Luan van Cao hoc- Bui Thi Phuong Lan-K13B.doc

8/11/2019 Luan van Cao hoc- Bui Thi Phuong Lan-K13B.doc

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Hanoi National University-College of Foreign LanguagesPost- graduate studies department

Bi Th Phng Lan

The rst year language stuents! i"#ulties in $aragra$h

%riting an so&e a$$ro$riate strategies to solve these $ro'le&s

at the National (#ono&i#s University

M.A minor Thesis

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology.

Course: 13

Supervisor: L) Th* Nghi+$, .

Hanoi, 2007

.'stra#t


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Writing is a very important skill in teaching and learning English especially paragraph

writing. But or the irst ! year language students at "ational Economics #niversity $"E#%&

they still get many diiculties in paragraph writing. #nderstanding their pro'lems& ( decided

to do a research on teaching paragraph writing with the hope that ( can provide the teachers

o English at "EW with the real situation a'out their students) diiculties.

(n the study& ( try to ind out the students) common errors in language& idea

organi*ation& and content. With these indings& ( will recommend the 'est teaching

methodology to help teachers o English deal with their students) pro'lems like using

pictures and using readings with various activities such as working with the te+t using

copying& working with the te+t to e+amine cohesive links& working with the te+t to com'inesentence& etc. Moreover& ( will mentions to teachers) correction. ,ow to deal with students)

errors- Which errors teachers should correct- When to correct- ( mysel also will design a

check list o paragraph writing or students can check 'y themselves or check or their

partners.

With my indings and my suggestions or teaching paragraph writing or the irst year

language students at "EW& ( hope that the teachers o English at "EW will have a 'asic

'ackground o students to apply a suita'le way o teaching in order help them to overcome

their pro'lems.

Ta'le of #ontents/age

/ntrou#tion

0


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1. Rational (Introduction, NEU students difculties, and Conclusion)

!. "#$ecti%es o& t'e stud

*. +cope o& stud

. et'od o& t'e stud 1

/. Contents o& stud 1

The Boy

Cha$ter /0 Literature revie1

I.1 Teaching writing

(.1.1. 2einitions o writing 10

(.1.0. The reasons or teaching writing 13

(.1.3. Approaches to writing teaching 13

(.1.4. /rinciples o teaching writing 15

I.2. Teaching paragraph writing

(.0.1. 2einition o /aragraph 16

(.0.0. 7lassiications o paragraph 18

(.0.3. Writing /rocess o paragraph 09

Cha$ter //0 ethoology

II.1. Subjects. 03II.2. escription o! the course o! "ng#ish !or writing paragraph

at $"% 03

II.3. ata co##ection 04

Cha$ter ///0 2ata analysis an is#ussions

III.1. &uestionnaire Surve' (na#'sis

(((.1.1. tudents) 'ackground and attitude 06

(((.1.0. ;eneral E+pectation o the course 0I& who have a negative attitude toward studying English. They

think they had a wrong choice on learning English 'ecause ater the irst term they reali*e

that English is @uite diicult or them. They hardly meet the course re@uirement. And 4.6

students have reasons o discovering the native speakers) cultures. 7hart 0 shows the

percentage o students with dierent views on learning English.

Chart 2: 4ercentage o! stu+ents with +i!!erent views on "ng#ish

'viously& most students learn English 'ecause o their uture o')s re@uirement so that apart

rom improving their language knowledge& teachers should provide them with social

knowledge 'y asking them to write some topics related to work.

III..#. eneral E/pectation of the course

III.1.#.1. !he necessity of the paragraph writing course

There are 199I students answering JesD when they are @uestioned 2o you wish to

learn paragraph writing at "E#-D But each one has his own motivation. 39.0I students

conirm it is necessary to study paragraph writing 'ecause it is very useul or their essay

writing and their thesis writing in the uture. The same percentage o students $39.0I% think

paragraph writing is good or their uture career. The proportion o students who think it is

essential to conduct a paragraph writing course 'ecause it is a 'ackground writing course or

any higher writing course accounts or 18.>I. >.


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Chart 3:The necessit' o! the paragraph writing course

(n short& the num'er o students who think paragraph writing is necessary or their

thesis writing and their uture o's are the same $39.0I%. (t shows that inding an appropriate

strategy o teaching paragraph writing to help students overcome their diiculties is an

urgent task.

III.1.#.#. tudents2 e-pectation of the course contents

7hart 4 presents the necessity o the paragraph writing contents. (n general& students

highly appreciate the elements in the given course contents. Most elements get more rates 4

or 5 $high scale% than 1 or 0 $low scale%. There are 38 out o 43 $88.3I% students who think

they really need to improve their voca'ulary and grammar ater inishing the paragraph

writing course. The proportion o students who are aware o high necessity o the paragraph

writing process account or >0.6I& and only 4.>I think it is lownecessary. For idea

organi*ation& >0.6I students choose highly necessary scale 'ut no one chooses low

necessary scale. Besides& E/ knowledge also plays an important role in their writings with

>


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Chart 6: The necessit' o! the paragraph writing contents

(n summary& most students highly appreciate the necessity o voca'ulary& grammar

and E/ knowledge gaining ater the paragraph writing course. (t is understanda'le 'ecause

most o them revealed that they learn English or their uture o's.

III.1.#.3. tudents2 difficulties

Although some o students have learned paragraph writing& most o them still ace

many diiculties. All these diiculties are shown in 7hart 5.

Chart : The stu+ents +i!!icu#ties

(t can 'e seen that the num'er o students who have diiculty in voca'ulary and

grammar is the highest& accounting or >9.4I. Then& the diiculty in idea e+pressing is

48.8I. A part rom that& using linking word is also diicult or the students in paragraph

writing. (t accounts or 4>.>I. While there is 18.>I students who eel it diicult to write a

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topic sentence& 13.9.4I students make voca'ulary and grammatical errors. (t shows that it is necessary or

teachers to provide the students with dierent kinds o e+ercises that ocus on grammatical

aspect 'esides improving other paragraph writing skills such as logical idea e+pression or the

use o linking words.

III.1.#.. tudents2 recommendations for the course

When 'eing asked or recommendations to overcome their diiculties& many students

did not recommend anything& 'ut 11.6I respondents gave dierent interesting ideas. The

students who are 'ad at voca'ulary and grammar recommend teacher)s provision o

voca'ulary according to topics& and teacher)s clariication or translation o diicult phrases

and structures into ietnamese during the lesson.

,owever& 55.8I students think that in order to write a paragraph 'etter and avoid

mistakes o linking words& idea e+pression& and so on& it is necessary or teachers to provide

them with some reerence 'ooks& show them as many sample paragraphs as possi'le. And i

it is possi'le& teachers should design or change the current material 'ecause the material they

are using now contains so many ver'ose theories and complicated e+amples that it is too

diicult or them to understand.

Moreover& students desire to come in or the new method o teaching 'y using high

technology like proector& computer& and video. They also suggested some game activities to

motivate them to practice their knowledge that they have learnt during the lesson.

Finally& students e+pect their teachers to check and correct all kinds o mistakes

careully and regularly in order to help them know how to correct their mistakes in order to

improve their writing skills.

III..%. $he choice of teaching methodology

7oncerning the choice o teaching methodology in the @uestionnaire& the writer o the

study wants to ind out the most eective methodology o paragraph teaching rom students)

needs. Three issues related to the teaching methodology are given or students to assess their

lesson understanda'ility.

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III.1.3.1. !eacher2s presenting the nowledge.

7hart > presents students) preerence or dierent ways o teachers) presenting or

ver'ali*ing knowledge during the lesson. Four ways o teacher)s presentation are given. They

are material reading and @uestions& lecture and @uestions& group discussion and use o visual

aid. =emarka'ly& a large num'er o students $>9.4I% think teachers give some @uestions

during the lecture is rather eective. Ater that& using visual aids and group discussion are

also highly appreciated 'y students to 'e good ways to help them learn English successully.

Both account or around 48.5I. But material reading and @uestions do not seem to 'e an

eective way or them or 34.8I students.

Chart 8: Stu+ents pre!erence !or o! the teachers presentation

'viously& the teacher)s role in lectures is really important. 2uring the lessons the

teacher should use visual aids and make some @uestions or students 'rainstorming 'eore

giving the answers. (t is an eective way or students to understand the lesson. Besides& the

teacher should give them chances to discuss the @uestions with their partners.

III.1.3.#. !eacher2s analying sample paragraphs

To help students write a good paragraph& the irst thing the teacher needs to do is to

care a'out students) understanding o how to write through sample paragraphs. But how to

present the knowledge o language clearly and eectively is a 'ig pro'lem. ome ways o

presentation such as teacher)s translation& student reading& group discussion and the teacher)s

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e+planation are given in 7hart 6 and its analysis may help teacher ind out a good way o

teaching paragraph writing to the students at "E#.

Chart 7: So)e +i!!erent wa's to ana#'9e a sa)p#e paragraph

(t is clear that a large num'er o students $60I% think group discussion o sample

paragraph is rather eective in the process o understanding how to write a good paragraph.

All students need the teacher)s e+planation o the sample paragraph)s content: 51.1I

students highly appraise the teacher)s e+planation and 4


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We can see clearly that a large num'er o students $53.4I% like practicing English

with amiliar situations. They highly appraise this kind o e+ercises while there are only

09.


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The chart shows students) preerence or the teacher)s error correction. (t can 'e seen

that students highly appreciate all error correction given 'y teacher. The num'er o students

who like the teacher)s correction o all errors is up to 8>I. n the contrary& 88.3I think it is

not eective i the teacher only chooses the common errors to correct& >6.4I students do not

e+pect the teacher to choose one type o error to correct. And >6.6I do not agree the teacher

ust correct the common errors 'ecause 199I students $include 8>I choose highlyeective

and 11&>I chose eective% think that correction all errors is the most eective or them to

improve their paragraph writing skill.

(n act& the more errors are corrected& the more students understand& 'ut the teacher

cannot correct all kinds o errors or all students in the class 'ecause it wastes a lot o time.

o teacher should choose one type o errors or common errors to correct only.

III.2. "rrors ana#'sis o! stu+ents writings

There are a lot o errors that are ound and counted in 40 paragraph writings. But all

errors are divided into three categories that are clearly shown in Ta'le 19. They are errors in

content& errors in organi*ation and errors in language. First o all& errors in content are all the

errors that show the students) lack o understanding the paragraph content and meaning.

These include the ailures in e+pressing the meaning intended& lack o inormation& and the

te+t)s understanda'ility which appear in topic sentence& supporting sentences and concluding

sentence o the paragraph. econd& all elements restraining the smooth low o the paragraph

are called errors in organi*ation. These include illogical arrangements o ideas& overlapped

parts or ailures in the paragraph coherence or unity. Last& errors in language come out in

grammar errors& orthography errors $punctuation and spelling errors%& voca'ulary errors and

style errors.

Ta'le 19 shows the results o the error categori*ation. As we can see rom the ta'le&

the most common errors 'elong to language& which appeared on all the analy*ed papers.

Language errors accounted or 60.


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Content I+ea /rgani9ation anguage

/ro'lem

areas

4 topic sentences 11 logical order 131 grammar

45 supporting sentences 18 coherence >4 voca'ulary

> concluding sentences 1 ormat 34 orthography

"um'er o

errors 30 22;

/ercentage 31,6< 17,< 72,;.1.3.3. Paragraph completion

Write a part o paragraph on the 'oard& ask students to discuss how to end the

paragraph in small groups then write and compare their versions with each other)s and with

the model.

0ebbie Bohnson2s bedroom in her home in 4atsill is small but practical. !he room is only

1$2-12, but the furniture is conveniently placed. As you wal through the door, you see the

des on the right side of the long wall. !o the left on the des, there is a boocase with four

shelves. In the farther left corner of the room, there is a chest of drawers. !he rest of the

short wall on the left is occupied by the bed. !hen, on the wall ne-t to the bed::

I>.1.3. . Paragraph assembly

Teachers prepare inde+ cards with one sentence on each& which together orm a

paragraph a'out the picture& hand out one inde+ card to each pair or small group o students.

The task or the whole class is to put the sentences on the cards in order on the 'oard so that

they orm a paragraph.

1. KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK..

0KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK


4KKKKKKKKKK.KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK


>KKKKKKKKKK.KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK



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Ater discussion& teachers ask students to put the correct order on the 'oard 'y using

some @uestions: Who has a sentence that could 'e the irstsecondthirdK sentence o the

paragraph-D This kind o e+ercises makes students more interested in the class activities to

ind the right order o a paragraph sample.

I>.1.3.'. 4ontrolled composition.

Teachers ask students to imagine that they are 2e''ie Gohnson. "ow in her house&

every thing changed 'ecause she has ust repaired& and she is writing a paragraph to descri'e

the old one using present simple and past simple tense. The paragraph starts with !he old

house was very small but the new one is biggerKD This e+ercise helps students practice

grammatical elements and stimulate their imagination when they descri'e the new house.

I>.1.3.?. Huided composition

Teachers ask students to widen the topic 'y using guided composition. (t lets students

work in team eectively and stimulates their critical thinking.

Ask students to discuss in groups o ive what they would write in a paragraph with

the 'eginning 0ebbie Bohn2s house is very colorful:7With the topic sentence& students

!he room is only1$2-12, but thefurniture is

convenientlyplaced

As you walthrough thedoor, you see

the des on theright side ofthe long wall

!he rest ofthe short wallon the left isoccupied by

the bed

!hen, on the wallne-t to the bed thereis a big closet withtwo shelves and

space to hangclothes. It is ne-t tothe door

En the right hand

wall there are two

windows, which

mae the room very

light and airy.

In the fartherleft corner ofthe room, there

is a chest ofdrawers

0ebbieBohnson2sbedroom in her

home in4atsill is

small butpractical

!o the left onthe des,there is a

boocase

with fourshelves

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imagine every color to descri'e urniture in the room. Then students in groups write a

paragraph together including details that develop the main idea in the irst sentence $=aims%

I>.1.3.%. @sing a picturetopic

#sing a picture as a topic can gives us the chance to develop many kinds o e+ercises&

which help students gather more voca'ulary& idioms& sentence structures as well as

organi*ational skill. For e+ample& the ollowing picture can create dierent tasks.

tudents discuss in small groups the @uestion: )hat is happening in the picture5D

The task o students is to write down all the possi'le answers and the words or

phrases to prepare the description.

tudents write a paragraph in the same groups 'ased on the given @uestions:

)hat are their 6obs5

)hat are they discussing5

ow do they wor5

)hat does the picture infer to5

tudents need to think o dierent words and phrases to answer the @uestion or

descri'e the picture 'eore writing.

I*.2. %sing rea+ings to teach paragraph writing

Besides using pictures or sketches& reading a short story& a part o newspaper or a

letter to lead paragraph writing helps students deal with dierent contents. tudents will 'e

provided with real inormation rom the reading when they write a paragraph.

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http://www.acclaimimages.com/usepolicy.html


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I+.#.. $he reasons for the use of readings

#sing readings lead to paragraph writing is very eective. Firstly& i students work

with variety o readings while they are writing& they will 'e dealing with dierent contents

and all the things they write will 'e authentic 'ecause the inormation that they get rom the

readings is plenty and reali*a'le. The readings taken rom newspapers& maga*ines& te+t'ooks&

etc. are various a'out the content. econdly& when students read& they will 'ecome amiliar

with the voca'ulary& idiom& sentence patterns& organi*ational low and cultural assumptions

o native speakers o the language& which can help students a lot when they 'egin to write a

paragraph. Lastly& students who read a te+t or interact with a te+t that 'elongs to someone&

they can learn his or her writing style& which positively aect students) writings.

I+.#.#.,ome suggestions for general strategies for using readings in teaching paragraph

writing

Teachers can ask students to read a short passage and pay attention to all the choices

that the writer uses& such as content& voca'ulary& organi*ation and e+amples.

Teachers can ask students to do dierent activities in the classroom. Ask them to

work with the te+t to e+amine the writer)s choices o linguistics& logical eatures& such as

cohesive links& punctuation& grammar& and sentence arrangement.

I+.#.%. ,ome suggested activities and e/ercises

I>.#.3.1. )oring with the te-t using copying.

7opy gives all students practice with punctuation& spelling& capitali*ation& and

paragraph indentation. (n the classroom& it is very useul or students to remem'er the words&

structures i a teacher asks students to copy down some inormation that they will really use.

The teacher writes new voca'ulary words on the 'oard while students are

discussing the reading. The students copy any new words into their 'ook or

onto cards& and write a sentence or each new word in order to enrich their

voca'ulary and sentence structures 'eore writing a paragraph a'out anything

related to the te+t topic.

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tudents read a story at home and copy one sentence they like 'est. Then& in

class& they discuss with their classmates to analy*e the idea o the sentence

'eore writing a paragraph.

A good piece o paragraph writing 'y one student is written on the 'oard and

then all the students copy it down as a model. And then a student can use that

version to read to the class or practice in dictation or summary writing.

Ater reading& group discussion to write the answer or the given @uestions on

the 'oard is conducted. All the students in the class copy these answers& so

that they can assem'ly chains o ideas 'eore they 'egin to plan and organi*e

their paragraph writing.

I>.#.3.#. )or with the te-t to e-amine cohesive lins.

Writing a paragraph is dierent rom writing a series o sentences in an e+ercise. (t is

a piece o connected sentences& or in the other words& there are logical and linguistic links

'etween sentences. o learning how to use these links is an important part o learning how to

write a language.

'viously& students need to learn the way o using devices or a paragraph cohesive

such as personal pronoun and adectives& demonstrative pronouns and adectives& deinite

article& and linking words. With 18 counted errors o linking words are counted& it seems that

students at "E# need to pay more attention to this area.

tudents can e+amine a paragraph model. While they are reading the

paragraph model& the teacher asks them to underline the devices that the writer

uses to connect one sentence with another in order to make the te+t cohesive.

For e+ample& students underline words or phrases to show se@uence (firstly,

secondly, lastly, first, after that, then, ne-t, finally%& to show contrast $however,

on the other hand, but, on the contrast, nevertheless%& to show the result $so,

therefore, conse9uently%& to show addition $also, furthermore, in addition,

moreover, and/.

2raw a line to connect the underlined words to the words they reer to. For

instance&

8!heteachercalled two studentsbut theydid answer her7

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Teachers copy a paragraph and leave 'lanks or any connecting words& then

ask students to complete the paragraph with cohesive devices.

tudents are asked to read a passage and underline the instance o =the>, then

determine in which cases the>provide as a cohesive device. For e+ampleC I

have a new house in "ew ;or. $hehouse is very beautiful and comfortable.

Jspecially, there is a garden in front of thehouse:7

I>.#.3.3. )or with the te-t to combine sentence.

According the study)s indings& we can see that the students) writings are illogical in

content. (t is due to lack o using connectors to com'ine sentences. To help students write a

logical writing& it is necessary to provide them with sentencecom'ining e+ercises that can

improve their sentence structure& length o sentence and sentence variety. For e+ample&

students are given the ollowing pair o sentences taken rom a student)s writing or te+t 'ook

paragraph. Ask them to com'ine two sentences using dierent connectors

e did not meet her.

e missed the flight.

tudents can discover the variety o sentence com'ining using the connectors like:

inceKAsK+ecause he missed the flight, he did not meet her

e did not meet her because he missed the flight

e missed the flight, so he did not meet here did not meet her because of missing the flight, etc.

I*.3. Correcting errors

7orrecting errors is part o the process o teaching paragraph writing 'ut how to

correct them is still an argumentative @uestion: correcting every error or some in students)

paragraph writings- Teachers should indicate where errors occur and let students correct

them or not- There are dierent @uestions related to the pro'lem.

I+.%.. $eacher"s correction and responding to students" writings.

I>.3.1.1. !eacher2s correction

'viously& students) errors are so various that the teacher cannot correct all errors

'ecause o limited time and numerous students. The teacher should decide to choose which

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kind o errors to deal with. For e+ample& the teacher ust corrects errors in language or errors

in content in class. For other errors& the teacher can use circling or underlining and sym'ols

to indicate kinds o errors such as spD or spellingC v1or error in ver' orm or tenseC 2gr1

or grammar errorC capD or error in capitali*ation. This way can help the students to

identiy and correct their own errors. ym'ols or editing are suggested as ollows.

S')bo# "p#anation

t: (ncorrect ver' tense: er' incorrectly ormed

Modal: (ncorrect use or inormation o a modal

7ond: (ncorrect use or inormation o a conditional sentences: (ncorrect sentence structure

Wo: (ncorrect or awkward word order

7onn: (ncorrect or missing connector

/ass: (ncorrect inormation or use o passive voice#nclear: #nclear massage

v: (ncorrect su'ectver' agreement

Art: (ncorrect or missing article"um: /ro'lem with the singular or plural o a noun

Wc: Wrong word choice

W: Wrong word orm"onidiom: "on idiomatic $not e+pressed this way in English%

7ap: 7apitali*ationcapital letter needed

7oh: 7oherenceone idea does not lead to the ne+t7s: 7omma splicetwo independent clauses oined 'y a comma

2m: dangling modiier Frag: Fragmentincomplete sentence

Lc: Lower caseword$s% incorrectly capitali*ed/: /unctuation incorrect or missing

/ro repro agree: /ronoun reerence or agreement unclear or incorrect

=o: =unontwo independent clauses oined with no punctuationp: pelling error

(Adapted from Dane L Dange, 1GG3, I/

Then teacher asks students to reread their writing to correct the underlined errors and

mistakes. ( students cannot correct errors themselves& the teacher determines the cause o the

errors& careully e+plains the reason why students make certain errors& and how to correct

them. (t is very useul or students 'ecause the more the teacher points out to students why

they are making errors& the more they will 'e a'le to avoid them.

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With a typical error& the teacher should copy whole the sentence on the 'oard& ask

them to make comments and correct it& which is very good to the writer 'ecause he can

reali*e his mistakes and how to correct it.

I>.3.1.#. !eacher2s responding to students2 writing.

=esponding to content and organi*ation:

(t is necessary or the teacher to give students clear and direct eed'ack and instructions

a'out how to correct and improve their writing 'y way o writing comments in the margins

o papers or at the end o the writing. Ferris et al. $1


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method can 'e applied with errors caused 'y carelessness o accuracy and orthography due to

their limited knowledge o English.

elcorrection and peercorrection should 'e guided 'y a checklist that aims at

checking overall correctness o the paragraph writing e+ercises. ne strong point o using

checklist is capacity o inding out a variety o errors at a time& so it can save time or

revising and give students a view on the re@uirements o a wellwritten paragraph. The

checklist must include items that are easy to 'e udged. Teachers can provide each student

with a checklist or each paragraph writing e+ercise so that students can use it to check their

partner)s paragraph writings) errors. ,ere is a sample checklist that ( mysel designed or my

students:

"ame:

Topics Issues ?oo+ -a+/aragraph Main issue is identiied at the 'eginning

Ade@uate paragraph ormat $indentation&

line run continuously

(deas in supporting sentence: =elevant

7onsistent& easy to understand

7lear presented& suiciently developed ;ive ade@uate attention to all aspects o

topic

7onclusion

ummari*es the main pointMessage

7larity

(deas relevant to the topic

Te+t:

Easy to understand

Logically organi*ed

7ontains appropriate cohesive devices

Errors have minimal eects on message

ynta+ aried and accurate set o voca'ulary

aried and accurate set o grammar

structure

pelling

(n general& there are dierent methods o correcting students) errors. But with

dierent levels o students and time allowance in class& the teacher should choose the most

suita'le method to help students recogni*e and correct errors eectively.

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Con#lusions

1. Su))ar' o! the stu+'

Thestudy aims at inding out the more eective strategies to help students at "E#

overcome their diiculties in paragraph writing.

First o all& the study provides an overview o writing and paragraph writing. (n this

part& readers will see dierent opinions a'out writing skill o wellknown researchers. Then

the @uestionnaire survey or students is analy*ed to ind out the students) 'ackground and

attitude toward their English study& their e+pectations o the course& and their evaluation on

the current teaching methodology. Finally& students) sample paragraph writings are also

analy*ed to discover their common errors o language& content& and idea organi*ation.

Ater analy*ing the @uestionnaire and students) sample paragraph writings several

conclusions have 'een made. Firstly& students have highly positive attitude to paragraph

writing during the course 'ecause most o them consider English as a key to ind a good o'.

econdly& students have ar more diiculties in paragraph content& idea organi*ation& and

language than ( e+pected. A lot o errors o grammatical structures& voca'ulary appeared in

their writings. Lastly& the students) answer o their preerence or the way o the teacher)s

presentation and writing e+ercises are very useul or me to suggest or design the suita'le

class activities and e+ercises to improve students) paragraph writing skills 'etter.

The study ocuses on inding practical strategies 'ased on students) commondiiculties. There are dierent strategies o paragraph teaching or the students. But it seems

that using pictures and te+ts leads to writing seems the most eective strategies or them

'ecause various e+ercises can 'e designed rom pictures and readings. Besides suggestions

o teaching strategies and various e+ercises& the checklists to aid peercorrection and sel

correction are provided to deal with the common errors. (n conclusion& the study partly dealt

with students) diiculties in paragraph writing.

2. eco))en+ations !or !urther research

With a view to coping students) diiculties o paragraph content& ideaorgani*ation

and language elements& in the study ( recommended some appropriate strategies and

e+ercises that can deal with students) diiculties in writing paragraph. ( hope that the

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indings might 'ring a'out certain changes in the teachers) strategies o teaching paragraph

writing at "E# in order to help students overcome their diiculties.

The result o the study is also useul or any researches on the ield o teaching

writing to language students at "E# and or language students at other #niversities.

With the indings o the study& ( hope that ( will continue to study new methods o

teaching 'usiness reportwriting or students in the near uture and help them avoid

diiculties when they learn 'usinessreport writing.

51


52/63

-ib#iograph'

1. Alice& . H ,. Ann. )riting Academic Jnglish. AddisonWesley /u'lishing

7ompany& 1


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09. teele& . $0990%Product and Process )riting.=etrieved rom the World Wide We'

39 2ecem'er 0996 at: www.teachingenglish.org.ukthinkingwritingapproach.shtml.

01. tephen W. Wilhoit.A +rief Huide to )riting from Feadings. Allyn and Bacon& 0990.

00. Tomlinson& B. Materials 0evelopment in Danguage !eaching. 7am'ridge #niversity

/ress& 1


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(ppen+ices

.$$eni4>

>uestionnaire &or studentsThe stuents! nees 1hen they have a $aragra$h 1riting #ourse

/ntrou#tion0- ?ou are ma$or language students at NEU, ou are learning paragrap'riting as sc'eduled- I ant to 5no our needs 'en ou rite a paragrap'. +o it' our'onest ansers, e can en'ance t'e ;ualit o& t'e course o& teac'ingparagrap'. :'an5 ou %er muc'. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Circle t'e #est anser or 9ll ords in t'e #lan5s to anser t'e &olloing

;uestions0

+e60 aleA


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About paragraph writing skill

. Fo ou t'in5 it necessar to learn paragrap' riting course in t'e 72

program at NEUD

'D

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB.

/. 'at do ou e6pect a&ter t'e courseD Point out t'e necessit &or t'e

&olloing items.

1. not

necessar

!. lo

necessar

*.

necessar

. %er

necessar

/. e6tremel

necessar

- Goca#ular, sentence structures using in paragrap' riting 1

! * /

- Gisual aids 1 ! *

/

- Paragrap' riting process 1 ! *

/

- Idea organi8ation 1 ! *

/

- +ocial in&ormation to rite a paragrap' 1 ! *

/

. 'at are our difculties in paragrap' ritingD


BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

H. 'at are our recommendationsD BB.


B BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB.

55


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Teaching method

Point out t'e e4ecti%eness o& gi%en met'ods o& teac'ing # circling t'e

num#ers.

1. not e4ecti%e !. lo

e4ecti%e

*. e4ecti%e . %er

e4ecti%e

/. e6tremel

e4ecti%e

. :'e a o& teac'ers presenting0

- 'ile teac'ers are presenting, 'e pro%ides students it' some

;uestions to

#rainstorm.

1 ! *

/- Read materials and #oo5s o& re&erence and discuss pro#lems it'

classmates or t'e teac'er

1 ! * /

- Fiscuss ;uestions gi%en # teac'ers 1

! * /

- :eac'ers use %isual aids in teac'ing

1 ! * /

1. et'od o& content anal8ing0

- Read materials oursel& and ma5e conclusion 1 !

* /

- Fiscuss it' partners in pairs or in small groups.

1 ! * /

- :eac'ers e6planation 1 ! *

/

- :ranslate t'e paragrap' model into Gietnamese 1

! * /

11. Practicing and e6ercises.

- or5 it' a te6t (gap 9lling, ord or sentence orderB.)

1 ! * / - Pro%ide &amiliar issues or pro#lems it' students to

5>


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t'in5 o& t'e ideas and rite a paragrap'.

1 ! * /

1!. :'e teac'ers met'od o& correcting errors.

- Correct some remar5a#le errors onl 1 !

* /

- Ignore all errors #ut t'e errors o& language and content. 1

! * /

- =i%e a comment at t'e end o& t'e paragrap' onl. 1

! * /

- 7orrect all errors 1 ! *

/

- "t'ers0 BBBBBBB.. BBBBBBBBBBBB 1 ! *

/

(n of the

?uestionnaire

56


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.$$eni4 6

Error analsis in students riting papers.

tudents choose one o three ollowing topics to write a paragraph:

a. Why do many people go to Australia to study-

'. The 'est place to visit in ietnam

c. A good or 'ad city or country to visit.

d. A amous person.

e. Eagle animal.

T'pe 1: "rrors in content or )eaning

,ubtype 4 topic sentence

91: vague topic: )hy do many people go to Australia to study5 +ecause of learning

style, finding 6ob easily and the people7 $/aper 91%

90: 'road topic: )hy do they choose Australia as their overseas study destination5.

Indeed, Australia is one of the best place for students from all over the world7$/aper

90%

93: too long topic sentence: "owadays, many >ietnamese people go to abroad to study.

o they must choose carefully which country they2ll go. +eside America. @ietnamese students because of fours main

reasonsD $/aper 38%94: too long topic sentence: Ever five million people go to study eacher. !he most

importance is that they have chance of reaching a good condition for study and

opportunity to tavel in such a beautiful countryD $/aper 40%

,ubtype #4 ,upporting sentence

91: unclear sentence: ;ou study valuable sill to give you an advantage academically,

personally and professionally7$/aper 91%

90: irrelevant supporting sentence: Multicultural Australia is a safe, friendly and

harmonious society in which students can learn and travel in an Jnglish speaing

country7 $/aper 91%

93: unnecessary sentence: econdly, you needn2t worry too much about studying and

living costs because they sound cheaper than other countries which are popular

58


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with international students, such as @< or @. !herefore, this maes Australia a

very economic choice, for instance, study abroad programs2 costs you around...7

$/aper 90%

94: unclear sentence: >isitors to anoi can find any weather they lie. *or e-ample, in

the summer, the hottest month, averages 3?4= the coldest month, averages #$4. o,

they can find the cool temperature or warm weather in the winter7$/aper 93%

95: no e+planation: *irst of all, Australia has a wonderful weather and cheap living

costD. $/aper 94%

9>: 'ad supporting sentence: !hirdly, the population in Australia is very small7$/aper

94%

96: unclear e+pression: o it2s very easy to find good 6obs and help professional

positions worldwide after graduatingD $/aper 95%

98: unclear e+pression: Diving e-penses and tuition cost in Australia are value for

money7$/aper 95%

9


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16: 'ad e+pression: 8eagle is always the symbol of strength and independence for me to

become7$/aper 13%

18: unclear sentence: >ietnamese wedding has picing bride festival, after this event

the bride will become a main member of the groom2s family7 $/aper 14%

1ietnamese wedding has picing bride festival, after this event

the bride will become a main member of the groom2s family7 $/aper 14%

09: unclear and too long e+pression: this isn2t the only reason that many people choose

to study here is that the standard of living of Australian is very stable. !heir income

is about ?$$$ @0 for a year. !his number is not high but:7$/aper 15%

01: supporting sentence is o the topic: you can find that Australia is not only a

wonderful place for studying but also for travel7 $/aper 16%

00: not support to the point he made 'eore: e was very honest and generous.e

refused to wor for people who were very powerful at his time7 $/aper 1


61/63

31: poor e+pression: !here will never have enough words to tal about:7 $/aper

04%

30: unclear e+pression: !here are many wellnown universities and colleges with

hundreds of professors, master and vice masterD

$/aper 0>%

33: "o comparison o two parts $"orth and outh% 'eore giving the details: !he

"orth and Middle of >ietnam has four seasons a year& spring, summer, autumn and

winter. )hereas the outh 6ust has only one season& it is hotKD $/aper 08%

34: poor e+pression: 8+eside the peace, clean air is an important element helping

tourists want to visit anoi7. $/aper 01


62/63

44: unclear e+pression: !he way he did things was to prepare every thing for

>iet4oms. carefully and professionallyhuman sources seeing and training, maret

surveys, seeing partners and so on7$/aper 41%

45: unclear sentence: !here are also fewer periods on class which contain

less theory and maes learner be active in their sub6ectD $/aper 40%

,ubtype %4 *oncluding sentence

91: "ot a good concluding sentence: It is not surprising that so many people go to

Australia to study7$/aper 91%

90: "ot restate the main idea o the paragraph: In general, studying in Australia will

provide you with now and wonderful opportunities and e-perience, not to mention

e-iting and progressive globally education programD $/aper 90%

93: "ot a real concluding sentence: ;ou2ll be a lucy person if you have a opportunity

to go to Australia to study7$/aper 94%

94: o in some countries, Australia is the first choice, attractive destination of many

people7$/aper 95%

95: 8It is true to say that Australia is the best place to study7$/aper 01%

9>: "o concluding sentence $/aper 38%

T'pe 2: "rrors in i+ea organi9ation

,ubtype 4 Errors in logical order

91: There is no logical order among ideas $90& 93& 94& 95& 9>& 11& 10& 13& 15& 01& and 38%

,ubtype #4 Errors in coherence 567

91: There is no any coherence among parts o the paragraph& sentences or ideas $90& 93&

94& 95& 10& 1>& 16& 18& 10


63/63

91: articles $933& 94& 963& 9& 18& 09& 04& 053& 060& 08& 00& and 36%

90: /reposition $95& 9

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