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HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

PHAN THI KHANH HOA

A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF
WRITING PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH –
MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES, HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

BACHELOR THESIS

Major: English Language Teaching

Hanoi, 2019

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HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

PHAN THI KHANH HOA

A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF
WRITING PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH –
MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN FACULTY OF FOREIGN


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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Tittle:
A STUDY ON PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE USE OF WRITING
PORTFOLIO AMONG ENGLISH – MAJORED SOPHOMORES IN
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HANOI PEDAGOGICAL
UNIVERSITY 2
(Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of
Bachelor of arts in English)
I certify that no part in this study has not been copied by me from any other
person„s report without acknowledgment and this work is written by my best under
the instruction from my supervisor.
Date of submission: May, 2019.

Student

Supervisor

Phan Thi Khanh Hoa

Pham Thi Tuan

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LIST OF THE TABLES AND FIGURES
Tables:

Table 1

Students‟ ranks of writing aspects to be focused when writing English

Table 2

Students‟ views towards their English writing

Table 3

Students‟ perceptions towards the use of writing portfolio

Table 4

Students‟ views towards other benefits of using writing portfolio

Figures:

Figure1

Students‟ frequency of English writing practice

Figure 2


Figure 10

Students‟ opinions about the effect of keeping a writing portfolio on
their writing

Figure 11

Students‟ opinions on keeping a writing portfolio

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................. ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................. iii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................... v
LIST OF THE TABLES AND FIGURES ....................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ vii
PART A. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
1. Rationale ..................................................................................................... 1
2. Significance................................................................................................. 2
3. Scope of the study ....................................................................................... 2
4. Aims of the study and Research questions ................................................... 2
5. Methods of the study ..................................................................................... 3

1.3 Writing steps that students follow when practicing writing English ........ 15
1.4 Students‟ ranks of writing aspects to be focused when writing ................ 15
1.5 Students‟ difficulties when writing English .............................................. 16
1.6 Aspects of writing students often make errors in...................................... 17
1.7 Students‟ views towards their English writing ......................................... 18
2. Students‟ perceptions towards using writing portfolio in writing learning 20
2.1 As for the group of students using writing portfolio in writing learning.. 20
2.1.1 The students’ purposes of keeping a writing portfolio .......................... 20
2.1.2 Students’ frequency of portfolio writing ................................................ 21
2.1.3 Students’ time spent on their portfolio ................................................... 21
2.1.4 Students’ portfolio writing process ........................................................ 22
2.1.5 Students’ opinions about the effect of keeping a writing portfolio on
their writing ..................................................................................................... 23
2.1.6 Students’ perceptions towards the use of writing portfolio. .................. 24
2.1.7 Students’ views towards other benefits of using writing portfolio ........ 25
2.2 As for the group of students not using writing portfolio in writing learning27
2.2.1 Students’ opinions on keeping a writing portfolio ................................. 27
2.2.2 Students’ intention in using writing portfolio in the future ................... 27
3. Implications ................................................................................................. 28
3.1 Recommendations on format of portfolio ................................................. 28
3.1.1 An overview of format of writing portfolio ............................................ 28
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3.1.2 Recommendations for learners .............................................................. 29
3.1.3 Recommendations for teachers .............................................................. 29
3.2 Recommendations on the use of writing portfolio.................................... 29

efforts and time to improve their language competence. Consequently, most of
language learners have considered writing the most challenging task. There are a lot
of problems facing them when learning writing skill as follows: Firstly, they often
tend to translate mechanically from Vietnamese to the target language. This
negative transference leads to ungrammatical sentences, even lack of coherence and
cohesion. Learners, especially freshman, often make common errors on simple
sentences, the agreement between the subject and the verb or wrong use of
transition signals, for example. Secondly, students often tend to learn specific
genres of writing, for examples, the formal letter, the informal email and a job
application letter. Obviously, learning these kinds of writing is essential for exam
success, but it does not always encourage them to write in relaxing and creative
way. Last but not least, the assessment of students‟ writing abilities, in fact, mainly
focuses on the result of formal examinations rather than the learning process.
Therefore, students are likely not to frequently practice writing in order to build the
writing habit. These are the reasons why the quality of students‟ performance needs
improving.
Writing portfolio provides students with good opportunities to improve their
writing skills individually and good chances to record their thoughts and feelings
(Ngoh, 2002). Lagan (2000), as cited in Ali (2017), mentioned to the merits of
writing portfolio that “writing a portfolio will help you develop the habit of thinking
on paper and show you how idea is discovered in the process of writing. Due to its
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advantages, writing portfolio was considered as an additional useful tool in
language writing learning.
There were many previous researches about the use of writing portfolio in

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5. Methods of the study
To achieve the aims of the study, the methods that have been applied are
survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The participants of the study
are the second year English-majored students at FFL, HPU2.
6. Design of the study
This study is divided into 3 parts as follows:
Part A, Introduction, offers an overview of Rationale, Aims of the study,
Research questions, Scope of the study, Methods of the study and Significance of
the study.
Part B, Development, gives information on Literature
Methodology, Findings and Discussion and Implications of the study.

Review,

Chapter I, Literature Review, presents theoretical background knowledge
about Writing portfolio and major findings of the previous studies.
Chapter II, Methodology, describes in detail the Participants, Research
instruments employed and Procedure of data collection analysis.
Chapter III, Findings and discussion, analyzes gathered data and presents
discussion of research results, and Implications.
Part C, Conclusion, reviews Major findings, Limitations and Suggestion for
further study.

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function and it has a high social status (Urbanova and Oakland, 2002). In language
learning, the important role of learning writing is undeniable. Writing enables
students to express their personality, helps students to develop thinking skill and
gives them a chance to later reflect on their ideas and re-evaluate them (Chappell,
2011). As Walsh (2010) said that “writing is important because it is used
extensively in higher education and in the workplace. It is likely seen as a mean of
communication of students. Much of professional communication is done in
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writing: proposals, reports, applications, interviews, e-mails, and more are parts of
daily life of students.”
Blanka (2013) claimed that writing has a unique position in writing learning
since it acquires a practice and knowledge of other three language skills, including
listening, reading and speaking. If students know how to express themselves in
writing, they will be able to communicate well with professors, employers, peers, or
just anyone else. In addition, the weaknesses in English proficiency, especially in
writing skill, can have influence on conveying their knowledge which is acquired
from other sources of reading or listening (Morinosadat, Mohamad, & Elham,
2013).
Strong writing skills may enhance students' chances for success (Alexander,
2008). In discussing the significance of writing to learning, Suleiman (2000), as
cited in Elizabeth (2002) also stressed that writing is an essential factor of language.
Any reading and language curriculum must think about the multidimensional nature
of writing in instructional practices, evaluation procedures, and language
development. Hansen's (2002), as cited in Mohammed (2012) stated that
academicians and business people view writing skill as crucial, yet increasing

portfolios “can be seen as a hybrid genre of writing” between “life narrative” and
the “university essay” (Crème, 2008). Keeping writing portfolio offers learners
transitional learning space that enables creative activity, fosters autonomy, and
motivates learners to take responsibility for their own learning (Hamp, Lyons &
Heasly, 2006; Marefat, 2002). In this regard, Barnett (2005), as cited in Geoffrey,
Karen, Peter (2013) considered writing portfolio as “critical space” which provides
students the guidance, setting and time needed to explore ideas and expand their
critical thinking activity. Furthermore, learners are encouraged to write freely, about
a range of topics, how they feel about a topic. This makes them to become more
fluent writers.
2.2. The types of writing portfolio
Roger (2001) classified writing portfolio content into nine categories,
namely:
i.
Learning portfolios are typically handwritten entries in notebooks or
pads of paper that record thoughts, reflections, feelings, personal opinions, and even
hopes or fears during educational experience.
ii. Diaries are typically notebooks, booklets of blank pages, or any other
sources for students to record thoughts, reactions to learning experiences, and even
innermost fears about learning activities.
iii. Dream Book or Log is usually used to recording people‟s dream
experience. This usually involves keeping a recording device (such as a tablet,
notebook, and even tape recorder).
iv. Autobiographies, Life stories, and Memoirs reveal the heart and soul
of human existence, promote a sharing of experiences with others by examining
similarities and differences between individual life histories.
v. Spiritual Portfolios normally involve recording personal reactions to
spiritual or religious matters.
vi. Professional Portfolios have very specific purposes.
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speech. To be a writing master, a writer needs to master all the necessary features,
including rich vocabulary, using a wide ranges of grammar structures, and
knowlegde of the mechanics of writing (Bitchener, 2008). This demands a lot of
learners‟ efforts and time to improve their language profiency.
Lagan (2000), as cited in Ali (2017) suggested that “the more you practice
writing, the better you will write”. In other words, language learners need to write
as frequently and regularly as possible to make it “routine writing workout”
(Uduma, 2011). “Meanwhile classroom writing is an essential requirement in
academic curriculum, having a writing learning tool outside the classroom can be
useful to enhance students‟ writing skills” (Chanderasegaran, 2002). One way to
practice writing at home is using writing portfolios which “are notebooks in which

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writers keep a record of ideas, opinions, and description of daily life. Portfolios help
writers develop their creativity” (Spaventa, 2000).
Writing portfolio is a very interesting writing learning tool, useful in
ESL/EFL writing classes (Allison, 1998). Confirming this claim, Gameel (2016)
stated that it primarily gives students an opportunity to think deeply on paper,
confidently to express their ideas, emotions, observations without criticism. Marefat
(2002), as cited in Chui (2012) referred to writing portfolio as an “exercise in selfreflection about learning itself”. Moreover, writing portfolio helps to promote the
relationship between students and teachers through regular communication over a
course, semester or school year. While in-class writing tasks likely make students
nervous, writing portfolio can minimize the distance between the students and the
teachers (Luu, 2010). Ngoh (2002), as cited in Luu (2010) supported that portfolio
writing can create a positive learning atmosphere along with a high learning

These previous researchers showed the undeniable benefits of keeping
writing portfolio that other inside class learning tools infrequently do. It enabled
students to write regularly in order that they can build writing habit. Lagan (2000),
as cited in Ali (2017) wrote about the merits of writing portfolio: “Portfolio writing
will help you get into the habit of thinking on paper and show you how ideas can be
explored in the process of writing. A portfolio can make writing a familiar part of
your life and can serve as a continuing source of ideas for papers.” Charles (2005),
as cited in Maryam, Mohd (2013) pointed out that the major advantages of the
writing portfolio scheme were to increase students‟ positive attitudes and their
interest towards English writing. Luu (2010) considered writing portfolio as one
type of creative writing that can help students brainstorm ideas and write more
competently and accurately. What is more, many other researchers found positive
connections between regularly writing and the development of fluency (Casanave,
2011; Cowler, 2010; Liao & Wong, 2007; Piazza, 2003).

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CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
1. Participants
The study is limited to investigate “the students‟ perceptions towards the use
of writing portfolio in writing learning” to the second – year English majors at
Hanoi Pedagogical University 2. Therefore, 60 EFL students from K43 Class at
Faculty of Foreign Languages were chosen to participate in the study. Most of their
writing proficiency is average and they have learned English for 10 years at least.
2. Data collection instruments
Data was collected by two main instruments: survey questionnaire and

portfolio.
Group 2, questions 11 and 12, for those have not used portfolio entries,
participants gave the reason why they did not use writing portfolio in writing
learning.
2.2. Interviews
2.2.1. Reasons for using Interview
This study also investigated perceptions of some students when using writing
portfolio in writing learning. Therefore, it employed interviews to understand some
such information as: changes of emotions, behavior and feelings. Moreover,
interviews could obtain “in-depth information” (Amin Marwat, 2010) about a topic.
The researcher could “enter into the inner world” (Amin Marwat, 2010) of others..
In other words, the researcher could “enter into the inner world” (Amin Marwat,
2010) of others.
2.2.2. Description of interview
Students were asked to answer a number of questions about the perceptions
towards their writing learning and the use of writing portfolio in writing learning.
Semi-structured interview was employed to clarify the students‟ perceptions
towards the use of wring portfolio. Semi-structured interviews could obtain “more
specific information” which could not gathered by using survey questionnaire.
There were 10 interview questions.
Three first questions, the interviewed students were asked about their
frequency of English writing practice, difficulties in English writing practice and
what aspect of writing they focused on most when practice writing.
The following questions were divided into two groups of questions:
Group 1, questions from 5 to 8, for those who have kept writing portfolio to
learning writing, students gave some their opinions towards the use of writing
portfolio.
Group 2, questions 9 and 10, for those have not used writing portfolio,
participants gave the reason why they did not use writing portfolio in writing
learning

2).
The results will be organized and analyzed in 2 parts: Students‟ perceptions
towards their writing learning before using writing portfolio and Students‟
perceptions towards the use of writing portfolio in writing learning.
1. Students’ perceptions towards their writing learning.
On being asked about their writing scores at last writing course, 5% students
claimed that their writing scores were in range from 3 to 5. Another 55 % students
said that they got mark 6 or 8 at last writing course. The other 40% students said
that they got mark between 8.5 and 10. It means that most of their writing
competency is good. When they were asked about the importance of learning
writing, 100% students appreciated the importance of learning writing. Below are
details of their perceptions towards their writing learning before using portfolio
entries.
1.1 Students’ frequency of English writing practice
8%

8%

12%

Everyday
Once a week
Twice a week

22%

50%

Once a month
Twice a month


Approximately 30
minutes

72%

Figure 2: Students’ time spent on practicing writing English
On being asked the question “How much time do you spend when you write
English?” a significant majority of students (72%) spent approximately an hour
writing English. Whereas, almost a quarter (23%) answered that they wrote English
approximately half an hour. The rest (5%) spent 15 minutes learning writing each
time.
As said before, writing skill is regarded as the most challenged skill in four
English skills. Students need to spend much time to enhance their writing
proficiency in terms of Task response, Grammar, Organization and Vocabulary. In
addition, the process of writing is complex and requires a lot of time. Besides, the
surveyed students began learning to write academic essays in this term. That
explained why most of the students spent approximately an hour to write English.

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1.3 Writing steps that students follow when practicing writing English
60

53


According to descriptive statistic in Figure 3, students mainly followed some
steps including Choose the topic, Make an outline, Find sample writings, Read what
you have written again and Brainstorm vocabulary. The other steps, Make first
draft, Edit draft, Ask friends/ teacher for ideas, Generate ideas by yourself,
accounted for smaller proportions in students‟ writing process.
In writing process, following basic steps as said before is essential. “Make
first draft, Edit draft, Ask friends/ teacher for ideas, Generate ideas by yourself”
steps were not followed by most of the students because students often found
sample writings to copy ideas and sometimes chose some structures that they
supposed to be good for their writings. As a result, they even did not need to make
the first draft or edit their drafts before writing.
1.4 Students’ ranks of writing aspects to be focused when writing
1st place

2nd place

3rd place

4th place

Task response

45%

10%

10%

35%


Table 1: Students’ ranks of writing aspects to be focused when writing
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