s bing 0605175 chapter1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses seven main sections: background of the study, statement of problems, objectives of the study, significance of the study, methodology, definition of the terms, and thesis organization.

1.1 Background of the Study

Over decades, there have been a growing number of English learners wishing to study tertiary level in English speaking countries. Consequently, many English as Second Language (ESL) and English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners are enrolled in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses giving them opportunity to obtain essential skills for their prospective studies in universities in which courses are taught in English. EAP courses not only provide academic skills but also have another objective, that is, to support non-native English speaker students to go through English language test such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). IELTS is widely recognized as a language requirement for entering universities mainly in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and increasingly for being admitted into universities in Canada and the United States of America. Besides, IELTS test is taken by people who are required to certify their level of English proficiency for vocational and immigration purposes, and measures a person’s ability to

communicate in English covering four language skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking.

The statistics of IELTS candidates stated in IELTS Annual Review 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 shows an upward trend of the number of IELTS test takers across the globe. In 2006, there were more than 700,000 people took IELTS test throughout the world. In 2007, the test was taken by over 940,000 candidates. In 2008, the figure was fantastic; it was 1.2 million. In the following year it grew into 1.4 million, and in 2010 the number of people who took IELTS test over the world reached 1.5 million.

The number of Indonesian students who pursue their study in Australia, England, and New Zealand tends to increase year by year. Based on the data from Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) in Australia, the number of Indonesian students per September 2011 is 16,545 people. It increased significantly from that of 2008 (14,426 people). Until September 2011, Indonesia has been one of ten great contributor countries of international students in Australia. It shows that there is a growth of the number of IELTS test takers in Indonesia. As known, universities in Australia ask the applicants to submit the IELTS score certificate in their enrollment process.

Indonesia has been one of the top 40 countries listed as the most frequent countries of origin (IELTS Annual Review 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010). Unfortunately, the IELTS test result of Indonesian candidates is not too satisfying, especially for the score of Writing.

Among the average scores of Listening, Reading, and Speaking, that of Writing is the lowest. In five years, from 2006 to 2010, it has even not reached the score of 6 yet, as can be seen in the figures below.

Year Listening Reading Writing Speaking Overall

2006 6.61 6.34 5.95 6.38 6.38

2007 6.47 6.27 5.86 6.26 6.26

2008 6.40 6.08 5.79 6.16 6.17

2009 6.61 6.24 5.87 6.24 6.30

2010 6.7 6.2 5.9 6.3 6.3

Figure 1.1 Mean band score (General Module) of Indonesian IELTS test takers

The table illustrates that from 2006 to 2010, Indonesian candidates taking IELTS General Module had problems in accomplishing Writing. Their mean band score of Writing was lower than those of other language skills.

Year Listening Reading Writing Speaking Overall

2006 6.10 6.27 5.43 5.83 5.90

2007 6.15 6.24 5.47 5.82 5.99

2008 6.10 6.24 5.50 5.86 5.99

2009 6.28 6.37 5.56 5.92 6.10

2010 6.3 6.4 5.6 6.0 6.2

The table shows that in five years, from 2006 to 2010, Indonesian candidates taking IELTS Academic Module did not get good band scores for Writing. Among the mean band scores of the four language skills, that of Writing was still the lowest.

It can be clearly seen that Indonesian IELTS test takers encountered difficulty in writing in both general and academic English. It also happened to most of students taking EAP courses. It seemed that they were not be able to write well. For instance, among the twenty-five students of EAP course in which the research was conducted, there were only four students who got scores of 6 to 7 for Writing of IELTS Academic module. The students’ mean scores of twelve times of practice Writing test ranged from 4.4 to 6.5. Most students found difficulty in completing the tasks, especially Task 1 of IELTS Academic Writing.

It is true that not everyone is naturally a gifted writer. Blanchard and Root, however, (2004:1) state that writing is a skill that can be practiced and mastered. In many ways it is like driving a car. If people have driven in another country, they know that some of the rules of the road may be different. Just as the rules for driving differ from country to country, the conventions for writing may change from language to language.

Blanchard and Root add that writing in a different language involves more than mastering its vocabulary and grammar. Language, including written language, is a reflection of the thought patterns of native speakers. In order to write well in a different language, it is important to understand the way native speakers of that language organize their thoughts. That is why it rarely works to

write something in a native language and then translate it into English. The words may be in English, but the logic, organization, and thought patterns reflect those of our native language. To write effectively in English, the accepted patterns of organization must be confirmed. Practicing these patterns will put one on the road to becoming a better writer.

Writing is, indeed, a complex activity, a social act which reflects the writer’s communicative skills which is difficult to develop and learn, especially in an EFL context. Research in this field has examined the nature and types of writing tasks and by providing better understanding of ESL/EFL learners’ writing needs, there has been an effort to help the development of this major skill theoretically and pedagogically (Zhu, 2004; Carson, 2001; Hale et al, 1996 cited in Shokrpour and Fallahzadeh, 2007). To help ESL/EFL learners write in English appropriately, their major problems in writing must be taken into account by the teachers if they are expecting a favorable outcome.

In order to help the students of EAP class improve their writing and get the writing score required for their future study, their problems should be identified and then the solutions to overcome the problems are sought. In line with that, the study focused on exploring students’ problems in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module. As stated previously, the students’ mean scores of twelve practice tests of Writing Task 1 were low, even, lower than those of Writing Task 2. Therefore, to improve the students’ writing ability in completing Writing Task 1 their problems should be found out and solved.

1.2 Statement of the Problems

Based on background of the research above, the research problems were formulated in the following questions:

1. What problems do the students encounter in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, in terms of the assessment criteria for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module?

2. What do the teacher and students do to overcome the problems?

1.3 Objectives of the Study The study was directed to:

1. find out the students’ problems in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, in terms of the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module

2. find out the solutions to help the students overcome the problems

1.4 Significance of the Study

There are several significances of this study which will be beneficial for the students, teacher and the institution. For the students, the result of this study will increase their writing competence. Through regular feedback on the students’ texts, their competence of producing academic writing will improve.

For the teacher, this study will provide some suggestions concerning the ways to improve students’ competence in composing English academic texts. Besides, knowing the students’ problems will enable teachers to both find suitable methods

and techniques and apply them in the process of teaching writing. Therefore, the students’ problems will be minimized.

For the institution, this study will help achieve the objective of the EAP course, that is, to make the students get the required IELTS score needed for the admission of their future study.

For further research, this study will give input to conduct research in similar field. There are many unexplored areas of students’ problems in writing that can be studied further.

1.5 Methodology

The study was qualitative research, which had a limitation in terms of time allotment and technical consideration that affects the choice of population and sample. The participants of the study were nine EAP course students representing above average, average, and below average achievers and one writing teacher at an EAP course in a language center of a state university in Bandung.

In order to gain valid data the study employed triangulation method of data collection in terms of classroom observation, documentation of students’ texts, and interviews. The data from classroom observation were summarized, analyzed, and classified. The data from students’ texts were analyzed qualitatively to identify the students’ problems in writing based on the four criteria of assessment for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module. The texts were viewed from the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 covering task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource and grammatical range and accuracy. Next, the data

from interview were transcribed and classified. Finally, all data gathered from the three sources were synthesized to answer the research questions.

1.6 Definition of the Terms

A number of terms used in this study are important to be defined in order to avoid misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and ambiguity. Due to these facts, the terms are defined as follows:

1. Problem (noun) means a thing that is difficult to deal with or to understand (Hornby, 2005: 1202). It also means a perceived gap between the existing state and the desired state or a deviation from a normal or standard (business dictionary, 2011).

In this study, the researcher wanted to explore students’ problems in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module. The problems were reflected in the students’ compositions taken from the students’ last practice test of IELTS to give recent data about the students’ achievements. Then, the problems were analyzed based on the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module.

2. Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module is one of two parts of writing test that should be done by IELTS test takers (candidates). In accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, candidates are presented with a graph, table, chart or diagram and are asked to describe, summarize or explain the information in their own words. They may be asked to describe

and explain data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or describe an object or event.

1.7 Thesis Organization

This thesis is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is general introduction which relates to the background of the study. Chapter two discusses the literature review of the study, in terms of definition of writing, the writing process, ESL/EFL writing, academic writing, problems in ESL/EFL writing, writing of IELTS academic module, and writing task 1 of IELTS academic module. Chapter three describes research methodology which comprises research problems, research design, research site and participants, data collection, and data analysis. Chapter four displays findings and discussion. The data collected are used to address: (1) what problems students encountered in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, in terms of the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, and (2) what solutions to help the students overcome the problems.

The table shows that in five years, from 2006 to 2010, Indonesian candidates taking IELTS Academic Module did not get good band scores for Writing. Among the mean band scores of the four language skills, that of Writing was still the lowest.

It can be clearly seen that Indonesian IELTS test takers encountered difficulty in writing in both general and academic English. It also happened to most of students taking EAP courses. It seemed that they were not be able to write well. For instance, among the twenty-five students of EAP course in which the research was conducted, there were only four students who got scores of 6 to 7 for Writing of IELTS Academic module. The students’ mean scores of twelve times of practice Writing test ranged from 4.4 to 6.5. Most students found difficulty in completing the tasks, especially Task 1 of IELTS Academic Writing.

It is true that not everyone is naturally a gifted writer. Blanchard and Root, however, (2004:1) state that writing is a skill that can be practiced and mastered. In many ways it is like driving a car. If people have driven in another country, they know that some of the rules of the road may be different. Just as the rules for driving differ from country to country, the conventions for writing may change from language to language.

Blanchard and Root add that writing in a different language involves more than mastering its vocabulary and grammar. Language, including written language, is a reflection of the thought patterns of native speakers. In order to write well in a different language, it is important to understand the way native speakers of that language organize their thoughts. That is why it rarely works to

write something in a native language and then translate it into English. The words may be in English, but the logic, organization, and thought patterns reflect those of our native language. To write effectively in English, the accepted patterns of organization must be confirmed. Practicing these patterns will put one on the road to becoming a better writer.

Writing is, indeed, a complex activity, a social act which reflects the writer’s communicative skills which is difficult to develop and learn, especially in an EFL context. Research in this field has examined the nature and types of writing tasks and by providing better understanding of ESL/EFL learners’ writing needs, there has been an effort to help the development of this major skill theoretically and pedagogically (Zhu, 2004; Carson, 2001; Hale et al, 1996 cited in Shokrpour and Fallahzadeh, 2007). To help ESL/EFL learners write in English appropriately, their major problems in writing must be taken into account by the teachers if they are expecting a favorable outcome.

In order to help the students of EAP class improve their writing and get the writing score required for their future study, their problems should be identified and then the solutions to overcome the problems are sought. In line with that, the study focused on exploring students’ problems in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module. As stated previously, the students’ mean scores of twelve practice tests of Writing Task 1 were low, even, lower than those of Writing Task 2. Therefore, to improve the students’ writing ability in completing Writing Task 1 their problems should be found out and solved.

1.2 Statement of the Problems

Based on background of the research above, the research problems were formulated in the following questions:

1. What problems do the students encounter in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, in terms of the assessment criteria for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module?

2. What do the teacher and students do to overcome the problems?

1.3 Objectives of the Study The study was directed to:

1. find out the students’ problems in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, in terms of the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module

2. find out the solutions to help the students overcome the problems

1.4 Significance of the Study

There are several significances of this study which will be beneficial for the students, teacher and the institution. For the students, the result of this study will increase their writing competence. Through regular feedback on the students’ texts, their competence of producing academic writing will improve.

For the teacher, this study will provide some suggestions concerning the ways to improve students’ competence in composing English academic texts. Besides, knowing the students’ problems will enable teachers to both find suitable methods

and techniques and apply them in the process of teaching writing. Therefore, the students’ problems will be minimized.

For the institution, this study will help achieve the objective of the EAP course, that is, to make the students get the required IELTS score needed for the admission of their future study.

For further research, this study will give input to conduct research in similar field. There are many unexplored areas of students’ problems in writing that can be studied further.

1.5 Methodology

The study was qualitative research, which had a limitation in terms of time allotment and technical consideration that affects the choice of population and sample. The participants of the study were nine EAP course students representing above average, average, and below average achievers and one writing teacher at an EAP course in a language center of a state university in Bandung.

In order to gain valid data the study employed triangulation method of data collection in terms of classroom observation, documentation of students’ texts, and interviews. The data from classroom observation were summarized, analyzed, and classified. The data from students’ texts were analyzed qualitatively to identify the students’ problems in writing based on the four criteria of assessment for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module. The texts were viewed from the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 covering task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource and grammatical range and accuracy. Next, the data

from interview were transcribed and classified. Finally, all data gathered from the three sources were synthesized to answer the research questions.

1.6 Definition of the Terms

A number of terms used in this study are important to be defined in order to avoid misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and ambiguity. Due to these facts, the terms are defined as follows:

1. Problem (noun) means a thing that is difficult to deal with or to understand (Hornby, 2005: 1202). It also means a perceived gap between the existing state and the desired state or a deviation from a normal or standard (business dictionary, 2011).

In this study, the researcher wanted to explore students’ problems in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module. The problems were reflected in the students’ compositions taken from the students’ last practice test of IELTS to give recent data about the students’ achievements. Then, the problems were analyzed based on the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module.

2. Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module is one of two parts of writing test that should be done by IELTS test takers (candidates). In accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, candidates are presented with a graph, table, chart or diagram and are asked to describe, summarize or explain the information in their own words. They may be asked to describe

and explain data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or describe an object or event.

1.7 Thesis Organization

This thesis is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is general introduction which relates to the background of the study. Chapter two discusses the literature review of the study, in terms of definition of writing, the writing process, ESL/EFL writing, academic writing, problems in ESL/EFL writing, writing of IELTS academic module, and writing task 1 of IELTS academic module. Chapter three describes research methodology which comprises research problems, research design, research site and participants, data collection, and data analysis. Chapter four displays findings and discussion. The data collected are used to address: (1) what problems students encountered in accomplishing Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, in terms of the assessment criteria of Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module, and (2) what solutions to help the students overcome the problems.