INTRODUCTION
Research Problem
One of the teaching and learning activities that happens in language courses is correcting written errors Teachers frequently provide written comments on the margins of test papers or give oral feedback to students during activities In language classes, Truscott (1999, as cited in Loewen et al., 2009) argued that
"Error correction was not necessary in second language acquisition (SLA)" (p.92) Furthermore, a number of research demonstrate that students' writing accuracy does not improve with error correction (Polio, Fleck & Elder, 1998, as referenced in Servetti, 2010b, p.8)
Nonetheless, numerous studies have demonstrated the significance of
3 error correction E r r o r m a k i n g a n d c o r r e c t i n g will help students become better at remembering the mistakes and applying what they've learned to prevent repeating those errors later on This process is one of the indispensable activities in the stage of language acquisition Harmer (2007) stated that “Whatever the reason for the students ‘getting it wrong’, it is vital for the teacher to realize that the majority of students make mistakes as a natural part of the learning process
By working out when and why things have gone wrong, students learn more about the language they are studying” (p.96) Several studies demonstrate that error correction exercises actually have a good impact on students' writing correctness and grammar knowledge Liao and Wang's study (2009, p 129) revealed that
“students expressed strong positive attitudes that they want teachers to correct oral grammatical errors, whether it affects communication or not They also look for teacher corrections for their writing They have negative perceptions of teachers who do not correct the errors in their writing” Error correction exercises aid students in refining the form of linguistic structures during the learning process, enabling them to both comprehend how language functions and generate accurate language
In Vietnamese foreign language classes, many teachers worry that correcting errors will make students timid, losing spontaneity and fluency, the opposite of what they are trying to encourage On the one hand, what teachers should do so that error correction on the one hand helps students correct their mistakes and on the other hand, encourages them to continue to willingly use language needs to be concerned Correcting errors, if i t i s allowed learners to correct each other's mistakes, will have the effect of encouraging students to use English rather than worrying about making too many mistakes.
Research aims
Up to now, several studies on Peer Correction to improve writing skills have been made, most of which mainly focus on high levels from high school to university, but are rarely seen in primary and junior high school contexts
Therefore, this study aims to investigate:
+ Examine the effects of using Peer Correction in practice writing skills for grade 6 th students
+ Explore the students’ attitudes toward the use of Peer Correction in writing classes at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School.
Research questions
The following research questions are attempted to be addressed by this research:
1) To what extent, does Peer Correction affect the grade 6 th students’ writing skill at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school?
2) What are the grade 6 th students’ attitudes towards practicing English writing with Peer Correction?
Delimitation
The research is carried out at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School located in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, Vietnam The study mainly focuses on the effectiveness and perspectives of grade 6th students on peer feedback correction activities In this academic school year, the researcher is assigned to teach class 6 at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school, so she would carry out research on students in this grade Accordingly, the boundary of this study research is set within Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school, specifically in two classes of grade 6.
Definitions of terms
Writing: According to Hedge (2005), writing is the production of communication, linking ideas, and information development, or giving arguments to a particular reader or a group of readers
Peer Correction: Peer correction is referred to as peer review, peer feedback, peer editing, peer response, peer evaluation, and peer assessment (Bartels, 2003)
Attitude: is the way that you think and feel about somebody/something;
5 the way that you behave towards somebody/something that shows how you think and feel (Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary, 2016).
Significance of Research
The researcher attempted a group work solution after identifying the issue with the students' English writing ability This allowed the students to participate in error correction exercises and enhance their writing abilities When a remedy positively impacts the learning outcomes of students, the issue is deemed resolved and can be expanded upon and altered for a wider scale The following contributions are anticipated from the research findings:
- For students, the results of this research are hoped to offer them timely support for their effectiveness of learning writing skills Collaborative peer groups can help students reach higher levels of thinking and retain information longer than those working individually regardless of the student's level
- For the teachers, in recent years, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) have introduced and encouraged English teachers to apply the CLT approach (Communicative Language Teaching) in teaching English By implementing this innovation, English Teachers of Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School can, on one side, hopefully, enhance students’ capability of learning English, reduce teacher’s workload in error correction activities and on the other side, meet the Government’s requirement of applying CLT approach rather than traditional ways
- The results of this study can be a reference for other researchers to conduct further research in the field of teaching and learning English writing.
Thesis structure
This study looks at how peer correction affects students' ability to write better The introduction, the literature review, the research methodology, the results and discussion, the conclusion, and the recommendations make up the first five chapters of the thesis framework
The study's background, research problem, objectives, questions,
6 research hypothesis, delimitation, definitions of terms, research importance, and thesis format are all introduced in Chapter 1
Chapter 2 presents a selection of previous literature relating to the study (1) on writing which includes writing skills, writing ability, and writing proficiency; (2) about teaching writing: teaching writing in the world, teaching writing in Vietnam;(3) about error correction consisting of types of errors, written corrective feedback, teacher correction, peer corrective feedback in writing, peer correction in pairs - in groups; (4) about learners: secondary school learners, attitudes; and (5) previous studies on Peer Correction in writing classroom contexts
The research design, instrument and measurement, materials, research site and participants, study procedure, data collection, data analysis, validity, and reliability are all covered in Chapter 3
Chapter 4 presents the data analysis and finding discussion First, it explores the effects of using Peer Correction in written corrective classes by comparing the results of pre- and post-course tests in writing Next, this chapter investigates students’ attitudes towards the use of Peer Correction Finally, the questionnaires as findings of the study are analyzed and discussed to meet the research questions
Chapter 5 emphasizes the findings of the study and provides pedagogical implications for the application of Peer Correction in writing corrective practice to improve students’ writing skills By indicating some limitations of the study, chapter 5 makes recommendations for further research on Peer Correction
The study's background was covered in Chapter 1 before the research problem which was derived from the research environment and relevant literature was provided It then went on to outline the study's objectives, research questions, and research hypotheses The chapter concluded with some definitions of important
7 terminology and finally provided the thesis framework.
LITERATURE REVIEW 8
Writing
Writing, as a skill of output, is one of the four basic skills in English study This skill is considered the heart of academic life and the convenient mode of judging the students’ performance In the current trend in non-English speaking countries, including Vietnam, the term-end exams of English for all grades cover this skill in compulsory sections However, the results of writing tests, up to now, have not met expectations for learners and educators Of the four language skills, achieving the expected results in the written test is an obsession and a challenge for EFL students
Teaching writing is a common language skill for EFL students at all educational levels, but it's especially important for junior high school pupils For students, it is essential as a means of communication (Dombey, 2013; Salma,
Writing is defined by the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary as the process of identifying words that make sense on paper and creating text Further detailing what writing means, according to Nunan (2003), writing is a physical and cerebral act that involves ideation, communication strategy, and developing ideas into sentences and paragraphs that the reader will understand Also in his
9 view, writing is a process and a product in which the writer plans, develops, drafts, revises, edits, and publishes their work with the dual goals of impressing and expressing From a pedagogical perspective, writing is an essential component of a broader activity when the main attention is on something else, such as speaking, acting out, or practicing language (Harmer, 2007)
According to Rajesh (2017), having writing skills allows one to put their ideas and emotions on paper Written versions, according to Brown et al (2003), frequently come via thought, drafting, and revision processes that call for particular abilities that not all speakers are born with Writing is one of the four language acquisition skills that Richards and Renandya (2002) find to be the most challenging for students to acquire Harmer (2001) contends that writing should not be viewed as a merely useful talent It includes the pre-writing, while-writing, and post-writing phases of a three- stage discovery process More precisely, Lindsay and Knight (2006) postulated that the pre-writing phase included data collection, outline design, and brainstorming Students write throughout the while-writing phase, either alone or in groups, on projects like stories, reports, letters, etc Teachers check in with students' work during the post-writing phase and give adequate comments on how well their work has developed These phases support students' writing process and assist them in effectively completing the writing assignment
The concepts of "Texts-as-discourse" and "Texts-as autonomous object" assert the definition of writing capacity According to Nunan (1999), writing competence is defined as "the ability to adhere to style-guide prescriptions concerning grammar, arrangement, and punctuation" (p.59) by teachers and scholars who support the idea that texts can be viewed as autonomous objects Discourse analysts have later disputed this concept of "Texts-as-autonomous object," or the Product-based approach (Nunan, 1999), arguing that their
10 perspective is significantly different They contend that the discourse context is the environment in which the phrase is formed, determines the organization of the information, and the appropriate use of grammatical forms in a sentence Midway through the 1960s, "Texts-as-discourse" (Hyland, 2002) was introduced in response to the realization that "there was more to writing than building grammatical sentences." The idea of "text-as discourse" also emphasizes the necessity of providing learners with discourse samples in order to assist them in understanding
"how to use their knowledge of grammar in the construction of coherent text" (Nunan, 1999: 290) and how sentences and paragraphs operate in discourse Writing ability is defined by Hyland (2002) as the ability to produce "a contextually correct" form of language at either the sentence or discourse level by adhering to predetermined patterns According to Graham and Perin
(2007), using technology to increase students' interest, motivation, and enjoyment of writing can help them become better writers
The act of carrying out or completing a task, assignment, or function is known as performance (e.g., pre-post multiple-choice questions; numerous drafts of the same writing assignment) Writing performance, then, is the accomplishment of writing in which students employ vocabulary and structures to make sense of and arrange their ideas clearly and fluidly Specifically, Harmer (1998) claims that
“writing process involves planning what we are going to write, drafting it, reviewing and editing what we have written and then producing a final version” (p.113).
Approaches to teaching writing
Receptive and productive abilities are the two facets of language that are acquired during the process Among the receptive skills are language comprehension and reading They pertain to receiving information such as reading and listening Productive skills, in contrast, include speaking and writing skills The production or expression of words or information is referred to as
11 productive talents It goes without saying that being uneasy is usually easier than being productive, or that giving knowledge is far harder than receiving it
As a result, developing productive skills is harder and takes longer than developing receptive abilities Writing abilities are more critical and demanding than speaking abilities as productive talents, however, they are also the hardest to learn and will be picked up last Understanding this natural process enables educators and students to place a strong emphasis on teaching and mastering writing techniques in EFL classes
Moreover, teaching writing is instructing students how to practice basic life activities through written communication such as taking notes, filling in forms, and writing letters, making reports etc Students can benefit immensely from learning new or unfamiliar language in written form, and they can also reinforce what they have already learned through writing practice Students can get increasingly better at using and applying grammatical rules, vocabulary, and other skills through writing instruction Stated differently, having adequate writing skills validates one's proficiency in a given language and instills confidence Hedge (2005) defines writing as the production of communication, linking ideas, and information development, or giving arguments to a particular reader or a group of readers
2.2.1 The Product Approach vs the Process Approach
Nunan (1995) asserts that the product-based approach entails teachers merely guiding students toward the finished product of their writing The mechanical components of writing, such as concentrating on grammatical and syntactical structures and copying models, are highlighted by the product-based approach The product approach primarily concentrates on writing assignments where students copy, mimic, and alter what teachers provide and model With this method, students complete the prewriting first, then the composition, and lastly receive teacher feedback
However, teaching writing is a multifaceted process that requires several
12 methods Harmer (2007) defined, “The process-based approach emphasizes how the writing emerges as the result of a distinct process which advances through several stages until the writing is complete” (p 326) Students that use a process- based approach go through cycles of planning (goals, brainstorming, organizing ideas), translating (carrying out a writing plan), and reviewing (assessing, modifying, and revising) (Nagin, 2006; Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2006 as cited in Graham & Sandmel, 2011) In addition to being skilled writers and planners, students also provide constructive criticism to their peers during peer reviews and function as editors for their own papers To put it briefly, the process-based method entails a series of sequential exercises that assist students in finishing writing assignments where both the teacher and the students are essential contributors to the task
2.2.2 Teaching writing in the world
According to Do (2022), 4 techniques to teach writing widely accepted and commonly cited in the field of research within ESL for academic purposes include product, process, gerne and process-gerne approaches However, the concept of teaching writing varies across the countries, traditions and values For instance, student outcomes have dramatically improved thanks to the widespread adoption of genre-based approaches to teaching reading and writing in Australia and other Western education systems Expected rates of learning have increased from twice to more than four times (Rose & Acevedo,
Writing has only been utilized in Korea as a final exercise to support the acquisition of vocabulary and sentence-level linguistic structures Many English teachers work to support students' development of these skills because they think that grammar and translation are the most crucial aspects of teaching English Pupils rarely receive instruction on proper organization and writing in English, and they hardly ever write well in the language Writing instruction in Korea still largely relies on the traditional form-dominated approach, which
13 focuses on teaching students about language structure and how writing develops as a result of imitating input from the teacher in the form of texts (Badger & White,
The majority of writing programs in Thailand continue to follow the conventional paradigm, which places a strong emphasis on vocabulary and grammatical precision (Chamcharatsri, 2010) Thai students suffer from low engagement in the classroom as a result, which causes them to oppose and become confused during cooperative learning (Kongpetch, 2006; McDonough,
2004) The main factors impeding students' ability to improve writing skills in higher education in Thailand are the size of the class and the students' varied English-speaking backgrounds (Srichanyachon, 2012)
Japanese students have experienced difficulties with writing in English, just like in Japan As a result, according to the Ministry of Education, the primary objective of English instructors' writing instruction is to assist students in becoming comfortable and familiar with writing in the language and to provide them with the ability to express themselves in writing (Elfiyanto, 2021)
Nearly all Chinese teachers believed that they included both the process and product parts of writing in their lessons English writing-focused teacher education is still lacking in China, as Reichelt (2009) noted in EFL situations Many EFL instructors lack composition competence and prefer to think of themselves as language teachers rather than writing instructors Furthermore, You (2004) discovered that, in a Chinese institution, English writing instruction for students who were not majoring in the language tended to follow a current-traditional rhetoric approach, emphasizing proper language usage above helping students advance their ideas or writing skills
Students are frequently taught English writing as a Foreign Language (EFL) using Product-Based Writing in practically all Vietnamese schools Writing pedagogy has evolved recently in English language education,
14 progressively shifting from a product-based to a process-based approach Teaching EFL students to write in English, however, is still trailing behind these expanding trends In the Vietnamese context, the product-based approach is frequently perceived as dominating EFL writing classes Usually, a lesson of teaching writing English commonly spends 4 phases First, the teacher gives instruction, then students are required to sit drafting the version by themselves in a set amount of time Afterward, teacher collects the papers, correcting them by circling or deleting some of mistakes made by students Finally, teachers show a sample version on the board with some general explanations The textbooks of English from grade 6 to grade 12 all contain a part of writing skills Unfortunately, writing appears to receive less attention from teachers and students than other subjects, which has a negative impact on student performance Pham andTruong
(2021) argued that although teaching English writing was seen as a challenge for language teachers, the majority of EFL teachers felt that teaching writing was a difficult ability, which ultimately affected the learning outcomes of their students The majority of high school students typically practice writing in a strictly regulated manner rather than having any techniques for creating texts on their own (Pham & Truong, 2021)
When teaching writing, a teacher will typically analyze a model of a specific kind of writing, highlight the key structures in the model, and then have a discussion with the students about what is needed for the writing assignment that will be assigned as homework In this sense, students are challenged to write yet their writing process is disregarded due to the product-based writing strategy in use (Tran & Le, 2018) Writing instruction was initially handled in well-established Vietnamese classrooms, according to Tran (2007), where teachers are often strong communicators and pupils are automatically viewed as passive recipients of language knowledge rather than language producers
Writing a paragraph in response to a specified topic has been mandatory in the English section of the Vietnamese National GCSE (General Certificate for
Secondary Education) Examination in the Vietnamese context since the academic year 2013– 2014 Nonetheless, the majority of these papers' scores were below average The majority of high school applicants did not know how to create the text, which accounts for up to 20% of the entire English paper, which led to these surprise scores The National GCSE Examination's writing section has produced unsatisfactory results in recent years This indicates that writing is a complex and sophisticated social activity and that language learners need to master a variety of linguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural competencies (Asiah et al., 2020).
Feedback
When someone (or a group) provides constructive criticism or beneficial information about a previous action or behavior, it's referred to as
"feedback." This knowledge can be used by the recipient to improve and modify current and future actions and behaviors Professional and personal development are fueled by feedback It offers constructive feedback and enables individuals to identify areas for improvement in terms of concentration and output It fosters good communication and draws people together
Theories and definitions of feedback have changed throughout time, and researchers have continued to gather data demonstrating the critical role that feedback plays in students' learning Feedback considered a stage of a process approach to writing, can be defined as a reader’s input as providing information to the writer for revision In this way, feedback may be in different forms - the comments, questions, and suggestions a reader gives a writer to produce
‘reader-based prose’ (Flower, 1979) Hyland (2003) defines feedback as providing in-depth remarks on students' works in order to both assist them in growing and learning as writers and to provide readers with a reaction to the students' efforts
In order to provide relevant feedback, it must be founded on an
16 accurate evaluation, the outcome of which the student gets in a constructive, self-directed setting The feedback source should next talk about and offer guidance for the next action or goal to be accomplished The facilitation of the route there helps this process Students are able to think critically and control their own learning when they receive this kind of feedback (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006)
2.3.2 Significance of Feedback in EFL Teaching and Learning Writing
In the practice of giving corrective feedback, conducting error analysis needs to be taken into consideration since the error can rebind the source of error, which helps teachers treat the error better In this way, making mistakes might be seen as a typical occurrence among L1 and L2 speakers (Do, 2022, p
4) Text is just information without any kind of feedback Since it allows the writer to assess the impact of the message, corrective feedback is regarded as the most important step in the writing process It assists the writer in making sure the reader has understood the information accurately Receiving corrective criticism gives pupils the chance to refine their writing skills, fill in any gaps and fix any flaws in their writing, and expand on their thoughts In order to develop students' writing abilities in terms of content, structure, language, grammar, vocabulary, organization, correctness, complexity, and other areas, peer feedback is crucial for EFL/ESL students (Nuwar, 2016)
Students' mistakes in language acquisition are frequently divided into two categories: competence errors and performance errors When writers are not focused on their writing performance, performance errors happen They are seen as unimportant, and students can get beyond them with little difficulty Competency errors, however, are more dangerous since they indicate insufficient learning Local and global mistakes were identified by Burt and Kiparsky (1974) Local errors (such as usage of articles, prepositions, auxiliaries, and noun and verb inflections) do not impede comprehension or communication However, global errors (such as incorrect word order) inflict more harm than local errors
17 since they obstruct communication and distort the meaning of statements (Yang,
Any notice to the learners that their use of the target language is improper and the learners receive different replies is known as corrective feedback For example, when a language learner says, “He go to school every day”, corrective feedback can be explicit, for example, “no, you should say goes, not go” or implicit “yes, he goes to school every day”, and may or may not include metalinguistic information, for example, “Don't forget to make the verb agree with the subject” (Lightbown & Spada (1999), p.171-172)
According to Hattie and Timperley (2007), any information on a person's performance that is provided by an agent (a teacher, peer, or oneself, for example) is considered feedback It is thought that corrective feedback (CF) can help students learn English as a foreign language (EFL) more effectively (Bitchener, 2008) Peer and instructor corrective feedback both improve students' learning, according to several studies (Ellis, Loewen & Erlam, 2006; Bitchener, 2008) Despite this, there hasn't been much study done on peer-written feedback in secondary schools, especially not much that involves students who aren't extremely good
Giving language learners written corrective comments is one technique to improve the caliber of their writing output As a result, it is a popular teaching method for assisting language learners from other countries in increasing the efficacy of their writing (Ferris, 2010) Written corrective feedback, according to Truscott (1996), is the process of fixing spelling, grammar, and informational problems as well as organizing text in order to help students write more accurately Teachers and students are required to use various written corrective feedback techniques to improve student’s writing proficiency Wang (2017) asserted that one of the core duties of language teachers is to provide students with comments on their writing Through feedback, learners act as scaffolders,
18 pointing out mistakes to one another during the repair process so they don't repeatedly utilize the same improper written expressions According to Ferris
(2006), writers who got criticism for their work demonstrated a notable improvement in support of this claim.
Major Ways of Providing Feedback
Giving feedback to students entails explaining to them what they did well and poorly An opinion survey is made possible by feedback, but it requires careful consideration because it deals with people's motivations, feelings, and subjective opinions In reality, there exist several ways of giving feedback in terms of “when?,” “where?,” “how?,” and “who?” (Hendrickson,1978) The "who" of peer-to-peer feedback, the entire class, the teacher and students, or self- review was the main emphasis of this study
Whole class feedback serves as a method for educators to provide feedback on student assignments without the necessity of composing individual comments on each student's paper As a result, it lessens the burden on teachers, directs their focus towards meeting students' specific needs, and encourages consideration of incremental improvements for the entire class While it eases the workload and promotes responsiveness to student requirements, it also allows students ample time to revise and enhance their work, rectifying any misconceptions Nevertheless, there are certain issues associated with whole-class feedback Notably, it doesn't offer the personalized feedback that individuals may require for their own progress While it does address misconceptions broadly, it often lacks the detailed, specific feedback that is necessary (Hattie & Clarke,
Among the various roles assumed by a language teacher, providing feedback on learners' performance holds particular importance According to Hamouda (2011), teacher correction entails the process of identifying and
19 correcting students' errors, primarily focusing on grammatical ones There are two commonly observed and effective methods of teacher correction and feedback: modeling and highlighting, which help identify errors in their early stages before students repeat them The feedback delivered by teachers has long been recognized as a crucial factor in the learning process This occurs when educators inform students of their performance and provide guidance on how to enhance it and progress to the next level Recent research has underscored the effectiveness of this one-way feedback from teacher to students A study conducted by Wihadi and Martiana (2015) assessed the impact of teacher feedback on forty senior high school students, revealing that it can reduce error rates in students' writing tasks and motivate them to write better by imparting valuable experience in composing high-quality texts
Self-review, regarded as a self-evaluation process, is used by individuals to assess their work and job performance It enables them to gauge their achievements and identify areas for improvement According to Klenowski
(1995), self-assessment is defined as "the evaluation or judgment of one's performance, recognizing strengths and weaknesses, with the intention of enhancing learning outcomes" (p 146)
In the context of classroom activities, self-review, or student self- assessment, takes place when learners evaluate their own performance This self-assessment involves students applying specific criteria relevant to their learning objectives, reflecting on their efforts, recognizing areas for enhancement, and adjusting the quality of their work When implementing assessment as a learning tool in the classroom, self-assessment proves to be an effective approach to enhance student learning Teaching students how to assess their own work explicitly yields numerous advantages It fosters students' comprehension of their learning process and encourages critical analysis of their own efforts, thereby promoting their autonomy as learners Self-assessment shares
20 similarities with peer-assessment, but instead of providing feedback to a peer, students engage in self-assessment Teaching children how to self-assess their work is advantageous as it requires them to assess their strengths and areas for improvement, contributing to their ongoing growth
Peer feedback, known by various names like peer response, peer correction, peer review, peer editing, and peer evaluation, can be described as the
"utilization of learners as sources of information and communicators for one another, where learners take on roles and responsibilities typically assumed by formally trained teachers, tutors, or editors to provide comments and critiques on each other's drafts, both in written and spoken forms, during the writing process" (Liu and Hansen, 2002:1) The concept of peer feedback is rooted in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which posits that the development of the mind occurs through interactions with one's surrounding environment Vygotsky (1978) emphasizes that learning is not an isolated endeavor but rather a cognitive process that places the emphasis on learning within a social context Consequently, peer interaction plays a crucial role in enhancing students' learning, enabling them to construct knowledge through shared experiences and interaction (Liu et al., 2001)
Peer feedback has been seen as a valuable source of input that can be used in conjunction with teacher feedback through group or pair projects, as opposed to being used in isolation (Rollinson, 2005) Harmer (2007) states that “group work promotes learner autonomy by allowing students to make their own decisions in the group without being told what to do by the teacher” (p.166) Peer review has various benefits for improving writing First of all, it might provide students a new outlook and fresh understanding of the subject, logic, organization, and style Second, it can assist students in locating and fixing mistakes, omissions, and flaws in their work Usually, after student’s completing the writing, the teacher asks them to correct their drafts based on the editing form Students correct the spelling, grammar, content, and organization of the text Peer correction is a form of
21 feedback that has attracted much attention from English language teaching and learning in recently Language teachers should collaborate with students by assigning them the repair workload when deciding how to handle mistakes made by learners As an illustration, the instructor can assign peer correction, which helps students become more aware of the issues in their own work and provides them a sense of responsibility for their education (Nguyen, 2009)
As for the significance of peer feedback in the context of language teaching and learning, apart from being an invaluable supplement to teacher feedback (Rollinson, 2005), peer feedback adds in various aspects of writing, such as gaining fresh perspectives, identifying and correcting errors, and improving the quality of students’ work This approach is particularly beneficial when students correct each other's work, enhancing their awareness of their mistakes and sense of ownership in the learning process
As communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach has shifted from teacher-centeredness to learner-centeredness, emphasizing the role of peer feedback as an effective feedback source It is recommended to pair weaker students with stronger ones and create diverse groups to ensure that students of varying abilities can benefit from the peer feedback process Students generally feel comfortable and appreciative when corrected by their peers However, there are challenges in monitoring all groups or pairs during peer feedback activities Scholars have noted that pair and group activities may promote fluency but not accuracy and could lead to the assimilation of non-standard language forms (Skehan, 1996) Besides, classroom management can be challenging due to noise generated during these activities (Phipps & Borg, 2009)
In a word, peer feedback is a valuable tool in teaching and learning English writing as it encourages active engagement, provides diverse perspectives, and fosters essential skills in students It contributes to improved writing quality, language development, and the overall learning experience
Peer feedback and writing
In a classroom setting, the process of learning to write typically involves three stages: identifying key features, outlining ideas, producing written texts, and providing feedback Feedback has become increasingly integral to English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) writing instruction (Zhao, 2010) Nevertheless, the types of feedback that best support effective writing performance by students need careful consideration in teaching and learning contexts
Scholars such as Lin et al (2001) contend that students' writing abilities can be greatly enhanced by targeted and critical peer feedback A study by Sassi
(2021) explored the attitudes of Tunisian high school students towards peer review in L2 writing using mixed methods research Initially, the participants were unsure about the effectiveness of peer review, but after the study, they reported more positive attitudes, especially when teachers provided guidance The results indicated that this new pedagogical practice benefited both those giving and receiving peer reviews, with 85% of the participants recognizing the benefits of peer review
Writing, as a form of language expression, is considered the most comprehensive and personal It often undergoes careful review and editing, making peer feedback a suitable choice due to the need for negotiation and agreement between the writer and reviewer.
Young Learners
The term 'young learners', often understood in various ways, encompasses children of various ages and developmental stages, ranging from infants and young children to adolescents and young people Linse (2005) argues, “Young learners are defined as children between the ages of 5-12” (p 2) In an educational context, 'young learners' is a broad term referring to students who have not yet reached adulthood In this study, 'young learners' specifically refer to
23 students aged 11-12 who are in the early stages of secondary school
Young learners differ from adults in terms of their physical, psychological, social, emotional, conceptual, and cognitive characteristics In such a perspective, young learners are at a critical stage of development where language acquisition and cultural sensitivity play a significant role in their education and personal growth Careful consideration and tailored teaching methods are essential to make EFL learning a positive and effective experience for these students No doubt, it is crucial to grasp the concept and characteristics of this age group, including those at the junior high school level, to effectively conduct suitable English writing lessons
Young learners exhibit unique thinking patterns and behaviors distinct from adults, which present certain challenges when teaching English to this age group (Cameron, 2001) Firstly, young learners are naturally curious, active, and inclined towards exploring both concrete and abstract concepts (Pinter, 2006) They thrive on movement, play, and engaging in exciting and entertaining activities, often resisting stillness Their insatiable curiosity drives them to question the world around them, making them ask many inquiries Harmer (2007) highlights that young learners tend to absorb knowledge indirectly, learning better when they can see, hear, touch, and interact with the subject matter Moreover, due to their immersion in a social world (Vygotsky, 1978), they readily imitate and mimic the actions of others, learning through social interaction with peers and adults While they may tire easily during activities, they recover swiftly Implicit learning, memorization, and intuitive acquisition through enjoyable or interesting activities are their primary modes of learning (Ur, 2012) Bruner
(1985) underscores the effectiveness of scaffolding and peer interaction for their learning, given their limited background knowledge and underdeveloped cognitive faculties However, their attention span and concentration are notably short, and they are highly active, making it challenging for them to sit still for
24 extended periods or understand abstract concepts, grammatical rules, and language explanations Ur (2012) recommends the use of visual aids, storytelling, games, and language activities to make learning enjoyable and engaging for children Furthermore, children heavily rely on contextual clues like body language, intonation, facial expressions, actions, and messages to comprehend language (Slattery & Willis, 2001) Because of this, teachers had to plan a variety of activities in a predetermined period of time to give young students access to knowledge from a variety of sources (Harmer, 2007) Children's thinking will be stimulated by games and songs that require movement and hands-on activities, claims Ur (2012)
Young learners have relatively simple thought processes due to their ongoing mental development and limited life experiences They often act based on their preferences rather than reasons They are actively engaged in making sense of the world and can express their likes and dislikes, demonstrating their individual viewpoints even at a young age (Piaget, 1970) Additionally, young learners are adept at interpreting meaning without necessarily understanding individual words, using their limited language creatively (Halliwell, 1992)
Another key characteristic of young learners is their affinity for imagination (Pinter, 2006, as cited in Juhana, 2014) Read (2007) underscores the importance of selecting challenging and interesting activities, as overly simplistic tasks can lead to boredom and demotivation In essence, young learners are inherently creative, and educators should encourage and develop their imagination, creativity, and sense of humor to make learning enjoyable (Read, 2007)
In summary, recognizing these characteristics of young learners is essential for EFL teachers when planning lessons and selecting appropriate activities to facilitate effective and engaging learning experiences for this age group, especially English writing lessons.
Attitudes
Psychology defines a participant's attitude as an enduring disposition
25 or inclination to respond to the object of research in a particular way It describes a collection of views or opinions about something Therefore, attitude- related issues such as definitions, components of attitudes, and examples of participant’s attitudes towards peer feedback need to be considered in this study
Attitude is the expression of one's feelings, thoughts, and evaluations through words, gestures, and actions It encompasses how individuals perceive, influence, and behave towards things, phenomena, and people, reflecting both negative and positive stances through their outward expressions The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (2016) defines attitude as the way a person feels about something or someone and how their behavior reflects that feeling
As stated by Montano and Kasprzyk (2008, p 71), the theory of planned behavior holds that behavioral beliefs about the characteristics or results of a particular conduct are what mold an individual's attitudes The person's assessments of those results or qualities are then used to weigh these views Consequently, someone who firmly thinks that the conduct will provide highly desired results will have a positive outlook on the behavior On the other hand, a person with a negative attitude might firmly believe that their behavior will lead to consequences that they value less
Psychologists also view attitudes as evaluations directed towards objects, individuals, and issues, which can range from positive to negative and may even encompass mixed feelings An attitude is a constant and unique way of thinking, feeling, and responding to people, objects, societal concerns, or environmental phenomena (Lambdahl, 1987, as cited in Porkaew, 2004) Affective, behavioral, and cognitive data serve as the foundation for these assessments (Taylor et al., 2006)
According to Wenden (1985, as cited in Al-Tamimi & Shuib, 2009),
26 attitudes comprise three components, specifically cognitive, behavioral and affective attitude In this context, the cognitive component represents the process of connecting previously acquired knowledge with new information to generate fresh insights that can be applied in various situations It is important to note that attitudes are not entirely synonymous with values, although they share a connection This connection is elucidated through the three components of attitude: + Cognitive attitude, which involves opinions or beliefs about attitudes For instance, a study participant might hold the belief that "peer feedback is crucial for reviewing and revising written work."
+ Behavioral attitude, which represents the intention to act in a particular manner towards someone or something For instance, when a participant mentions, "I frequently collaborate on written assignments with the classmate seated beside me," it suggests an interest in correcting written work with a peer
+ Affective attitude, which pertains to the emotional aspect of attitude For example, a statement such as "I am not inclined to receive feedback from a teacher" reflects the student's emotional response to methods of receiving feedback for written corrections.
Empirical studies
In order to have a panoramic view of the issue, the empirical studies viewed in this research would be taken from different settings in terms of cultures, ages, contexts Recent research studies have indicated that peer feedback or correction had a positive impact on or could enhance students' writing ability (Min, 2006; Wahyuni, 2018)
Anastasiadou and Aristotelous (2014) carried out an investigation aiming at understanding learners’ beliefs about peer feedback in teaching process writing of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and its impact of peer review on their writing performance The authors recruited 90 young learners of grade 6 from a Greek public school, including an experimental group with 44 students and a control group with 46 others The researchers employed a pre-and post-test as well
27 as two questionnaires (the pre- and post-study, and post-test) to gather data for this investigation Surveys were conducted at the start and finish of the research to find out how participants felt about having their writing reviewed by peers Additionally, all participants in both groups received pre-and post-tests to gauge their writing performance The participants' writing abilities in the two groups changed statistically significantly during the process of writing, according to the results
On exploring students’ attitudes towards teacher correction, Rotim
(2015) recruited a cohort of 100 high-school EFL learners including 52 girls and
48 boys of Second Grammar School in Osijek, Croatia, exploring students’ attitudes towards teacher correction The researcher employed a 5-Liker scale questionnaire consisting 16 items as a tool for data collection regarding students’ gender and proficiency Upon the results, in general, Rotim reports that most students want their writing corrected manifesting their positive attitudes toward error correction and that they error correction help improve their learning writing Further, the results indicate that error correction is affected by gender of the participants The researcher goes on suggesting that girl students’ might exhibit more self-confidence and interest in learning English than their boy counterparts As for language proficiency, the results show that highly proficiency students are inclined to express positive attitudes toward error correction than their less proficient friends and that high proficient students in the study feel comfortable with error correction
In the same view, Mateja (2016) conducted his study with 90 high school pupils with age range from 14 to 16 at a Grammar School in Vinkovci, East Croatia to examine the participants’ attitudes and beliefs about peer correction in EFL writing His study was in response to the shift of CLT from teacher- centredness to learner- centredness in terms of language elements and language skills Accordingly, to advocate an increasingly important role of EFL learners in learning writing English, there is also a shift from teacher-centred correction to peer
28 correction For this study, Mateja (2016) employed 5-Likert scale questionnaire which includes 21 statements to elicit the research participants’ attitudes towards peer correction in their learning English writing Having analyzed the data, the researcher found that the participants revealed a strong support for their teacher- centred correction However, they also favoured peer correction stating that this new pedagogical practice in learning EFL writing create a positive, supporting, and cooperative learning environment and empowers them in learning motivation and self-confidence
The primary goal of Kusmiatni’s (2017) research was to assess the effectiveness of using peer correction in improving the writing skills of eighth- grade students at SMPN 2 Palopo, he employed purposive sampling for this pre- experimental study, aiming to determine whether the selected students could enhance their writing abilities through peer correction Data for the research were collected using both pre- and post-tests The analysis of the collected data revealed that the use of peer-written correction was indeed effective in improving the writing skills of eighth-grade students at SMPN 2 Palopo
In a different context, Elfiyanto and Fukazawa's 2021 study aimed to determine whether WCF could enhance students' performance in essay writing and to identify the most effective feedback source among three options: teacher, peer, and self-correction The research involved 81 high school students from Indonesia and 81 from Japan, divided into three distinct groups, each exposed to a different feedback source To collect data for the study and establish a link between students' writing achievements and the type of WCF they received, pretests and posttests were administered Data analysis, including descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc tests, was conducted using SPSS The study's results indicated that peer-generated WCF was highly effective in improving the writing achievements of Indonesian high school students In contrast, for their Japanese counterparts, teacher-provided WCF was found to be the most effective method
To compare the effectiveness of teacher's writing corrective feedback and peer writing corrective feedback on high school EFL writing, Kalong (2018) conducted a study involving 50 tenth-grade students at a private secondary Islamic school in Yola province, Thailand The students were divided into two groups, an experimental group and a control group, each consisting of 25 members Various tools were employed to collect data and ensure the reliability of the results, including pre- and post-tests, dialogue journal writing, language practice exercises, and questionnaires After a 10-week intervention period, the study's findings indicated that peer feedback resulted in improved fluency in students' writing, surpassing the benefits of teacher feedback However, neither teacher nor peer writing feedback appeared to enhance the students' accuracy in writing Interestingly, the analysis of questionnaire data revealed that students expressed more positive attitudes toward teacher's writing corrective feedback compared to feedback from their peers
To explore the attitudes of 28 high school students from Tunisia towards peer review in L2 writing, Sassi (2021) conducted a mixed-methods research study The author utilized a variety of data collection tools, including two questionnaires administered before and after the study, as well as semi- structured interviews Interestingly, the pre-study questionnaire revealed that the participants were uncertain about the effectiveness of peer review in improving their L2 writing skills However, the post-study questionnaire showed a noticeable shift towards more positive attitudes regarding peer review In the post-study responses, participants indicated that with sufficient guidance from teachers, they could excel in providing peer reviews This new pedagogical practice was perceived as beneficial for both those giving and receiving peer reviews, a perspective shared by 85% of the participants This result strongly supports the participants' recognition of the advantages of peer review in the writing process and their trust in their peers' ability to provide valuable feedback English takes an increasingly important play in contemporary curriculum world
30 education, especially writing Accordingly, writing is now a required subject in Chinese secondary education Nevertheless, it presents some problems to students due to their limited writing ability despite teachers’ written corrective feedback A study on the effect of peer feedback on the writing of Chinese junior high school EFL students was carried out by Hao and Razali (2022) One hundred ninety- nine ninth-grade EFL students from a Chinese public high school participated in this study in two classes: the experimental and control groups Tests and questionnaires were used by the authors to collect data for this quasi-experimental investigation Peer feedback is more beneficial to participants' writing abilities in terms of content, organization, and grammar, according to the data analysis Peer review also enhanced students' writing in terms of confidence and learning motivation
Phipot (1987) carried out research in the USA to find out if the peer evaluation procedure could enhance the writing and writing-related attitudes of grade 8 pupils According to Robertsons' (1987) findings, the practice of peer evaluation improved students' writing quality and motivation Itmeizeh (2016) carried out a study at Palestine Ahlyia College in Palestine with the goal of determining how well peer correction affects students' advancement in their written essays It also attempts to look into how students feel about the peer correction method The study's findings demonstrated that students view peer correction favorably and that the majority of them found the method to be interesting or enjoyable
Peer feedback has not been used extensively in EFL classrooms in China (Gao
& Wang, 2021) Instructors frequently disregard their students' sense of self- efficacy out of concern for teaching effectiveness in writing classes (Gao & Wang,
2021) As a consequence, there existed many problems with Chinese students’ English writing performance English writing is now paid more attention as it helps high school students to prepare for higher education later That is why English writing is a compulsory component in English syllabus in Chinese
31 secondary education, which requires EFL junior high school students to achieve mastery of English writing However, such a mastery is still far from expectation due to some problems in the process of English writing teaching and learning In
2022, Hongxia & Razali recruited 100 grade 9 EFL students in a Chinese junior state school for their study aiming to investigate the effect of both teacher WCF and peer WCF on the experimental group (NP) while only peer WCF was used in the control group For this study, the researchers used pre- and post-tests together with questionnaires, which were later analyzed using SPSS version 23 The results obtained reported that peer WCF exhibits positive effect on students’ writing performance in terms of content, organization, and grammar In addition, positive attitudes towards peer WCF were manifested by the participants in the study showing their motivation and confidence In addition, a study by Yang
(2010) revealed that peer correction empowers students to monitor, review, and edit their text to enhance their writing
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 38 3.1 Research design
Research site and participants
Following is some brief information about the site where this piece of research takes place, and also some details about the student participants involved in the study
The study was conducted at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School, situated in Bien Hoa City, formerly known as Le Quy Don School, established on April 1,
1998 This institution holds its fame among the earliest private schools in Dong Nai province Similar to many schools, Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School boasts well-equipped facilities, including laboratories, a library, and classrooms furnished with essential teaching tools such as blackboards, desks, projectors, screens, speakers, and computers With a total of 90 classes, the school comprised
8 sixth-grade classes, 8 seventh-grade classes, 7 eight-grade classes, and 11 ninth- grade classes Each class accommodates approximately 40 to 43 students, resulting in a total student population of nearly 3,600
The English section at the school is staffed by 28 teachers, all of whom hold a Bachelor's degree in English Adhering to the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), English is a compulsory subject with a three- period syllabus per week However, being a private institution, Le Quy Don
Quyet Thang School grants autonomy to the Board of Principals and the Parents Association to determine additional English teaching hours beyond the mandated three periods As a result, students at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School receive a total of seven English periods per week, each lasting 45 minutes This comprises the mandated three periods and an additional four periods allotted for practical exercises The flexibility in the curriculum allowed the researcher to allocate one period per week to conduct the study, implementing the Technique of Peer Correction
The study was conducted in 8 weeks from 27 of March, 2023 to 20 of May, 2023, at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School In the academic year of 2022-
2023, the researcher was assigned to teach English for 5 classes including 2 classes of grade 6 and 3 ones of other grades Because there were two grade 6 classes taught by the researcher, she chose all students of the two grade 6 classes as participants for the study For this reason, no random sampling was chosen, instead, a convenient sampling method was considered appropriate in this context Accordingly, class 6.7, which had forty students in grade 6, was designated as the experimental group (EG), and class 6.4, which had forty students in class, was designated as the control group (CG) Peer correction was the therapy employed in this study for EG error-correcting exercises, whereas traditional correction was given to the control group Concerning the ethical issue, before any treatment was administered, all study participants were informed about the goals and methods Rather than receiving their full names, every student in both EG and CG was assigned a coded number
Before the experiment, the researcher administered a survey to obtain the participants’ background information including the gender, the age, and the time that each participant spent practicing writing English The survey was conducted by the researcher handing out a questionnaire to each participant of both EG and CG as follows
Table 3.2 Demographic information of the participants
Table 3.2 indicates that there were 80 participants in all for the trial, of which
40 were EG and 40 were CG There was little variation in the gender distribution within each group In particular, there were 22 females (55%) and 18 males (45%) in the EG; the CG had the same rate between males and females of 20 participants (50%) for each The age of participants was from 11 to 12, in which, the age of 11 was 38 (95%) in the EG and 39 (9.5%) in the CG The age of 12 accounted for quite little rate with 2 students (0.5%) and 1 one student (0.25%) in the EG and the CG respectively Regarding English learning experience, in Bien Hoa, English begins being taught in school since the 3 th grade, and students usually experience 3 years of learning English before entering the 6 th grade Therefore, the majority of participants spent 3 years at the time of conducting the study with 38 students (95%) for the EG and 39 ones (97,5%) for the CG The quite small scale of participants experiemnced over 3 years of learning English, 2 students for the EG (0,5%) and 1 one student for the CG (0,25%) Three students who experienced over 3 yeas are due to the fact that they repeated one of their previous school years.
Research instruments and measurement
This study employed a quasi-experimental research design due to the researcher's assignment to teach two grade 6 classes in the 2022-2023 academic year,
42 using the same English textbook (Tieng Anh 6) by MOET Utilizing pre-, post-tests, and questionnaires, the study aimed to assess the effect of peer correction on writing skills Initially, both groups underwent a pre-test to establish baseline writing abilities through a writing assignment The experimental group received instruction with peer correction, while the control group followed traditional teaching methods After an 8-week treatment period, a post-test with identical content was administered to both groups to determine significant differences in writing ability Additionally, a five- point Likert scale with 18 items gauged the experimental group's attitudes toward learning with peer correction Table 3.3 lists the objectives of the instruments:
Table 3.3: The purposes of the instruments
Research questions Research instrument RQ1: To what extent, does Peer Correction affect the 6th grade students’ writing skills at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school?
RQ2: What are the 6th-grade students’ attitudes towards learning
English writing with Peer Correction? Questionnaires
3.3.1 Pre-test and post-test
The assessment of students' tests in this study aligned with the Ministry of Education and Training's curriculum framework (2018) The pre-test required students to write a 40–50-word paragraph about their hometown (Writing Part – Unit
1, Tiếng Anh 6) (See Appendix 2), while the post-test focused on a 50–60-word paragraph about life on the moon (Writing Part – Unit 9, Tiếng Anh 6) (See Appendix
3) Both tests shared the same format, time allocation, and marking rubrics The pre- test, administered in the first class meeting, aimed to assess the initial writing skills of both groups, while the post-test, conducted after 8 weeks of treatment, aimed to gauge students' writing improvement These tests mirrored the final exam's writing section at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school Prior to the tests, participants received
43 clear instructions on the format and time requirements to alleviate confusion and anxiety Scoring for both tests followed the Writing Assessment Rubrics, adapted from Majid and Islam (2021), with four categories and three scales (See Appendix 4) The pre-test scores between the two groups and the pre-test and post-test scores within each group were collected and analyzed to identify differences and determine the level of progress before and after the experiment
The study used a questionnaire to assess participants' attitudes toward peer feedback in English writing, following Cohen et al (2011) view on its utility for gathering various information The researcher chose this method for anonymity through participants’ code numbers instead of their real names, efficient data collection, and obtaining structured numerical data for straightforward analysis (Cohen et al., 2018) After the post-test, 40 anonymous questionnaire copies were distributed to the experimental group to explore their attitudes toward the peer correction technique in writing English The questionnaires of closed-ended items, designed on a five-point Likert scale for quantitative data, were adapted from Pour- Mohammadi et al (2012), measuring cognitive, behavioral, and emotional attitudes toward writing with peer error correction (See Appendix 8)
Table 3.4: Content of close-ended questionnaires
Research Question Items Variables to measure
6th-grade students' attitudes toward learning English writing with peer correction?
1-6 Students' cognitive attitudes toward using peer correction in writing learning 7-12 Student’s behavioral attitudes towards using peer correction in writing learning 13-18 Students' emotional attitudes towards writing learning with peer correction
Piloting the questionnaire for students
The feasibility of the study required the researcher to do a pilot study on the items and total number of questions on the questionnaire before moving forward with the full investigation In order for the study to produce conclusive results, this pilot phase aimed to ascertain whether the items were unclear and whether there were enough questions To do this, the researcher had a quick meeting with EG to brief them on the purpose and benefits of the research, as well as its duration and methods, making them feel comfortable about contributing to it
Subsequently, ten sixth-grade students from the other class were chosen at random by the researcher to pilot the questionnaire by reading and responding to the questions on the paper Following the completion of the replies, the researcher quizzed the students to make sure they understood the questions' main points Upon compiling the replies from ten students and obtaining feedback from both teachers, the researcher discovered that some terms may cause participants' confusion Therefore, before translating those elements into Vietnamese, the researcher revised and altered them In this investigation, the latest Vietnamese version was utilized.
Materials
At Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school, students learn English as a compulsory subject and use English textbook as the Government curriculum set by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), namely Tiếng Anh 6 [English 6] (Nguyen, Dang, Le, Huy & Nguyen 2021) Students are required to take six compulsory tests each term This book covers the subjects included in the MOET curriculum framework, giving students the knowledge, language skills, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and other tools they need to speak confidently in English and get ready for both entrance tests and international certification exams Each Unit has a specific goal with diverse learning activities designed into 5 parts and is learnt in 9 periods: Function, Grammar, Pronunciation, Listening & Speaking skills and Reading & Writing skills in which, writing skill is designed
45 to teach in 1 period The writing skills include writing emails, describing hometown, describing World Wild Fun (WWF) for Nature, writing letters, and writing about local specialties The written tests require 40 – 60 words with some given cues in accordance with the topic Two units from the second semester were chosen for this study, and they are shown in Table 3.5 below:
Table 3.5: Teaching materials for the two groups
Week Date Activities EG CG
Reviewing for pre-test Giving pre-test to two groups
Teaching Unit 9: House in the future Peer correction
April 15th 2023 Teaching Unit 9: House in the future Peer correction
April 22th 2023 Teaching Unit 9: House in the future Peer correction
Teaching Unit 10: Cities around the world
Teaching Unit 10: Cities around the world
May 13h 2023 Reviewing for post-test Peer correction
Giving post-test to two groups
Delivering the questionnaire to the experimental group
The identical subject was covered in eight lessons by the two classes Each lesson's procedures were outlined in the lesson plan and adhered to the Curriculum (Tieng Anh 6) (See Appendix 9.1, 9.2) To guarantee that the groups were identical, some exercises were incorporated to the lessons for the CG.
Training procedure
Peer correction was employed by the researcher to correct students' written errors throughout the course of eight weeks, one period every week The most common areas of language error among students were conjunctions, coherence, lexical accuracy, grammar structures, and punctuation In the first class, the researcher instructed students on the structure and format of a paragraph before assigning them to complete a pre-test in which they were to write a 50–60 word paragraph regarding the students’ hometown that was provided in the textbook (See Appendix 2) Based on the Writing Assessment Rubric (See Appendix 4), the researcher and two other invited instructors from
Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school graded each paper All of the faults were noted, but no correction feedback was provided
In the lessons of week 2 to week 7, the correction was given in two ways
(1) After the marked pre-test papers were returned to the control group, the traditional correction process was followed Two students were asked to write their writings separately on the board, while the rest of the class was still sitting in rows and accomplishing very little The researcher then pointed out the mistakes in the two writings that the two students had turned in and gave explanations, making the required modifications
(2) Peer correction was used to provide the experimental group with correction within the same time frame Ten groups of forty pupils were formed according to their assigned seats One classroom at Le Quy Don Quyet Thang School typically has four columns with five rows of two seats each There are 40 students in each class (CG, EG), so there can be ten groups of four students each Every group chose a leader The researcher highlighted every mistake on the
47 test papers Following the return of their papers, students held group discussions
It was up to the group leader to handle and clarify the challenging queries
In each lesson, the peer correction session lasted 25 minutes First, all students tried to correct errors with each other in their groups by discussing common errors listed in the copy given to indicate the correct answer For the complex mistakes, the leaders would help to give explanations or ask the teacher for a final explanation
The post-tests on the same topic were given to both the CG and EG groups in week eight (see Appendix 3) The Writing Assessment Rubric (See Appendix 4) was used by the researcher and two additional invited teachers to grade the papers Quantitative data was derived from the pre-and post-test scores of the two classes.
Reliability
Creswell (2012) defines reliability as the measurement's consistency and stability There are numerous varieties of dependability, including inter-rater, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability In order to gauge score achievement, the researcher in this study administered both a pretest and a posttest Test-retest reliability is considered to have been met if the results of each participant do not significantly differ between the two tests
The researcher also invited two other colleagues in education as the raters to score the answers on the pre-and post-test papers in order to guarantee inter-rater reliability The Writing Assessment Rubrics were used to grade each paper independently by the 2 raters, the rater 1, and the rater 2 (See Appendix 4) According to Davis (2006), " experienced English teachers trained to agree on certain global characteristics of a piece of writing can produce acceptable reliability in rating sessions using expert readers for the assessment of writing quality" (p.7)
Moreover, the test format was created in the form of paragraphs, and the test topics' contents matched exactly the units of knowledge covered in the
48 textbook "Tiếng Anh 6" throughout the session The tests' suitability and difficulty were guaranteed in this way As a result, the tests were appropriate for measuring using the given rubric The researcher employed Cronbach's alpha coefficient to verify the reliability of each scale in order to ascertain the questionnaire's overall dependability A metric used to determine an evaluation tool's internal consistency is called Cronbach's alpha (α) Cronbach's alpha findings will be good if they are 0.70 or above, according to Pallant (2011) The study's
18 items had a comparatively high Cronbach's Alpha coefficient (α = 0.732), suggesting that all of the items were sufficiently dependable for the research The reliability of the questionnaire as determined by Cronbach's Alpha is displayed in Table 3.6 below
Table 3.6: Reliability of the Items
Validity
Construct validity, as defined by Wiersma and Jurs (2009), is proof that a tool measures an abstract quality or skill accurately The Writing Assessment Rubrics utilized in this study were derived from Scoring Rubrics, which were also used to evaluate writing assessments administered in other Le Quy Don Quyet Thang school courses Thus, one may argue that this satisfies the concept of validity
Additionally, validity is defined by Wiersma and Jurs (2009) as what we think represents meaningful relevance to a larger, relevant community Construct validity, content validity, criteria validity, internal validity, and so on are a few examples of validity categories Because (1) the researcher used the same materials, curriculum, and teaching style for both the experimental and control classes, she was able to get to know each student well and (2) the researcher met
49 with each class in person to explain the goals of the experiment and its benefits for their willing participation, the research was deemed to meet internal validity standards
An overview of the research design, research site, and participants was given at the start of Chapter 3 Then, as measurements for data collection, the two instruments the pretest, posttest, and questionnaire were used Presenting the training protocol and materials for the treatment course marked the end of the chapter The chapter concluded with a discussion of the validity and reliability of the instruments and a final overview of the methods used to collect data.
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 50
Data analysis
The researcher analyzed the pretest, posttest, and questionnaire data using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 26 A collection of techniques for statistical data analysis, known as SPSS, aids scientific researchers in processing data for research in a variety of specialized sectors, including education
4.1.1 Data analysis of the tests
The researcher gathered pretest and post-test data to try and answer the first study question, which asked whether or not the participating students' writing skills increased after learning with peer correction However, the requirement that the examined variables have a normal distribution is always crucial when attempting to assess the difference between two subgroups or when examining regression models Therefore, before the pretest and posttest were implemented, the researcher conducted a test to determine whether those tests were normally distributed or not As the number of participants was small, 40 students in EG and
40 in CG (N