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A STUDY ON “ USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
TO TEACH WRITING FOR CLASS 10V”

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
1.1. Rationale.
1.2.Purpose of the study.
1.2.1. Hypothesesof the study
1.2.2. Research Questions.
1.2.3. Significance of the Study.
2. Literature review
2.1. Theoretical considerations
2.2. The reality of teaching and learning writing at Son La specialized
high school
3. Methodology Section.
3.1. Participants and setting
3.2. Data sources and research material
3.3. Data collection procedure:
4. Research Schedule:
4. 1. Intervention
4.1.1. Pre – intervention.
4.1.2. Intervention.
4.1.3. Post – Intervention.
5. Applications of the study in the Units
6. Findings.
7. Closing Remark.

performance in writing; however, is the traditional methods adopted to teach
this skill. In fact teaching writing in this part of the word does not go far
beyond "the teacher assigns a topic, the students write and the teacher
evaluates and (at his/her best) provides feedback"(Marshi&Henatabad, 2011.
p.79 ) Such an approach to teaching writing, in the researchers' point of
view, is very unproductive and demotivating. It induces the learners to
develop negative attitudes towards writing. To make teaching writing more
fruitful and less boring, more modern innovative techniques such as graphic
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organizers are worth considering and being

utilized in teaching English

writing. Another problem is the students’ low level of English proficiency.
That is why they find it difficult to write. Moreover, lack of motivation also
faces the students. They often get bored and indifferent in the writing
lessons. In my opinion, the current problem must be worked out and
appropriate teaching techniques should be made. Up to present, a few
researches have been carried out on the teaching of writing for students in
Son La. As a teacher of English, who is aware of the fact, I wish to contribute
some suggestions for possible improvements in the teaching and learning of
writing skill by the means of graphic organizers.
1.2. Purpose of the study
In response to the problem of student' insufficient writing ability, comes this
research as an attempt to determine whether using graphic organizers helps to
improve Son La high school for gifted

students' writing performance as

towards writing?
1.2.3.Significance of the Study
This research is significant as it attempts to investigate the impact
graphic organizers may have on the writing ability and attitudes towards
writing English of the 10th grade students at Son La specialized high school
towards this significant skill.
This study is also significant because its results would demonstrate the
viability of using such an occidental innovative technique; the graphic
organizers to improve the writing proficiency of a group of the 10th grade
students as well as their attitudes towards this important skill. If this
technique proves to be useful, then it goes without saying that it will be
adopted to teach this vital skill to attain better writing performance. Better
writing performance secures the academic future of the students and
facilitates their educational progress.
2. Literature review
2.1. Theoretical considerations
2.1.1. Definitions of writing
There are a lot of definitions of writing. According to Byrne (1991),
writing can be defined as the act of forming graphic symbols. When we write,
we use graphic symbol (alphabet, grammar, and structures) to make visual
meaningful utterances. Therefore, on one level, writing can be said to be the act
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of making marks on flat surface of some kinds. However, writing is not just
simply putting words, sentences together. Many researchers tended to focus on
the nature of writing as an entity of linguistic creation. For example, Brannon,
Knight and Neverow- urk ( 982, p. 2) pointed out “ writing is

cre tive rt,

on the use of strategies to accomplish a variety of goals. They affirm that
writing is a means of extending and reinforcing knowledge. They add that
writing acts as an effective tool for acquiring new information.

2.1.3. Difficulty of teaching writing
Albeit the importance of writing, many scholars and researchers admit that
teaching this skill is a complex and cumbersome process (Calkins, 1994;
Marten, Seagraves, Thacker & Young, 2005). Other researchers confirm that
teaching writing is just as complicated as writing itself(Graham and Perin
(2007). Ching and Chee (2010) admit that teaching writing is demanding and
cumbersome.
As a teacher of writing for a long time, I acknowledge the difficulty and
complexity of teaching English writing. However, it should also be
acknowledged that the traditional methods which are widely adopted to teach
this skill in this part of the world is one of the major causes for the poor level of
the students' writing performance.

2.1.4. Effective writing teaching requirements
Effective writing teaching requires the use of assistive devices to support and
maintain the learning of this skill (Dell, Newton &Pertraff, 2008). It is not
enough for the teachers of writing to be highly qualified, but that their practices
of instruction follow scientific based research.
Strangman&Dalton (2005) outlines the major principles of effective writing
instruction. These involve providing support for recognition through
(presentation), support for strategic learning through (expression) and support
for affective learning through (engagement). Use of mind maps and graphics,
says Strangman, provides the teacher with tools and strategies that help him/her
to adhere to the above principles of effective writing teaching.
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term retention of information. It stresses meaningful learning which serves to
facilitatelearning and minimize boredom (Janssen, et al, 1993).

2.1.6. Students' attitudes towards writing
The ability to write clearly, consciously and efficiently is important to achieve
academic success. However, many students have limited writing abilities and
struggle to write compositions that adequately convey their thoughts and ideas
(Unezueta, 2009). Indeed, the writing process can be very cumbersome and
difficult to master. Actually many students are classified as low achievers in this
skill. This situation is quite frustrating and leads many students to develop
negative attitudes towards this essential skill.
Educators can play a major role in helping students overcome this problem. It
is important for teachers to provide students with interesting, authentic and
meaningful writing experiences (Chohan, 2011). When these types of
experiences are provided for the students, they become more engaged and
interested in their learning. According to Chohan (2011), writing is better
learned when students are engaged, helped to organize their thoughts, and
allowed to express their own experiences.
Lancaster (2013) reports that when students have the chance to participate in
writing workshops and used a variety of graphic organizers, writing becomes
meaningful, creative and more enjoyable. Furthermore, when learners are
offered the opportunity to practice writing under stress-free conditions, they
become more comfortable and confident in the writing process.
Marten ,L. Seagraves ,R. Thacker, S. &Young, L. (2005) add that teaching
writing via the use of graphic organizers is meaningful and interesting because
it effectively shows students' growth with respect to their writing abilities.
Lancaster (2013) confirms that the use of graphic organizers in teaching is one

sentence structures are poor. Grammar mistakes and spelling are also a common
fear for many of them. Besides, their low background knowledge also makes
them feel stressed when writing. Many of the students said they found it hard to
generate ideas and make an outline because of their low background knowledge.
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Their low motivation is also a problem. These students consider the result of the
exams as the most importance of their learning. Therefore, they care much
about grammar, structures and reading skill. This, obviously, decreases their
interest in writing. Moreover, they consider time limitation as a trouble. Many
of them said they sometimes did not have enough time to complete writing tasks
at class. The main reason for this is because of their low level of English
proficiency and low background knowledge.
In terms of the second cause, the students do not highly asses their
te chers’ ssist nce. hey find their te chers’ feedb cks re not comprehensive
nd their te chers’ instructions re not dequ te.
2.2.3. The new “TiengAnh 10” textbook.
he new “ ieng nh 0” is the first of

three-level English language set

of textbooks for the Vietnamese upper secondary school. It follows the
systematic, cyclical and theme-based curriculum approved by the Minister of
Education and Training on 23rd November 2012. The aim of this set of
textbooks is to develop students’ communic tive competence in listening,
speaking, reading and writing so that when finishing upper secondary school,
students will achieve level three of the Vietnamese Foreign Language
Competence Framework (equivalent to B1 in the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages).


Writing about doing household chores

2. Your body and you Writing about what to eat and not to eat
3. Music

Writing a biography

4. For a Better

Writing an application letter for volunteer work

Community
5. Inventions

Writing about the benefits of an invention

6. Gender Equality

Writing about the disadvantages of working mothers

7. Cultural Diversity

Writing about some typical characteristics of Vietnamese
people

8. New ways to learn

Writing about the advantages of electronic devices as
learning tools

Both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed to carry out the study.
The study used two major instruments for data collection: a writing rubric (see
App. A) and an attitudinal survey (see App. B). The writing rubric based on
The Georgia Department of Education Scale was selected and modified by the
researcher to assess the various traits of students' writing. The second
instrument used in this study was the attitude survey. This survey was intended
to measure the students' attitudes and feelings towards writing and their
perceptions of the writing task. Informal interviews with the colleagues and the
students are also conducted. Besides, reviewing the related documents is also a
method to establish the theoretical background for the study.

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3.3. Data collection procedure:
The data collection procedure is indicated in the following chart:
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grade 10 students

The attitude survey

Writing pre-test

The teaching of writing skills (3 lessons-Unit 3, 4 and
5)

1st writing post – test

The teaching of writing skills (3 lessons-Unit 6, 7, 9 )


4.1.2. Intervention
I applied graphic organizers in teaching writing skill for 10V in Unit 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 9 and 10.In the first semester, the students had 2 periodical tests, the
teacher used these test as a way to check the development of the students’
ability on writing skill. After each writing lesson, the teacher took notice of
any development of students by collecting students’ writing and that was
also used for the comparison in collecting date.
4.1.3. Post – Intervention

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There were two post-writing test, the first one was conducted at the end
of the first term and the second was at the end of the second term.The
scores of the students were averaged and recorded to be compared to
their scores before the intervention or before they received their graphic
organizer's training. Results of this comparison would help to answer the
major question of this study and to reject or verify its main hypothesis.
In the second lesson of this last week of the study, the students were
administered the writing attitudes survey. It was the same survey which
was given to them during the baseline period. The students’responses to
this questionnaire were used to check if the use of graphic organizers
had changed their attitudes towards writing.

5. Applications of the study in the Units.
Unit 3: MUSIC
Writing a biography
Early life:

Name of the


Paragraph 4: Saying you are available for an interview
and when you could start work.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours......................

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Unit 5: INVENTIONS
Writing about the benefits of an invention

Topic sentence

Benefit 1:

further
explanation:

Benefit 2:

further
explanation:

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Benefit 3:

further

Writing about some typical characteristics of Vietnamese people
Introduction:

is
is

characteristics 1:
characteristics 2:

is

characteristics 3:

because
because

Conclusion:

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because


Unit 9: PRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT
Writing about environmental problem and give some practical advice on how
to preserve the environment

Solution 1:
...................................
...................................

Graphic organizers enable the students to organize material logically and to see
relationships between and among ideas. Effective use of graphic organizers can
help the students to present his or her ideas in an effective and persuasive
manner, resulting in a focused and coherent text.
Graphic organizers can be used during the pre-writing stage or at any other time
during the writing process. For example, a student who has written a draft
lacking in coherence and purposeful organization could benefit from using a
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graphic organizer during conferencing with the teacher or peers. The
perspective gained from graphically visualizing ideas should persuade even the
reluctant user of graphic organizers that some method of organization is
necessary for effective communication.
Teachers can provide printed or electronic templates for all students to use
individually as graphic organizers during the writing process. These templates
can be used during a demonstration lesson as well. The teacher-student
conferencing process, including the results of formative assessment, can help
both teacher and student to determine which graphic organizer is best for each
particular student during a specific writing assignment. This instructionallearning strategy also addresses the various learning styles that each student
prefers. No matter the style or method, graphic organizers serve a critical role
during any writing process.
6. Findings
Results of the attitude survey
The attitude survey was administered twice once before and once after the
participants had completed the graphic organizers' intervention. Responses to
the survey questions were compared and summarized in the table below:
1 How do you rate writing in term of
difficulty?
* Before graphic organizer training


3 Do you think writing is fun or boring?
* Before graphic organizer training
* After graphic organizer training
4 Do you often try your best to accomplish
your writing task?
* Before graphic organizer training
* After graphic organizer training

Fun
4
14
Yes

Boring
15
8
No

Not sure
13
10
Sometimes

13
18

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had completed their graphic organizers training and used them as instruments
for writing. For instance, when the participants were asked to rate writing in
term of difficulty, almost half of the participants ranked writing as difficult, but
when asked the same question after the graphic organizers' intervention (28 %)
ranked it as easy. When asked about their feeling when it was time for writing
only (9.4 %) of the participants said they felt excited when it was time for
writing. However, after the intervention more than (47 %) of the participants
said they found writing exciting. Before graphic organizers' training, only (12.5
%) said writing was fun and (43.8 %) said it was boring. This feeling towards
writing had changed dramatically after the graphic organizer intervention and
(47 %) rated writing as fun and only (28 %) said it was boring.
The above data can be used to verify and accept the second hypothesis of the
study that the use of graphic organizers has positively impacted the student's
attitudes towards writing. The same data can be used to answer the second
question of the study "What is the impact of using graphic organizers on
students' attitudes towards writing? Obviously, the use of graphic organizers has
a positive impact on students' attitudes towards writing.
Results of the tests
The scores of the students’ in writing before and after they received their
graphic organizers' training are shown in figure 1 below: It shows the
participants' level of performance in the five traits of writing according to the
rubrics suggested by the Georgia Department of Education.

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Figure 1: A graph for the mean scores for writing with and without graphic
organizer

A- Content, B-organization, C-word choice, D-sentence fluency and Econvention.