CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study
Writing is often not as important as other skills such as reading and speaking and it
tends to get rather neglected in many classes. Since the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook was in
use, teaching and learning writing has been a really challenging job at Kinh Mon upper-
secondary school.
In literature so far, a few studies have been conducted on difficulties in teaching and
learning writing a foreign language. Most of researchers have come to a general agreement to
a list of common problems facing both students and teachers. Not many have studied
difficulties in teaching and learning writing perceived by upper- secondary school teachers and
students in using the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook. Hence, it is in an urgent need of taking a
serious look at such issue.
1.2. Purpose of the study
The main purpose of the study is to probe difficulties in teaching and learning writing
skills among the teaching staff and the 10
th
form students at Kinh Mon upper- secondary
school, in Hai Duong province. Within this purpose, the three central objectives are:
(i) To describe the difficulties perceived by the teachers and the 10
th
form students when
teaching and learning writing skills in the new “Tiếng Anh 10” textbook.
(ii) To investigate factors affecting the success of this process in the writing lessons.
(iii) To suggest some solutions to stimulate the students and make recommendations to
improve teaching method for the teachers at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school.
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1.3. Scope of the study
This minor thesis is conducted at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school in order to
recognize difficulties in teaching and learning writing skills of both the teachers and the 10
th
form students. Factors causing such challenges are then found out. To go ahead, the thesis also

as a social process by Candlin and Hyland (1999). They has asserted that “writing is therefore
an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies,
arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of the
claims that are made” (p.107). Noticeably, language teachers have defined writing so
differently. As for Tribble, writing is “a language skills which is difficult to acquire” (1996, p.
3). He also stressed that writing “normally requires some forms of instruction” and that “it is
not a skills that is readily picked up by exposure” (1996, p. 11). Harris (1993, p. 10) affirmed
that writing is “a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account
the sometime extended periods of thinking that precede creating an initial draft”. From my
personal experience as a classroom teacher, I share with Rivers’ definition (1981) that “writing
is not a skill that can be learned or developed in isolation but it should be taught and
developed in cooperation with other skills and aspects of the language studied.”
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2.2. Roles of writing
Writing emerges with its own functions and brings along communicative code of the
writers. When making a piece of writing, the writer implies a message or a certain purpose. In
the modern world, writing (written language) serves a range of functions in everyday life. As
Nunan (1991:84) aptly points out, writing is:
(i) Primarily for action: public signs (on roads and stations), product labels and instructions
(on food, tools or toy purchased), recipes, maps, television and radio guides, bills, menus,
telephone directories, etc.
(ii) Primarily for social contact: personal correspondence, letters, postcards, greeting cards.
(iii) Primarily for information: newspapers and magazines, non- fiction books (textbooks,
public notices, advertisement, guidebooks and travel literature, etc.)
(iv) Primarily for entertainment: light magazines, comic strips, fiction books, poetry and
drama, film subtitles, games including computer games.
In classroom, teaching and learning writing also plays an important role. Through
writing, learners are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people.
We are able to discover and articulate ideas in the way that only writing makes possible.
Therefore, writing has always occupied a place in the language syllabus. Discussing about this

words, approaches to teaching ESL/ EFL writing have long been a topic of controversy for
them, even for researchers. It is being taught in many different ways, and each approach can
be effective, if the teacher believes in what he or she teaches. Ann Raimes (1983, pp. 5- 10)
presents six approaches to teaching writing: (i) The Control- to- Free Approach, (ii) The Free-
Writing Approach, (iii) The Paragraph- Pattern Approach, (iv) The Grammar- Syntax-
Organization Approach, (v) The Communicative Approach, (vi) The Process Approach.
(i) The Control - to- Free Approach
The Control- to- Free Approach in writing is sequential. In this approach, writing is
considered as a reinforcement means of speech and is used to master grammatical or syntactic
rules. At lower level, students are often given sentence- level exercises or controlled
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compositions to imitate, copy or manipulate. Students, therefore, make few mistakes. Only at
high or advanced level are students allowed to try some free compositions, in which they can
express their own ideas.
In short, this approach emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency. Syntax and mechanics
are main stresses of the approach.
(ii) The Free- Writing Approach
Contrast to the Control- to- Free Approach, the Free- Writing Approach focuses more
on fluency, and quantity of writing than quality. Students are assigned a vast amount of free
writing on given topics with only minimal correction of errors. They are allowed to write
freely without worrying about grammar and spelling. Content and fluency are taken into
account first.
(iii) The Paragraph- Pattern Approach
Different from the two approaches mentioned above, the Paragraph- Pattern Approach
stresses on paragraph organization. Students copy a model paragraph, analyze its form and
then write a parallel one. In this approach, students are provided with such kinds of exercises
as sentence ordering, sentence inserting or sentence deleting, etc.
(iv) The Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach
The name ‘the Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach’ fully reveals the
characteristics of the approach. Writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills which

(3) help them to build repertoires of strategies for prewriting, drafting, and rewriting
(4) give students time to write and rewrite
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(5) place central importance on the process of revision
(6) let students discover what they want to say as they write
(7) give students feedback throughout the composing process (not just the final product) as
they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer to attention
(8) encourage feedback from both the instructor and peers
(9) include individual conferences between teacher and students during the process of
composition
There are various approaches to teaching writing as mentioned. It is true to say that
there is not necessarily any ‘right’ or ‘best’ way to teach writing skills. The best practice in
any situation will depend on the type of students, the text type being studied, the school
system and many other factors (Steele, 2002). Hereunder wants to clarify the two most popular
approaches used in ESL/ EFL classroom, namely (i) Product Approach and (ii) Process
Approach.
(i) Product Approach
Product Approach is a traditional approach which is a largely “prescriptive and
product- centered” way of teaching writing. This approach pays much attention to the final
outcome of a writing process and supposes that students need to produce only one writing
version of the task. The model of this approach is outlined by Steele (2002) as follows:
Stage 1: Model texts are read, and then features of the genre are highlighted. For
example, if studying a formal letter, students' attention may be drawn to the importance of
paragraphing and the language used to make formal requests. If studying a story, the focus
may be on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and students focus on where and
how the writer employs these techniques.
Stage 2: This consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features, usually in
isolation. So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practise the
language used to make formal requests.
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* text as a resource for comparison
* ideas as starting point
* more than one draft
* more global, focus on purpose, theme, text
type, i.e., reader is emphasized
* collaborative
* emphasis on creative process
* imitate model text
*organization of ideas is more important than
ideas themselves
* one draft
* features highlighted including controlled
practice of those features
* individual
* emphasis on end product
Table 1: Differences between Process Approach and Product Approach
From the analysis and the comparison of the two approaches, it is undeniable that each
approach has its own strengths and weaknesses. It is also the fact that there are few classrooms
where teachers are devoted to one approach as to exclude all others. Normally, they still use
techniques drawn from other approaches as the students need them and those techniques are
useful in the context of the class. The writing lessons in new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook were
compiled following both Product Approach and Process Approach. This Combined Product-
Process Approach is found to be more popular, appropriate and effective. The suggested
general outline for a writing lesson following this approach may be:
Stage 1: A model is given.
Stage 2: Students work on the model, analyze its typical features, and pay attention to
the language and structure of the model.
Stage 3: Students work in groups/ pairs to find out the ideas for the writing topic/ task
and produce an outline.
Stage 4: Students write the first draft individually/ in pairs/ in groups. The model is

that language teachers may be confused by such various approaches. It is unavoidable that
they have a problem with teaching methodology in writing lessons. Hence, writing activities
has taken into consideration because teaching techniques will be discussed in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY
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3.1. The context: Kinh Mon upper- secondary school
3.1.1. Teachers
There are totally six teachers of English. Their English proficiency and teaching
method are not equally qualified. Three of them graduated from English Department, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi College of Foreign Languages. Two were trained English as their
second foreign language at Russian Department, Vietnam National University, Hanoi College
of Foreign Languages. One graduated from the in- service center in Hai Duong province.
Since the new textbook was introduced, they have attended the provincial textbook
introduction workshops run by the local trainers for the past three years to get the ideas about
the textbook and new teaching method. From my perspective, their interests in teaching are so
varied, not all of them are really devoted to their teaching job.
3.1.2. Students
The 10
th
form students at Kinh Mon upper- secondary school are sixteen years old and
have learnt English, including writing skills, for four years at lower- secondary schools. As a
matter of fact, they are beginners of English. More importantly, few students take English
examinations into universities and colleges, therefore they are likely to be demotivated easily.
Apparently, applying teaching approaches and using teaching methods should be taken into
account in order to foster and develop their writing skills efficiently.
3.1.3. Facilities
Generally speaking, the average class size of 50 students is rather big and
inconvenient. The desks are arranged traditionally with two rows of six desks. There is a
narrow isle in the middle and two narrower ones on the sides, no other empty space left where
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3.2.1.2. Specific objectives
Students will be able to achieve certain goals of each language skills underpinning in
the textbook.
(i) Reading: comprehending texts via practicing different reading skills: skimming, scanning,
etc…; enriching vocabulary and structures.
(ii) Speaking: asking- answering, presenting the given topics; using daily communication
species: asking and giving opinions, instructions, asking directions, and so on.
(iii) Listening: comprehending main and specific information of the text or dialogue;
improving basic listening skills.
(iv) Writing: writing short compositions or forms based on model writings.
To sum up, the objectives are concrete, relevant, practical and appropriate to the upper-
secondary school context in Vietnam. Overall, the ultimate goal of English language teaching
is to enable students to acquire the target language knowledge and communicative skills in
practice. In brief, the objectives set in the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ by the writers are aligned with
the world tendency of English language teaching.
3.2.2. Teaching approaches
The new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook is designed basing on two popular approaches:
learner- centered approach and communicative approach. Task- based teaching, of course,
goes through the textbook. The two approaches are widely used not only in the world but also
in Vietnam because they are suitable to the demands of Vietnamese traditional economy and
integration into the world communication. Students are seen to be the center of teaching-
15
learning; their activity, and creativity are fostered. In details, teacher plays roles as an
organizer, an advisor, a consultant, an elicitor, a participant, a negotiator, a facilitator, an
initiator and a knowledge resource. Students’ roles are not only to listen to a teacher but also
work in pairs, in groups, and to be ready for required tasks eagerly. In the communicative
approach, communicative competence gained by reading, speaking, listening, and writing is
regarded as the goal of teaching- learning while linguistic competence is considered to be a
means to achieve the set communicative goal. To be honest, although the two approaches are
by no means new to Vietnamese language teachers, they still have been controversial.

4. Special education Writing a letter of complaint
5. Technology and You Writing a set of instructions
6. An excursion Writing a confirmation letter
7. The Mass Media Writing about advantages and disadvantages of the mass media
8. The story of my village Writing an informal letter: giving directions
9. Undersea world Describing information from a table
10. Conservation Writing a letter of invitation
11. National parks Writing a letter of acceptance or refusal
12. Music Writing a profile
13. Films and cinemas Describing a film
14. The World Cup Writing an announcement
15. Cities Describing a city
16. Historical places Describing a chart
Table 2: Checklist of writing tasks in English textbook 10
3.3. The study
3.3.1. Method
3.3.1.1. Participants
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The participants chosen for the study are 150 students from groups of 10 A3, 10 A5
and 10 A9, and six teachers of English (four of them are teaching grade 10 at present).
3.3.1.2. Instruments
In order to obtain adequate data for the study, three main instruments were used and
described as follows:

(i) Instrument one: Questionnaires
One questionnaire for the students comprising of ten closed- ended questions was
conducted in Vietnamese to enable the students to understand easily and to allow their full
expression of ideas. It included two main parts: Part one was to obtain personal information
about the student participants. Part two aimed to elicit the information concerning the
students’ opinions about their problems with writing learning, factors affecting their

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3.3.2. Data analysis
This part of the thesis is the treatment of all the data collected from the survey
questionnaires conducted on six teachers and 135 students, the direct interviews with 15
students, and the classroom observations.
3.3.2.1. Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire
3.3.2.1.1. Teachers’ personal information
There were three males and three females taking part in the survey. The teachers’ ages
ranges from 28 to 52. Their experience in teaching English varies from five to 18 years during
which they have spent from one to three years teaching writing skills to the 10 form students.
Of these six teachers, four are currently taking charge of English 10.
3.3.2.1.2. Analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire

How important is writing skills in the new ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ textbook?

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Chart 1: Importance of writing skills
According to the chart, the teacher respondents valued the importance of writing skills
in comparison with other skills nearly in the same way. Five of them thought that writing
skills was as important as other skills, and only one viewed it less important.
What is (are) the purpose(s) of teaching writing skills at upper- secondary level?
Agree Disagree
To help students revise the vocabulary they have learnt 5 1
To help students practice grammatical structures they have learnt 5 1
To provide students with chances of communicating with each other 5 1
To help students train logical thinking 5 1
To let teachers have break time 1 5
Table 3: Purposes of teaching writing skills
It can be seen from the table that the teachers might teach writing skills for several
reasons. In their opinions, teaching writing helped their students revise the vocabulary,

background knowledge, which has been realized by 100% of the teachers in the survey. The
students’ poor English ability is their second difficulty in teaching writing skills. The third one
is students’ low motivation. Generally, they put lack of necessary facilities, large size classes,
their inappropriate methodology in teaching writing, time shortage, their inexperience in
teaching new textbook, and fixed seat arrangement in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh,
and eighth place respectively. It can be proposed that their current problems are mainly
blamed on the students themselves.
What factors influence your students’ participation and interests in the writing
lessons?
Agree Disagree
Topics 5 1
Tasks 4 2
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Facilities 5 1
Learning environment 5 1
Your method in teaching writing 5 1
Students’ English ability 6
Students’ background knowledge 6
Students’ motivation 6
Tests and exams 5 1
Table 5: Factors influencing students’ participation and interests
The table indicates that the teachers highly agreed that the mentioned factors had
influences on their students’ participation and interests in the writing lessons. Out of nine,
students’ English ability, background knowledge and motivation were regarded to be the key
factors by 100% of the teachers. Five of them were aware of importance of topics, facilities,
learning environment, their methodology, tests and exams. Tasks were supported by four
respondents, dissupported by one.
How often do you use these teaching aids in the writing lessons?

Chart 2: Frequency of using teaching aids

4 2
Elicit from the students about ideas 6
Lead Ss to the model writing to acknowledge the
form and style
6
While-
Writing
Ask the students to write individually 6
Ask the students to write in pairs 3 2 1
Ask the students to write in groups 1 2 3
Post-
Writing
Correct 6
Share and Compare 6
Exhibit 2 4
Table 7: Teaching techniques
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When being asked how often they used the suggested activities at Pre- writing stage,
the majority of the participants tended to apply those activities frequently. This proved that
they were well- aware of teaching steps. To the question of how often they used the listed
activities at While- writing stage, 100% of the subjects admitted that they frequently asked
their students write individually. They also told that pairs worked less frequently, groups
sometimes or even never worked. This obviously demonstrated that the students had few
opportunities to work communicatively.
With regard to Post- writing activities, it is undeniable that correction, sharing and comparing
are frequently employed by all the teachers, which means that the teachers paid much attention
to correcting the students’ writings. Sometimes, they exhibited a random writing to correct
because of time limitation, which has been illustrated by four surveyed people.
What do you think about the writing lessons in the textbook?
Agree Disagree