The Effects of Mind Mapping on English Paragraph Writing among Vietnamese High School Students

Abstract : Writing English paragraphs remains a challenge for many EFL high school students, particularly in organizing ideas, developing relevant content, and producing coherent written texts. Mind mapping has been suggested as a useful pre-writing technique because it helps learners generate ideas visually and arrange them before drafting. This study investigated the effectiveness of mind mapping on Grade 10 students’ English paragraph writing at a high school in Hai Phong, Vietnam. A quasi-experimental research design was employed with 77 Grade 10 students from two intact classes. The experimental group consisted of 37 students who were taught paragraph writing through mind mapping, while the control group included 40 students who received conventional writing instruction. Data were collected through a pre-test, progress test, post-test, and a questionnaire. The writing tests were assessed according to five criteria: content, grammar, mechanics, organization, and vocabulary. The findings showed that the experimental group improved more clearly than the control group, especially in organization, content, mechanics, and total writing scores. Questionnaire results also revealed that students generally perceived mind mapping as simple, visually interesting, and useful for generating and organizing ideas. However, some students reported challenges related to time management, selecting relevant ideas, and converting keywords into complete sentences. The study suggests that mind mapping can be an effective pre-writing technique for improving English paragraph writing when implemented with appropriate teacher guidance.