MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRANING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ………… AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF PEER CORRECTION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING WRITING SKILL AT HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION HUE, 2013 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ -------- NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG SỬA LỖI CẶP TRONG VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC KỸ NĂNG VIẾT Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ CHUYÊN NGÀNH : LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ : 60.10 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ GIÁO DỤC HỌC HUẾ, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF TABLES. Background of the study. The scope of the study. Objectives of the study.
Significance of the study. Structure of the study. 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW. Theories of English writing skill .1 English writing skill .2 Product-oriented writing.
Process-oriented writing approach .3 Definitions of peers.4 What is Peer correction? .5 Benefits of Peer Correction .6 Problems of Peer Correction .7 Review of Research in the use of Peer Correction. 10 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. 18 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Results from the questionnaires .3 Findings and discussion .1 Teachers‟ perception on handling peer correction and student‟ attitude on using of peer correction (cluster 1) .1 Teachers‟ perception on handling peer correction .2 Students‟ attitude toward using of peer correction.2 The necessity and benefits of peer correction in teaching and learning writing skill (cluster 2) .1 The necessity and benefits of handling peer correction in teaching writing skill .2 The necessity and benefits of using peer correction in learning writing skill .3 The current situation of the use of peer correction in teaching and learning writing skill at HUCFL (cluster 3) .1 Content for peer correction .1 Teachers‟ views on content for peer correction .2 Students‟ views on content for peer correction .2 When to use peer correction.1 Teachers‟ response on time to handle peer correction .1 Students‟ response on time to use peer correction .3 Students‟ response on correction of their peer .4 Some difficulties teachers and students encounter when handling peer correction (cluster 4).
Some difficulties for teachers to handle peer correction .2 Some difficulties for students to use peer correction .5 Some suggestions to implement peer correction .1 Teacher‟ opinion about some suggestions to handle peer correction.2 Student‟s opinion about some suggestions to use peer correction. Results from the interviews. The student‟s perceptions toward peer correction .2 The difficulties that the students often encounter when using peer correction. Suggestions to deal with the difficulties when using peer correction in learning writing.
57 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. Summary of the Key Findings. Implications for teachers. Implication for learners.
Contribution of the study. Limitations of the study. Recommendations for future research. 65 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Summary of participant.2: Summary of the questionnaire.
The reliability of the questionnaire in a Pilot study. The reliability of the questionnaires .3: Teachers‟ perceptions on handling peer correction .4: Mean scores of teachers‟ perceptions on handling peer correction .5: Students‟ attitude toward peer correction .6 : Mean scores of students‟ attitude toward peer correction .7 : Mean scores of the necessity and benefits of handling peer correction in teaching writing skill .8 : Mean scores of The necessity and benefits of using peer correction in learning writing skill .9 : Teachers‟ views on content for peer correction .10 : Mean scores of teachers‟ views on content for peer correction.11 : Students‟ views on content for peer correction .12 : Mean scores of students‟ views on content for peer correction.13 : Percentages of teachers‟ response on time to handle peer correction .14 : Percentages of students‟ response on time to handle peer correction .16 :Mean scores of students‟ response on correction of their peer .17: The frequency of item 17 .18: The frequency of item 18 .19: Mean scores of some difficulties for teachers to handle peer correction .20: Frequency of time constraint for peer correction in writing classes .21: The frequencies and percentages of item 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 of the questionnaire for teacher .22: Some difficulties for students to use peer correction .23: Mean scores of some difficulties for students to use peer correction44 Table 4.24: The frequencies and percentage of item 21,22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 of the questionnaire for students.25:Teacher‟ opinion about some suggestions to handle peer correction 48 Table 4.26: Mean scores of teacher‟ opinion about some suggestions to handle peer correction .27: Students‟ opinion about some suggestions to use peer correction .28: Mean scores of student‟s opinion about some suggestions to use peer correction. 51 LIST OF ABBREVIATION HUCFL : Hue University College of Foreign Languages EFL : English as a foreign language ABSTRACT This thesis studied issues relating to an investigation into the use of peer correction in teaching and learning at Hue University College of Foreign Languages. In that process, it attempted to demonstrate teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions on the use of peer correction in teaching and learning in English classrooms, and including the current situation of implementation of peer correction.
Besides, the study tried to give some suggestions that are useful for students to improve peer correction in writing classes and be able to enhance their writing skill. The data collection tools consisted of questionnaire and interview. The data collected were run using the reliability analysis of SPSS. Data analysis involved interpretative, qualitative and quantitative methods.
The participants for this study included 20 EFL teachers and 60 second- year EFL students at HUCFL and the data was collected mainly through questionnaires. In addition, the interviews were carried out by 15 second-year EFL students who are currently studying at HUCFL in order to help confirm the results collected through tape-recording and note-taking. The results from the study showed that teachers and students were aware of the importance of peer correction. In addition, showing the current situation of implementation of peer correction will motivate teacher to find out the best teaching methods in order to help student enhance their study.
Based on the findings, suggestions were given toward teacher and learner so that applying peer correction in teaching and learning can be enhanced in order to improve one of the four important skills- writing skill. Background of the study Newly-required skills from learners make language teaching and learning shift its trend from traditional approach to communicative approach, especially from teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach. Meanwhile, the English proficiency of Vietnamese students even at the university level is often less than satisfactory. Class size, time constraints and compulsory curricula at high schools might be the obstacles of enhancing students‟ writing skill in a student- centered learning context.
Parallel to this, lacking of opportunities of receiving feedback from both teachers and peers may result in the limitation of student‟s writing development. “Mastering the skill of L2 writing is a long and complex process, as it involves such a variety of difficulties and complexities that even experienced writers would find the work laborious” (Trimmer, 1995, p. Therefore, there is a necessity to develop students‟ writing in the context of communicative language learning. It is widely recognized that second language writing instructions also evolved from the traditional product-oriented approach to the process writing approach over the last three decades.
To help students with this process, a commonly used strategy that allows for the intervention of others students as collaborators is peer correction. Through peer correction, students have a precious opportunity to read their peers‟ writing, making some suggestions and 1 simultaneously, receive further improvement for his or her writing from them. This contributes to developing their critical thinking skills and encouraging autonomous learning among students. While the implementation of peer correction in native speakers composition courses work well, its application in L2 classroom has not meant automatic success (Nelson and Murphy, 1993).
With respect to peer correction, many ESL/ EFL teachers deem peer interview a effective strategy in enhancing students‟ writing, whereas some are reluctant to make use of it. They may be suspicious of the students‟ ability to respond to their peer‟s writing. Likewise, second language learners may doubt the value of their peers‟ responses. As a matter of fact, they hesitate to incorporate their peers‟ suggestions while revising.
In Vietnam, where English is a foreign language, students are mainly taught “functional writing” rather than “creative self-expression” in English (Harris, 1993). Students have few chances to increase their creativity as well as ability in analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and critique. That‟s the reason why peer correction should be involved in writing skill development as an effective strategy for students to utilize. Although many researchers have examined the implementation of peer correction in the writing class and recognized the positive side of this strategy, the gap what teacher and student think about peer correction, and how peer correction is used in teaching and learning writing in foreign language classrooms in Vietnam still left open.
Thus, the researcher would like to conduct the study whose purposes are to investigate teachers‟ and students‟ 2 perceptions about peer correction and explore the use of peer correction in teaching and learning writing skill entitled “An Investigation into the Use of Peer Correction in Teaching and Learning Writing Skill at Hue University College of Foreign Languages”. The scope of the study The study was carried out at Hue University College of Foreign Languages. In this study, 20 English teachers and 60 second-year English students who come from 3-4 writing classes were invited to take part in completing 80 copies of the questionnaire. Among them, 15 students were interviewed later to get more information and validate the informants‟ responses.
Objectives of the study The thesis is aimed: - To find out the perceptions of teachers and students towards peer correction in writing class. - To find out the problems students often encounter when they deliver a presentation. - To recognize the effectiveness of peer correction in improving the student‟s writing assignment. - To suggest some useful ways of developing peer correction to improve student‟s writing ability.
Significance of the study Through this study, I put my hope in EFL teachers and second-year EFL students at HUCFL to realize that peer correction is a significant and effective technique in teaching and learning writing. From this point of view, it is expected that a positive learning environment will be created to enhance the efficiency of peer correction in writing classes. What are teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions about peer correction in teaching and learning writing? 2. What is the current situation of the use peer correction in second-year writing classes at HUCFL? 3.
What recommendations can be made to make the use of peer correction as an effective strategy in writing classes? 1. Structure of the study This study consists of five chapters Chapter 1: Introduction: This chapter introduces general information of the research consisting of background, the reason, the aims, significance and the scope of the study. Chapter 2: Literature review: Chapter two presents relevant background theories as well as the researcher‟s views. Chapter 3: Research methodology This chapter presents the information related to methods used in the research such as methodology, participants, and procedures of the research and data collection.
Chapter 4: Finding and Discussion: This chapter includes the analysis of data collected during research. The data collected will be analyzed to answer the research questions of the research paper. Chapter 5: Conclusion: Chapter five summarizes the results of the study. Additionally, it suggests some implications for teachers and students.
It also recommends some unanswered problems for further reading. 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Theories of English writing skill 2.1 English writing skill Writing is a skill essential for a person‟s thinking development.