Improving Writing Skills with Systemic Functional Linguistic Approach: The Case of Vietnamese EFL Students

Nguyen Thu Hanh

doi:10.5430/wjel.v11n2p71

Abstract

This study was conducted with the purpose to identify the effectiveness of Systemic Functional Linguistic approach to improve writing skills for the EFL students at a university in Hanoi, Viet Nam. The preliminary investigation showed that most students at this university experienced many difficulties in English writing skills and they were not motivated in writing lessons. To make situation better, an action research plan was conducted with the use of quantitative and qualitative methods, focusing on applying Systemic Functional Linguistic approach, typically Theme-Rheme patterns to raise the students’ awareness of Theme-Rheme benefits in creating logical text organization and then improve their writing skills. The subjects of the study were 30 students of English major at a university of foreign languages in Vietnam. The data were collected through the pre- and post-tests, questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study suggested that the use of this approach could improve the students’ writing skills and most of research students liked this technique because it made them motivated during English writing lessons.

Highlights

Over the years, the teaching of English writing has become an important topic for many Vietnamese teachers and students of English
An action research plan was conducted with the use of quantitative and qualitative methods, focusing on applying Systemic Functional Linguistic approach, typically Theme-Rheme patterns to raise the students‟ awareness of Theme-Rheme benefits in creating logical text organization and improve their writing skills
This research was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using SFL grammatical feature of Theme and Rheme in improving the narrative essay writing skills of the second-year English major students of EF University, as well as to explore their attitudes towards this teaching technique

Summary

Introduction

The teaching of English writing has become an important topic for many Vietnamese teachers and students of English. Students of English describe language patterns separate from meaning and ignore some structural patterns which are often found in natural texts and organized language functions to describe meanings in texts. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) pioneered by Michael Halliday (1985, 1994, 2014) refers grammatical construction to the ways how people mean with their in-context language use. The main concern of a SFL approach to linguistic matters centers on meaning and the usage of language to create meanings. This SFL approach does not emphasize a set of rules that commend grammatical or ungrammatical usage since language is not a fixed, supreme system but is dynamic in accordance with predetermined principles in daily use

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Discussion

Conclusion