Peer feedback perceptions and practice in efl tertiary writing classes a study at bac lieu university

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - TRUONG THI NHU Y PEER FEEDBACK PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICE IN EFL TERTIARY WRITING CLASSES: A STUDY AT BAC LIEU UNIVERSITY Major: English Language Course code: 60220201 HO CHI MINH CITY, October/ 2020 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - PEER FEEDBACK PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICE IN EFL TERTIARY WRITING CLASSES: A STUDY AT BAC LIEU UNIVERSITY Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language Course code: 60220201 By TRUONG THI NHU Y Supervised by LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, October/ 2020 The thesis entitled Peer Feedback Perceptions and Practice in EFL Tertiary Writing Classes: A Study at Bac Lieu University was successfully defended and approved on November 5th, 2020 at Hochiminh City University of Technology (HUTECH) Academic supervisor: ……………………………………………………………… (full name, title, signature) Examination Committee Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D Chair Duong My Tham, Ph.D Reader Nguyen Dang Nguyen, Ph.D Reader Tran Quoc Thao, Ph.D Member Dinh Van Son, Ph.D Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair (full name, title, signature) HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE HCMC, October 8th, 2020 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: Truong Thi Nhu Y Sex: Female Date of birth: 21/04/1991 Place of birth: Bac Lieu Major: English Language Student code: 1741900091 I- Thesis title: Peer Feedback Perceptions and Practice in EFL Tertiary Writing Classes: A Study at Bac Lieu University II- Objectives and contents: The current study aims at (1) discovering how peer feedback is used in the EFL writing classes at Bac Lieu University (BLU) and (2) finding out the teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards the advantages and disadvantages of peer feedback in the EFL writing class at BLU 97 English-majored students and teachers were involved in this study Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations The findings revealed that peer feedback was employed in four writing classes and that it is beneficial for students in terms of self-reflection promotion, confidence and motivation development, writing competence improvement and improvement of skills in providing feedback Furthermore, peer feedback is considered to be time-consuming and less reliable than those of teachers III- Starting date: 30/03/2020 IV- Completing date: 15/09/2020 V- Academic supervisor: Le Van Tuyen, Ph D ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR (full name, signature) FACULTY DEAN (full name, signature) i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: PEER FEEDBACK PERCETIONS AND PRACTICE IN EFL TERTIARY WRITING CLASSES: A STUDY AT BAC LIEU UNIVERSITY In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology Ho Chi Minh City, October 2020 TRUONG THI NHU Y ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, TRUONG THI NHU Y, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses Ho Chi Minh City, October 2020 Signature TRUONG THI NHU Y iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mr Le Van Tuyen, Ph D for his invaluable support, useful guidance and accurate comments I am truly grateful to his advice as well as suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only in its formative phase Without his help, thus thesis paper could hardly been finished I would also like to send my gratefulness to lecturers of HUTECH teaching staff and Post-graduate Institute for their tirelessly devoting lessons and supports to enrich my knowledge over the past two years I would also express my gratitude to teachers of English division at Bac Lieu University for their constructive and insights responses and continuous support as well as great assistance for this paper Especially, I am grateful to the students in four classes for their actively and enthusiastically taking part in completing writing tasks and answering the survey questionnaire and interview Lastly, my special thanks go to my friends and my family who have been by my side and encouraged me a lot so that I could complete my study iv ABSTRACT English is now an international language that is used worldwide for numerous purposes To be proficient at English language, a person needs to master English language skills Among the four English skills, for ages, writing has been considered the most challenging for not only natives but also for non-native English students Vietnamese students are of no exception At Bac Lieu University (BLU), more specifically, many teaching strategies have been applied to help students overcome obstacles in the process of learning to write English Among these, peer feedback appears to be one of the methods which always attract teachers’ attention This study, therefore, aims at exploring whether peer feedback is employed and find out teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards the use of peer feedback in writing lessons 97 English-majored students and teachers were involved in this study Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations The findings revealed that peer feedback was employed in four writing classes and that it is perceived to be beneficial for students in terms of self-reflection promotion, confidence and motivation development, writing competence improvement and improvement of skills in providing feedback At the meantime, peer feedback is thought to be time-consuming and less qualifying than those of teachers Based on the findings, suggestions for further related research are included as well It is expected that this study will shed light in researching on related field of study at BLU Keywords: EFL, writing skills, peer feedback, perceptions, English-majored students, tertiary level v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III ABSTRACT IV TABLE OF CONTENTS V LIST OF TABLES IX LIST OF FIGURES X LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS XI CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of the problem .3 1.3 Aims and objectives of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study .6 1.7 Definitions of key terms 1.8 The organization of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW .10 2.1 Introduction 10 2.2 Teaching and Learning English Writing Skills .10 2.2.1 Teaching English Writing Skills .10 2.2.2 Learning English Writing Skills 11 2.3 Errors in writing .11 2.3.1 Definitions of errors in writing 11 2.3.2 Types of written errors 12 2.4 Corrective Feedback in Writing .13 2.4.1 Methods of Giving Written Corrective Feedback in Writing 13 vi 2.4.1.1 Explicit / Direct Corrective Feedback 13 2.4.1.2 Implicit / Indirect Corrective Feedback 15 2.4.2 Teacher Corrective Feedback 16 2.4.3 Peer Feedback 18 2.4.4 Practice of peer feedback 19 2.4.5 Self correction 21 2.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Peer Corrective Feedback 22 2.5.1 Advantages of peer corrective feedback 22 2.5.1.1 Students’ self-reflection promotion 23 2.5.1.2 Students’ confidence and motivation development 24 2.5.1.3 Students’ writing competence improvement 25 2.5.1.4 Students’ improvement of skills in providing feedback .26 2.5.2 Disadvantages of Peer Corrective Feedback .27 2.5.2.1 Low reliability of feedback 27 2.5.2.2 Being harmful for friendship 28 2.5.2.3 Being time-consuming 29 2.6 Error Correction Codes 29 2.7 Previous studies .30 2.8 Conceptual Framework 35 2.9 Summary 37 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 38 3.1 Research design .38 3.2 Research site 38 3.3 Sample and sampling procedures 40 3.4 Instruments .42 3.4.1 Classroom observations .43 3.4.2 Questionnaire .43 3.4.3 Interviews 45 3.5 Data collection procedures 46 3.6 Data analysis procedures 48 suggestion In the past, I used to write simple sentences, but now I could learn more how to paraphrase the content in different ways” Applying peer feedback helped me develop the ability to assess and comment my peer texts Giving feedback became easy for me now In previous course in which peer feedback was nor employed, I did not know what peer correction was At present, however, I did.” “Peer feedback helped me enhance the ability to evaluate and comment on my peers’ writings Indeed, giving feedback became easy to me now.” S8: “It was undeniable that what my peer wrote could be beneficial for me regarding ideas Bases on that, I could develop my own work better” S9: “I would absolutely be stupid if I made such mistakes in my coming essays I thought I could avoid repeating it easily” “Up to now, I have become more active when I learn to write because I could realized that working with peers was so exciting Therefore, I also felt more motivated to rewrite the drafts.” I found that my correcting skills were improved because my teacher frequently let us peer correction I know how good the content, grammar, vocabulary were in my peer’s work.” S10: “With peer’s help, I feel more comfortable and relaxed I not feel scared thanks to the fact that my friends replace teacher’s role Therefore, I am interested in interacting with my peers” “Actually, despite thinking too much before I put a line in my essays, the ideas were sometimes clumsy at the end At that time, I felt so confused and I did not know how to change them But my peer did She gave me many useful modification in the content of my essay” “Peer comments helped me improve the quality of my essay a lot I knew more good words to express my ideas as well as grammatical structures to upgrade my texts Hence, I needn’t spend much time thinking about what words should I use Therefore, I was able to complete the task on time” In your opinion, what S1: “Doing peer activities are not suitable with our level We need are the disadvantages of feedback from my teacher.” peer feedback? S2: “I personally think that peer practice contributes to the modern teaching method in writing classes these days Thus, there is no reason that teachers not feel comfortable to give duty of checking mistakes to students because teachers still double check up to give marks at the end” S3: “I feel like I made so many mistakes in my writing drafts I need good correction to improve my work Unfortunately, my peer’s level is at the same as mine So, how can I believe on her feedback? I need more qualifying comments that really help me.” 123 S4: “it’s time consuming to correct mistakes for each other Working with peers lessen the time work with my teacher in class.” S5: “to be honest, peer comments sometimes make me confused because I not know if my peers give correct words.” S6: “We have been friends from the high school and I know him well He will not get angry easily when receiving negative comments on his essays.” S7: “I think it is useless to use peer feedback Even my peer makes more mistakes than I do” S8: “No one can replace the role of teachers in class, especially their feedback, even the best student My peer truly helped me, but I believe in comments from teacher the most.” S9: “Personally, I think peer check is impractical because it happened in chaos atmosphere in which we spend a lot of time just reading and checking for errors Even, it takes more time when my peer and I not reach an agreement on the mistakes That’s a waste of time.” S10: “I not think that my peer is vulnerable after my comments, especially the negative ones In contrast, my feedback is useful for them in terms of grammar and vocabulary.” 124 APPENDIX H EXCERPTS OF TEACHER INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (English version) T1: Teacher 1, T2: Teacher 2, T3: Teacher 3, T4: Teacher Questions Responses What you ask your T1: “To conduct peer correction activities, I required them to correct students to during mistakes in their peer’s writing carefully and avoid arguing during peer feedback session? the session Besides, they were also require to be polite when giving feedback.” T2: I asked them to read their peer’s work carefully and then correct grammar mistakes, spelling, punctuation, etc in their peer’s writing and then asked them to give their own suggestions if possible T3: “I asked them to read their peer’s work carefully and then correct grammar mistakes, spelling, punctuation, etc in their peer’s writing and then asked them to give their own suggestions if possible.” T4: “During peer feedback activity, I asked students to evaluate their peer’s writing based on my feedback checklists Then tick in the box to evaluate their peer’s work Then edit before summiting the final version to me.” In your opinion, what T1: “I realized that students was no longer afraid of rewrite the are advantages of peer drafts Some of them write the drafts over and over until their peers feedback? had no more correction I was so glad to see that student-centered approach was developed” “I could not imagine the benefits of peer feedback regarding vocabulary range development Students mutually helped each other use more synonyms as well as antonyms Hence, the range of vocabulary became more diverse The essays was then much more appreciated.” “Although being able to give corrections to peers, some of the students did peer correction inaccurately.” T2: “My students could help each other correct spelling mistakes quickly and remind their peer of not repeating them in future essays.” thanks to peer feedback, I feel less tired because when peer feedback is applied, the duration for my in-class correction will be reduced Hence, I have more time to focus on other steps in teaching writing I recommend that this teaching techniques should be noticed However, if peer feedback is conducted without careful preparation, teaching process will fail T3: “Spelling mistakes were very common in students’ texts By doing peer feedback activities, they had the ability to recognize and correct them more quickly” “To some extents, I found out that my students feel comfortable and become more active because they had 125 more chances to interact with each other in peer feedback activities rather than in traditional writing activities in which teachers played a more important role in correcting student’s mistakes” T4: “Personally, it seemed to me that peer feedback particularly assisted students to self-correct easy grammar mistakes such as tenses, subject-verb agreement and so on The more they noticed their peer mistakes, the more they knew where their mistake are As a results, they would be able to correct their own ones accurately” “When be conducted seriously, peer feedback developed not only student confidence in writing but also their desire to take part in inclass writing activities” “I was glad to see that my students helped correct grammar mistakes in grammar Although having low level of proficiency, they were still able to give correction on easy grammar features including tense, part of speech, etc I realized that the more they worked with each other, the better grammatical structures they could produce later” “I noticed some developments in the ability to write of students, even those who were at low level They could make their essays more coherent and convincing with more ideas and sentence structures” “During peer activities, I gave them feedback checklist adapted carefully with full of writing components They followed the guidance and did peer comments quite well.” “On the first day when peer feedback was used in class, my students spend much time reading and referring the feedback checklist to find out what was good and what need changing in their peer’s composition Gradually, they got use to this type of correction and evaluated the quality of their peer’ work quickly” In your opinion, T1: “It is undeniable that peer feedback benefited students a lot in what are their learning writing skills and helped them become more motivated disadvantages of in writing essays However, in my class, peer feedback focused only peer feedback? on surface mistakes including grammar, vocabulary and spelling Especially, my students are at low level of proficiency, so their corrections cannot be trusted With those who are weak at grammar, they sometimes transform a grammatical sentence into a wrong one.” T2: “Sometimes my students spend much time on clarifying what they should on their peer’s work, so the time duration for explanation is quite long Even, my students fail to a check because they are lazy Time goes by without any expected results” T3: “Although peers’ comments make students more relaxed rather those of mine, I still suspected the accuracy of the comments they gave to each other.” “In peer feedback practice, students spend time writing their drafts and correcting for each other Sometimes I have to explain what students should again in case they forgot my instructions I have to wait for their completion 126 T4: “Although peer correction among students may make me less tired, their correction must be under careful check to make sure that their comments are correct.” “To be honest, peer check reduce pressure on correction With many classes, I have numerous writing paper to grade Students locate the errors in their peers’ work Thus, I spend less time checking and feel less tired.” 127 APPENDIX I CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Classes Date Writing Criteria Strengths Weaknesses tasks CL1 Write a Peer comparative Feedback May essay about Organization two types of housing 6th Activities - Students are divided in pairs - The teacher instructs student to correct their peer’s work - - - - - - Do not clarify the objective of the activitiesstudents get confused - Instruction of peer correction is not clear - Timing of activities is not suitable, lack of time for students to carry out peer feedback session in class - Lack of feedback checklists The teacher goes over - Without careful the vocabulary related setting of time, the to the topic first activities takes a lot of time Let students brainstorm ideas about the similarities and - She asks students differences between correct their peers dorm life and life at writing without any home criteria of checklists Therefore, students The she asks students often ask her what to write an elements they should introduction paragraph correct on their of the essay in 15 peer’s paragraph minutes individually The she require them to exchange their - Lack of support from paragraph to each teacher other Then asks them to give correction on grammar, spelling, and 128 vocabulary directly of their peer draft - Then she asks them to submit the drafts for her correction - The drafts are returned after her correction - Students cannot finish correction on time - The goal of the lesson is not achieved - The lesson is not much successful in general Students - They seem to be Participation lazy with the & Attitudes activities - Lack of discussion during peer correction - Sometimes there are arguments on the mistakes Peer - Timing of activities is - Training of peer Feedback suitable feedback session is Organization - Good pairs/ groups not clear enough division - Management of peer feedback activities is - Excellent instruction of not good writing tasks - Lack of feedback checklists Outcomes Write an essay May analyzing the factors that lead to success in business 8th CL2 Activities - Teacher first introduces the objectives clearly - She goes over the vocabulary related to the topic - She asks students to brainstorm for ideas 129 CL3 - She asks students to write first drafts - She asks students to exchange the drafts to each other - She asks students to correct grammar mistakes, spellings and punctuation in their friends’ writing - She sets the time for peer correction - She moves around for help - Good task completion Outcomes - The aim is achieved - Students finished correction on time - Students are partly Students active in participating writing tasks Participation - Students are interested & Attitudes in discussing with each other - They shows enthusiasm in correcting their friend’s work - They talk a lot while correcting their friends writing Write an Peer - Students are put to sit 7th essay about Feedback in groups of four a leader you Organization May admire 130 - There are groups in total but not all of them are active - Sometimes they talk about their private things instead of focusing on tasks Lack of checklists feedback Activities Outcomes CL4 Write a descriptive May essay about one of the most popular ceremonies 10th - Teachers asks students - Lack of introduce the to brainstorm the ideas objectives of the in groups on four on lessons the topic of about a - Both the teacher and leader students mainly use - The goes over the Vietnamese (L2) in grammar pattern class included in the chapter - Then asks students to make an outline of the assay - Then she requires students to exchange and check if there are any mistakes in their friend’s drafts If yes, help correct directly of the drafts - Then asks them to write a final version at home and summit to her in the coming lesson - Students finish the activity on time Students - Students are well Participation involved in the activity & Attitudes - They discuss a lot during the correction - Some of them show their enthusiasm to the activity Peer - Students are divided in Feedback pairs Organization - The teacher instructs student to correct their peer’s work - She clarify clearly the objective of the lesson 131 - Not all of them are active in the activity - Some of them not give correction to their friend - They wait for teacher’s help in your country Activities - She asks students to follow her instruction - The delivery of feedback checklists is quick and simple - She manages the class well - The teacher goes over the vocabulary related to the topic first - She asks students to brainstorm ideas about the topic of popular ceremonies in pairs - The asks them to make an outline for the coming essay individually - She goes around to check if the outline is acceptable and the ideas are comprehensive - Then she asks students to write a first draft for the essay in 40 minutes individually based on the outline - Then she begins to conduct peer feedback session in pairs In this activity, she requires students to exchange their drafts to each other Then the feedback checklists are passed to each of students - Then asks them to give correction based on the checklists including organization, content, vocabulary, grammar 132 Outcomes Students and mechanic - She asks them to take notes the correction if possible - Then she asks them to submit the drafts for her check up - The drafts are returned after her correction - The she asks them to edit and revise to make a final version and then submit - Students understand how to give feedback to their friends - The teacher finish the activity on time - The goal of the activity is thus achieved They actively take part in the activity They are interested in discussing and correcting their friend’s draft They find the task satisfying All of the groups get actively involved in the activity They interact with their partner well They show their enjoyment to the activity in general 133 APPENDIX J WRITTEN CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK CHECKLIST (For peer corrective feedback) Adapted from Nguyen, Thi Ha (2016) Feedback provider’s name: _ Feedback receiver’s name: _ 1- poor 2- fair 3- good 4- very good 5- excellent ANSWERS CHECKLIST ITEMS Yes CONTENT The ideas of the essay are relevant to the topic The introduction clearly provide the topic of the essay Each body paragraph contains one main idea The conclusion summarizes the ideas presented in the introduction or give suggestions ORGANIZATION The essay is clearly organized into three main parts: introduction, body and conclusion The essay is written in separate paragraphs 134 No COMMENTS Each body paragraph has a topic sentence Paragraphs are in a logical order Connecting words: and, but, moreover, therefore, etc are used appropriately and smoothly GRAMMAR 10 The essay is written with correct verb tenses 11 The essay is written with correct subject-verb agreement 12 The essay is written with correct sentence structure ( simple, compound, complex) VOCABULARY 13 The essay is written with careful word choice academically 14 Vocabulary is related to the topic 15 Various connecting words/phrases are used 16 Appropriate synonyms or antonyms are used MECHANICS 17 The essay is free of spelling errors 18 The essay is written with correct punctuation 19 The essay is written with correct capitalization 135 APPENDIX K PLAGIARISM CHECKING REPORT Viper Plagiarism Report scan.docx scanned Sep 136 15, 2020 137