MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ GRADUATION THESIS A STUDY ON THE ENGLISH-MAJORED SOPHOMORES’ RESPONSES TO PEER REVIEW TECHNIQUE AND THE DIFFICULTIES IN APPLYING THE ACTIVITIES IN THEIR WRITING 2 CLASSES AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY. STUDENT NAME: NGUYEN THI NGOC QUYEN ID NUMBER: 18072531 CLASS CODE: DHAV14E COHORT: 2018-2022 SUPERVISOR NAME: LE THI THUY, M. HCMC, 12/ 2021 MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ GRADUATION THESIS A STUDY ON THE ENGLISH-MAJORED SOPHOMORES’ RESPONSES TO PEER REVIEW TECHNIQUE AND THE DIFFICULTIES IN APPLYING THE ACTIVITIES IN THEIR WRITING 2 CLASSES AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY. STUDENT NAME: NGUYEN THI NGOC QUYEN ID NUMBER: 18072531 CLASS CODE: DHAV14E COHORT: 2018-2022 SUPERVISOR NAME: LE THI THUY, M.
HCMC, 12/ 2021 MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ Student name : NGUYEN THI NGOC QUYEN ID Number : 18072531 Class Code : DHAV14E Cohort : 2018- 2022 Supervisor Name : LE THI THUY, M. Student’s declaration: I declare that this graduation report is entirely my own work and does not involve in plagiarism or collusion. It also has not been accepted as part of a submission to another purpose elsewhere. I accept heavy penalty for any cheating or plagiarism.
Date submitted: 09/12/2021 Signed : ……………………… Word count : 8889 words A STUDY ON THE ENGLISH-MAJORED SOPHOMORES’ RESPONSES TO PEER REVIEW TECHNIQUE AND THE DIFFICULTIES IN APPLYING THE ACTIVITIES IN THEIR WRITING 2 CLASSES AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY. ABSTRACT Writing is an important skill for foreign language learners. However, there are many learners who believe that writing is a tough skill to master and that they dislike it. Peer evaluation is used in Writing 2 class at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City's Faculty of Foreign Languages to enhance the students’ writing ability.
The researcher's goal in this study is to look into the English-majored sophomores’ responses to peer review techniques and the difficulties in applying the activities in their Writing 2 classes at FFL, IUH. Quantitative data were obtained from 232 second-year English majors at the FFL, IUH. In addition, with the permission of the teachers, the researcher decided to observe Writing 2 classes and collect student papers in order to get additional data for the research. According to the findings, the majority of participants recognize the benefits of peer review and wish to continue using it in the future.
However, students still have trouble applying peer review to reviewers and reviewees in the classroom. The major challenge reviewers face when participating in this activity is that they lack English competence, which makes them hesitant to provide input on papers; on the other hand, reviewees complain about the responses they receive, which are often general and even misleading. Finally, the researcher makes some suggestions for assisting students in overcoming obstacles while using peer review in the classroom. Keywords: paragraph writing, peer review, writing skills ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I received a lot of aid and support while writing this thesis, which enabled me to overcome the challenges and stay motivated to finish the study.
First of all, I would like to express my gratefulness to the School Board of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City and the Faculty of Foreign Languages for constantly establishing excellent conditions for my support. Second, I would like to show my thankfulness to my supervisor, Ms. Le Thi Thuy, for energetically guiding me and encouraging me and my team members up when we faced problems. She has consistently and enthusiastically provided good advice and beneficial direction that has enabled me to complete my graduation thesis successfully.
Despite her hectic schedule, she took the time to proofread my drafts and provide helpful feedback. This thesis would not have been feasible without her unwavering support and encouragement. Third, I have the honor of working alongside two of my team's talented members, Le Hoang Phuc and Bui Hoang Phuong Nhi. They are really active and creative, and they are always encouraging me while I work on my graduation thesis.
In addition, I'd like to thank the 232 students in Writing 2 classes who enthusiastically participated in the survey, allowing me to collect extremely reliable data. Last but not least, I am immensely grateful for my family's unconditional love. As I work on my graduation thesis, my parents continually encourage and support me, and it is because of them that I am more eager and motivated. TABLE OF CONTENTS MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE.
INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY. TABLE OF CONTENTS. LIST OF FIGURES. Scope of the study.
3 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW. An overview of peer review. The definition of peer review. The benefits of peer review.
An overview of paragraph writing. Definition of writing. The process of writing. Definition of paragraph.
Applying peer review activity in writing classes. Rubrics for evaluation. The responses of students to peer review activity. Students’ difficulties in applying peer review activity in applying peer evaluation 9 2.
The Impact of Peer Feedback on Improving the Writing skills among Hebron University Students of Mohammed Farrah in 2012. An Investigation of the Effects of Peer Evaluation in Enhancing Algerian Students’ Writing Autonomy and Positive Affect of Samira Moussaoui in 2012. 11 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH DESIGN. Research methodology and research methods.
15 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Students' writing and peer review ability. Students’ perceptions to peer review process. The difficulties of applying peer review activities in writing 2 class.
Students' writing and peer review ability. Students’ perceptions to peer review process. The difficulties of applying peer review activities in writing 2 class. Recommendations for sophomores of FFL in IUH.
41 SUPERVISOR’S EVALUATION FORM. 50 EXAMINER’S EVALUATION FORM. 41 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4. Students’ writing ability Figure 4.
Students’ giving feedback ability Figure 4. Statements about peer review Figure 4. Teachers give instructions before applying peer review in writing class Figure 4. Level of understanding the teacher's instructions on peer review activity Figure 4.
The way to apply peer review activity Figure 4. Number of people in a group Figure 4. Number of papers that students applied peer review activity Figure 4. Number of comments that students got from their peers Figure 4.
Students’ perceptions about peer review activity Figure 4. Amount of time to giving feedback to a writing Figure 4. Some ways that students do when they check friend’s papers Figure 4. Common errors that students often point out Figure 4.
Confidence level in giving feedback to peers' papers Figure 4. The reasons that students not really confident in giving feedback Figure 4. Common mistakes that peers point out in students’ writing Figure 4. How helpful the feedback is Figure 4.
How often to receive unhelpful feedback Figure 4. The reasons that comments are unhelpful Figure 4. Rewrite the second draft based on peers' feedback Figure 4. Students are polled to see if they want to continue using peer review activity ABBREVIATION IUH: Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages ESL: English as a Second Language L2: Second Language Submitted by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quyen ID number: 18072531 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Supervisor: Le Thi Thuy, M.
1 Submitted by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quyen ID number: 18072531 1. Rationale Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are all essential skills for learning English or any other foreign language, especially English, which is the most widely spoken language on the world. Writing is the most challenging skill for second and foreign language learners to master, and it plays a crucial part in students' development of the four essential language abilities stated above. Besides, high writing ability allows language learners to share their information, ideas, sentiments, convictions, contentions, explanations, and other related information, ideas, sentiments, convictions, contentions, and explanations linked to the issue.
Furthermore, writing abilities enable students to speak with future generations or even past eras through their books, studies, or writings. Unfortunately, a large number of students majoring in English are not aware of the importance of writing ability in their learning. They often get low marks when doing the tests on writing skills and it has an effect on their learning result. Others are having trouble evaluation the writing's errors.
Therefore, receiving feedback on your writings from others is critical. It assists learners in identifying problems in their writing, as well as some recommended adjustments, so that they may rewrite the writing in the most effective. Normally, teachers will be the ones to provide feedback and ideas on students' writing in some current classrooms, however, this still has some challenges. English-majored sophomores at IUH stated that the current class size is quite large, with 45 students per class, making it impossible for the teacher to correct all of the students' writing errors.
Furthermore, students must wait a long time for a response from their teacher, because they teach many classes and it is difficult to give feedback to the students' writing immediately. To address the above problems, the author proposes the application of error correction activities in writing 2. Besides the advantages that this method brings, there are still significant challenges in putting it into practice. Because of the above reasons, this study was carried out to find out the English-majored sophomores’ responses to peer review technique and the difficulties in applying the activities in their Writing 2 classes at FFL, IUH, so that timely suggestions.
Research objectives In this study, the researcher concentrates on applying peer review activities in writing classes of English-majored sophomores at Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city. First of all, the researcher was interested in learning about students' perceptions of peer evaluation in Writing 2 classes at IUH. In other words, the researcher focuses on finding out what learners think about applying peer evaluation in their Writing class. Secondly, the researcher wants to study the obstacles faced by English-majored sophomores when using peer review activities in writing Supervisor: Le Thi Thuy, M.
2 Submitted by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quyen ID number: 18072531 classes. Finally, the author aims to figure out what are the main causes of the difficulties that learners are facing, so that they may better comprehend and take timely suggestions. What is the English-majored sophomores’ perceptions of peer review in Writing 2 classes at IUH? 2. What are the difficulties in applying peer review in Writing classes at IUH? 1.
Scope of the study Because of the researcher's time constraints, circumstances, and abilities, the study has several shortcomings. First of all, due to the emergence of the Covid pandemic, all courses have been forced to move to online learning, which has made it difficult to observe, conduct survey, and collect data. Therefore, through an online survey, the study team was only able to survey 232 English-majoring sophomores. To get further data for the study article, the researchers enlisted the aid of some of the instructors who teach the Writing 2 class by asking permission to observe classes during the weeks of peer review activity; and collecting students' writings.
Moreover, since these evaluation activities must be completed online, there are not many references to this study, compared to traditional peer review in the offline classroom. Although there were still some difficulties, the researcher attempted to conduct the study as efficiently as possible. The author also believes that via these peer review activities, English-majoring sophomores at IUH will be able to improve their writing and peer assessment abilities. Supervisor: Le Thi Thuy, M.
3 Submitted by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quyen ID number: 18072531 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW Supervisor: Le Thi Thuy, M. 4 Submitted by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quyen ID number: 18072531 2.