DECLARATION

I certify that this thesis is the result of my own research and the substance of this

thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution.

Hung Yen, May 2016

Nguyen Thi Nhan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To complete this graduation paper, I am deeply indebted to many people for their

valuable advices and suggestions. First of all, I would like to send my heartfelt gratitude to

my supervisor, Ms. Pham Thi Duong, M.A, for her enthusiastic support, helpful advice,

and considerable encouragements in the completion of the thesis. Besides, my words of

thanks are also send to the major first year English in class TAK13.1 and TAK13.2 at

Faculty of Foreign Languages UTEHY for their enthusiastic cooperation, without their

support, I would not have been able to complete this paper. I also owe a great debt of

gratitude to my family and my friends, especially my classmates in group TAK10, who

always encouraged me for such a long and hard time. Last but not least, I am very grateful

for any comments from my readers who are interested in this thesis.

ABSTRACT

The study deals with finding the difficulties in rewriting English sentences of major

first–year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages at Hung Yen University of

Technology and Education. In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, the study

presents the key theories related to rewriting English sentences. The researcher carried out

survey questionnaires among 77 major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages,

UTEHY to get their opinions. The definition,the formation, the seating arrangement, and

the role of the learners in rewriting English sentence lessons are also mentioned. A survey

on the use of rewriting English sentence exercises at Hung Yen University of Technology

and Education are conducted in the process of doing this study. The results of such

research showed that the data analysis as well as the interpretation of the results obtained

from the questionnaires is also given. Last but not least, the study gives some difficulties

and solutions to improve students ‘ability in rewriting English sentences at Hung Yen

University of Technology and Education.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

UTEHY: Hung Yen University of Technology and Education

FFL: Faculty of Foreign Language

MA: Master of Arts

Ss: Students

S: Student

No.1: Number

p.25: page 25

LIST OF TABLE

Table.1: The interview results of students’ assessment in rewriting English sentences.....18

Table 2: Students and lecturers’ opinions on the importance of rewriting English sentences

..............................................................................................................................................19

Table 3: Students’ foundation and lecturers’ advice of learning rewriting English............19

Table 4: Students and teachers’ inspiration of (teaching) rewriting English sentences......20

Table 5 Students’ difficulties in rewriting English sentences.............................................22

Table 6: Students’ basic mistakes........................................................................................24

Table 7: Students’ techniques before rewriting English sentences.....................................26

LIST OF CHART

Chart 1: Students’ assessment on the difficulties in rewriting English sentences..............18

Chart 2 : Students’ frequency of rewriting English sentences............................................21

Chart 3: Lecturers and students’ opinions about the suitableness of The Effective

Academic Writing 1 textbook..............................................................................................21

Chart 4: Students’ opinions about the assessment of pre-rewriting English sentences......23

Chart 5: The frequency degree of students’ and their teachers’ advice at practicing

rewriting English sentences at home....................................................................................25

Chart 6: Students’ techniques after rewriting English sentences and their teachers’ advice

..............................................................................................................................................27

Chart 7: Students’ opinions and teachers’ advice about the activities for improving

rewriting English sentences..................................................................................................28

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION...................................................................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................ii

ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................iv

LIST OF TABLE..................................................................................................................v

LIST OF CHART................................................................................................................vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................................................vii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................1

1.1 Rationale..........................................................................................................................1

1.2 Aims of the study.............................................................................................................2

1.3 Scope of study..................................................................................................................2

1.4 Research question.............................................................................................................2

1.5 Methods of study..............................................................................................................3

1.5.1 Questionnaires...............................................................................................................3

1.5.2 Interviews......................................................................................................................3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................4

2.1 Overview of teaching English grammar..........................................................................4

2.1.1 Overview of writing......................................................................................................4

2.1.1.1 Definitions of writing.................................................................................................4

2.1.1.2 The importance of writing..........................................................................................5

2.1.1.3 Writing errors.............................................................................................................6

2.1.2 Overview of teaching English grammar.......................................................................7

2.1.2 .1 Definition of Grammar..............................................................................................7

2.1.2.2 The importance of teaching grammar........................................................................9

2.1.2.3 Grammatical Error...................................................................................................10

2.1.2.4 Grammar Rules........................................................................................................10

2.2.2 Run-on sentences........................................................................................................11

2.2.3 Parallel sentence structures.........................................................................................12

CHAPTER III: THE STUDY...........................................................................................15

3.1 Methodology and data....................................................................................................15

3.2 Participants of the study.................................................................................................15

3.2.1 Students.......................................................................................................................15

3.2.2 Lectures.......................................................................................................................15

3.3 Research questions.........................................................................................................16

3.4 Procedures of data collection........................................................................................16

3.5 Data collection instrument.............................................................................................16

3.5.1 Questionnaire..............................................................................................................16

3.5.2 The interviews.............................................................................................................17

3.6 Data analysis, main findings and discussion..................................................................17

3.6.1 The opinion of students in rewriting English sentences..............................................17

3.6.1.1 The difficulty............................................................................................................17

3.6.1.2 The importance.........................................................................................................19

3.6.1.4 The inspiration.........................................................................................................20

3.6.1.5 The frequency...........................................................................................................21

3.6.1.6 The Effective Academic Writing 1 textbook...........................................................21

3.6.2 Current situation of learning in rewriting English sentences at FFL, UTEHY...........22

3.6.2.1 Students’ difficulties in rewriting English sentences...............................................22

3.6.2.2 The assessment of pre-rewriting English sentences.................................................23

3.2.6.3 Students’ mistakes in rewriting English sentences..................................................24

3.7 Students’ activities to improve rewriting English sentences..........................................25

3.7.1 Students’ practice........................................................................................................25

3.7.2 Techniques before rewriting English sentences..........................................................26

3.7.3. Techniques after rewriting English sentences............................................................27

3.8 Main findings and discussion.........................................................................................29

3.8.1 Opinions of students about rewriting English sentences.............................................29

3.8.2 Current situation in studying the rewrite English sentences.......................................29

3.9 Recommendations for improving rewriting English sentences.....................................30

CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION.......................................................................................32

4.2Limitation and suggestions for further study..................................................................32

REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................I

APPENDIX 1.......................................................................................................................II

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS............................................................II

APPENDIX 2.......................................................................................................................V

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS...........................................................V

APPENDIX 3...................................................................................................................VIII

COLLECTED DATA FROM INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (for students)..............VIII

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, English has become an international language which is used officially in

more than many different countries because it is considered as an effective means of

international communication in various fields such as education and training, business and

commerce, internal relationship and diplomacy... People have different purposes to learn

English, some learn to go overseas, to satisfy their curiosity about the world outside, others

learn as their major at work. As well as, English is regarded as the key to the innovation,

development and global integration.

Because of the importance of learning English, in Vietnam, it began to be used

widely in education and in daily-life activities. As a result, English has been a compulsory

subject at schools, colleges and universities. Moreover,it would know about the importance

of English teaching and learning if we understand the relations among language, grammar

and vocabulary. Therefore, the goals of English language teaching are not only to help the

students learn language, but also more importantly to use language fluently. Besides,

English began to be used widely in education and in daily-life activities. It is obviously

seen that many Vietnamese students have a little experience of writing since leaving

secondary schools or colleges when they presenting written work in a daily life. Moreover,

they may be very anxious about having to write essays, letters and curriculum vitae.

Therefore, using the four language skills: listening, reading, speaking,writing, is

essential to English major students at Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) at Hung Yen

University of Technology and Education (UTEHY).Most writing programs are still taught

using the traditional model, emphasizing accuracy of grammatical structure and

vocabulary. In addition, the formative tests in most writing programs stress on objective-

type questions, which require sentence completion, reordering sentences, reordering words

and error correction. Students have very few actual opportunities to represent their ideas

and knowledge through the written mode.

Because the students must take the test including the four language skills, writing seems to

be the most difficult but really important skill among the four skills. Moreover, writing

skill access student on writing English sentences and writing in topics; separately writing

English sentences accounts for about ten marks with five rewriting sentence. Then students

1

pass the writing exam, all students find that they had more difficulties in rewriting English

sentences with grammar structures and vocabulary because this course require students to

write letter and rewrite English sentences . Thus, it is very important to find out the

effective methods in rewriting English sentences for all English major students.

In conclusion, in order to find appropriate methods, techniques to rewrite English

sentences better, a study entitled: “The difficulties of first-year students at Faculty of

Foreign Languages, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education in rewriting

English sentences” is conducted.

1.2 Aims of the study

The biggest aim of the study is to investigate the reality of difficulties and solution in

rewriting English sentences of the major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign

Languages, UTEHY. To be specific, the aims of the study are:

+ To find the factors causing the difficulties in the rewriting English sentence

exercises of the major first year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY.

+ To improve the inspiration of the major first year students in rewriting English

sentences.

+ To recommend practical suggestions for improving rewriting English sentences of

the major first year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY.

1.3 Scope of study

To improve the effectiveness in rewriting English sentences of the first major year

students at UTEHY, the researcher intends to find out the difficulties in rewriting English

sentences of the first year students at UTEHY then to give some methods for improving

it.Because of the limitation of time and knowledge, the shortage of reference materials, this

study cannot cover the whole issue of writing skill.

Moreover, the study could not touch upon all the students at UTEHY. It is confined

to the first year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY only.

1.4 Research question

The above aims of the study are to answer the three following research questions:

1. What are the difficulties in rewriting English sentences of the first-year English

major students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY ?

2. What are major first year students’ inspiration towards rewriting English sentence

exercises Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY?

2

3. How to motivate for major first year students in rewriting English sentence

lessons at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY?

1.5 Methods of study

To collect the data for researching, the author used both qualitative and

quantitativemethods including questionnaires for students,teachers and interview questions

for students.The interview questions and the questionnaires were designed based on the

main aims of the study. After getting the results, the author used the tables and charts for

presenting the collected data. The interview results which were recorded carefully and the

tape script used as another data for the analysis, discussion and recommendation.

1.5.1 Questionnaires

Quantitative method is used and considered the most suitable to obtain the aim. The

study targets at analyzing the outcome with numbers and figures. Therefore, the data were

collected by means of questionnaires which were designed and handled to a defined

population. The answers are completely objective, not controlled by the researcher.

1.5.2 Interviews

Interview has long been accepted as an important feature in language teacher

education and supervision. By interviewing in different writing classes in the department

of foreign language, UTEHY, some interviewing data are collected and analyzed to

support the process of interpreting data.

3

CHAPTER II:LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview of teaching English grammar

2.1.1 Overview of writing

2.1.1.1 Definitions of writing

Writing has been defined in various ways by different following researchers.

Firstly, according to Brannon (1982, p.2) defines writing as a creative art, not as an

assembly line operation of locking words together into sentences and bolting sentences

together into paragraph in accordance with a predefined plan. Moreover, Byrne, (1988,

p.1), writing can be considered as an art of forming graphic symbols, that is, letters or the

combination of letters on one level, writing can be said to be the act of forming these

symbols, or more clearly the act of making marks on the flat surface of some kinds.

However, in language teaching and learning process, Tribble (1996, p.3) defines

writing as a language skill that involves “not frusta graphic representation of speech, but

the development and presentation of thought in a structured way”. According to Murray,

(1987, p.29) and Perl (1979, p.43), 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.

From another point of view, writing is a language skill which is difficult to acquire

(Tribble, 1996, p.3). Tribble also impresses that writing normally requires some form of

instruction and that it is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure (1996,p.11). Tayor

( 1984, p.4) expressed that the act of writing, upon examination ,and turn out to be a

complex process where in writers use language as a tool to discover and clarifying

meaning on experience in order to say exactly what they mean.

In short, in most languages, writing is a complement to speech or spoken language.

Writing is not a language but a form of technology. Within a language system, writing

relies on many of the same structures as speech, such as vocabulary, grammar and

semantics, with the added dependency of a system of signs or symbols, usually in the form

of a formal alphabet; an art that writers want to communicate with certain groups of

audience to express oneself efficiently. Through the mastery of writing, individuals come

to be fully effective in intellectual organization, in the management of everyday affairs, in

the expression of ideas and arguments. Therefore, academic writing requires conscious

effort and much practice in composing, developing and analyzing ideas.

4

2.1.1.2 The importance of writing

Both in studying and working in our modern life, writing brings a lot of function, it

can be considered as an instrument for communication. When someone wants to imply a

message or a purpose, he or she can make a piece of writing. According to Nunan, 1991,

p.84), writing is:

Primarily for action: public signs (on roads and station), products labels and

instructions (on food, tool, or toy purchased), recipes, maps, television and radio guides,

bill, menus, telephone directories, etc. For social contact: personal correspondence, letters,

postcards, greeting cards.

Primarily for information: newspapers and magazines, non-fiction books including

textbooks, public notices, advertisements, guidebooks and travel literatures, etc.

Primarily for entertainment: light magazines, comic strips, fiction books, poetry

and drama, film subtitles, game including computer games. - Nunan (1991, p.84)

Besides, writing also plays an important role in school. We are able to share ideas,

arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people. White (1981, p.1) gives some reasons

why writing merits a place in the language syllabus:

Writing remains the commonest way of examining students performance in English

(all public examinations include a composition). Consequently, ability to write remains a

key to examination success.

In the eyes of both parents and students, ability to write may be associated with

evidence of having learnt the language. Writing is tangible- parents and students can see

what have been done and what have been achieved. So it has high “face validity”.

In the classroom, writing may be used as one of a number of techniques to help add variety

and interest to lesson.

Teachers may use writing as a testing device to provide feedback on what students

have learnt. Students’ writing can provide useful evidence of success of failures in

learning, of confusions and errors.

Writing requires thought, discipline and concentration. It is relatively a permanent

form and readers judgeus by our style, contents and logics. So writing English demands

care and thought .White (1981, p.1) said.

Moreover, Raimesdiscussed about this issue with some opinions:

5

Firstly, writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that

we have been teaching our students.

Secondly, when our students write, they also have chance to be adventurous with

the language, to go beyond what they have just learnt to say, to take risks.

Lastly, when they write, they necessarily become very involved in the new

language, the effort to express ideas and the constant used of eyes, hands and brain are a

unique way to reinforce learning.

Moreover, Khoii (2011, p.493) emphasizes on the importance of writing skill in the

field of second and foreign language learning and teaching, learning to write fluently and

correctly seems to be of prime importance as a gate-keeping activity. Therefore, writing

has many important roles not only in studying but also in many fields in life.

2.1.1.3 Writing errors

According to Bartholomew(1980, p.255) “errors can be only understood as

evidence of intention”. In addition to that, he views errors as “one of the most marked

characteristics of sentences or utterances, which deviate from the norm of language”.

Richards (1984, p.4) find that errors can be seen as evidence of language transfer; they are

“inter-systemic interference”. In addition, Choon (1993) has the opinion that: there are

some categories of errors such as semantic error (wrong words, wrong forms, etc),

grammatical errors (tense, preposition, etc) global and local error. She suggests that “the

system of classifying errors should be flexible” (p.2) and adds that teacher can learn and

decide what should be focused more in the syllabus after analyzing the specific and

common language problem their students have; she advised teacher to conduct Error

Analysis at the beginning of the course when the items have not been fully learnt and

remedy these first.

In addition, Gower and Walters (1983, p.147) suggested about a distinction

between an error and a mistake. A mistake is really a slip of the tongue or the pen. The

student is able to correct it himself, either completely unprompted or with the guidance of

the teacher and other students. An error is much more ingrained. The student might believe

what he is saying is correct, not know what the correct form should be and know what the

correct form should be but cannot get it right. There are many kinds of errors: semantics

errors, grammatical errors, global and local errors. Therefore, Hence that is why

6

correctionis paid so much attention to in the process of teaching writing. Generally, the

definition of error is always given in connection with that of mistake.

2.1.2 Overview of teaching English grammar

2.1.2 .1 Definition of Grammar

Throughout history, Grammar is simply defined by the linguists. David Crystal

defined Grammar as “Grammar is the business of taking a language to pieces, to see how it

works”. Linguistics tries to codify or describe Grammar in term of Language Branches.

They define Grammar in term of phonology as sounds of language. In Morphology, they

describe Grammar as structure and forms of words. In syntax, they define it as an

Arrangement of words into larger units. In Semantics, they describe it as Meaning of

language. In Pragmatics, they define it as Functions of language and its use in context.

Chomsky in “On Nature and Language” defines grammar as the grammar of a

natural Language is a systematic description of Linguistics abilities of its native speaker,

and those abilities would enable any native speaker to speak and understand his/her

language fluently. Part of these linguistics abilities could be characterized as a native

intuition or Grammatical Competence about the sentence well sentence structure of his/ her

mother tongue. A native speaker of a natural language is able to tell whether a given

sentence in his/ her mother tongue is well formed or not, and whether a given sentence in

his/ her mother tongue can be well formed in different senses, we are concerned with its

syntactic. He also points out that a native speaker grammatical judgment not only holds for

the sentence that he or she has never said or heard before, but also holds for those that he

or she has never said or heard before.. (Chomsky, 1972)

Contemporary work in comparative grammar is concerned with “a faculty of

language that provides an explanatory basic for how a human being can acquire a first

language... In this way, the theory of grammar is a theory of human language and hence

establishes the relationship among all languages(R. Freidin, 1991). The generative

grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language that other speakers

can understand. “All humans are born with the capacity for constructing a Mental

Grammar, given linguistic experience; this capacity for language is called the Language

Faculty (Chomsky, 1965) - Grammar is the mental system of rules and categories that

allows humans to form and interpret the words and sentences of their language. “A

7

grammar formulated by a linguist is an idealized description of this Mental

Grammar.”(P.W. Culicover and A. Nowak ,2003).

According to M.Ángeles Ecobar Álvarez, (2011, p.14), “Grammar is the system of a

language. People sometimes describe grammar as the “rule” of a language; but in fact no

language has rules. If we use the word “rule”, we suggest that somebody created the rules

first then spoke the language, like a new game. Nevertheless languages did not start like

that. Language started by people making sounds which evolved into words, phrases and

sentences. No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All languages change over time. What

we call “grammar” is simply a reflection of a language at a particular time.”

According to Thombury, (1999, p.13), grammar is:

A description of the rules for forming sentences, including an account of the meanings that

these forms convey; and Grammar adds meanings that are not easily inferable from the

immediate context. While Swan (P2005, p.xix), defines grammar as the rules that show

how words are combined, arranged and changed to show certain kinds of meaning.

It is probably a correct saying that there are very few inflexions in English

grammar. Ithas grown up as an easy and simplified language. Thus, Sir Philip Sidney

towards the end of his essay The Apologyie for Poetrie states that “Nay, truly, it hath that

praise, that it wants not grammar; for grammar it might have, but needs it not; being so

easy in itself, and so void of those cumbersome differences of cases, genders, moods, and

tenses; which, I think, was a piece of the tower of Babylon's curse, that a man should be

put to school to learn his mother tongue” (Sidney). And he has accepted the criticism that

English has little grammar. On such an issue, George Perkins Marsh, American

philologist, in his Lectures on the English Language (1866) which was published more

than a century ago is of the opinion that English language as “having no grammar” (Marsh,

p.73 ).

Grammar challenges but brings more benefit such as: for teaching concepts on

subject, verb, clause and phrases, for teaching the translation method, for teaching

bilingual method, and for teaching structural approach and traditional Methods.

It is said that knowing a language is not the same thing as knowing about it.

Knowing a language means to master four basic skills, “(a) Listening, (b) Speaking, (c)

Reading and (d) Writing” (Kohli, p.32). Here, the listening and the reading are passive

skills whereas the speaking and the writing are active skills. The Knowledge of the

8

language makes us to know the meaning of isolated words or sentences or the rules of

grammar. Talking about the language does not mean knowing language and using it. If we

consider language as speech, as the linguists do, then knowing a language means to use its

grammatical patterns as well as proper usage.

2.1.2.2 The importance of teaching grammar

Raimes A. (1983, p.167), Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it

possible for us to talk about language. Grammar names the types of words and word

groups that make up sentences not only in Englishbut in any language. As human beings,

we can put sentences together even as children-we can all do grammar. But to be able to

talk about how sentences are built, about the types of words and word groups that make up

sentences - that is to know about grammar. And knowing about grammar offers a window

into the human mind and into our amazingly complex mental capacity. People associate

grammar with errors and correctness. But knowing about grammar also helps us

understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear and interesting and precise.

Grammar can be part of literature discussions, when we and our students closely read the

sentences in poetry and stories. Knowing about grammar means finding out that all

languages and all dialects follow grammatical patterns.

Grammar rules facilitate clear and concise communication. Errors in verb tense,

sentence structure, contractions, punctuation, spelling and word usage detract from your

intended message. Being an effective communicator helps the students make a positive

impression on others, which impacts your overall happiness, social life and employment

opportunities.. In fact, the American Psychological Association suggests that the first few

minutes of meeting someone shapes the course of the relationship such as: carrier success,

professional communication, personal communication, academic achievement.

Therefore, the value of grammar teaching is important in English language teaching

field. Grammar is the base of English language. It is not acquired naturally, but learning, it

needs be instructed. Grammar operates at the sentence level and governs the syntax or

word orders that are permissible in the language. It also works at the sub sentence level to

govern such things as number and person agreement between subject and verb in a

sentence. To grammar learning, some students may have a more analytical learning style

than others, but if one hopes to use English language accurately and fluently, it is

9

necessary for him to receive grammar rules instruction. In a short word, grammar teaching

is necessary in English language teaching.

2.1.2.3 Grammatical Error

Grammatical error is a term used in prescriptive grammar for an instance of faulty,

unconventional, or controversial usage, such as a comma splice or misplaced modifier.

“The expression ‘grammatical error’ sounds, and is, in a sense, paradoxical, for the reason

that a form cannot be grammatical and erroneous at the same time. One would not say

musical discord. Because of the apparent contradiction of terms, the form grammatical

error should be avoided and ‘error in construction,’ or ‘error in English,’ etc., be used in its

stead. Of course one should never say, good grammar’ or ‘bad grammar.”’

(J. T. Baker, 1901)

2.1.2.4 Grammar Rules

In the Longman Active Study Dictionary ‘rule’ is defined as:

- A principle order which guides behavior, says how things are to be done etc, or

- The usual way that something happens

- With regard to grammar, the first type of rule is often called precriptive rule and the

second a descriptive rule. For many people, grammar instruction is traditionally associated

with the first type of rules – that is, prescriptions as to what should be said or written:

+ Do not use different to and never use different than. Always use different from.

+ Never use the passive when you can use the active.

+ Use shall for the first person and will for second and third persons.

- Second and foreign language is primarily concerned with descriptive rules, that is,

with generalizations about what speakers of the language actually do say rather than with

what they should do. Thus:

+ Do not normally use ‘the’ with proper nouns referring to people.

2.2 Overview of the feature forms in rewriting English sentence exercises

Rewrite sentences without changing the meaning

2.2.1 Phrase structure rules

In generative-transformational grammar theory, phrase structure rules illustrate

mathematically our knowledge of how the basic units of a sentence are assembled. The

theory of phrase structure rules states that there is a limited number of rules that are

carefully ordered:

10

+ There is a limited number of rules which serve to reflect the linguistic competence

and knowledge of a native speaker.

+ These rules are arranged in an order: the first rule must precededthe second rule,

which must precede the third rule, etc.

+ The rules can be illustrated in phrase structure trees

+ These rules can be equated mathematically in phrase structure rules.

According to this theory, the learners can take a sentence and mathematically divide

it into parts. Chomsky explains that phrase structure rules are basically "rewriting" rules.

For instance, a sentence can be rewritten as a noun phrase plus a verb phrase. In the

notation of transformational grammar, this rule is written as: 

S --> NP + VP "a sentence consists of a noun phrase followed by a verb phrase"

A sentence can be further illustrated by a phrase structure tree, like this:

Starting with this base, we can begin to build rules which will allow us to generate an

infinite number of sentences.

2.2.2 Run-on sentences

A run-on sentence (sometimes called a "fused sentence") has at least two parts, either

one of which can stand by itself (in other words, two independent clauses), but the two

parts have been smoothed together instead of being properly connected. Review, also, the

section which describes things that can happen between two independent clauses.It is

important to realize that the length of a sentence really has nothing to do with whether a

sentence is a run-on or not; being a run-on is a structural flaw that can plague even a very

short sentence: “The sun is high, put on some sunblock”. An extremely long sentence, on

the other hand, might be a "run-off-at-the-mouth" sentence, but it can be otherwise sound,

structurally. When two independent clauses are connected by only a comma, they

constitute a run-on sentence that is called a comma-splice. The example just above (about

the sunscreen) is a comma-splice. When students use a comma to connect two independent

clauses, it must be accompanied by a little conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so) “The

sun is high, soput on some sunscreen”.

Run-on sentences happen typically under the following circumstances:

11

When an independent clause gives an order or directive based on what was said in

the prior independent clause.

Two independent clauses are connected by a transitional expression (conjunctive

adverb) such as however, moreover, nevertheless.

The second of two independent clauses contains a pronoun that connects it to the first

independent clause.

2.2.3 Parallel sentence structures

Parallelism in sentences refers to matching grammatical structures. Elements in a

sentence that have the same function or express similar ideas should be grammatically

parallel, or grammatically matched. Parallelism is used as a rhetorical and stylistic device

in literature, speeches, advertising, and popular songs.

“I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son” – Edward Gibbon

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Joseph Addison

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” –

John F. Kennedy

Parallelism lends balance and grace to writing. It can make a sentence memorable.

Even in prose not destined for greatness, parallelism is important.

+ Faulty parallelism

A failure to create grammatically parallel structures when they are appropriate is

referred to as faulty parallelism. In the following examples, note the difference between

correct parallel structure and faulty parallelism.

What counts is not how to look but how you behave.

Not What counts is not how you look but your behavior.

+ Parallel structure in a series

When a sentence includes a series, make sure it has not used different grammatical

structures for the items. The elements would remain parallel even if the phrases following

the gerunds were changed or omitted. The length of the items in the series does not affect

the parallel structure. It does not matter what grammatical structure chosen for the series as

long as the students keep it consistent.

When the learners use words such as to, a, an, his, her, or their with items in a series,

they can use the word with the first item, thus having it apply to all the items; or they can

repeat it with each item. If they choose to repeat it, they must do so with all the items, not

12

just some of them. When the learners are comparing items in a sentence, obviously

parallelism will be important. In antithetical constructions, something is true of one thing

but not another. But not and rather than are used to set up these constructions. As with

comparisons, both parts of an antithetical construction should be parallel.

+ Parallel structure with correlative conjunctions

Errors in parallel structure often occur with correlative conjunctions: either …or;

neither …nor; both …and; not only …but also; whether …or. The sentence structure

following the second half of the correlative conjunction should mirror the sentence

structure following the first half.

The scientists disputed not only the newspaper article but also the university's

official statement. (parallel: phrase with phrase). The scientists disputed not only the

newspaper article but also they disputed the university's official statement. (faulty

parallelism: phrase with clause). Be sure that any element they want to repeat

appears after the first half of the correlative conjunction. Look at the position of as in the

following examples. In the second sentence, as appears before either and is repeated

after or, which makes the construction not parallel.

They acted either as individual citizens or as members of the committee.

NOT They acted as either individual citizens or as members of the committee.

In the following example, the last sentence, we expected appears before the first half of the

correlative conjunction and should not be repeated after the second half.

We expected not only to be late but also to be exhausted.

OR We expected to be not only late but also exhausted. (better)

BUT NOT We expected not only to be late but also we expected to be exhausted.

+ Parallel structure with verbs

When the learners have more than one verb in a sentence, be sure to make the verbs

parallel by not shifting tenses unnecessarily. Also, don't shift from an active to a passive

verb.Choon (1993, p 88)

Kate prepared the speech on the plane and delivered it at the conference. (parallel:

both verbs are active)

Kate prepared the speech on the plane, and it was delivered by her at the conference.

(faulty parallelism: active verb followed by passive verb)

13

Sometimes sentences use a single verb form with two helping verbs. Look at the

following example.

Robert has in the past and will in the future continue to support the measure.

(incorrect)

To support belongs with will continue, but not with has. If the students read the

sentence without and will in the future continue, theywill see this: Robert has in the past to

support the measure. Rewrite the sentence to include a participial form for has.

Robert has in the past supported, and will in the future continue to support, the

measure.

OR Robert has supported the measure in the past, and he will continue to support it in the

future.

14

CHAPTER III:THE STUDY

3.1 Methodology and data

To collect the data for researching, the author used both qualitative and quantitative

methods including questionnaires for students,teachers and interview questions for

students.The interview questions and the questionnaires were designed based on the main

aims of the study. After getting the results, the author used the tables and charts for

presenting the collected data. The interview result which were recorded carefully and the

tape script used as another data for the analysis, discussion and recommendation.

3.2 Participants of the study

Subject of this study are teachers and students from Faculty of Foreign Languages-

Hung Yen University of Technology and Education. Teaching and learning English at this

university is taken into great consideration. English is learned not as major but it is very

necessary for all students in this University as instrument; however English still plays an

important role because the relation is close to students’ major.

3.2.1 Students

Because of limited time for the graduation paper, it is impossible to implement the

study with all major students of English at UTEHY. Therefore, the data collection in the

study is derived from students who are in the first year at Faculty of Foreign Languages.

There are 77 English major students. The proportion of school boys to girls is 8/77

(the number of male students accounted for 10% of the student population). They are at the

age between 18 and 22. At present, they are on the first year at FFL, UTEHY and their

major subject is English. In addition, they come from different parts of Vietnam, but most

of them are from Northern Vietnam. At last, all of the students are studying the same

course book named after “Effective Academic Writing 1”.

3.2.2 Lectures

The second group is composed of 5 lecturers of English teaching writing skills for

students at FFL, UTEHY. These lecturers, whose ages ranged from thirties to over forties,

were invited to join this study. Their level of English proficiency is rather good. All of

them are titled MA. This is one of many advantages for English major students at UTEHY.

In addition, the reason for choosing these 5 lecturers is that they have experience in

teaching English major students, especially teaching rewriting skills.

Both students and lectures are willing and enthusiastic to take part in this study.

15

3.3 Research questions

The study has to answer the following questions to achieve its aims:

1. What are the difficulties in rewriting English sentences for the major first-year

English students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY ?

2. What are students’inspirations towards rewriting English sentence exercises at

Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY?

3. How to motivate for students in rewriting English sentence lessons at Faculty of

Foreign Languages, UTEHY?

3.4 Procedures of data collection

The data collection in the study is derived from students who are in the major first

year at Faculty of Foreign Languages. To collect information about the issues of learning

rewriting skill of first year English major students at UTEHY, first of all, 77 copies of

survey questionnaires were handed out to major first year students and 5 copies of survey

questionnaires were sent to the lecturers in FFL by email. In addition, 5 other students

were also invited for the interview.

When the data collection was accomplished, the data analysis was initiated. The

results of survey questionnaires revealed students’ techniques they use in rewriting skill.

3.5 Data collection instrument

3.5.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaires were designed both for students because the researcher finds

them easy to summarize and analyze the collected data. Questionnaires for students consist

of 15 questions which are specified in the three research questions. Therefore, the survey

questionnaires are in the appendices.Questionnaire for students was delivered to 77 major

first-year students of K13 at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY to find information

for the three research questions. Among the 15 questions, the first part are designed for

collecting general information of students, questions of part II aim at finding out the

students’ attitudes towards rewriting English sentences; questions from part III mainly seek

for the current techniques of teaching and learning in rewriting English sentences for first

– year students of K13 at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY.

To guarantee the reliability and the validity of the samples, the questionnaires for

learners were directly distributed for learners of K13 during their break time in the class

and collected right away. That meant these learners could pay most attention to answer the

16

questions related to what they had just experienced. Before asking the learners to do the

survey questionnaire, the researcher briefly stated the purpose and significance of the study

and clarified any misunderstanding about the survey questions. Beside the written

instructions on the handout, oral the instructions and explanations in Vietnamese were

presented to avoid any ambiguity. In the end, there were 77 students participating in giving

responses to the survey questionnaire.

3.5.2 The interviews

An interview is carried out with 5 students in 2 classes of K13 in Faculty of Foreign

Languages at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education. There are opened

questions designed according to the aims of the study. The data collection supplies the

information about the fact of teaching and learning in rewriting English sentences of first -

year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages this university:

+ The feelings of students about rewriting English sentences

+ The difficulties in rewriting English sentences

+ The effects of mentioned techniques

+ The recommendation techniques from students.

After the interview, the researcher based on the interview results to analyze the data.

The interview results will be recorded carefully. The interview data analysis will be

presented with the collected data from the questionnaire in each part.

3.5.3 Summary

This part presented the overview on objectives of the course, the subjects of the

study, the research questions, and instruments of data collection. The author used two

different instruments: the survey questionnaires, and interviews with the purpose of

achieving more reliable, valid data. In the next part, the author presented the data analysis

and discussion for teaching and learning in rewriting English sentences.

3.6 Data analysis, main findings and discussion

This study, as indicated in Chapter one, was intended to find out the difficulties in

rewriting English sentences of major first – year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages

at UTEHY. In this section, the data collected from the questionnaires and interviews were

presented and interpreted.

3.6.1 The opinion of students in rewriting English sentences

3.6.1.1 The difficulty

17

The 77 copies of the questionnaire delivered to the learners. The data are analyzed

in this part of the study in the below tables and charts which show the responses for the

questions in the questionnaires. Besides, the first question the questionnaires bring a result

that according to students’ opinion, writing skill is quite difficult.

Very Difficult Difficult Normal Easy Very Easy0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

22%

56%

19%

3%

Chart 1: Students’ assessment on the difficulties in rewriting English sentences

Statistics collected from Chart 1 shows that the most students polled (56%) admit

that writing skill is difficult, besides 19% of them think that the rewriting English

sentences is normal. But only 22% considered that the rewriting English sentenceis very

difficult. Moreover, 1%say that the rewriting English sentences is easy. Based on the

collected data from Chart 1, most of students of K13 at FFL, UTEHY state that writing

sentences is difficult but not very difficult.

Below is the result when the author asks five students the same question in the interview

Question 1: What do you think of

rewriting English sentences?

A B C B D

A. Very Difficult

B. Difficult

C. Normal

D. Easy

E. Very Easy

3Ss

60%

1S

20%

1S

20%

0S

0%

0S

0%

Table.1: The interview results of students’ assessment in rewriting English sentences

Statistics provided in Table 1 show that the interview result of students’ assessment

in rewriting English sentences, one student thinks that the rewriting English sentences is

difficult, 3 students (60%) claim that the rewriting English sentences is very difficult, and

only 1 students (20%) say that rewriting English sentences is normal. Almost students

think that the rewriting English sentence is a challenged subject to them.

18

3.6.1.2 The importance

To research more clearly the opinion of major first-year students at Faculty of

Foreign Languages, UTEHY, the second question in the questionnaire is designed to find

out their assessment on the importance of writing.

Level of

importance

Very importance Importance Normal Not importance

No.1 Rate No.1 Rate No.1 Rate No.1 Rate

Students 24 31% 40 52% 9 12% 4 5%

Lecturers 1 20% 4 80% 0 0% 0 0%

Table 2: Studentsand lecturers’ opinions on the importance of rewriting English

sentences

It can be seen clearly from the table 2,the total of students agree that learning

rewriting English sentences is important as well as important is 83%. Meanwhile, there

are only 5% of them reckon that it is not important. This table shows that most of major

firstyear students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY claim that rewriting English

sentences have an important role in learning English with a lot of fields in

life.Furthermore, there are four lecturers accounting for 80% of them agree that learning

rewriting English sentences is important for the students.

3.6.1.3 The foundation of studying rewriting English

Foundation Primary school Secondaryschool High school UniversityNo.1 Rate No.1 Rate No.1 Rate No.1 Rate

Students 36 47% 29 38% 10 13% 2 3%

Lecturers’advice 3 60% 2 40% 0 0% 0 0%

Table 3: Students’ foundation andlecturers’ advice of learning rewriting English

Table 3 shows the period of students at FFL, UTEHY in starting rewriting English

sentences, there are 47% students say that they begin to rewrite English sentences at

primary school , 38% of them start at secondary school. Besides,there is a minority

students start at the higher education. Meanwhile, there are 3 teachers(account for

60%)advise that students should learn rewriting English sentences at primary school, the

others said secondary school is better stage to learn this skill. Overall, the figure 3 shows

that almost students of Faculty of Foreign Languages start to learn rewriting English

19

sentences when they were at primary school and secondary school, in addition, they are

educated basic knowledge about rewriting English.

3.6.1.4 The inspiration

Level of

inspiration

Very

interesting Interesting Normal Boring Very boring

No.1 Rate No.1 Rate No.1 Rate No.1Rat

eNo.1 Rate

Students 8 10% 18 23% 4 61% 2 3% 2 3%

Lecturers 0 0% 2 40% 3 60% 0 0% 0 0%

Table 4: Students and teachers’ inspiration of (teaching) rewriting English sentences

Table4 shows that the inspiration on rewriting English sentences. There are 62% of

students agree that rewriting English sentences is normal. Other students (23%) strongly

agree that rewriting English sentences is interesting. There are also at the inconsideration

of the last point, 6% students feel boring and 3% of them are very bored with learning

rewriting English sentences. While there are 60 percentage of teachers feel normal with

their teaching rewriting sentences, the last 40 percentage of them are interested in guiding

their students in the rewriting lessons.The conclusion for students’ inspiration of rewriting

English sentences is that the major studentsand their teachers do not have high interest in

this subject.

20

3.6.1.5 The frequency

Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never0

20

40

60

80

012

71

143

Chart 2: Students’ frequency of rewriting English sentences

The statistics from the chart 2 point out that the students at FFL, UTEHY neither do

always rewrite English sentences nor do spend much time for this important skill. In detail,

there is nobody who always rewrite English sentences.As well as, there are 3%(2 students)

never practice this subject at home. However, there are 55 studentsaccounting for 71%

students sometimes rewrite English sentences. The number of students who have frequency

in rewriting is 12% (9 students), in addition, there are 14% of them rarely revise this

subject.Overall, they just do their exercises when teachers assign them to do. They learn

and complete exercises because their compulsory duty.

3.6.1.6 The Effective Academic Writing 1 textbook

10%

74%

45%

Students

80%

20%

Lecturers

Very suitable

Suitable

Normal

Not suitable

Chart 3: Lecturers and students’ opinions about the suitableness of The Effective

Academic Writing 1 textbook

From the raw and percentage result of the questionnaires, Itcan be seen that most of

the teachers (80%) and students (74%) agree that techniques used in this stage are

effective. There is only 10% of students think that it is not effective and there is only one

lecturer claims that it depends on her schedule. It means techniques applied in this stage

bring some advantages for English writing teaching and learning rewrite English sentences.

21

All of major first- year students at FFL, UTEHY are studying the same course book

compiled by Alice Savage from North Harris College,Houston,Texas and MasoudShafiel

from Kingwood College Kingwood, Texas. The sixth question of the questionnaires asked

about the suitableness of The Effective Academic Writing 1 textbook. 57% students say

that it is suitable, 35% of them consider it is a normal textbook. Besides, 8% students think

that the textbook is very suitable. Nobody thinks that it is very not suitable. Overall, the

figure 6 shows that the Effective Academic Writing 1 textbook for major first-year

students at Faculty of Foreign Languages is suitable with the students’ level.

3.6.2 Current situation of learning in rewriting English sentences at FFL, UTEHY

3.6.2.1 Students’ difficulties in rewriting English sentences

To find the techniques to improve writing skill for first-year English major students

at UTEHY, the author wants to find out the difficulties in their rewriting sentences. The

ninthquestion(part II) in the questionnaires is designed for researching the difficulties in

writing. Below is the table of the difficulties in students’ rewriting.

No. Difficulties Students Percentage

1 Limited vocabulary 47 61%

2 Lack of structures 56 72%

3 Poor ideas 36 46%

4 Illogical ideas organization 45 58%

5 Spelling mistakes 33 42%

6 Grammatical mistakes 45 58%

7 Others:… 47 61%

Table 5: Students’ difficulties in rewriting English sentences.

Based on the data of the Table 5, the major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign

Languages, UTEHY have many difficulties in rewriting English sentences: The first is

limited vocabulary with 47 students about 61% of them. The second problem is lack of

knowledge with 56 students agree about 72% of them. The third difficulty is poor ideas

with 36 students agree for about 46% of them. The next attended problem is grammatical

mistakes with 77 students agree for about 58%.The saying number of difficulties in

rewriting reflex the basic mistake of the major first year student at FFL,UTEHY that needs

to let them understand how to rewrite English sentences correctly and remember all

structure sentences.

22

According to the collected information from the interview, four students said that

they have difficulties in structures, three students make the poor of grammar structures and

five students have difficulty with vocabulary. Therefore, all students say that the poor of

grammar structures is the main difficulty. Looking at cite as follow:

“My main difficulty is grammatical mistakes. I do not know how to express my

opinion in English and rewrite English sentences correctly. Moreover, I do not apply all

grammatical structures with each exercise.”

3 students point out that

“When my teachers give the rewriting English sentence exercises, I could not find

out the ways to change it to another sentence that has the same meaning. Because I am not

sure about the correct structures for each kind of rewriting exercises.

3.6.2.2 The assessment of pre-rewriting English sentences

The tenth question in the questionnaire for students is designed to ask “What do you

often do to rewrite English sentences?” to explore more clearly about the opinion of

students about rewriting English sentences.

0%30%60% 31%

55% 49%70%

57%

Chart 4: Students’ opinions about the assessment of pre-rewriting English sentences.

Chart 4describes students’ opinions about the assessment of pre-rewriting English

sentences. According to the collected data, only 31% of them say that preparing structures

and vocabulary which they often do before rewriting English sentences. 54% of them

reveal that they often review the important grammatical structures before rewriting English

sentences. Besides, 70% of the students think that they look for information on the internet,

textbooks and newspapers.

According to the interview results, when asked “How often do you rewrite English

sentences?” one student say that she often finds means of new words in dictionaries and

some structure sentences, two students think that they should only review the important

23

grammatical structures, and four students ask friends to understand more the difficult

sentence structures. In conclusion, the major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign

Languages, UTEHY they ask friends to understand more the difficult sentence structures.

They hardly prepare grammatical structures and vocabulary, so that they have a lot of

difficulties in rewriting English sentence exercises.

3.2.6.3 Students’ mistakes in rewriting English sentences

To have more details about the students’ real situation in rewriting English sentences,

the author would like to explore the mistake students often make in rewriting English

sentences. To collect the data, the twelfth question of the questionnaire is designed to find

out the mistake of students’ rewriting English sentences.

No MistakesVery

oftenOften Sometimes Rarely Never

1 Grammar and structures 19 Ss

(25%)

29Ss

(37%)

24Ss

(31%)

3 Ss

(4%)

2 Ss

(3%)

2 Spelling 27 Ss

(35%)

21Ss

(27%)

24Ss

(31%)

3 Ss

(4%)

2 Ss

(3%)

3 Lack of logical thinking 22 Ss

(29%)

22Ss

(29%)

29Ss

(38%)

4 Ss

(5%)

1 Ss

(1%)

4 Lack of vocabulary 18Ss

(23%)

23Ss

(30%)

32Ss

(42%)

3 Ss

(4%)

2 Ss

(3%)

Table 6: Students’ basic mistakes

Statistics provided in Table 3 shows the frequency of students’ mistakes. According

to the collected data, more than 24% students who are very often and 33% of them often

make grammatical mistakes; in addition, 31% sometimes make this mistake, 4% rarely

and 3% never make grammar and structures mistakes. There is minority of students rarely

have good English rewriting sentences. Students frequently make the mistake with lack of

logical thinking. Just 5% of them rarely and 1% of them are not certainly in mentioned

mistake. In addition, 42% of them sometimes make lack of vocabulary. But only, 4% of

students rarely and 3% of them make this mistake.

According to the interview results,it also indicates that major first-year students at

Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY have mistakes in grammar and structures (3

24

students), one student say that she often makes lack of vocabulary and one student

rewrites English sentences when she is lack of logical thinking.

In conclusion, major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY

often have some mistakes in rewriting English sentences are: grammar and structures,

vocabulary and lack of logical thinking. But the main mistake in students’ rewriting

English sentences is grammar and structures.

3.7 Students’ activities to improve rewriting English sentences

3.7.1 Students’ practice

When answering the question: “rewriting sentences frequently are necessary to

improve rewriting English sentences”, 90% students said “yes”, just 10% of them said

“no”.

80%

20%

Teachers

30%

43%

16%

6% 5%

Once a week Twice times a week

Three times a week

Four times a week

Everyday Others

Students

Chart 5: The frequency degree of students’ and their teachers’ advice at practicing

rewriting English sentences at home

According to chart 5, it can be easily realized that most of students (43%) chose

rewrite twice in a week. Just 30% students rewrite once a week and none of students

rewrite every day. Based on the collected data from the interview, two students said they

write twice a week, 2 students said they rewrite once week just one student said she writes

three times a week.

Overall, students at UTEHY are quite lazy in practicing writing at home. Most of

them rewrite sentences twice a week because they have two home assignments a week.

They write because of their responsibilities in spite of their teachers ‘advice for learning

harder

3.7.2 Techniques before rewriting English sentences

25

The following question in the questionnaire for students is designed to find out the

frequency of using the activities before rewriting English sentences.

Techniques Very often Often Occasionally Rarely Never

Books 17 Ss

22%

23 Ss

30%

19 Ss

25%

11 Ss

14%

8 Ss

(10%)

Model essays 21 Ss

27%

17 Ss

22%

22Ss

(29%)

15 Ss

(19%)

2 Ss

(3%)

Newspapers 12 Ss

(16%)

22 Ss

(29%)

23 Ss

(30%)

15 Ss

(19%)

5 Ss

(6%)

Magazine 12 Ss

(16%)

23 Ss

(30%)

21 Ss

(27%)

13 Ss

(17%)

7 Ss

(9%)

It can be seen clearly from the Table 7 that most of major first-year students of

Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY occasionally use the author’s given techniques:

books, model essays, newspapers and magazine. The number of students never use model

essays and newspapers books is the highest. Besides, the number of students, who often

find various sentences in model essays and newspapers, are very low.Although this media

is an important and useful resources for students in rewriting English sentences.

To rewrite English sentences well, before rewriting English sentences, using

available applications on the Internet is important. Students should prepare grammatical

structures and vocabulary. For example, proper sentence structure makes the flow of

information more logical and easy to read. It will help the readers understand what the

writer is trying to express in the paragraph.

Collected data from the interview, five students said that books are the main ideas

aids such as games, music, pictures, and maps, reading text could help to reduce stress in

the classroom and create a better learning environment. Students will feel more interesting

in the lesson. Moreover, the model sentences is also a good instrument to help students

have a clear structures, students can learn a lot of grammatical difficulties and sentence

structures to rewrite sentences perfectly.

Based on the rewriting English sentences, three students said that they brainstorm in

model sentences; two other students said they use newspaper to rewrite English sentences.

In general, the major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY

also use some techniques before rewriting English sentences; however the frequency is still

26

low although those techniques are very useful for students todevelop further rewriting

sentences skill.

3.7.3. Techniques after rewriting English sentences

The next question inthe questionnaire for students is about the activities students

often do after rewriting English sentences. The collected data are shown in the below chart:

Reading again to find out mistakes

and correct it yourself

Asking your friends in class to

correct for you

Asking your teachers to correct

for you

Do nothing Others0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

16%11%

40%

7%3%

Chart 6: Students’ techniques after rewriting English sentences and their teachers’

advice

Chart 6 shows the frequently of using techniques after rewriting English sentences,

overall, major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY use almost

these techniques. “Asking your teachers to correct for you” is the highest selected

technique with 40% in total. Besides, “do nothing after rewriting sentences” accounts for

7% of them, and “reading again to find mistakes and correct it by yourself” is the

technique which students at UTEHY often use after rewriting English sentences.

According to the collected data from the interview, three students said that they read

again to find mistakes and correct it themselves, one student said she asks their teacher for

correction.” In the interview, the researcher also asked students about the activities they

often did after rewriting English sentences, all students said that they correct by themselves

and sometimes they ask the others such as friends and teachers to correct for them. In

general, based on the collected data, most of first-year students at FFL, UTEHY use

mentioned techniques.

3.7.4 Activities for improving rewriting English sentences

To improve rewriting English sentences, the author gives 6 activities such as:

Enriching vocabulary, enlarging grammar, learning English structures, writing everyday,

27

writing diary and others.

Enriching vocabulary

Enlarging your

grammar

Learning English

structures

Writing everyday

Writing diary

Others0

20406080

100120

73%62%

79%

56%44% 38

100%

80%

60% 60%

Students Teachers

Chart 7: Students’ opinions and teachers’ advice about the activities for improving

rewriting English sentences.

Chart 7shows that students’ opinions about the activities to improve rewriting

English sentences. According to the collected data, most of students say that they should

enrich their grammar (79%) and learn English structures with 73% of them. Nearly 50% of

students agree that they should enrich vocabulary and write everyday to improve rewriting

English sentences. Just 44% of students suggest that they should write diary and 38% of

them have other opinions: “Ensure the information within the sentence is clear. The

learners would like to ensure that new information follows old, words are defined for the

reader and context is clear.”

Lecturers, who come from Faculty of Foreign Languages, have advice to their

students that they should develop all four methods: enrich vocabulary, enlarging grammar,

learning English structures and writing everyday.

According to the collected information of the interview, when asked “What should

be changed to make rewrite English sentence lesson more interesting?”, All five students

say that to improve rewriting English sentences they should learn English sentences and

develop their grammar, four students think that enriching vocabulary should be done

everyday and one student say that she should write everyday.

In short, the major first -year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, UTEHY

have the different ideas about activities for improving rewriting English sentences.

Enlarging grammatical structures and enrich vocabulary is an activity which students agree

most to improve rewriting English sentences.

28

3.8 Main findings and discussion

3.8.1 Opinions of students about rewriting English sentences

The survey result indicates that most of students at FFL, UTEHY consider

importance of rewriting English sentences in their study. Almost students agree that it is a

good way to improve rewriting English sentences. Besides, most of them are interested in

this skill compared to other skills such as listening, speaking and reading. They also know

good rewriting English sentences skill can help them to improve knowledge about

grammar and vocabulary. All students have been trying to make use of the advantages of

rewriting English sentences skill.

3.8.2 Current situation in studying the rewrite English sentences

For the major first-year students at FFL, UTEHY, they have a lot of difficulties in

rewriting English sentences such as lack of vocabulary, grammar mistakes, spelling

English sentence structures... However, the number of students lack of grammar rewriting

English sentences mistakes are the highest. In addition, the major first-year students at

FFL, UTEHY often have some basic mistakes in rewriting English sentences in grammar,

structures and vocabulary. They often ask friends to understand the difficult sentence

structures and they hardly prepare grammatical structures and vocabulary, so that they

have a lot of difficulties in rewriting English sentence exercises. Lacking of English

structures is also the mistake of first-year students at FFL, UTEHY. Besides, students at

UTEHY are quite lazy in practicing rewrite sentences at home. Most of them write twice a

week because they have two home assignments a week. Therefore, their vocabulary and

grammar are limited, rewriting English sentences is poor, and the sentences are not logical.

Furthermore, they are lack of confidence to rewrite English sentences fluently.

Furthermore, the major first-year students at FFL, UTEHY also use some techniques

before rewriting English sentences such as summarizing structures and vocabulary,

reviewing the important grammatical structures, working in group to understand more the

difficulty sentences structures, looking for information on the internet, textbooks and

newspapers, discussing with friends to divide the form exercises. Moreover, some good

students also give more activities: reading again to find out the mistakes and self-correct it,

asking friends in class to correct, especially, asking teacher to correct best answer.

Furthermore, perfecting grammar and learning English structures are two activities which

29

students agree most to improve rewriting English sentence skill but the frequency is still

low.

In conclusion, in order to get the maximum benefits of offered technique, some

recommendations are proposed to the major first-year students at Faculty of Foreign

Languages.

3.9 Recommendations for improving rewriting English sentences

The following suggestions are to students and teachers of writing in Faculty of

Foreign Languages, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education.

First of all, enhancing vocabulary is an important method to rewrite English well. If

students want to improve their vocabulary more quickly, they have to make at least a small

commitment and decide to learn one new word every day or two. The starter learning

where they are if they come across an interesting word that they do not understand, they

should take time to look it up in a dictionary.

Secondly, improving grammar is an essential part of rewriting, as it helps students to

convey the message or idea they are trying to get across. Students should write good, clear

and interesting sentences to ensure that their rewriting well and flow. Instead of avoiding

grammar mistakes, students should learn from it to make it become their advantages.

Another recommendation is practicing rewriting in English daily to create a new habit.

Rewriting everyday in English will soon become natural and something students look

forward to. They will not see a significant improvement if they are not dedicated to

becoming a better writer in English.

In the rewriting, students should use self-correction regularly to discover the problems

make their own corrections and return their work to the teacher. This gives students the

opportunity to reflect on their errors and make improvements to their writing. It also shows

teachers that students are able to do and what still remains difficult. Teachers have to check

the corrections, and give students feedback on anything that is still wrong or students are

been unable to improve.

Peer-correction, which students work in pairs, or in small groups. They exchange their

exercises and attempt to correct each other’s work. Teachers have to build in an extra

checking stage, as students will often not be able to provide appropriate corrections.

Equally important,teachers’ feedback is very necessary for all students in rewriting. Once

students have corrected as much as they can, then teachers concentrate on the remaining

30

problems. Rather than just correction, students need to understand why they have made

errors and how to put in right. At this stage, students need feedback from teachers – some

kind of explanation of the particular language point and perhaps one or two examples to

show them how to the language should work. Feedback can take the form of written notes

at the end of the students’ work.

In addition, advices from teachers are very useful to motivate students’ effort from

learning. Teachers should play an active role as a facilitator to encourage students to

sustain long-term in learning this subject. A constructive criticism will help students

recognize their weaknesses in the rewriting sentences.

Moreover, most of students need a place to find books or materials, so the researcher

hopes that our school will build a library and invest many modern facilities to serve for all

students at UTEHY.

31

CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION

This chapter will deal with a summary of the major findings, limitations of the

study and some suggestions for further studies.

4.1 Summary of the study

As mentioned in the Introduction, the number of people desiring to know and master

English with the hope to get a good job or integrate in the world are multiplied. As a result,

English is widely taught mot only at universities, at schools, but also at language centers.

Being a student carrying out the study on “The difficulties of first-year students at Faculty

of Foreign Languages, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education in rewriting

English sentences”, I identified the current learning and teaching in rewriting English

sentences. From that, I pointed out some techniques and activities for improving students’

at FFL, UTEHY.

With regard to theoretical background, in chapter one, the Literature Review presents

the understanding of overview of teaching English grammar, overview of writing, the

importance of writing, writing errors, definition of grammar, the importance of teaching

grammar, grammatical error, grammar rules, overview of the feature forms in rewriting

English sentences exercises. Based on the survey findings, the researcher find out some

techniques suggested enhancing the first-year studentsat FFL, UTEHY in rewriting English

sentences including the improving grammar and sentence structures. These mentioned

techniques have also been presented with the hope to give some contributions to improve

the current in rewriting English sentences at FFL, UTEHY.

4.2 Limitation and suggestions for further study

Although the study has certain strengths such as collection methods, namely

interviews, survey questionnaires for students,teachers due to limited time, lack of sources,

the researcher’s ability, it is obvious that the study has got a number of drawbacks. The

last, the techniques suggested in this research are selected from different reliable but

limited sources. Thus, there should be technique appropriate to students of FFL, UTEHY

to help them improve their rewriting English sentence skill. To get a better and more

efficient study, surely the research in coming time with my further research should invite

more students to participate in the study.

32

REFERENCES

1. Byrne D. (1988),Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers, Longman, London.

2. Byrne D. (1989),Teaching English as a Foreign language, Routledge, London.

3. Choon (1993) “Error analysis and correction of written work in the classroom”,

Retrieved March 15th 2013

4.Perl S. (1979), The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers, National Council

of Teachers of English.

5. Tribble C. (1996), Writing, Oxford University Press, Oxford

6. Murray (1980), Writing as a process: How writing finds its own Meaning, IL. National

Council of Teachers of English,Urbana.

7. Khoii R. (2011) A Solution to the Dilemma of Writing in a Foreign Language: Adaptive

Mentorship,Retrieved March 15th 2013.

8. Choon (1993) “Error analysis and correction of written work in the

classroom”,Retrieved March 15th 2013.

9. David Crystal, The Fight for English. Oxford Univ. Press, 2006.

10. Noam Chomsky (1972), Massachusetts Institute 01 Technology, Cambridge,

Mussachusetts, U.S.A.

11. R. Freidin, Principles and Parameters in Comparative Grammar.MIT Press, 1991.

12. P.W. Culicover and A. Nowak, Dynamical Grammar: Foundations of Syntax II. Oxford

Univ, Press, 2003

13. M.” Ángeles Escobar Álvarez (2011), English Grammar and Learning Tasks for

Tourism Studies, Universidad Nacional de Education a Distancia Madrid.

14. Scott Thornbury (1999), How to teach grammar, Pearson Education Limited 1999.

15. George Perkins Marsh (1866), American philologist, Lectures on the English

Language.

16. Raimes A. (1983), Techniques in Teaching Writing, Oxford University Press, Oxford

From websites:

http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/tengrammartypes.htm

http://www.cliffsnotes.com

http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm

I

APPENDIX 1

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

This questionnaire is conducted in order to find the difficulties in rewriting English

sentences of major first year students at Faculty of Foreign Language at Hung Yen

University of Technology and Education. It is designed for my research on “The

difficulties of first-year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hung Yen University of

Technology and Education in rewriting English sentences”. I would be very grateful if you

take a few minutes to complete this survey.

All of your information will be used for the study purpose, and your identification will not

be revealed in any discussion of the data.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Please tick(X) for each response that you choose.

I. Personal information

1. Your gender: Male Female

2. How long have you been learning English? …………………….. year(s)

II. Your opinions on studying English

1. What do you think of rewriting English sentences?

Very difficult Difficulty Normal Easy Very easy

2. What do you think of the importance of rewriting English sentences?

Very important Important Normal Not important

3. When do you start learning the rewriting English sentences?

Primary school Secondary school High school University

4. How do you feel when you learn the rewriting English sentences?

Very interesting Interesting Normal Boring Very boring

5. How often do you rewrite English sentences?

Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never

6. What do you think of the Writing text book or the 1st year students at Faculty of Foreign

Language?

Very suitable Suitable Normal Not suitable

7. How often do you practice rewriting English sentences at home?

Once a week Twice a week Three times a week

Four times a week Everyday Others…

II

8. What are your difficulties in rewriting English sentences?

Limited vocabulary Poor ideas Others:…

Lack of structures Illogical ideas organization

Spelling mistakes Grammatical mistakes

III. Techniques for improving rewriting English sentences

9. What do you often do to rewrite English sentences?

( You can choose more than one option )

Preparing topic and vocabulary

Reviewing the important grammatical structure

Working in group to understand more the difficult sentence structures

Looking for information on the internet, textbooks and newspapers

Discussing with friends to divide the word form exercises

10. How often do you make the following mistakes during rewriting English sentences?

Mistakes Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never

Grammar and structure

Spelling

Lack of logical thinking

Lack of vocabulary

11. When do you want your teachers to check your answers in rewriting English

sentences?

During the lesson

At the beginning of the lesson

Right after you finish each sentence

At the end of the lesson

12. How often do you use the following media before rewriting English sentences?

Media Very often Often Occasionally Rarely Never

Books

Model rewriting sentences

Newspaper

Magazine

III

13. What do you do after rewriting English sentences?

Reading again to find out the mistakes and correct it yourself

Asking your friends in class to correct for you

Asking your teacher to correct for you

Do nothing

Others:…

14. In your opinion, what should we do to rewrite English sentences better?

Enriching vocabulary

Perfecting your grammar

Learning English structures

Writing everyday

Writing diary

Others: ….

Thank you for your kind cooperation!

IV

APPENDIX 2

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

This online questionnaire is conducted in order to find the difficulties in rewriting

English sentences of major first year students at Faculty of Foreign Language at Hung Yen

University of Technology and Education. It is designed for my research on “The

difficulties of first-year students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hung Yen University of

Technology and Education in rewriting English sentences”. I would be very grateful if you

spend few minutes to completing this survey.

All of your information will be used for the study purpose, and your identification will not

be revealed in any discussion of the data.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Please bold for each response that you choose and complete all these question.

I. Personal information

1. Your gender: Male Female

2. How long have you been teaching English at at Faculty of Foreign Language UTEHY?

…………………….. year(s)

II. Your opinions on teaching English

1. What do you think of teaching rewriting English sentences?

Very difficult Difficulty Normal Easy Very easy

2. What do you think of the importance of rewriting English sentences for students?

Very important Important Normal Not important

3. When should students start learning rewriting English sentences?

Primary school Secondary school High school University

4. How do you feel when you teach the rewriting English sentences?

Very interesting Interesting Normal Boring Very boring

5. How often do you teach rewrite English sentences on class?

1 period per week 2 periods per week 3 periods per week

4 periods per week More than 4 periods per week

6. What do you think of the Writing text book of the 1st year students at Faculty of Foreign

Language?

Very suitable Suitable Normal Not suitable

7. How often do you assignEnglish sentences exercise for student?

V

Once a week Twice a week Three times a week

Four times a week Others…

8. What are student’s difficulties in rewriting English sentences?

Limited vocabulary Poor ideas Others:…

Lack of structures Illogical ideas organization

Spelling mistakes Grammatical mistakes

III. Techniques for improving rewriting English sentences

9. What do you often guide to rewrite English sentences for students?

( You can choose more than one option )

Preparing topic and vocabulary

Reviewing the important grammatical structure

Working in group to understand more the difficult sentence structures

Looking for information on the internet, textbooks and newspapers

Discussing with friends to divide the word form exercises

10. How often do students take the following mistakes during rewriting English sentences?

Mistakes Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never

Grammar and

structure

Spelling

Lack of logical

thinking

Lack of

vocabulary

11. When do you check student’s answer in rewriting English sentences?

During the lesson

At the beginning of the lesson

Right after you finish each sentence

At the end of the lesson

12. How often do you suggest the following media before teaching rewriting English

sentences?

VI

Media Very

often

Often Occasionally Rarely Never

Books

Model essays

Newspaper

Magazine

13. What do you do after teaching rewriting English sentences?

Reading again to find out the mistakes and correct it for each student in class

Asking other student in class to correct for their friend

Asking student to correct it by themselves

Doing nothing

Others:… ………………………………………………………………………

14. In your opinion, what should a student do to rewrite English sentences better?

Enriching vocabulary

Perfecting their grammar

Learning English structures

Writing everyday

Writing diary

Others: ….

Thank you for your kind cooperation!

VII

APPENDIX 3

COLLECTED DATA FROM INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (for students)

1. What do you think of the difficulty of writing essay?

Three students said: very difficult

Two students said: normal

2. What do you think of the importance of rewriting?

Three students said: very important

One student said: important

One student said: normal

3. What do you think of the writing textbook for first-year students at FFL,UTEHY?

One student said: very suitable

Four students said: suitable .

4 How many periods per week do you study writing skills to the major first year

students?

Five students said: three periods

5. What are your difficulties in writing?

Four students said: difficult in structures and grammar

Five students said: Vocabulary

6. What mistakes do you often make when rewriting?

Three students said:Spelling mistake

One student: Lack of vocabulary

One student: Logical thinking

7. Do you think that rewriting everyday is necessary?

Five students said: yes

8. How often do you practice writing per week?

Two students said: once a week

Three students said: twice a week

9. What techniques do you often do after rewriting English sentences?

One student said: Teacher will correct it after coming home

Three: I will correct it by myself after reading some document on the Internet.

One student said: Discussing with friends (roommate) to get ideas about the

equivalentstructure sentences.

VIII