1

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONALSTUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU TÚ OANH

M.A. Minor Thesis

Field
: English methodology
Code
: 601410
Ha noi, 2011
A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
PROCESS-ORIENTED WRITING FOR IELTS

NGHIÊN CỨU HIỆU QUẢ CỦA PHƯƠNG PHÁP
LUYỆN VIẾT THEO QUY TRÌNH CHUẨN BỊ CHO THI IELTS

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1.1. 
1.2. Aims and scope of the st
1.2.1. 
1.2.2. 
1.2.3. 
1.3. 
1.4. 

PART 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Academic 
2.1.1. What is writing?
2.1.2. What is an academic essay?
2.1.3. What are the main types of academic essays?
2.2. 
2.2.1. 
2.2.2. Major problems of Academic writing instruction in Vietnam context
2.2.2.1. 
2.2.2.2. Overemph
2.2.2.3. Lack of genre-
2.2.2.4. 
2.3. 
2.3.1 
2.3.1.1. IELS Academic writing  
2.3.1.2. IELTS Academic writing  task 2
2.3.2. 
2.4. 
2.4.1. 
2
5
5

2.4.1.2. 
2.4.2. 
2.4.2.1. 
2.4.2.2. 
2.4.2.3. 
2.4.3. Differenc


3.1. 
3.2. 
3.3. 
3.3.1. 
3.3.2. 
3.3.2.1. 
3.3.2.1.1. 
3.3.2.1.2 
3.3.2.1.3. 

3.3.2.2. 
3.3.2.2.1. 
3.3.2.2.2. 
3.3.3. 


4.1. 
4.2. 
4.3. Limitati
4.4. 
4.5. 
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LIST OF TABLES Table 3. 1: The arrangement of research time
Diagram 3.1. The procedure of process oriented approach
Table 3. 2: Content: (Total score=2)
-and Post-test Scores for the Content (%)
Table 3. 4: Organization: (Total score=2)
-and Post-test Scores for the Organization (%)
Table 3. 6: Lexical resource: (Total score=2.5)
Table 3.  -and Post-test Scores for the Lexical
resource (%)
Table 3. 8: Language use: (Total score=2.5)
-and Post-test Scores for the Language use (%)


52
53
54
54
56
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57

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countries.

Therefore, an appropriate score achieved by students in IELTS officially defined on
as the International English Language Testing System is one of the
fundamental requirements for abroad university entry. IELTS, the results of which are used
by three international organizations, British Council, Idp, and University of Cambridge, to
assess your language skills when people want to study, work or live in an English-speaking
country, exactly tests their ability to communicate in English. It is estimated that more than
700,000 people use the test to access opportunities in careers, study and migration every
year. IELTS are administered in over 500 centres globally four times a month. Examinees
can optionally choose from two types of IELTS test: Academic or General Training,
depending on whether they want to study, work or migrate. Both modules are made up of
four parts  Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. IELTS results are graded on the
9 unique IELTS 9-band scale. The test covers the full range of ability from non-user to expert
user. Candidates are not limited in how many times they can sit the test.

However, IELTS, which is increasingly important in Vietnam as mentioned above,
is a great challenge for Vietnamese test-takers and test-trainers for a variety of reasons. The
main reason is their lack of the required proficiency due to factors such as (a) a lack of
qualified language teachers; (b) extremely large classes, with poor teacher-to-student
ratios; (c) teaching methods which focus on grammar, vocabulary, and linguistic
phenomena; and (e) lack of suitable, authentic teaching materials.

For academic writing skills only, non major Vietnamese students of English have
been done a number of grammar exercises, but they have not learned how to write an
academic paragraph or essay. Because the dominant teaching methods in Vietnam are
grammar-

This study is aimed at experimenting a process-oriented approach to academic
writing in the context of an IELTS preparation course to a small group of Vietnamese adult
learners (N=20). Thus, the objectives of the study include:
a) To test the effectiveness of the process-    
overall competence in academic writing;
b) To find out on which sub-skills of the academic writing skills the process-
oriented approach is most effective.
c) The findings of this study will have significant pedagogical implications for
Academic writing curriculum planners, and teachers. Furthermore, it is expected
that this study will shed light on the feasibility of incorporating process oriented
writing instruction into IELTS academic writing preparation course.

1.2.2. Research questions:
This study aims to investigate the following research questions:
(1) How does the process approach help the students progress in their writing
profiency in terms of the content, organization, lexical resource, and language
use as reflected in their writings?
11 (2) In which area(s) of the content, organisation, lexical resource, and language
use do the students show least improvement with the process approach?
(3) How do the students self-evaluate their progress in their writing proficiency with
the process approach?

1.3. Scope of the study
The study is confined to the testing of the effectiveness of the process-oriented
approach to the development of the academic writing skills of a small group of students
who were studying for the IELTS. It is, therefore, a quasi-experimental study in nature.
Thus, there is no intention of generalizing the findings.

punctuation, as well as acceptable grammar and careful selection of vocabulary (Penny
1996).
Writing is a productive skill which, Nunan (1999) also suggests, shares some functional
characteristics with spoken discourse but also displays unique elements which are not
common to both. Harmer (2004), on the other hand, views that the type of writing
determines how similar spoken and written discourse are. Halliday (1985) cited in Nunan
(1999 p. 275) outlines 3 main       
          

writing has many facets.

1.2. What is an academic essay?
As mentioned above, among many kinds of writing, this paper thoroughly works
out and discuss academic assays which are usually identified as writings requiring no
outside research (though they sometimes may). In academics, Maryanna Smith (2010)
considers academic writing as a major assignment in which one is supposed to possess the
13 necessary academic writing skills. She adds that there are various academic writings such
as term papers academic writing, dissertation academic writing and essay academic writing
           
academic milieu, no matter what the program of study, students will be asked to write an
essay. In the hard sciences, where understanding of the lessons is often more hands on and
displayed through experiments and experiment documentation, there is likely less demand
for essays, but in the arts, humanities and social sciences, essays are a key component of
most classes. All students are expected to be able to express themselves through academic

show understanding of a concept, to share ones personal views and beliefs, to convince
others of a specific belief, or to review or comment on a given topic. Essays typically focus

it is up to the individual writer to narrow the focus. Typically, an essay is organized by
introducing your topic, explaining and supporting the focus, and then drawing some
relevant conclusions from your discussion and analysis. Because in an essay you have
sufficient time and room to explore your ideas thoroughly, be sure to develop them
adequately by balancing your more general assertions with specific evidence; this coverage
might include textual evidence by way of quotations or paraphrases. As a rule, do not
simply rely on generalizations to express your ideas. Also, because an essay tends to
involve abstract concepts, it is always a good idea to make sure that those concepts are
defined, so that both you and the reader share an impression of what you mean by an idea.
Defining a concept does not necessarily mean quoting from a dictionary; rather, simply be
sure that in some way you have adequately conveyed your meaning of abstract terms. The
essay format can often provide the basis for other types of writing. Many other types of
writing are based on analysis, as an essay generally is, and many also often rely on its
overall organizational scheme.
For our purposes, we can use a definition by Dorothy E Zemach and Lisa A Rumisek
(2003) to identify an academic essay as a group of paragraphs written about single topic
and central main ideas which must have a defined structure  an introduction, a body and a
conclusion.

15 - The introduction: is the first paragraph of an essay. It explains the topic with general
ideas. It also has a thesis statement. This is a sentence that gives the main idea. It usually
comes at or near the end of the paragraph.
- The main body: These are the paragraphs that explain and support the thesis
statement and come between the introduction and the conclusion. There must be one or
more paragraphs in the main body of an essay.
- The conclusion: this is the last paragraph of an essay. It summarizes or restates the
thesis and the supporting idea of the essay.

portray the same.
Cause and effect essays  cause and effect means building the relationship between


Argumentative essays  Here you deal with the ideas that can be argued, defended and

yours. Thus it requires that you present strong arguments supported by solid reasoning and
evidences.
Critical essays  here you give critical interpretations of a piece of art, music, movie, or
literary work. You evaluate the works, judge them, appreciate them or reveal mistakes in
them.

2. Challenges of learners
2.1. Problems of the EFL learners
Fundamentally, writing is a skill, like reading, which has to be taught in L1 schools and,
as Nunan (1999, p. 271) points out, producing coherent written discourse is an effort for
many English mother-       
learners             
          
writing in their native language, though they may have a more extensive stock of language
17 resources to call upon, frequently confront exactly the same kinds of writing problems as
            
clearly is a skill native-speakers find difficult, many L2 users, who have less control of
English and its conventions of register and collocation, will inevitably find it a chore that
takes time and considerable effort.

Certain problems that English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and students in

et language, generalising a
particular rule or item in the second language  irrespective of the native language 
            -
-language.

He, consequently, comes to a conclusion why so many students have problems
writing? Firstly the difficulties faced by learners are partly linguistic and partly due to a
lack of skills to write. The latter arise because many students do not write in their L1 so
lack the confidence and experience needed to write in an L2. As a result, adult students, in
his experience, avoid writing, compounding the problem. Secondly, previous learning
         ot do, and
these preconceptions often prevent them from experimenting and taking risks with
language, instead resorting to translation from their L1, because it feels safer. The linguistic
problems arise partly because, as Nunan (1999) points out, written discourse is generally
not just a matter of writing down what we would say. He (1999, p. 277) adds that
  
and many students do not have the resources to produce more complex language.
Moreover, each type of writing requires students to master new vocabulary, format and
register conventions and this means that ability to write in one genre does not mean
proficiency in another. All these factors affect student motivation, which without a doubt,
plays an important role in their success.

2.2. Major problems of academic writing instruction in Vietnam context
19 The major problems of writing instruction for Vietnamese university students are found
by Vietnamese teachers of English helping non-major Vietnamese students preparing for
English proficiency tests such as TOEIC, TOEFL, and IELTS for a long time : 1. Heavy
emphasis on grammatical form. 2. Overemphasis on the final product. 3. Lack of genre-

time in editing and revising; thus, they show little flexibility in changing their original
ideas. They also are lack of competence in composing is partially because of emphasis on
the final product, and their insufficient knowledge on writing strategies. Due to emphasis
on the final product, the interaction between a teacher and students or between students
themselves does not exist.

2.2.3. Lack of genre-specific writing across the curriculum
Vietnamese students enrolled in writing classes have a variety of majors, and various
reasons for attending the class, such as further academic studying and improved job
opportunity. Therefore, writing classes might need to help students understand the social
functions or actions of genres and the contexts in which these genres are used (Bazerman,
1988; Freedman & Medway, 1994). Thus, classroom instruction that addresses multiple
genres would support students' needs in their various academic and workplace. As part of
this instructional change, university writing teachers might consider initiating students into
the academic discourse community (Bizzell, 1982), and teach the discourse conventions of
school and workplace genres as a tool for empowering students with linguistic resources for
social success (Kress, 1993; Martin, 1993b).

2.2.4. The need for more diverse types of feedback
Vietnamese students are traditionally accustomed to being given specific instructions
from teachers, and to receive authoritative feedback from the teachers. Thus, students write
for the teacher, not for themselves, and as a result, teachers are the only audience for whom
students gain experience writing for. One result of this is that writing teachers are often
overwhelmed by the task of giving a feedback and correcting students' writing. Due to the
fact that students are passive in the classroom, they naturally feel uncomfortable with
21 cooperative interaction that requires them to take an active role. Consequently, the teacher-
led assessment, which is prevalent in Vietnam, makes writing meaningless and


 Coherence and Cohesion (Organisation) - how organized the writing is
 Lexical Resource - 
 Grammatical Range and Accuracy (Use of language) - 
grammar

Examinees have an hour to complete two writing tasks and must complete both tasks to
get a score. During the time they need to organize their ideas, write accurately, and use rich
vocabulary. It is recommended that the candidate divide their time in this way:
 Task 1  150 words  20 minutes
 Task 2  250 words  40 minutes

3.1.1. IELS Academic writing – task 1
In the first task, candidates must write a report based on pictorial information. This
means they may need to describe a graph, chart, or diagram. It may be a bar chart, pie chart,
line graph, or some other graphic representation. Candidates might also be asked to
describe the process illustrated by the diagram. This involves describing the data
accurately, pointing out trends and relevant information, and using appropriate vocabulary.

To understand how best to answer this type of task, read through the model answers
provided in IELTS         
ability to group relevant information, link ideas in complex sentences, and use appropriate
vocabulary to describe trends. This is not as difficult as it sounds. By reading through
several sample answers, they can extract the vocabulary they need and also learn a variety
of sentence structures, to present their information in a formal, academic manner. For the
highest marks, also pay close attention to their spelling and copy given words and phrases
correctly.

3.1.2. IELTS Academic writing – task 2
In this task, candidates need to write an academic style essay on the single topic

only study in limited English class in which writing at sentence levels focusing on forms is
applied by Vietnamese teachers makes them become less control of English and its
conventions of register and collocation. Second, they do not have chance to experience the
rhetorical conventions of English text  the structure, style, and organization  which is
totally different from those in Vietnamese. In some cases, if Vietnamese learners who are
put in specialized classes have to learn writing for tests, they have to try their best to pass or
gain good marks in the exams rather than enjoying learning writing. As a result, learners do
not pay attention to acquire more skills to improve their writings.
24
4. Approaches to teaching writing
4.1. The Product Approach
4.1.1. Definitions of the product approach
            

p.5). For example, in a typical product approach-oriented classroom, students are supplied
with a standard sample of text and they are expected to follow the standard to construct a
new piece of writing. Product Approach Model comprises of four stages (Steele, 2004):

* Stage one: Students study model texts and then the features of the genre are

the importance of paragraphing and the language used to make formal requests. If a student
reads 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 two: This stage consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features,
usually in isolation. So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to
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