AN EVALUATION OF THE WRITING TASKS, THEIR IMPLEMENTATION AND STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE: DAYU SECONDARY SCHOOL GRADE 10 TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN FOCUS (Dissertation Sample)

A THESIS ON:
AN EVALUATION OF THE WRITING TASKS, THEIR IMPLEMENTATION AND STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE: DAYU SECONDARY SCHOOL GRADE 10 TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN FOCUS
AN EVALUATION OF THE WRITING TASKS, THEIR IMPLEMENTATION AND STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE: DAYU SECONDARY SCHOOL GRADE 10 TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN FOCUS
INTRODUCTION
Based on the research topic An evaluation ofthe writing tasks,their implementation and students’ performance: Dayu secondary school grade 10 teachers and students in focus; this chapter deals with some introductory issues starting from background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study as general objective and specific objectives; additionally, research questions, significance of the study, and scope of the study are also presented.
1.1. Background of the Study
Halliday (1995) suggests that writing has evolved in societies as a result of cultural changes creating communicative needs which cannot be readily met by the spoken language. He speculates that with the emergence of cultures based on agriculture rather than hunting and gathering, there developed a need for permanent records which could be referred to over and over again. This was the initial stimulus for the emergence of new form of language: writing.
As Nunnan (1991, p.84) said that in the modern world, written language serves a range of functions in everyday life including like: primary function such as signs; information, and entertainment. However according to Richards (1995, p.100), learning to write in either a first or second language is one of the most difficult tasks a learner encounters and few people can be said fully master. He also suggests that writing is used either as evidence of successful learning or as a means of learning. Because writing leads to a product that can be examined and reviewed immediately. It provides feedback to the teacher; learner on what has been understood (Richards, 1995).
Therefore, teachers must know how to teach writing; using different methods and methodologies. White (1989), the activity of teaching writing of this time is mainly connected with teaching writing as a means of communication.
Learners are expected to acquire formal and acceptable writing skills and to know how to use this skill in class and outside the classroom.
Richerds and Rodgers (2001) stated task –based language teaching (TBLT) is a recent version of communication language teaching methodology. Long (1985,p.89) stated TBLT focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language like conducting an interview and write.
Nunan (1988) also states it is a language instruction that can be described as a language course whose syllabus, teaching and learning activities are organized around tasks. In the text book of doing task based teaching by Wills (2007, p.12), tasks are activities where the target language is used by the learner for communicative purpose or goal in order to achieve an outcome.
As some scholars, like Richards and Hyland cited in Desalegn (2011) indicate that a well-developed writing skill is important for learners both in its academic importance and as a means of communication. According to their view, this can be possible iflearners learn writing effectively with the help of effective teachers, teaching techniques, and particularly if ample activity is made in the classroom. Tasks (activities) have a vital role especially in the more recent version of communicative language teaching (CLT), which is Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) (Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
Task- based language teaching, is one of the recent versions of communicative languageteaching methodology. It is a language instruction that can be described as a languagecourse whose syllabus or teaching and learning activities are organized around tasks (Nunan, 1988). Unlike conventional syllabuses that are oriented towards language as theprimary subject matter, a task-based syllabus is oriented towards the process of languagelearning in the classroom (Littlewood, 1981). TBLT draws on several principles that formed part of communicative language teaching movement from the 1980s (Richard &Rogers, 2001).
Since the end of 1960s, the communicative task has involved as an important componentwithin curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation (Nunan, 1989).
In currentteaching approaches like TBLT, syllabus content and instructional processes are selectedwith reference to the communicative tasks. These tasks are tasks that learners will need to engage in outside the classroom. According to the same author, using ‘task’ as a basicplanning tool is not new in the general educational field but it is relatively a recentarrival on the language-teaching scene.
As the primary goal in language instruction is shifted from an object of study to a system of communication, the need to assess students’ ability to use the languagecommunicatively has been raised, and the effective designing of communicative taskshas become more and more popular. Therefore, different authors outlined differentprinciples and criterion as to how tasks should be designed (Nunan, 1988).
Despite varying the way how writing tasks are engaged by learners, the effective designing of communicative tasks has become more and more popular,it is worthwhile to study on an evaluation ofthe writing tasks, their implementation and students’ performance: Dayu secondary school grade 10 teachers and students in focus.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
According to Richard and Rogers (2001), a well-developed writing skill is important for learners both in its academic role and as a means of communication in a community.AsRichard and Rogers (2001) view, this can be possible if learners learn writing effectively with the help of effective teachers, teaching techniques and if ample practice is made in the class room.
Richards (1995), states that students need selected topics to write about, initiated collaborative writing, and developed characteristic interaction patterns with other learners. He also reviews topics may come from experience at home and in school and from imitation of peers. He says, “Then the writing tasks of any text should be clear, simple, and straight forward for the students. The role of teacher is to ensure that students produce correct writing, and act as facilitators, organizing writing experiences that enable the learner to develop effective composing strategies.”
Richards (1995), also describes that the teacher is also an investigator of the writing process employed by the students using observation and discussion to identify successful approaches to different aspects of the writing process (p.54).
Therefore, the writing tasks should be demonstrating the objective, the role of teachers and students with the steps how the writing process run and product. In line with this, Richards (1995) adds that writing activities should manifest with different stages in writing process and writing methodologies. Here at Dayu secondary school which is found at Wereda Raya Alamata southern zone of Tigraythe process of teaching and learning writing haslacked the above expressions, and which are related with the roles of teachers and students as well as how teaching writing presents.
In the teaching and learning writing skill, many difficulties may occur. Broughton et.al (1980,p.116) explains that during teaching writing , if the goal of the English teacher is to enable students to produce fluent, accurate and appropriate written English , there would be a number of aspects which need to be considered. Some of them are:
* mechanical problems with the script of writing,
* problems of accuracy of English grammar and lexis,
* problems relating the style of writing to the demand of a particular situation,
* Problems of developing ease and comfort in expressing what needs to be said etc.