Tài liệu Mind mapping applications in pre–writing stage to enhance students’ writings unity and coherence at chan mong high school

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY FACULITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN TO GIANG MIND MAPPING APPLICATIONS IN PRE-WRITING STAGE TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ WRITINGS UNITY AND COHERENCE AT CHAN MONG HIGH SCHOOL B.A GRADUATION PAPER Field: English Teaching Methodology Phu Tho, 2018 HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY FACULITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN TO GIANG MIND MAPPING APPLICATIONS IN PRE-WRITING STAGE TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ WRITINGS UNITY AND COHERENCE AT CHAN MONG HIGH SCHOOL Áp dụng sơ đồ tư duy trong bước chuẩn bị viết để nâng cao tính mạch lạc và thống nhất trong bài viết của học sinh ở Trường THPT Chân Mộng B.A GRADUATION PAPER Field: English Teaching Methodology Supervisor: Vu Thi Quynh Dung, M.A Phu Tho, 2018 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis could not have completed without the help, encouragement and support of a number of people who all deserve my sincere gratitude and appreciation. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor – Ms. Vu Thi Quynh Dung for the valuable guidance and encouragement. She greatly inspired me to work on this paper. My graduation paper cannot come to end without her effort to read it again and again to find out the problems and support me in all stages of the research and writing this study. I am also very grateful to some English teacher at Chan Mong high school, Phu Tho province, who have been willing to answer my questions and have given me valuable advice and suggestions on the research “Mind Mapping Applications in pre–writing stage to enhance students’ writings unity and coherence at Chan Mong high school” and on the completion of my research. I owe sincere and earnest thankfulness to all the students of the classes 10A1 of Chan Mong high school, who have been the enthusiastic participants in my action research. They provided me valuable information by completing the conveying as well as doing the test. Without them, my action research could not been completed and successful. In the end, I would like to show my big gratitude to my family and friends, who have constantly inspired and courage me to overcome difficulties to complete this study. Finally, a special word of thanks goes to my readers for their interest and comments on this study. Thanks for all! ii ABSTRACT Based on the assumption that the more teachers know about brain science, the better prepared they will be to make instructional decisions. Mind Map is a powerful tool for assisting any form of writing. Language is an important device and a very beneficial means for human being to communicate with other people. Writing is one of the language skills that will never be left in education. The study identifies appropriate mind map techniques to enhance the students’ writing ability. It reviews and examines the traditional techniques used in teaching writing learners and identifies appropriate mind map techniques along with an application procedure to enhance the writing skill. This study objective is to test the feasibility of using mind map in prewriting stage for grade 10 students at Chan Mong high school. The researcher carried out the experiment by teaching English and gives two tests for students. The experiment phase continued for 4 weeks. The participants of this study were 40 students at class 10A1. Prior to experiment, participants of class 10A1 were given a pre-test in order to ensure comparability of their essay writing. Having introduced the mind mapping technique to members of class 10A1 (40 students) and finished the experiment period, a post-test was administered to measure the effect of the intervention for students. The data were gathered through pre-test and post-test. The comparison between the pre and post test scores reveals a significant difference in writing essay. The results indicated that the students, who were taught through mind maps, improved unity and coherence; content paragraph structure and length in writing. The results manifested that the mind map is effective to use in teaching pre-writing stage in class 10 of Chan Mong high school. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................... 1 1. Rationale of the study........................................................................................ 1 2. Research Purpose and Aims .............................................................................. 3 3. Research Questions ........................................................................................... 4 4. Significance of the study ................................................................................... 4 4.1. Scientific significance..................................................................................... 4 4.2. Practical significance..................................................................................... 4 5. Related Studies .................................................................................................. 4 5.1. In the world .................................................................................................... 5 5.2. In Vietnam ...................................................................................................... 6 6. Outline of the research ...................................................................................... 8 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................. 10 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND........................................ 10 1.1. Overview of writing skill ............................................................................. 10 1.1.1. Definition ................................................................................................... 10 1.1.2. Approaches to teaching writing skills ....................................................... 12 1.2. Overview of pre-writing stage ..................................................................... 14 1.2.1. Definition ................................................................................................... 14 1.2.2. The importance of pre – writing stage in learning writing....................... 15 1.2.3. Techniques in pre-writing stage ................................................................ 16 1.3. Unity and coherence in writing .................................................................... 19 1.3.1. Unity .......................................................................................................... 19 1.3.2. Coherence.................................................................................................. 20 1.4. Mind map ..................................................................................................... 24 1.4.1. Definition of mind map.............................................................................. 24 1.4.2. Classifications of mind map ...................................................................... 26 1.4.3. Parts of Mind Mapping Technique ........................................................... 28 1.4.4. Relationship between Mind Map and Unity and Coherence in writing ... 29 iv 1.4.5. Steps for Making Mind Mapping Technique ............................................. 30 1.5. Summary of the chapter ............................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 32 2.1. Research methods ......................................................................................... 32 2.1.1. Theoretical method .................................................................................... 32 2.1.2. Qualitative and quantitative methods ....................................................... 32 2.1.3. Analysis and synthesis methods ................................................................ 32 2.2. Subject of the study ...................................................................................... 32 2.3. Data collection instrument ........................................................................... 33 2.3.1. Classroom observation.............................................................................. 33 2.3.2. Interviews .................................................................................................. 34 2.3.3. Test ............................................................................................................ 36 2.3.4. Mind map application in pre-writing stage (Experiment) ........................ 38 2.3.5. Data analysis ............................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER 3: MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................. 41 3.1. An introduction of students and teachers at Chan Mong high school ......... 41 3.2. Participants .................................................................................................. 41 3.3. The current textbook English 10 .................................................................. 43 3.4.1. Data analysis of the class observations .................................................... 45 3.4.2. Data analysis of the interview questions for teachers .............................. 47 3.4.3. Data analysis of the tests ........................................................................... 50 3.5. Discussion .................................................................................................... 55 3.5.1. Discussion of the unity .............................................................................. 55 3.5.2. Discussion of the coherence ...................................................................... 56 PART III: CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 60 1. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 60 2. Implication ...................................................................................................... 62 4. Limitation of study .......................................................................................... 65 5. Suggestion for further research ....................................................................... 65 REFERENCE .................................................................................................... 66 v LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES 1. List of Figures Figures Pages Figure 1.1. Network Tree 26 Figure 1.2. Event chain 26 Figure 1.3. Cycle Concept Map 27 Figure 1.4. Spider Concept Map 27 Figure 3.1. The results of entry exam in grade 10A1 English subject 43 Figure 3.2. The percentage of score levels according to pre-test results 51 Figure 3.3. The percentage of score levels according to post- test results 52 Figure 3.4. The percentage of score levels according to pre-test and 54 post-test results 2. List of Tables Tables Pages Table 2.1. Category descriptions for the assessment of coherence 37 and unity Table 3.1. Checklist of Writing Tasks in current Textbook 45 “English 10” Table 3.2. The result of classroom observation 46 Table 3.3. Number of tests in score levels according to pre-test results 50 Table 3.4. Number of tests in score levels according to post-test results 52 Table 3.5. Number of tests in score levels according to pre-test and 53 post-test results Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study English is spoken as the first language by nearly 400 million people and as the second language by 1.6 million people. As its popularity, our education system attaches special importance to teaching and learning English in many school levels from primary to university or higher education one. A plenty of programs and methods were introduced aiming at raising Vietnamese’s English skills. Along with the globalization trend, English has been considered as a compulsory subject in the curriculum of all state schools. In order to keep pace with the development of society, the need for good communication is put in one of the top demand for English language including writing skill. It is undeniable that writing skill plays a significant role in daily communication and educational process. In spite of its importance, writing has long been the neglected skill in second language for many years as writing is placed poor fourth. Writing skill is a component of language skill with important role in human life. Through writing activity, an individual can express his idea and thought to achieve purpose and objective. For that reason, writing skill is the language skill considered as most difficult to master compared with other skills. Pouring idea and thought into writing should consider the grammar rule corresponding to the correct spelling. However, while this activity is a part of language ability aspect, writing skill gets inadequate particular attention. Through writing, an individual can tell about idea, feeling, event, and object to others. For that reason, this ability should be taught appropriately in elementary school. But the reality proves that writing teaching is earned out incorrectly. Writing learning aims to create the students with adequate writing skill. The objective of research was basically affected by many factors such as learning method, teachers’ teaching ability, student condition, learning circumstance, learning material, learning motivation, learning interest, and Graduation Paper 1 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department learning media or aid. Effective communication in learning process will affect the students’ success in achieving adequate outcome. Teacher can serve effectively as a communication expert in the classroom. Thanks to the innovation of ways in teaching English, English lessons are taught with four skills (speaking, reading, listening, writing) in one unit. Moreover, there exist three stages Pre – While – Post teaching in one lesson. This really helps students improve their skills beside the grammar exercises to pass the exams. Pre-writing stages are very important in teaching writing and it also has significant effects on the students’ writing performance. Pre-writing activities are supposed to the foremost phrase to start for a successful writing task. Moreover, pre-writing stage could considerably solve the problem of ideas stuck and raise the students’ interest in learning writing. If students do not prepare well enough they can’t write well, they can’t even write anything in their notebooks. Paragraph unity is the most important characteristic of a good paragraph. Students often got difficulties in stating idea or organizing ideas and connecting the sentences when they wrote. Their writing result often did not have clear meaning or it could not be understood. For example, they discussed more than one topic in a single paragraph and the students could not use the appropriate pronouns or transition signals in the paragraph. Therefore, the condition automatically made the readers confused with the paragraph and they would not get the information from the paragraph because it did not have unity and the supporting details did not support the topic anymore and it was caused of inappropriate words in connecting the sentences in the paragraph. Further, paragraphs should also be coherent. Coherence demands that the ideas or sentences presented in a paragraph should flow smoothly from one to the other. Paragraphs should not only be well-developed and unified but also coherent. In this lesson you will learn about paragraph unity and coherence without which a paragraph cannot be called a complete composition. Graduation Paper 2 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department Mind mapping is the easiest way to develop information in a human mind and take information from out of brain. It is a creative and an effective way that map our ideas. Maps are easier to follow than the long tardy note taking or listing techniques where ideas are kept in a top down sequence and it becomes difficult to make connection of the last idea to the first in the list. Mind maps can work as tool to facilitate the learners to plan ideas in the pre-writing process. Learners can be provided with examples to prepare a step vise pattern in hierarchy that would help them retain ideas till the whole of the essay is written. Mind-mapping techniques are good to be applied in the pre-writing stage to explore ideas and generate thoughts on the topic for writing. Mind-maps allow gathering concepts in relation to the main theme. The concepts gathered this way are coherent without the linear or inflexible structure of outlines, clustering or listing ideas. The use of mind map can present information using images, symbols, key words, codes and color to the level one wishes to do. This type of organization of ideas can capture the spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and visual intelligences of some learners. As the content resembles that’s found on a topic outline, the structure of the mind map is nonlinear and lends itself to personalization by the student. Students in general and Chan Mong high school students in particular have difficulty writing to create unity and coherence in their writing. So, this the reason why I decided to choose the title for my thesis: “Mind mapping applications in pre-writing stage to enhance students’ writings unity and coherence at Chan Mong high school” as the title of my thesis. 2. Research Purpose and Aims The aims of study consist of: - Exploring the current situation of pre-writing stage in writing lesson for grade 10 students at Chan Mong high school. - Designing and applying activities with mind-mapping techniques in prewriting stage for grade 10 students at Chan Mong high school. Graduation Paper 3 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department - Assessing the effectiveness of mind map techniques in pre-writing stage to create unity and coherence for grade 10 students at Chan Mong high school. 3. Research Questions There are three research questions, based on the focused objectives of the study accordingly. They are: 1. What are the different techniques used by the teachers of Chan Mong high school in pre-writing stage? 2. How should mind mapping be applied effectively in pre-writing stage to enhance student writings' unity and coherence? 3. Is there any relationship between mind-mapping in pre-writing stage and the unity and coherence of student's writings? 4. Significance of the study 4.1. Scientific significance Conducting this study firstly helps the researcher obtaining a comprehensive understanding about using Mind Map in studying and teaching in general and in a pre-writing stage in particular. 4.2. Practical significance This research is carried out with the hope that it can apply mind map in pre-writing stages of grade 10th students at Chan Mong high school, Phu Tho province. In addition, the research also help the teachers of English use mind map in writing lessons of their students more effectively, which may make writing lessons more meaningful and interesting, help students improve and enhance unity and coherence in writing skill. 5. Related Studies In this part, previous researches about using mind map in pre-writing stage to create unity and coherence in writing lesson in Vietnam and overseas will be presented. Graduation Paper 4 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department 5.1. In the world Al Jarf (2009) in “Enhancing Freshman Students’ writing skills with mind mapping soft-ware” investigated the compelling distinction among the group of students who used the software of Mind Mapping while writing and the ones who did not. The researcher stated that the software of Mind Mapping could be used to help students in brainstorming, development of new ideas, making correlations among various concepts and supporting details as students face problems in propagating ideas in EFL and writing paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details. This study was performed by considering freshman students as a sample of research, who were divided into two groups, i.e., experimental and control. The results of post-test showed that the members of the experimental group had higher gains in their final writing. Students in the experimental group wrote on the posttest showed more relevant details and better organized and connected ideas than paragraphs written by the control groups. Most of the students in the experimental students drew mind maps by hand for the topic they had to write about to help them visualize and organize ideas. Al Naqbi’s (2011) in “The use of Mind Mapping to develop writing skills in UAE Schools” carried a survey to evaluate the effectiveness of mind map at the pre-writing brainstorming stage under exam condition. Actually, her primary purpose was not to aim to the high results of the students, yet she aimed to help students in planning and organizing ideas in writing. She noticed that during the exam students performed differently due to the limited time when they addressed the writing test at school and thus she believes mind mapping strategy could assist students to eliminate difficulties in writing. As a result, after conducting the research, she found that students’ thinking and cognitive skills were developed and students became better in organizing ideas, activating their background knowledge. This proved that mind map has a powerful effect on students in the pre-writing stage and it was worth teaching this technique to EFL students in classes. Graduation Paper 5 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department Riswanto and Putra (2012) in “The use of mind mapping strategy in the teaching of writing at SMAN 3 Bengkulu, Indonesia” conducted research in Indonesia on the appropriateness of the mind mapping strategy while providing training in writing. The design of pretest-posttest disparate groups was used by the researchers. As the study was carried out in the town of Bengkulu, 234 students of the first year of SMAN3 were the population of the study during the academic year of 2011/2012. A total of 66 students were selected as a sample and divided into two groups. The writing test was conducted in order to collect data, and t-test was used as the tool for analysis of the data. Results showed a compelling distinction was present in the writing accomplishment of the students taught with the use of the strategy of mind mapping. Hence, it is evident from this study that writing achievement of students can be enhanced through the application of the mind mapping strategy. 5.2. In Vietnam The writer also did try to review on the literature of the research problem from the resources in the university library. Dang Thanh Diem ( 2011) researched about “Using mind maps and diagrams to teach vocabulary for first year mainstream students, faculty of English language teacher education” with the study aims at figuring out whether the techniques work to teach vocabulary at Division I. The study began with the literature review on vocabulary teaching and the application of mind maps and diagrams in teaching vocabulary. Then the paper-based questionnaires were delivered to students to explore the situation of the research problem. After that, the true-experimental method was applied in data collection procedures to fulfill the second aim of the research. The findings of the study indicated that mind maps and diagrams were applicable and effective to teach vocabulary at Division I. Therefore, the techniques were suggested to be exploited more in the context of teaching vocabulary for first year students. Graduation Paper 6 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department Do Thi Van Trang (2016) researched about “Using mind map to improve vocabulary knowledge for the first year English language teaching education students of FLF at HPU2”with the study aims at investigating the common ways of learning vocabulary' and their difficulties in studying vocabulary; introducing the mind- map technique to the first year English Language Teaching Education at HPU2 as well. First, to learn about the current ways of learning vocabulary, the survey questionnaire was conducted with 48 students of K41 English Language Teaching Education. Second, a pre-test and post-test were done to appreciate the quality of vocabulary studying among these students before and after the treatment during five weeks of the second semester of the 2015-2016 academic school year. Last, the classroom observation also was used to find whether students like the technique. Based on the results of these methods, the difficulties of students in learning vocabulary have been found out as well as Mind Map technique was introduced received positive responds from students. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong (2013) researched about “Enhancing the efficiency of the presentation through the use of mind mapping for K8 major English students in Hung Vuong University” with the study aims at researching and valuating the use of Mind Mapping in enhancing the efficiency of a presentation. They use pretest and posttest to survey the current situation then point out the effective of using mind map in presentation for students. The result is quite satisfactory because the number of students getting low reduces considerably. The marks of posttest are improved. It makes the study more successful. These above researches study about using mind map in teaching such as: using mind-map in teaching writing skill written by Jarf (2009), Al Naqbi’s (2011) and Riswanto & Putra (2012) and using mind-map to enhancing the efficiency of the presentation written by Nguyen Thi Thu Huong (2013) and using mind map to teach vocabulary written by Dang Thanh Diem (2011) and Do Thi Van Trang (2016). Besides, the previous studies have also provided valuable information indicating that use mind map to help students improve skills such as Graduation Paper 7 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department writing, presentation and learning vocabulary. Moreover, those studies investigated the effectiveness of applying mind map in teaching and developing skills above. The researchers find out some new methods which are useful for teaching English at high school. However, there have no researches about using mind map in pre-writing stage to create unity and coherence for grade 10 students. Moreover, this is the first time the study on mind mapping applications in pre-writing stage to enhance students’ writings unity and coherence in writing lessons of grade 10th students at Chan Mong high school, Phu Tho province is carried out in Hung Vuong University. So, I will choose research about this issue with hope that this method can help the lesson more and more vivid, effective to the teachers and students. 6. Outline of the research The study consists of three main parts: Part I: Introduction Part I – “Introduction” covers academic routines required for graduation paper, namely rationale for the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, research methods, significance and an overview of the study’s organization. Part II: Development This part consists of 3 main chapters Chapter I – “Literature Review” provides the theoretical background of the study consisting of some basic knowledge of English pre-writing, mind maps, unity and coherence in writing lesson for the grade 10th students. Chapter II – “Methodology” Research objectives, method of the study, instruments, data collection and data analysis are discussed in this chapter. Chapter III – “Major findings and Discussion” This chapter also analyzes the data collected from classroom observation, interview for English teacher and result of tests and discussion in details. Graduation Paper 8 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department Part III: Conclusion This part summarizes the major findings of the study, pedagogical implications of using mind maps in pre-writing stage, some recommendations that will be given to help students improve their writing skill, lists limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies. Graduation Paper 9 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND In this chapter, the knowledge of using mind map in pre-writing stage to create unity and coherence, the theories, ideas and opinions related to using mind map in writing lesson. Beside, some previous studies in our country and in the world related to the topic will be shown for readers to widen knowledge and get more information about other studies which have nearly similar topic with the research. 1.1. Overview of writing skill 1.1.1. Definition In teaching a language, writing is considered one of the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading) that a learner is expected master. It has been argued that the term writing seems to be very common and familiar in language teaching and learning. The ability to write fluently and expressively is something that all language learners regardless of whether the language in question is a first, second language finds it hard to achieve. All children, apart from those with physiological disabilities, want to write, in fact, need to write, before they want to read. There have been numerous definitions of writing each of them is the reflection of its author’s view of the writing process. Leki (1976) pointed out that writing is one of the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) that a learner is expected to master. Writing is the process in which the writer expresses his thoughts or ideas in the form of handwriting. Writing is communicating. Good writing gets your ideas out of your head and into the reader’s head without losing or distorting those ideas. To understand thoroughly the nature of writing, some more academic definitions of writing should be studied. Graduation Paper 10 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department Donn Byrne (1988), the author of “Writing and teaching writing” states that “Writing can be considered as the act of forming graphic symbols (letters or combination of letters) which relate to sounds we make when we speak. It is somehow like the making marks of flat surface of some kinds. However, writing is not just the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than production of sounds” (1988:1). In other words, it is obviously much more complicated than the production of graphic symbols. “ Writing is the process of transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, or whatever in to a message with a definite meaning” (1988:3). Tribble (1996) stated that writing is a language skill which is difficult to acquire. It is a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account the sometimes extended period of thinking that precedes creating an initial draft. Tribble also stressed that writing normally requires some form of instruction and that it is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure. His point of view, involved two kinds of skills. The first one was low-level skill such as handwriting or typing, spelling, constructing grammatical sentences, organizing and sequencing, structuring, drafting and editing, the other one was advanced level skill such as writing a novel, a work or a play. Hedge (2000) described “Writing is the result of employing strategies to manage the composing process, which is one of gradually developing a text. It involves a number of activities, setting goals, generating ideas, organizing information, selecting appropriate language, making a draft, reading and reviewing it, then revising and editing. It is a complex process which is neither easy nor spontaneous for many second language writers. In short, from all these opinions above, it is obvious that no definition can possibly capture all the ideas and features of what writing is. Each linguist’s definition reflects what writing means as seen from his own point of view. However, they all have some features in common, they share the same ideas that writing as a complex skill is one of the four basic skills in learning and Graduation Paper 11 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department teaching of English. It is not only a means of communication where students can share their views and thought, it is actually a pre requisite to master other language skills. 1.1.2. Approaches to teaching writing skills According to Nunan (1991), there are various ways to teach writing but the two most common applied at present arc product and process approaches. 1.1.2.1. The Product Approach Traditional approaches to the teaching of writing focus on the product. In other words, the product approach is a traditional one that has been applied by many schools, colleges and universities in Vietnam for a long time. This approach is differently defined by different educators. Nunan (1991) reviews that the product approach favors classroom activities, prefers organizations of ideas to ideas, emphasizes on grammar exercises and correctness, and focuses on the result of the final writing paper of learners. Accordingly, Steele (2006) states that the product approach is a traditional approach, in which students are encouraged to mimic a model text, which is usually presented and analyzed at an early stage. White (1988) defines the product approach as the emphasis on grammatical correctness and adherence to given models or guidelines. Typically, the authors suggest the following steps: Step 1: The teacher introduces a topic Step 2: The students are told to complete a composition (within a time limit) and to work alone. Step 3: The students submit the written work. Step 4: The teacher grades the work, identifies errors, and hands back the work to the students. Step 5: The students make corrections. Step 6: The next writing class, the teacher repeats the above procedure. Graduation Paper 12 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English Hung Vuong University - Foreign Language Department However, if the product approach is applied, there are many obstacles facing the teachers and the students as follows. First, imitating models may inhibit students rather than liberate them. Thus, there may be little or no opportunity for the students to add any thoughts or ideas of their own when they follow a model as presented by Raimes (1983). The inevitable consequence is that little attention is paid to the ideas and meaning of student writing, what it communicates to the reader, the purpose, and the audience (Raimes, 1983). In short, most of the authors agree that product writing focuses more on form than content, which may prevent the students from developing their creativity and confidence in learning writing skills. 1.1.2.2. The Process Approach The process approach to writing, an innovation in a product-oriented culture (Cheung, 1999), has been seen as an improvement over the traditional method of writing instruction in recent years. Leki (1991) states that the process approach is an approach to teaching writing that places more emphasis on the stages of the writing process than on the final product. According to Badger and White (2000) define: “writing in process approaches is seen as predominantly to do with linguistic skills, such as planning and drafting, and there is much less emphasis on linguistic knowledge, such as knowledge about grammar and text structure" (p. 154). In the approach, students are taught planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing strategies at each stage of the writing process to help them to write freely and arrive at a product of good quality. Steele (2006) also confirms that process approaches to writing tend to focus more on the varied classroom activities which promote the development of language use; brainstorming, group discussion, re-writing. The above authors all share a number of stages in process writing as follows: Graduation Paper 13 Nguyễn Tô Giang - K12 English