VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** TRẦN THỊ THƠ AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON A PROCESS-GENRE APPROACH TO TEACHING IELTS WRITING TASK TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BAND 4.5-5.5 IN A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY SETTING Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm việc áp dụng đường hướng kết hợp trình dựa vào thể loại việc dạy viết luận IELTS, phần 2, cho sinh viên khối không chuyên trường Đại học Việt Nam M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI-2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** TRẦN THỊ THƠ AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON A PROCESS-GENRE APPROACH TO TEACHING IELTS WRITING TASK TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BAND 4.5-5.5 IN A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY SETTING Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm việc áp dụng đường hướng kết hợp trình dựa vào thể loại việc dạy viết luận IELTS, phần 2, cho sinh viên khối không chuyên trường Đại học Việt Nam M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor:Dr Hoàng Thị Hạnh HANOI-2016 Contents Statement of Ownership i Acknowledgements Error! Bookmark not defined Abstract Error! Bookmark not defined List of Abbreviations Error! Bookmark not defined List of tables and figures Error! Bookmark not defined PART A: INTRODUCTION III Rationale of the Research III Aims, Scope, Methods, and Significance of the Study IV 2.1 Aims and Objectives IV 2.2 Scope of the Study V 2.3 Research methods V 2.4 Significance of the Study V PART B: DEVELOPMENT VI CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW VI 1.1 IELTS: the International English Language Testing System VI 1.2 Process-based approaches VII 1.2.1 Model of process-based approaches VII 1.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of process-based approaches VII 1.3 Genre-based approaches Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.1 Model of genre-based approaches Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of genre-based approaches Error! Bookmark not defined 1.4 The Process Approach vs the Genre Approach Error! Bookmark not defined 1.5 Integrating process and genre approaches to teaching writing Error! Bookmark not defined 1.6 Process-genre approaches Error! Bookmark not defined I 1.7 Previous studies on the applications of process-genre approach to teaching L2 writing: findings and limitations Error! Bookmark not defined CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1 The current situation of IELTS in Vietnam Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2 IELTS in National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3 The Context of the Study and the Research Participants Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.1 The research participants Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.2 The writing IELTS Preparation course in NUCE Error! Bookmark not defined 2.4 Action Research Error! Bookmark not defined 2.5 Data collection procedure Error! Bookmark not defined 2.6 Data Collection Methods Error! Bookmark not defined 2.6.1 Observation Error! Bookmark not defined 2.6.2 Semi-structured interviews Error! Bookmark not defined 2.6.3 Collection of students’ writings throughout the program Error! Bookmark not defined 2.7 Data Analysis Procedures Error! Bookmark not defined 2.7.1 Data from observations and interviews Error! Bookmark not defined 2.7.2 Data from the collection of student’s writings Error! Bookmark not defined CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS Error! Bookmark not defined 3.1 Findings and analysis Error! Bookmark not defined 3.1.1 Students’ perceptions of process-genre approach application Error! Bookmark not defined 3.1.2 The effectiveness of process-genre approach on students’ writings Error! Bookmark not defined II 3.2 Discussion Error! Bookmark not defined CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS Error! Bookmark not defined 4.1 Synthesis of the study’s major findings Error! Bookmark not defined 4.1.1 Research question Error! Bookmark not defined 4.1.2 Research question Error! Bookmark not defined 4.2 Pedagogical implications Error! Bookmark not defined 4.3 Limitations of the study Error! Bookmark not defined 4.4 Suggestions for further studies Error! Bookmark not defined REFERENCES IX APPENDIXES Error! Bookmark not defined III PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the Research Writing skill is deemed to be difficult for EFL students in the language learning (Richards, 1990) According to Richard and Renandya (2002), the difficulties include those in generating and organizing ideas, using an appropriate choice of vocabulary, sentence and paragraph organization and putting such ideas into an intelligible text As for Vietnamese EFL students, besides these difficulties, they have to face many other obstacles when learning to write compositions in English, especially to non-English major students who are taking IELTS exams In IELTS writing task 2, students are asked to respond to a topic by giving and justifying an opinion, discussing the topic, summarizing details, outlining problems, identifying possible solutions and supporting their ideas with reasons, arguments and relevant examples from their own knowledge or experience (IELTS Test Booklet, 2014) To non-English major students, it is even quite a challenge to make a sentence on their own, not to mention a short simple paragraph As a consequence, the task of composing complicated essays like in IELTS writing task become harder, which they rarely perform well Although some approaches are applied in teaching writing such as process and genre-based, besides the merits, there are also some drawbacks in each of these approaches The former helps learners to develop more effective ways of conveying meaning and to better comprehend the content that they want to express (Walsh, 2004) However, it has a very restricted view of writing, in which the practice of writing is identical regardless of what the topic is and who the writer or the reader is (Badger & White, 2000) The latter is seen as an extension of the product approach, in which the writing “varies with the social context in which it is produced” (Badger & White, 2000, p 155), also critised because it may not requires students to express IV their own ideas or may be too dependent on the teacher finding suitable materials as models (Caudery, 1998) With the hope to seek for ways that can enhance students’ writing skills in IELTS task 2, especially of those who not major in English, and lessen disadvantages of process and genre-based approach, the researcher would like to test whether the integrated approach of these two above which was developed by Badger & White (2000) could help students improve their writing and whether they find such approach effective Aims, Scope, Methods, and Significance of the Study 2.1 Aims and Objectives This research tries to seek the possibilities to apply process-genre approach in teaching writing skills to non-English major students in IELTS preparation courses While each approach has its own upsides and downsides in teaching application, the more effective one for writing needs is to incorporate the insights of these approaches (Badger & White, 2000) Also, this research aims to unpack the factors that effect students’ writing performance The above goals are specified into the following objectives:  To explore the perspectives of the students towards process-genre approach in learning IELTS writing task  To see whether the application of the process-genre approach to teaching writing IELTS task to non-English major students is effective To achieve the above-stated aims and objectives, the study was designed to answer the following research questions: (1) What students perceive about process-genre approach in learning writing IELTS writing task 2? V (2) Does the integrated process-genre approach help improve students’ performance in IELTS writing task 2? If yes, to what extent? 2.2 Scope of the Study The research is confined to the application of the process-genre approach to teaching writing Task in IELTS exams in a writing course of 15 lessons A class of 14 non-English major students was investigated 2.3 Research methods As regarded as “the practical judgment in concrete situations”, which support the practitioner researchers in facing with the challenge and problems of practice and carrying through innovations in a reflective way (Altrichter, Feldman, Posch, and Somekh, 2013), the action research was selected to investigate the practicability of process-genre approach in teaching and learning IELTS writing Task The research instruments were the pre-test and post-test, writing portfolios and interviews 2.4 Significance of the Study There are some reasons motivating me to conduct this research First of all, the finding of this research will show how the process-genre approach and its stages could change students’ writing performance and reflect students’ views and their reactions on the process of teaching and studying writing Thanks to that, I could adapt my teaching methods and materials so that they could be suitable and useful for my students Besides, for other classes in the similar context, this research may act as a reference for pedagogical skills and research practice Other teachers may find in this research some suggestions or implications for their teaching writing IELTS and carrying out further research on this issue VI PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter reviews the literature on the process-genre approach to teaching IELTS writing Task It starts with some background information, definitions and theories of key terms related and specific to this line of research This is followed by a critical review of previous studies on the applications of process approach, genrebased approach and the integrated of both to teaching L2 writing 1.1 IELTS: the International English Language Testing System IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is designed to assess the language ability of candidates who want to study or work where English is the language of communication The IELTS test (academic module) is made up of four components: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking The Writing component is a direct test of writing, requiring candidates to produce two samples of writing in 60 minutes allocated In Task 1, candidates write a short description of information presented in the form of charts, diagrams, tables, and maps Task requires candidates to write a composition, usually an essay, in response to a proposition or question In both tasks, candidates are assessed on their ability to write with “appropriate register, rhetorical organization, style and content” (UCLES, 1996.) According to the instruction in the IELTS Handbook (1999), in task 2, candidates are presented with a point of view or argument or problem In this task, the candidates are assessed on their ability to: “provide general factual information”, “outline a problem and present a solution”, “present and possibly justify an opinion, assessment or hypothesis”, and “present and possibly evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence and argument” (p.11) The instructions suggest that candidates will be VII required to produce an argument type of text, which may be a discussion, opinion or problem and solution essay 1.2 Process-based approaches 1.2.1 Model of process-based approaches Process-based writing is viewed as the way writers actually work on their writing tasks from the beginning stage to the end of the written product O’Brien (2004) defines this approach as an activity in which teachers encourage learners to see writing not as grammar exercises, but as the discovery of meaning and ideas During the writing process, teachers can enable learners to explore their thoughts and develop their own writing by using the five-step writing process model developed from Scott (1996) This model consists of five stages, including: prewriting, first draft composing, feedback, second draft writing, and editing (Tompkins, 2000, p 223) Through the writing process, professional writers or even students hardly follow the fixed sequence of writing stages linearly because they have to move back and forth among different writing steps in order to come up with better ideas In other words, the stages of writing process may come flexibly, not in a fixed order The writer may evaluate while generating ideas or thinking up new ides when he does evaluation (Scott, 1996) Writing in the process approach can thus be seen as a dynamic and unpredictable process (Tribble, 1990) while writers try to reformulate their ideas and approximate the meaning of what they want to express in their work 1.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of process-based approaches First, the process approach stresses the process that writers go through in composing texts (Nunan, 1991) It allows students to manage their own writing by VIII giving students a chance to think as they write (Brown, 2001, p 336) That is, students convey their messages to the readers in written form through the complex writing process; prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing The second point is related to what learners have internally Brown (2001) claims that the process approach is advantageous to students in language learning because students are the creators of language, they need to focus on content and message, and their own intrinsic motives are valued Raimes (1983) indicates that in the process approach, students not write on a given topic in a restricted time and hand in the composition but explore a topic through writing Raimes also states that through the process approach teachers find that the writing process is a process of discovery for the students: discovery of new ideas and new language forms to express those ideas In addition, the approach is beneficial to students because the approach focuses more on the various classroom activities This is believed to promote the development of skilled language use, and a number of interesting classroom techniques have emerged from the process approach to writing (Nunan, 1991) When various group activities are utilized in writing classes, the learners exchange comments or responses, or work together to write a paragraph or an essay Nunan (1991) also affirms that this approach also encourages collaborative group work between learners as a way of enhancing motivation and developing positive attitudes towards writing In spite of being widely used in ESL/ EFL composition, process-based writing still has some limitations Firstly, as Leki (1992) asserts, some people think that the process approach is unrealistic because it puts too much emphasis on multiple drafts which may cause ESL students to fail the academic exams with their single draft restrictions In addition, Badger and White (2000) also point out that learners have no clear understanding about the characteristics of writing and are provided insufficient linguistic input to write in L2 successfully in a certain text type IX REFERENCES Altrichter, H., Feldman, A., Posch, P., & Somekh, B (2013) Teachers investigate their work: An introduction to action research across the professions London: Routledge Babalola, H A L (2012) Effects of process-genre based approach on the written English performance of computer science students in a Nigerian Polytechnic Journal of Education and Practice, 3(6), 1-6 Bachman, L (1990) Fundamental considerations in language testing Oxford: Oxford University Press Bawarshi, A (2000) The genre function College English, 62(3), 335-360 Berg, B L (1989) Qualitative research methods for the social sciences Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon Bernard, H Russell (1988) Research methods in cultural anthropology Newbury Park, California: Sage Benson, P & Voler, P (1997) Autonomy and independence in language learning Oxford: Oxford University Press Bhatia, V K (1993) Analyzing genre: Language use in professional settings New York: Longman Borg, S (2006) Teacher cognition and language education Research and practice London, UK: Continuum Byram, M (2004) Genre and genre-based teaching The Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning (pp 234-237) London: Routledge Brown, H D (2001) Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (2nd ed.) New York: Addison Wesley Longman Burns, A (2001) Genre-based approaches to writing and beginning adult ESL learners In C Candlin & N Mercer (Eds.), English language teaching in its social context: A reader (pp 200-207) London: Routledge X B Dick, Action research: action and research, [Online] Available at http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/aandr.html, 2002 Chau, H.H (1999) Cohesion and coherence in translation theory and pedagogy Word-Journal of the International Linguistic Association 50, 33-46, 1999 Campbell, A., McNamara, O., & Gilroy, P (2004) Practitioner research and professional development in education London, UK: Paul Chapman Carrell, P.L (1982) Cohesion is not coherence TESOL Quarterly 16, 479-488 DeWalt, Kathleen M & DeWalt, Billie R (2002) Participant observation: a guide for fieldworkers Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press Erlandson, David A.; Harris, Edward L.; Skipper, Barbara L & Allen, Steve D (1993) Doing naturalistic inquiry: a guide to methods Newbury Park, CA: Sage Fitzgerald, G (1990) Using the computer with students with emotional and behavioral disorders Tech use guide: Using computer technology Reston, V.A The Council for Exceptional Children Handayani, S W., & Siregar, M (2013) Improving students’ writing achievement through the process genre approach Register Journal of English Language Teaching of FBS-Unimed, 2(2) Henry, A., & Roseberry, R L (1998) An evaluation of a genre-based approach to the teaching of EAP/ESP writing TESOL Quarterly, 32(1), 147-156 Hyland, K (2003) Second language writing Cambridge Cambridge University Press Hyland, K (2003) Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 17-29 Hyon, S (1996) Genre in three traditions: Implications for ESL tesol Quarterly, 693-722 Irvin, L L (2010) What Is “Academic” Writing? Writing spaces, 1, Gupitasari, H (2013) The implementation of process-genre approach to teaching writing business letter Journal of English and Education, 1(2), 23-30 XI Gay, L R & Airasian, P (2003) Education research, 2nd Ed, Prentice Hall, New Jersey Glickman, C D (1992) The Essence of School Renewal: The Prose Has Begun Educational Leadership, 50(1), 24-27 IELTS Test booklet (2014) IELTS information for candidates Retrieved from http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/ Jarunthawatchai, W (2010) A process-genre approach to teaching second language writing: theoretical perspective and implementation in a Thai university setting (Doctoral dissertation, University of Southampton) Kay, H., & Dudley-Evans, T (1998) Genre: What teachers think (Electronic version) ELT Journal, 52(4), 308-314 Kim, M (2007) Genre-based approach to teaching writing Teaching English as Second Language, 2007, 33-39 Kim, Y., & Kim, J (2005) Teaching Korean University writing class: Balancing the process and the genre approach [Electronic version] Asian EFL Journal, 7(2), 1-15 Leki, L (1992) Understanding ESL writers: A guide for teachers Portsmouth, NH: Hein Hemann Madhav Raj Belbase (2012) The Process-Genre Approach: Some Ideas for Teaching Writing in Nepal Retrieved from: https://neltachoutari.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/the-process-genre-approachsome-ideas-for-teaching-writing-in-nepal/ Nunan, D (1991) Language teaching methodology: A textbook for teachers Edinburgh, Harlow, England: Longman R O’Brien, An overview of the methodological approach of action research, Universidade Federal da Parba, Jỗo Pessoa, 2001 Raimes, A (1983) Techniques in teaching writing NY: Oxford University Press Swales, J M (1990) Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press XII Tompkins, G E (2000) Teaching writing – balancing process and product, rd edition Columbus, OH: Merrill UCLES (1996) The IELTS handbook Cambridge: UCLES publications Van Van, Hoang (2010) The Current Situation and Issues of the Teaching of English in Vietnam Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture, 22 (3) Walsh, M (2004) The application of process writing to the needs of L2 studentwriters Unpublished assignment for the University of Birmingham XIII ... BAND 4.5-5.5 IN A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY SETTING Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm việc áp dụng đường hướng kết hợp trình dựa vào thể loại việc dạy viết luận IELTS, phần 2, cho sinh viên khối không chuyên. .. sinh viên khối không chuyên trường Đại học Việt Nam M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor:Dr Hoàng Thị Hạnh HANOI -20 16 Contents Statement of... Writing, 12, 17 -29 Hyon, S (1996) Genre in three traditions: Implications for ESL tesol Quarterly, 693- 722 Irvin, L L (20 10) What Is “Academic” Writing? Writing spaces, 1, Gupitasari, H (20 13) The