Professional Documents
Culture Documents
RESEARCH PROBLEM
1.1
Introduction
In reality, writing has seen to be the most difficult skill learned in school. The
students lack of interest in the English language coupled with the insufficient
environment for the language has made the matter even challenging for them.
Gradually, over the years of English lesson, they will build their own wall of rejection
towards the language when it comes to writing.
Other than that, lacking of creativity among students when writing involves will
create stereotype writers. Writing is an expression of thoughts, experiences, opinions
and it is where critical thinking comes in. (Wong, 2000) Ignoring the fact that we want
our students to be able to express their ideas well will be like ignoring the fact that we
want them to learn how to write. The students need to acquire the proper writing skill
so that it will benefit them at the end of the day.
1.2
Therefore every student has to learn and master the writing skill in order to
perform well in their tests and examination. Two most used approaches in teaching
writing by teachers are the product and Process Approach.
1.3
This research had compared the Process Approach and product approach in the
teaching and learning of simple essay and the effectiveness of the approach was
assessed based on the students performance in test, their preferences and attitudes as
well as motivation to study the subject.
1.4
Conceptual Framework
The dependant variables in this study are the performance, attitude and
motivation of the students while and after the research was carried out.
Process
Approach
Outcomes
Performance
Preferred approach
Attitude and
motivation
Product
Approach
Research Objectives
This research intends to meet the following objectives:
a)
b)
c)
To find out, whether the Process Approach could motivate the students in
learning the writing skill.
1.5.2
Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated in order to meet the research
objectives.
The questions were:
a)
b)
c)
Could the Process Approach motivate the students in learning the writing
skill?
1.5.1
Research Hypotheses
Four hypotheses were constructed to answer the research questions. They were:
a)
b)
c)
The Process Approach would help to motivate the students in learning the
writing skill.
1.6
learning writing in the context of the Malaysian classroom. It also would help the
language teachers to design creative activities in their writing class through Process
Approach to make writing more fun and meaningful.
1.7
1.8
Definition of Terms
The following definitions were given to the terms used in this research:
a)
Process Approach
Process Approach is a method of teaching writing where the students are
required to be involved in few stages such as brainstorming for ideas, extending
the ideas into note form, organising the ideas before they write the first draft.
The drafts are compared and feedback from peers will contribute to improve the
exchange drafts. After that, a final draft is written and finally the students are
required to exchange and read others work and they are even allowed to give
responses or replies.
b)
Product Approach
Product approach or known also as the traditional approach is a method of
teaching writing, which requires the students to mimic a model text, and is
usually presented and analysed at an early stage of the writing lesson.
c)
Effectiveness
In the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (1989), effectiveness means
having an effect, producing the intended result. In this research, the effect or
the intended results refers to the effectiveness of using the Process Approach in
the teaching and learning of writing simple essay.
d)
Motivation
Motivation refers to the internal states that lead to instigation, persistence,
energy, and direction of behaviour- in other words, to the setting of goals and
energizing of goal-directed behaviour. (Corsini, 1984)
1.9
Summary
The present research was an attempt to find out the effectiveness of using
Process Approach in the teaching and learning of writing simple essay in an English
language classroom. The objectives of the research were to determine whether the
approach could be an effective way to teach simple writing and to find out if it was able
to generate motivation among the students towards writing. It was also to find out
whether students who used this approach would be able to produce better writing.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Introduction
This chapter will discuss the related literature and related research conducted in
the use of Process Approach in the teaching and learning of writing simple essay in an
English language classroom.
2.2
2.3
Nunan (1999) clearly states that the process approach focuses on the steps
involved in creating a piece of work. Process writing, he added allows for the fact that
no text can be perfect, but that a writer will get closer to perfection by producing,
reflecting on, discussing and reworking successive drafts of a text.
2.4
This approach is seen by some language researchers as the ideal approach that
can generate students interest in writing and further develop their writing skill. Allen
(2003) further added that students who are intimidated by writing find it easier to
begin-and to finish-when the route to the destination is clearly mapped.
10
2.5
Langer and Applebee (1987) explain that using this approach, the students will
enjoy their learning process as their ideas are allowed to be developed through a series
of related, supportive activities. They have the best chance to focus on the ideas they
are writing about and to develop more complex thinking and reasoning skills.
11
2.6
Related Studies
There are a number of researches shows that the Process Approach has benefits
the students in their writing. Holdzkom (1982) says that students who are encouraged to
engage in prewriting experiences evidence greater writing achievement than those who
are forced on their writing without this kind of preparation. Westdorp (1983) agrees to
the statement and adds that this stage helps the students to triggers their self-motivation
as they are allowed to share their ideas with the other students in their group and this
helps to increase their learning level.
2.7
Summary
The review of literature in this chapter highlights the Process Approach as an
approach that caters the learning of writing needs of the students. Past researches
agreed that this approach is effective as the students are allowed to experience the flow
of the writing process and in return, it helps them to improve in all the elements needed
in their writing. The next chapter will focus on the research design and methodology
that will be employed in this study.
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
Introduction
This chapter describes the methodology that is going to be used in this research.
It is divided into five sections. Section 1 is research design, section 2 is population and
sample, section 3 is research instruments, section 4 is procedure for data collection and
section 5 is procedure for data analysis.
3.2
Research Design
In this experimental research, the researcher will use a pre-questionnaire, post
questionnaire, pre-test and post test materials for both the experimental and control
groups.
The framework of the research design is shown in figure 2.
O1
O2
O3
O4
O1
O2
O3
O4
O1 = Pre-Questionnaire
X = Experimental Group
O2 = Pre-Test
C = Control Group
O3 = Post- Questionnaire
O4 = Post-Test
13
3.3
The selection for both group members will be made based on their level of
proficiency. The students who scored between 40 45 marks will be categorized into
the low level of proficiency, those who scored between 46 - 69 will be categorized as
in the medium level of proficiency and those who scored 70 and above will be
categorized in the high level of proficiency. In forming both groups, five students from
each level of proficiency will be selected to come up with 15 students per group.
3.4
Research Instruments
The instruments that are going to be used in this research are; pre-test and post
test, questionnaire and the lesson plan.
The first research instrument is the sets of questionnaire. The first set consists of
3 questions to gather the subjects background information. The second set with 7
questions focusing on the preferred approach that the subjects choose after the lesson
and to find out some information about the effectiveness of the approach.
14
The second research instrument is the pre-test and the post test. The pre-test will
be given to identify the students knowledge of writing skill and the post-test is to
determine the students knowledge of writing skills after going through the Product and
Process Approach. The lesson plan will be used by the researcher to keep the lesson on
the right track.
3.5
Next, the pre-test (Appendix 3) will be given. In this stage, the researcher will
explain to the students what the task is all about. This test will require the students to
write a short essay of 150 words about a boys picnic on one island. This will be given
to all the students involved in the research simultaneously two days before the research
takes place. They will be given 30 minutes to complete the task.
During the lesson, the researcher will use the prepared lesson plan (Appendix
5). The researcher will begin the lesson by grouping the selected students into two
groups with the help of the marks from their previous monthly examination given by
the language teacher. The writing lesson will apply all the stages of the Process
Approach with the experimental group. The control group will be given the similar task
based on the Product Approach. Both approaches will be used for four double periods
15
of 80 minutes. At the end of the fourth week, the post-test (Appendix 4) will be given to
both groups. They will be given 30 minutes to write on a different story.
The last stage of this research study is for the students to answer the second set
of the questionnaire (Appendix 2). It will be given after the research is held to find out
the approach effectiveness.
3.6
b)
Mean and standard deviations will also be used to determine the responses of the
subjects on the Process Approachs effectiveness in acquiring writing skill.
c)
Frequencies and percentages will be used to identify the subjects preference of the
approach.
d)
Means and standard deviations will be used to identify the performance of the
subjects.
16
3.7
Summary
This chapter explains the methodology to be used such as research design,
population and sample, the research instrument, the procedure for data collection and
procedure for data analysis. It is with great hope that the data collected would highlight
the effectiveness of Process Approach in the teaching and learning of simple essay.
17
CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH RESULTS
4.1
Introduction
This chapter will discuss the result of the research study; the profile of the
respondents, the research findings based on the three objectives of the research set in
the first chapter and the summary section.
4.2
Profile of Respondents
There were thirty students involved in this study from SMK Siburan, Kuching.
They were the form two students with different level proficiency of the English
language. Selection was done based on their previous examination; those who scored
more than 50% marks for the English paper.
Based on table 4.1 (Refer to appendix X), the respondents were then divided
into two groups of fifteen each; the experimental group who were asked to complete
their writing tasks using the Process Approach, and the other group who applied the
traditional approach for the similar writing tasks given. They were divided according to
race gender, frequency, percentages of respondents
Both groups were divided equally with eight male respondents and seven female
respondents from three main races; five Bidayuh students, five Chinese students
another five Iban students. The selection of the students were made based on the latest
monthly examination result.
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4. 3
Research Findings
4.3.1
The control group on the other hand only had 53.1% who passed with another
46.9% failed in the test. The highest mark was 67% scored by three students with the
percentage of 20.00%. Five students scored between 53% to 60% marks with the
percentage of 6.70% marks each. Seven of them who failed the test with the percentage
of 46.9% scored from 48% to 30%.
This pre-test had proven that the selection of the respondents for the research
was equal on their knowledge of the language. The score obtained by the students from
both groups during the test was very close with six failures in the experimental group
and seven in the control group. Evidence was that the contrast of total score between
both groups was only at 18 % marks. This also shown that their proficiency level was
average as the researcher had set the passing marks to be 50% for the task.
19
The mean scored by the experimental group in the test was at 52.33% and the control
group on the other hand had scored slightly higher with 51.13%.
4.3.2
The first lesson (Refer to Appendix ), the students were instructed to write an
essay entitled My Mother. Each group was required to write down the ideas from
their discussion before they wrote down their first draft. During the pre writing stage,
the researcher showed a picture of a woman to the students and asked them to answer
three questions pertaining the picture. They were motivated in answering the questions.
Later, they were asked to discuss in their own small groups of five about the contain
that they should put inside their writing for their first draft. As they brainstormed, the
good students were seen to voluntarily help their other peers on the proper vocabulary
and sentence structures. At this stage, the accuracy of writing mechanics was not much
focused on, as they need to generate ideas for their essay. The researcher found that
most students were motivated in discussing the topic with their peers. Despite the
limitation of vocabulary that they had, they were able to give interesting and creative
ideas when it came to brainstorming. They participated actively and generally enjoyed
the writing sessions. Their enthusiasm about the writing task given can be seen through
20
the mind mapping and the first draft that they had produced (Refer to Appendix 2 and
3)
In the second lesson, the researcher started the lesson by asking the students
some information that they had acquired in the previous lesson. Most of them were very
eager to answer and give comments on the topic. The good students brought up some
personal experiences that they had with their own mother. This was a good sign to show
that they were able to connect the topic with their own everyday life. It made the lesson
more meaningful to them. In the later stage, when the students were required to edit
their friends first draft, some students even proposed their ideas to their friends to write
a better essay. Much of these involved the sentence structures and choice of words to be
used.
During this session, they were then asked to rewrite their essays after the peer
editing was done. The students who were more proficient felt very challenged while
those who were less proficient felt the need to try their level best so as to be able to
keep up with their peers. They had produced better essay in their second draft, as less
grammatical and sentences structures errors could be seen after the process of peer
editing. (Refer to Appendix 4)
The last lesson required the students to proofread their friends second draft of
the essay before they wrote the final product. Before they did the activity, the
researcher started a short discussion on their opinion of the previous editing process.
Most of them agreed that it had helped them to clarify the errors and unnecessary points
that they have in their previous draft. Some weak students somehow stated that they
21
were a bit confused at first on the aspects of writing that they were supposed to edit but
initially their friends and the researcher had managed to help them.
Before they started the proofreading stage, the researcher highlighted the
specific aspects of the draft that they should be checking; subject verb agreement,
spelling etc. The researcher also helped the students who required help especially in
spelling and grammar. The students were very motivated and some who were more
proficient even gave their comments on their friends style of elaborating their ideas.
This had shown that the students had gradually gained their self-confidence in
expressing what was needed in fulfilling the task. (Refer to Appendix 5)
The control group on the other hand, was asked to complete the similar
writing task on their own using the traditional approach. They were asked to complete
their essay within the three lessons. Most of the students in this group seemed to have
most difficulties in generating their ideas. It took them almost two lessons to complete
the first draft.
They were then asked to edit their own first draft before they rewrote the second draft.
In the final lesson, when they were asked to produce the final product, most of them did
not bother to proofread what they have written in the earlier draft.
(Refer to Appendix 6)
After the final products were collected from both groups, it was clearly shown
that the experimental groups managed to produce better planning and end product for
the task. (Refer to Appendix 5 and 6 )
22
4.3.3
17.07% from their previous pre-test. The mean scored by the control group was at
61.06% with 9.93% increment. Both groups had shown some improvement in their
writing but this also shows that the experimental group had the highest increment as
compared to the later group. This is a positive sign to proof that there was effectiveness
in the Process Approach. (Refer to Appendix O)
4.3.3.2
which was equivalent to 21.2%. They scored 14.03, equivalent to 20.2% in the post test.
The control group managed to score 11.50 for the pre-test; equivalent to 22.49% in the
first test and 11.90; equivalent to 22.59%. (Refer to Appendix 0)
Based on the difference score in their standard deviation for both tests, it had
shown that the experimental group had managed to perform better in completing the
tasks given.
23
4.3.4
Approach Preference
Based on the data collected from the questionnaires on their preference of the
approach, the experimental group responded positively towards the Process Approach.
All of them agreed that the approach had helped them to write better. 93.2% of them
agreed that writing using the approach was interesting and the group discussion was
indeed useful in generating their ideas in completing the task given. Given the question
whether editing and proof reading on their friends work peer is useful, 86.6% agreed.
(Refer to Appendix M)
The control group on the other hand responded negatively towards the product
approach administered to them. 93.30% of them did not prefer the approach for
the writing lesson. There were only 13.40% who thought that the approach was
interesting and enabled them to write fluently, while 86.60% disagreed.
(Refer to Appendix N)
It was clear to say that the Process Approach had gained its popularity as the
most preferred approach in the teaching of writing simple essay. It is also interesting to
note the feedback from the experimental group that the approach had helped them in
their writing.
24
4.3.5
Approach Motivation
All the students from the experimental group agreed that they were highly
motivated by their group members in completing the task using the Process Approach.
93.30% of them satisfied doing the writing task given in groups. They also agreed that
good discussion helped them to generate ideas for the task. (Refer to Appendix P)
It was a contradicting score by the control group. All of them agreed that the
Traditional approach did not motivate them at all in their writing task. Only 13.40%
agreed that learning writing individually interest them, while 86.60% disagreed.
(Refer to Appendix Q)
These figures show that the Process Approach does motivate the students to
their best performance in the teaching and learning of writing simple essay.
4.3.6
Summary
This chapter explains the research result of the data collected from the research.
The data was analyzed based on the min, standard deviation, frequency (%) of the score
gained through the tests and the sets of questionnaire. Evidence from the result had
clearly answered the three questions of the research on the effectiveness of the Process
Approach, the preference and the students motivation in the writing lessons.
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CHAPTER 5
Introduction
This chapter will discuss the research summary, discussion of research findings
as well as the conclusion of it. It will also discuss the implications of the research
findings coupled with the recommendations for further research and also the summary.
5.2
Research Summary
The present research was an attempt to find out the effectiveness of using
Process Approach in the teaching and learning of writing simple essay in an English
language classroom. The objectives of the research were to determine whether the
approach could be an effective way to teach simple writing and to find out if it was able
to generate motivation among the students towards writing. It was also to find out
whether students who used this approach would be able to produce better writing.
There were thirty students involved in this study from SMK Siburan, Kuching.
They were the form two students with different level proficiency of the English
language. Selection was done based on their previous examination; those who scored
more than 50% marks for the English paper.
26
In carrying out the study, the respondents were divided into two groups of
fifteen each; the experimental group whom using the Process Approach, and the other
group who applied the traditional approach for the similar writing tasks given.
The dependant variables in this study based on the students performance in the
pre-test, post-test, their preferences and attitudes as well as motivation to study the
subject. It sets to answer the following questions;
a)
b)
c)
Could the Process Approach motivate the students in learning the writing
skill?
The findings obtained from the pre-test, posts-test and the set of questionnaires
were used to determine the possible answer for the above questions. To get the result of
frequencies and percentages of all the thirty respondents the data was then analyzed.
27
5.3
28
Apart from that, the three lessons of writing had boosted the experimental
groups motivation in completing the task. The activities carried out throughout the
lessons did support Gardner and Johnson (1997) who described it as an approach that
focuses more on the varied classroom activities which promote the development of
language use; brainstorm, group discussion, rewriting. In this matter, the experimental
students had remarkably developed in the language they used in completing their tasks.
What important was that they enjoyed the discussion and initially the usual dry writing
session was filled with constructive comments, information sharing on proper spelling
and sentence construction for the task given. This showed the existence of motivation
among them which further supported Langer and Applebee (1987) who explain that
using this approach, the students will enjoy their learning process as their ideas are
allowed to be developed through a series of related, supportive activities.
29
5.4
ii.
iii.
This concludes that the Process Approach is effective in the teaching of writing
to a form two group. The experimental students were able to learn all aspects of the
language; listening, speaking and reading in their writing lessons. Another striking
finding that developed during the research was the level of support and teamwork
between each group members of the experimental students and the existence of critical
thinking used when they edited and proofread their peers writing. This shows another
positive side of the research, which indeed can change the students mindset that
writing lessons can be as fun as learning any other language skills.
30
5.5
It is also hope that this research could benefit any language teachers who faced
difficulties in teaching writing. This research has proven that Process Approach might
be the solution to attract the students to participate and enjoy themselves at the same
during the writing lessons. The teachers involved could apply the Process Approach
stages in any other language skills with the help of some creativity.
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5.6
32
5.7
Summary
This chapter explains the conclusions, implications and recommendations of the
research. It summarizes the whole report of the research paper.
33