Students’ preferences for and responses to teacher written feedback on grammatical errors a case study at le quy don private primary school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ PHƢƠNG CHI STUDENTS’ PREFERENCES FOR AND RESPONSES TO TEACHER WRITTEN FEEDBACK ON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS: A CASE STUDY AT LE QUY DON PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOL (Sự yêu thích phản hồi học sinh phương pháp chữa lỗi ngữ pháp giáo viên: Một nghiên cứu điển hình trường Tiểu học Dân lập Lê Quý Đôn, Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 M.A course: 19 HANOI, 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ PHƢƠNG CHI STUDENTS’ PREFERENCES FOR AND RESPONSES TO TEACHER WRITTEN FEEDBACK ON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS: A CASE STUDY AT LE QUY DON PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOL (Sự yêu thích phản hồi học sinh phương pháp chữa lỗi ngữ pháp giáo viên: Một nghiên cứu điển hình trường Tiểu học Dân lập Lê Quý Đôn, Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 M.A course: 19 Supervisor: Pham Minh Tam, M.Ed HANOI, 2013 i DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Students’ Preferences for and Responses to Teacher Written Feedback on Grammatical Errors: A Case Study at Le Quy Don Private Primary School” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University - Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution Hanoi, May 2013 Signature Trần Thị Phƣơng Chi ii ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the fit between teachers’ written feedback on grammatical errors and the students’ preferences and strategies for handling the feedback on their written works in a primary school in Hanoi The study used a triangulation of participants and methods in which the practice of feedback was seen from the perspectives of students and teachers Data were collected from students’ worksheets, questionnaires and interviews Firstly, worksheets of 25 fourth-graders marked by two teachers were collected in order to work out the teacher’s feedback types on grammatical errors Participants were then asked to fill in the questionnaires concerning their feedback preferences Finally, semistructured interviews were employed to seek for students’ responses to the feedback they received The results indicated that students’ preferences for teacher feedback vary from class to class and the students’ strategies for handling feedback varied depending on the type of feedback each teacher gave on the students’ paper Key words: teacher written feedback, grammatical errors, preferences, responses, English as a foreign language iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In completing this thesis, I owe my particular debt of gratitude to a great number of people First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Ms Pham Minh Tam who has always been ready and willing to help me make the study possible She has put enormous effort into editing and providing valuable comments I would not have completed this study without her help and encouragement My thanks also go to all teachers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate studies, University of Languages and International studies, VNU- Hanoi It is their precious lectures and instructions as well as valuable suggestions that help me understand issues related to my study and teaching I would also like to thank the authors of the books and studies that I have consulted in order to understand and investigate my research problem Last but not least, I must record my deep gratitude to all members in my family It is their enduring love, care, support and encouragement that help me finish this study Declaration Abstract Acknowledgements Table of Contents Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the Problem and Rationale 1.2 Objectives of the Study 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Scope of the Study 1.5 Methodology of the Study 1.6 Significance of the Study 1.7 Organization of the Study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Language Errors 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.2 The Role of Written Feedback 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.3 Teacher Written Feedback on Grammatic 2.3.1 2.3.2 v 2.3.3 Error Correction Codes 2.4 Students’ Preferences and Responses for T 2.5 Related Studies Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Context 3.1.1 C 3.1.2 T 3.2 Research Questions 3.3 Research Approach 3.4 Participants 3.5 Data Collection Instruments 3.5.1 D 3.5.2 Q 3.5.3 S 3.6 Data Collections Procedure 3.7 Data Analysis Procedure 3.8 Validity and Reliability of Data Chapter 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 4.2 Results 4.1.1 R 4.1.2 R 4.1.3 R Discussion Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of the Study 5.2 Pedagogical Implications 5.3 Limitations of the Study 5.4 Recommendations for Further Research vi REFERENCES APPENDIXES Appendix A: Types of Written Feedback Appendix B: Types of Grammatical Errors Appendix C: Sample worksheet marked by Teacher A Appendix D: Sample worksheet marked by Teacher B Appendix E: Interview Question (English version) Appendix F: Interview Question (Vietnamese version) Appendix G: Questions for Interview (English version) Appendix H: Questions for Interview (Vietnamese version) TABLES Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter begins with the presentation of the statement of the problem and rationale for the study Next, it presents the aims and scopes of the study as well as the research questions to which the study seeks to find answers This is followed by a brief description of methodology used in the present study Finally, the chapter concludes with a description of the organization of the thesis 1.1 Statement of the Problem and Rationale for the Study Teacher feedback has long been regarded as an essential part in language teaching and learning because it not only helps students to correct their own mistakes but also enhances more confidence about their language competences Feedback may focus on either forms or contents or both It was clearly seen that young learners of English as a foreign language often commit grammatical errors in their writing Therefore, teachers’ giving feedback on their errors is considered to be necessary for students’ proficiency However, the effectiveness of feedback does not lie in itself but by many other factors such as students’ preferences for and responses to the teacher feedback That is the reason why teachers need to take into account some questions: ―What feedback strategies does a teacher actually use when providing feedback on grammatical errors‖, ―Do students like their teachers’ feedback type?‖, ―How they react when receiving feedback?‖ Up to now, studies of language education have given considerable attention to the issue of how to provide feedback on students’ writing (Diab, 2005, Wang, 2010; Katayama; 2007) Yet, the effectiveness of written feedback on grammatical errors has been under-explored (Russel, J.M 2003) Some attention has been given to investigate whether certain types of written feedback may be more effective than the others, but the findings are not inclusive Additionally, which feedback strategies would fit the needs of particular students is still questioned Addressing these issues will require time and commitment of a number of researchers The research being reported in this study contributes to the agenda by investigating the fit between teachers’ practices, students’ preferences and strategies for handling feedback on their written work Much as important written feedback on grammatical errors is, there have been few studies comprehensively dealing with the issue There is also a lack of consensus over such matters as what feedback strategies is the most effective to correct grammatical errors in particular context, what feedback types are preferred by students and how students respond when they receive teacher feedback Moreover, almost all of the feedback studies on students’ preferences and responses have been conducted in college/ university setting Owing to the lack of consensus on the effectiveness of teacher feedback, this study aims to gain more insights into giving effective feedback by asking what students think, want and after they receive teacher feedback There is a paucity of research that addresses the elementary context In Vietnam, a focus on primary school students is important since they are those who have chances to access English as a foreign language from the very young ages (7-11) This study is an attempt to examine the real situation of written feedback on grammatical errors conducted at the Le Quy Don Private Primary School and to propose some suggestions for the betterment of the current practice As most of the past studies have pursued the inquiry of teacher feedback in two general ways, namely students’ preferences for teacher feedback (Hedgcock & Lefkowitz, 1994; Hiroko, 1994; Leiki, 1999) and students’ responses to teacher feedback (Cohen,1987; Ferris, 1995, Chiang, 2004), this study follow the similar traits and attempts to find out how students perceive 50 Sheen, Y (2009) Differential effects of focused and unfocused written correction on the accurate use of grammatical forms by adult esl learners System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics, 37(4) Stake, R E (1995) The Art of Case Study Research Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Van Lier (1988) The classroom and the language learner New York: Longman Yin, R K (2003) Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Zamel, V (1985) Responding to student writing TESOL Quarterly, 19, 79– 97 51 I APPENDIX A Types of Written Feedback Type of error feedback Direct feedback Indirect feedback (Direct location of errors) Indirect feedback (Indirect location of errors) (adapted from Lee, 2003a) II APPENDIX B Types of Grammatical Errors Grammatical errors Verb errors Noun ending errors Article errors Wrong word Sentence structure errors III phrases teacher (adapted from Chaney (1990), Extracted from Ferris & Roberts, 2001, p.169) IV Appendix C Sample worksheet marked by Teacher A V Appendix D Sample worksheet marked by Teacher B VI APPENDIX E Survey Questionnaire Dear students, My name is Tran Thi Phuong Chi – an English teacher at Le Quy Don Private Primary school I am conducting this survey questionnaire in order to collect data for my MA minor thesis entitled „Students’ Preferences for and Responses to Teacher Written Feedback on Grammatical Errors: A Case Study at Le Quy Don Private Primary School” Your assistance in completing this questionnaire is highly appreciated Your name and details will not be disclosed in the final research report Part 1: Personal information: Form: Sex: _ Years of learning English: Part 2: Questionnaire Survey How important is it to you for your English teacher to give you comments on grammar? Very important Directions: The following five sentences have the same error in English grammar Each sentence been corrected in various ways by different teachers Look over the different possible corrections and rate each one If you think, it is a very good way to provide corrective feedback on a grammatical error, circle If you think, it is a very bad way to provide corrective feedback on a grammatical error, circle If you think it is somewhere in between, circle the number between and that best represents your opinion goes He go to the cinema every Friday • Under/ circle errors and provide corrections He go to the cinema every Friday • Underline / circle errors He go to the cinema every Friday (verb form) • them Underline / circle errors and categorized He go to the cinema every Friday •  Give me a hint about my errors VII He go to the cinema every Friday (Tense)  Give me a hint about errors and categorise the errors Thank you very much for your cooperation! APPENDIX F PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA Các thân mến, Cô Trần Thị Phương Chi, giáo viên Tiếng Anh trường Tiểu học Dân lập Lê Quý Đôn Cô thực luận văn nghiên cứu “Sở thích phản hồi học sinh phương pháp chữa lỗi ngữ pháp giáo viên” Cô mong đồng ý trả lời câu hỏi phiếu Tất thông tin cá nhân ý kiến bảo mật tuyệt đối  Phần 1: Thông tin cá nhân Lớp: Giới tính: Số năm học tiếng Anh: Phần 2: Câu hỏi điều tra Con thấy việc giáo viên chữa ngữ pháp quan trọng nào: Không cần thiết Khá quan trọng Cũng tốt Không quan trọng 5 Hướng dẫn: Năm câu có chung lỗi ngữ pháp tiếng Anh giáo viên có cách sửa khác Em đọc kỹ cách sửa đánh giá chúng Nếu em cho cách sửa lỗi ngữ pháp hay khoanh số Nếu em thấy cách sửa em khơng hài lịng khoanh vào số Nếu có ý kiến khác, em lựa chọn số lại để thể ý kiến em • He go to the cinema every Friday • Gạch chân/ khoanh vào lỗi sai sửa goes Gạch chân/ khoanh vào lỗi sai He go to the cinema every Friday • He go to the cinema every Friday (verb form) Gạch chân / khoanh vào lỗi sai phân loại lỗi VIII • Đánh dấu lề vào dịng có lỗi sai cách (vd: dấu x …) He go to the cinema every Friday  • Đưa dấu hiệu dịng có lỗi sai phân loại lỗi He go to the cinema every Friday (T) Cảm ơn hợp tác! IX APPENDIX G Questions for Interview What you usually after you read your teacher’s comment on grammatical errors? Can you explain your choice? Do you have any problems in understanding your teacher feedback? If yes, can you specify them? APPENDIX H Câu hỏi vấn Em thường làm đọc nhận xét giáo phiếu ngữ pháp cuối tuần? Em giải thích lý do? Em có khó khăn đọc nhận xét giáo viên khơng? Nếu có, giải thích rõ? X TABLES Table 1: Teacher Feedback Strategies on Grammatical Errors Feedback strategies F Direct feedback G Indirect, uncoded feedback H Indirect, coded feedback I Indirect prompting of error location by marks (e.g., a cross) J Indirect prompting error location by correction codes Total Table Q4: How important is it for your English teacher to give you comments on grammar? Responses Very important Quite important Okay Not important Total Table Q3: How often you read over your worksheet when your teacher returns it to you? Responses Always Usually Sometimes Not very often Never Total XI XII Table 4: Students’ Preferences for Feedback on Grammatical Errors Types of written feedback Responses feedback Very good/ good Neither good nor bad Very bad/ Bad Total ... Preferences for and Responses to Teacher Written Feedback on Grammatical Errors: A Case Study at Le Quy Don Private Primary School? ?? is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at. .. kept confidential 30 3.9 Validity and Reliability of Data In attempting to get valid and reliable data, triangulation was done by collecting information from diverse range of individuals and setting,... This study attempted to explore Le Quy Don Private Primary School teacher? ??s strategies of written feedback on grammatical errors and also to specify the students’ preferences for choosing some feedback