VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ******************* CHU THỊ THÙY CHI “PEER COLLABORATION” IN DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS AMONG GRADE 10 STUDENTS IN AN UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN (“Hợp tác đồng cấp” nhằm phát triển kĩ năng viết của học sinh khối 10 tại một trường THPT tại Hưng Yên) Field : English Teaching Methodology (applied program) Code : 8140231.01 HANOI – 2019 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ******************* CHU THỊ THÙY CHI “PEER COLLABORATION” IN DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS AMONG GRADE 10 STUDENTS IN AN UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN (“Hợp tác đồng cấp” nhằm phát triển kĩ năng viết của học sinh khối 10 tại một trường THPT tại Hưng Yên) Field : English Teaching Methodology (applied program) Code : 8140231. Vu Hai Ha HANOI – 2019 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not be accomplished without the enormous encouragements from my professors, colleagues, students, and my family. I want to show my true gratitude to Dr. Vu Hai Ha.
As my supervisor and instructor, he has always been patient and careful in giving me guidance towards my study and has taught me precious lessons in life. I would like to acknowledge my colleagues and friends who are always willing to support me. I also give special thank to my parents, my younger sister and my younger brother who have always been by my side and helped me overcome difficulties. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank my husband who has always motivated me and filled me with love, warmness, and hope.
i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I declare that the thesis entitled “Peer collaboration in developing writing skills among grade 10 students in an upper-secondary school in Hung Yen” is my own work in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master at Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University. Except for quotations and citations which have been acknowledged, this thesis does not contain published materials and credited thesis. CHU THỊ THÙY CHI ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT Although collaboration in writing has been used in foreign language classrooms because of its effectiveness, very few studies have been carried out to examine learners‟ perception of this process. The aims of the study are to investigate the performances of peer collaboration and how it affects developing writing skills through the students‟ perspective.
This case study was conducted in an upper secondary school in Hung Yen with 45 grade 10 students in a class. The data of the research was collected by means of observations and interviews. The results illustrated a lot of ways in which peer collaboration was applied in writing lessons. Besides, this study also revealed the students‟ perspective about the benefits they enjoyed as well as the difficulties they encountered.
Most students agreed that peer collaboration had positive impacts on expanding knowledge and improving skills for students. However, it was unavoidable that there were still some drawbacks, especially in terms of personal and interpersonal ones. Keywords: writing, peer collaboration iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .i DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iv LIST OF TABLES .vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 Rationale for the study .2 Aims and objectives of the study .4 Significance of the study.
4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Writing and teaching writing in ELF .2 Peer collaboration in EFL .3 The way(s) peer collaboration can be carried out in writing lessons .4 The benefits of peer collaboration in writing.5 The drawbacks of peer collaboration in writing .2 Writing skills for Grade 10 students in Vietnam .3 Review of previous related studies and gap for research .1 Research paradigm and research design. Research setting and participants. 21 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.2 Data collection procedure. 26 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Response to Research question 1 .2 Response to Research question 2 .3 Response to Research question 3 .1 Recapitulations of main findings .3 Research limitations and future research .yen TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.yen LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The comparison between process writing and product writing.
8 Table 2: The summary of the previous studies. 17 Table 3: The summarized findings of Research question 1. 40 Table 4: The summarized findings of Research question 2. 41 Table 5: The summarized findings of Research question 3 .yen TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.yen CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This introductory chapter presents the rationale for the study, the scope and the significance of the study.
Besides, the researcher demonstrates three questions as well as indicates the aims and objectives of the study.1 Rationale for the study Nowadays, English is becoming more and more popular in international communication. It is not only expressed in speaking but also performed in writing. Obviously, writing plays a very important role in many aspects of life. However, writing skill is primarily taught by applying some certain forms based on the teacher‟s instructions.
Apparently, the traditional approach has not fully encouraged and developed students‟ creativity yet because most of their writings depended on available and similar ideas in an outline. Therefore, it is necessary to find a beneficial approach through which both teachers and students care to promote the quality of writing lessons. According to Nunan (1992), educators tended to change from the traditional teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered one and they hoped to create an equal environment for teachers as well as students to work. In addition, integrated skills were considered a noticeable trend which was expected to bring innovation in English learning and teaching.
Students not only created writing products but also improved their language competence through peer collaboration. Indeed, collaborative learning has existed for a long time in new education in the world. Shehadeh (2011) indicated that collaborative work was internationally popular in teaching and learning the second language. The writer also assumed that learning in collaboration could help students develop writing skill, gain more experience as well as improve other skills.
Moreover, Storch (2005) pointed out that cooperation in writing could support students to promote social interaction, especially in communication. Writing was no longer an individual process because it could be carried out by teammates. As a consequence, writing lesson could be more active 1 (LUAN.yen TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.yen and interactive through collaborative activities because students had more opportunities to express their opinions as well as exchange their ideas to make their products better. Collaboration was believed to become advantageous in the development of teaching and learning a foreign language.
Actually, the positive impacts of collaborative writing were investigated by a lot of researchers. For example, teachers found an effective technique to apply in writing classes (Al-Nafiseh, 2013). On the other hand, students expanded their knowledge by learning from others and they supported each other to finish the tasks (Dobao, 2013). Peer collaboration created a beneficial opportunity for all members of the group to improve important skills such as problem-solving, motivation and self-study.
In short, collaborative writing, especially peer collaboration was used as an effective supporting tool in teaching and learning English. Although the application of peer collaboration has been explored in some studies, it was not common to apply this process to real lessons. Apparently, teachers still preferred traditional teaching approaches because teaching writing based on tasks in the textbook was more popular. However, learner-centered approach is becoming more and more attractive since students want to improve their skills and enhance their knowledge through peer interaction in classes.
Students are expected to develop their integrated skills instead of the only one. As a result, teachers need to change to make learning environment more active and interactive. One of the most appreciated suggestions was designing writing activities through peer collaboration. This study was supposed to investigate some real experiences of applying collaboration in teaching and learning English writing.2 Aims and objectives of the study With the expectation that students‟ writing skill could be improved by using peer collaboration, this study was carried out to explore how collaborative writing activities have impacts on writing teaching and learning process.
In addition, it also explored the students‟ perspective on the application of writing collaboration.yen TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.yen achieve these goals, the researcher had to study grade 10 students in an upper- secondary school in Hung Yen based on three main points: (1) to look for the ways in which peer collaboration is performed in writing classes; (2) to examine students‟ perspective on collaborative writing and (3) to search for the disadvantages and drawbacks of this collaborative process in writing lessons. Consequently, a case study was conducted among grade 10 students in an upper-secondary school in Hung Yen to achieve the purposes mentioned above.3 Research methodology Focusing on one case targeting students of grade 10 in a upper-secondary school in Hung Yen, this research aims to examine students‟ perception of peer collaboration. To achieve the objectives, this investigation determines the answers to the three following questions: 1) In what way(s) is peer collaboration carried out to develop writing skills for grade 10 students in an upper-secondary school in Hung Yen? 2) What benefits do students gain from this process as perceived by them? 3) What are the drawbacks of this process as perceived by the students? 1.4 Significance of the study This research is expected to be beneficial to both teachers and students. Firstly, students can experience and identify the advantages and disadvantages of learning writing collaboratively.
In other words, they can develop their writing skill based on the effect of this process. Secondly, they can solve common problems and avoid mistakes in cooperative learning. Additionally, this study is regarded as a reference for teachers who want to adjust their teaching style. They can find a better ways of teaching from the benefits and drawbacks of peer collaboration.
Moreover, the reflections of students‟ perspectives are also necessary for teachers to make the lesson more accomplished. Last but not least, the research‟s result can be helpful and beneficial in teaching and learning a foreign language as well.yen TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.5 Structure This study contains five chapters. The references and appendices are as follows. Chapter 1: Introduction This is a brief description of the research.
It also introduces the goals and the questions of the research as well as indicates the significance of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter supplies the background knowledge of the writing theories including the definition, the importance and some techniques of writing teaching. The overview of peer collaboration is illustrated through the definitions, the types and the impacts on writing teaching and learning. Besides, the relevant previous studies are mentioned to indicate the approach of the study.
Chapter 3: Methodology The chapter describes the strategy and methodology used in the study. It also concludes the method of data collection and the information related to the analysis. Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion This chapter presents and analyzes the data collected from the interviews of teachers and students as well as students‟ writings. After that, the information is evaluated to lead the discussion.
Chapter 5: Conclusions All the main issues are summarized to give conclusions. In addition, some certain limitations of this study are pointed out. Last but not least, the recommendations are provided for further research.6 Summary The first chapter was the introduction of the study. In this chapter, the rationale for the research was described.
Besides, the author presented main objectives and three research questions. The study was expected to be helpful for both teachers and students, so the significance of the study was mentioned clearly. Finally, the structure part provided the design of the study.yen TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.