Enhancing learner autonomy through peer assessment training – an action research

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHAN THỊ NGỌC LỆ ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH PEER ASSESSMENT TRAINING AN ACTION RESEARCH TĂNG CƯỜNG TÍNH TỰ CHỦ HỌC TẬP THƠNG QUA VIỆC HUẤN LUYỆN KỸ NĂNG ĐÁNH GIÁ CHÉO NGHIÊN CỨU TÌM GIẢI PHÁP M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI – 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHAN THỊ NGỌC LỆ ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH PEER ASSESSMENT TRAINING AN ACTION RESEARCH TĂNG CƯỜNG TÍNH TỰ CHỦ HỌC TẬP THƠNG QUA VIỆC HUẤN LUYỆN KỸ NĂNG ĐÁNH GIÁ CHÉO NGHIÊN CỨU TÌM GIẢI PHÁP M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI – 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES Acknowledgement i Abstract ii List of tables, charts, and abbreviations vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Methodology of the study 1.5 An overview of the rest of the chapter CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Learner autonomy 2.1.1 Concept of learner autonomy………………………… 2.1.2 The importance of learner autonomy in learning 10 2.1.3 Components of Learner Autonomy 10 2.1.3.1 Learning strategies 10 2.1.3.2 Learning attitudes and motivation 13 2.1.3.3 Self – esteem 15 2.2 Peer Assessment 16 2.2.1 Definition of Peer Assessment 16 2.2.2 Advantages of Peer Assessment 17 2.2.3 Disadvantages of Peer Assessment…………………… 18 2.2.4 Training students for Peer evaluation………………… 20 2.2.5 Peer evaluation and the teacher………………………… 21 2.3 Writing 23 iv 2.4 Previous studies on Peer assessment and Learner Autonomy 25 2.4.1 Review of related studies worldwide 25 2.4.2 Review of related studies in Vietnam 27 2.4.3 Literature gaps 28 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Rationale for Action Research Design 30 3.1.1 Action Research 30 3.1.2 Design of the study 34 3.2 Participants…………………………………………………… 37 3.2.1 Sampling of Test and Questionnaire Phases…………… 37 3.2.2 Sampling of Interview Phase…………………………… 38 3.3 Data collection instruments 40 3.3.1 Questionnaires 40 3.3.2 Interviews 42 3.4 Procedure of data collection 43 3.3.1 Phase – Questionnaire 43 3.3.2 Phase – Interview 44 3.5 Data analysis 45 3.5.1 Phase – Questionnaire 45 3.5.1.1 Methods of data analysis 45 3.5.1.2 Procedure of data analysis 46 3.5.2 Phase – Interviews 46 3.5.2.1 Step 1: Transcribing the interviews 46 3.5.2.2 Step 2: Classifying the data 47 3.5.2.3 Step 3: Interpreting the data 47 v CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Research question 48 4.2 Research question & 60 4.3 Discussion 67 CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Learner – centered approach in writing 72 5.2 Metacognitive strategies in writing 75 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 6.1 Major findings of the study 77 6.2 Expected outcomes and contributions of the study .79 6.3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study .80 REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaire English version Appendix 2: Questionnaire Vietnamese version Appendix 3: Interview Questions - English version Appendix 4: Interview Questions - Vietnamese version Appendix 5: Transcription of Interview Appendix 6: Peer Evaluation Sheet Appendix 7: Samples of Writing vi LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND ABBREVIATIONS TABLES Table 1: A summary of the students‘ background………… Table 2: Profiles of participants in phase two…………… Table 3: Advantages of Peer Assessment………………… Table 4: Disadvantages of Peer Assessment…………… CHARTS Chart 1: Simple Action Research Model………………… Chart 2: Detailed Action Research Model……………… Chart 3: Results of Pre – Test and Post – Test…………… Chart 4: Learning Strategies Related Benefits…………… Chart 5: Attitude and Motivation Related Benefits……… Chart 6: Self- esteem Related Benefits…………………… ABBREVIATIONS USSH: University of Social Sciences and Humanities HULIS: Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi FIS: Faculty of International Studies EFL: English Foreign Language vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction This initial chapter outlines the research problem and rationale for the study as well as its scope and significance More importantly, the aims and objectives are highlighted with three research questions to provide guidelines for the whole research Finally, the chapter concludes with an overview of the rest of the paper, serving as a compass to orientate the readers throughout the research 1.1 Identification of the problem and rationale for the study Learner autonomy has been a central theme in educational debate over the last thirty years In mainstream education, there has been a paradigmatic shift away from teacher-centred learning towards more individualized or participative models of the learning process, and trends in language teaching have mirrored the developments in mainstream educational practice (Nunan, 2000) In EFL, moves towards greater learner independence have been advocated for both practical and pedagogical reasons, with a view to offering greater flexibility of timetable and syllabus, while making learning more learner-centred, more motivating and more efficient (Dickinson, 1987) According to Benson & Voller (1997), ―learning is more effective when learners are active in the learning process, assuming responsibly for their learning and participating in the decisions which affect it‖ Furthermore, autonomous learning becomes increasingly necessary to university students as Malcolm and Rindfleisch (1998, p.2) have pointed out in their study ―students arrive at university with the potential to be autonomous in their learning‖ It is clear that one of the areas that have the greatest potential for adopting learner autonomy is writing (McCarthy, 1990, p.129) In any educational settings, writing constitutes a very important factor As a productive skill, writing requires the learners to have profound knowledge to produce a standard written product Writing in general has a very important role in society (Tribble, 1996; Martin, 1985) However, writing is not as easy for the learners to acquire as the speaking skill It also takes a long time to have a habit of writing the targeted language and many learners have failed to master this skill This failure can be attributed to many reasons, one of which is possibly the attitudes and responsibility of students in practicing writing autonomously On the one hand, it is recently agreed among language teachers and researchers that making mistakes and committing errors are inevitable parts of learning a foreign language, especially in one productive skill like writing In the past, students often made assumptions that evaluations of their errors made by teachers are more accurate, which may not always be true (Orsmond & Merry, 1996) Falchikov and Goldfinch (2000) raised concerns about the potential bias of teacher assessment Since teacher assessment is not always the most valid method, it would be more appropriate to triangulate learning achievement via different sources such as peer assessment In other words, studying writing in their own by checking errors among peers is required for all learners Undoubtedly, peer assessment has received much attention in recent years due to the growing focus on learner independence and autonomy Despite the growing popularity of peer assessment, this idea is still novel to most English teachers traditional assessment is on measuring learning (i.e multiple-choice, essays, short-answer tests and the like) Alternative assessment methods such as portfolios, interviews and journals are not widely used in language classrooms Besides this problem, students' grades are usually determined solely by the judgment of teachers In this case, the assessment culture is quite narrow in the sense that teachers not collect diverse sources of learning samples as some researchers (Huba & Freed, 2000; Shohamy, 1992) recommended and students have no say regarding their assessments In the research area, a relative large body of research has been done on learner autonomy, writing and peer assessment which can be named here as Nunan (2000), Dickinson (1987), Holec (1981), Trinh (2008), and so on However, a few of those have examined into the close relationship between peer assessment and autonomy in writing learning, and it seems that none leaves room for specific enquiring into the difficulties that students encounter when learning writing autonomously At the Faculty of International Studies, writing is often taught integrated with other international issues and the task of checking errors is left to students Therefore, the role of learner autonomy in learning writing is always put at one of the top goals in the course syllabus for FIS – USSH students However, the research interest among the university teaching staff and students has seemingly moved away from this field At the Department library where research papers in English are kept, no lecturers‘ research on peer assessment as well as writing skill can be found This fact has inspired and urged me to conduct this study in an attempt to explore the possibility of enhancing learner autonomy through peer assessment training The guiding hypothesis of this study is that training students in peer assessment would empower them in the learning process so that they can become independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning Aims and objectives of the study The study aims at identifying the possible impact of peer assessment on the students‘ writing performance towards independent learning as well as the role that teachers play in this process Furthermore, I wanted to gain deeper insights into the aspects of learner autonomy that peer assessment training fail to promote and more importantly the reasons that lead to this failure From this investigation, I wanted to examine the relationship between peer assessment training and learner autonomy These aims could be achieved by finding answers to the three following research questions: To what extent does the training of peer assessment in writing help learners become independent learners? What aspects of learner autonomy does peer assessment training fail to promote? Why does peer assessment training fail to promote those aspects of learner autonomy? Significance of the study As the study is finished, it is expected to be of great benefit for the target population, their teachers, and other researchers interested in the topic To begin with, as the current research into the area of using peer assessment to promote students‘ autonomy in writing is highly limited, this study will partly fill the gap in the literature and serve as a reliable source of reference for other researchers who share an interest in related issues Furthermore, the researcher also hopes this study can, to some extent, raise the awareness of students of their own difficulties and perception on the benefits of learner autonomy to their English learning process in general, and to their writing learning in particular Besides, the least, which helps me feel more okay when letting the other people read my paper, not only teachers, peers but anyone as well Therefore, when my own writing is assessed by others, I am always in a good mood and ready to learn from their comments Part B: Advantages of peer assessment in promoting learner autonomy in writing Interviewer: Can you explain your choices of the benefits of peer assessment that you have done in the Part A of questionnaire? Hoa: Because I suppose that learning from friends is always better than learning from teachers only Interviewer: Besides this, you think of any other benefits that you can gain from the peer assessment training of this course? Hoa: Maybe the friendship will get closer However, rarely I find out the benefits beyond learning goal Interviewer: Do you think that when being aware of these benefits of peer assessment, they can affect your improvement in writing learning? Hoa: Yes, of course With the benefits I said above, I believe it really will help the English learners Part C: Disadvantages of peer assessment in promoting learner autonomy in writing Interviewer: Have you ever had difficulty in learning writing autonomously? If yes, what are they? Hoa: Yes That is knowledge rising on my own, including knowledge about English and writing topics Because if my knowledge is enlarged, my mind will be more critical, which is necessary for me to self-assess and self-study from all around me Interviewer: Among these disadvantages of peer assessment mentioned in the questionnaire, which of difficulties you encountered most during the course? Hoa: All are the same They just happen only occasionally Interviewer: Can you explain in more details the reasons why you always had trouble in such things? Hoa: Because of my knowledge only In my opinion, knowledge is too great and certainly has to be gained all my life, so occasionally I find my knowledge is not enough to make out the ideas of theirs, even make outline for my own topics sometimes However I still find that learning from my friends‘ ideas is quite XXIII interesting, because there will be the topics they are excellent at and I‘m not And vice verse Besides, as for the cause of English, especially grammar, I feel quite selfconfident, so nearly I not find myself in trouble when doing that Interviewer: What suggestions or recommendations have you had to solve your own problems in using peer assessment in developing autonomy in writing? Hoa: I think we ourselves have to read the more the better so as to improve knowledge about the world as well as English, to review and renew our English on our own, to use English usually and find our interest in it, which will equip us the good attitude for accepting and listening to other people‘s comments as well as getting ready all the time not only to study from others but also to give others our helpful advices unselfishly Interviewer: Thank you very much for your cooperation, Hoa! - XXIV Student 6: Viet Anh Part A: Attitudes toward the implementation of peer assessment in writing Interviewer: Before this course, have you ever used peer assessment in correcting the mistakes in your writing? Viet Anh: Before this course, I‘ve never ever used peer assessment in correcting the mistakes in my writing I always try my best to have the writing with true grammar Except the check of my teacher, sometimes I ask my friends to check the mistake of my writing Interviewer: Can you give me your opinion of the role of learner autonomy in writing skill in particular and in English learning in general? Viet Anh: In my point of view, learner‗s autonomy is very important in writing skill in particular and in English learning in general We may make our plan to learn and practice writing skill and others in English Interviewer: Do you think that peer assessment may play an important role in developing your autonomy in writing skill? If yes, how? If no, explain why? Viet Anh: Peer assessment may help us very much in developing our autonomy in writing skill We could recognize assessment criteria in writing and develop our own strategies to improve our writing skill Interviewer: How did you feel when you were responsible for assessing others‘ writing and had your own writing assessed by others? Explain your answer Viet Anh: Assessing other‘s writing is not easy If I had to this work, I would feel so worry I might try my best to give a exactly result Part B: Advantages of peer assessment in promoting learner autonomy in writing Interviewer: Can you explain your choices of the benefits of peer assessment that you have done in the Part A of questionnaire? Viet Anh: I have chosen of the benefits of peer assessment in the Part A of questionnaire In learning strategies, recognizing assessment criteria in writing, developing their own strategies from others‘ work and transferable skills are very important Peer assessment may help us about Attitudes and Motivation and Self – Esteem Interviewer: Besides this, you think of any other benefits that you can gain from the peer assessment training of this course? XXV Viet Anh: The peer assessment also has other benefits We can learn strong point from our friends It would enhance our skills and give us a dynamic to improve ourselves Interviewer: Do you think that when being aware of these benefits of peer assessment, they can affect your improvement in writing learning? Viet Anh: Knowing about these benefits could helps us to improve our writing skill If we use them sensibly, we will be successful Part C: Disadvantages of peer assessment in promoting learner autonomy in writing Interviewer: Have you ever had difficulty in learning writing autonomously? If yes, what are they? Viet Anh: I have had difficulty in learning writing autonomously I can not make a plan to improve my writing skill and I am not a hard-working student Interviewer: Among these disadvantages of peer assessment mentioned in the questionnaire, which of difficulties you encountered most during the course? Viet Anh: I think, they are ―Peer pressure and friendship influence affecting reliability of grades‖ and ―Tendency to give everyone the same mark ― They could not give us accurate result Interviewer: Can you explain in more details the reasons why you always had trouble in such things? Viet Anh: Because I am a compliant person I always wish to make everybody feel satisfied I know that it is not good and I have to change myself Interviewer: What suggestions or recommendations have you had to solve your own problems in using peer assessment in developing autonomy in writing? Viet Anh: Firstly, I have to understand clearly about the peer assessment and use them sensibly I also will try to change my self, make good my shortcomings to develop autonomy in writing Interviewer: Thank you very much for your enthusiasm in my study - XXVI Student 7: Hanh Part A: Attitudes toward the implementation of peer assessment in writing Interviewer: Before this course, have you ever used peer assessment in correcting the mistakes in your writing? Hanh: Yes, I have used the peer assessment many times in correcting the mistakes in my writing However, I did not follow the same procedure as well as techniques with this course I had usually read and commented immediately before I established objective criteria strategies to assess Interviewer: Can you give me your opinion of the role of learner autonomy in writing skill in particular and in English learning in general? Hanh: I think the role of learner autonomy in writing skill in particular and in English learning in general is very important The autonomy help learner to aware that they need take part in positively to gain the most effective When you are in the autonomy, you will remember the mistakes you make in order not to make them again Interviewer: Do you think that peer assessment may play an important role in developing your autonomy in writing skill? If yes, how ? If no, explain why? Hanh: I think that peer assessment may totally play an important role in developing my autonomy in writing skill Firstly, when I assess others‘ writing I can learn many good ways in using words, sentence form, paragraph form or taking for example…So, my vocabulary will become various and more lively, my writing way will also become more flexible and skillfully Secondly, when I recognize some mistakes in others‘ writing, I will not make the similar mistakes Finally, when another assesses my writing I will receive many useful comments to improve my writing Interviewer: How did you feel when you were responsible for assessing others‘ writing and had your own writing assessed by others? Explain your answer Hanh: I felt there was interaction between my friends and I I felt a little pressure; I think I need be more seriously, carefully when I was responsible for assessing others‘ writing Sometimes, I was worried my limited knowledge could make me not recognize my friends mistakes or give the inaccurate assessment Of course, I was also worried my friends could make the similar things XXVII Part B: Advantages of peer assessment in promoting learner autonomy in writing Interviewer: Can you explain your choices of the benefits of peer assessment that you have done in the Part A of questionnaire? Hanh: The first one is giving a student a wider variety of feedback and correcting strategies The second choice is encouraging students to be more responsibly involved in learning process The next is making a sense of seriousness and commitment within students when their grades will be a part of the final evaluation The fourth is helping students identify their weak and strong points The last is improving self-assessment capabilities from correcting others‘ work: Interviewer: Besides this, you think of any other benefits that you can gain from the peer assessment training of this course? Hanh: I think it can make the interaction between students when they assess each other They can understand each member by their writing Interviewer: Do you think that when being aware of these benefits of peer assessment, they can affect your improvement in writing learning? Hanh: I think they are totally possible Because I want to write, want my friend to read my writing and give me the comments I also want my friends to consider carefully my comments when I read their writing Perhaps we can learn many things from each other and effort more to progress together Part C: Disadvantages of peer assessment in promoting learner autonomy in writing Interviewer: Have you ever had difficulty in learning writing autonomously? If yes, what are they? Hanh: Yes, of course I feel lazy With my limited vocabulary, sometimes, I can not express my idea totally Specially, when I encounter a difficult writing I can be discouraged Then, my autonomy reduces significantly Interviewer: Among these disadvantages of peer assessment mentioned in the questionnaire, which of difficulties you encountered most during the course? Hanh: I think it is lack of writing knowledge to mark others‘ work Moreover, because of my limited knowledge I am easy to take my writing to become a pattern for assessing others‘ writing XXVIII Interviewer: Can you explain in more details the reasons why you always had trouble in such things? Hanh: This is a trouble when I have not enough knowledge in order that I can be confident to mark others‘ work I need a process to improve it Besides, my point of view is not really objective, opened when I affected by myself‘s writing Interviewer: What suggestions or recommendations have you had to solve your own problems in using peer assessment in developing autonomy in writing? Hanh: Firstly, I need improve my writing knowledge in order that I can give the exact comments and assessment Secondly, I need usually read many other writings to help my view to become more objective and comprehensive Finally, I need have specific, clear assessment criteria in writing before I perform this work Interviewer: Yeah, thank you very much for your truthful and detailed information for my study XXIX APPENDIX Peer evaluation sheet Name: Group: Date submitted: Points to assess Topic sentence Main ideas Concluding sentence Unity Coherence Grammar Vocabulary The best thing of the paragraph Areas of improvement 10 Other comments Teacher‘s comment: XXX Writer: Group: Title of work: Date submitted: Criteria Controlling idea (CI)/ Sentence & Concluding Topic (TS) sentence Supporting ideas (SI) Elaborating detail sentences Idea originality Sentence structures Mechanics Grammar Vocabulary and Legibility Teacher‘s comments: XXXI APPENDIX Samples of Writing Sample Parallelism Parallelism/ Fragment XXXII Sample Fragment Parallelism XXXIII Sample XXXIV Sample Fragment XXXV Sample Sample Sample XXXVI ... NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHAN THỊ NGỌC LỆ ENHANCING LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH PEER ASSESSMENT TRAINING AN ACTION RESEARCH TĂNG CƯỜNG... the training of peer assessment in writing help learners become independent learners? What aspects of learner autonomy does peer assessment training fail to promote? Why does peer assessment training. ..  Peer assessment develops a wide range of transferable skills that can be later transferred to future employment 2.2.3 Disadvantages of Peer Assessment In spite of the advantages of peer assessment,