iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement
Abstract
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale ............................................................................................ 1
2. Aims of the study ............................................................................... 2
3. Research questions ............................................................................ 2
4. Scope of the study.............................................................................. 2
5. Method of the study .......................................................................... 2
6. Design of the study ............................................................................ 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter ONE: Literature Review

1. An overview of teaching writing ..................................................... 4
1.1. Writing and Teaching writing in a foreign language class .. 4
1.2. Major approaches to teaching writing .................................. 7
1.2.1. The product approach ……………………………………. 10
1.2.2. The process approach ……………………………………… 11
2. Adaptation the textbook ................................................................... 13
3. The English textbook ........................................................................ 16
3.1. The aims of the New textbook of English ……………………16
3.2. An overview of the Writing part of English 11 ……………...17
3.3. Challenges of teaching and learning writing of English 11…18
4. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………19
Chapter TWO: DATA COLLECTION, FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS

1. The context of the study ...................................................................… 20

v

1.1. Setting of the study ..................................................................20
1.2. Subjects of the study ................................................................ 20
1.3.Methods and instruments ........................................................ .21
2. Data analysis ...................................................................................... .23
2.1. Teachers’ perception and evaluation on adaptation of the Writing
Part of English 11 ........................................................................................... .23
2.2. Students’ ideas on how their teachers adapt the Writing Part of
English 11 .........................................................................................................24
3. Conclusion of the major findings .................................................... .27
Chapter THREE: AN EXAMPLE OF ADAPTATION OF THE WRITING
PART OF ENGLISH 11 …………………………………………………………. 28

PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 42
2. Recommendations and suggestion ................................................... 43
3. Limitations of the study .................................................................... 43
4. Suggestions for further study........................................................... 44

REFERENCES ........................................................................................45
APPENDIXES


1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale

English, one of the most popular foreign languages in Vietnam, began to be used
widely in education and in daily-life activities. As a matter of fact, the status of foreign
languages, particularly English, was reconfirmed by the Order number 1400/QĐ-TTg,
signed by the Prime Minister (September, 30th 2008). It is suggested that English should
be taught from grade 3th.
It is obviously seen that the objectives of the new textbook provides adequate
contribution to 4 language skills, but in fact, for many Vietnamese students, learning
writing and having a good writing production are substantial challenges. They have
difficulties in learning writing and may be anxious about having a writing lesson in class.
To the best of my knowledge, if teachers of English only use what is presented in the
textbook, students usually find it difficult to study and are not keen on writing tasks. Most of
the students of Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school are at average level and have little
background knowledge. They don‟t pay much attention to writing in English, especially at
grade 11th. To some extent, all writing topics in English 10 are more familiar to students than
those in English 11. English 11 requires students to be more active and spend more time for
free writing than English 10. Students need to self-study more. In many writing lessons,
students are not supported models, just some useful language which is newly presented or was
in the previous lessons.
That is the reason why this research “An adaptation of the Writing Part of the new
textbook: English 11 at Nguyen Van Cu Upper-secondary school” is conducted.
The researcher would like to study teaching and learning Writing of English 11 at
Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school (NVC school) to find out students‟ and teachers‟
difficulties on teaching and learning writing as well as their practice on adapting this part of
English 11. The researcher will show the facts of learning and teaching Writing part of English
11 and an adaptation of this for other teachers of other schools to reference. Therefore, the
intention in doing this research is that any textbook needs adapting to meet certain groups of
students‟ needs and levels.

2. Aims of the study
This study is aimed to:



2
(1) Examine learning and teaching the Writing part of English 11 in NVC school.
(2) Explore some ways of adapting the Writing part of English 11 used by teachers at
Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school to help students study their writing skill better.
3. Research questions
The study was carried out in order to find out the answers to 4 research questions:
(1) Do teachers of English and students in Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school

have difficulties in teaching and learning writing English 11?
(2) Do teachers of English in the school often adapt the Writing part of English 11?
(3) How do teachers in the school adapt the Writing part of English 11?
(4) What are the benefits students can get when their teachers adapt the textbook?

4. Scope of the study
The study is focused on only students from the 11th grade in Nguyen Van Cu uppersecondary school, their studying the Writing part of English 11 and the teachers‟
adaptation this part of the textbook. The adaptation of the Writing part of the new
textbook: English 11 is helpful to the group of teachers of English and students of 11th
grade in Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school. It would be able to be a reference to
teachers of other schools.
5. Method of the study
This study is conducted in the combination of quantitative and qualitative method.
Data were collected by means of survey questionnaires, interviews and classroom
observation. The combination of different methods to collect data could provide more
reliable and valid information for analysis. Questionnaires of 180 students of English at
grade 11 are used to discover the facts of teaching and learning writing with some
adaptation. Interviews and classroom observation of 5 teachers of English teaching writing
English 11 are to find out their points of view on adaptation the textbook and to explore
the ways to adapt this part so that they can help their students with better writing skill.

6. Design of the study
The research consists of three parts. The first part presents the rationale, the
statement of the problem, the aims, research questions, the scope of the study, research
methods as well as the design of the study. There are two chapters in the second part.
Chapter 1 presents some discussion the New Textbook, an overview of the Writing part in
English 11, the need to adapt the textbook and some ways to do this. The readers also can
find issues and ideas on approaches to teaching writing, challenges of teaching and


3
learning writing. Chapter 2 presents the context of the study and explains the methodology
used in the study including population information, instrumentation, data collection, data
procedures, data analysis and findings. The last part summarizes major findings and
discussion, implications, limitations and provides recommendations for further study.

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. An overview of teaching writing
1.1. Writing and teaching writing in a foreign language classroom


4
Man, in the form of letters, symbols, or words, write to express language. They
write for the primary purpose that is communication. “Good writing gets your ideas out of
your head and into the reader's head without losing or distorting those ideas" (Leki 1976:
4); "Writing can be said to be the art of performing graphic symbols" (Byrne 1990: 1) or
simply writing is like "making marks on a flat surface of some kind". However, writing is
far more complicated process of transforming the material discovered by research
inspiration, accident, trial, error or whatever into the message with a decision. Writing is
also a difficult activity, both in the mother tongue and in a foreign language.

Murray (1978:29) and Perl (1979:43) defined writing as “a creative discovery
procedure characterized by the dynamic interplay of content and language: the use of
language to explore beyond the known content.”
Besides, according to Candlin and Hyland (1999: 107),

writing is a social

process, an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts “reflects
methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and
persuade them of the claims that are made”.
In language teaching, writing along with speaking is defined as the two productive
language skills. Penny Ur (1996) said that “most people acquire the spoken language (at
least their own mother tongue) intuitively, whereas, the written form is in most cases
deliberately taught and learned” (p.161) and “writing normally requires some forms of
instruction. It is not a skill that is really picked up by exposure” (p.11).
In short, through writing writers can communicate with some certain audiences.
Teaching students writing skill is not an easy task for all teachers of language in general
and teachers of English in particular.
Firstly, writing is not only an important form of communication in day-to-day life
but also an essential skill for students preparing for further study. At higher levels of
education, it is a key aspect of academic literacy that aspiring scholars pursue as part of
socialization in their disciplines. Writing is usually a particularly challenging task for
students studying English as a foreign language (EFL). The skills involved are highly
complex, while at the same time students‟ cultures have their own norms for structure and
rhetoric which are not always compatible with their current English. From our personal
experiences as classroom teachers in Vietnam, the author agrees with Hayashi‟s (2005)
observation that EFL students‟ writings more often than not end up lacking a clear logical
flow and unity, not to mention a persuasive linear argument. A particular classroom



5
writing task which is motivating and manageable to some can turn out to be daunting or
impossible for others because students are linguistically of mixed abilities so that. It is
understandable that teachers of high school often complain that “writing is the most
problematic skill to teach in such classes” (Hess, 2001, p. 77). It is obvious that writing is
a difficult skill because it requires many characteristics which are not necessary for
speaking such as formality, well- planned, accuracy and time.
Secondly, the nature of writing causes many strategies for writers. Candlin and
Hyland (1999:2) pointed out that “every act of writing is thus linked in complex ways to a
set of communicative purposes which occur in a context of social, interpersonal and
occupational practice”. And “Each act of writing also constructs the reality that it
describes, reproducing a particular mode of communication and maintaining the social
relationship which it implies”. Writing is not only a personal but also socio-cultural act of
identity whereby writers both signal their membership in what maybe a range of
communities of practices as well as express their own creative individuality.
I

absolutely agree

with

Raimes

that “writing

helps

our

students


learn”(Raimes,1983:3). To her point of view, writing can help students reinforce the
grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that we have been teaching our students.
Students will have a chance to be adventurous with the language to go beyond what they
have just learned to say, to take risks. And writing can make students become very
involved with the new language, the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eyes,
hand and brain is unique way to reinforce learning.
In a foreign language class, among the four skills, writing and speaking are
productive skills.

When we learn a language, we need four skills for to complete

communication. The four language skills are related to each other in two ways: the
direction

of

communication
and

the

(in/out)

method

communication

of


(spoken

or written)
Input is sometimes
called
output

"reception"
is

and

sometimes


6
called "production". The purpose of language learning is to improve the speakers' four
skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, with the base of large vocabulary and
good grammar, but this is not the final purpose. The final purpose is to let speakers be able
to use the language. For instance, why do people study English? If a man is only good at
listening and speaking, can people say that he is good at English? No. If a woman is only
good at reading and writing, can people say that she is good at the language? No. In
addition, most of the speakers do better in reading and writing than in listening and
speaking. They can read and write, but they can hardly communicate. They can hardly
express themselves with their own words. We are not able to change the examination
system, but we can improve our learning method. So when speakers want to use a language
well, do not forget to know all the abilities of the four skills. Among the four skills,
Writing is one way of providing variety in classroom procedures. It provides a learner with
physical evidence of his achievements and he can measure his improvement. It helps to
consolidate their grasp of vocabulary and structure, and complements the other language

skills. Sentence is the base of an article. So he should begin his writing with sentences. For
example, translation, sentence pattern exchanging, and text shortening and rewriting. It
helps to understand the text and write compositions. It can foster the learner's ability to
summarize and to use the language freely.
Writing is the final product of several separate acts that are hugely challenging to
learn simultaneously. Among these separable acts are note-taking, identifying a central
idea, outlining, drafting and editing. Both young and old people can encounter the
discouraging „writer‟s block‟ if they engage in more than one or two of these activities at
once. It is difficult to start writing a report, for example, without a central idea and notes to
support it. Often, the more detailed an outline, the easier is the writing. People frequently
find that they can finish faster by writing a first draft quickly and then editing and revising
this draft.
Generally the four skills cannot be separated. People often say "First listening and
speaking, then reading and writing." But this way of saying is not fit for the design of the
new textbook of English. In an English lesson at school, students do reading, speaking,
listening and then writing. So, writing takes place the last.
Writing is a complex process that allows writers to explore thoughts and ideas, and
make them visible and concrete. Writing encourages thinking and learning for it motivates
communication and makes thought available for reflection. When thought is written down,


7
ideas can be examined, reconsidered, added to, rearranged, and changed. Writing is most
likely to encourage thinking and learning when students view writing as a process. By
recognizing that writing is a recursive process, and that every writer uses the process in a
different way, students experience less pressure to "get it right the first time" and are more
willing to experiment, explore, revise, and edit. Yet, novice writers need to practice
“writing” or exercises that involve copying or reproduction of learned material in order to
learn the conventions of spelling, punctuation, grammatical agreement, and the like.
Furthermore, students need to “write in the language” through engaging in a variety of

grammar practice activities of controlled nature. Finally, they need to begin to write within
a framework “flexibility measures” that include: transformation exercises, sentence
combining, expansion, embellishments, idea frames, and similar activities).
To sum up, teaching writing is necessary for students studying English as a foreign
language (EFL) because it “normally requires some form of instruction” and “it is not a
skill that is readily picked up by exposure” ( Tribble,1996:11) .
1.2. Major approaches to teaching writing
Several approaches to teaching writing are presented by (Raimes, 1983) as follows:
a) The Controlled-to-Free Approach:
In the 1950s and early 1960, the audio-lingual method dominated second-language
learning This method emphasized speech and writing served to achieve mastery of
grammatical and syntactic forms. Hence teachers developed and used techniques to enable
student to achieve this mastery. The controlled-to-free approach in is sequential: students
are first given sentence exercises, then paragraphs to copy or manipulate grammatically by
changing questions to statements, present to past, or plural to singular. They might also
change words to clauses or combine sentences. With these controlled compositions, it is
relatively easy to for students write and yet avoid errors, which makes error correction
easy. Students are allowed to try some free composition after they have reached an
intermediate level of proficiency. As such, this approach stress on grammar, syntax, and
mechanics. It emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency or originality.
b) The Free-Writing Approach:
This approach stresses writing quantity rather than quality. Teachers who use this
approach assign vast amounts of free writing on given topics with only minimal correction.
The emphasis in this approach is on content and fluency rather than on accuracy and form.
Once ideas are down on the page, grammatical accuracy and organization follow. Thus,


8
teachers may begin their classes by asking students to write freely on any topic without
worrying about grammar and spelling for five or ten minutes. The teachers does not correct

these pieces of free writing. They simply read them and may comment on the ideas the
writer expressed. Alternatively, some students may volunteer to read their own writing
aloud to the class. Concern for “audience” and “content” are seen as important in this
approach.
c) The Paragraph-Pattern Approach:
Instead of accuracy of grammar or fluency of content, the Paragraph-PatternApproach stresses on organization. Students copy paragraphs and imitate model passages.
They put scrambled sentences into paragraph order. They identify general and specific
statements and choose to invent an appropriate topic sentence or insert or delete sentences.
This approach is based on the principle that in different cultures people construct and
organize communication with each other in different ways.
d) The Grammar-Syntax-Organization Approach:
This approach stresses on simultaneous work on more than one composition
feature. Teachers who follow this approach maintain that writing cannot be seen as
composed of separate skills which are learned sequentially. Therefore, student should be
trained to pay attention to organization while they also work on the necessary grammar and
syntax. This approach links the purpose of writing to the forms needed to convey message.
e) The Communicative Approach:
This approach stresses the purpose of writing and the audience for it. Student
writers are encouraged to behave like writers in real life and ask themselves the crucial
questions about purpose and audience: “Why am I writing this?, Who will read it?”
Traditionally, the teacher alone has been the audience for student writing. But some
feel that writers do their best when writing is truly a communicative act, with a writer
writing for a real reader. The readership may be extended to classmate and pen pals.
f) The Process Approach:
Recently, the teaching of writing has moved away from a concentration on written
product to an emphasis on the process of writing. Thus, writers ask themselves:
“How do I write this? How do I get started?”
In this approach, students are trained to generate ideas for writing, think of the
purpose and audience, write multiple drafts in order to present written products that
communicate their own ideas. Teachers who use this approach give students time to tray



9
ideas and feedback on the content of what they write in their drafts. As such, writing
becomes a process of discovery for the students as they discover new ideas and new
language forms to express them. Furthermore, learning to write is seen as a developmental
process that helps students to write as professional authors do, choosing their own topics
and genres, and writing from their own experiences or observations. A writing process
approach requires that teachers give students greater responsibility for, and ownership of,
their own learning. Students make decisions about genre and choice of topics, and
collaborate as they write.
During the writing process, students engage in pre-writing, planning, drafting, and
post-writing activities. However, as the writing process is recursive in nature, they do not
necessarily engage in these activities in that order.
Yet, there are several ways to approach writing in the classroom. It should be said
that there is not necessarily any “right” or “best” ways to teach writing skills. The best
practice in any situation will depend on the type of students and the text type being studied.
Nowadays, the most common are the product and the process approach. And a distinction
is often made between a product and a process approach to the teaching of writing.

1.2.1. The product approach
This is a traditional approach, in which students are encouraged to mimic a model
text, which is usually presented and analysed at an early stage. This is shown in a work by
Evan and St John “The product approach to writing usually involves the presentation of a
model text, which is analyzed and then forms the basis of a task that leads to the writing of
an exactly similar or a parallel text” (1998: 116). To be more specific, a model for this
approach is outlined as below:
Stage 1: Recognition. Model texts are read, then features of the gerne are
highlighted. For example, if studying a formal letter, students‟ attention may be drawn to
the importance of paragraphing and the language use used to make formal requests.

Stage 2: Controlled practice of the highlighted features, usually in isolation. So, if
students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practise the language used to
make formal requests, practising the structure “I would be grateful if you would…”


10
Stage 3: Organization of ideas. This stage is very important. Those who favour this
approach believe that the organization of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves
and as important as the control of language.
Stage 4: Writing. Students choose from a choice of comparable writing tasks.
Individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to
produce the product.
This can be summarized like these:


Imitate model text;



Organization of ideas more important than ideas themselves;



One draft;



Features highlighted including controlled practice of those features;




Individual;



Emphasis on end product.(English Now- Conference 2004 Edition, page 7)
The product (or model text) approach sees writing as being primarily about

linguistic knowledge. Attention is given to the appropriate use of vocabulary, syntax and
cohesive devices.
This approach can be used successfully in teaching writing for beginners. All
learners can not write well as soon as they begin the course but can take progress step by
step with imitation and repetition from the model texts or the teachers. Moreover, teachers
can impart the knowledge of writing theory including grammatical structures, word
choices, cohesive device uses, how to vary the content, how to organize the essay.
However, this approach cannot avoid some shortcomings. Students are passive and
less creative. All learners‟ knowledge of writing skill is based on the teacher, textbook or
model texts. Using the approach often leads to a simplistic copying of the model text by
only changing certain words from the original text to produce a new text, which prevents
learners‟ creativity and motivation from writing. Next, mistakes are corrected during the
writing, which to some extent discourages students to write more. Most students are
worried about mistakes that are considered common in writing for beginners.
In brief, the product approach shows its strong points when provide the good base
for beginners of writing to lead their writing practice. However, if students owe their
knowledge and skill of writing to the teacher and model text strictly, they will be very
passive and often get shocked in the real official writing test where a new topic or a new
kind of essay is introduced.


11

1.2.2. The process approach
Process approaches to writing tend to focus more on the varied classroom activities
which promote the development of the language use; brainstorming, group discussion,
rewriting. Such an approach can have any number of stages, though a typical sequence of
activities could proceed as follow:
Stage 1: Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion. For example, students
could be discussing qualities needed to do a certain job. The teacher only provides
language support if required, so as not to inhibit students in the production of ideas.
Stage 2:Students extend ideas into note form, judge quality and usefulness of ideas.
Stage 3: Students organize ideas into a mind map, spider gram, or linear form. This
stage helps to make the relationship of ideas more immediately obvious, which helps
students with the structure of their texts.
Stage 4: Students will write the first draft. This is done in class and frequently in
pairs or groups
Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of each others‟
work and then they make suggestions to improve each other‟s texts.
Stage 6: Drafts are returned, improvements are made based upon peer feedback.
Stage 7: A final draft is written.
Stage 8:Students once again, exchange and read each other‟s work and perhaps
even write a response or reply.
This method places emphasis on the cycle of writing, rather than a fixed linear
approach such as the earlier Product approach. It has much in common with
communicative-task based instruction which is currently popular within communicative
pedagogy. Unlike the Product approach which is more interested in the written outcome,
the Process approach focuses on the thinking processes that are involved with writing.
According to Flower (1985) , thinking stage helps students to identify the rhetorical
problem, plan a solution or series of solutions to the problem and finally conclude
appropriately.
In the view of Hedge( 1990), the process contains a lot of stages which can be
illustrated as follows: “ being motivated to write- getting ideas together- planning and

outlining- making notes- making a first draft- revising, re-planning, redrafting- editing and
getting ready for publication. Meanwhile, according to Oshima and Hogue (1991), the


12
writing process embraces three steps: pre-writing, planning (outlining), writing, and
revising drafts (review the draft (either by themselves, with their peers or their teacher).
The process approach itself helps organize the writer‟s thoughts. White and Arndt
(1991, p.12) argue this is because there is a close link between writing and thinking.
All these efforts in the process approach to writing see the act of writing from a
very different perspective, focusing as much on the means whereby the completed text was
created as on the end product itself. In many instances the writer starts out with only the
vaguest notion of this. The ideas are then refined, developed and transformed as the writer
writes and rewrites.

Main features of the process approach
The process approach concerns itself with individual levels of fluency and
expression. It is a replacement of an approach that considered written language secondary
and merely a mechanism for reinforcing spoken language. The finished product is in focus,
not the learner. The process approach, in contrast, empowered its learners, thereby
enabling them to make clearer decisions about the direction of their writing (Jordan 1997).
Clenton (2003) states in the same vein "It is no longer required to offer a shining example
of the model; the teacher becomes a facilitator in providing formative feedback during the
process of each student's composition. Correspondingly, this approach encourages students
to assume greater responsibility for making their own improvements, as opposed to the
miming of a pre-determined model."
This approach has some problem. First, some learners are not proficient writers in
their own language and struggle to put their thoughts on paper. Many students said that
they hardly ever wrote in their own language and had no prior experience this is
particularly challenging for the teacher and students. Peer teaching would help them notice

successful techniques that other writers use. Second, students are sometimes unable to
come up with suitable ideas related to the chosen topic. This therefore depends a lot on the
topics chosen. The teacher must bear in mind the students various life experiences as well
as personality and interests. Another problem is how to assess whether a process approach
is applicable in all settings where writing is taught. According to Johns (1990:25), this
approach focuses primarily on the writer as the originators of: “written text” in a context
where “The process through which the writer goes to create and produce discourse is the
most important component in the theory”


13
In short, the process approach encourages student‟s activity and motivation in
writing. It is a learner-centered approach that stimulates students to play an active role and
the teacher works as an observer. However, beginners of writing skill need help and
guidance from the teacher. This procedure is good for class practice but students are still
encouraged to write on their own and get feedback from their teacher for mistake
corrections.
To sum up, teaching writing is not an easy task for teachers of English. They have
to combine approaches to teach their students write better writing in consideration the
students‟ level and the tasks in the textbook.
2. Adaptation the textbook
Adaptation the textbook is one of the results of material evaluation. As far as we
know, there are a lot of principles for material evaluation. In this project, we decide to
follow the principles of Cunningsworth (1984), which we see the most reliable in textbook
and materials evaluation.
Cunningsworth gave out four main principles for materials evaluation: relate the
teaching material to your aims and objectives, be aware of what language is for and select
teaching materials which will help equip your students to use language effectively for their
own purposes, keep your students‟ learning needs in mind, and consider the relationship
between language, the learning process and the learner. In the first principle, he stated that

the teaching materials should take the learner forward as directly as possible towards his
objectives. For the second principle, he made an argument that our teaching must have at
its base a consideration of what our students need to learn. This requires the teacher to look
beyond the confines of the classroom into the outside world, and focusing his or her
attention on the use that individual learner will make of what he has learned, in a situation
which is not primarily a learning situation. In his third principle, he mentioned the
students‟ learning needs. By learning needs, he meant not so much the actual language to
be learned as the way in which it is selected, graded, presented and practiced. However, the
learning needs are not limited solely to considerations of the language. Learners have
intellectual and emotional needs, too. The textbook may act as the stimulation. It is
important that materials should be usable with whole classes of learners, with small
groups, and with individuals. Within the space of one lesson, a student may act
alternatively as an individual and a group member, depending on several factors including
the sort of exercise he is doing, the skills that are being practiced and his own learning


14
strategies. In the last principle, Cunningsworth considered the relationship between
language, the learning process and the learner. All three are vital aspects of language
teaching and it is essential that teaching materials should keep all three constantly in view
and never become so occupied with one that the others are lost sight of. What we do know
about the language learning process leads us to believe that there is no one best way of
learning and that learners adopt different strategies and often switching strategies from
time to time. This principle concerns the learner and the language, and the learning process
which, as it were, bring the two together. We need to look for a balance between the needs
of the learner on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the constrains imposed by the
necessity of learning the structures and vocabulary of English.
Not every textbook appeals to every ESL class. Some content may be too difficult
or challenging. There also might be topics that are not particularly motivating for students.
Adapting textbook activities is not just something teachers should do as the need arises but

also for appealing to the lower, middle and strong student levels.
English textbooks is a key component in English language teaching programs in
Vietnam but they have been criticized for not offering classroom learners adequate
opportunity for learning authentic language (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001; Grant and Starks, 2001;
Wong, 2002; Vellenga, 2004). The reason is that instead of making use of language
samples that native speakers actually produce, the textbooks have drawn on native
speakers' intuition about language use, which might not always be reliable (Wolfson,
1989a). In one of her works, Nguyen Thi Thuy Minh analyzes and evaluates the pragmatic
content of a recently developed series of textbooks intended for use in Vietnam's uppersecondary schools and shows the widely need to adapt or modify the given textbooks and
other language teaching materials to fit the requirements of particular learning situations,
and even particular students.
“Just as a piano does not play music, a textbook does not teach a language. The
textbook is a stimulus or instrument for teaching.”
As we can see textbook plays an important part in teaching and learning a
language. But “however good material is, most experienced teachers do not go through it
word for word. Instead, they use the best bits, add to some exercises and adapt others” (J.
Harmer, 2003:112). According to Madsen & Bowen (1978; ix) adaptation is the action of
employing “one or more of a number of techniques: supplementing, expanding,


15
personalizing, simplifying, modernizing, localizing or modifying cultural or situational
context”. Sometimes, adaptation is referred to “reducing, adding, omitting, modifying and
supplementing” (Tomlimson B. 1998b:xi). While Ellis, M (1986:47) definites that it is the
process of “retaining, rejecting, reordering and modification”.
So adaptation a textbook is a need and a must depending on certain teaching and
learning contexts. Mc Donough & Shaw (1993:85) point out that the main purpose of
adaptation is “to maximize the appropriacy of teaching materials in context, by changing
some of the internal characteristics of a course-book to better suit our particular
circumstances” so that material will be more relevant to learners‟ interests, activate them,

stimulate and develop their motivation to create a more conductive classroom atmosphere.
To Madsen & Bowen‟s and Tice‟s, adaptation is to compensate for deficencies (Madsen &
Bowen‟s 1978, Tice‟s 1991). Technique of “maximizing the appropriacy of teaching
materials should be more relevant to learners‟ interests, activate learners and stimulate
their motivation, develop their motivation in order to create a more conductive classroom
atmosphere.
In one of her volumes, Paula Kluth presents a systematic approach to adaptation
useful for methods courses as well as for the experienced teacher or curriculum planner. As
the first principle of effective adaptation, maintenance of congruence between a variety of
factors is stressed; these factors include the teaching materials, the methodology and
objectives of the course, student characteristics, the character of the language being taught,
and the personality and style of the teacher. In almost every subject area, in nearly every
grade level, students are expected to use a textbook as a resource. Many, however, are
unable to access the content in their textbook due to struggles with reading and related
skills such as information processing. Therefore, teachers in inclusive classrooms must
adapt textbooks so that students with different reading and comprehension levels can learn
classroom content. Adapting textbooks may involve making changes to the text itself,
supplementing the text, or giving students strategies to learn the material in some other
way. (www.PaulaKluth.com)
And Minh, Nguyen Thi Thuy has commented that “textbooks should be carefully

evaluated and selected before being used for a language program. Textbook evaluation
helps the managerial and teaching staff select the most appropriate materials available for a
particular course. It also helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a particular
textbook that is already in use. This is to inform teachers in the process of textbook


16
adaptation. In our real teaching and learning context of some high schools in the suburb of
Hanoi, we change something in the textbook we are using in most of our real lessons in

class so that our students will be more interested in and find it easier to study English.
3. The English Textbook
3.1.The aims of the New Textbook of English for upper-secondary school
In 2006, Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) issued a new curriculum
which defines English as a compulsory subject, which is “instrumental to the access of
world science and technology as well as world cultures” (MOET, 2006: 5). It describes the
aims for ELT at secondary school level as enabling students to:
1. “Use English as a means for basic communication both in spoken and written
channels. 2. Master basic and relatively systematic knowledge of English suited to their
levels of proficiency and ages. 3. Acquire some general understanding of the people and
cultures of some English-speaking countries and develop a positive attitude towards the
people, cultures and language of these countries; cultivate the pride in, love for and respect
to the Vietnamese culture and language”. (MOET 2006: 5)
In other words, ELT should train students in communicative competence so that
they can perform basic language functions receptively and productively, using correct
language forms and structures. Besides, it should also “educate students into both good
national and international citizens who are knowledgeable about the target culture as well
as their own national culture” (Le, 2007:4).
Methodologically, the new curriculum is claimed to adopt the communicative
approach to language teaching as its guiding principles and specifies that
1. Communication skills be the goal of the teaching and learning process; linguistic
knowledge be the means by which communication skills are formed and developed.
2. Students play an active role in the teaching and learning process and teachers be
only organizers and guides.
3. Teaching contents be selected, organized according to themes to guarantee a high
level of communicativeness while catering to the accuracy of the modern language system.
4. Textbook writing, management of teaching and learning, testing, assessment and
evaluation follow the curriculum guidelines.
(MOET 2006: 6)



17
The New Textbook of English for upper- secondary school is developed from this
one for secondary school. The following of the new textbook set after English 10, English
11 is taught and learnt in the academic year 2007-2008.
3.2. An overview of the Writing Part of English 11
English 11 is written basing on the officially national curriculum of Ministry of
Education and Training. It follows English 6, English 7, English 8, English 9, English 10.
As mentioned in the textbook, it is claimed to adopt a theme- based syllabus. There
are 16 teaching units, in which the writing section is designed under 6 themes, namely You
and me, Education, Community, Nature, Recreation and People and Places. After the
writing lesson, students will be able to write texts of 120-130 words on familiar topics
based on models or prompts, which are suggested outlines, word cues or idea prompts for
personal or basic communicative purposes. They will write:
1. A letter of invitation to a party,
2. A personal letter to describe a past experience,
3. About a friend,
4. A letter of gratitude,
5. A letter to ask for and give information about competitions,
6. An information description from a table,
7. A description of population development,
8. About celebration activities,
9. A letter to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction towards postal services,
10. A location description based on facts and figures,
11. An information interpretation and description from a chart,
12. About the preparation for the coming Asian Games,
13. About a collection,
14. About holiday activities,
15. A report on a visit to a man-made/popular place,
16. A biography.

As can be seen, the Writing session usually begins with a model, followed by
activities that guide students through the writing process such as model analysis, language
work, and guided writing. The text types students are required to produce vary from formal
or informal letter to describing charts, tables, data or narratives, etc.
3.3.Challenges of teaching and learning writing of English 11


18
Writing is not only an important form of communication in day-to-day life but also
an essential skill for students preparing for university study. Writing in Nguyen Van Cu
Upper-secondary school is a particularly challenging task for students. From our personal
experiences as classroom teachers in Vietnam, we agree with Hayashi‟s (2005) observation
that EFL students‟ writings more often than not end up lacking a clear logical flow and
unity, not to mention a persuasive linear argument. Because students are linguistically of
mixed abilities, a particular classroom writing task which is motivating and manageable to
some can turn out to be daunting or impossible for others. Therefore, writing teachers in
EFL contexts must cope with such problem as how to make students get involved in
writing tasks, how to encourage stronger students‟ motivation and interest be sustained
while opportunities for weaker students to complete tasks be guaranteed and how to help
students benefit most from their cooperation in the classroom so that all can make progress
during the course.
As can be seen, students of 11th grade have to write formal and informal letter
describe charts, tables, data or narratives. “As in English 10, writing tasks in English 11
often begin with models. In the following tasks, students are asked to study the content,
the form and the language of the gerne they are writing. And then they are taught guided
writing by using supported ideas to form a writing production. English 11 requires that
students have to be more active and spend more time for free writing than English 10.
Students need to self-study more. In many writing lessons, students are not supported
models, just some useful language newly presented or in the previous lessons”. (Translated
from handout for teachers of English 11 by MOET- Education Publisher 2007). Students

in Nguyen Van Cu upper- secondary School find it a challenge if they learn writing
without a model or suggested language. They may know the form but many of them are
not sure about it and they often forget what the teachers taught them in the previous school
year. Most of them are at average level of English. Besides, they are lack of background
knowledge. They may wonder about to whom they write. So teachers here often have to
revise forms, to support models or more useful language to help students be self-confident
to make better writing production.
4. Conclusion
In summary, in this chapter, the author has reviewed issues, and aspects concerning
the topic of the study. Moreover, the knowledge writing teaching approaches, challenges of


19
teaching and learning writing in EFL context are also taken into consideration. In the
following chapter, the context of the study, the methodology, data collection procedures
and data collection and data analysis will be proposed.

CHAPTER TWO:
DATA COLLECTION, FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS

1. The context of the study
1.1. Setting of the study
The study was conducted in Nguyen Van Cu upper- secondary school, a longtime
established school in a suburban of Hanoi. It is located in Gia Lam district, the suburb of
Hanoi. It has had a history of 33-year development since its foundation in 1977. In the
school year 2009 - 2010, the school has 32 classes with more than 1,500 students, so there
are about 47 students in a class. One thing worth to note here is that the entry level of
students entering NVC School is not very high. They mostly come from rural areas where
English teaching and learning has not been paid much attention. Besides, NVC School
shares common features with classrooms elsewhere in Vietnam: large size, students sitting

in rows of four each and irremovable furniture.
Meanwhile, the teachers here all have good knowledge, experience and they are all
enthusiastic, sensitive and creative. The school equips language teachers with modern
teaching facilities like OHPs, whiteboards and computers. Besides, the library has various
kinds of books, material, newspapers, magazines and computers connected to the Internet.
Moreover, there are also two informatics technology rooms with many internet-connected
computers, which are often available for students to get access.
English is taught here as a compulsory curriculum subject like other upper-secondary
schools. Students have three periods of English a week and each period lasts 45 minutes. The
new textbook of English 10, English 11, and English 12 aim at enabling the students to
communicate in the target language with four language skills. There are 16 units in a
textbook, and each unit is divided into 5 parts: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and
Language Focus.
1.2. Subjects of the study


20
There are two reasons why this study aims at 11th form teachers and students at
Nguyen Van Cu School. Firstly, the 11th grade students have learnt writing lessons of the
new textbook for one year and most of them have something in mind about what and how
to learn this skill. They are familiar to the writing topics but they have to learn with freer
and more difficult writing tasks. Secondly, adaptation this part helps them overcome
knowledge limitations.
There are five out of eight teachers of English at NVC School participating in this
study. These five teachers include one male and four females. Their ages range from 26 to
33 with at least four years of teaching English. Two of them has finished their M.A courses
at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The reason for this choice of participants is that
they are all in charge of 11th form classes at NVC School.
The samples of students here are restricted to five 11th form classes (among eleven
11th form classes at NVC School). These five classes, which were chosen randomly,

account for 180 students. They are aged from 16 to 17 and all of them have had at least
five years of learning English at lower-secondary schools. They are not the same at English
speaking competence. Some of them are really good and active while a lot of them are
quite passive and unmotivated in learning English. The year- study records of these
students show us that 38 among those, who show little interest in English, have under
average level.
1.3. Methods and instruments
The process of collecting data was carried out in the following steps:
Firstly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five teachers to obtain their
attitudes towards adaptation and ways of adapting the Writing part of English 11.
Secondly, the author observed classes of writing to get some more detailed
information.
Thirdly, the questionnaires were distributed to 180 students to investigate the
benefit students can get when their teachers adapt the Writing part of English 11 and for
the researcher to make sure that adaptation actually happens in classes. They will help the
researcher find out the ways the teachers there adapt this part.
Interviews
The interviews in this study serve as a useful tool to invest the teachers‟ perception,
evaluation of using adaptation in teaching writing English 11. They also aim at seeking
ways of adapting this part.


21
Each interview consists of two parts: the first one for personal information and the
second one for the content information. The number of prepared questions for the content
information is about the interview focus. The interviews are semi-structured, which means
there is “a prompt which requests certain information but the exact shape of the response
is not predetermined” (Cohen, 1989: 28). In the interviews, the author can sometimes add
some explanation as well as ask for some more detailed information.
The one-on-one interviews were conducted in Vietnamese and in informal ways so

that the teachers were able to express their ideas freely. It was lucky that all of the teachers
were very enthusiastic in participating in the interviews. The method of recording
information was note-taking. Then the interviews were translated into English for analysis.
Class observations
The method of class observation is used to investigate ways which teachers of
English at Nguyen Van Cu School adapt the Writing part of English 11 and the use of it in
real teaching and learning.
Sixteen classes of writing in English 11 were observed. During observations, the
researcher was an observer and did not take part in any classroom activity. The observer took
notes focusing on ways of adapting and about how students were studying writing in order to
make a report on adaptation Writing part of English 11 at NVC upper-secondary school.
This is the major means of data collection.
Questionnaires
Each questionnaire is constructed from two parts: part A for personal information
and part B for content information. Part B is divided into two small sections, namely B1,
B2. B1 consists of nine multiple choice questions in order to find out students‟ ideas about
their teachers‟ changing/adaptation the Writing Part of English 11 and the benefit students
have when being taught writing in the light of adaptation. B2 includes seven points to
investigate teachers‟ ways of adapting the Writing Part of English 11. These questions
were adapted.
The questionnaire questions were worded carefully and translated into Vietnamese
to make it easy for the students. The questionnaires were also piloted with the help of three
students before delivering to the large number. The ways of changing tasks in the writing
part are carefully illustrated with examples, so students can clearly understand them and
increase the accuracy of their responses. The students were guided carefully how to present


22
their ideas. Besides, the questionnaire papers were collected anonymously in order that
students can freely express their ideas.

2. Data analysis
2.1. Teachers’ perception and evaluation on adaptation of the Writing Part

of

English 11:
In general, none of the five teachers in the interviews were aware of the concept
“adaptation”. But all of them have ever changed the language content, the tasks of this part
so that they can teach their students more effectively and their students can learn more
easier. When the researcher explained that all what they do to change the book meant
adaptation, they shared the concept. They all determined the benefit adaptation would
bring to their students and their teaching writing English 11 in particular and the New
Textbook in general.
Four out of these five teachers gave ideas that the tasks for the Writing Part of English
11 challenging for their students. The reasons were that their students‟ level of English is at
average and most of the given language content is not easy for them to conduct a writing
production. They all found that it was difficult to teach students by using al the given language
content in the textbook most of the time and for many lessons. Teacher 3 gave an example of
the reasons that was when the textbook supported one or two tasks only or without useful
language or without a model. And in order to make it easier for students to learn writing they
changed the language content, the tasks, etc. Three of these five adapted the Writing Part very
often. All of them usually shared ideas and had agreement what to change for certain lessons in
the English group‟s meeting.
Though they didn‟t know the concept of adaptation until the researcher‟s
explanation, they had done much of this method in their teaching writing English 11. They
sometimes added some more tasks, omitted this or that one, reordered the given tasks,
modified the language content, reduced some or gave more useful language. Most of them
had ever left the writing production as homework when this needed much time to be
finished. They explained that students could share more ideas to complete it. They always
checked at the following lessons in class. Three of them usually collected 70% of the

homework and marked as a mini test.
All the five teachers agreed that most of the students get progressed after they had
changed like that for the reason they found it easier to teach. Students were eager to study


23
writing more and their writing production was getting better and better. They strongly
agreed that adapting the Writing Part of English 11 brought benefits to both the teachers
and students.
Some information from class observations has validated the above finding. In all
the classes the researcher attended, the teachers often added tasks, supported more useful
language or a model, some of them re-ordered the tasks, the others omitted some… All of
the teachers adapted the Writing Part of English 11. This is presented in the part of some
examples of adaptation.
In conclusion, the five teachers at Nguyen Van Cu School who had ever adapted
the textbook thought they didn‟t know about the concept of adaptation. The reason for this
limited knowledge lies in the fact that adaptation the textbook has not been properly
investigated and introduced to English teachers and learners. Besides, all five teachers in
this study acknowledged the importance of adaptation the Writing Part of English 11 to
students. By this, they all meant the necessity of teaching writing to students using
different ways of adapting .
2.2. Students’ ideas on how their teachers adapt the Writing Part of English 11:
The collecting figures from questionnaire students‟ ideas on how their teachers adapt
the Writing Part of English 11 show the same findings as the above. The following tables
will prove it.
It can be seen clearly in Table 1 that most of the students of the 11th grade of Nguyen
Van Cu upper-secondary school have difficulty in conducting all the writing tasks in class.
40 out of 180 students who were asked said they didn‟t. Among those, 37 are the best ones in
English according to their English study record. If students are good at English, of course
they have the ability to self-study, they will know how to write the writing production by

using their background knowledge without language input or model supported. Those who
were not sure or had no ideas about they had difficulty or not have under-average level (to
their study record as well).
Approximately 75% of the students realise that their teacher has ever changed the
content language content and the writing tasks. This means that teachers of English at
Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school have adapted the Writing Part so that more than
half of the students find it easier to conduct writing tasks and a similar number of students
get progressed after learning writing with adaptation.