Improving Senior Elementary School Students Writing Skills by Using Mind Maps

Improving Senior Elementary School Students’ Writing Skills by Using Mind Maps

Kay (Jiecong He)

Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

Writing is “the composing of textsintended to be read by people not present,”(Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987: 4). It is traditionallybelievedto be difficult to acquire. Writing is the coreof almost activity in the educational system. It seems to be a complex and difficulttask for manystudents.There is always a dissatisfaction with the quality of thewritten work produced by students.

Elementary school students in China alsohave difficulty in the English writing. First, the students don’t know what sentence patterns they can use, and they don’t know what to write. Students always write short articles. Second, when they start writing, they write something that lacks coherence, because they can’t organize or classify subtopics according to the topic and theme of an article in English. This is because they lack understanding in the English language especially in the planning to draft the article.

Teachers have few ways to teach students how to write. Some of them only ask the students to write by imitating the sample, then show some of the good articles as another sample, and even ask the students to memorize the sample articles. This may lead to a serious problem in students’ writing and thinking ability. Teachers have fewstudies regarding the investigation into the prewriting strategies.

In America, teachers use NovaMind, which is also called Mind Maps,for teaching writing. They teach students to create similar Mind Maps with the main points of the story lines. They organize the topic sentences which are related to the theme. The whole blue print is all mind mapped out. In this way, students can also think about the order of the information.So the previous informationis presented in a logical progression.

Can teachers teach learning techniques by using mind mapping to improve student’s writing skills?Lookinginto this research area can help us gainbetterunderstanding of students’ writing.

1.2 Hypotheses of the study

It is evident that effective strategies in writing should bedeveloped so as to facilitate and improve writing. Buzan (2000) indicated the useof Mind Mapping in various daily activities, including writing, as it can developstudents’ creative writing skills and help remove writer’s block. With the hope ofimproving the researcher’s teachingpractice and enhancing students’ writing skills,this study is going tobe conductedto investigate if Mind Mapping can be used as a pre-writing planning strategy tohelp students explore and develop ideas.

The research questions formulated would be as follows:

1. Does Mind Mapping help students with their writing skills?

2. If Mind Mapping can help students with their writing skills, in what ways will it be helpful?

1.3 Organization of the essay

This essay will be divided into four chapters. Chapter one has provided thebackground and the purpose of the study. Chapter two is going to do theliteraturereview to describeand synthesize the major research studies related to the current study. In chapter three, it will recommend some effective ways of using mind map and describe applications ofthe effectiveness of Mind Mapping in writing. Chapter four isthe conclusion of thestudy. It will start by providing asummary of the major findings. The limitations of the study will then be mentioned.

Literature review

2.1Definition of writing

“Writing is a method of representing language in visual or tactile form. Writing systems use sets of symbols to represent the sounds of speech, and may also have symbols for such things as punctuation and numerals.”(Omniglot, 2013)

2.2Writing is a process

Writing is a process. This is a fact acceptable for education systems. This concept of writing as a process has been evolving since the 1950s, as described in the next sections.

2.2.1 The Current-traditional Paradigm

In the 1950s and 1960s, researchers on writing advocated and assumed that writinginstruction had a well-established and effective methodology (Grabe & Kaplan,1997:30).Most research was centered on the “Current-traditional Rhetoric” (Fogarty, 1959). Researchers during this period of time focused on “correct usage, correct grammarand correct spelling…it focuses on the topic sentence, the various methods ofdeveloping the paragraphs and the holy trinity of unity, coherence…etc.” (Britton,1983: 2).In Young (1978)’s opinion, the emphasis on the written products and thecreative aspects of the writing process were complicated, so it is unteachable.From this research, learning to write means learning to avoid errors. This implies that writing can not be taught directly andexplicit writing instruction is not possible.

2.2.2The Process altered

Raimes (1983) argues thatin the mid-1960s, writing instruction still focused on pedagogical techniques;teachers provided usage rules, paragraph models or model essays.To Raimes (1983),teaching editing and imitation is more important than composing and the grammar for ESL writers is more important than the composingpractice too.Halsted(1975: 82) comments that the obsession with the written products leads to seriouswriting block.It is therefore unable to improve students’ writing (Babin & Harrison,1999; Crowley, 1986; Berlin & Inkster, 1980). Zamel (1982) concludes that “thewhole notion of how writers write – where ideas come from, how they areformulated and developed, what the various stages of composing entail – wasignored” (ibid: 195).

2.2.3 Contemporary pedagogical theories in composition

Current thought by scholar who would be calledexpressionists says that what teachers should do is to provideand create an encouraging environment in which writers can engage in fruitfulclass discussion. The goal is to help students to write in an authenticenvironment. Like theclassicists who are mentioned at 2.2.1, the expressionists pay attention to the audience. This researcher agreesthat it is beneficial to provide an environment to induce writing but maintains thatwriting instruction can be taught to facilitate students’ writing.Thenew rhetoricians view language as an important tool for discovering truth andsuggest using invention techniques like heuristics: “…it [heuristics] enables andarticulates new knowledge, composing, written and otherwise, is the mostimportant activity going on in schools ”(Knoblauch & Brannon, 1984: 109).Context and audience are therefore important factors in writing.

Emig’s (1971) classic study documenting what writers do when they composemarks an important start to the process movement of writing research which ispsychologically-based (Grabe & Kaplan, 1997: 90).Murray (1978) goes with Emig(1971) and states that this act of discovery is the main feature of the writing process.He contends that there are three stages in the writing process, such as “rehearsing,” “drafting” and “revising” and these stages interact interdependently so that meaning can be discovered. According to Zamel (1982:197), “…writing istherefore a process of exploring one’s thoughts and learning from the act of writingitself what these thoughts are.”

From the cognitive dimension, writing is treated as a cognitive process. North

(1987:245) has provided a clear explanation of this process: “… the operation of

the mind conceived as a system working to gather information from outside of

itself, sift, store and retrieve it in some way, sort and arrange it to meet various

criteria, and eventually transform it into words on a page that accomplish some sets

of goals.”

2.3 Research on the pre-writing strategies

Zamel (1982) stressed that an important dimension of the writing process researchinvolves the study of how writers delineate ideas before writing. Pre-writing is “…the periodbefore the actual writing begins”(ibid: 199).

Stallard’s (1974) study reveals that good writers spend more time both onpre-writing activities and on actual writing than poor writers and that the weakerwriters spend far less time in planning than good writers. The weaker writers alsopay less attention to content and organization. Perl (1979) indicates that one of theplanning strategies writers use during the pre-writing period is “…initiating a stringof associations to a word in the topic and then developing one or more of theassociations during the writing” (ibid: 328).This planning strategy seems topossess similarfeatures of the Mind Mapping technique proposed by Buzan (2000).

2.4Definition ofmind map

Buzan (2000) defines Mind Mapping as: “an expression of Radiant Thinking and…therefore a natural function of thehuman mind. It is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universalkey to unlocking the potential of the brain” (ibid: 55).A mind mapping is a diagram used to visually outline information. A mind mapping is often created around a single word or text, placed in the center, to which associated ideas, words and concepts are added. Major categories radiate from a central node, and lesser categories are sub-branches of larger branches, (Budd, 2004: 35). Categories can represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items related to a central key word or idea. Mind maps can be drawn by hand, either as “rough notes” during a lecture or meeting, for example, or as higher quality pictures when more time is available.

A mind map, or spidergram, is also a strategy for making notes on a topic, prior to writing. It is a structured strategy, which shows the (hierarchical) relationship of ideas, as opposed to an unstructured strategy, such as brainstorming, in which students produce notes at random on paper,(Buzan2000).

Having an organised display of information from the outset of the writing process may help some students, as it is more easily converted into a draft, whereas in brainstorming, the random recording of ideas might lead to problems with the structure of students’ texts.

2.5Using Mind Mapping as a prewriting strategy

Mind Mapping works on the principle of association. Buzan (2000: 177)states that in writing, the Mind Map should be begun with a central concept. The writers then select appropriateordering ideas as major branches and add items of information of points which arerelevant to the subject as sub-branches that can radiate outwards from the centralconcept. Key images or key words are used in Mind Mapping. The branches thenform a connected nodal structure.Buzan (2000: 178) suggests using theMind Map as a framework for writing as it “provides you with all the mainsub-divisions of your essay, the key points to be mentioned in each, and the waythose points relate to each other.”

Wycoff (1986: 59) has expressed similar views on Mind Mapping: “Mind Mappingis an excellent way to generate and organize ideas before beginning to write. It isan almost guaranteed way to break writer’s block.” Lunsford and Bridges (2002)reiterate the advantages of using Mind Mapping in writing: “…seeing how thingsrelate can help you discover the significance that is characteristic of good writing”(ibid: 22).

In this sense, Mind Mapping helps writers to present their ideas visuallyby enabling them to build individual clusters of ideas that relate to each other andto the main subject.

Situations in using mind maps while teaching

3.1What I have learned in the writing classes in the U.S.

The researcher participated in an ESL-teacher training program at UCI during summer 2013. By observing classes, making a surveyof the elementary school teachers, and learning about theories of pedagogy, the researcher got to know that there is a kind of strategy similar to Mind Map which is called Thinking Map that American teachers usually use in the writing class. Thinking Map is more concrete and detailed to instruct the prewriting in planning writing.Thinking Map could be anelongation of Mind Map.

3.1.1 Situations of the class observation

Thinking maps can be seen in each classroom and are integrated in all kinds of subjects which are taught in the American schools. Thinking map is widely used there. Students are familiar with using thinking maps to solve problems. Teachers trained the students to think before they initiate to act through K-12.

Students’ works under thinking map are performed on each small inch on the wall. Studentsget satisfaction by having their work on show. Furthermore, students learn from these samples as a model to explore their thinking. Under the peer learning activity, new ideas appear and enrich their mind mapping.

3.1.2 Statement of teachers in using mind map

“I love mindmaps (concept maps), not only for my own use in preparing presentations or mapping out a problem, but I love having students create their own, either as a before, during, or after learning activity,” said Terie, a high-school science teacher.

“They (mind maps) help you associate ideas and make connections that you might not otherwisemakewhich might have to be drawn by hand.There are several software programs available,including Inspiration and Smart Ideas. Both are available at many theaters schools,”saidChris Arthur, a teacher we met on YouTube.

“There are training programs of teaching using thinking map here in the U.S. These programs are also for parents too. We use thinking maps to train students while they are writing. Students can easily get their topic sentences to support the theme. It is good for training their thinking ability and for forming a good habit to prewriting.” said an elementary school teacher.

And hundreds of teachers on the internet mentioned the feeling of using mind map while teaching writing. They discussed the pros and cons in using it and provide many methods of using it. Mind mapping is a verified technique in teaching.

3.1.3 The eight thinking map types

“Thinking Maps are a set of graphic organizer techniques used in primary and secondary education“K-12” in the U.S. Thinking Maps are visual tools for learning, and include eight visual patterns, each linked to a specific cognitive process. Teachers may apply Thinking Maps in all content areas and all grade levels.

The eight map types are:Circle Mapused for defining in context, Bubble Mapused for describing with adjectives, FlowMapused for sequencing and ordering events, Brace Mapused for identifying part/whole relationships, Tree Mapused for classifying or grouping, Double Bubble Mapused for comparing and contrasting, Multi-flowMapused for analyzing causes and effects, Bridge Mapused for illustrating analogies.”

In this theory, learns can be set free from the confusing of poor brainstorming organizing by having a rich language of visual maps based on thinking processes.

3.2My experience in using mind maps in teaching class

The author of this paper has kept focusing on teaching writing classes in elementary school for about three years. Many ways of using mind maps in teaching writing had been tried and adjusted constantly.It might be somewhat a case of twists and turns; otherwise the author attained a lot of success and started to get some ways which are suitable for the students she is teaching in China.

3.2.1 Asuggestedplan of using mind map in teaching writing

Step 1: Choose the topic by students’discussion

In the traditional way, teachers always give a topic to the students to start the writing class.Students are passive while the teacher is giving them the topic. However, they show their preferenceswhen theynominate the topic themselves. Therefore they may show greater interest in writing and get more materials of the topic under study.

Step 2: Organize or classify subtopics according to the topic with the guidance of the Mind Maps by discussion

Once the topic has been introduced, students need to decide the best way in which to present their points. Discussing the topic and organizing the subtopics help students make a blue print in their mind and it is good for the students to form a habit of prewriting in planning writing. Before they start writing, students can use the five “W” questions to formulate the main point they are going to write according to the topic. While organizing the subtopics which are supporting the main topic, students may train their ability of logical thinking at the same time.If they do not know a word in English, they can write something to describe the word they want to express.

Step 3 Brain storming with the guidance of the Mind Maps by discussion

Students are required to use a mind map to fill the empty spaceswith key words as much as possible. Images, links, symbols, and even sound files can be inserted into a mind map while they are discussing.They can put more details and examples in order to make the passage wonderful. In this way, students do brain storming, review the knowledge they have learnt, communicate with each other and they can use authentic English. This stage also provides the opportunity for peer teaching. Students learn from each other, weak students get help from others, and students who teach benefit from practicing mind mapping.

Step 4 Make relationships of the keywords and the sentence patterns

To the elementary school students, who are beginner ESL learners, writing sentences is the most difficult part in learning English. Coming up with the subtopic, organizing it, filling in the details with key words may be much easier for them.They can not chose the right sentence patterns to make sentences with the key word, or they may not come up with the right sentence patterns because they are not familiar with them. In this part, sentence patterns will be listed for the students to use for reference. It gives the students steps to climb up the mountain of writing which can decompose writing step by step with clear instructions.

Step 5 Start to write