VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHAN THỊ NGỌC LỆ ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH PEER ASSESSMENT TRAINING AN ACTION RESEARCH TĂNG CƯỜNG TÍNH TỰ CHỦ HỌC TẬP THÔNG QUA VIỆC HUẤN LUYỆN KỸ NĂNG ĐÁNH GIÁ CHÉO NGHIÊN CỨU TÌM GIẢI PHÁP M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 HANOI – 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHAN THỊ NGỌC LỆ ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH PEER ASSESSMENT TRAINING AN ACTION RESEARCH TĂNG CƯỜNG TÍNH TỰ CHỦ HỌC TẬP THÔNG QUA VIỆC HUẤN LUYỆN KỸ NĂNG ĐÁNH GIÁ CHÉO NGHIÊN CỨU TÌM GIẢI PHÁP M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 HANOI – 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES Acknowledgement. ii List of tables, charts, and abbreviations. vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study.
Aims and objectives of the study. Significance of the study. Methodology of the study. An overview of the rest of the chapter.
6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Concept of learner autonomy…………………………. The importance of learner autonomy in learning. Components of Learner Autonomy.
Learning attitudes and motivation. Definition of Peer Assessment. Advantages of Peer Assessment. Disadvantages of Peer Assessment…………………….
Training students for Peer evaluation…………………. Peer evaluation and the teacher………………………… 21 2. 23 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Previous studies on Peer assessment and Learner Autonomy 25 2.
Review of related studies worldwide. Review of related studies in Vietnam. Rationale for Action Research Design. Design of the study.
Sampling of Test and Questionnaire Phases…………… 37 3. Sampling of Interview Phase…………………………… 38 3. Data collection instruments. Procedure of data collection.
Methods of data analysis. Procedure of data analysis. Step 1: Transcribing the interviews. Step 2: Classifying the data.
Step 3: Interpreting the data. 47 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4. Learner – centered approach in writing. Metacognitive strategies in writing.
Major findings of the study. Expected outcomes and contributions of the study. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. 80 REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaire English version Appendix 2: Questionnaire Vietnamese version Appendix 3: Interview Questions - English version Appendix 4: Interview Questions - Vietnamese version Appendix 5: Transcription of Interview Appendix 6: Peer Evaluation Sheet Appendix 7: Samples of Writing vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND ABBREVIATIONS TABLES PAGES Table 1: A summary of the students‘ background………… 38 Table 2: Profiles of participants in phase two…………… 39 Table 3: Advantages of Peer Assessment………………… 51 Table 4: Disadvantages of Peer Assessment…………….
60 CHARTS Chart 1: Simple Action Research Model…………………. 32 Chart 2: Detailed Action Research Model………………. 33 Chart 3: Results of Pre – Test and Post – Test…………… 48 Chart 4: Learning Strategies Related Benefits…………… 52 Chart 5: Attitude and Motivation Related Benefits………. 55 Chart 6: Self- esteem Related Benefits…………………….
56 ABBREVIATIONS USSH: University of Social Sciences and Humanities HULIS: Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi FIS: Faculty of International Studies EFL: English Foreign Language vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction This initial chapter outlines the research problem and rationale for the study as well as its scope and significance. More importantly, the aims and objectives are highlighted with three research questions to provide guidelines for the whole research. Finally, the chapter concludes with an overview of the rest of the paper, serving as a compass to orientate the readers throughout the research. Identification of the problem and rationale for the study Learner autonomy has been a central theme in educational debate over the last thirty years.
In mainstream education, there has been a paradigmatic shift away from teacher-centred learning towards more individualized or participative models of the learning process, and trends in language teaching have mirrored the developments in mainstream educational practice (Nunan, 2000). In EFL, moves towards greater learner independence have been advocated for both practical and pedagogical reasons, with a view to offering greater flexibility of timetable and syllabus, while making learning more learner-centred, more motivating and more efficient (Dickinson, 1987). According to Benson & Voller (1997), ―learning is more effective when learners are active in the learning process, assuming responsibly for their learning and participating in the decisions which affect it‖. Furthermore, autonomous learning becomes increasingly necessary to university students as Malcolm and Rindfleisch (1998, p.2) have pointed out in their study ―students arrive at university with the potential to be autonomous in their learning‖.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com It is clear that one of the areas that have the greatest potential for adopting learner autonomy is writing (McCarthy, 1990, p. In any educational settings, writing constitutes a very important factor. As a productive skill, writing requires the learners to have profound knowledge to produce a standard written product. Writing in general has a very important role in society (Tribble, 1996; Martin, 1985).
However, writing is not as easy for the learners to acquire as the speaking skill. It also takes a long time to have a habit of writing the targeted language and many learners have failed to master this skill. This failure can be attributed to many reasons, one of which is possibly the attitudes and responsibility of students in practicing writing autonomously. On the one hand, it is recently agreed among language teachers and researchers that making mistakes and committing errors are inevitable parts of learning a foreign language, especially in one productive skill like writing.
In the past, students often made assumptions that evaluations of their errors made by teachers are more accurate, which may not always be true (Orsmond & Merry, 1996). Falchikov and Goldfinch (2000) raised concerns about the potential bias of teacher assessment. Since teacher assessment is not always the most valid method, it would be more appropriate to triangulate learning achievement via different sources such as peer assessment. In other words, studying writing in their own by checking errors among peers is required for all learners.
Undoubtedly, peer assessment has received much attention in recent years due to the growing focus on learner independence and autonomy. Despite the growing popularity of peer assessment, this idea is still novel to most English teachers and students in Vietnam where traditional assessment is still dominant. Universities put emphasis on measuring learning achievement and knowledge through tests (i. multiple-choice, essays, short-answer tests and the like).
Alternative 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com assessment methods such as portfolios, interviews and journals are not widely used in language classrooms. Besides this problem, students' grades are usually determined solely by the judgment of teachers. In this case, the assessment culture is quite narrow in the sense that teachers do not collect diverse sources of learning samples as some researchers (Huba & Freed, 2000; Shohamy, 1992) recommended and students have no say regarding their assessments. In the research area, a relative large body of research has been done on learner autonomy, writing and peer assessment which can be named here as Nunan (2000), Dickinson (1987), Holec (1981), Trinh (2008), and so on.
However, a few of those have examined into the close relationship between peer assessment and autonomy in writing learning, and it seems that none leaves room for specific enquiring into the difficulties that students encounter when learning writing autonomously. At the Faculty of International Studies, writing is often taught integrated with other international issues and the task of checking errors is left to students. Therefore, the role of learner autonomy in learning writing is always put at one of the top goals in the course syllabus for FIS – USSH students. However, the research interest among the university teaching staff and students has seemingly moved away from this field.
At the Department library where research papers in English are kept, no lecturers‘ research on peer assessment as well as writing skill can be found. This fact has inspired and urged me to conduct this study in an attempt to explore the possibility of enhancing learner autonomy through peer assessment training. The guiding hypothesis of this study is that training students in peer assessment would empower them in the learning process so that they can become independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Aims and objectives of the study The study aims at identifying the possible impact of peer assessment on the students‘ writing performance towards independent learning as well as the role that teachers play in this process. Furthermore, I wanted to gain deeper insights into the aspects of learner autonomy that peer assessment training fail to promote and more importantly the reasons that lead to this failure. From this investigation, I wanted to examine the relationship between peer assessment training and learner autonomy. These aims could be achieved by finding answers to the three following research questions: 1.
To what extent does the training of peer assessment in writing help learners become independent learners? 2. What aspects of learner autonomy does peer assessment training fail to promote? 3. Why does peer assessment training fail to promote those aspects of learner autonomy? 1. Significance of the study As the study is finished, it is expected to be of great benefit for the target population, their teachers, and other researchers interested in the topic.
To begin with, as the current research into the area of using peer assessment to promote students‘ autonomy in writing is highly limited, this study will partly fill the gap in the literature and serve as a reliable source of reference for other researchers who share an interest in related issues. Furthermore, the researcher also hopes this study can, to some extent, raise the awareness of students of their own difficulties and perception on the benefits of learner autonomy to their English learning process in general, and to their writing learning in particular. Besides, the 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com researcher wants to suggest one new kind of assessment method among to develop their autonomy in writing learning and ultimately to expand their lexical knowledge. After all, it is the students that play the most decisive role in their success in learning English in general, and writing in particular.
Methodology of the study To meet the objectives of the study, both qualitative and quantitative approaches are exploited. Pre - Test and Post – Test, student survey questionnaire and interviews are the main research tools. Pre – test and Post – test are given to subjects to complete in Week 3 and Week 9 of the schedule to see whether they made a progress in improving their mistakes in writing through giving and receiving assessment from their peers or not. Survey questionnaires are employed to obtain information from the 20 students.
The language of the questionnaires is simple English so that the participants can easily answer. The terminologies when presented in the questionnaires are immediately followed by their definitions. Besides, instructions as well as explanations of key terms are clearly given in advance, and the researcher was always ready to answer any questions. Meanwhile, semi-structured interviews are conducted among seven students to triangulate the data collected from the tests and questionnaires and to gather further information about their thoughts and expectations.
The language used is Vietnamese so as to make the respondents most comfortable and, therefore, they will provide reliable information. All the interviews are recorded with the respondents‘ permission. Also, notes are taken when necessary to record important non-verbal behaviors. 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Lastly, the data collected are analyzed to address the research questions.
Tables, charts and diagrams are used for clearer presentation and comparison.