Vinh University Foreign Languages department === === Dơng Thị Thơng Suggested Communicative Activities in THE 10 TH GRADERS' English Writing Classes at Nghen High school in Ha Tinh Province (gợi ý những hoạt động giao tiếp (gợi ý những hoạt động giao tiếp trong lớp học viết tiếng anh cho học sinh lớp 10 trong lớp học viết tiếng anh cho học sinh lớp 10 ở tr ở tr ờng thpt nghèn tỉnh hà tĩnh ờng thpt nghèn tỉnh hà tĩnh ) ) graduation thesis graduation thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Vinh - 2011 Bùi Y n Nhi - 48A Englishế 2 Foreign Languages Department vinh university foreign Languages department === === Suggested Communicative Activities in THE 10 TH GRADERS' English Writing CLASSES at Nghen High school in Ha Tinh Province (gợi ý những hoạt động giao tiếp (gợi ý những hoạt động giao tiếp trong lớp học viết tiếng anh cho học sinh lớp 10 trong lớp học viết tiếng anh cho học sinh lớp 10 ở tr ở tr ờng thpt nghèn tỉnh hà tĩnh) ờng thpt nghèn tỉnh hà tĩnh) graduation thesis graduation thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Supervisor: nguyễn thị vân lam, m.a Student: dơng thị thơng, 48A - English Vinh - 2011 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and support from a number of people who all deserve my sincerest gratitude and appreciation. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Thi Van Lam, M. A for her enormously helpful advice, constant help and support throughout the course of writing this graduation paper. Special words of thank also go to all my informants at Nghen High School for their willing participation in the study. I greatly appreciate their generosity with their time and efforts in filling in the questionnaire. Without them this paper could have been impossible. Finally, my deepest gratitude and appreciation go to my family, my friends and my classmates. Their love, support and constant encouragement have given me a great deal of strength and determination during the stressful time of writing this paper. Vinh, April 16, 2011 Student Duong Thi Thuong i ABSTRACT The importance of communicative activities in communication and English writing skill teaching and learning has stimulated the author in the study on written communicative activities. In this study, the author discusses the nature of communication, characteristics of communicative activities, types of communicative activities and then teaching writing in CLT. In addition, she gives real situation of using communicative activities in English writing classes at Nghen High School in Ha Tinh province. Finally, the study is concerned with the communicative activity samples applied in English writing classes. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v PART ONE: INTRODUCTION .1 1. Justification of the Study .1 2. Aims and Objectives of the Study 2 3. Scope of the Study .3 4. Methods of the Study 3 5. Format of the Study .3 PART TWO: INVESTIGATION 5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5 1.1. The Nature of Communication .5 1.2. Characteristics of Communicative Activities .6 1.3. Types of Communicative Activities .8 1.3.1. Oral Communicative Activities .8 1.3.1.1. Reaching a Consensus .8 1.3.1.2. Relaying Instructions .9 1.3.1.3. Communication Games 9 1.3.1.4. Problem Solving .10 1.3.1.5. Story Reconstruction 10 1.3.1.6. Simulation and Role Play .11 1.3.2. Written Communicative Activities .12 1.3.2.1. Relaying Instructions .12 1.3.2.2. Exchanging Letters .13 1.3.2.3. Writing Games 14 1.3.2.4. Story Reconstruction 15 1.3.2.5. Writing Reports and Advertisements 15 1.4. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 16 1.4.1. Characteristics of CLT 16 1.4.2. The Students' Role 17 1.4.3. The Teacher's Role 18 1.5. Teaching Writing in CLT .19 1.5.1. The Nature of the Writing Process .19 1.5.2. Principles for Teaching Writing .19 1.5.3. The Stages of Teaching Writing .21 1.5.3.1. Pre-writing .21 1.5.3.2. While-writing .22 1.5.3.3. Post-writing 22 1.6. Summary 22 iii CHAPTER 2 REAL SITUATION OF USING COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH WRITING CLASSES AT NGHEN HIGH SCHOOL IN HA TINH PROVINCE 23 2.1. Survey .23 2.1.1. Aims and Research Questions 23 2.1.2. The Informants and Setting .23 2.1.3. Questionnaire Description 24 2.2. Real Situation of Using Writing Activities in the 10th Form English Classes at Nghen High School 26 2.2.1. Characteristics of the 10th Form Students 26 2.2.2. Content of Writing in the English 10th Form Textbook 27 2.2.3. The Survey Result from Teachers 28 2.2.4. The Survey Result from Students 31 2.3. Discussion 36 2.4. Summary 38 CHAPTER 3 PARTICULAR EXAMPLES FOR USING SUGGESTED COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING WRITING AT NGHEN HIGH SCHOOL .39 3.1. Suggested Communicative Activities for Writing Classes 39 3.1.1. Jigsaw writing .39 3.1.2. Matching Game .40 3.1.3. Guessing Game .40 3.1.4. Re-ordering Words .41 3.1.5. Exchanging Letters .41 3.1.6. Writing According to an Outline 42 3.1.7. Writing Based on Text .42 3.1.8. Gap-filling .43 3.2. Examples of Communicative Activities for English Writing Classes Applied within " Tieng Anh 10" .44 3.2.1. Unit 10. CONSERVATION 44 3.2.2 Unit 12. MUSIC .47 3.2.3. Unit 13. FILMS AND CINEMA 50 3.2.4. Unit 14. THE WORLD CUP 51 3.2.5. Unit 16. HISTORICAL PLACES 53 PART III. CONCLUSION 55 1. Recapitulation .55 2. Suggestion for Further Studies 56 REFERENCES 57 APPENDIX : SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE .60 iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Page Table 2.1. The survey result from teachers for questions from 1 to 8 28 Figure 2.1. The survey result from teachers for question 3 30 Table 2.2. The survey result from teachers for question 9 .30 Table 2.3. The survey result from students for questions from 1 to 12 32 Figure 2.2. The survey result from students for question 4 33 Figure 2.3. The survey result from students for question 12 35 Figure 2.4. The survey result from students for question 13 35 v PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Justification of the Study The ever-growing need for good communication skills in English has created a huge demand for English teaching around the world. Millions of people today want to improve their command of English or to ensure that their children achieve a good command of English. Thus, opportunities to learn English are provided in many different ways such as through formal instruction, travel, study abroad, as well as through the media and the internet. The world-wide demand for English has created an enormous demand for quality language teaching and language teaching materials and resources. Education and learning are the important parts of life. Communication is the key of education, teaching and learning and it affects the life of an individual throughout the whole life. Communication is one of the most important skills anyone can have in business and in life. Everyday, in many ways, we communicate with other people. Sometimes it is verbal, other times it is through the written words, and we even do it non-verbally through what we call body language. For the matter, we can use images to communicate, and even a scent can carry a message. If we expect to get our point , our message, our meaning across, it is important that we have good communication skills. The four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing are applied in our social life, our education life, and our professional life in much the same time. Good communication skills are a great asset in the learning process in any situation. Education does not usually end with high school, college, or professional training. These skills are interconnected, and using all of them will strengthen our ability to communicate. 1