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

TRẦN THỊ CẨM VÂN
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE
12
th
FORM STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS THROUGH
SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS AT
LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT HIGH SCHOOL, HÀ NAM
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG VIẾT THÔNG QUA
CÁC TÀI LIỆU ĐỌC BỔ TRỢ CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 12 TRƯỜNG
THPT LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT, HÀ NAM)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Hanoi, 2015
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ CẨM VÂN
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPROVEMENT OF
THE 12
th
FORM STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS THROUGH
SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS AT
LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT HIGH SCHOOL, HÀ NAM
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG VIẾT THÔNG QUA
CÁC TÀI LIỆU ĐỌC BỔ TRỢ CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 12 TRƯỜNG

supplementary reading materials in writing lessons of the 12
th
form students at
Ly Thuong Kiet high school. Along with it, the most popular difficulties and
possible suggestions to enhance students’ writing skills through reading
would be discussed.
The study revolves an experimental research with the participation of 5
teachers and 90 students of 12
th
form at Lý Thường Kiệt High School, Ha
Nam province. To collect data for this study, two pre-task questionnaires, two
post-task questionnaires, a pre-test and a post-test were employed. After
examining the responses from the pre-task questionnaires, the author designed
and integrated a set of nine supplementary reading texts and respective
reading and writing exercises into writing lessons of 45 experimental students
in 9 weeks of the first semester of the school year 2014-2015. During the
same time, 45 students of the control group only received writing exercises.
The results from the post-task questionnaires, the pre-test and post-test
showed that there had been a significant improvement in the students’ writing
skill in terms of vocabulary, ideas and organization after they took part in the
supplementary reading integration programme in comparison with the
students of control group. Moreover, most of students of the experimental
group acknowledged the benefits of the supplementary reading integration
programme and expected that such programme would be applied in the future.
iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL : English as a Foreign Language
ESL : English as a Second Language
MOET : Ministry of Education and Training
LIST OF TABLES

1. Statement of the Problem 1
2. Aims of the study 1
3. Research questions 1
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Significance of the study 3
6. Method of the study 3
7. Design of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Definitions of Writing 4
1.1.1. What is Writing? 4
1.1.2. Rationale behind teaching Writing 5
1.1.3. Approaches to Writing Instruction 6
1.1.3.1. Text-Centred Approach 6
1.1.3.2. Writer-Centred Approach 8
1.1.3.3. Reader-Centred Approach 9
1.2. Definitions of Supplementary Reading Materials 9
1.2.1. What is Supplementary Reading Materials? 9
1.2.2. Suitable Supplementary Reading Materials for EFL
Teaching and Learning Process 11
1.2.3. The Influence of Reading on Writing 12
1.2.4. Researches on Adopting Reading Materials to Enhance
Writing 13
1.3. Conclusion 14
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16
2.1. Investigation Context 16
2.2. Participants 16
2.3. Data Collection Instruments 17
2.3.1. Questionnaires 17
2.3.1.1.Student Questionnaires 17

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Although writing is an important skill in teaching and learning English,
it seems to be undervalued inside the classroom. The neglect of this skill
causes the 12
th
graders at Ly Thuong Kiet (LTK) high school to be weak and
poor writers though writing is a compulsory part in the national GCSE
examination. It is noticed that English teachers in LTK high school often use
a methodology based on teacher-talk and note-taking practices, mainly
explaining some new words and structures before asking students to write.
Therefore, the 12
th
students could not express well in English due to the lack
of format instruction, useful language, topic background, idea organization,
etc.
Among many methods of improving students’ writing skill, integrating
two language skills, reading and writing has been proved to have positive
effects on students’ writing skills in many researches. Brown (1987) stated
that “by reading and studying a variety of relevant types of text, students can
gain important insights both about how they should write and about subject
matter that may become the topic of their writing”. Reading inspires students,
helps them to think critically and analytically. Reading also provides students
with ideas for their essays because they often lack the experience for complex
subjects. Moreover, reading supplies grammar, syntax, language or
organization for students as a model. Despite many advantages, this method
hasn’t been deployed in the context of high school in Vietnam.
All these mentioned reasons above have inspired the researcher to carry
out the study titled “An investigation into the improvements of the 12

attempts to investigate the effects of supplementary reading materials on
writing proficiency of two 12
th
form classes at LTK high school in 9 weeks.
The researcher will employ 90 students and 5 teachers of English for
collecting data.
2
5. Significance of the study
This study could be some help to teachers and students at LTK high
school. For teachers, they can improve their understanding of the relationship
between reading and writing. From this, they can find more suitable and
effective teaching methods to help students better their writing. For students,
they can get access to a new teaching method which encourages their
involvement and participation in writing process.
6. Method of the study
This study is an experimental research conducted by using quantitative
methods. Two classes are randomly selected as control group and
experimental group. Questionnaires are also employed for both students and
teachers to elicit the information on students’ perceptions and attitudes toward
writing lessons, difficulties encountered in writing and suggestions to
improve the teaching and learning writing skills.
7. Design of the study
The study consists of three parts:
- The Introduction: presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the
significance, the methods and the design of the study.
- The Development: consists three chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature Review
Chapter 2: The Methodology
Chapter 3: Results and Discussions
- The Conclusion: summarises the major findings, pedagogical

ability to use the structures, lexical items, and their conventional
representation in ordinary matter of fact of writing.”
To clarify skills needed in writing, Heaton (1975:138) suggested four
factors: (1) Grammatical skill: The ability to write correct sentences. (2)
Stylistic skill: The ability to manipulate sentence and use language effectively.
(3) Mechanical skill: The ability to use correctly those conversations peculiar
to the written language e.g. punctuation and spelling (4) Judgment skill: The
ability to write in an appropriate manner for a particular purpose with an
ability to select, organize and relevant information.
In conclusion, to teachers and learners in language classes, the most
appropriate concept of writing is that writing is regarded as a productive skill
which is difficult to acquire but fundamental in English learning process.
1.1.2. Rationale behind Teaching Writing
Raimes (1983:3) listed three main reasons for teaching writing in
language class as followed:
"Writing helps our students learn. How? First, writing reinforces the
grammatical structures, idioms, and vocabulary that we have been
teaching our students. Second, when our students write, they also have
a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they
have just learned to say, to take risks. Third, when they write, they
necessarily become very involved with the new language; the effort to
express ideas and the constant use of eye, hand and brain is a unique
way to reinforce learning."
Tribble (1996:11) emphasised that writing “normally requires some
form of instruction” and that “it is not a skill that is readily picked up by
exposure”. Harmer (2004) had the same point of view as Tribble and added
that: “being able to write is a vital skill for 'speakers' of a foreign language as
5
much as for everyone using their own first language. Training students to
write thus demands the care and attention of language teachers” (Harmer

• Guided writing: then they imitate model texts – usually filling in
gaps, completing texts, creating topic sentences, or writing parallel
texts.
• Free writing: learners use the patterns they have developed to write
an essay, letter, etc.
Texts as Discourse
The second perspective sees texts as discourse – the way we use
language to communicate, to achieve purposes in particular situations. This
approach has been criticised for stifling creativity by imposing models on
students but it is also praised as learners' understanding of both the rhetorical
structure and the linguistic features was increased by the genre-based
instructions (Henry & Roseberry, 1998, pp. 154-155)
Here the writer is seen as having certain goals and intentions and the
ways we write are resources to accomplish these. Teachers working with
writing in this way seek to identify the how texts actually work as
communication, regarding forms of language as located in social action.
Genre theories suggest that a teacher who understands how texts are typically
structured, understood, and used is in a better position to intervene
successfully in the writing development of his or her students.
7
1.1.3.2. Writer-Centred Approach
The second broad approach focuses on the writer, rather than the text.
There are two broad classroom approaches here as well: Creative Expression
and Writing Process.
Creative Expression Approach
This approach leans heavily on an asocial view of the writer and on an
ideology of individualism which may disadvantage second language students
from cultures that place a different value on ‘self expression’. In addition, it
is difficult to extract from the approach any clear principles from which to
teach and evaluate ‘good writing’. It simply assumes that all writers have a

reading involves drawing on assumptions about what the writer is trying to
do. Hoey (2001) says this is like dancers following each other’s steps, each
building sense from a text by anticipating what the other is likely to do. This
is one of the reasons why writing in English so difficult for speakers of other
languages because what is seen as logical, engaging, relevant or well-
organised in writing, and what counts as evidence, irony, conciseness and
coherence, are likely to differ across cultures.
1.2. Definition of Supplementary Reading Materials
1.2.1. What is Supplementary Reading Materials?
According to McGrath (2013:2), materials include textbooks,
commercial materials that are not provided as part of the textbook package,
teacher-prepared materials. In the context of this investigation, materials will
be referred as materials that can be either designed and exploited for
9
particular language learning purposes and as authentic or real-life materials
that can be used in teaching and learning process.
In the teaching and learning process, besides mainstream materials (in
Vietnam, usually prescribed by Minister of Education and Training), there are
supplementary materials. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 7
th
Edition
defines "supplementary" as "provided in addition to something else in order to
improve or complete it".
According to McGrath (2002:80), supplementary materials refer to
materials taken from another source or any other material that is designed for
learning purpose in an attempt to provide additional materials in order to
supplement the textbooks. For the purpose of this investigation,
supplementary reading materials will be regarded as extra texts, worksheets,
books etc. from any reading materials other than textbooks that teachers can
use for pedagogical purposes in addition to the official textbooks of the same

3. Do students have or can teachers provide them with appropriate
background knowledge for understanding the content?
4. Is the level of abstractness appropriate?
5. Is the passage complete in itself or has author assumed a lot of other
information and inference skills?
6. What kind of extra-textual support is available?
7. Is the text clearly organized with a beginning or introduction and clear
sequence signals?
8. Is there sufficient redundancy of ideas?
9. Will the number of difficult vocabulary items interfere with the task
which has been set?
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10. Does the author use a lot of structures which are vague or which are
difficulty to process, given the students' experience with English?
11. Are syntactic relationships within sentences and between sentences clear?
12. Have teachers set an appropriate task for the type of text, the level of
difficulty and the need of their students, and have teachers taught them the
necessary skills to cope with the task?
Although Hetherington solely offered recommendations on evaluating
reading materials for ESL students, the researcher upholds the opinion that
this method of assessment can be correspondingly applied to evaluation of
supplementary reading materials for EFL students as well.
1.2.3. The Influence of Reading on Writing
Researchers and practitioners in the field of ESL/EFL teaching and
learning have lately acknowledged the important role of reading in promoting
language skills including writing skills. Krashen (1989:109) claimed that
“Reading exposure is the primary means of developing language skills."
Then, Carson and Leki (1993:1) affirmatively contended that “reading can be,
and in academic settings nearly always is, the basis for writing”.
On discussing the relationship between reading and writing, Kennedy

writing method. The results suggested that the reading-into-writing method
had a positive impact on the paragraph-level writing development of lower-
intermediate EFL undergraduates.
While researching the effects of lexical input in second language
writing at Chinese University of Hong Kong, Huang Zeping (2012) also
concluded that "corpora can be a useful resource for writing teachers to
13
help students improve their lexico-grammatical use of vocabulary in
their writing".
In the context of Vietnamese education and training system, there has
been a recent study on the effects of applying reading materials on writing
skill enhancement named "Teaching Writing through Reading Integration" by
Luu Trong Tuan in 2012. His study focused on the possible problems facing
students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Finance-Marketing in writing
essays and effects of read-like-a-writer approach on the students’ writing
competence. The results of this study showed that "the read-like-a-writer
approach does not benefit students of higher level as much as it does with
students of lower level."
Not only in Viet Nam but also in other countries, there have been few
studies on the effects of promoting writing skills of high school students
through supplementary reading materials. Therefore, the researcher decided to
conduct an investigation into the impact of applying supplementary reading
materials to improve writing skill among high school students.
1.3. Conclusion
This chapter has firstly examined the definition of writing, rationale
behind teaching writing and approaches to teaching writing. Then, it
illustrates the definition of supplementary reading materials, the method of
assessing suitable supplementary reading materials in foreign language
teaching and learning, the relationship between reading and writing. Studies
on adopting reading materials to enhance writing skill are presented at

Student sample
Both of the randomly selected classes of 12
th
form named 12A1 and
12D1 consist of 45 students at the age of 17. The overwhelming gender of the
chosen students (60%) was female. Neither of these two classes is major in
English. All of the students have learned English since they were in junior
secondary school or earlier. Students of both classes were taught basic
knowledge of writing in the academic year of 10
th
form.
Class 12A1 was arbitrarily chosen as experimental group and Class
12D1 was selected as control group. These two classes were taught by one
teacher in charge.
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