HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAN THI KHANH HOA A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH – MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY BACHELOR THESIS Major: English Language Teaching Hanoi, 2019 HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAN THI KHANH HOA A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH – MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY BACHELOR THESIS Major: English Language Teaching Supervisor: Pham Thi Tuan Hanoi, 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Pham Thi Tuan She is very enthusiastic to give me the valuable suggestion for the problems that I had during the process of doing the research Besides, I would like to extent my appreciation to all the lecturers at Faculty of Foreign Languages for their help and support My special thank also goes to the second-year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi Pedagogical University If it hadn‟t been for their support, I wouldn‟t have completed the research on time Last but not least, I am grateful to my close friends for their contribution to my study ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Tittle: A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH – MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY (Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Bachelor of arts in English) I certify that no part in this study has not been copied by me from any other person„s report without acknowledgment and this work is written by my best under the instruction from my supervisor Date of submission: May, 2019 Student Supervisor Phan Thi Khanh Hoa Pham Thi Tuan iii ABSTRACT Writing is considered to be one of the most challenging skills in leaning a foreign language Thus, having an effective writing learning strategy is a big concern of many language learners Among writing learning tools, writing portfolio is one of the most popular tools that learners use in their English learning The study was to identify students‟ perceptions towards their writing learning and the use of writing portfolio The research was carried out among 60 second-year Englishmajored students in Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi Pedagogical University To achieve the research aims, survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data for analysis The research findings showed that the use of writing portfolio had certain positive effects on students‟ writing learning Besides, students had both positive and negative views towards this learning tool The research also suggests some implications for the use of writing portfolio in students‟ writing learning Key words: Writing, writing portfolio, perceptions iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HPU2: Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 FFL: Faculty of Foreign Language v LIST OF THE TABLES AND FIGURES Tables: Table Students‟ ranks of writing aspects to be focused when writing English Table Students‟ views towards their English writing Table Students‟ perceptions towards the use of writing portfolio Table Students‟ views towards other benefits of using writing portfolio Figures: Figure1 Students‟ frequency of English writing practice Figure Students‟ time spent on practicing writing English Figure Writing steps that students follow when practice writing English Figure Students‟ difficulties when writing English Figure Aspects of writing students often make errors in Figure The students‟ purposes of keeping a writing portfolio Figure Students‟ frequency of writing when using portfolio Figure Students‟ time spent on their portfolio Figure Students‟ writing process when using portfolio Figure 10 Students‟ opinions about the effect of keeping a writing portfolio on their writing Figure 11 Students‟ opinions on keeping a writing portfolio vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF THE TABLES AND FIGURES vi TABLE OF CONTENTS vii PART A INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Significance Scope of the study Aims of the study and Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW An overview of writing 1.1 Definition of writing 1.2 The importance of writing An overview of writing portfolio in writing learning 2.1 Definition of writing portfolio 2.2 The types of writing portfolio 2.3 The effects of writing portfolio on writing skills CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 10 Participants 10 Data collection instruments 10 2.1 Survey questionnaire 10 2.1.1 Reasons for using Questionnaire: 10 vii 2.1.2 Description of questionnaire 10 2.2 Interviews 11 2.2.1 Reasons for using Interview 11 2.2.2 Description of interview 11 The procedure of data collection 12 CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 13 Students‟ perceptions towards their writing learning 13 1.1 Students‟ frequency of English writing practice 13 1.2 Students‟ time spent on practicing writing English 14 1.3 Writing steps that students follow when practicing writing English 15 1.4 Students‟ ranks of writing aspects to be focused when writing 15 1.5 Students‟ difficulties when writing English 16 1.6 Aspects of writing students often make errors in 17 1.7 Students‟ views towards their English writing 18 Students‟ perceptions towards using writing portfolio in writing learning 20 2.1 As for the group of students using writing portfolio in writing learning 20 2.1.1 The students’ purposes of keeping a writing portfolio 20 2.1.2 Students’ frequency of portfolio writing 21 2.1.3 Students’ time spent on their portfolio 21 2.1.4 Students’ portfolio writing process 22 2.1.5 Students’ opinions about the effect of keeping a writing portfolio on their writing 23 2.1.6 Students’ perceptions towards the use of writing portfolio 24 2.1.7 Students’ views towards other benefits of using writing portfolio 25 2.2 As for the group of students not using writing portfolio in writing learning27 2.2.1 Students’ opinions on keeping a writing portfolio 27 2.2.2 Students’ intention in using writing portfolio in the future 27 Implications 28 3.1 Recommendations on format of portfolio 28 3.1.1 An overview of format of writing portfolio 28 viii 3.1.2 Recommendations for learners 29 3.1.3 Recommendations for teachers 29 3.2 Recommendations on the use of writing portfolio 29 3.2.1 Recommendations for learners 29 3.2.2 Recommendations for teachers 29 3.3 Other implications 30 PART C: CONCLUSIONS 31 Major findings 31 Limitations of the study 31 Suggestion for further study 31 REFERENCES 33 APPENDIX 36 ix 3.3 Other implications From the perceptions of the students, other recommendations for learners were revealed Students should spend at least 15 minutes per day to write if they use writing portfolio to contain the writings about topics they interest or write diaries They should spend approximately an hour to write each time if they have to teacher‟s assignment and practice writing English at least twice a week At the same time, they should follow all the steps in writing process including Choose the topic, Make an outline, Find sample writings, Read what you have written again, Generate ideas by yourself and Brainstorm vocabulary, Make first draft, Edit draft, Ask friends/ teacher for ideas in order to have the best writing During writing, students should try to make use of good vocabulary and grammar structures that they read in sample writings and other sources of reference as well That helps to enhance their writing proficiency and minimize errors when writing Furthermore, students should practice writing portfolio regularly with a view to building the writing habit If they maintain this for a long time, they will be confident in writing English 30 PART C: CONCLUSIONS Major findings The study focused on the second-year English-majored students‟ perceptions towards the use of writing portfolio in writing learning at Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi Pedagogical University Most of students used writing portfolio in writing learning to contain teacher‟s assignment writings They often practiced writing portfolio entries every day Students‟ time spent on writing portfolio was approximately an hour Moreover, most of the students found that Vocabulary was the most popular writing aspect affected by the use of writing portfolio They also responded that there were other benefits of using writing portfolio apart from helping them to improve writing proficiency The two main reasons why the surveyed participants did not use writing portfolio in their writing learning were the lack of time and laziness However, most of them had positive views about the use of writing portfolio when they said that they would consider using writing portfolio in their next writing course Limitations of the study This is the first time the study “A Study on Perceptions Towards the Use of Writing portfolio Among English – majored Sophomores in Faculty of Foreign Languages” has been conducted in the context of Hanoi Pedagogical University Due to the time constraints and limited scope, the study remained some inevitable mistakes and shortcomings Firstly, the study was implemented in a small number of students leading to vague findings The study would have been more objective and reliable if the number of students taking part in the research had been much larger Moreover, if the researcher had been better at academic language proficiency and had more experience in carrying out the research, the study would be more successful Suggestion for further study There are some suggestions for further study from the result of this research The researcher should carry out a research on a large number of students to take 31 wider range of the result, which means the research will be more objective and reliable The researcher could focus on how the use of portfolio writing helps students to improve their writing proficiency That could help students to use writing portfolio effectively 32 REFERENCES PORTFOLIO ARTICLES: [1] Ali, D (2017) The Effect of Dialogue Portfolio Writing on EFL Learners‟ Descriptive Writing Performance: A Quantitative Study International Portfolio of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 6(3), 71-81 [2] Andy, V (2003) Students‟ Perceptions of keeping a Language Learner Portfolio Portfolio of Language Learning, 8(3), 109-125 [3] Atena, H.B (2016) The Role of Writing Diary in a Classroom International Portfolio of Research in Linguistics, Language Teaching and Testing, 1(1), 82-88 [4] Blanka, K (2013) The Importance of Writing Indian Portfolio of Research, 2(1), 9-11 [5] Blanka, K (2014) Approaches to the Teaching of Writing Skills Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 112 (2), 147-151 [6] Colleen, M., Jan, P., John, D.B., & Roy, B (2002) Developing Reflection on Practice Through Portfolio Writing: Impacts of variation in the focus and level of feedback Teacher and Teaching Theory and Practice, 8(2), 171196 [7] Chui, Y.M (2012) Promoting Portfolio writing to enhance students‟ English competence and learning motivation in a secondary school in Hong Kong Portfolio of Foreign Language Education, 4(3), 85-108 [8] David, B (2001) Using Portfolio writing to enhance reflective practice Promoting Portfolio writing in Adult Education, 2(89), 9-18 [9] David, E.S (2013) Learner Portfolio Writing: Determining the Right Mix National Conference of the Korea English Education Society [10] Ejiro, O.J., & Rexwhite, T.E (2012) The Attitude of Undergraduate Students towards the Use of Portfolios in Delta State University Library, Abraka, Delta State International Portfolio of Library Science, 1(2), 28-37 [11] Elizabeth, S (2002) Demystifying Reflection: A Study of Pedagogical Strategies That Encourage Reflective Portfolio Writing Teachers College Record, 104(7), 1393-1421 33 [12] Gameel, M.S.R (2016) Teaching Writing in ESL/EFL Classes Through Portfolios Research Portfolio of English Language and Literature, 4(4), 471-474 [13] Geoffrey, M.L., Karen, M., & Peter, P (2013) I see, I think I wonder: An Evaluation of Portfolioing as a Critical Reflective Practice Tool for Aiding Teachers in Challenging or Confronting Contexts Australian Portfolio of Teacher Education, 38(6), 1-17 [14] Hanan, A T., Rahima, S A., Nowreyah, A A., & Abdulmohsen, A D (2015) The effect of diary writing on EFL students‟ writing and language abilities British Portfolio of Education, 3(2), 55-91 [15] Hossein, N (2000) What‟s in a ZPD? A Case Study of a Young ESL Student and a Teacher Interacting through Dialogue Portfolios Language Teaching Research, 4(2), 95-121 [16] Kang, X., Xiangli, C., & Yue, M (2007) A Survey of Engineering Student‟s use of English Language Learning Strategies The Portfolio of Asia TEFL, 4(2), 123-140 [17] Maryam, F., Nooreen, N & Mohd, S G H (2013) How can Dialogue Portfolio Writing improve learners‟ writing performance in the English as a Second Language context? IOSR Portfolio Of Humanities And Social Science, 7(2), 35-42 [18] Mohammed, F (2012) Reflective Portfolio Writing as an Effective Technique in the Writing Process Humanities, 26(4), 997-1025 [19] Roger, H (2001) Uses and Benefits of Portfolio Writing Promoting Portfolio writing in Adult Education, 2(90), 19-26 [20] Tuan, L T (2010) Enhancing EFL Learners‟ Writing Skill via Portfolio Writing Canadian Center of Science and Education, 3(3), 81-88 WEBSITES: [1] Class Portfolio 2013 Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/class-portfolios 2019, March 34 [2] The benefits of reflective portfolio writing 2017, April 11 Retrieved from https://teachingblog.mcgill.ca/2017/04/11/the-benefits-of-reflectiveportfolio-writing/ [3] Cambridge English assessing writing performance at level B1 2008 Retrieved from https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/231794-cambridgeenglish-assessing-writing-performance-at-level-b1 2019, March 27 [4] Semi-structured interviews 2017 Retrieved http://designresearchtechniques.com/casestudies/semi-structuredinterviews/ 2019, April 35 from APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed to support the study on “The use of writing portfolio in writing learning” Information provided by you remains confidential and will be served for this study only Thank you for your co-operation in completing this questionnaire! I GENERAL INFORMATION How long have you learned English? - years What was your writing score at last writing course? A 1-2 B 3-5 C 6-8 D 8.5-10 What think about the importance of writing in learning English? A Important B Not important C Uncertain II THE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THEIR WRITING LEARNING How often you practice writing English? A Every day B Once a week C Twice a week D Once a month E Twice a month How much time you often practice writing English each time? A Approximately an hour B Approximately half an hour C Approximately 15 minutes 36 Which steps you often follow when you write English? (Tick  in the box below, you can tick MORE THAN ONE item)  Choose the topic  Ask your friends/ teacher for ideas  Make an outline  Read what you have written again  Find sample writings  Generate ideas by yourself  Make your first draft  Brainstorm vocabulary  Edit your draft  Others: ……………………… Rank the following from to in order of your focus on aspects of writing when you write in English “When writing, I focus on… ” Task response Grammar Organization Vocabulary What aspects of writing you often find difficult in? (You can choose MORE THAN ONE item)  Task response  Grammar  Organization  Vocabulary What aspects of writing you often make errors? (You can choose MORE THAN ONE item)  Task response  Grammar  Organization  Vocabulary Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding your views about your English writings by putting a tick () in the appropriate box using scale given below SA: strongly agree A: agree U: uncertain D: disagree SD: strongly disagree 37 Features Statements Task response SA The content of my English writings are relevant to the topics that teacher gave I present key points clearly and have well-supported ideas for each key point I mainly use simple structures in my Grammar writings I mainly use complex structures in my writings I use simple and complex structures in my writings equally Organization I follow the format I use many linking words I use linking words accurately I use cohesive devices within and across sentences 10 I use cohesive devices accurately 11 I mainly use basic and common words in my writings Vocabulary 12 I use both common and less common words in my writings 13 I mainly use less common words in my writings 14 I use correct form of words (Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb) 15 I use English collocations correctly 16 I likely not make spelling mistake 38 A U D SD III PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO IN WRITING LEARNING Have you ever kept writing portfolio in writing learning? A Yes B Not yet If your answer is “Yes”, please answer the question from to If your answer is “Not yet”, please answer the question from 10 to 12 How long have you used writing portfolio? _ Why you keep a writing portfolio? A To keep my teacher‟s assignment writings B To keep my free writings about topics I interest C To keep my writings as reflections D To write my diaries How often you write portfolio entries? A Every day B Once a week C Twice a week D Once a month E Twice a month How much time you spend writing each portfolio entry? A Approximately an hour B Approximately half an hour C Approximately 15 minutes Which steps you often follow when you write portfolio entries? (Tick  in the box below, you can tick MORE THAN ONE item)  Choose the topic  Ask your friends/ teacher for ideas  Make an outline  Read what you have written again  Find sample writings  Generate ideas by yourself  Make your first draft  Brainstorm vocabulary 39  Others: ………………………  Edit your draft In your opinion, does writing portfolio entries affect your writing skills? A Yes B No In your opinion, what aspects of writing portfolio entries affect? (You can choose MORE THAN ONE item)  Task response  Grammar  Organization  Vocabulary How are your writing skills affected by using portfolio writing? Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding your views about writing portfolio by putting a tick () in the appropriate box using scale given below SA: strongly agree A: agree U: uncertain D: disagree SD: strongly disagree After I use writing portfolio, … Grammar Task Response Features Statements SA 17 The content of my English writings are relevant to the topics 18 I present key points clearly and have well-supported ideas for each key point 19 I mainly use simple structures in my writing portfolio 20 I mainly use complex structures in my writing portfolio 40 A U D SD 21 I structures use in simple my and complex writing portfolio Organization equally 22 I follow the format 23 I use many linking words 24 I use linking words accurately 25 I use cohesive devices within and across sentences 26 I use cohesive devices accurately 27 I mainly use basic and common words in writing portfolio 28 I use both common and less common words in my writing portfolio Vocabulary 29 I mainly use less common words in writing portfolio 30 I use correct forms of word (Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb) 31 I use correctly English collocations 32 I likely not make spelling mistake Adapted from Cambridge English Assessing Writing Performance 10 Apart from enhancing writing skills, what are other benefits of using writing portfolio? (Please tick in the opinions that are close to you) SA: strongly agree A: agree U: uncertain D: disagree SD: strongly disagree 41 Statements SA A U D SD Portfolio writing helps me to express my ideas and opinions freely Portfolio writing motivates my critical thinking skills Portfolio writing helps me to self-gain knowledge Portfolio writing helps me increase confidence in written communication Frequent portfolio writing increases my creativity Portfolio writing helps me promote mutual interactions with the teacher Portfolio writing helps me get into the habit of writing regularly 11 Why not you use writing portfolio? (Choose ONLY ONE item)  I have no idea about portfolio writings  Because I not have enough time to write portfolio  Because I think that writing portfolio does not help to improve my writing skills  Because of my laziness  Because writing portfolio is uninteresting  Because writing portfolio takes a lot of time rather than other learning strategies  Because I have another leaning strategy 12 What you think about using writing portfolio in the future? A I not have intention to use writing portfolio in the future B I will consider using writing portfolio next writing course 42 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS How often you spend writing English? ……………… ……………… What aspect of writing you focus on most when you write English? ……………… ……………… What aspect of writing you often make errors in? Why? ……………… ……………… ……………… ……………… Have you ever used writing portfolio? ……………… Questions for those who have kept writing portfolio to learning writing How much time you spend on your writing portfolio each time? ……………… ……………… ……………… What you often write in your portfolio? ……………… ……………… ……………… What aspects of writing can writing portfolio affect most? In what ways? ……………… ……………… ……………… What difficulties may you face when writing your portfolio? ……………… 43 ……………… ……………… Questions for those have not used writing portfolio Why didn't you use writing portfolio? ……………… ……………… ……………… 10 What you think about writing portfolio? ……………… ……………… ……………… 44 .. .HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAN THI KHANH HOA A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH – MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN. .. Tittle: A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH – MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY (Graduation paper submitted in partial... students‟ perceptions towards the use of writing portfolio in writing learning in Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi Pedagogical University 2? Methods of the study To achieve the aims of the study, the