STUDENTS' RESEARCH WORK-5, SUPERVISED BY MD. MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN SAMEEN

Author Topic: STUDENTS' RESEARCH WORK-5, SUPERVISED BY MD. MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN SAMEEN  (Read 3727 times)

Offline Mustafizur rRhman

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Appendix 2
Teacher Questionnaire

1.   Do you think grammar and vocabulary are the basic elements in writing skill development?
                    A) Yes            B) No
2.   Did you do any specialized course on writing skill?
                   A) Yes             B) No
3.   Do you apply your prior knowledge to your teaching?
                         A) Yes             B) No
4.   Do you use visual aids/IT support for better understanding of the students?
                         A) Yes            B) No
5.   Do you give written comments in exam scripts?
                         A) Yes            B) No
6.   Do you allocate extra time for students writing skill?
                   A) Yes            B) No
7.   Do you think creative writing is helpful for the development of writing skill?
A)   Agree B) Strongly agree C) Disagree D) Strongly disagree
8.   Do you agree essay and spelling bee competitions help in developing students writing skill?
A)   Agree B) Strongly agree C) Disagree D) Strongly disagree 
9.   What limitations do you face in your classroom?
A) Lack of IT support B) Lack of departmental support C) Lack of students’ interest            D) others


Offline Mustafizur rRhman

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Appendix 1
Student Questionnaire:

1.   What is your gender? 
      A) Male    B) Female.
2.  Which program are you studying?
      A) Graduation    B) Post graduation.
3.   According to you how much importance is the writing skill is for student?
     A) Of great importance    B) moderately important    C) less important
     D) Of no importance   
4.   What is the level of your confidence in writing? 
      A) Highly confident    B) Moderately confident    C) less confident
      D) Not at all confident
5.   Which part of writing do you feel most interesting?
            A) Grammar    B) vocabulary    C) free hand writing
6.   Which part of writing do you find most challenging?
      A) Grammar    B) vocabulary    C) free handwriting
7.   Lacking of what is the cause of Bangladeshi students poor writing skill?
     A) Lack of proper guidance    B) lack of time    C) lack of knowledge
     D) Lack of interest
8.   What grade did you get in writing?
            A) A+    B) A    C) A-    D) B+    E) B
9.   Do you have habit of writing diary/book/poem? 
            A) Yes    B) No
10.   Are you interested to find out the solution of your writing problem?
      A)  Yes    B) No
11.   How do you find the solution of the problems that you face in writing?
     A) Yourself    B) teacher    C) group discussion    D) neutral


Offline Mustafizur rRhman

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References

Books:

1.   Anderson, D.W. 1968, Teaching Handwriting. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
2.   Hadfield, J.2000, Simple Writing Activities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.   Harmer, J. 2004, How to Teach Writing. Harlow: London.
4.   Hedge, T. 2005, Writing, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5.   Lewin, L. 2003, Paving the way in Reading and Writing, 1st edition, San Francisco: Jossy-Bass


Web sites:

1.   “Why writing skill is important”. Retrieved from World Wide Web: http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/why –writing- skill- is- important.on 20 March, 2014.
2.   “Writing in English”. Retrieved from World Wide Web: http://www.EnglishWithASmile.net.on 25 March 2014.





Offline Mustafizur rRhman

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Conclusion

Finally, we can come to the conclusion that most of the students face a lot of problems in developing English writing skill and it is matter of great satisfaction that almost all of them want to come out of those problems. From the questionnaires it is clear that most of the students face problems in grammar, vocabulary and free handwriting. And all the students know how much important is writing skill. In the 3rd student questionnaire we have got the target answer that writing skill is of great importance for students. Most challenging part is vocabulary and interestingly most interesting part is also vocabulary. So some students feel comfortable in dealing with vocabulary while others feel uncomfortable. Each and every language consists of a huge number of words. The more words we know, the easier our words will flow. So it is important to know vocabulary properly to express ourselves accurately. Lacking of knowledge, time, guidance, interest and departmental support are the cause of Bangladeshi students’ poor writing skill. However, good writing skill depend much more on students activities and for this they should develop a habit of practicing by their self because “practice makes a man perfect.”

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Recommendations

In the procedure of our research work on writing skills of Bangladeshi students, we have found many problems and here are some recommendations that will help to solve those problems. These are:

   Students should build up a habit of reading English newspaper daily.
   Read good books on different writers.
   Students should try to use simple but different words which will make their writing more understandable and apprehensible.
   Search for unknown words in the dictionary.
   Try to know different rules of grammar and use the rules in writing.
   Teachers should teach the students properly.
   Government should provide special course on writing skill for teachers as a teacher want students to know what he/ she knows.
   Departmental support should be up to the expectation.
   Creative writing competition on essays or recent topics should be organized.







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Findings

By analyzing our data which we have collected from both teachers and students we have got these things:

   Students’ main problem is in vocabulary. They can not remember words and their meanings. Students’ word stock is not developed.
   Students haven’t clear idea about grammatical rules. If some students have they fail to use it in sentences.
   Both teachers and students agree that grammar and vocabulary are essential for good writing skill.
   Department fails to ensure all departmental supports.
   Half of the teachers didn’t do any specialized course on writing skill.
   Department is enriched in IT support.
   All the teachers use IT supports whenever needed to make students understand about a topic.
   Lack of students’ interest is the big problem for poor writing skill. They do not try to produce some lines from their faculty. They are not interested to write except examinations.
   Most of the students are moderately confident in their writing skills.
   Teachers support creative writing and spelling bee competitions for the betterment of the students writing skills.
   All the students intend to solve their writing problems which they struggle with.
   Students solve their writing problems by themselves, with the help of teachers and in a group discussion.

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Teacher Table: 5
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you give written comments in exam scripts?   A) Yes   9   60%
   B) No   6   40%
The objective of this question is to see if students make any mistake in examination do teachers correct their mistakes with written comments. 60% teachers said yes, they write written comments in exam scripts while 40% said no.
 Teacher Table: 6
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you allocate extra time for students writing skill?   A) Yes   9   60%
   B) No   6   40%
60% teachers allocate extra time for talking about the procedure of developing students writing skill. 40% teachers do not give extra time for writing skill.
Teacher Table: 7
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you think creative writing is helpful for the development of writing skill?   A) Agree   6   40%
   B) Strongly agree   9   60%
   C) Disagree   0   0%
   D) Strongly disagree   0   0%
Among 15 teachers 9 teachers (60%) are highly agreed with the notion that creative writing is helpful for the development of students writing skill. Another 40% are agreed with it and none of them are disagreed.
Teacher Table: 8
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you agree essay and spelling bee competitions help in developing students writing skill?   A) Agree    6   40%
   B) Strongly agree    9   60%
   C) Disagree   0   0%
   D) Strongly disagree    0   0%
Extra curricular activities like essay, spelling bee competitions may help students and 60% are strongly agreed with it and 40% of them are agreed. None of them think essay and spelling bee competitions not help students in improving their writing skill.
Teacher Table: 9
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
What limitations do you face in your classroom?
   A)Lack of IT support   0   0%
   B)Lack of departmental support   3
   20%

   C)Lack of students’ interest   12
   80%

   D)others   0   0%
The purpose of this last question is to find out what are the obstacles behind our students poor handwriting. Majority of the teacher (80%) said lack of students’ interest and 20% said lack of departmental support are the causes of students’ poor handwriting in English.







Offline Mustafizur rRhman

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Teacher Questionnaire:  The teacher questionnaire contained nine items which were concerned with the teachers’ opinion on the different aspects of the writing skills problems of the students. The response of the 15 teachers to the questionnaire are recorded and discussed item wise as follows:
Teacher Table: 1
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you think grammar and vocabulary are the basic elements in writing skill development?   A) Yes   15   100%
   B) No   0   0%
All the teachers (15) opined that grammar and vocabulary are needed for students writing skill.
Teacher Table: 2
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Did you do any specialized course on writing skill?   A) Yes   9   60%
   B) No   6   40%
The purpose of this question is to see the teachers who are teaching these 50 students did any specialized course on writing skill or not? 60% teachers answered that they did the course and 40% answered no.
Teacher Table: 3
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you apply your prior knowledge to your teaching?   A) Yes   15   100%
   B) No   0   0%
All the teachers (15) who have done special writing skill course apply their knowledge while teaching their student.
Teacher Table: 4
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you use visual aids/IT support for better understanding of the students?   A) Yes   15   100%
   B) No   0   0%
Sometimes it may not possible to make understand all students at a time. So in this case teacher can use IT support to bring the real things before them which may help students to understand the topics or issues. As we know without good understanding of a subject students can not write well. We have found that every teacher use visual aids/IT support in their classroom.

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Student Table: 8
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
What grade did you get in writing?
   A) A+       0   0%
   B) A       20   40%
   C) A-   
D) B+     18
10   36%
20%
   E) B   2   4%
It is a question to find out students’ efficiency. 40% students get A grade, 36% students get A- and 20% students got B+ but none of them get A+.

Student Table: 9
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Do you have habit of writing diary/book/poem?     A) Yes      17   34%
   B) No    33   66%
The options for this question are yes or no. Among 50 students 33 students answered no (66%) and 17 students answered yes. The purpose of this question to ask is that habit of writing diary/book/poem helps them to develop their writing skill.
 Student Table: 10
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Are you interested to find out the solution of your writing problem?    A)  Yes      49   98%
   B) No   1   2%
The result of this question (Are you interested to find out the solution of your writing problems?) give us some hope because among 50 students 49 students are interested to solve their problems (98%) , only 1 student not interested to solve his/ her problems (2%).
Student Table: 11
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
How do you find the solution of the problems that you face in writing?
   A) Yourself      33   66%
   B) teacher      2   4%
   C) group discussion    15   30%
   D) neutral      0%
The aim of this question is to find out the way in which students solve their writing problems. 66% students want to solve their problems by their self, 30% students want to solve their problems in group discussion and only 4% students solve their problems with the help of a teacher.

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Student Table: 5
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Which part of writing do you feel most interesting?    A) Grammar       15   30%
   B) vocabulary      20   40%
   C) free hand writing   15   30%
Vocabulary is the most interesting part to students (40%).  30% students think it is grammar and another 30% said free handwriting.

Student Table: 6
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Which part of writing do you find most challenging?    A) Grammar       17   34%
   B) vocabulary       20   40%
   C) free handwriting   13   26%
34% students answered grammar, 40% students said vocabulary and 26% said free handwriting.  So vocabulary is the most challenging part for students.

Student Table: 7
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Lacking of what is the cause of Bangladeshi students poor writing skill?
   A) Lack of proper guidance     20
   40%

   B) lack of time       2   4%
   C) lack of knowledge    14
   28%

   D) Lack of interest   14   28%
40% students answered lack of proper guidance is the cause of Bangladeshi students’ poor handwriting. They complained that they did not get proper guidance. 4% students said lack of time as few of them have involved themselves in jobs. 28% students answered that lack of knowledge and other 28% students answered that lack of interest is the cause of students’ poor handwriting.

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Student Questionnaire:
The student Questionnaire contained eleven items. Here they are:
Student Table: 1
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
What is your gender?   A) Male   20   40%
   B) Female   30   60%
We have taken 50 students to answer this question and then converted the result into 100 and we got the percentage. We have got 60% female student and 42% male student. The aim of this question to ask is to see whether gender varying any difference in developing writing skill or not? We have found that everyone (male or female) face the same problem in writing, gender doesn’t vary any difference.
Student Table: 2
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
Which program are you studying?   A) Graduation       15   30%
   B) Post graduation.   35   70%
In this question the choices are graduation and post graduation. We have got 70% of students are studying in post graduation and rest 30% are studying in graduation program.


Student Table: 3
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
According to you how much importance is the writing skill is for student?
   A) Of great importance       49
   98%

   B) moderately important       1
   2%

   C) less important   0   0%
   D) Of no importance   0   0%
In this question we have found all most all the students choose option A) of great importance (98%) and only 2% student think that writing skill is moderately important.
Student Table: 4
Question   Choices   Scores   Percentage (%)
What is the level of your confidence in writing? 
   A) Highly confident   13   26%
       B) Moderately confident       27
   54%

   C) less confident    10   20%
   D) Not at all confident   0   0%
The purpose of this question is to find out students confidence level. 26% students are highly confident about their writing. Most of the students i.e. 54% students are moderately confident and 10% of them are less confident.

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Bill Reed says,’ if you want to write well…read, read, and then read some more. Read good writing. Read bad writing. Learn to know the difference. Not for simplicity of style: noun, verb, object; noun, verb, object. It worked for Hemingway, who often said that his ultimate goal was to create the perfect sentence. Read some Hemingway, and not just his novels, but some of his early newspaper writing. There’s never been better news and feature writing ever. When you read the works of these and other fine writers, notice the simplicity of their language and how they vary their sentence structure and length. Some sentences number two or three words; others run an entire paragraph. There are countless tips on writing well, but I leave you with this one: read first, and then write.

Andrea Michelle Jones says, “Read choose anything, but read something. Keeping a focus on the way others conform words in a sentence. Start keeping a daily calendar so you don’t forget the assignments’ due and others events that could be an issue if not reviewing your material. Write constantly, in doing this you keep your skills in writing on top shape. An exercise for the mind and vocabulary skills intact.”

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In connection with writing, Byrne (1978:1) also mentions that writing requires some conscious mental effort. Although when we write we use graphic symbols, that is, combinations of letter which relate to the sound, actually writing is more than the production of graphics symbols. The symbols have to be arranged according to a certain convention, words to be arranged into sentences.

Mc Roberts (1981) explores that quality of the writing depends on the richness of source of material such as listening to people, watching good television programs, listening to the radio programs and talking to others constantly.

Emily Sinsabaugh says, “Writing can be a drag . . . especially if you don’t think you are very good at it. It’s skill, however, that you need to develop in order to be competitive in today’s society. While you’re a student take the time to write well. Take more than the required English and writing courses. I’d willing to bet you’ll find these classes to be quite valuable when you try to find and keep a job after graduation. And don’t worry if you end up having trouble in these classes. You can always enlist the help of the good folks at the Writing center. And one thing more . . . a good way to practice your writing without the stress of a grade hanging over your head, is to take part in extra-curricular activities that involve writing.”

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Literature Review

Writing is on of the productive skills that a learner is expected to achieve in order to ensure his communicative competence. Writing is a visual representation of speech in writing and speaking the language learner is engaged in communicating his ideas and feelings. In the case of speaking a kind of give and take situation remain between listener and speaker. But in the case of writing message communicated a higher degree of fitness, and this skill requires real proficiency if communication has to be effective. Writing is a difficult skill for many learners, even in their mother tongue. There are several reasons for this. First, writing has to be learnt. Another difficulty is the problem of the absent audience. When we speak, we are interacting with someone and have instant feedback. When we write we can not consult with the reader. Second, it is difficult to know what information the absent reader needs to know, so it is hard to know what to write. Then there are problems of linguistic difficulties. We have to know how to put a sentence together accurately. Writing involves more than putting sentences together in language that is grammatically correct and appropriate. 

Writing is a form of communication and a process of transferring ideas into product of writing; translating out thought into language. Through writing we are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people. We are able to discover and articulate ideas in ways that only writing makes possible (White and Arndt, 1991). Writing is different from speaking, because writing involves work. In this case,

Mc Roberts (1981) says: The difference between using talk and using writing to communicate is like the different between snakes and ladders and chess: their objective is essentially the same but the degree of control, thought and style is radically different (1981:5)

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Abstract

English is the foremost spoken language throughout the whole world. So, it is absolutely crucial for us to know how to develop writing skills in English. Writing skill is one of the four basic skills of a language and like other skills it can be learned. So this paper focuses on the problems that Bangladeshi students go through in the respect of developing English writing skills. This paper also presents some general steps that help students to solve the problems that come up while writing.