MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY EFFECTS OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ON WRITING SKILLS AND ATTITUDES OF INTERMEDIATE NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT ENGLISH ZONE CENTER OF HOA SEN UNIVERSITY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by NGUYEN THI THANH HUYEN Supervisor Dr. BUI THI THUC QUYEN Ho Chi Minh City, August, 2016 Tai Lieu Chat Luong STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY I certify that this thesis entitled “Effects of Collaborative Learning on Writing Skills and Attitudes of Intermediate Non-English Major Students at English Zone Center of Hoa Sen University” is my own work. Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material puplished elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Ho Chi Minh, August 2016 Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention of use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses. Ho Chi Minh City, 2016 Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my great appreciation and sincere feelings to all those who have assisted me to fulfill this master’s thesis.
My first deepest gratitude is reserved for my thesis supervisor, Dr. Bui Thi Thuc Quyen who read my thesis with care and patience, gave me insightful comments, enthusiastic guidance and constructive suggestions. I am also grateful to her for her constant encouragement and valuable orientation, especially in challenging moments during the preparation of the research. I would not have finished this thesis without her valuable support both mentally and emotionally.
Besides my supervisor, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my devoted lecturers who taught me a great deal and gave me the inspiration to pursue my profession while I was taking the courses at The Open University. All of their goodness will be engraved on my memory forever. I am also deeply indebted to my parents and my brother who have always supported me, encouraged me when I am down and inspired me throughout the process of completion of the study. I am most grateful to all of my colleagues and staff members of English Zone Center of Hoa Sen University (EZC of HSU) for their helps, comments and encouragement during the time I carried out the research.
Last but not least, I offer my regards and blessings to all students who were willing to participate in my thesis. Without their contribution, the thesis would not have been completed. iii ABSTRACT Collaborative learning (CL) in writing is regarded as an effective method to contribute to the success of learners in writing. A large number of previous studies investigated the use of collaborative learning in writing and showed that collaborative learning in writing had positive effects on learners’ performance.
However, most studies were still uncertain of which aspects of writing skills were improved significantly after applying collaborative learning. Additionally, most of previous studies focused on investigating how collaborative learning in writing affected learners’ writing performance or their attitudes separately, while few studies investigated the effects of collaborative learning in writing on both learners’ writing skills and their attitudes. Also, there is no reseach related to CL in writing carried out at English Zone Center of Hoa Sen University. Therefore, this study is designed to fill these gaps.
In particular, this study aims to investigate the influence of collaborative learning on intermediate non-English major students’ writing skills and their attitudes towards using collaborative learning in teaching writing at EZC of HSU. To fulfill the aims, the quasi-experimental study was carried out from early September to December of the academic year 2015-2016 at the head office of EZC of HSU with the enthusiastic participation of 46 students from two classes (class EGC 2- 2700 and class EGC 2- 1200) of intermediate level. Class EGC 2- 2700 was chosen as the control group which included 14 males and 9 females. Meanwhile, class EGC 2-1200 was chosen as the experimental group which consisted of 16 males and 7 females.
Data collection was from the pre-test, the post-test, the questionnaire, and the interview. The findings of the study revealed that (1) the students in the experimental group had higher significant improvement in writing skills than those in the control group did in terms of organization, mechanics (grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling), and sentence variation and transitions. (2) Most of the students’ perceptions towards collaborative learning in writing were highly positive. Especially, according to them, they highly evaluated its significant contribution to improve their writing performance, motivation, and critical thinking.
Based on the findings, some recommendations were given for the teachers who are interested in applying collaborative learning in writing class to improve students’ writing skills. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY. i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.
v LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS. xi LIST OF ABBREVIATION .xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 Background of the study .2 Statement of the problem .3 Aims of the study .5 Significance of the study .6 Organization of the study. 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Writing teaching and learning .1 Definition of writing .2 Reasons for teaching and learning writing .3 Aspects of writing skill .4 Approaches to teaching writing .1 Definition of collaborative learning .2 Characteristics of collaborative learning .3 Benefits and drawbacks of collaborative learning .3 Teacher’s and learner’s roles in collaborative learning .4 Collaborative learning in writing .4 Teaching material and time distribution for the implement of the material .2 Time distribution for the implement of the material .5 Lesson plans for experimental group and control group .1 Lesson plan for EG .2 Lesson plan for CG .2 Questionnaire for experimental group .7 Procedures of the study .3 Training students of the experimental and control group before the treatment .4 Teaching procedure for the experimental and control group .5 Procedure for conducting the tests .6 Procedure for conducting the questionnaire .7 Procedure for conducting the interview.8 Assessing the writing paper tests .1 Analysis of student’s tests .2 Analysis of student questionnaire .3 Analysis of student interview .10 Reliability and validity .11 Ethical and legal consideration.
61 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION .1 Data analysis and interpretation of tests’ scores (in response to research question 1).1 Independent samples t-test on the pre-test of the control group (CG) and experimental group (EG) .2 Pair samples t-test of control group in pre-test and post-test.3 Pair samples t-test of experimental group in pre-test and post-test .4 Checking assumption about normal distribution of the tests’ scores .2 Data analysis and interpretation of questionnaire (in response to research question 2) .1 Students’ attitudes towards the use of collaborative learning in writing class .2 Students’ suggestions about the use of collaborative learning in writing.3 Analysis of the interview (in response to research question 2). 84 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS .1 Discussion of findings on students’ writing skills (in response to research question 1) 86 5.2 Discussion of findings on students’ attitudes (in response to research question 2) .1 The students’ attitudes towards the positive statements .2 The students’ attitudes towards the negative statements .3 The students’ attitudes towards other statements. 91 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .1 Main conclusions of the study.4 Recommendations for further research. 160 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.1: Structure of the nonequivalent control group design with pretest and posttest .2: Summary of the characteristics of the control group and experimental group….3: Structure of writing part In Supplementary Materials for Reading and Writing book.4: Summary of lesson plan for experimental group .5: Summary of the lesson plan for the control group .6: Schedule for the main stages of the research .7: The teaching schedule for the EG and CG .1: Group statistics on pre-test of control group and experimental group .2: Independent samples t-test on the pre-test of the control group and experimental group .3: Paired samples statistics for control group in pre-test and post-test .4: Results of paired samples test for control group in pre-test and post-test .5: Paired samples statistics for experimental group in pre-test and post-test .6: Paired samples test for experimental group in pre-test and post-test .7: The results of writing performance for organization, content, sentence variation & transitions, vocabulary and mechanics (grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling) .8: Test of normality in the pre-test’s scores of the control group and experimental group .9: Test of normality in the post-test’s scores of the control group and experimental group .10: Students’ attitude towards their writing skills after implementing CL in writing .11: Students’ attitude towards other skills after implementing CL in writing.12: Students’ attitude towards motivation and confidence after implementing CL in writing .13: Students’ attitude towards collective effort and responsibility after implementing CL in writing .14: Students’ attitude towards problem-solving and knowledge exchange after implementing CL in writing .15: Students’ attitude towards academic improvement after implementing CL in writing .16: Students’ attitude towards positive statements after implementing CL in writing .17: Students’ attitudes towards negative statements of collaborative learning in writing .18: Students’ attitudes towards other statements of collaborative learning in writing .19: Students’ suggestions about the use of collaborative learning in writing.
80 x LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Page Figure 2.1: The process of the writing skill by Hedge (1988) ·································· 15 Chart 4.1: Normal distribution of the pre-test’s scores in the control group and experimental group ······································································ 68 Chart 4.2: Normal distribution of the post-test’s scores in the control group and experimental group ····································································· 69 xi LIST OF ABBREVIATION EZC: English Zone Center HSU: Hoa Sen University CL: Collaborative Learning ESL: English as a Second Language EFL: English as a Foreign Language BA: Bachelor of Arts MA: Master of Arts L2: Second language EGC: English for Global Communication EG: Experimental Group CG: Control Group xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The introduction chapter helps lay background information essential for an understanding of the issues discussed in this study. Also, it is established with the framework of the thesis consisting of (1) background of the study (2) statement of the problem, (3) aims of the study, (4) research questions, (5) significance of the study, and (6) organization of the study.1 Background of the study Nowadays, English is an international language and has been playing an important role in many aspects of life such as studying, communicating and entertaining, etc. Therefore, learning English is becoming more importance not only to Vietnamese people but also to people all over the world. As a result, English is considered as a key leading to success in life when English becomes globalized.
Hence, English has become one of the obligatory subjects in most schools in Vietnam. Especially, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in recent years has made an immense effort to reform education system including textbook development and teaching training with the goal of learning English which is focused on how to help learners use English effectively. It means that four English skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing are considered equally important and should be treated equally among learners. As a matter of fact, every skill has its own importance and difficulty that can make it different from other skills.