Abstract
This study aims to investigate the effects of process-based writing instruction on Vietnamese EFL students' writing in an IELTS preparation course. An action research design was used, and the participants included 12 EFL students attending an IELTS course at a foreign language center in Vietnam. Data was gathered from students' essays, as well as through observations made by the teacher during two cycles. The students' essays were assessed by using the IELTS Writing Task 2 descriptors. Results showed a significant improvement in students' Writing Task 2 performance, particularly argumentative essays when process-based writing instruction was applied. They were able to respond appropriately to the prompt, maintain relevance to their chosen position, and support their main ideas with strong explanations and examples. The student initially negatively responded to the application because they were unfamiliar with the several stages of the application, but they eventually showed their willingness to participate in the activities, especially in Cycle 2.
Top1. Introduction
Writing in an academic style can be tough for students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) (Evans & Green, 2007; Lee & Tajino, 2008). EFL students often struggle with putting together their academic work and following instructions (Wang & Xie, 2022). Hence, it is suggested that English teachers should find good ways to teach EFL students how to do academic writing (Fareed et al., 2016; Tseng, 2019).
Among various types of academic writing, argumentative writing is often considered the most challenging (Crasnich & Lumbell, 2005; Gárate & Melero, 2005). This type of writing requires responding to a problem, expressing thoughts, and providing convincing reasons (Crowhurst, 1990). Particularly, clarity and relevance are immensely crucial when making arguments (Zhu, 2001).
Observations and final writing tests collected from IELTS (International English Language Testing System) classes at a language center in South Vietnam reveal that students often lack sufficient guidance on effective writing. In particular, many encounter difficulties with the task response in IELTS Writing Task 2 since their scores for this criterion are often recorded to be comparatively lower than the other criteria. Hence, figuring out an effective teaching application is crucial to help these learners enhance their writing performance. Among useful teaching methods used to increase students’ writing performance, some researchers highly recommend that applying process-based writing which helps students acquire writing skills throughout various stages is more beneficial than simply providing model answers like in product-based writing (Akinwamide, 2012; Sarhady, 2015).
However, product-based writing instruction has been constantly applied in IELTS writing classes. Many learners observed from the IELTS writing classes at this center have not only struggled with their academic writing but also shown their negative participation in product-based writing instruction used by most teachers here. Particularly, in each writing lesson, students are given a model answer with some important topic-related words and asked to follow the structures or format to make their writing products. Thus, students do not actively participate in writing activities because they know that they are always given model answers which include essential ideas for their final writing product. Even though this problem of learning and teaching IELTS writing in Vietnam has continuously occurred, there have not been any studies discovering and analyzing how process-based writing instruction affects IELTS learners’ writing Task 2 performance, especially on task response criterion which is regularly reported to be a big challenge for IELTS students. From the observation of IELTS classes at the language center in Vietnam and the discovery of some significant benefits of process-based instruction, the researchers conducted this action research to answer two questions:
- (1)
How can process-based writing instruction be applied to teaching IELTS writing Task 2 to EFL students, particularly task response criterion?
- (2)
How do the students respond to the application of process-based writing instruction in IELTS Writing Task 2?
Key Terms in this Chapter
Process-Based Writing Instruction: The prime focus on the process in which writers go from the beginning to the end of the written product with clear instructions for each stage from teachers.
Argumentative Essays: A piece of writing in which writers drive to persuade their readers to embrace an opinion supported by logical, well-organized evidence.
Task Response: A term of assessment to determine whether students construct a convincing argument in response to the prompt provided in the task.