Achieving Good Paragraphing in Essay Writing
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To find out the important of paragraph in writing skill among Provo girls senior high school
- To find out the effect of paragraph in essay writing among Provo girls senior high school
- To find out whether paragraph is the major weakness of student in essay writing among Povo girls high school
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Paragraph
A paragraph is a series of sentences focused on a single topic. Each paragraph in your paper will contribute in some way toward advancing your paper’s overall purpose. A well written paragraph is actually much like a well written essay in miniature. Just as an essay presents a thesis about its subject, a paragraph presents a single idea or topic and develops it in a purposeful manner. Just as essays employ smooth transitions between paragraphs, paragraphs should include smooth transitions between sentences. Paragraphs will use evidence, such as quotations, examples, and supporting details to develop their subjects much like essays employ different kinds of support to defend a thesis. If you can write an effective paragraph, you really are able to do the things you need to do to write a good essay.
Paragraph features
A paragraph should have a topic sentence that establishes the subject of the paragraph. Topic sentences most often appear at the beginning of a paragraph, though this is not a requirement. Placing topic sentences near the front of a paragraph can help you as a writer better keep in mind the subject you want to develop in the paragraph. Paragraphs should show a purposeful pattern of development. Effective patterns include: Narration—tell a story from beginning to end
- Description—provide a detailed description using a variety of sensory details
- Explanation—identify an idea, event, object, etc. and explain its significance
- Evaluation—examine the merit of an idea, action, device, etc.
- Comparison and contrast
- Cause and effect analysis
- Process description—present the steps in a process
- Paragraphs achieve coherence by remaining focused on their topics, and by using effective sentence-to sentence transitions to achieve a smooth flow. Good transition strategies include: Carrying over words or ideas between sentences
- Using parallel sentences (i.e., sentence with the same grammatical structures and parts of speech) in succession Using transition words to refer to surrounding sentences and more firmly define relation between sentence Of course, your paper needs smooth transitions between paragraphs too, and the strategies above can provide those.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research method used for this study is descriptive survey. The comparative analysis was achieved by means of utilizing t-test statistic for the comparison of mean scores at 0.05 level of significance while, the responses questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation.
Population and sample of the study
The population of the study include the one hundred and fifty (150) Provo girls’ senior high school. The population was administered with questionnaire which one hundred and twenty-two (122) questionnaire were correctly filed and returned. This figure was adopted as the sample size for this study.
Instrumentation
The instrument used for this investigation was Likert scale which is an interval scale-ranging from strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree, with quantitative values ranging from 4 – 1 point. The instrument used to collect data is titled “achieving good paragraphing in essay writing‟ (AGPEW). The instrument (AGPEW) consists of thirty (13) statements or items. A weighted average of 2.5 was accepted for research question.
Validation of the Instrument
The instrument was validated by Expert in Measurement and Evaluation in the Faculty of Education, who ascertained the face and content validity. The reliability of the instrument was determined through test – retest method, using Pearson’s Moment Correlation. A reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained for the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
In this chapter, our focus would be to analyze the available data from the distributed questionnaire using simple percentages in order to provide answers to the research questions. Also, the hypotheses will be tested using the t-test statistical tool.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 122 (one hundred and twenty-two) questionnaires were distributed and 122 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was on achieving good paragraphing in essay writing. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of achieving good paragraphing in essay writing.
Summary
This study was on achieving good paragraphing in essay writing. Three objectives were raised which included: To find out the important of paragraph in writing skill among Provo girls senior high school, to find out the effect of paragraph in essay writing among Provo girls senior high school and to find out whether paragraph is the major weakness of student in essay writing among Povo girls high school. In line with these objectives, three research questions and hypotheses were formulated and answered. The total population for the study is 150 selected Povo girls high school. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study.
Conclusion
In order to enhance English writing skills of students of Povo girls school, an attempt was made to discuss paragraph that is considered the foundation for any other type of academic writing (Boardman & Frydenberg, 2008). Once, the skill of paragraph writing is mastered; then, it is quite easy to extend it into essay, etc. In this student, an attempt was made to introduce paragraph from various angles such as the definition, the parts by which a paragraph is organized, the format of paragraph, the basic kinds of paragraph, the writing process and the characteristics of good writing, so this precise and concise piece of information will help the students develop their paragraph writing skills specifically in English language
Recommendation
Developing paragraph writing skill is highly significant to students of any major. Hence, they will submit their school and college assignments in a standard way.
To know and write a well-organized paragraph will help students develop other forms of writing such as essays, letters etc.
References
- Boardman, A. C. (2008). Writing to communicate 1 (3 rd Ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
- Boardman, A. C. & Frydenberg, J. (2008). Writing to communicate 2 (3rd Ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
- Champa, T. & Sasikumar, J. (2010). Writing with a purpose (5th Ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press, New Dehli.
- O’Donnell D, Teresa. & Paiva, Judith L. (1993). Independent writing (2nd Ed.) Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
- Hogue, A. (1996). First Steps in academic writing (1st Ed.) Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
- Ameri, L. (2008). Writing letters for all (1st Ed.) Peshawar: Khawar Book Co. Afrin, S. (2016). Writing problems of non-English major undergraduate students in Bangladesh: An observation. Open journal of social sciences, 4(3), 104.
- Ahmad, N., Khan, F. N., & Munir, N. (2013). Factors affecting the learning of English at secondary school level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. International journal of English language and Literature studies, 2(2), 95-101.