Writing Design& Learner´s Lnterest

Writing Design& Learner´s Lnterest Writing Design & Learner’s Interest Submitted by: XXXXXXX Student ID number: W2001XXXXXXXX Supervised by: XXXXXXXXX A paper submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Arts Institute of Online Education Beijing Foreign Studies University February 2005 1 在我的英语教学中经常碰到这样一个问题：学生们往往对如何组织英语写作 显得束手无策。具体来说，在我拟出命题以后，学生不知如何下笔，大脑一片空 白，即使头脑中出现了若干想法却无法流畅的 表 关于同志近三年现实表现材料材料类招标技术评分表图表与交易pdf视力表打印pdf用图表说话 pdf 达。为了解决这个问题，我开始 了这个方向的研究。 我先就此进行了分析。首先我将我教的学生和其他班级的学生对比，试图看 出是否别的班级学生也普遍表现此类现象。如果没有，那么问题就出在我本身的 写作课教学方法上。然后，我运用了自我对话法分析，结果我检讨出我的教学方 法存在需要改进的方面。最后我从老师和学生的角色互换逐步寻求方法和技巧。 通过对“英语教学法”课程的学习和消化，我为我的研究找到了理论基础, 于 是，我进行了为期四周的教学实践活动，首先将我所教的两个班分为两组，一组 参加新的教学方法实验，另一组保持原有授课方法。在实验班中，我改变了教学 方法与技巧，比如运用“头脑风暴法”和“蜘蛛网法”达到触发学生对某个主题 的想象力，同时给予学生更多的鼓励，课堂组织形式尽量多样化，赋予写作活动 一定的交际性，选用不同的题材，让学生体会不同题材也可以通过基本相同的思 路来表达。一个月后，实验组比未参加实验的学生在写作兴趣和能力上都有了明 显的提高，他们在逐步训练过程中培养了良好的写作习惯，最终提高了写作能力。 此论文的研究对于学生与我自己均受益匪浅，对于学生而言，他们不仅增加 了对写作的兴趣和写作的积极性，而且他们的文章更有深度，语句不再抽象，运 用得词汇也丰富许多。对于我自己而言，我重新认识到教师对学生英语写作课堂 的重要角色。了解到一个好的写作教学教师应该具备哪些需要关注的焦点，此次 研究活动让我从理论上和实践中我摸索出了一些训练学生英语写作的教学方法。 不过有一点值得关注：我所在的学校是贵族学校，每个班级只有二十五名学 生左右，在教师引导下，学生主动或被动参与机会较多，基本上都可以有表现的 机会，对于实验效果相对容易达到。而对大多数公办学校而言，由于班级学生数 量较多，学生参与机会大大减少，因此效果可能会差些。从这点看来，我个人的 教学方法只能对同行有部分借鉴作用。 2 Abstract My project is a preliminary research of writing design and learners’ interests in English writing class. This project is very appealing because it demonstrates effective ways to improve a teacher’s instructional techniques and help students gain English writing skills and be interested with English writing. It will present a detailed report of the project implemented to solve difficulties my students had in organizing and planning their writing. I hypothesized that if the way I teach writing is better designed, then my students will understand and have an interest in English writing. This hypothesis is verified by these procedures: First, I examined and analyzed my problem to see whether it was researchable; then, I established project objectives, hypothesis and rationale. Next, I designed and implemented a four-week classroom pre-writing teaching activities plan with control and target groups. I evaluated my project’s collected data and found that the learners’ writing skills improved greatly by my newly-designed writing techniques, as their writings were more profound, their sentences were no longer abstract, and their vocabularies were richer; their interest in writing also improved a lot, with a more active writing attitude, and more enthusiasm in their writing. The results show that during the teaching and studying procedures, the teacher’s main role is to guide students’ interest in the subject; the teacher’s guide should alternate the whole writing process. The project’s results were consistent with my initial hypothesis. Anyone who wants new ideas about teaching English writing and would like to try new things may be interested in my findings. 3 Table of Contents Pages I. Introduction.………..………………………………………….……. 6 II. Project Problem…………………………………………….……… 6 III. Project Analysis….………………….…………………….……… 7 1. Analytic method…….………………….…………………………….………… 7 2. Socratic dialogue……………………………………………………………… 7 3. Cause analysis………………………………………………………………… 9 IV. Project Objective…………………………………………….……. 10 V. Project Hypothesis………………………………………………… 10 VI. Project Rationale………………………………………………….. 10 1. The important role of teaching writing……………………………………... 10 2. The ways make good writers……………………………………….………… 10 3. The pre-writing stage……………………………………..……………………. 11 4. The pre-writing stage activities…………………….………………………… 11 5. The while-writing stage………………………….. …………………………… 11 6. The post-writing stage…….…………..…………………………..…………… 11 VII. Writing Work Design……………………………………………... 12 1. Activities design………………….……………………………………………… 12 1.1 Week 1 scientists at work……………………………………… 12 1.2 Week 2 body language……………………………………….… 13 1.3 Week 3 appliance………………………………………………. 14 1.4 Week 4 a world of fun…………………………………………. 14 2. Set up control and target groups……………………..……………………… 15 VIII. Project Implementation and Evaluation…..………………… 16 1. Preparations for the implementation…………………………..………….… 16 2. First week activities……………….……………………………………………. 16 3. Second week activities……………….………………………………………… 16 4. Third week activities……………….…………………………………………… 17 4 5. Fourth week activities……………….…………………………………………. 17 6. Data collection…………………………………………………………………… 17 IX. Project Findings and Discussion….…………………………… 18 X. Conclusion………………………………………………………….. 19 Bibliography…….………………………………………………….. 20 Appendix I The Timetable of the Project…..………………… 21 Appendix II Teaching Notes. ………………..….……………… 22 Appendix Diary Keeping…………… ……..………………. 23 Appendix IV Number Statistics………………………………… 25 Appendix V Questionnaire Survey……………..………….….. 27 5 Writing Design and Learner’s Interest I. Introduction I used traditional English writing teaching methodologies in my instruction. My students felt that they were practicing English writing to pass exams, but the purpose for English writing in China has changed in recent years due to the Open Door Policy. So what the students are doing in English class are gaining skills that may help them in life. As a teacher, I felt that I should try new things and find effective methods to match their needs. This demand troubled me a lot; I discussed the problem with my tutor and consulted relevant books. The book, English Writing Strategies recommended using process writing methodology, which focuses on what the students should do before and after writing by Liang Jie Tai (2003): “No process, no product.” He emphasized that the teachers’ guide should alternate the whole writing process rather than just giving a topic and checking their final version. These theories helped me a great deal with my project rationale, but it did not introduce very detailed methodologies of process writing. So, I decided to begin a project to find suitable writing strategies for me and other teachers who may also need this information. II. Project Problem A problem I came across in my teaching was that my students had difficulties in organizing and planning their writing. For example, in my writing class, after I had given them the topic, the writing’s purpose and audience, they still seemed to have little idea on how to begin their writing. They used more than ten minutes doing nothing before beginning. They told me the reasons were that they did not know how to collect and link the ideas together, and could not organize and plan the writing. They said that in every writing class, it seemed that there were nothing in their mind. Therefore, I tried many ways to overcome this dilemma, such as reading good or bad sample writings to them, asking them to buy writing books and then reading and 6 reciting good writings, and having them to keep a diary at home, and so on, but too little success. So the problem existed not only in the students but also in myself. The problem was in the teaching practice. After I finished studying English Teaching Methodology and had referred to the relevant books, I realized that the problem was my fault. The main reason was that the way I taught writing was poorly planned. As a result, I decided to design a scheme to improve my teaching methods in order to interest the students and help them overcome their difficulties. So I researched my hypothesis and asked my students to organize and plan their writing by using a “spider map” or a “mind map.” A “spider map” or a “mind map” is both effective strategies in triggering the students’ imaginations. I set up a project timetable to remind me to finish my project on time. (Please see Appendix I) III. Project Analysis By using the “analytic method,” “Socratic dialogue,” and “cause analysis”, I discovered what my problem was: my students were having difficulties in organizing and planning their writing. 1. Analytic method My students were contrasted with my colleagues’ students. This prompted me to think, “What about my colleagues’ students? Was it also the case that their students had difficulties in organizing and planning their writing, as well?” If all of my colleagues’ students did not have these difficulties, then the problem was actually caused by me, not my students. It probably meant that I poorly planned the way I taught writing. 2. Socratic dialogue I asked, “Why do my students have difficulty in organizing and planning their 7 writing?” – Because in every writing class my students seemed to have no idea on how to begin their writing. “Since I found that they had no idea to begin it, did I use any writing activities to help them?” – No. “OK, then how did I teach in writing class?” – Well, I gave them a topic first, told them what the writing’s purpose and audience were, and then asked them to begin writing. “Wasn’t it like me being lost?” – Be lost? Ah … Sometimes, I could not find a way to go to my destination. “Why would you be lost?” – Well, it was because I wasn’t familiar with that place and didn't know the direction. Ah … here was the point. When I asked my students to write, it was comparable to the situation that my friend invited me to her house without telling me how to get there. I needed to use some writing activities to help them to figure out a framework to organize their writing. For example, after telling them what the writing’s purpose and audience were, I should teach them to gather information or ideas about the topic, so that they would feel that something that could be written, and knew how to organize them one by one. Information could be gathered through activities like spider maps or mind maps, with the topic in the center and all the suggested ideas connected to the topic in a random order. I realized at this point that there were two ways to help students organize and plan their writing: “spider map” or “mind map”. My problem perhaps lay in too little teacher’s guide, and a poorly planned writing class. By Socratic dialogue, the problem was clearly seen. To be sure that the root of my problem was my poor-writing guide, I used Cause Analysis. 8 3. Cause analysis As I started a list of factors that could contribute to the analysis, I found that there were two sides that caused my problem: the teacher’s side – myself, and the students’ side. So I analyzed each of the factors to determine any potential causes. 1) The teacher’s side: a. I was not enthusiastic myself. b. I did not learn good writing methodology. c. I did not teach my students any writing process. d. I failed to plan good writing activities before I taught. For example: since the students did not know how to gather ideas, I should include some activities like spider map, mind map, or brainstorming to guide them. e. I failed to help them establish a framework to organize their writing. For example: since the students did not know how to link their ideas, I should tell them that some of their ideas are major headings that may include other ideas. Then, instruct the students to write their ideas down in a logical structure that would help with planning their writing. f. I was poorly prepared the writing class. For example: when the students feel bored with writing, I should organize some fun activities, such as questions and answers, or group discussions, to interest them. g. I did not monitor the student while they were writing, so students were not focused. 2) The students’ side: a. Since writing requires a lot of thinking, students felt that writing was the most difficult to learn, and in their mind they disliked writing and had no interest in it. b. The students’ personalities may have some influence as well, like those who 9 do not like to think may dislike writing. c. Students depended too much on the teacher. When they meet a problem, they just ask for a teacher’s help rather than trying to solve it by themselves. After cause analysis, I felt quite strong that it was my problem that my students had difficulty to organize and plan their writing. IV. Project Objective From these analyses, I determined the pre-writing activity: using a “spider map” or “mind map” to help my students organize and plan their writing. So my project objective is: to help my students learn how to organize and plan their writing. V. Project Hypothesis It is hypothesized that if the way I taught writing was better designed, then my students would know how to organize and plan their writing. VI. Project Rationale 1. The important role of teaching writing Penny Ur (2000:163) claims as teachers of English, the teaching of writing is especially significant, not only for its practical value in helping students to compose all types of writing that are necessary in our daily life and academic work, but also for its pedagogical value in helping them to have a good command of all language skills in English. 2. The ways make good writers LiangJieTai (2003:17) points out good writers usually have a sense of purpose, a sense of audience, and a sense of direction in their writing. They always start off with 10 an overall plan in their minds. They think about what they want to say and whom they are writing it for. They then draft out sections of the writing and as they work on them they are constantly reviewing, revising, and editing their work. 3. The pre-writing stage Gu Yue Gou (1999:17) indicates that pre-writing is a very important stage of the whole writing process. During this stage, if the teachers can plan good activities and help the students work out a general plan for their writing, then the actual composing will be much more easy. 4. The pre-writing stage activities Gu Yue Gou (1999:17) mentions that tasks at the pre-writing stage may include deciding on the purpose, the audience, the content, and the general outline. Activities like spider map, mind map, brainstorming, and group discussion can help to work out the information. 5. The while-writing stage Gu Yue Gou (1999:19) reveals that when students find a focus in their writing and have a clear purpose in mind, it is time for them to do the draft. At this stage, it is necessary for writers to rearrange ideas in a more meaningful pattern. They need to find a focus, organize the main points and then elaborate on them in detail. 6. The post-writing stage Gu Yue Gou (1999:19) stressed that the post-writing stage is characterized by reading through the draft from a reader’s perspective. Editing is the most important activity in this stage, and its purposes are to check for accuracy, provide feedback for further improvement, and draft the final version. 11 VII. Writing Work Design 1. Activities design I designated an adequate amount of pre-writing activities, covering four weeks of teaching to test my hypothesis. It was hoped that these pre-writing activities would help motivate students in their writing. 1.1 Week 1 scientists at work For use with Senior English for China, Book 1B, Unit 16: Scientists at Work. Topic: Write an essay to give your opinions about using animals in science experiments. Purpose: Use pre-writing activities to help students map out a general plan for argumentative writing. Activity type: spider map，group discussion Procedures: 1) In the last class, we read “Animal Experiments”. We discussed and evaluated the pros and cons. Now I give the students five minutes to discuss their opinions with their partners. 2) Set the writing topic - my opinions about using animals in science experiments. 3) Make sure they have a sense of purpose and a sense of audience about this piece of writing. 4) Use the “Spider Map” activity to gather information or idea about this topic. a. First, ask students to think about the topic and write down all the things associated with it that comes into their mind. b. Then, ask them to share what they have with other students. c. Next, bring the whole class into a group session and draw a spider map on the blackboard as students announce their ideas. 5) Students determine which ideas are pros are cons, and which ideas they want to keep or discard. 6) Use group discussion activities to create an outline for this topic which might look something like the following: 12 Introduction: explain for what reasons animals are used in experiments and make clear on which side you are: Is animal testing OK or are you an animal rights activist Second paragraph (arguments Pro): choose two or three arguments from the “Spider map” to support your view. Explain them in your own words Third paragraph (arguments Con): choose one or two arguments from the “Spider map” that go against your view. Explain them in your own words and show that they are not true Conclusion: write what you should do with animal testing in the future and why 7) With the outline as a guide, students can begin writing the first draft. 1.2 Week 2 body language For use with senior English for China, Book 1B, Unit 20 Body Language. Write about: Write a story based on the stories you and your classmates have acted out. You may use your own story or that of another group. Purpose: use pre-writing activities to help students to work out a general plan for story writing Activity type: questions and answers, brainstorming Procedures: 1) During the last class we talked about body language and acted out some stories. Now we are going to write a story based on those stories. So, first think about and choose a story you want to tell. Students may go work with the story actors to get more details. 2) With the actors’ help, make a list of all the things that have happened 3) Put numbers next to all the things in the order which they occur 4) Now with “questions and answers” activities, students gather enough details about their story and have put things in order. I ask them to go back to their seats and do “brainstorming” by themselves. They are going to think about the purpose and focus of their story. “Why are you telling the story?” 13 5) With brainstorming they add details and specific information to their list. Tell the reader what things look like and what people say. 6) Organize your story by writing one paragraph for each of the things on your list. 1.3 Week 3 appliance For use with senior English for China, Book 1B, Unit21 appliance. Topic: An appliance I use often Activity type: brainstorm, spider map, group discussion Purpose: Use pre-writing activities to help students to work out a general plan for their writing. Procedures: 1) Ask students to think about the word “appliance” and write down all the associations that they may have. Students brainstorm on the topic, and draw a spider map to cover all the appliances they may write about. 2) Students work on the spider map by thinking about each of the appliances and deciding which one they want to write about. 3) Expand on the topic. Students are going to use another spider map to expand on the narrowed topic and generated more detailed ideas. 4) Work out an outline to enable students to have clearly organized ideas and a structure that can guide them in their writing. Then ask students to get into small groups and discuss the structure of the outline. 1.4 Week 4 a world of fun For use with senior English for China, Book 1B, Unit 22 a world of fun. Write about: Write a description of your park Activity type: group talk, picture drawing Purpose: use pre-writing activities to help students to work out a general plan for description writing Procedures: 14 1) Work out the purpose of their piece of writing – attract as many visitors as possible. 2) Make sure they know for whom they are writing it – any visitors to the park. 3) Work in groups. Design your theme park that will attract as many visitors as possible. Use the questions below to get started: a. What can people do there and why they should visit your park? b. What is the name of the park? c. What is the theme of your park? d. What kind of attractions will you have in your park? e. What kind of food and restaurants will you have in your park? f. How much will it cost to visit the park? g. What do you expect visitors to learn from it? 4) Draw a map of your park and make sure that you have included all the necessary parts. 5) Show your map to the class and compare it with those of other groups. 6) Work out an outline, enabling students to have clear organization of ideas. 2. Set up control and target groups I teach 2 classes in Grade 9, each class has 25 students, so I set up class 1 as control group and class 2 as target group. The implementation of the project took four weeks. In each week both groups were required to do writing in accordance with the requirements of the book. However for the target group, the above four newly designed writing techniques were employed in turns to assess their writing, while everything remained the same for the control group. After that, both groups were asked to do a writing task again and I then compared the students’ performances. The comparisons showed that the students' writing skills as well as their interests in writing were enhanced by my newly designed writing techniques. 15 VIII. Project Implementation and Evaluation 1. Preparations for the implementation My students are Grade 9 students. It took four weeks for me to implement my project. After examining and analyzing my problem, I decided to try a new writing method to solve the problem, so I designed a four-week classroom pre-writing activity to test my hypothesis. Then I set up a control group and a target group. The newly designed writing activities are for the target group, and while nothing was changed with the control group. I also wrote down teaching notes (Please see Appendix II) and lesson plans (Please see Portfolio I) to observe myself. 2. First week activities In the first week I did not tell them that we were going to do writing. I began my class with group talk, so the classroom atmosphere was cheerful at the beginning. After five minutes I let the groups act out their opinions out in front of the class. Everybody looked very active about it. With their excited mood I asked if they would like to write their opinions down as well, and they seemed very agreeable about it. So I gave the writing topic, purpose and audience for them. While I did not ask them to begin their writing, I told them that this was a writing class, and that we were going to use a new writing method. My students looked very curious about it. Then I introduced the “spider map” activity to them. The students showed great interest in it, while even the weaker students actively taking part. Then we used a group discussion activity to work out our outline for the writing. I asked them if today’s writing was easy or hard; they all said “easy.“ 3. Second week activities In the second week there were two oral lessons before writing. In the oral lessons we talked about body language, and acted out some stories, so I used these stories as our writing material. First, I let students ask the story actors to gather more details about the story that hey were going to write. They liked this way of gathering details. After getting enough information, they went back to their seats and I introduced a 16 “brainstorming” activity for them to add specific information to their list. Now, the students did not feel confused about what to write. 4. Third week activities In the third week after giving the topic and purpose, I asked them to do spider map by themselves and use group discussion activities to test if my students were familiar with the new writing activities or not. They did very well. Some students even worked out the structures of the writing. I found that they did not frown on writing tasks any more. 5. Fourth week activities In the fourth week I found my students were expecting me to have a writing class with them. When I did group work with them, they showed great interest in our topic. During group work we designed our theme park. I asked them to draw a park and show it to other groups. Then, students worked out an outline while I helped them check if they have clear organization of ideas. 6. Data collection After the four weeks of activities, my students said that they liked the way I teach writing, and that they liked using spider map and group discuss activities. Besides these observations, I also conducted further evaluation for my project. I did a writing test on the fifth week with the same writing topic for both the control and target groups. Then I did two number statistics (Please see Appendix IV), one is the comparison of the test writing scores of the two groups; and another is the comparison of the target group’s score in that four-week experiment. The comparison of their test writing work showed that the target group was better than the control group; the pass rate in the target group was 88% and the excellent rate is 44% (Please see Portfolio II for the excellent writing works), while in the control group the pass rate was 72% and the excellent rate was only 12%. Another comparison showed my target group did better than what they did before, with their scores showing 92% students made steady 17 progress. I also did a questionnaire survey (Please see Appendix V and Portfolio III) in the target group, which showed 100% students having learned something valuable from my class, and that 92% students are now interested in English writing. IX. Project Findings and Discussion 1) My own diary keeping (Please see Appendix III) showed my students becoming more active than before, and that they are willing to do writing tasks now, they do not feel confused about what to write, and they showed great interest with the new writing methods. The classroom is cheerful instead of being depressing. Their writing skills have improved tremendously: their writings are more profound, their sentences are no longer abstract, and their vocabularies are richer. Their writing interests have also improved greatly, their writing attitude is more active and enthusiastic, and they are no more afraid of writing class, they even look forward to the next writing class. 2) The comparison of the writing work between the control and the target group demonstrates that the target group is much better than the control group. The pass rate in the target group is 88% and the excellent rate is 44%, while in the control group the pass rate is 72% and the excellent rate is only 12%. The target group also did better than what they did before, with their scores showing 92% students having made steady progress. (Please see Appendix IV) 3) From the post-trial interview and the questionnaire survey (Please see Appendix V and Portfolio III), 92% of students quite like my newly-designed writing activities, and 100% of the students think that the new writing methods are useful, feeling that they have learned something valuable from the class. 80% of students now do not think English writing is very difficult. 96% of them are interested in English writing now, while only one student has still shown no interest in it. 4) From the project I have realized that the learners' writing skills and interests can be 18 improved by the newly designed writing techniques. I discovered my weakness: my old writing planning technique was ineffective. At the same time, I felt that I would have done better if I had implemented the project earlier and gave it plenty of time. In the future I will do such projects as early as possible. I will keep developing this kind of project to benefit both my students and myself. X Conclusion After I had discovered my teaching problem, I checked some relevant books to see if there were suitable solutions for me. From these books, I learned that in recently years the process writing methodology had already been recommended. This methodology emphasized that teachers guide the whole writing process rather than just giving a topic and checking the final version. While in their research the authors just recommended the theory but did not introduce their detail methodologies for process writing. So based on their findings, I began my project to find a new, proper way for process writing. My project was chiefly based, and aimed to help my students learn how to organize and plan their writing. In my study I used the analytic method, Socratic dialogue and cause analysis to examine the problem. I also formulated a specific research objective and a research hypothesis. Plus, I designed some activities for my students according to the rationale from the English Language Teaching Methodology. Next, I executed my project. After implementing my four-week project, I could see the results based on my observations, two number statistics, and a questionnaire survey. I believed that the methods used in problem analysis were suitable, the problem objectives were realistic, the hypothesis was verifiable, and the project had a sound basis. Now I can happily conclude that my problem has been successfully resolved. This research helped me cultivate awareness of the dynamic mechanism in my English teaching. It enabled me to acquire continuous professional development. 19 Moreover, it also proved those book authors’ theories are accurate and even more my project has compensated for their deficiencies. From the research, I have gained many benefits. My teaching has improved considerably, with deeper insights into the teaching profession, more acute sensitivity to teaching writing, and more confidence in myself as an English language teacher. Educators who need this help and who wish to try new teaching techniques may be interested in my project. There is one more thing to be mentioned here: The school I teach in is a private school. There are only about 25 students in each class, so with a teacher’s guidance, students had more chances to take part in class activities, so it was easier to achieve my target. However, in public school, there are more than 50 students in each class, so student interaction chances are reduced significantly. From this point of view; maybe my findings will not meet the needs of every teacher, and perhaps I should try more methods to solve this problem. Bibliography 1. Gu, Y. (1999) English Teaching Methodology Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press 2. Gu, Y. (2000) English for studying Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press 3. Gu, Y. (2002) Practical Project Design Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press 4. Liang, J. (2003) English Writing Strategies Tianjin: Tianjin University Press 5. Mu, S. (2002) Paper Writing Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press 6. Penny Ur (2000) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Beijing: Cambridge University Press 20 Appendix I: The Timetable of the Project Table: The timetable of the project Stage Week Calendar Dates Tasks I 1 4.24-4.30 Identify a problem II 2-3 5.1-5.15 analyse the problem using scientific methods of investigation analysing the teaching situation analysing the teaching objectives/ teacher's roles/task/types/students' roles, etc. analysing the possible causes of the identified problem III 4-5 5.16-5.31 design a problem-solving project formulating the project objective and hypothesis making a lesson plan preparing materials and resources needed proposing data collection method: audio or video taping/ teaching journal/ questionnaire/ survey/ interviews/ samples of students assignments, etc. IV 6-10 6.7-7.9 implement the project report of the classroom implementation of the lesson plan report of the data collection V 11 7.10-7.17 evaluate the project against a checklist critical comment on my own teaching by checking my subjective comments against the collected data suggestions for future teaching VI 12-14 7.18-7.31 Write a project report 21 Appendix II: Teaching Notes thDate: June 8, 2004 Class: 2 , Today’s objective: use pre-writing activities to help students to work out a general plan for argumentative writing. , Teaching methods: spider map and group discuss activity , Teaching procedure: , Opening: free talk opinions and lead in the writing topic , Keep going Task 1 using “Spider Map” activity to gather information Task 2 select information Task 3 using “group discuss” activity to work out outline , Closing: write the first draft Homework: checking your draft Date: June 15, 2004 Class: 2 , Today’s objective: learn to write an imaginary story , Teaching methods: questions and answers, brainstorming , Teaching procedure: , Opening: with questions and answers activity to chose a story to write , Keep going Task 1 make a list of things that happen Task 2 with brainstorming to add more details Task 3 organize story , Closing: write one paragraph for each thing Homework: write first draft at home Date: June 22, 2004 Class: 2 , Today’s objective: work out a general plan for writing , Teaching methods: brainstorm, spider map, group discuss 22 , Teaching procedure: , Opening: do brainstorm to write all associations with appliance , Keep going Task 1 do spider map to chose the appliance you want to write Task 2 expand the topic to generate more details Task 3 works out an outline , Closing: get into small groups and discuss the structure of the outline Homework: write first draft at home Date: June 29, 2004 Class: 2 , Today’s objective: work out a general plan for description writing , Teaching methods: group talk, picture drawing , Teaching procedure: , Opening: work out the purpose and audience of our writing , Keep going Task 1 work in groups and design the theme park that you are going to write Task 2 draw a map of the park that is included all necessary parts Task 3 show the maps to other groups and compare them , Closing: works out an outline Homework: write the first draft Appendix III: Diary-Keeping Week 1 - Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2004 Since I know my students do not like having writing class, at first I didn’t say we were going to do writing. I told them that we were going to do some group talk with our last class’ topic. They looked cheerful about that. I grouped them and told them to talk about using animals in science experiments. During the discussion time, I walked around and gave suggestions. They are all participating in the activity. After that, 23 some groups gave their opinions. Then I asked about writing their opinions down, and they seemed more receptive than before. After I set the topic, purpose and audience to them, I didn’t ask them to begin. I told them we were using a new way to do our writing. My students looked very curious about it. I introduced the “spider map” activity to help them gather information. Students showed great interest in it, while even the weak students taking an active part. Then we used a group discussion activity to create our outline for the writing. I asked them if today’s writing easy or hard, they all said easy. Week 2 - Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 This time I dealt with the writing of a story. I didn’t do as I did before, where I asked them to write about stories they knew. In the last class we talked about body language and we acted out some stories. My students really had fun with it. So I used these stories. First, I let students ask the story actors to get more details about the story they were going to write. They liked what they were doing. After getting enough information they went back to their seats and brainstormed to add specific information to their list. Now the students did not feel confused about what to write. Week 3 - Date: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 I’m very glad my students have become more active in my writing class. I asked them to do a spider map and group discuss activities to gather the information they needed and the structure about their writing. I found out they didn’t frown when asked to do writing tasks anymore. Week 4 - Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2004 My students expected me to have today’s writing class with them. As they said, they like the way I teach writing, and they liked using spider map and group discussion activities. I am so happy and proud about that. 24 Appendix IV: Number Statistics Table 1: Comparison of the test writing scores of the two groups Name Score Name Score Angellia 89 Ace 81 Benny 78 Annie 55 Kelly 82 Ben 68 Kitty 70 Brent 70 Sally 78 Cecilia 55 Lily 50 Denny 72 Cindy 62 Derrick 45 Vincent 86 Dicky 76 Fancy 75 Frank 80 Zoe 80 Grey 70 Kevin 68 Hawk 55 Michelle 81 Jia Yu 66 James 90 Joe 65 Sue 76 Kathy 56 Target group Control group Juddy 70 Keith 70 Anna 55 Kyle 73 Jill 75 Linda 75 Janet 65 Matt 50 Paul 82 Melody 75 Johnson 55 Mize 55 Erika 80 Sam 68 Wendy 80 Sarah 86 Jenny 85 Vic 75 Andy 85 Vincent 70 Wu Lin 73 Wong Kai 65 Pass rate: 88% Pass rate: 72% Excellent rate: 44% Excellent rate: 12% 25 Table 2: The comparison of the target group’s score in that five-week experiment Name Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Test Progress Angellia 75 80 80 85 88 Yes Benny 65 70 75 78 78 Yes Kelly 75 78 80 85 82 Yes Kitty 66 68 65 70 70 A little Sally 70 75 75 78 78 Yes Lily 50 45 56 50 50 No Cindy 60 60 62 60 62 No Vincent 75 78 80 83 86 Big Fancy 68 70 80 75 75 Yes Zoe 70 75 78 82 80 Yes Kevin 50 60 65 70 68 Big Michelle 80 75 80 83 81 A little James 75 82 86 90 90 Big Sue 68 70 75 76 76 A little Juddy 55 65 68 75 70 Big Anna 48 53 55 55 55 Yes Jill 70 75 73 78 75 A little Janet 60 62 66 65 65 Yes Paul 70 78 75 80 82 Big Johnson 50 50 55 58 55 A little Erika 70 78 80 88 80 Yes Wendy 75 75 78 80 80 Yes Jenny 80 82 88 88 85 Yes Andy 70 75 80 85 85 Big Wu Lin 65 68 70 75 73 Yes 92% students made progress, which including 24% big progress and 20% little progress. 8% students stayed the same level. 26 Appendix V: Questionnaire Survey A Questionnaire Survey After these four weeks writing instruction, I would like to know how do you like our newly designed writing class and what should be improved. Below are some questions of your opinion about it, circle your answer and put on my desk without signing your name. 1. How did you like English writing one month ago? A) very much B) so-so C) not very much 2. Do you understand why I changed our writing way? A) very clearly B) understand C) not very clearly 3. Do you like our newly designed writing? A) very much B) so-so C) not very much 4. Do you like the activities the teacher designed for you? A) yes, very much B) so-so C) not very much 5. Will you use “spider map”, “brainstorming” and other activities we leaned in your future writing? A) yes B) sometimes C)no 6. Did you enjoy this kind of writing class? A) yes, very much B) so-so C) not very much 7. Do you want keeping the old writing way or using the new writing methods in our future class? A) keeping the old way B) using the new writing methods 27 8. Do you think the new writing way is useful for you? A) yes, very useful B) yes, but only a little bit C) not very useful 9. Are you more active in writing class than before? A) more active B) same C) less active 10. Do you feel you have learned something valuable from the class? A) yes, very much B) yes, but only a little bit C) nothing 11. Do you still think English writing is a very difficult thing? A) yes B) no 12. Do you still feel confused about what to write now? A) yes B) a little bit C) no more 13. Do you find you have made progress in English writing class? A) yes, very much B) yes, but only a little bit C) no any progress 14. Are you interested in English writing now? A) yes, very much B) yes, a little bit C) still not 15. Please write down any comments or suggestions for our writing class. _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 28