requirement of Task 2, which is arguing on particular topic, is not simple Although model essays were definitely powerful, using them to illustrate how the write deliver argument requires teachers to be very critical.” Suggested measures to overcome those challenges - “Teachers should encourage students to make full use of model essays not just in class, but at home as well Re-read model essays and re-write them in their own way, it is much more beneficial.” Teacher (T5) I Personal information Gender: male Age: 27 Years of teaching English: 4 Years of teaching English at Hanoi Foreign Languages Specializing School: II Perceptions of model essays Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class 1.1 Task 1: - “I always pick up word choice from model essays to teach my students.” 1.2 Task 2: - “Task requires students to write on specific topic, so of course when exploring model essays, I focus more on teaching them how to deliver ideas” - “There are up to three or four different types of essays in Task 2, so I think teaching students the structure of each is vital as well.” - “My students usually write simple sentences, which are very boring to read They are not confident enough to write longer and more complicated ones So I think model essays are very relevant and helpful to explain and encourage them writing better sentences.” Challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing XII - “Model essays are a very useful kind of teaching tools but it is not simple to make full use of them.” 2.1 Task 1: - “Describing figures in charts or tables is a completely new task to almost all students As a teacher, I can work out the way very quickly from the model, but explaining it for students is not simple at all Lots of them not know how to read the data, thus are very weak at understanding the description of data ” 2.1 Task 2: - “What challenges my students most in Task is giving argument and supporting it They are short of background knowledge and ideas for particular topics in IELTS Therefore, I usually exploit ideas from model essays to teach my students But I have difficulty with illustrating how ideas are delivered and support each other.” - “Actually, I have to be very selective to choose model essays because several of them not follow strictly IELTS Task format The essays I chose to bring into class must be some kind of standard so that I feel confident to teach my students about essay organization for particular type in Task 2.” Suggested measures to overcome those challenges  Tackling the challenge of using model essays to explain how to describe data effectively (for Task 1) and illustrating how ideas are delivered and support each other (for Task 2) - “After I give students to model to read, I first let them work on their own to discover how data is described by the writer (task 1) As they have finished their work, I will then elicit their ideas I let them openly express how they understand the description from the model essay Sometimes I may ask them to write the outline of the description on the board for the whole class to see When all ideas are collected from the students, I started to voice my comments and wrap up the ideas At this point, I make the final conclusion on how to describe the data in Task 1.” XIII Teacher (T6) I Personal information Gender: Female Age: 25 Years of teaching English: Years of teaching English at Hanoi Foreign Languages Specializing School: II Perceptions of model essays Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class 1.1 Task 1: - “When delivering model essays for Task to my students, I usually tell them to underline verbs, nouns, adjectives or adverbs that describe the data Then I ask them to discuss how those words are used And it works very well in my lessons.” - “Another thing I exploit from model essays is the way to write sentences You know, students are not so good at writing complex sentences So I use model essays to show them how to make good sentence structures.” 1.2 Task 2: - “Actually, the aspect I always utilize is idea delivery This is the most important one in Task Without sharp argument and convincing supporting ideas, students can’t score high.” - “I think in order to score high, students also need to make their essays well-structured They can learn this from model essays that I bring to class.” Challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing 1.1 Task 1: - “The biggest challenge for me is to find a suitable model essays Normally, language in model essays is of high level or advanced So in order to make them fit my students’ level, I tend to choose the simple one.” XIV - “It is most difficult for me to encourage my students to apply good sentences they learn from model essays into their own products My students can analyze the sentence structures very well but they hardly ever apply those into their essays.” 1.2 Task 2: - “Format for Task is more complicated than Task In Task 2, we have three different types of essay, each of which has its own format Teachers, therefore, have to be very clear about the format for specific type But the problem is not all model essays follow strictly the format And it causes troubles ” Suggested measures to overcome those challenges  Tackling the challenge of choosing appropriate model essays (in Task & Task 2) “Any lesson must have the focus The model essay we choose, as a result, must helps stress on the focus There may be a lot of interesting model answers, but teachers have to choose the one that has something to serve the focus of the lesson.”  Tackling the challenge of teaching students how to apply good sentence structures from model essays (in Task 1) - “The point is if we just introduce the structures once only, students will soon forget them Teachers should repeatedly introduce the structures and constantly encourage them to apply those structures into their own writing A lot of students just know and understand the structures, but have no intention to use them So to avoid this situation, teachers had better remind students of applying the structures they learn, then check and correct their work.” Teacher (T7) I Personal information Gender: Female Age: 26 Years of teaching English: Years of teaching English at Hanoi Foreign Languages Specializing School: XV II Perceptions of model essays Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class 1.1 Task 1: - “Reading a chart or a diagram is often complicated and problematic to my students Even if they can understand the information in the chart, they may not know how to organize their description of data: where to start, what data to highlight, how to compare data together etc That is why I always use model essays and give students chances to see and analyze how the writer describes and compare data A given essay seems to be the most convenient tool to teach students how to write about statistics.” 1.2 Task 2: - “If Task typically referred to how to describe data, Task is distinctive in how to deliver ideas or arguments There is no reason why I should not exploit this aspect from the model essays to teach my students how to write When my students are fully conscious of the effective ways to express ideas and opinions, they will perform very well in their essay.” - “Many model essays have very good sentences, so it will be wasteful if we don’t teach students those sentence structures.” Challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing 2.1 Task 1: - “If we just give students to model to read all the time, it will be so boring I always try to think of activities related to the model essay so that I can make full use of it But sometimes I run out of ideas and have few things to exploit from the model one.” - “For Task 1, another stumbling block for me is teaching them how to describe data effectively, using model essays as illustration.” 2.2 Task 2: XVI - “What challenges me most is the design of activities to optimize the effectiveness of model essays In my lessons, I try to organize a variety of activities for avoid repetition Still, I find not all of them relevant to the lesson focus.” Suggested measures to overcome those challenges  Tackling the challenge of designing relevant activities to make full use of model essays ( in both Task and Task 2): - “The activities play a crucial role in exploiting model essays to the fullest However, when designing activities, teachers must be very clear about their own purpose To be more specific, the activities are skill-focused, or language-focused or simply to interest students and motivate them I’m sure when teachers know very well what they will with model essays, the activities will be relevant and assist effectively their teaching.” Teacher (T8) I Personal information Gender: Female Age: 27 Years of teaching English: Years of teaching English at Hanoi Foreign Languages Specializing School: II Perceptions of model essays Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to teach IELTS writing in class 1.1 Task 1: - “Well, although my students are provided with a list of vocabulary to use in their writing, they still make mistakes Therefore, when I bring model essays into class, I always ask them to underline interesting words and tell me again how to use them.” - “Besides language use, I also care about guiding students how to select and highlight significant data and I use model essays as concrete examples.” 1.2 Task 2: XVII - “The first thing to teach from model essays, I think, must be the argument I mean, how to give ideas and support ideas on certain topic.” - “If in Task 1, students are asked to describe data only, in Task they have to more jobs: justify opinion, discuss argument or suggest solutions to certain problem All those different jobs require students to write different types of essay, each of which has particular structure As a result, I focus more on essay organization in Task 2” Challenges teachers probably face when employing model essays in teaching IELTS writing 2.1 Task 1: - “I find it quite hard to make students see clearly what to with the data in particular chart Some charts are simple to students to read the data but others are not So, for more complicated charts, even when I provide students with model answers and explain explicitly for them, many are still confused.” - “Selecting appropriate model essays is another difficult job I think Through I have a bank of essays, sometimes I am in a mess to choose the good one.” 2.2 Task 2: - “For Task 2, I share the same trouble in selecting model essays” - “Besides, I find it quite tough to use model essays to illustrate the delivery of ideas My students are sometimes very confused about how to write good supporting details.” Suggested measures to overcome those problems - “In fact, those challenges are unavoidable, I think so The point is how teachers pick up good elements to teach students.” XVIII APPENDIX 3: Checklist of criteria for observation Date: 06 February 2010 Time: 9:30-11:00 Duration: 90 minutes Lecture: IELTS Writing Task 1: Describing line graph Teacher Students Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to Students’ response to teach IELTS writing in class teachers’ elicitation - Language use - Activeness: good - Data description - Confidence: Good - Essay organization - Sentence types/structures lesson: Behavior during - Concentration - Discussing the XIX Checklist of criteria for observation Date: 09 April 2010 Time: 12:30-14:00 Duration: 90 minutes Lecture: IELTS Writing Task 2: Argument-led essay Teacher Students Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to Students’ response to teach IELTS writing in class teachers’ elicitation - Language use - Activeness: good - Data description - Confidence: Good - Essay organization - Sentence types/structures lesson: Behavior during - Concentration - Discussing the XX APPENDIX 4: Findings from observation Date: 06 February 2010 Time: 9:30-11:00 Duration: 90 minutes Lecture: IELTS Writing Task 1: Describing line graph Teacher Students Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to Students’ response to teach IELTS writing in class teachers’ elicitation A Lead-in - Activeness: good - Introduce line graph to students, then give example of - Confidence: Good line graph Behavior during B Language/skills lesson: - Provide students with language for trends - Concentration - Give examples and explain how to use them - Discussing - Provide practice exercises for students to understand thoroughly how to use vocabulary for describing trends - Ask students to read the data in the example of line graph - Provide a model essay on that line graph in form of gap-filling exercise to review language use - Ask students to work individually, then check the answers as the whole class - When the model essay is filled, elicit students’ ideas on how data is described by asking guiding questions such as: “What is the overall trend of the chart? What data is emphasized? What data is ignored? - Wraps up the lesson the XXI Findings from observation Date: 09 April 2010 Time: 12:30-16:00 Duration: 90 minutes Lecture: IELTS Writing Task 2: Argument-led essay Teacher Students Aspects of the model essays teachers exploit to Students’ response to teach IELTS writing in class teachers’ elicitation A Lead-in: - Activeness: good - Introduce the topic for argument: Changes in modern - Confidence: Good life Behavior - Provide the sample test and explain requirements lesson: B Language/Skills - during Concentration - Ask students to work in groups to brainstorm and - Discussing discuss argument around the topic Role-play - Elicit students’ answers and writes notes on the board - Provide students a model essay for careful reading and analysis - Encourage students to figure out the essay structure and draw the outline - Ask students about how the writer delivers ideas to argue on the topic: “What are main ideas? How are main ideas supported?” - Ask students to underline any words they find interesting and powerful in conveying ideas - Wraps up the lesson and give homework - the ... Summary of IELTS writing teachers Table 2: Challenges in using model essays of IELTS Writing Task Table 3: Challenges in using model essays of IELTS Writing Task Figure 1: Aspects of model essays. .. exploitation of model essays in teaching IELTS writing was closely investigated in a rare paper named “Exploring the role of model essays in the IELTS WRITING test: A feedback tool” by Abe Makoto (2008)... gap has intrigued the researcher to conduct a study on ? ?Exploiting model essays in teaching IELTS WRITING to ESL students in Foundation Studies Department, Hanoi University? ?? Also, the scope of