VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** TRẦN THỊ ÁNH TUYẾT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLABORATIVE BRAINSTORMING AT THE PRE-WRITING STAGE IN INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH CLASSES AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Khảo sát hiệu việc thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm trước viết lớp học tiếng Anh trình độ Trung cấp trường đại học Hà Nội) M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi - 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** TRẦN THỊ ÁNH TUYẾT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLABORATIVE BRAINSTORMING AT THE PRE-WRITING STAGE IN INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH CLASSES AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Khảo sát hiệu việc thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm trước viết lớp học tiếng Anh trình độ Trung cấp trường đại học Hà Nội) M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Hoàng Thị Hạnh Hanoi - 2015 DECLARATION I, Trần Thị Anh Tuyết , K21 being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLABORATIVE BRAINSTORMING AT THE PREWRITING STAGE IN INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH CLASSES AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI is completely the result of my own work for the Degree of Master at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution Hanoi, April 2nd, 2015 TRẦN THỊ ÁNH TUYẾT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To complete this thesis, I owe profound indebtedness to many people for their enthusiastic help during the conduct of my research I would like to give my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr Hoang Thi Hanh, for her invaluable support, helpful guidance and considerable encouragement, which plays a highly significant part in the completion of this paper Besides, I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to a critical colleague of mine as well as twenty students in my class, who enthusiastically participated in the data collection process In fact, without their help, I could not complete this thesis Also, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my parents and my friends, who have constantly encouraged me during the time when I conducted my research paper Last but not least, I would like to thank my readers for their interests and comments on this study ii ABSTRACT Brainstorming has been a popular technique organized individually or collaboratively for idea generation in many fields While a number of studies have been reported on the productivity of group idea generation, the effectiveness of collaborative brainstorming for generating ideas as pre-writing techniques have not received deep concern This thesis reports on a qualitative action study that emerged from reflective teaching practice in an intermediate English class The research investigated the effectiveness of collaborative brainstorming training on students’ idea performance in writing papers and on students’ learning of writing skills through in-depth interviews, observations, students’ writing papers and students’ journals The study indicates that collaborative brainstorming training with additional rules can significantly improve quantity and quality of ideas in paragraph writing, but not in letter writing Besides, training has had positive effects on students’ learning of writing skills The findings of the study, therefore, make important contributions to the implementation of collaborative brainstorming in the English language teaching practice iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT .iii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and research questions 3 Significance of the study 4 Scope of the study .4 Methodology An overview of the research report PART B: DEVELOPMENT .10 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 10 1.1.Process approach to teaching writing 10 1.1.1 What is process approach? .10 1.1.2.Advantages of the process approach 11 1.1.3.Criticism of the process approach .12 1.2 Group work .13 1.3 Collaborative brainstorming (group brainstorming) 14 1.3.1 The effectiveness of group brainstorming 15 1.3.2 Productivity loss due to group brainstorming 15 1.3.3 Ways to improve group brainstorming 16 1.4 Related studies .22 1.4.1 Summary of previous studies 22 1.4.2 Research gap .25 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 26 iv 2.1 Research methodology 26 2.1.1 Research design 26 2.1.2 The participants 27 2.2 Research instruments 29 2.2.1 Interviews .29 2.2.2 Students’ writing papers 31 2.2.3 Group brainstorming training procedures 31 2.2.4 Classroom observations .34 2.2.5 Students’ journals 35 2.3 Data collection procedures 36 2.3.1 Stage 36 2.3.2 Stage 37 2.4 Data analysis procedures 39 2.4.1 Sorting and categorizing data 39 2.4.2 Analyzing data for meaning 40 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 42 3.1 Stage .42 3.1.1 Research question 1: 42 3.1.2 Research question 2: 44 3.2 Stage .46 3.2.1 Research question 3: 46 3.2.2 Research question 4: 61 3.3 Conclusion .68 PART C: CONCLUSION 70 Synthesis of major findings of the study 70 Contributions of the study 73 2.1 Methodological contributions 73 2.2 Theoretical contributions .73 2.3 Pedagogical contributions 74 v Limitations of the study 74 Suggestions for further studies .75 APPENDIXES I APPENDIX I APPENDIX 2A III APPENDIX 2B IV APPENDIX 2C VIII APPENDIX 2D.1 XII APPENDIX 2D.2 XIV APPENDIX 2E XVI vi LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS List of tables Table 4.1 Students’ Idea Generation before Intervention Table 4.2 Extracts of Students’ Writing Before and After Intervention Table 4.3 Students’ Perception of Effectiveness of Group Brainstorming in Paragraph Writing Lessons Table 4.4 Students’ Perception of Effectiveness of Group Brainstorming in Letter Writing Lessons List of figures Figure 4.1 Average number of total ideas, main ideas and supporting ideas in students’ paragraph writing papers Figure 4.2 The highest number of ideas (High) in students’ paragraph writing papers Figure 4.3: The lowest number of ideas (Low) in students’ paragraph writing papers Figure 4.4: Ideas in students’ letter writing papers List of abbreviations USSH : University of Social Sciences and Humanities ESL : English as a Second Language EFL : English as a Foreign Language vii PART A: INTRODUCTION The first part covers the current problem in reality and in researching as the rationale for the study Also, the aims, significance, scope and methodology of the study are included in this part In addition, the main elements of the study considered as the guidelines for the whole paper are identified here Rationale At intermediate English level, many students may feel that they are no longer making progress like at previous levels (Oxenden et al, 2006) This was true to the situation of teaching and learning English at intermediate level at our school, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) Non majored students at the university attend the intermediate English course of integrated skills A topic is covered in a unit in which students can practise reading, listening, speaking and writing skills The syllabus is designed based on the text book, and different types of writing can be taught in different units To be specific, in a semester, students have 22.5 class hours for writing To intermediate level, writing skills were becoming more challenging to students as besides familiar writing forms like letters, they needed to learn new types like stories, film reviews and articles In a meeting held for teachers who were teaching current intermediate English classes in the semester in October 2013, the middle of the second semester, academic year 2013-2014, the teachers including my colleagues and I shared concerns about the teaching and learning and discussed actions to improve students’ learning outcomes In terms of writing skills, most teachers agreed that many students had produced incomprehensible pieces of writing, which was due to lack of ideas, poor vocabulary and grammar structures More importantly, a lot of students had problems generating ideas and/or arranging ideas logically for the writing In fact, I had tried to suggest my students, and even provided them with guiding ideas APPENDIX 2A GROUP BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS OBSERVATION FORM Teacher’s name:………………………………… Observer’s name:………………………………… Place:……………………………………………… Date:……………………………………………… Time: From……………to………………………… Procedure Session Content Actual time From …- to… Training practice Comments Traning practice Comments Brainstorming for the test Comments Other comments and suggestions: APPENDIX 2B III Teacher’s activities Students’ activities GROUP BRAINSTORMING TRAINING PROCEDURE Training schedule – Paragraph writing lessons Activities Time (minutes) Group setting Group brainstorming practice Training sessions Step 1: Solitary brainstorming Step 2: Group brainstorming 10 Group brainstorming practice Step 1: Solitary brainstorming Step 2: Group brainstorming 10 Actual brainstorming for the test 15 Students writing 20 Total: 70 minutes Students’ reflection 10 minutes (extra time) Group setting Students work in groups of four: two students sit at one desk facing other two students A group is mixed with strong students, average students and even weak students Training sessions Session 1: Group brainstorming practice The sequence is solitary brainstorming to group brainstorming The students will be told that both individual and group performance will be assessed IV Step 1: Solitary brainstorming The topic is “What can you use a red hard A4 piece of paper for?” Teacher raises the piece of paper up so that all students can see it Students are asked to brainstorm all uses of the red paper Each student is provided an A4 piece of paper to write the ideas on The following rules are instructed to the students: - work individually, no discussing with other people - use simple words or phrases, not necessarily complete sentences - not to worry about grammar or spelling - should write in English, but could use Vietnamese if necessary - write as many ideas as possible Step 2: Group brainstorming After 5-8 minutes, students are asked to exchange and discuss ideas with members in their group Each group will be provided A4 pieces of paper to write ideas of the whole group Students are instructed the following rules in the brainstorming process: - feel free to offer any ideas - generate as many ideas as possible - not criticize any ideas of others - can combine and improve previous ideas - stay focused on the task: not tell stories - keep the brainstorming going: when no one is talking, a group member says “Let’s see what other ideas we can come up with (using the red paper)” (restate the problem) V - return to previous categories: when the group has some ideas but no one is talking, one group member says “ Does anyone have more ideas related to (restate an idea already suggested)?” - give chances for every group member to express their ideas - with ideas you find strange (or unique), you may ask others to clarify - use simple words or phrases, not necessarily complete sentences - not to worry about grammar or spelling - use English, but could use Vietnamese if necessary The rules could be explained in Vietnamese to be well-understood by the students Following the rules, the students discuss and write ideas in 5-8 minutes Teacher could be the facilitator to enforce the rules Session 2: Group brainstorming practice The topic for practice brainstorming this time will be “What are factors to consider when you choose a university to attend?” The sequence in session will be repeated Teacher enforces the rules and provides vocabulary support for the students Actual group brainstorming During final brainstorming session, the students brainstormed for 15 minutes on the topic “What are possible reasons for the break-up of a love?” The sequence of two steps of solitary brainstorming, group brainstorming will be applied during this session The conversations of the groups will be recorded to serve as data for the research After this session, teacher will ask students to individually write a paragraph about possible reasons for the break-up of a love Before they write, teacher can remind students of organization of a paragraph and linking words they may need VI Students writing Students have 20 minutes to individually write a paragraph about possible reasons for the break-up of a love After that, teacher will collect all students’ writing papers Students’ reflection The students will be asked to write a small reflection (around 100 words in Vietnamese) on group brainstorming and its effects on their writing Their opinions and suggestions will be welcomed All students’ reflection papers will be collected to serve as data for the research VII APPENDIX 2C GROUP BRAINSTORMING TRAINING PROCEDURE Training schedule- Letter writing lessons Activities Time (minutes) Group setting Group brainstorming practice Training sessions Step 1: Solitary brainstorming Step 2: Group brainstorming 10 Group brainstorming practice Step 1: Solitary brainstorming Step 2: Group brainstorming 10 Actual brainstorming 10 Students writing 20 Total: 65 minutes Students’ reflection 10 minutes (extra time) Group setting Students work in groups of four: two students sit at one desk facing other two students A group is mixed with strong students, average students and even weak students 2.Training sessions Session 1: Group brainstorming practice The sequence is solitary brainstorming to group brainstorming VIII The students will be told that both individual and group performance will be assessed Step 1: Solitary brainstorming The topic is “What are factors to consider when you choose a job to do?” Teacher raises the piece of paper up so that all students can see it Students are asked to brainstorm individually Each student is provided an A4 piece of paper to write the ideas on The rules are: - work individually, no discussing with other people - use simple words or phrases, not necessarily complete sentences - not to worry about grammar or spelling - should write in English, but could use Vietnamese if necessary - write as many ideas as possible Step 2: Group brainstorming After 5-8 minutes, students are asked to exchange and discuss ideas with members in their group Each group will be provided A4 pieces of paper to write ideas of the whole group Students are instructed the rules: Osborn rules (1963) and additional rules - feel free to offer any ideas - generate as many ideas as possible - not criticize any ideas of others - can combine and improve previous ideas - stay focused on the task: not tell stories - keep the brainstorming going: when no one is talking, a group member says “Let’s see what other ideas we can come up with (using the red paper)” (restate the problem) IX - return to previous categories: when the group has some ideas but no one is talking, one group member says “ Does anyone have more ideas related to (restate an idea already suggested)?” - give chances for every group member to express their ideas - with ideas you find strange (or unique), you may ask others to clarify - use simple words or phrases, not necessarily complete sentences - not to worry about grammar or spelling - use English, but could use Vietnamese if necessary The rules could be explained in Vietnamese to be well-understood by the students Following the rules, the students discuss and write ideas in 5-8 minutes Teacher could be the facilitator to enforce the rules Session 2: Group brainstorming practice The topic for practice brainstorming this time will be “What are good personalities of a tour guide?” The sequence in session will be repeated Teacher enforces the rules and provides vocabulary support for the students Session 4: Actual group brainstorming First, in group students select a position or two positions that they like to apply for Then, they brainstorm on good personalities and related experience for the job The sequence of two steps of solitary brainstorming, group brainstorming will be applied during this session The conversations of the groups will be recorded to serve as data for the research After this session, teacher will ask students to individually write a letter to apply for a position in the Olympic Games X Students writing Students have 20 minutes to write a letter to apply for a position in the Olympic Games After that, teacher will collect all students’ writing papers Students’ reflection The students will be asked to write a small reflection (around 100 words in Vietnamese) on group brainstorming and its effects on their writing Their opinions and suggestions will be welcomed All students’ reflection papers will be collected to serve as data for the research XI APPENDIX 2D.1 Stage 2: Post-intervention interviews with students The Vietnamese version Chào em, Cơ có vài câu hỏi hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm tổ chức học hơm nay, mong em hợp tác trả lời để giúp hồn thành nghiên cứu Câu hỏi sau: Em thấy hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm học hơm nào? Em có thích hoạt động khơng? Khi làm việc nhóm em có hội để chia sẻ ý tưởng khơng? Em có làm việc tốt với nhóm khơng? Việc thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm giúp em chuẩn bị viết nào? Thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm cịn có lợi ích khác với em? Em có gặp vấn đề thảo luận với nhóm khơng? Nếu có, em cho biết có giải pháp cho vấn đề đó? Theo em, cần làm để hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm tốt hơn? Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác em! XII The English version Good morning, I would like to ask you some questions about group brainstorming sessions organized in today lessons The questions are like the following: How you find about group brainstorming sessions today? How you like it? Did you have chances to share your ideas? Did you work well with your group? How did group brainstorming help and/or prepare you to write? What other benefits can you get from the activities? Did you encounter any problems working with your group? If yes, what will be possible solutions? What should be done to improve group brainstorming activities? Thank you very much for your cooperation! XIII APPENDIX 2D.2 Stage 2: Post-intervention interviews with the critical colleague The Vietnamese version Chào chị, Em có vài câu hỏi hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm tổ chức học hôm nay, mong chị hợp tác trả lời để giúp em hồn thành nghiên cứu Câu hỏi sau: Chị thấy hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm học hôm nào? Chị thấy sinh viên có hội để chia sẻ ý tưởng khơng? Sinh viên có làm việc tốt với nhóm họ khơng? Việc thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm giúp sinh viên chuẩn bị viết nào? Thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm cịn có lợi ích khác cho sinh viên? Sinh viên/Giáo viên có gặp vấn đề hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm khơng? Nếu có, chị vui lịng cho biết giải pháp cho vấn đề đó? Theo chị, cần làm để hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm tốt hơn? Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác chị! The English version XIV Good morning, I would like to ask you some questions about group brainstorming sessions organized in today lessons The questions are like the following: How you find about group brainstorming sessions today? Did students have chances to share their ideas? Did students work well with their group? How did group brainstorming help and/or prepare students to write? What other benefits can students get from the activities? Did students and/or teacher encounter any problems during the sessions? If yes, what will be possible solutions? What should be done to improve group brainstorming activities? Thank you very much for your cooperation! XV APPENDIX 2E The Vietnamese Version NHẬN XÉT VỀ HOẠT ĐỘNG THẢO LUẬN NHÓM TRƯỚC KHI VIẾT Ngày :……………………………………………… Bạn vui lòng cho biết nhận xét hoạt động trước viết tổ chức ngày hôm Ý kiến bạn vô đáng quý cho nghiên cứu Thông tin cá nhân bạn đảm bảo bí mật tơi cam kết sử dụng nhận xét bạn cho mục đích nghiên cứu Xin cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! Gợi ý: Bạn có thích hoạt động thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm trước viết khơng? Bạn có hội chia sẻ ý kiến nhóm khơng? Bạn có làm việc tốt với nhóm khơng? Việc thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm giúp bạn viết nào? Bạn thấy việc thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm cịn có lợi ích khác khơng? Bạn có gặp vấn đề thảo luận nhóm khơng, có bạn nghĩ giải pháp gì? Bạn có muốn thảo luận ý tưởng nhóm trước viết tổ chức học viết sau không? Bạn nghĩ làm để việc thảo luận ý tưởng theo nhóm có hiệu hơn? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………… XVI The English Version FEEDBACK ON GROUP BRAINSTORMING AT PRE-WRITING STAGE Date :……………………………………………… Please give your comments on group brainstorming activities organized in today lessons Your ideas will be of great value to my research Your personal information will be kept confidential and your ideas will just be used for research purposes Thank you very much for you cooperation! Suggestions: How you like the group brainstorming activities Did you have chances to share your ideas? Did you work well with your group? How did group brainstorming help and/or prepare you to write? What other benefits can you get from the activities? Did you encounter any problems working with your group? If yes, what will be possible solutions? Would you like group brainstorming to be organized in other writing lessons? What should be done to improve group brainstorming activities? XVII ... for the degree of Master of Arts hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COLLABORATIVE BRAINSTORMING AT THE PREWRITING STAGE IN INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH. .. more ideas than those in the collaborative- to-individual sequence The results indicate that training can increase quantity of ideas generated in groups and that group brainstorming session preceded... of the class The research began with an investigation of students’ idea generation for writing in my class, and then collaborative brainstorming was developed and applied aiming at improving