VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY—HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE EFFECTS OF USING QUIZALIZE TO GIVE CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature By TA THI XUAN THANH Supervised by TRAN THI MINH PHUONG, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2022 ABSTRACT The rapid development of technology has resulted in its presence in many classrooms. Over time, it has proven to be useful and convenient, especially in saving labor. A simple search will show hundreds, or even thousands, of language learning websites with eye-catching interface and engaging activities that teachers can make use of in the classrooms.
Although there are go-to websites that are used by most teachers, it is also interesting to be bold once in a while and give the new ones a try. Quizalize is one such website that provides really helpful and thorough analysis of learners’ work that teachers can use for feedback. For that reason, this current research sets out to examine Quizalize’s effects on learners when used to give feedback in grammar lesson to see whether it can leave a good impression on learners and improve their grammatical competence. The study was conducted with teenagers as participants, seeing that these young learners are the best candidates for trying out a new technological tool.
Data was collected through a set of pre-test and post-test, questionnaire and group interview. Research analysis revealed that the participants’ test results improved significantly after using Quizalize for feedback. Although some concerns were raised about the simple design and limited activities of the website, the overall attitude was still positive and most learners supported the use of Quizalize in future lessons. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1.1 Background to the study .2 Aims of the study .3 Scope and limitation of the study .4 Significance of the study.1 Using corrective feedback in teaching grammar .2 Using Quizalize in language teaching .1 Using technology in language teaching .2 Using Quizalize in language teaching .1 What is Quizalize? .2 Functions of Quizalize .3 Role of the study .2 Research site and participants .1 Pre-tests and post-tests .2 Questionnaire and group interview .4 Data collecting procedure .5 Data analysis scheme .1 Analyzing pre-test and post-test data .2 Analyzing questionnaire and group interview data.
RESULTS AND FINDINGS .1 Results related to learners’ change in grammatical competence after using Quizalize .2 Findings related to learners’ attitudes towards receiving feedback through Quizalize .1 Learners’ attitudes towards Quizalize .2 Learners’ attitudes towards their performance. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. 53 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Types of corrective feedback and their characteristics (adapted from Lyster & Ranta, as cited in Sauro, 2009) .1 Research Process for Experimental group and Control group .3 Learners’ technological experience and habits .4 Format of the pre-test and post-test .1 Pre-test and post-test scores of the two groups .2 Mean comparison between the pre-test results of the two groups .3 Mean comparisons between the pre-test and post-test results within each groups .4 Mean comparisons between the post-test results of the two groups .5 Learners attitude towards Quizalize (questionnaire) .6 Learners attitude towards Quizalize (group interview) .7 Learners’ attitude towards their performance (questionnaire) .8 Learners attitude towards their performance (group interview). 40 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Quizalize’s main result analysis.
INTRODUCTION In this chapter, background information on the study is presented. This includes the context of this research as well as the researcher’s personal motivation which led to this study and what it aims to achieve.1 Background to the study Learning can happen under many circumstances, not exclusively when we are taught something. In learning languages, we learn when we are introduced new things, when we are given instructions and explanations that can help us understand and reproduce in the future. However, no one can learn just from reading rules, learners need to go through a lot of practicing and polishing to make them truly fluent.
As learners practice what they learned, making mistakes is inevitable. However, with their limited ability, learners cannot judge their own performance with certainty or justice (Ibrahim, MacPhail, Chadwick, & Jeffcott, 2014). What they need is convenient and appropriate feedback to help them realize their own mistakes so that they can make adjustments later. Teachers’ duty is to know what and where learners need help with so that they can provide feedback appropriately, thus the need for regular assessment.
Both types of assessment, either summative or formative, are both beneficial, and we can base on our purpose to choose which one to use. Summative assessment usually comes at some important point or at the end of the course in the form of a midterm or final test. This plays the role of a formal assessment which gives teachers proof on how well learners understand what they learned. We also have formative assessment which can take place in every lesson.
Teachers can use different strategies to check for learners’ understanding or simply analyze their work. Based on their performance during practicing, teachers can offer useful feedback to promote student learning (Irons, 2008). 1 In order to be most effective, feedback should be constructive, and not judgmental (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2002). Black and Wiliam (2010) suggest that the point of giving feedback to learners should be to help them improve their work in particular areas without comparing it to other peers.
In cases where teachers cannot provide individual feedback to learners, comments can be given to the whole class while the anonymity of the mistake-maker is still maintained. In modern classrooms, technological tools have been widely applied due to the benefits that they offer to both teachers and students (Sarıca & Çavuş, 2009). For learners, they can get results and comments instantly as they practice, which can save teachers a lot of time for individual assistance. At the same time, it encourages learner autonomy as it puts more control into learner’s hands.
For teachers, these online tools can synthesize and produce an analysis of learners’ performance in real time which they can use as reference for feedback. As an online learning website, Quizalize also provides an interactive environment for teachers and learners. Among its functions, the report feedback especially stands out because it provides thorough analysis of not only the learners’ performance but also their progress throughout the course. Using this data, teachers can help each individual learner better and more effectively.2 Aims of the study This study aims to assess the effects of using Quizalize to give corrective feedback, especially in teaching grammar, to EFL learners by: determining how using Quizalize to give corrective feedback can enhance learners’ grammatical competence; and investigating learners’ attitudes towards receiving corrective feedback through Quizalize 2 In order to achieve the research aims, this study is guided by two research questions: 1.
How does using Quizalize to give corrective feedback improve EFL learners’ grammatical competence? 2. What are learners’ attitudes towards receiving feedback through Quizalize? 1.3 Scope and limitation of the study The participants in this study were 37 EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners in two separate classes. Thus, the results cannot be generalized to represent for a large population. However, the results and conclusions drawn from this research can provide a glimpse into a specific application of technology in teaching grammar.
Other researchers can use this as reference for further academic practices as well. The researcher also acknowledges the fact that the pre-test and post-test results can be affected by many extraneous factors. Students’ prior knowledge, their own effort during the researching period or even luck can affect the validity of the study. These are the elements that the researcher has no control over and accept as is.4 Significance of the study By conducting this study, the researcher can examine the effects of technological applications on both learner performance and learning experience.
While learners can benefit from an alternative method of providing feedback compared to what is normally done, teachers can use the results as reference for future classroom practice. LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 2 will review the key issues concerning the matter being discussed, evaluating major findings and points of views as well as addressing the research gap which the researcher aims to fill.1 Using corrective feedback in teaching grammar Grammar is one of the key concepts in English teaching and learning. As defined by Canale and Swain (1980), grammar is a set of rules that describe a language’s structure and how words and phrases can be combined to make sentences in that language. Many will agree that the purpose of language is to facilitate communication, and in order to communicate effectively, grammatical competence is essential.
To improve that, learners need external input which can come from the explicit teaching session of grammatical rules (O’Neill & Russell, 2019). However, learning through input alone may be difficult for forms that are rare or hard to notice (Suaro, 2009). In such cases, corrective feedback can be used to help learners realize the contrast between their own language output and the target production. Corrective feedback can go by different names, e.
error correction or negative evidence (Karim & Nassaji, 2013). In language learning, corrective feedback refers to the instructor’s reactions to a learner’s mistake, either verbal or nonverbal, implicit or explicit. The use of corrective feedback in second language acquisition (SLA) has long been established. Constructive feedback can serve as a crucial tool to the process of teaching and learning (Al-Hattami, 2019).
In fact, frequent practice and timely feedback can enhance learners’ motivation, seeing that the more they spend time on a subject, the more invested and engaged they become (Marriott, 2009). A study by Russell and Spada (2006) indicates that corrective feedback has a substantial effect and suggests that the benefits are durable. Receiving quality and formative feedback can also allow learners to rate their 4 performance and realize the gaps, thus encouraging development (Ibabe & Jauregizar, 2010). According to Ellis (2009), feedback plays an important part in most kinds of second language learning theories.
In behaviorist and cognitive theories, it contributes to the process of language learning. Whereas in both structural and communicative approaches, feedback presents learners of what is linguistically accurate while nurturing learner motivation. Different language practitioners may give corrective feedback different roles, e. Norris and Ortega (2000) describe feedback as one type of L2 instruction, while Mackey and Goo (2007) consider corrective feedback as a variable that helps interaction become more effective.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of corrective feedback is undeniable. Firstly, corrective feedback prompts learners to notice that something is not right, which is considered the first step of building language (Schmidt, 2001). After that, learners will start to reassess their language to find out what is wrong. For example, using a very common type of corrective feedback like recast, a teacher will restate what the learner has just said, but with the mistake corrected.
Teacher might also apply a change in intonation or stress on the corrected part to emphasize. Upon this, learner will automatically compare their utterance and the teacher’s and realize the difference, thus noticing their mistake. Furthermore, certain kinds of corrective feedback can also help to stimulate L2 processing (Sauro, 2009). For instance, implicit types of feedback, those that do not provide the correct form directly, will require learners to carry out their own processing.
During this process, learners will have to go over what they have learned and what they might have forgot in order to make judgments, and eventually reach a decision that they believe is the correct one. After the confirmation from the teacher, learners can further fossilize or dismiss what they had previously believed accordingly (Chaudron, 1988). This is a higher level than 5 simply noticing and remembering, thus paving way for deeper and more enduring understanding of language. However, there are multiple kinds of corrective feedback to choose from, and the results vary as well.