Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm A study on collaborative writing model to enhance letter writing skill for the 10th graders

 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale
 In the globalization era, cooperation among countries has promoted the 
development of economy, culture, and society. The largest language which has 
been spreading around the globe is English. It helps people connect, have better 
understandings of the world, its challenges through information booming that 
satisfies advantageous access to travel, education, and cultures. 
 In Vietnam, English is a compulsory subject in the national curriculum 
from grade 3 to grade 12. It helps students improve English communication and 
contribute to developing other skills for work and study more effectively. 
Besides, this subject provides students with an essential international 
communication tool to update new knowledge about cutting-edge science and 
technology, cultural discovery. Learning English raises their insights into people 
of other countries and makes them aware of global citizens.
 The English subject's primary focus aims to develop the fluency and 
proficiency of language skills for students in listening, speaking, reading, writing, 
and linguistic knowledge. Writing is a significantly productive skill that requires 
students to perform their language knowledge and ideas in different types of 
writing. Throughout the curriculum of English 10, some types of letters cover 
most of writing lessons. Although many students excel in writing skill, the 
number of students facing challenges in writing has gone up steadily. This 
evidence can be seen in at most high schools in Vietnam that they do not have 
enough input knowledge to produce written products. The importance of letter 
writing is to teach students about the needs to present their problems and 
information exchange between the senders and the receivers in different fields. 
Today, the international cooperation has contributed to the letter exchange 
through emails or express mail services. That students master letter writing is a 
success for their future development.
 The study "A study on collaborative writing model to enhance writing skill 
for the 10th graders" is selected to solve the challenges in letter writing skill 
students face. Collaborative writing is regarded as a correlation to one of the 21st 
century skills that allows students to communicate, discuss, draft, and revise their 
writing papers effectively. Apart from the teacher’s instruction, students have 
many opportunities to share knowledge and support the completion together. The 
more collaborative learning they have, the more insights into the lesson they will 
gain. very little guidance to improve their English listening and speaking skills for 
themselves. Despite having internet connections, very few students explore 
English materials online for their study. 
 According to the new general education program requirements, the 
empowerment of students’ behaviour and capability is the focus of quality 
enhancement of teaching and learning. Recognizing the challenges in writing skill 
the students face, the collaborative writing model is used to help students practice 
language skills and collaboration, a crucial skill of the 21st century skill. Thanks 
to the empowerment of collaborative writing, students are expected to be 
motivated and inspired to fulfil their English learning outcomes and better 
autonomy in self-study.
1.5 Design of the study
 Chapter 1: Introduction. This part introduces the rationale, the purposes, 
the methods of the study, the research questions, the research methodology, the 
scope of the study, and the design of the study.
 Chapter 2: theoretical background. The former provides the literature 
review illustrating the summary information of the previous research papers. The 
latter mentions the fundamental elements of key term concepts relating to the 
study and synthesizes the brief view of some researchers.
 Chapter 3: Methodology. This section describes the research methods.
 Chapter 4: Findings and discussions. This part shows the analysis of data 
and discusses the results of the study.
 Chapter 5: Conclusion. This part summarizes the main points and contents 
based on the results of the study. The implication of the study and the 
recommendation for further research will be presented. In this process, the team gets together, shares ideas and brainstorm together. They 
also formulate an argument or draft thesis. The final outcome, the way it should 
look, its purpose and intended audience should be planned.
Planning and logistics:
The project is divided into sections and assigning the project to writers is 
accomplished.
They should think about the final outcome of the project, arrange for meetings 
and schedules too.
Research data/collection:
The required sources and way to gather the sources are to be found out.
The writers are to be assigned for reading and processing of information. Finally, 
there should be an analysis of the data.
Drafting/ writing:
Every group member is assigned a particular section of the project. The text is 
composed where the team meets for collaboration.
Revising/ editing/ proofreading:
When sections of the document are drafted in a separate way. They are then 
merged in order to get a single document. They need to revise the structure and 
ideas of the paper.
Proofreading is also done to check for punctual errors, typo mistakes, formatting 
issues, spelling errors, and grammatical mistakes.
There are few techniques or strategies which need to be followed in a 
collaborative writing process. When any writing plan is considered, they need to 
follow the below-mentioned process.
 • Description of the writing project
 • Outline of the content
 • Strategy for success
 • For each section, content responsibilities must be assigned
 • Schedule for completed parts
 • Editing as well as revising the process
 • Production data
There are other aspects too which the collaborative team should discuss and 
resolve. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Participants
 The main participants of this study involve the 90 10th graders at Que 
Phong high school. Que Phong high school, which is located in the Northern West 
of Nghe An province, has 43 classes with approximately 1,800 students. On 
account of the mountainous topography sharing a border with Laos, Que Phong 
high school has faced low results in high school entrance examinations from 
students living here. 
 English is a mandatory subject across Vietnam, but students in remote areas 
have come under various drawbacks of English learning at different levels. Even 
though they have had access to English since primary school, they seem to be 
weak at basic English knowledge. Turning to the English curriculum at the high 
school level, the target requires students to be familiar with different types of 
communication in the English context. Although there have been loads of papers 
dealing with oral communication, this study tackles the written communication 
relating to letter writing. Today, information exchange takes place virtually and 
via letters. It is intriguing that all the English textbooks for class 10 to class 12 
integrate letter writing into the writing sections of some units. Not only do these 
tasks widen students’ insight into the real-world context, but they also provide 
several orientations to approach the task completion relating to the topic’s units.
 According to the challenges that the 10th graders endure, the collaborative 
writing model is an indispensable measure which is designed to redeem the step-
by-step instruction of collaborative writing for students and enrich their 
knowledge of letter writing by inspiring them to discuss with peers, discover new 
real-world context, and gradually shape their mindset on producing authentic 
products meeting the lesson’s objectives. By dint of the merits from which 
students can benefit, the difference in English levels among students can be 
supported by the interaction and practical development of skills that will be useful 
in their future learning. Moreover, if they pass the inception of something new, 
they will be more confident enough to complete other learning tasks better and 
better.
3.2 Methodology
 The author employs action research to measure the effective of 
collaborative writing model on students’ progress. In the first cycle, the author 
presents drawbacks of students in writing. In the second cycle, the author began 
to instruct the lesson and let students engage in collaborative writing models. In 
the third cycle, the author evaluates students’ progress and reveals some strengths 
and improvement for better learning and teaching. CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 The initial students’ writing results
 Prior to the access to collaborative writing, the 50 students were 
encouraged to complete a task on letter writing. It is significant to emphasize the 
integration of letter writing into writing sections of some units in the textbooks. 
After completing the first three units, they started to approach the letter writing 
lesson. The content of this lesson requires students to write a complaint letter 
based on the given context.
 THE RESULTS OF STUDENTS' 
 ABILITIES TO COMPLETE THE 
 TASK
 number of students percentage
 8.8% 22.2% 69.00%
 8 20 62
 BEING ABLE TO BEING ABLE TO BEING UNABLE TO 
 FULLY COMPLETE P A R T I A L L Y COMPLETE THE TASK
 T H E T A S K COMPLETE THE TASK
 The chart 1 describes the number of students’ abilities to complete the task
 As soon as having been instructed to complete the writing task in the 
textbook, they could not perform the task well; however, as can be seen from the 
bar chart, nearly 9 percent of students completed the task well, which shows that 
they fully understand and identify the problems so as to write the description of 
the information in the paper. Next, the rate of students partially completing the 
task constitutes 22.2 percent with 20 students. This group partially understood the 
form of letter writing and missed some parts of the information needed to fill in 
the letter. Finally, the highest number of students who could not do this task 
accounts for 69 percent, which reveals that they do not have a good understanding 
of the content and basic information about letter writing despite being given 
instruction. 
 Compared to the above description of the students’ circumstances at Que 
Phong high school, they faced various challenges in learning English language 
skills, including writing, one of the most difficult output sections. The main 
reasons for this problem relate to the acquisition of topic-based vocabulary, the 
ability to identify context, the expression of grammatical structures, the support - Writing a letter of complaint
3. Soft skills expected: 
. Communication skills: interviewing, negotiating, agreeing, disagreeing 
. Teamwork: deciding/ assigning tasks & roles, leadership skills
. Time management
. Responsibility 
. Researching skills
4. Attributes
Kindness: cooperate with groups’ member to complete the writing’s task.
Diligence: share the letter writing with the whole class and integrate further 
necessary details.
Honesty: discuss and reflect the problems of complaint about an English centre.
Responsibility: raise the community’s awareness to selection of English centre.
Love for the country: develop the effectiveness of English Language education 
in Vietnam.
II. Teaching aids
Projector, board, laptops, handouts
III. Teaching procedure
1. Activity 1: Warm-up 
a) Objectives: 
- Identify the type of letter
- Recognize problems related to the letter
b) Procedure: 
 Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
 - Set the questions: - Give the answers and share their 
 - Have you ever written a letter? ideas.
 - Who did you write?
 - How did you feel when you wrote a 
 letter? happy or sad?
 - What kind of letter do you write if 
 you feel angry about something or Member revising
 Member Discover and organize ideas
 member Discover and organize ideas
3. Activity 3: Group communication
a) Objectives
- Discuss the complaint content in the conversation related to the advertisement.
- Differentiate the problems and propose structures to express the problems
b) Procedure: 
 Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
 - Ask students to work in groups, using - Look at the advertisement to 
 the information in the advertisement to complete the dialogue.
 complete the dialogue - Read the conversation
 - Call on some pairs to read aloud the 
 completed dialogue
 - Check and give correct answers
c) Product: 
Students complete the dialogue to identify the problems.
4. Activity 4: Research and information gathering
a) Objectives
- Identify the problems and expressions to write the letter
- Complete the missing information of the given sample letter in the textbooks.
b) Procedure:
 Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
 - Ask students to identify the form of - Share the answers
 the letter in the given sample. - Work together and discuss
 - Provide some explanation to each - Complete the letter by implementing 
 section of the letter and set some writing draft, revising/ proof-reading
 questions to check their 
 understanding.
 - Require all groups to discuss and 
 complete the form. 1. Language Knowledge: 
- Pronunciation: / ∂ / and / З:/
- vocabulary and expressions related to excursion
- The present progressive (with future meaning)
- Be going to
2. Skills: 
- Extensive reading: multiple-choice questions
- Intensive reading: gap-fill
- Passage comprehension
- Expressing agreements and disagreements
- Giving opinions
- Monologue: listening and numbering pictures, gap-filling, comprehension 
questions
- Writing a confirmation letter
3. Soft skills expected: 
. Communication skills: interviewing, negotiating, agreeing, disagreeing 
. Teamwork: deciding/ assigning tasks & roles, leadership skills
. Time management
. Responsibility 
. Researching skills
4. Attributes
Kindness: cooperate with groups’ member to complete the writing’s task.
Diligence: share the letter writing with the whole class and integrate further 
necessary details.
Honesty: discuss and reflect the response of confirmation to the letter senders.
Responsibility: raise the community’s awareness of whether our confirmation 
should be accepted or not.
Love for the country: develop the introduction of Vietnam’s landscape to 
foreigners.
II. Teaching aids
Projector, board, laptops, handouts - Confirmation is the letter that 
 responds to the request. It confirms 
 whether the help is provided or the 
 information is available or not.
c) Product: 
- Groups will share answer with the whole class.
- Groups will complete teamwork plan
 Teamwork plan
 Group number: _____________
 Members Roles Assignment Note
 Leader Manage members’ discussion
 Member Write drafting
 Member revising
 Member Discover and organize ideas
 member Discover and organize ideas
3. Activity 3: Group communication
a) Objectives
- Discuss the complaint content in the conversation related to the advertisement.
- Differentiate the problems and propose structures to express the problems
b) Procedure: 
 Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
 - Ask groups to work and read two - Look at the two sample letters
 letters and find the requests in Nga’s - Share the request and confirmation 
 letter and confirmation in Hoa’s structure
 - Give the meanings of some words - Negotiating the reflections, they have learned from other groups and propose 
feedback to other groups
- Commenting the form of letter and the use of language.
b) Procedure 
 Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
 - Let students play lucky draw to - Select their turns to present products.
 present their writing products in order. - Present in groups.
 - Let groups observe and assess - Mark rubrics
 writing papers
 - Comment
 - Ask students to comment, mark 
 rubrics, and reflect. - Reflect what they have learned (self 
 and peer reflection)
 - Ask each group to submit teamwork 
 plan and rubrics. - After presentation, submit rubric 
 forms to teachers.
 - Scoring: Progress & Products
 Average of: final product (50%) + 
 Teamwork plan (15%) + Teamwork 
 reports & progress (25%) + Self & 
 Peer reflections (10%)
c) Project display after presentation:
- Students will use technological devices to save letters.
- Create a form for students to share their reflection on the project by using Padlet, 
Google forms, or delivering hard copies for students to share their ideas.
4.2.3 The implementation of invitation letter
 UNIT 10: CONSERVATION
I. OBJECTIVES
1. Language Knowledge: 
- Pronunciation: the sound /b / and /p/
- vocabulary and expressions related to conservation
- The passive voice
2. Skills: 
- Vocabulary comprehension: matching
- Deciding True or False statements