Hướng tới việc áp dụng đường hướng tiến trình vào dạy viết cho học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên ở trường

Chapter 1: Introduction

This very first chapter of the thesis is to introduce the rationale for the study, the aims

and objectives of the study as well as the research questions which the study was to carry out

to find out the answers. It also presents the scope of the study, an overview of the methods

employed to conduct the research as well as the design of the study.

1.1 Rationale

Needless to say, English has played a remarkable role in almost every aspect of life. In

Viet Nam, it is regarded as one of the most important subjects at all level of education.

Working as a teacher of English, I am particularly interested in teaching writing skill.

Therefore, I am concerned with approaches and methods which can help to enhance the

learners’ writing proficiency as well as facilitate their learning English as a second language.

As I observed, learners, especially students at high school, are often afraid of writing

which, as claimed by them, makes them anxious and unconfident when dealing with.

Moreover, the teaching and learning writing skill in many schools mostly involves the using of

the textbooks, many of which have, so far, been opened to considerable debate. To make the

matter worse, writing, which has been considered one of the most difficult skills among

reading, speaking, listening and writing, is not paid sufficient attention as it deserves.

The ideas of investigating deeply into the case intrigued me when I accidentally had a chance

to attend a seminar on process approach at Dong Da high school, which was carried out to help

teachers’ understanding of the process approach and suggest on how to apply it with the new

textbook “English 10”.

Although the process approach has had a widespread influence on the teaching of

writing throughout the English speaking world, its beneficial impact on learners in Viet Nam

context is still questionable. In other words, whether teachers and students in Viet Nam have

any difficulties with the applicability of such an approach in teaching and learning writing? If

so, what are the main constraints in applying the approach with the available new textbook

“English 10”? The thought motivated me to conduct a study to gain better understanding of the

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main constraints, if there are any, in applying process approach in particular a context of Viet

Nam.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

First, the research concentrates on investigating the current situation of teaching

writing skill at Dong Da high school with grade 10, non-major students. Secondly, the thesis

will make an attempt to find out the main constraints in applying process approach to the

teaching and learning of writing skill in the given context. Finally, the study is aimed at

suggesting some feasible solutions to help teachers and students at the school improve the

quality of teaching and learning writing skill.

1.3 .Research Questions and Research Methods

In order to achieve the research objectives, the study was designed to find out the

answers to the following questions:

1. What are the teachers’ methods and strategies in teaching writing skill?

2. What would be done to improve the teaching of writing skill?

A combination of methods was chosen to achieve the research aim and objectives,

including qualitative research and survey research. An extensive review of literature is made

first to examine approaches in teaching writing skill, critically focusing on relevant literature

on the process approach in teaching the writing skill. Besides, survey questionnaires were

delivered to both the samples of teachers and students to obtain their teaching and learning

methods and strategies of writing skill. Semi- structure interviews for both selected teachers

and students in the samples are followed to clarify participants’ ideas.

1.4 .Scope of the Study

Because of the time constraint, the study was conducted on the teachers and students of

grade 10 with the new textbook “English 10” at Dong Da high school only. Especially, the

study deals with the current situations of English teaching at Dong Da high school, focusing on

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the teachers’ methods and strategies in teaching writing in order to find out the constraints

remained in applying the process approach so that some feasible solutions would be drown.

1.5 . Design of the Study

The study is divided into 5 chapters:

Chapter 1 presents an overview of the study including the rationale, the objectives, the

scope, the research questions and research methods as well as the design of the whole study.

Chapter 2 reviews the literature relevant to the study. Chapter 3 is a detailed description of

current situation of teaching and learning writing skill of the grade 10 students with the

textbook “English 10” at Dong Da School. In this chapter, the textbook “English 10” is

introduced first, followed by the discussion of the teachers’ methods and strategies in teaching

writing skill as well as students’ methods and strategies in learning the skill. Chapter 4, which

is the most important part of the study, presents data collection methods and significant

findings. It, then, draws out suggestions for feasible application of the process approach in

teaching and learning writing skill in a given setting. Chapter 5, the last chapter of the thesis,

includes a brief review of the study and some pedagogical implications. It also points out the

limitations of the study.

1.6. Summary

In this chapter, a brief overview of the study is presented. The next chapter will review

the literature that is relevant to the study.

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