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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration …………………………………………………………………………………i
Acknowledgement ……………………………………………… ………………………ii
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………… iii
Lists of tables and charts …………………………………………………………… …iv
Table of content ………………………………………………………………………… v
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………….1
1. Rationale…………………………………………………………………………….1
2. Aims of the study………………………………………………………………… 1
3. Scope of the study………………………………………….……………………….2
4. Research questions ……………………………………………………………… 2
5. Method of the study……………………………………………………………… 2
6. Content of the study ……………………………………………………………… 3
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT ……………………………………………………… 5
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………5
1.1. An overview on writing…………………………………………………………… 5
1.1.1.General concept…………………………………………………………………5
1.1.2.Teaching English writing………………………………………………………6
1.1.3.Approaches to to teaching writing…………………………………………… 6
1.1.3.1. Controlled-to-free Approach………………………………………………7
1.1.3.2. Free- writing Approach…………………………………………………….7
1.1.3.3. Paragraph- pattern Approach……………………………………………….7
1.1.3.4. Grammar-syntax-organization Approach ………………………………….7

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1.1.3.5. Communicative Approach …………………………………………………8
1.1.3.6. Process Approach …… ………………………………………………… 8

3.3. Results from class observations …………………………………………………… 35
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………… 39
CHAPTER FOUR: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS
4.1. Major findings and discussions …………………………………………………….41
4.2. Suggestions ………………………………………………………………………… 43
PART THREE: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………… 45
REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………….46
APPENDIX 1
APPENDIX 2 4

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Table 1: Students’ profiles
Tables 2: Students’ attitude towards writing lesson
Table 3: Types of motivation possessed by students
Table 4: Students’ personality and intelligence
Table 5: Elements causing the students’ difficulties in learning writing skill
Table 6: Teachers’ enthusiasm and relationship with students during the lesson
Table 7: Teachers’ activities in pre-writing stage
Table 8: Frequency of writing tests
Table 9: Physical conditions in classroom
Table 10: The activities used by the teachers by frequency

that most of the students have faced many problems in learning writing. They
often feel tired and stressed during the writing lesson, and they get bad marks in
the writing tests. This is the reason why I decided to choose the title for my
minor thesis.
2. AIM OF THE STUDY
The purposes of the study is to investigate the factors causing demotivation in
learning writing among the 10
th
grade students at Doan Thi Diem Private High
School. The principal purposes of the study are summarized as follows:

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1. To investigate factors causing students‟ demotivation in writing lesson.
2. To examine methods and techniques used by teachers of English to motivate
their students in writing lessons.
3. To suggest some methods to stimulate students to write and give some
recommendations for improving the writing skill.
3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study was conducted in two classes with 75 10
th
-grade students at Doan Thi
Diem Private High School. The study was carried out in order to find out the
factors causing demotivation in writing lessons, to examine methods and
techniques used by teachers of English to motivate their students in writing
lessons and to suggest some methods to stimulate students to write and give
some recommendations for improving the writing skill.
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the types of motivation possessed by 10
th

The instrumentation of the research is two sets of survey questionnaires for
students and for teacher staff.
- Survey for students: The survey was carried out to find out students‟ thinking
about the factors causing demotivation in their writing lessons.
- Survey questionnaire for teacher staff: a set of 8 choices, this survey was carried
out in order to find out teachers‟ views on teaching writing, activities and factors
causing students‟ demotivation in writing lessons.
- Class observations:
+ Attending classes to take note the motivation factors possessed by students and
what demotivate them.
+ Recording classroom atmosphere in writing lesson
6. CONTENT OF THE STUDY
The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion.

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Part 1: Introduction – this part presents the Rationale, Aim of the study, Scope of
the study, Research questions, Method of study, and the content of the study.
Part 2: Development- This part consists of 4 main chapters
Chapter 1: Literature Review- this part presents theoretical background on
Motivation and brief view on concepts of Writing and factors causing
demotivation in learning writing as well as the difficulties in teaching and
learning writing lessons.
Chapter 2: Research Methodology, presents the methodology used in the study
Chapter 3: Data Analysis, covers a comprehensive analysis on data collected
from the survey questionnaires and Observation.
Chapter 4: Major findings and Suggestions, offers some major findings and
suggestions for enhancing students‟ motivation in learning writing skill.
Part 3: Conclusion, is a review of the study, future directions for further research
and limitations of the study.

the nature of writing, some more academic definitions of writing should be studied.
However, writing is “a language skill which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble,
1996: 3). It is “a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into
account the sometimes extended period of thinking that precedes creating an initial
draft” (Harris, 1993: 10). Tribble also stressed that writing “normally requires some
form of instruction” and that “it is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure”
(1996: 11).
Writing, in Davie‟s point of view, involved two kinds of skills. The first one
was low- level skill such as handwriting or typing, spelling, constructing grammatical
sentences, organizing and sequencing, structuring, drafting and editing, the other one
was advanced level skill such as writing a novel, a work or a play. Byrne (1988) gave a
long and complex definition which might be summarized as follows: writing is the act

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of forming graphic symbols (letters or combinations of letters) which were arranged to
form sentences, and we produced a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular
order and linked together in certain way, on a flat surface of some kind.
In conclusion, Byrne‟s definition can be considered one of the most complete
definitions of writing because it covers all of the features of writing given by three
above- mentioned authors.
Furthermore, writing is a productive skill, so it is writing that provides students with
chances to put the language itself and practice communicative skills at the same time.
Through the act of writing students will realize what they are already good at and what
they still need to learn to become better.
1.1.2. Teaching English writing
Writing can turn into a real passion. However, teaching and learning writing skill is
hardly ever the most motivated component of a language curriculum. Writing curricula
(i) are often purely skill oriented –at the expense of more cognitive and meta cognitive
aspects-, (ii) involving one-to-one communication using traditional tools, (iii) lacking

and content, but allowed some opportunities for self- expression. This approach also
emphasized step- by- step learning and formal correction.
1.1.3.2. Free- Writing Approach
This free- writing encouraged students to write as much as possible and as quickly as
possible without paying attention to mistakes. The important thing students did was to
get their ideas down on a paper. The drawbacks of this approach were that many
students wrote badly because they did not write enough and for the same reason they
felt inhibited when they picked up a pen to write. This approach might be useful when
writing a journal or a diary.
1.1.3.3. Paragraph- Pattern Approach
This paragraph – pattern approach stressed the importance of paragraph as the basic
unit of written expression. Students were taught how to construct and organize
paragraphs. This approach helped students express themselves effectively at a level
beyond the sentence.
1.1.3.4. Grammar- syntax- organization Approach
Writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills which are learned one by one.

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So some teachers devise writing tasks that lead students to pay attention to
organization while they also work on the necessary grammar and syntax. This
approach links the purpose of a piece of writing to the forms that are needed to convey
the message
1.1.3.5. Communicative Approach
This communicative approach emphasized the communicative role of writing. Students
should have the reason for writing and think about whom they wrote to or for. This
approach required situations which allowed them to write purposefully. This approach
motivated students to write and showed how writing was a form of communication.
1.1.4.6. Process approach
In this approach, particular stress is paid on a cycle of writing activities which move

Burden (1997: 119) point out that the reason for and factors affecting your choice
of behaving in this way but not in others and how much effort you decide to
make in order to obtain your objects are all aspects relating to motivation.
Lightbown and Spada (1996:6) state that motivation in second language learning
is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners‟
communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language
community.
Motivation has been defined as the learner‟s orientation with regard to the goal
of learning a second language. Learners with positive attitudes toward the subject
and high motivation are likely to be successful in second language learning
(Gardner, 1985).
In second language learning as in other fields of human learning, motivation is
the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all,
how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he preserves. It is a complex
phenomenon and includes many components: the individual‟s drive, need for
achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and experience, and so
on (Littlewood, 1998:53).
1.2.2. Types of Motivation

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1.2.2.1. Integrative motivation
One form of motivation is known as integrative motivation. It is thought that
students who are most successful when learning a second language are those who
like the people who speak that target language, admire the culture and have a
desire to become familiar with the society in which the language is used (Falk,
1978). This kind of motivation is considered a key component in assisting
learners to develop some level of proficiency in L2 when they become residents
in the community in which the target language is used in social interactions.
According to Gardner and Lambert (1974: 98) “An integrative orientation

in which learning takes place strongly influence the level and type of motivation.
Ellis also stated “Learners can be both integratively and instrumentally motivated
at one and the same time. Motivation can result from learning as well as cause it”
(p76). Motivation and achievement have an interactive relationship. Moreover,
Ellis (1994: 513) found that learners with integrative motivation were more
active in the class and were less likely to drop out.
1.2.2.4. Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation refers to “motivation to engage in an activity for its own
sake” (Woldkowski, 1991). He means that activity itself is our benefit, so we do
not need any other kinds of rewards or punishment. He states that intrinsic
motivation “is the natural tendency to seek out and conquer challenges as we
pursue personal interests and exercise capabilities”. The factors of support of
intrinsic motivation are: competence (feeling that you know how to do things),
autonomy (being able to perform an activity by yourself without external help)
and relatedness (connection with your social environment like helping the
others).
1.2.2.5. Extrinsic motivation

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Harmer (2001:51) gives an easily understandable definition that extrinsic
motivation “is caused by any number of outside factors such as: the need to pass
an exam, the hope to of financial reward or possibility of future travel”.
Most writers agree that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations interact with each
other and play an important role in language learning. As a result, learners can be
either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the circumstances
and conditions under which the activity is performed.
1.2.2.6. Resultative motivation
Ellis (1997: 76) claimed that “motivation is the result of learning. Learners who
experience success in learning may become more, or in some contexts less

esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness, responsiveness have been discussed
by Lightbown & Spada (1999). Although several studies on personalities and
second language learning have been done with different and contradictory
results, many researchers believe that personality has a great influence on second
language learners‟ success. “This relationship is a complex one, however, in that
it is probably not personality alone, but the way in which it combines with other
factors, that contributes to second language learning” (Lightbown & Spada,
1999:56).
1.3.1.2. Intelligence
Intelligence is the term referring to performance on certain kinds of tests
(Lightbown & Spada, 1999:52). Through these tests, teachers are able to classify
successful or unsuccessful students in the class performance. While some studies
have reported that there is a link between intelligence measured by IQ tests and

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second language learning, some students, in fact, whose academic performance is
weak, are successful in L2 learning.
1.3.1.3. Aptitude
Lightbown & Spada mentioned in the book How languages are learned
(1999:52) that researchers have investigated aptitude and the two aptitude tests
are the most widely used, namely, the Modern Language Aptitude Test and the
Pimsleur Language aptitude Battery. These two authors supposed that the
following different types of abilities compose aptitude:
(1) The ability to identify and memorize new sounds; (2) the ability to
understand the function of particular words in sentences; (3) the ability to
figure out grammatical rules from language samples, and (4) memory for
new words”.
These two authors also suggested that teachers should know the aptitude profile
of their students in order to choose appropriate activities for their class

It is teachers‟ love, dedication and passion together with a commitment toward
the subject matter that instill in students a willingness to pursue knowledge.
Also, teachers should clearly identify their reasons for loving and being
interested in the subject matter or L2, and then share these reasons with their
students (Good& Brophy, 1994).
1.3.2.2. Commitment to the students’ progress

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Teachers should show commitment towards their students‟ learning and
progress, at the same time they should care for what their students have learnt
and succeeded (Dornyei, 2001)
In order to express commitment towards the students, teachers should:
+ offer concrete assistance
+ respond immediately when help is requested
+ correct tests and paper promptly
+ Show concern when things are not going on
Furthermore, if teachers treat their students “as if they already are eager learners,
they are more likely to become eager learners” (Brophy, 1998: 170)
1.3.2.3. Teachers’ expectations
In an experiment in educational psychology, an intelligence test to primary
school children, Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) came to a conclusion that if
teachers had high expectations about how well students could study, their
students would probably be able to reach high level of achievement.
Students tend to perform at a level which is consistent with the teacher‟s
expectations. Particularly, when the teacher sets high expectations, they are
likely to perform better at the subject matter and even feel more competent
(Good & Brophy, 1987)
1.3.2.4. Good relationship with the students
- Acceptance: three linchpins of the humanistic psychology, namely, acceptance,

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Physical conditions in the classroom refer to the classroom size, chairs, desks,
tables, lights, boards and even bulletin boards. Jeremy Harmer (1992) confirmed
that such physical conditions had great impact on students‟ learning as well as
their attitude towards the subject matter. These conditions affect students‟
motivation either positively or negatively.
L2 teachers should be reminded that the classroom is not only a psychological
but also a physical environment. The decoration: posters, flowers, funny objects
influence strongly the classroom atmosphere. More importantly, teachers should
create the ownership of the class among students. He stated “Personalizing the
classroom can be seen as students exercising increasing control over their
environment” (Dornyei, 2001:42).
1.3.3.2. A pleasant supportive atmosphere in the classroom
Language learning is considered one of the most face- threatening school
subjects. Language anxiety has been found to be a powerful factor that hinders
L2 learning achievement (MacIntyre, 1999; Young, 1999). Thus, it is the
teacher‟s task to create a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere.
Moreover, humor is a very potent factor to improve the classroom atmosphere.
The use of humor helps students feel at ease without tension in the air.
Scheidecker and Freeman (1991: 138) had a summary on the essence of the ideal
classroom climate: “When one watches students enter such a classroom, one gets
an overwhelming sense that the students shed emotional baggage at the doorway.
This is an emotional safe zone.”

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 The teacher staff of 10
th
grade students

27

There are 5 teachers of English in group 10
th
grade. All of them have been
teaching for the school at least one year and they all graduated from English
Department, College of foreign Languages, National University, Hanoi; 1 have
got M.A degree, 3 are in the Master course of Post- Graduation, CFL, VNU and
one teacher has got Bachelor Degree. They teach all skills and grammar also the
supplementary program.
2.2. Sample and sampling
The sample was drawn from two sources: from more than 75 students and from 5
teachers teaching 10
th
grade classes at DTD Private High School.
The 10
th
grade students were assigned to 5 classes. Fifteen students I each class
were randomly selected to fulfill the questionnaire. Totally, 75 students (about
50% of the 10
th
grade students) answered the questionnaire.
Five teachers (100% of teacher population) were invited to join the research.
Their ages range from 25 to 35. They are all female teachers.
2. 3. Instrumentation
2.3.1. Instrument 1- Survey questionnaire

Consequently, their teaching experience must be different.
Two units were chosen to be observed are Unit 4 and Unit 7. The purpose for
choosing these units was that they contained unfamiliar topics with difficult
things, which may make the students bored. Therefore the researcher intends to
observe how the teachers dealt with the topics, how they explained the new
words and what techniques they used to motivate students.
Conclusion
This chapter has presented the methodology employed in the research. The next
chapter will offer a descriptive data analysis of the collected data.