SKKN Some experience in helping grade 11 students at Le Loi upper-Secondary school to improve their paragraph writing skills

1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE THEME 

English, an international language, has been developing rapidly. It is a subject that features regularly on study timetables all around the world. Every country does not want to be isolated in international communication, so it puts English in cirriculum of their education at program. In Vietnam, English is a cumpulsory subject at schools and it has recently been choosen as a cumpulsory subject in the national examination for the General Certificate of Secondary Education or GCSE for short. In learning English, there are four skills to be mastered, they are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Listening and reading are receptive skills. On the other hand, speaking and writing are productive skills. 

 It is true that writing  is a very important skill in teaching and learning English especially paragraph writing. Evidently, in GCSE English’s test , students have to write a paragraph within 140 words. This is not a small challenge for most students in general and for the students at Le Loi high school in particular. In fact, they have difficuly in collecting and rearranging ideas, writing the topic and concluding sentences, using the transitional words, using various structures and vocabulary and so on. Moreover, writing skill takes time and regular practice.

In the school setting, writing of 11th grade plays an important role because it prepares needed things for students such as: grammar points, content, vocabulary and especially helps them write well at higher level of 12th grade when they are obligated to sit for important examminations. Otherwise, for the last several years, the final and university entrance exam have put high press on writing skill. As a result, most students have been widely aware of the necessity for learning and practicing writing skills.

 Understanding these problems, I decied to choose ” Some experience in helping grade 11 students at Le Loi upper-secondary school to improve their paragraph writing skills ” as the topic of my experience initiatives with the hope that I can help my students to be more confident in writing and practically, they will succeed in their final examinations .

1. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPER.

The study is aimed to serve some main objectives as listed following.

 – To give teachers an experience in teaching how to write a parapraph by using some effective techniques which are appropriate and effective in teaching writing skill to the grade 11 students.

– To give students in grade 11th input to improve their ability and competence in writing skill. 

– To equip stdents with the system of writing exercises so that they will have chance to practice paragraph writing skills.

 As a result, they  will have high motivation to write and they will also know how to write  a parapraph effectively. 

III. THE SCOPE OF THE PAPER. 

Based on the background and identification of the theme, the paper is limited on teaching writing skill to the students in grade 11th by using some effective techniques. The research was conducted at my workplace- at Le Loi high school, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province. The subject consists of 90 students who come from class 11A2, 11A6, school year ……….. All of them are at the age of seventeenth to nineteenth years old. They have to take every skill in each period; learning time is 3 periods per week. 

1. THE METHODS OF THE PAPER.

The writer did some steps to do this research, they are as follows;

– surveying the literature relating to do the problem;

– defining the problem;

– constructing an experimental plan by writing the research design;

– design the research instrument;

– doing the instrument try-out;

– giving the test to the students;

–  practicing teaching 

– collecting the data through the posttest;

– analyzing the data;

– drawing conclusions;

– proposing suggestions;

– writing the report as subject.

– Exchanging experience with colleagues

1. CONTENT
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
3. Definitions of writing.

There are a lot of definitions of writing. According to Byrne (1991), writing can be defined as the act of forming graphic symbols. When we write, we use graphic symbol (alphabet, grammar, and structures) to make visual meaningful utterances. Therefore, on one level, writing can be said to be the act of making marks on flat surface of some kinds. However, writing is not just simply putting words, sentences together. Many researchers tended to focus on the nature of writing as an entity of linguistic creation. For example, Brannon, Knight and Neverow-Turk (1982, p. 2) pointed out “ writing is a creative art, not as assembly line operation of locking words together into sentence and bolting sentences together into paragraphs in accordance with a predefined plan.” 

In short, the definitions of writing are various. However, writing is characterized with some basic features, i.e. being linguistics, creative, progressive and interactive. Besides, the word “writing” itself may imply an act, a process, or a skill, which needs practice and study to develop. It requires both physical and mental powers from the writers.

2. Writing a paragraph

2.1. What is a paragraph ?

A paragraph is a group of sentences that fleshes out a single idea. In order for a paragraph to be effective, it must begin with a topic sentence, have sentences that support the main idea of that paragraph, and maintain a consistent flow. It often ends with a concluding sentence. 

2.2.  Parts of a Paragraph

2.2.1. Topic Sentence

What is the topic sentence? 
The topic sentence is often the first sentence in a paragraph. A topic sentence is an introductory line that addresses what the main idea or thesis of the paragraph is going to be. It should contain the most important and relevant point you wish to make regarding your topic, thus summarizing the paragraph as a whole.

Example:

There are various reasons why many people think that friendship plays an important role in their life. The most important reason can be that everyone needs at least a friend to share everything regardless of sadness or happiness. For me, I like chatting with my friends about what happened every day and discussing personal problems. Furthermore, our friends will be ready to help us out of our troubles. They will give us some good advice and support when we are in dificulty. Finally, thanks to friendship, we will have fun and enjoy a meaningful life. In conclusion, in my opinion, without friends, life would be dull and boring. 

2.2.2. Supporting Details

What are supporting sentences? 
They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph.

What do they do? 
They give details to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

How do I write them? 
You should give supporting facts, details, and examples.

Example:

There are various reasons why many people think that friendship plays an important role in their life. The most important reason can be that everyone needs at least a friend to share everything regardless of sadness or happiness. For me, I like chatting with my friends about what happened every day and discussing personal problems. Furthermore, our friends will be ready to help us out of our troubles. They will give us some good advice and support when we are in dificulty. Finally, thanks to friendship, we will have fun and enjoy a meaningful life. In conclusion, in my opinion, without friends, life would be dull and boring. 

2.2.3. Closing Sentence

What is the closing sentence? 
The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph.

What does it do? 
It restates the main idea of your paragraph.

How do I write one? 
Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different words.

Example:

There are various reasons why many people think that friendship plays an important role in their life. The most important reason can be that everyone needs at least a friend to share everything regardless of sadness or happiness. For me, I like chatting with my friends about what happened every day and discussing personal problems. Furthermore, our friends will be ready to help us out of our troubles. They will give us some good advice and support when we are in dificulty. Finally, thanks to friendship, we will have fun and enjoy a meaningful life. In conclusion, in my opinion, without friends, life would be dull and boring. 

2.3. Kinds of Paragraphs

2.3.1. Definition Paragraph

When writing a definition paragraph, you take a thing or an idea and explain what it is.