VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT -**0** - ĐOÀN THỊ HƯƠNG IMPROVING LEARNERS’ ACADEMIC IELTS WRITING PERFORMANCE THROUGH MODELING (NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG VIẾT IELTS HỌC THUẬT CHO HỌC VIÊN QUA VIỆC GIỚI THIỆU BÀI MẪU) M.A MINOR THESIS PROGRAM Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT -**0** - ĐOÀN THỊ HƯƠNG IMPROVING LEARNERS’ ACADEMIC IELTS WRITING PERFORMANCE THROUGH MODELING (NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG VIẾT IELTS HỌC THUẬT CHO HỌC VIÊN QUA VIỆC GIỚI THIỆU BÀI MẪU) M.A MINOR THESIS PROGRAM Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: LAM THI PHUC HAN, M.A Hanoi, 2012 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EAP: English for Academic Purposes IELTS: International English Language Testing System TOEFL: The Test of English as a Foreign Language L2: A second Language EFL: English as a Foreign Language iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Learners’ view on IELTS writing Table 2: Learners’ feelings when writing Table 3: Factors causing difficulties for the learners to write Table 4: Learners’ problems in their writing Table 5: Teaching techniques in IELTS writing class Table 6: Learners’ preference on teachers’ teaching techniques Table 7: The frequency and percentage of errors in pretest and posttest of group A Table 8: The frequency and percentage of errors in pretest and posttest of group B Table 9: The learners’ opinions about the use of model texts to improve their IELTS writing skills Table 10: Teachers’ opinion about the use of model texts to improve their learners’ IELTS writing skills Table 11: Teachers’ suggestions for the use of model texts in IELTS writing classes v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Statement of Authorship………………………………………………… ……i Acknowledgement………………………………………………… ………….ii Abstract …………………………………………………………… …………iii List of Abbreviations………………………………………………….……….iv List of tables ……………………….……………………………… ……… v Table of contents……………………………………………………………….vi PART A: INTRODUCTION………………………… …………………… 1 Rationale of the study…………………… ………………………… Aims of the study……………………………………………… …… Significance of the study………………………… ……………… .2 Scope of the study………………………………………………… …2 Method of the study…………………………………………… …3 Organization of the study………………………………………….…….3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………… ……5 1.1 The nature and theory of writing……………………… …………….5 1.1.1 The nature of writing…………………………………….………5 1.1.2 Types of writing…………………………………………….……7 1.1.3 Approaches to the teaching of writing……………… ……… 1.2 IELTS Test………………………………………………… ……… 10 1.2.1 General information of IELTS…………………………… ….10 1.2.2 IELTS writing test………………………… ……… …… …11 1.3 Model Texts…………………………………………… …….… … 12 1.4 Situation of teaching and learning IELTS in Viet Nam and in London Foreign Language Centre……………………………… ….…………14 1.5 Previous studies……………………………………………………….14 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY……………………………… ………… 17 2.1 Participants……………………………………………… ….……….17 vi 2.2 Instruments………………………………………………… ….…….17 2.3 Data collection procedure………………………………… …………20 2.4 Data analysis procedure…………………………………….…………20 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………… …… ………21 3.1 Report of the results……………………… ……………… ……… 21 3.1.1 Report on students-questionnaire data…………………….…… 21 3.1.2 Report on the results of pretest and posttest……………….…….27 3.1.3 Report on interviews with learners and the teachers……….……29 3.2 Discussion of the results……………………………………….………33 PART C: CONCLUSION…………………………………………….……….36 The major findings of the research…………………………… …… 36 Pedagogical Implications and Recommendations……………….…….37 Limitations and suggestions of the study………………… …………39 REFERENCE APPENDIXES vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study During the last decades, there have been a number of English learners wishing to work and study in English speaking countries However, one of the prerequisites for their entrance is that they have to sit for either the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) As a result, many non-native learners are trained to pass these kinds of tests IELTS, which is widely recognized as a language requirement for entering universities and working mainly in the United Kingdom, Australia, USA and New Zealand, is administered by the British Council or IDP Education Australia in Hanoi The test aims at testing candidates’ four skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing As a matter of fact, those who want to get high score to be admitted to target universities try to take part in some preparation courses before taking the test Therefore, there are a great number of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Centers in Hanoi who run IELTS preparation courses to meet the demands Clearly, IELTS writing is one of the important skills for both teachers to teach effectively and for learners to improve themselves However, due to the complexities of learning to write well in a second language (L2), there has been a vigorous debate on more efficient and effective teaching methods and feedback among EAP teachers and L2 writing researchers Being an IELTS teacher and also an IELTS learner, the author realizes that IELTS writing requires not only learners’ proficiency in English but also their wide knowledge of the language, culture and country as well As a result, the learners often encounter a lot of difficulties in writing This fact has encouraged the author to investigate the difficulties faced by Vietnamese learners in learning IELTS writing Moreover, in recent years, several studies on techniques for teaching IELTS writing which have been carried out have proven that the use of model texts in a writing class as a teaching tool has positive effects on learners’ writing performance This inspired the author to the research to further explore how this technique affects learners’ writing skill and how teachers and learners assess this kind of technique Aims of the study The purpose of the study is to investigate the difficulties encountered by the IELTS learners in learning writing skill It also aims at investigating how the learners improve their writing performance as a result of being exposed to model texts and what the learners and the teachers think about this teaching technique In order to achieve the above mentioned aims, the study will be conducted to answer three research questions below: What difficulties learners face in learning IELTS writing? How is the learners’ writing performance improved as the result of being exposed to model texts? What are the learners and teachers’ opinions about the use of model texts in improving learners’ writing skill? Significance of the study This study analyzes and finds out the real difficulties that Vietnamese learners face when learning IELT writing skill By doing this, the author would like to help learners foresee the problems and overcome them in order to improve their writing scores More importantly, the study is done to investigate the progress in IELTS writing the learners can make after attending the writing course using model texts as a teaching tool and how the learners and teachers think about this technique Therefore, teachers who have been teaching IELTS writing in both the target place and in other educational settings can benefit from this study They will adopt appropriate teaching techniques to teaching this skill Scope of the study The study focused on learning and teaching IELTS writing skill to Vietnamese learners who were taking part in IELTS preparation courses However, due to the small scale of the study, only London Foreign Language Centre was chosen as the research setting The participants of the study, as a result, were IELTS teachers and 30 learners who were able to provide reliable and valid information for the study Method of the study In order to achieve the aims of the study, the researcher applied both quantitative and qualitative methods as follows: As for data collection, the author used survey questionnaire, tests, and interviews Firstly, survey questionnaire was conducted to find out the difficulties in learning IELTS writing and the techniques teachers used in the writing class Secondly, tests (pre and post tests) were designed for the learners to check how they improve their writing skill after the course Thirdly, semi-interviews were conducted among four teachers and fifteen learners who were attending preparation courses in London Foreign Language Centre to investigate what they think about the use of model texts in IELTS writing classes As for data analysis, the standard IELTS global codification system on a scale of to was employed for rating the participants’ performances on both tests Then, the data from questionnaire and tests were collected to carefully and thoroughly analyze in order to provide the answers to research questions In addition, the interviews were recorded, then transcribed and analyzed so as to answer question Organization of the study The study is divided into three parts The first part is the introduction dealing with the rationale, aims, scope, significance, methods and organization of the study The second part is the main part of the paper with three chapters Chapter 1: provides the background for 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 2: present the research methods adopted in the study Justifications of the chosen research instruments as well as their implementation are also provided Chapter 3: reveals the results of the study and the discussions of the results The last part is the conclusion that summarizes the major findings of the study This chapter also gives recommendations to both learners and teachers in order to improve the learning and teaching IELTS writing skills Besides, some limitation of the study and suggestions for further studies are put forward Following this part are the Appendices and References the learners can learn easily how to write and especially what should be included in each part Moreover, models provide them a lot of vocabulary, useful expression and interesting ideas I totally support this kind of teaching technique.” Interviewer: What suggestion you have for the use of model text as an effective teaching tool? Teacher 3: “I sometimes ask my learners to give their own comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the model text and I find that this is really effective My learners have to explore the model essay by themselves, which makes them have critical thinking.” Teacher 4: Gender: Female Age: 26 Year of teaching English: Interviewer: Do you believe that modeling is helpful in improving the students’ writing skills? Why? Why not? Teacher 4: “I’m personally convinced that we need to use model answers in class Some learners feel nervous and confused before the examination Using model texts may be a solution to this problem It was my personal experience that some learners had no idea how to write – how to structure a piece of writing, what type of language to include, and so on Only when I gave a few examples did they start to be able to write decent pieces of writing, and feel confident that they were doing the right thing.” XII Interviewer: What suggestion you have for the use of model text as an effective teaching tool? Teacher 4: “It is my opinion that teachers should design suitable exercises to maximize students’ learning from model texts For example, I often ask my learners to find and underline the topic sentence; what are the main points and supporting ideas I sometimes also ask them to write down the key items from a paragraph of the model and try to paraphrase the paragraph exactly as it is in the model.” XIII APPENDIX Handouts for the Learners The sample The table indicates in- flight preferences of 400 regular male and female economy class travelers in two age groups, based on an airline survey in 2002 Specifically 39 of the 100 men aged 25- 45 rated seat/leg room as the most important feature, rising to 46 of the older men Service was next with 27 of the 2545 male group and 26 of the 45+males Turning to the female groups, it is clear that entertainment is also of low importance with only 10 of the younger and of the older age group placing it first Drinks and meals are rated number one by 26 younger women and 31 of the over 45s Service and seat/leg room are the most important in-flight features for women, with 34 younger and 30 older women choosing the former, while 30 and 35 chose the latter The high priority of physical comfort for frequent air travelers seems undeniable EXERCISES: Complete these exercises based on the sample answer to develop writing skills for task question Prepositions Write the appropriate preposition for each expression from the sample answer Based……… / ……… low importance/ rising ……… / turning ……/ chosen……… / high priority ………… / preferences of travelers ………… two age groups Comparison language Complete the sentences: Older men rate …………….as more important than older women Younger women rate …………and service more highly than older women XIV The most important in-flight factor is ……………………………… The least important consideration is ………………………………… The second most important feature for men is ……………………… ………………… seem about as important as services for 45+ women Synonyms Find synonyms in the sample for these expressions: ……… rated number one … ……………… Last is …………… ……………… Younger men ……………… 45+ males ……………… 25-45 year old females ……………… XV Handouts for the Learners Exercise 1: Read this task You should spend about 40 minutes on this task Due to the influence of world- wide media such as television and computers, the gap between cultures is narrowing The introduction of this “global culture” is of great benefit to the world To what extent you agree with this viewpoint? You should write at least 250 words Now read this sample essay The international mass media has for the first time resulted in the majority of people sharing the same experiences Films such as Titanic are known the world over and musicians and sports stars are celebrated all over the world Many people believe this common ground brings people closer together Another advantage of a global culture is that issues such as human rights become internationalised It is much harder for a country to keep abuses hidden, when foreign television crews bring atrocities into the living room of the world However, global culture does have disadvantages The media tends to be concentrated in a few hands, so the public doesn’t get a balanced perspective News broadcast often represent the viewpoint of the owner rather than an objective opinion Although global culture has its advantages, it is often bland and without any real value This is because it needs to appeal to the widest range of viewers possible and so has to try to find a product that will keep everyone happy Media tycoons’ main aim is to make money and so it is easier to rely on marketing gimmicks rather than make a product of lasting value At the same time, businessmen are more concerned with markets than morals and so will not air controversial stories for fear of offending the local government Therefore, global culture tends to be a watered down international product designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator XVI Although a global culture offers some advantages, the nature of business dictates that this potential is rarely fulfilled Write a plan for the essay Include: An introduction Arguments giving the advantages of global culture Supporting evidence for these arguments Arguments against global culture Supporting evidence A conclusion re-stating the writer’s view XVII Exercise 2: Read this task You should spend about 40 minutes on this task As part of a class assignment you have to write about the following topic Soon it will be scientifically possible to clone humans What are the advantages and disadvantages of this? You should write at least 250 words Now read this sample answer written by a student It contains some irrelevant information Underline any sentences that are not relevant to the question Over the past hundred years, modern science has advanced faster than over before One hundred years ago people were only just starting to use electricity and hadn’t discovered antibiotics Now they have the internet and will soon be able to clone human beings Many people disagree with cloning because they feel that the world is already facing problems of overpopulation without copying the people who are already alive There are enough people born today without creating extra mouths to feed It has also been said that scientists will use cloning to duplicate famous leaders and that this technology could be very dangerous if it got into the wrong hands I once saw a film where evil scientists cloned Hitler and tried to take over the world What is more, countries may try to make a master race or a population that only has qualities that the government considers desirable There are also some advantages to cloning Many couples are desperate to have children but are unable to have children naturally It may be that cloning is the answer Cloning could also be used to create spare parts for surgery Therefore if you needed a heart transplant, you would not have to wait for someone to die in a car crash, but just be given a spare heart cloned in the organ bank Overall, there are advantages and disadvantages to cloning, so scientists should think very carefully before cloning humans XVIII APPENDIX SCORE SHEET (Pretest) Group A: Name Score Nguyễn Thị Hoài Trần Minh Chiến 4.0 4.5 Vũ Thị Thu Hà 4.5 Trần Minh Ngọc 4.0 Lê Quang Anh Nguyễn Minh Phương Lê Thị Huệ Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Đặng Thị Nguyệt 5.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 5.0 10 11 12 13 Nguyễn Văn Hà Trịnh Văn Trường Dương Huyền Trang Cao Ngọc Yến Hoa 5.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 14 Vũ Văn Lập 4.5 15 Trần Đình Đại 4.5 XIX SCORE SHEET (Pretest) Group B: Name Score Nguyễn Minh Hòa 4.0 Trần Quốc Đạt 4.5 Nguyễn Phương Anh 4.0 Lê Minh Đức 4.5 Dương Thị Trang 5.0 Phạm Thị Hạnh 5.0 Vũ Thị Lụa 5.0 Lương Thanh Hồng 4.0 Vũ Bá Đạt 4.5 10 Nguyễn Văn Thành 4.5 11 Nguyễn Thị Ngọc 4.0 12 Kiều Thị Linh 4.0 13 Nguyễn Thị Huyền 4.0 14 Đoàn Văn Hiến 4.5 15 Lê Ngọc Quyên 4.5 XX SCORE SHEET (Posttest) Group A: Name Score Nguyễn Thị Hoài 4.5 Trần Minh Chiến 5.5 Vũ Thị Thu Hà 6.0 Trần Minh Ngọc 5.0 Lê Quang Anh 4.5 Nguyễn Minh Phương 5.5 Lê Thị Huệ 6.0 Nguyễn Thị Tuyết 5.5 Đặng Thị Nguyệt 6.5 10 Nguyễn Văn Hà 6.5 11 Trịnh Văn Trường 6.0 12 Dương Huyền Trang 5.0 13 Cao Ngọc Yến Hoa 5.0 14 Vũ Văn Lập 5.5 15 Trần Đình Đại 6.0 XXI SCORE SHEET (Posttest) Group B: Name Score Nguyễn Minh Hòa 5.5 Trần Quốc Đạt 6.0 Nguyễn Phương Anh 6.0 Lê Minh Đức 6.0 Dương Thị Trang 6.5 Phạm Thị Hạnh 6.5 Vũ Thị Lụa 7.0 Lương Thanh Hồng 5.5 Vũ Bá Đạt 6.0 10 Nguyễn Văn Thành 6.0 11 Nguyễn Thị Ngọc 5.0 12 Kiều Thị Linh 5.5 13 Nguyễn Thị Huyền 5.5 14 Đoàn Văn Hiến 6.0 15 Lê Ngọc Quyên 6.5 XXII APPENDIX XXIII XXIV APPENDIX 10 XXV s z XXVI ... categories of writing: personal writing, study writing, public writing, creative writing, social writing and institutional writing (Hedge, 1988: 95-6) Personal writing refers to writing for oneself”... GRADUATE DEPARTMENT -**0** - ĐOÀN THỊ HƯƠNG IMPROVING LEARNERS’ ACADEMIC IELTS WRITING PERFORMANCE THROUGH MODELING (NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG VIẾT IELTS HỌC THUẬT CHO HỌC VIÊN QUA VIỆC GIỚI THIỆU... of using IELTS model essays in improving learners’ writing and their awareness of writing features” to explore the role of using IELTS model essays in improving Iranian EFL learners’ writing ability