The impact of peer written feedback on the writtent skill of first year students at english department, school of education, can tho university

CAN THO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ENGLISH DEPARTMENT *** THE IMPACT OF PEER WRITTEN FEEDBACK ON THE WRITING SKILL OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, CAN THO UNIVERSITY B.A Thesis Supervisor: Phan Thị Mỹ Khánh , M.A Researcher: Cao Lê Phước Ngọc Student’s Code: 7062953 Class: NN0652A2 Course: 32 Can Tho, May 2010 CONTENTS Contents i Acknowledgements ii Abstract (English version) iii Abstract (Vietnamese version) iv List of Tables and Figures v Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Hypotheses 1.5 Organization of the study Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 An overview of writing teaching 2.2 An overview of peer written feedback on writing 2.3 Related studies 2.4 Conclusive remarks 11 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 12 3.1 Research design 12 3.2 Participants 12 3.3 Research instruments 12 3.4 Procedure 14 Chapter 4: Results 16 4.1 General questionnaire analysis and writing assignments analysis 16 4.2 The current situation of using peer written feedback among first-year students at the English Education, School of Education, Can Tho University 16 4.3 Students’ perceptions of their peers’ written feedback 17 4.4 The impact of peer written feedback on students’ writing revision 19 4.5 The correlation between students’ writing ability and their perceptions of using peer written feedback on writing 20 Chapter 5: Discussions, implications, limitations, suggestions for further research 21 5.1 Discussions 21 5.2 Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research 23 5.3 Limitations 27 5.4 Conclusion 27 References 29 Appendices 32 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On completing the graduation paper, I owe profound indebtedness to so many people, without whose contribution and spiritual support I would not have accomplished it First and foremost, my thesis hardly finished without valuable encouragement, advice, comment from my supervisor, Mrs Phan Thi My Khanh I could not forget her enthusiasm to help me correct every part of the thesis and her care about my practice time at high school Second, my regards are respectively sent to all teachers of the English Department for their encouragement, guidance, especially Ms Le Xuan Mai, who helped me much in conducting this study from collecting data to marking writing assignments as well as giving me some suggestions in the teacher’s interview And I would like to acknowledge Mrs Ngo Thi Trang Thao who gave me useful instructions to analyze the data using SPSS program Moreover, I would like to send my heartfelt gratefulness Mrs Truong Nguyen Quynh Nhu who read my study critically and gave me some worthwhile suggestions to enhance my study Also, my sincere gratitude is sent to Mr Le Cong Tuan, Ms Tran Mai Hien, and Mrs Tran Thi Phuong Thao during the time I interviewed to be given some useful suggestions for the pedagogical implications in my study My sincere thanks also go to 90 English Language Teaching students, course 35 at Can Tho University for their patience and willingness to my survey questionnaires as well as their writing assignments Moreover, I would like to send my gratitude to my family, my classmates and my best friend, Mr Nguyen Khanh Duy, for encouraging me and supporting me during the time undertook my study Without them, I would not have been able to complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT As well as teachers’ feedback, peer written feedback has been used as one of the common methods to improve English majors’ writing ability at Can Tho University This study is conducted in an attempt to investigate the current situation of peer written feedback in the writing classes for first-year students, students’ perceptions of their peers’ written feedback, the effectiveness of peer feedback on students’ revision and writing ability as well as the correlation between students’ perceptions and their writing ability In order to achieve the desired aims, thanks to the help of 47 first-year English students as well as six teachers, the researcher has conducted a research using one survey questionnaire for first-year students, interview for teachers, and three writing assignments (final versions) are analyzed The findings from students’ questionnaires will provide the researcher with a comprehensive understanding of the current situation of peer written feedback at Can Tho University and students’ perceptions about their friends’ written feedback Generally, first-year students have a rather positive attitude towards this activity and highly appreciate the importance of peer feedback in improving their writing ability Thanks to the findings from analyzing three writing assignments the researcher can state that using peer written feedback have a good impact on first-year students Moreover, together with the findings from questionnaires, the findings from three writing assignments also support the researcher to find out the correlation between students’ insights and their writing ability Although there is no correlation between students’ insights and their writing ability, both good and bad students highly evaluate using peer written feedback to revise their writings Based on the findings from teachers’ interview, some pedagogical implications are then drawn up based on the findings for the betterment of the current practice With careful and detailed investigations, hopefully this study will serve as a useful source of reference for teachers, students and those who concern about this subject matter iii TÓM LƯỢC Đồng hành với cách giáo viên sửa viết cho sinh viên, sinh viên sửa lỗi viết hình thức viết phương pháp phổ biến nhằm cải thiện kĩ viết sinh viên chuyên Anh văn trường Đại học Cần Thơ Bài nghiên cứu tiến hành với bốn mục đích Một là, tìm hiểu kỹ việc sử dụng phương pháp sửa lỗi cho nhằm hoàn thiện viết sinh viên chuyên Anh văn năm trường Đại học Cần Thơ Hai là, tìm hiểu quan điểm sinh viên việc sử dụng phương pháp Ba là, tính hiệu việc sử dụng phương pháp việc giúp sinh viên kiểm tra học đồng thời cải thiện kĩ viết sinh viên Bốn là, tìm tương quan quan điểm sinh viên phương pháp sửa khả viết đối tượng Trong trình nghiên cứu, giúp đỡ tích cực 47 sinh viên tiếng Anh năm sáu giáo viên, người nghiên cứu sử dụng bảng câu hỏi cho sinh viên, số vấn giáo viên, kết tổng hợp từ ba phiên cuối từ ba viết sinh viên để phân tích Từ bảng câu hỏi dành cho sinh viên, người nghiên cứu tìm cách hiểu tồn diện tình hình sinh viên sửa viết cho thời điểm tại, quan điểm họ việc Nhìn chung, sinh viên có thái độ tích cực hoạt động giảng dạy họ đánh giá cao vai trò việc sinh viên sửa viết cho cách góp phần làm cho sinh viên tiến Bên cạnh đó, người nghiên cứu khẳng định phương pháp có tác động đến tiến sinh viên qua việc phân tích kết từ ba viết Cuối cùng, với việc phân tích kết hợp bảng câu hỏi ba viết giúp cho người nghiên cứu có nhìn sâu sắc mối quan hệ khả viết sinh viên quan điểm họ việc sử dụng hoạt động Mặc dù khơng có mối quan hệ nào, người nghiên cứu kết luận sinh viên trình độ đánh giá cao phương pháp Ngoài ra, thông qua số ý kiến từ vấn giáo viên, kết luận sư phạm đưa nhằm giúp cho việc dạy học kỹ viết tốt Với nghiên cứu cẩn trọng, tỉ mỉ hy vọng nghiên cứu tài liệu tham khảo cho giáo viên, sinh viên quan tâm đến vấn đề iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table/Figure Page Table 3.3.1: Factors of the questionnaire items 13 Table 3.4.3: Syllabus for practicing to write argumentative paragraph 15 Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of the current situation of using peer written feedback by the 1st- year students 17 Figure 4.2: The mean scores of the current situation of using peer written feedback among first-year students at Can Tho University 17 Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics of the student’s perceptions of using peer written feedback by the first- year students 18 Figure 4.4: The mean scores of three writing assignments 19 Table 4.4: Table of Compare means-Paired-Samples T-Test 19 v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the rationale, the research aims, research questions, as well as hypothesis of doing this research are introduced The organization of the thesis is also included afterwards 1.1 Rationale In the light of Communicative Language Teaching, process approach to teaching writing, peer feedback can be regarded as one of the most significant applications in improving students’ writing ability In fact, feedback plays a very crucial role in motivating further learning as it informs learners about the degree of their learning or their needs for improvement Many researchers such as Chiu (2008), Zhang (2008), Min (2006), and Paulus (1999) have proved that feedback which is employed in both forms of verbal and written commentary constitutes an important aspect of fostering the improvement of writing There are two kinds of peer feedback: oral and written peer feedback in which students can correct their friends’ writings Although group discussion in which peers exchange their ideas and giving their comments by speaking out is quite useful in cooperative writing, the researcher wants to investigate peer written feedback because the researcher can collect the data from the paper feedback more easily than oral feedback Apart from teachers’ feedback on students’ writing, peer feedback, especially peer written feedback has been used as a teaching strategy in many writing classrooms in Can Tho University Paulus (1999) has found that peer feedback helps students discover whether they communicate their ideas successfully or not and encourages them to revise and improve their texts they produce Moreover, compared with the traditional feedback known as teacher responses, peer feedback is also regarded as a powerful way in improving students’ critical thinking of writing and evaluation (Berg, 1999, Hyland, 2003, Topping, 1998, cited in Chiu, 2008) However, despite the great effect of peer written feedback on students’ writing revision, the number of studies on peer written feedback is still limited and outnumbered by studies on teacher written feedback Along with all the above-mentioned reasons, the researcher wishes to conduct a study entitled: “The Impact of Peer Written Feedback on the First-year Students’ Writing Skill at English Department, School of Education, Can Tho University” In this study, first-year students at Can Tho University are examined because their levels are not proficient enough to write a composition without any mistakes Moreover, first-year is the first stage to train students’ evaluation on their friends’ writings as well as their writings In conducting this study, the researcher hopes to gain more insights into the current situation of using peer written feedback in the writing classes for first- year students at English Department, School of education, Can Tho University in general and its impact on students’ writing skill in particular Finally, the researcher will propose some suggestions for the betterment of the current practice 1.2 Aims of the study In this research, the researcher wants to: Investigate the current situation of using peer written feedback among first-year students at the English Department, School of Education, Can Tho University Investigate students’ perceptions of written feedback provided by their peers on their writing assignments Investigate the impact of peer written feedback on students’ writing revision Investigate the correlation between students’ writing ability and their perceptions of using peer written feedback on writing 1.3 Research questions Basing on the research aims, the researcher has four research questions: How is the current situation of using peer written feedback by the first- year students at the English Department, School of Education, Can Tho University? What are these students’ perceptions of their peers’ written feedback? To what extent does peer written feedback affect the first-year students’ writing ability? Is there any correlation between students’ writing ability and their perceptions of using peer written feedback on writing? 1.4 Hypotheses Basing on the research questions, the researcher has four hypotheses: The current situation of using peer written feedback by the first-year students at the English Department, School of Education, Can Tho University is positive Students reveal high evaluation of peer written feedback Peer written feedback can have a good impact on students’ writing ability There is a high correlation between students’ writing ability and their perceptions of using peer written feedback on writing 1.5 Organization of the study Chapter I – Introduction: The rationale, the aims as well as the organization of the thesis are introduced in this section Chapter II – Literature review: A report of other researchers’ ideas and statements relating to the thesis will be mentioned in this part Chapter III – Research methodology: five relevant parts included in this chapter will be presented one by one They are research questions, research design, participants, instruments, and procedure of the study Chapter IV– Results: In this chapter, data collected from the instruments (a questionnaire for students; the marks of three writing assignments, and some interviews) will be analyzed and synthesized, and then some conclusions will be withdrawn from those data Chapter V – Discussions, Implication, Limitations, and Suggestions for writing course and further research The last chapter will mention discussions about the results, limitations of the research as well as suggestions for writing courses and for further research CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, an overview of writing teaching accompanied with an overview of peer written feedback on writing through the researches relating to this thesis are stated 2.1 AN OVERVIEW OF WRITING TEACHING 2.1.1 Conceptions of Writing According to Byrne (1988), writing is defined as “the act of forming graphic symbols, which are arranged according to certain conventions to form words and words have to be arranged to form sentences” (p.1) From a different point of view, Lannon (1989) defines writing as “the process of transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, or whatever into a message with definite meaning- writing is a process of deliberate decision”(p.9) In language teaching and learning, according to Tribble (1996), writing is defined as a “language skill” that involves “not just a graphic representation of speech, but the development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way” (p.3) Tribble also states that writers not only need to have ideas in their minds but also know how to put their ideas in a logical and structured order Among the definitions mentioned above, this definition is considered the most thorough one because it nearly covers all aspects of writing including contents, grammar, and organization; especially emphasizing the aims of writing as well as the organization of writing This is also the definition applied in this study by the researcher 2.1.2 Approaches to Teaching Writing In the approaches to teaching writing, the researcher would present the nature of two most major approaches: product approach and process approach 2.1.2.1 Product Approach to Teaching Writing In the light of product approach, the final outcome of a writing process is emphasized Pincas (1962) summarizes the shortcomings of this approach: “the learner is not allowed to ‘create’ in the target language at all; the use of language is the manipulation of fixed patterns; these patterns are learned by imitation” (p.185) However, it cannot be denied that this approach can help students tend to see errors as something that they have a professional obligation to correct and, where possible, eliminate (Tribble, 1996) 2.1.2.2 Process Approach to Teaching Writing In the mid-1970s, process approach began to replace product approach Process approach enables students to make clearer decisions about the direction of their writing “ by means of discussion, tasks, drafting, feedback and informed choices encouraging students to be responsible for making improvements themselves” (Jordan, 1997, p.168) In conclusion, it will be ideal if both of these approaches are integrated to make up the most satisfactory means to teaching writing Writing teacher should encourage students not only to create but also to imitate This means that students can both imitate difficulties they are having with the text and which way they can improve their writings This does not mean that peer feedback should be too detailed because some generic comments which help students have general view of their papers should be incorporated with a fairly specific one  Moderate amount of peer written feedback As it can be drawn from the findings, students tend to be moderate in the amount of feedback given to their friends However, according to Ms Le (interviewed teachers), and the findings of three writing assignments, regarding the content of writing, they seem to hesitate to make some suggestions for the writers’ later revision For this reason, in order to give friends the most moderate amount of feedback, students should ask the teachers and other students for help when they want to point out some writing problems (from collecting ideas to expressing them in their paragraph) and making some suggestions especially the ones regarding the content of writing This collaborative activity can provide students with an appropriate amount of peer feedback regarding different writing aspects  Balanced use of marginal and end peer written feedback As perceived by students participating in the survey, end feedback tends to be favored by most of the peer commentators According to Ms Le (interviewed teachers), a balance should be maintained between the use of both marginal and end feedback because feedback put in the margin and between the lines can be effectively used to directly point out different types of mistakes and feedback put at the end of the paper can be efficiently used to give general comments  Appropriate tone of peer written feedback As drawn from the survey questionnaire, first-year students tend to use positive feedback more than negative feedback when giving comments, they also state that receiving too negative comments seems to be a big reason for their devaluation of the helpfulness of peer feedback Hence, it is recommended that students should try to utilize more positive feedback apart from negative one by balancing the amount of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in peer feedback since the combination of both praise and criticism will bring about “the best results” (Ferris & Hedgecock, 1998) To conclude, peer written feedback has proved itself to have a positive impact on students’ revision in particular and their writing ability in general In order to enhance the betterment of peer feedback, both teachers and students should take those recommendations and suggestions into consideration and put them into practice 26 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 5.3.1 Limitation of the present study As it is the first research the researcher has ever done, this study can hardly avoid some unavoidable limitations Firstly, this study is a relatively small scale one with the involvement of 47 questionnaire respondents and only 141 writing papers from three writing assignments This may be a hindrance which prevents the researcher from getting more precious findings related to peer feedback Secondly, this study only covers peer written feedback instead of oral feedback Although peer written feedback seems appropriate and more common in the research context, group discussion in which peers exchange their ideas and share experience by speaking out their comments is quite useful in cooperative writing Thirdly, in this study, the researcher only focuses on one group using peer written feedback and makes a conclusion It will be better if the researcher conducts the research by comparing two groups (one control group and one experimental group) Last but not least, limitation lies in the investigation of the changes between different writing assignments made by students Although there is an increase of final marks between three writing assignments, other factors such as revising their writings themselves, with the help from teachers, other reference sources along with feedback may affect their writing product to some extent In this way, the decrease in the number of witting mistakes can be caused by these relevant factors Due to the small scale research, the researcher could not investigate all of these factors In this way, this limitation, to some extent, affects the validity of the study 5.3.2 Suggestions for further research It is highly recommended that future studies will be conducted with a broader target population and the addition of other supplemental methods (peer oral feedback, teacher feedback, other references) Furthermore, other researchers who are interested in peer feedback can broaden the scale of the study to cover another kind of feedback, that is, peer oral feedback In addition, a thorough investigation into peer written feedback would make a good study so other researchers can carry out studies to explore the impact of different types of feedback on students’ revision as well Last but not least, further studies can be focused on an experimental research in which a controlled group (group use peer written feedback) and an uncontrolled group (group does not use peer written feedback) are compared in order to have more precise conclusion about the effectiveness of using peer written feedback on first-year students 5.4 Conclusion All in all, the researcher would like to restate some important points in her study Firstly, the current situation of using peer written feedback by first-year students at Can Tho University is quite positive Secondly, most of first-year students express 27 their high evaluation on their friends’ written feedback Thirdly, using peer written feedback has a good impact on students’ writing revision at Can Tho University Lastly, not only first-year students with high level but also the first-year students with lower levels highly evaluate using peer written feedback to revise their writings In this study, using peer written feedback can bring some good impacts to firstyear students who took part in it According to Ms Le, who taught this writing group also suggested that peer written feedback may be more effective when students have a habit of performing the practice of using peer written feedback to revise writing products Therefore, other writing teachers in Can Tho University should also continue to apply this technique in teaching in order to develop students’ targeted skills which are self-study as well as self-evaluation Both of them need to be developed for students at tertiary education level 28 REFERENCES Bartels, N (2003) Written peer response in L2 writing English Teaching Forum, 41(1), 34-37 Bartram, M & Walton, R (1991) Correction, Mistakes Management: A transitive Approach for Language Teacher London: Language Teaching Publications Bui, T.K.N (2009) The Effectiveness of Peer Written Feedback on First Year Students’ Writing Skill Retrieved 27 th, December, 2009 from http://www.slideshare.net/khoaanhmy/the-effectiveness-of-peer-writtenfeedback-on-first-year-students-writing-skill-kim-ngan Byrne, D (1988) Teaching writing skills Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers Longman: London Caulk, N (1994) Comparing teacher and student responses to written work TESOL Quarterly, 28, 1-8 Chaudron, C (1984) The effects of feedback on students’ composition revisions RELC Journal, 15, 1-14 Chiu, C-Y (2008) An Investigation of Peer Evaluation in EFL College Writing 25th International Conference of English Teaching Retrieved January 1st, 2010 from http://www.ccu.edu.tw/fllcccu/2008EIA/English/CO9.pdf Coffin, C., Curry, M., Goodman, S., Hewings, A., Lillis, T., and Swann, J (2003) Teaching Academic Writing: A Toolkit for Higher Education London and New York: Routledge Ferris, D.R & Hedgecock J.S (1998) Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process and Practice New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ferris, D.R, Pezone, S., Tade, C.R., & Tini, S (1997) Teacher commentary on student writing: Descriptions and Implications Journal of Second Language Writing, (2), 135-182 Franco, C D P (2008) Using wiki-based peer-correction to develop writing skills of Brazilian EFL learners Novitas-ROYAL, (1), 49-59 Hirsh, E.D (1977) The philosophy of composition Chicago: University of Chicago Press Hyland, F (1998) The Impact of Teacher Written Feedback on Individual Writers Journal of Second Language Writing, 10 (3), 255-286 Hyland, F & Hyland, K (2001) Sugaring the pill: Praise and Criticism in Written Feedback Journal of Second Language Writing, 10 (3), 185-212 Jordan, R.R (1997) What’s in a name? English for Specific Purposes, 16 (1) Lannon, J.M (1989) The Writing Process A concise rhetoric Southeastern Massachusetts University Liu, J & J Hansen (2002) Peer response in second language writing classrooms Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press 29 Kurt, G & Atay, D (2007) The effects of peer feedback on the writing anxiety of prospective Turkish teachers of EFL Journal of Theory and Practice in Education, (1), 12-23 Michaelsen & Schultheiss, E (1988) Making Feedback Helpful Organizational Behavior Teaching, 13 (1), 109-113 Min, H.T (2006) The Effects of Trained Peer Review on EFL Students’ Revision and Writing Quality Journal of Second Language Writing, (2), 113-131 Mosher, J (1998) Word Works: Responding to student papers BSU Writing Center Paulus, T.M (1999) The effect of peer and teacher feedback on student writing Journal of Second Language Writing, (3), 265-289 Pierson, H (1967) Peers correction vs teachers' correction of writing Retrieved th, January, 2010 from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED017502 Pincas, A (1962) Structural linguistics and systematic composition teaching to students of English as a foreign language Language Learning, 12 (3), 185184 Raimes, A (1983) Techniques in Teaching Writing New York: Oxford University Press Reid, J.M (1993) Teaching ESL writing Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Rollinson, P (2005) Using peer written feedback in the ESL writing class ELT Journal, 59 (1), 23-29 Tang, G.M & Tithecott, J (1990) “Peer response in ESL writing” en TESL Canada Journal, 692, 20-38 Tran, T.H (2004).Some suggestions on improving the correction of English written work Retrieved 5th, January, 2010 from www.kh-dh.udn.vn/zipfiles/So5/14_tranthuyhang.doc Tribble, C (1996) Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press Tsui, A.B.M & Ng, M (2000) “Do secondary L2 writers benefit from peer comments?” en Journal of Second Language Writing, (2), 147-170 Ur, P (1996) Unit Five: Giving Feedback Correction on Writing: A course in Language Teaching – Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Villa mil, O.S & de Guerrero M.C.M (1998) Assessing the impact of peer revision on L2 writing Applied Linguistics 19 (4), 491-514 Walk, K (1996) Responding to Student Writing Princeton University Retrieved April 3rd, 2009 from http: //www web.princeton.edu/sites/writing/Writing_Disciplines/pdfs/Respondi ng.pdf 30 Zhang, S (2008) Assessing the Impact of Peer Revision on English Writing of Tertiary EFL Learners CELEA Journal Retrieved March 15th, 2009 from http://www.celea.org.cn/teic/78/08070221.pdf Ziv, N D (1983) Peer Groups in the Composition Classroom: A case study Paper presented at the 34th Annual meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication 31 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE ON THE IMPACT OF PEER WRITTEN FEEDBACK ON FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL Your full name: You have used peer written feedback to correct your friends’ writing The following statements are some common beliefs of giving peer written feedback Please, tick (V) your choice in each statement (from strongly agree to strongly disagree)to express your attitude about it Item Statement Strongly Agree The helpful feedback is the one which is positive feedback (comments on strong points and praise) The helpful feedback is the one which is used generic feedback (comments which can be generalized for later use to other writing tasks) The helpful feedback is the one which is used marginal feedback (feedback put in the margin or between the lines) The helpful feedback is the one which is used to point out all mistakes and correct some serious ones when giving written feedback on the writing assignments The helpful feedback is the one which is used to address content aspect (ideas, logic, clarity, etc) when giving feedback on the writing assignments The helpful feedback is the one which is used to address organization aspect (topic and supporting sentences, unity, cohesion, etc) when giving feedback on my writing assignments The helpful feedback is the one which is used to address grammar aspect (rules for verbs, nouns, sentence, etc) when giving feedback on the writing assignments The helpful feedback is the one which is used to address word choice aspect (vocabulary, tone, idiom) when giving feedback on the writing assignments The helpful feedback is the one which is used address mechanics aspect (punctuation, spelling, Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 32 capitalization, handwriting, etc) when giving feedback on the writing assignments 10 I think my friend’s written feedback is necessary to improve my writing’s ability 11 The helpful feedback is the one which includes positive comment, criticism and suggestions for improvements Supplemental questions (SP) SP1 Please write down the reasons you think that your friends’ feedbacks are helpful or not! Example 1: I think my friends’ written feedback is helpful because Example 1: I think my friends’ written feedback is not helpful because SP2 Please, specify other suggestions you think it can improve the current situation of using peer written feedback in first-year writing at Can Tho University THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERATION! 33 APPENDIX PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA VỀ TÍNH HIỆU QUẢ CỦA VIỆC SINH VIÊN NĂM SỬA LỖI BÀI VIẾT CHO NHAU (DẠNG VIẾT) Họ tên: Bạn sử dụng phương pháp sửa viết (dạng viết) Dưới quan điểm phở biến việc sử dụng phương pháp này, đánh dấu (V) vào lựa chon bạn ( từ đồng ý đến không đồng ý) trước câu phát biểu đây: STT Câu phát biểu Cách cho ý kiến lên viết bạn hiệu cho lời nhân xét từ điểm hay, điểm tốt viết bạn Cách cho ý kiến lên viết bạn hiệu cho lời nhân xét khái quát ( áp dụng chung cho tất viết khác) Cách cho ý kiến lên viết bạn hiệu cho lời nhân xét lề hàng ( nhận xét ý ghi trực tiếp ý đó) Cách cho ý kiến lên viết bạn hiệu tất lỗi sai bạn sửa lỗi sai nghiêm trọng ( bạn nghĩ bạn khơng thể tự sửa chỗ đó), lỗi cịn lại đánh dấu để bạn tự sửa Một mục cần ý kiểm tra sửa viết bạn ( checklist for revision) ý vào nội dung viết ( bao gồm ý tưởng, cách lập luận, độ rõ ràng) Một mục cần ý kiểm tra sửa viết bạn ( checklist for revision) ý vào tính tổ chức viết ( câu chủ đề câu có giải thích, làm rõ câu chủ đề khơng, tính nhất, liên kết,…) Một mục cần ý kiểm tra sửa viết bạn ( checklist for revision) ý vào ngữ pháp ( sử dụng quy luật động từ, câu, từ loại…) Rất đồng Đồng ý ý Trung tính Khơng đồng ý Rất khơng đồng ý 34 Một mục cần ý kiểm tra sửa viết bạn ( checklist for revision) ý vào cách lựa chọn từ ( ngữ cảnh chưa?) Một mục cần ý kiểm tra sửa viết bạn ( checklist for revision) ý vào nguyên tắc khác ( cách chấm câu, cách viết hoa … ) 10 Tôi nghĩ bạn cho ý kiến viết cần thiết để giúp học viết tốt 11 Tôi nghĩ cách đưa ý kiến hiệu phải bao gồm: nhận xét nhũng điểm tốt trước, điểm chưa tốt phải gợi ý cách để khắc phục điểm chưa tốt Câu hỏi bổ sung: Câu hỏi bổ sung 1:Viết lại số lí khác mà bạn nghĩ bạn bạn cho nhận xét viết bạn cần thiết hay không cần thiết cho bạn Ví dụ 1: Tơi nghĩ bạn tơi cho ý kiến viết cần thiết để giúp tơi học viết tốt hơn.vì Ví dụ 2: Tơi nghĩ bạn cho ý kiến viết khơng cần thiết để giúp tơi học viết tốt hơn.vì Câu hỏi bổ sung 2:Viết lại số đề nghị khác mà theo bạn nghĩ giúp cải thiện việc sửa lỗi viết bạn tốt hơn: CÁM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA CÁC BẠN 35 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE’S ADAPTATION Item Summarizing main point of each statement Author’s citations Positive feedback refers to comments on only strong points and praises on students’ writing Generic feedback is a comment which can appear on any student paper and can be completely generalized for later use to other writing assignments or tasks Ferris (1997:133) Marginal feedback refers to a kind of feedback which is written in the margin or between sentence lines of students’ papers Ferris & Hedgecock (1998) Amount of feedback refers to a kind of feedback which is deciding whether or not students should correct all mistakes, correct some typical and serious mistakes or just give general comments during the process of giving feedback (Ur, 1996) There are five common aspects mostly addressed including grammar, mechanics, organization, word choice and content Raimes (1983) Organization aspect includes topic and supporting sentences, unity, cohesion, etc Raimes (1983) Grammar aspect includes rules for verbs, nouns, sentence, etc Raimes (1983) Word choice aspect includes vocabulary, tone, and idiom Raimes (1983) Mechanics aspect includes aspect punctuation, spelling, capitalization, handwriting, etc Raimes (1983) 10 Students’ written feedback is necessary to improve their writing’s ability 11 Features of a good peer written feedback includes positive comment, criticism and suggestions for improvements SP1 Write down the reasons students think that their friends’ feedbacks are helpful or not! SP2 Specify other suggestions students think it can improve the current situation of using peer written feedback in first-year writing at Can Tho University Hyland (1998) Adapted based on the aims of this study Coffin et al (2003:101) Adapted based on the aims of this study Adapted based on the aims of this study 36 APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWING TEACHERS Should instructors let their students give written feedback on their friends’ writings? Why or Why not? Should instructors teach their students how to give written feedback on their friends’ writings at the beginning of the semester? Why or Why not? When instructing students how to give feedback on their friends ‘writing, should instructors introduce the checklist for revising their writing and teach them how to use it? Why or Why not? Do you think that the checklist include content, organization, grammar, word choice, mechanics can help students revise their friends writing as well as their own writing effectively? Why or Why not? Is using peer written feedback suitable and meaningful to all students’ level or intermediate level? Why or Why not? Do you think that students’ written feedback is necessary for them to improve their writing’s ability? Why or Why not? Supplemental question (SP): Please, specify other suggestions you think they can improve the current situation of using peer written feedback in first-year writing 37 APPENDIX THE ADAPTATION OF QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWING TEACHERS Question SP Summarizing main point of each questions Instructors let their students give written feedback on their friends’ writings Instructors teach their students how to give written feedback on their friends’ writings at the beginning of the semester Instructors introduce the checklist for revising their writing and teach them how to use it The checklist includes content, organization, grammar, word choice, and mechanics Using peer written feedback suitable and meaningful to all students’ level or intermediate level Students’ written feedback is necessary for them to improve their writing’s ability Specify other suggestions you think they can improve the current situation of using peer written feedback in first-year writing Author’s citations Tran (2004) Tran (2004) Tran (2004) Raimes (1983) Adapted based on the aims of this study Adapted based on the aims of this study Adapted based on the aims of this study 38 APPENDIX EDITING CHECKLIST Writer’s Questions FORMAT Is the format correct? ORGANIZATION Does the essay have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion? Introduction Do the general statements  Give background information?  Attract the reader’s attention? Does the thesis statement state a clearly focused main idea for the whole essay? Body Does each body paragraph have  A clearly stated topic sentence with a main idea?  Good development with sufficient supporting details (facts, examples, and quotations)?  Unity (one idea per paragraph)?  Coherence (logical organization and transition words)? Conclusion Does the conclusion  Restate your thesis or summarize your main points?  Give your final thoughts on the subject of your essay? Peer Editor’s Answers and Comments Check the title, indenting, and double spacing How many paragraphs does the essay have? How many paragraphs are in the body? How many general statements are there? Is this a funnel introduction? Yes No Does it stimulate your interest in the topic? Yes No Copy the thesis statement here: Write the main idea for each body paragraph: List one supporting detail from each body paragraph: Underline any sentences that break the unity: List the traditions between each body paragraph: What kind of conclusion does the essay have? (Check one) summary of the main 39 points restatement of the thesis GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS Are commas used where necessary? Are verb tenses used approximately? SENTENCE STRUCTURE Do all sentences contain at least one subject and one verb and express a complete thought? 10 Does the essay contain a variety of sentence types? 11 Are adjective clauses used? Circle any comma errors Add missing commas: Check each verb for the appropriate tense Check any that you have questions about Underline any sentences that you have questions about What sentence type (simple, compound, or complex) does this writer use the most often? Underline all adjective clauses and check them for correctness (Adapted from Oshima, 1997, cited in Tran, 2004 ) 40