VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
ĐỖ THỊ HƯƠNG HOA

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES
TOWARDS PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES AT
NGÔ QUYỀN HIGH SCHOOL NHẬN THỨC VÀ THÁI ĐỘ CỦA HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT NGÔ
QUYỀN ĐỐI VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI VIẾT M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Hanoi, 2011
Code:
60. 14. 10

Hanoi, 2011
Code:
60. 14. 10 iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v
PART 1. INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Objectives of the study 2
3. Research questions of the study 2
4. Methods of the study 2
5. Scope of the study 3
6. Significance of the study 3
7. Design of the study 3
PART 2. DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4
1.1. Learner beliefs, perception and attitudes towards language learning 4
1.1.1. Definition of beliefs, perceptions and attitudes 4
1.1.2. Studies on learners’ beliefs, perception and attitudes 5
1.2. Writing 7
1.2.1. What is writing? 7
1.2.2. Writing approaches 7
1.2.2.1. Product approach to teaching writing 7


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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Page
Figure 1 : Students’ attitudes towards writing skill
23
Figure 2 : Students’ most difficult stage in writing
24
Figure 3: Students’ perceptions of the importance of pre-writing activities
25
Table 1: Students’ assessments of some common pre-writing provided by their
teacher
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Figure 4: Students’ attitudes towards pre-writing activities
27
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
ESL: English as a Second Language
ELT: English Language Teaching
IT : Information Technology
MOET: Ministry of Education and Training 1
PART 1. INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale for the study
Writing is an essential skill in both the first language and second language. It is a
means of expressing thoughts in a planned and organized way. However, due to its
complexity and high requirement of linguistic means, it is considered the most difficult
language skill to master.
Regarding the context of Ngô Quyền High School in Hoa Binh, it is a noticeable that
the writing lesson is the most challenging one to both the teachers and the students. Rarely
do the teachers choose the writing lessons to perform their teaching practice for colleagues‟
evaluation due to the high risk of failure. The students suffer from a certain amount of
anxiety when they have to deal with a writing task. In writing lessons, they usually
complain that they have nothing to write, the writing tasks are too difficult for them, they
have too little time to complete their writings but do not recognize the problem is a lack of
preparation. This is one reason why the discussion section of a pre-writing activity is so
important for ESL students. Do the students perform pre-writing in reality? Normally, when
doing a writing task, they often think in Vietnamese then translate into English, they ignore
pre-writing stage and begin writing immediately, and employ pre-writing strategies only
when being asked by the teacher. Why so? Why they are not enthusiastic about these
activities?

2. What attitudes towards pre-writing activities do they hold?
3. What are the students’ preferences for pre-writing activities?

4. Methods of the study
This is a survey research. To seek answers to the above research questions, a survey
questionnaire was used. Mile and Huberman (1994: 253) state three good reasons for
resorting to numbers: “to see rapidly what you have in a large batch of data; to verify a
hunch or hypothesis; to keep yourself analytically honest, protecting against bias”.
Moreover, using questionnaires in research may help participants approach the problem
more easily. For the reasons mentioned above, the survey research seems to be the most
suitable for the scope and objectives of my study.
However, this method has its own limitation, that is, the results collected may not
reflect the matter proposed precisely. In order to reduce the invalidity and unreliability, the
author will give clear instructions to the students; observe the class to make sure that the
students answer each question themselves; or ask students to check their answers. 3
5. Scope of the study
Due to the time and length constraint of the study, the author only focuses on
surveying 11th form students at Ngô Quyền high school to find out their perception of pre-
writing activities in terms of the importance and benefits, their preferences and attitudes
towards these activities in writing lessons. Although the author is well aware that the survey
statistics are not fully representative of all high school students studying English in Hoa
Binh, she hopes to propose some of the most popular facts that occur in this study.

6. Significance of the study
Pedagogically, the findings and comments of the study are believed to be relevant to
improving the teaching of writing to the students. The study may help teachers make their
writing lessons more effective so that they can help their students develop writing skill as

perception and attitudes is necessary.

1.1.1. Definition of beliefs, perception and attitudes
There are many definitions of beliefs, perception and attitudes. Most often,
researchers adopt definitions that suit the purposes of their own empirical frameworks and
reflect personal ideological viewpoints. In this thesis, the author will quote the following
ones because they are simple but comprehensive and she will conduct the study on this
theoretical background.
 Belief: According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary, belief is defined as a
thing that one accepts as true or real. Another definition of belief provided by
Horwitz (1987) is a statement that is held to be true, that affects language learning
practices.
 Perception: According to Lindsay & Norman (1997) perception is the process by
which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful
experience of` the world. Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively
unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue,
or skin. Perception, on the other hand, better describes one‟s ultimate experience of
the world and typically involves further processing of sensory input. In practice,
sensation and perception are virtually impossible to separate, because they are part

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of one continuous process. Thus, perception in humans describes the process
whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience.
 Attitude: Bem (1970) simply defines that "attitudes are likes and dislikes".
According to Eagly & Chaiken (1993), "Attitude is a psychological tendency that is
expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor."

For recent years, foreign language teaching and learning have shifted from teacher
directed instruction to student- centred learning. Therefore many researchers have raised
their interest in learners‟ perspectives. Numerous studies related to teaching methodology

argued, that while some beliefs may have a facilitative effect on learning, others can hinder
it. Supportive and positive beliefs help to overcome problems and thus sustain motivation,
while negative or unrealistic beliefs can lead to decreased motivation, frustration, and even
anxiety.
In the classroom context, the perception, beliefs, attitudes, and metacognitive
knowledge that students bring with them to the learning situation have been recognized as a
significant contributory factor in the learning process and ultimate success (Breen, 2001).
For example, second or foreign language students may hold strong beliefs about the nature
of the language under study, its difficulty, the process of its acquisition, the success of
certain learning strategies, the existence of aptitude, their own expectations about
achievement and teaching methodologies. Identification of these beliefs and reflection on
their potential impact on language learning and teaching in general, as well as in more
specific areas such as the learners' expectations and strategies used, can inform future
syllabus design and teacher practice in the course. Pedagogy has the capacity to provide the
opportunities and conditions within which these learner contributions are found to have a
positive effect upon learning and may be more fully engaged (Breen, 2001; Arnold, 1999).
In summary, studying on learners‟ beliefs, perception and attitudes seems to appeal
to researchers. Great deals of researchers are interested in this field. Most of their studies
paid much attention on the importance and the influence of learners‟ beliefs, perception and
attitudes on their language learning. So far, there has been no study on high school students‟
perception and attitudes towards pre-writing activities. Thus, this study is an attempt to
explore high school students‟ perception and attitudes towards pre-writing activities. The
author hopes that it will be useful for those who care about this field.

1.2. Writing

1.2.1. What is writing?
There are a lot of definitions of writing. "Writing can be said to be the art of
performing graphic symbols" (Byrne 1990: 1) or simply writing is like "making marks on a


they have been learned can originality occur… (Pincas 1962: 185-6)
For the past decade or so, writing research has emphasized the composed product
rather than the process of writing itself. Much attention was given to the mechanics of

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writing the correct form; the correct usage of words or the correct format. It was generally
believed that writers knew and preplanned what they wanted to write (Shaughnessy, 1977).
Correctness of mechanics and form influenced writing pedagogy which concentrated on
preliminary outlining and orderly writing. Learners in the writing class analyzed and
imitated the works of professional writers. Creativity and the exploration of thoughts on
paper were less encouraged.
The drawbacks of the product approach were soon noticed by many researchers. As
Escholz (1980) argues, in adopting such an approach, not only does the very nature of this
sequence provide little or no insight into the actual processes involved in managing to arrive
at the final product, but the students are also being restricted in what they can write. The
approach merely resulted in 'mindless copies of a particular organizational plan or style'
(Eschholz 1980: 24). In other words, the product approach encourages students to use the
same plan in a multitude of settings, applying the same form regardless of content, thereby
„stultifying and inhibiting writers rather than empowering them or liberating them.‟ In
addition, the entire activity of writing was seen as “an exercise in habit formation” (Silva
1990: 13).
1.2.2.2. Process approach to teaching writing
The teaching of writing has recently moved away from a concentration on the
written product to an emphasis on the process of writing, which leads to the emergence of
Process Approach. Process Approach to writing came to play in the 1970s. This approach
encourages students‟ communication of ideas, feelings, and experiences. It is more global
and focuses on purpose, theme, text type, i.e. the reader is emphasized. Thus, writers not
only concern about purpose and audience but also have to make decision on how to begin
and how to organize a piece of writing.
Writing is a process, so students are given time to set out ideas, make plan, write a

Hedge (1988) asserted revising and editing after composing was an integral part of
the writing process. There are two main post-writing activities. The first, mentioned by
Harmer (2004) are self-revision and self-editing. The second type of post-writing activity is
rewriting based on the feed back or comments from the teachers or their peers.

1.3. Pre-writing stage and pre-writing activities
According to Oshima and Hogue (1991:2), when we are faced with writing
assignment, we may sometimes suffer from “writer block”, that is, ideas will not easily
come to in our head, and we sit staring at our blank paper. “Writer block” can happen to
anyone , even professional writers, pre-writing activities help to generate ideas for the
writing assignments, writers can easily overcome this difficulty ( writer‟s block) and getting

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started quickly.
In “The practice of writing”, Robert Scholes and Nancey R Comley (1989) highlight
the importance of pre-writing: collecting the thoughts on paper without the pressure of
structuring expression into its final form is the most productive way of beginning almost
any writing task .
White and Adrnt (1991) briefly categorized pre-writing activities into three types:
generating which includes the activities: brainstorming, making note, role-play, using
questions and visuals), focusing (discovering main ideas; considering purpose, audience and
form of the writing) and structuring activities (ordering information, experimenting with
arrangement and relating structure to focal ideas).
According to Raimes (1983), pre-writing process involves 'getting ideas',
"expressing ideas' and 'conveying meaning”.
In short, pre-writing is an important stage in writing process, it refers to any activity
in the classroom that encourages the generation and organization of ideas. Teachers of
English as a Second Language (ESL) can use pre-writing activities at the earliest stages of
instruction to help their students acquire good language skills. Pre-writing involves
energizing students participation in thinking, talking, group interaction, and skeletal writing

deal with problem that emerges in their writing process. This activity is controlled and
suitable for beginners and weaker students.
 Picture using
Teacher use a set of pictures corresponding to the content of the writing text and ask
students to work in pairs or in groups pooling ideas and vocabulary. By describing,
reordering or connecting pictures students can generating ideas for their writing. This
activity is suitable when teaching writing narrative or descriptive text and is a powerful
learning device.
 Rapid free writing
Free writing helps you identify subjects in which you are interested. It assumes that
you know your interests subconsciously but may not be able to identify them consciously,
and it assumes that you can bring your interests into consciousness by writing about them
(as writing equals thinking). Free writing is like stream-of-consciousness writing in which
you write down whatever happens to be in your thoughts at the moment. After you do a
number of free writings, you may find that you have come back to certain subjects again
and again. Repeated subjects are good for further development through writing, as they
obviously are important in your thoughts.
 Clustering

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Clustering or mapping can help you become aware of different ways to think about a
subject. To do a cluster or "mind map," write your general subject down in the middle of a
piece of paper. Then, using the whole sheet of paper, rapidly jot down ideas related to that
subject. If an idea spawns other ideas, link them together using lines and circles to form a
cluster of ideas. The whole purpose here is to use lines and circles to show visually how
your ideas relate to one another and to the main subject.
A cluster or map combines the two stages of brainstorming (recording ideas and
then grouping them) into one. It also allows you to see, at a glance, the aspects of the
subject about which you have the most to say, so it can help you choose how to focus a
broad subject for writing. For example, the writer of the map above his or her writing on

Any particular programs?
reading readiness

How effective are Head Start reading readiness programs?
13
As you develop a "chain" using each answer to generate another question, your
subject both narrows in scope and becomes more complex, more appropriate.
 Simple outlining
Simple outlining is an effective way to help students to write more quickly. If
students want to have a good idea in their mind of how they will begin and what major
points they plan to discuss, they need to write a simple outline to check their ideas , to make
sure that their points are well organized, and to use as a guideline to refer to as they write.
Once they have worked out a good outline for a paragraph or short essay, they have
complete 50 percent of the work. With an outline, the actual writing becomes easier because
students do not have to worry about what they are going to say. Hence, they can write more
quickly.
 Discussing: Talk to other students, with varying levels of knowledge on the topic,
about the piece.

1.3.2. Benefits of pre-writing activities
Pre-writing is a vital part of the writing process and activities for this stage offer
several benefits to the writer:
Firstly, they can bring a lot of fun. Anything is possible at this point. Students may
have many ideas and the ideas can be freewheeling, even idiotic. It does not matter. They
Just keep brainstorming, playing with ideas, collecting resources and notes, doing all the
other activities needed to finish this stage of the writing process. At this point, students‟
writings may go in many directions. However, they need to explore all the ideas until they

understanding of what he is writing. Prewriting activities not only help students acquire the
target language more effectively, but they build interpersonal, thinking, and planning skills
that can be utilized in other fields.

1.3.3. A warning about implementing pre-writing activities
Though, the benefits of pre-writing activities are undeniable, there is a warning
when implementing these activities in class. That is teacher and students may become so
fascinated by this stage that they do not actually move past it to create the first draft, and
then on to revision. Like research, writers have a tendency to spend too much time planning
and never get to implementation (drafting). Consequently, teachers may run out of time in
writing lessons if they do not prepare carefully and students will have not enough time to
complete their writing assignment. Teachers should concentrate on the individual
components of a writing task ensures that students actually begin writing early but are not
overwhelmed with tasks that they cannot handle. 15
1.4. Previous researches on pre-writing activities
Pre-writing stage and pre-writing activities play an important part in writing process.
That is the reason why many researches relating this field have been carried out.
Baba, Suria and Aziz, Zahara Abdul (2009) unveils the implementation of smart
teaching and learning strategies in pre-writing activities in Bahasa Melayu (Malay
Language). This is a qualitative case study of four smart schools‟ teachers using purposive
sampling. The result from interview, non participant observation and documents analysis
showed as follows: First, pre-writing activities include brainstorming activities and mind
mapping, reading and interpreting data from print and electronic media. The ability to
convey information helps to develop critical thinking. Second, the efforts of smart teachers
strengthen learning and teaching which inculcate analytical and critical skills to solve
problems. Third, a cyclical model is created from the interviews and observations made
during the pre-writing activities. Efforts to make smart teaching and learning a success

writing papers in both pre-improvement stage and post-improvement one revealed that pre-
writing activities conducted by the teachers didn‟t work perfectly, they met many
difficulties when implementing these activities and when the teachers changed their
method or activities to motivate students in the writing lessons, students write better, they
also feel more confident when writing.
Loi (2009) claimed the implementation of pre-writing activities in writing lesson,
their effects on the students‟ writing at high school. 50 students of 11th grade at her own
high school participated in her study. The results of the study showed that students‟ writing
have improves a lot. Their attitudes towards writing change positively. Students feel more
confident and more interested in the writing lessons.
In short, writing is a difficult skill both to teachers and students. Pre- writing activity
is one of the key factors that facilitates the writing tasks, but the more important one is how
students perceive these and how they response to them. If their attitudes towards these
activities are negative, these activities offer no help. Most of the mentioned studies dealt
with the application of pre-writing activities in improving writing skill. However, none
considers high school students‟ perception and attitudes towards these activities. As far as I
know, the issue of students‟ perception and attitudes towards pre-writing activities remains
under-researched in the context of High Schools in Vietnam, and this study is an attempt to
occupy this research gap.

1.5. Summary
In this chapter, the author has reviewed issues, and aspects concerning the topic of
the study. The knowledge of belief, perception and attitudes in language teaching writing,
writing teaching approaches, pre-writing stage and pre-writing activities, previous
researches which related to the topic of the study. In the following chapter, the context of
the study, the methodology, data collection procedures and data collection and data analysis
will be proposed.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

In the textbook, reading, speaking and listening lessons are divided into three parts:
pre-task, while-task, post-task. In contrast, 30% of the writing units consist of one topic and
some prompts. On this textbook, there are a wide range of types to practice writing with

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narrative, writing letters, describing statistics from a chart or a table or writing a report or a
biography.
The objectives of the course is to equip students with English writing skill for basic
communication. For grade 11 students, the objective is to develop students‟ abilities to
provide 100 - 130 word paragraphs on familiar topics.

2.2.2. The writing lessons in the “ Tiếng Anh 11” textbook
In order to realize the course objective, the writing section focuses on daily and
popular topics. The required competences and objectives of the writing lesson in each unit
are detailed in the following table:
Units
Required tasks
1. Friendship
Writing about a friend
2. Personal experiences
Writing a personal letter to describe a past experience
3. A Party
Writing an informal letter of invitation
4. Volunteer work
Writing a formal letter expressing gratitude
5. Illiteracy
Describing information in a table
6. Competitions
Writing a letter of reply
7. World Population

completing the task. Writing is a skill that has not been accorded the attention it deserves in
high school education. Students have not been taught to make their ideas flow on paper
properly. Many of them don't know how to write, feel stupid when they can't find the right
words, fear criticism and want to avoid the emotional turmoil experienced when faced with
a topic and a blank piece of paper. Teachers do not understand much about process
approach of writing, however, they are trying their best to follow this approach in teaching
writing. By observing the writing lessons and having informal talks with the teachers and
students the researcher finds that the pre-writing activities the teachers often give their
students are: generating ideas through brainstorming, asking students to make outline, using
a model essay and analyzing it, questioning and answering; listing, rapid free writing,
describing pictures, using other aids (maps, music, reading texts). Studying the reality of
teaching and learning writing at the school provides information on the relevant points and
issues for the questionnaire of the study.
Though, the teachers have used a lot of pre-writing activities that takes the student
from insecurity to success. It seems that this stage hasn‟t conducted effectively. Students are
very passive in writing lessons. Their writing competence has not improved much. In order
to create an atmosphere that encourages students to write, the students‟ perception and
attitudes towards teacher's use of pre-writing time and also the pre-writing activities needs
to be looked into.

2.4. Methodology
The methodology conducted in the research including the participants,
instrumentation, data procedures, data collection and data analysis will be presented in the
part.

2.4.1. The participants
The subject of this study was drawn from two sources divided into two groups:
The first group includes 80 11
th
form students randomly selected among 165 11