The impact of collaborative writing on 11th students’ writing performance

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ******************************** NGUYỄN THỊ TÂM THE IMPACT OF COLLABORATIVE WRITING ON 11 TH STUDENTS’ WRITING PERFORMANCE (TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA VIẾT HỢP TÁC TỚI KỸ NĂNG VIẾT CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 11) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD : ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60.140.111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ******************************** NGUYỄN THỊ TÂM THE IMPACT OF COLLABORATIVE WRITING ON 11 TH STUDENTS’ WRITING PERFORMANCE (TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA VIẾT HỢP TÁC TỚI KỸ NĂNG VIẾT CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 11) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD : ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60.140.111 SUPERVISOR : DR HOANG THI HANH Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION I, Nguyen Thi Tam, hereby certify that my M.A thesis entitled “The impact of th collaborative writing on 11 students’ writing performance” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirement for Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies – University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi I commit that this thesis has not been submitted anywhere for any degree Hanoi, 2014 Nguyễn Thị Tâm i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Hoang Thi Hanh, for her invaluable inspiration, assistance, guidance and encouragement during the time I have tried to complete this thesis She has been willing to give help and advice whenever I expect I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all lectures and the staff of Department of Post Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi for their interesting and helpful lectures and suggestions for the topic of my study I am in debt of many authors’ works and ideas which enhance me to complete my study with sharp evidences My appreciation and gratitude are also extended for the teachers and students at Que Vo No.1 High School, Bac Ninh province, who participated in my research Last but not least, I wish to express special thanks to my husband and my beloveds for their unconditional help and encouragement ii ABSTRACT This study was carried out to investigate the impacts of and students’ attitudes toward collaborative writing (CW) in second language (L2) The study was conducted in two cycles following the procedures of the action research In the first cycle, an interview with eight students and a teacher of English was administered to gain information about the difficulties the students had encountered with in completing the writing tasks in the textbook Then in the second phase, the collaborative writing approach was experimented to teach writing to forty students in an intact class During the writing lesson, a teacher was invited to observe and give comment about appropriateness of CW After each lesson students’ journals were collected to examine their reflections on collaborative writing At the end of the experiment, another interview with the observing teacher was carried out to find out the usefulness and appropriateness of collaborative writing in teaching writing skill Students’ writings were also analysed to measure the impact of the treatment upon students’ writing The results showed that students did make progress in their writing The observing teacher and most students were positive about the experience, although some reservations were expressed about collaborative writing, which gives rationale for the design of the next cycle of the action research iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CW: Collaborative writing C/T: clauses per T-unit EFC: error -free clauses EFT: error- free T-units W/T: words per T-unit W/C: words per Clause EFT/T: error- free T-units per T-unit EFC/C: error –free clauses per clause iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 2.1: Writing tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 11 Figure 3.1: Comparison of Writing Fluency ( No of words, No of T-units, No of Clauses) Figure 3.2: Comparison of Writing Fluency (words per T-unit, words per clause) Figure 3.3: Comparison of Writing Accuracy Figure 3.4: Comparison of writing complexity v TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION ……………………………………………………… ……………i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………….i ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………… iii TABLE OF CONTENT……………………………………….…………………… iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………………………… ……………………vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES……………………… …………………… viii PART A: INTRODUCTION …………………………… …………………………1 Rationale………………… ……………………………………………………1 Aims of the study… .………………… ……………………………… The research questions…………………………… .………………………….2 Significance of the study………………… …… …………………….…………2 Scope of the study…………………………………………….……………… Method of the study…………………….………………………………………3 Structure of the report……………………….…………………………………3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT…………………………… …………………….5 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW………….………………………5 1.1 What is collaborative writing? 1.2 Why collaborative writing? 1.3 Problematic issues of collaborative writing………………………………… 1.3.1 Group formation……………………….…………………………………7 1.3.2 Group size…………………………………………….………………… 1.3.3 Collaborative strategies ………………………… … ………………….8 1.4 How to implement CW in writing………………… ………………………… 1.5 Previous studies……………………….…………… ……………………… 11 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY……………………………………… 12 vi 2.1 Rationale of the using action research…………… … …………………… 12 2.2 Research setting…………………………………….…………………………12 2.2.1 Overview…………………….…………….……………………………12 2.2.2 Writing tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 11……… ………………13 2.2.3 Selection of participants…………… …………………… ……………….15 2.3 The Research Design…………………………………… ………………… .15 2.4 The teaching cycle used in this study………………………………………….16 2.4.1 Training the learners…………………………….………………………16 2.4.2 Intervention…………………………………….……………………….16 2.5 Methods of data collection ……………………… ………………………… 17 2.5.1 Interviews with students and a teacher …………………………… 17 2.5.2 Collection of students’ writings……………….……………………… 18 2.5.3 Students’ journals…………………………… ……………………….19 2.5.4 Post-treatment interview with the observing teacher……………… ….19 2.6 Summary …………………………………………………………………… 20 CHAPTER THREE:FINDINGS AND DICUSSION …….…………………21 3.1 The results of phase 1…………………………………………….……………21 3.2 Results of phase II…………………………………………………….……….23 3.2.1.Students’ journals……………………………………………………… 23 3.2.2.Analysis of students’ writings…………………………… …………….27 3.2.2.1 Comparison of Writing Fluency…………… ……………… 27 3.2.2.2 Comparison of Writing Accuracy………… …………………29 3.2.2.3 Comparison of writing complexity……… ………………….30 3.3.2.4 Qualitative analysis……………………………………………31 3.2.3 Interview with the observing teacher……………… …………………33 vii PARTC:CONCLUSION……………………………….………… 35 Summary of major findings …… 35 1.1 Findings from the prior interview ……… ……………….………… 35 1.2 Findings from the students’ journals…………………… …… ……….36 1.3 Findings from the results of the writing………………….………………36 1.4 Findingsfrom the post- treatment interview with the observing teacher ……… ………………………………………….……………… …….37 Implications …………………………………………………………………37 Limitations of this action research……………………………………………37 Recommendations for further studies………………………………………….38 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………38 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………40 APPENDIX ………………………………………………… ………………………I viii I-Jung, C (2004) Ultilizing group work effectively in the English language classroom, TESL report Jacob, G M (2006) Issues in implementing cooperative learning In S G Mc Cafferty, G M Jacob,& C.C.Iddings (Eds), Cooperative learning and second language teaching (pp 30-46) New York: Cambridge University Press Jankowski.(1997).Collaborative writing strategy, http://www.tapr.org/~ird/Collab Writing/collab strategy.htm Lowry, P.B., Curtis, A., Lowry,M.R (2004) Building a taxonomy and nomenclature of collaborative writing to improve interdisciplinary research and practice Journal of Business Communication,4(1),66-99 Nam, T.H (2009) Using group work in teaching writing skill to the second-year students at Hanoi Agricultural University Unpublished thesis, ULIS, Hanoi, Vietnam Nunan , D (1991) Research methods in language learning Cambridge: CUP Oanh, D T K (2010) A study on using group writing to improve writing skills for th 10 form non- English major at Phan Boi Chau specializing high school Selinker, L (1992) Rediscovering language Essex, London: Longman Seong, G.B.(2006) Collaborative learning in the ESL writing classroom Foreign Languages Education, 13(1), 143-167 Shehadeh, A (2011) Effects and student perceptions of collaborative writing in L2 Journal of Second Language Writing, 20, 286-305 Storch, N (2005) Collaborative writing: Product, process, and students’ reflexions” Journal of Second Language Writing, 14/3, 153-173 Trimbur, J (1999) The call to write Longman Van, H.V et al (2006) TiengAnh 11 Hanoi: Education Publishing House 41 Walter, E O, Charles.T, & Brusaw (2007) Writing that work: Communicating effectively on the job Ninth edition New York: St.Martin Boston Wells, G., Chang, G M., & Maher, A (1990) Creating classroom communities of literate thinkers In S Sharan (Ed.), Cooperative learning: Theory and research (pp 95–122) New York: Praeger Widodo, H.P (2013) Implementing collaborative process based writing in the EFL College classroom Research Papers in Language teaching and Learning 7( 1), 189-206 Wigglesworth, G., & Storch, N (2009) Pair versus individual writing: Effects of fluency, complexity and accuracy Language Testing, 26(3), 445-466 Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H.-Y (1998) Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy, & complexity (Technical Report #17) Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press 42 APPENDIX PRIOR INTERVIEW WITH EIGHT STUDENTS AND A TEACHER OF ENGLISH Prior interview with students Question 1: How long have been learning English? Student 1: I started learning English when I was in grade three So now I have been learning it for years Student 2: I started learning English when I was in grade two So now I have been learning it for years Student 3: I started learning English when I was in grade three So now I have been learning it for years Student 4: I started learning English when I was in grade three So now I have been learning it for years Student 5: I have been learning English since I was in grade three So now I have been learning it for years Student 6: I began learning English when I was in grade three So now I have been learning it for years Student 7: I started learning English when I was in grade two So now I have been learning it for years Student 8: I started learning English when I was in grade three So now I have been learning it for years Question 2: What you think of English and English subject? Student 1: I think that English is very important because without English we can’t communicate with other people from other countries English is more and more important now At school, English subject is very important as it is a compulsory subject but it is also very difficult to learn I Student 2: I think English is a bridge to connect people all over the world It is very important Without English we would be deaf, blind and dumb when talking to foreigners Student 2: English is very important because knowing it gives us chances to go everywhere in the world Mastering English is very useful we can have more highly paid jobs At school, English is also important as it is a compulsory subject It is more and more important to me because it is one of the subject for my university entrance examination Student 4: in my opinion, English is very important because it is an international language Knowing it we can go anywhere At school English is very interesting,, important but difficult to master Student 5: I think English is very important in our era Without it we can’t communicate with foreigners At school, English is also important because it is not only a compulsory subject but also a subject for my university entrance examination Student 6: As far as I know, English is very important It is an international language It bridges people all over the world At school,English is also very important and essentail It is a compulsory subject Student 7: I think English is very essential in our life My brother can’t get a highly – paid job because he doesn’t know English So English is the key to succeed nowadays For me English is not only a subject but also an interest I like it Student 8: English is very important as it it is said to bridge people all over the world Without it we are out of date At school, English is very important as it is a compulsory subject We learn it three periods a week With me, English is more and more important as it is a subject for my university entrance examination Question 3: Among four languge skills reading, speaking, listening and writing, in your own opinion, which is the most difficult? II Student 1: I think listening skill is the most difficult because they speak too fast so I can’t catch words Furthermore, I often mispronounce some words so when hearing them I not know Student 2: In my own opinion, speaking is the most difficult because I am afraid of speaking in front of the class Student 3: I think listening is the most difficult as they speak too fast They usually link words so I not understand the words Added to this, the way they pronounce a words is sometimes different from us because we pronounce wrongly Therefore, I not understand the text Student 4: I think listening is the most challenging skill At school, we have little chance to listen to the native speaker speak because the teacher usually reads the text, of couse the way the teacher speaks is different from foreigners speak Moreover, we have little chance to speak to foreigners So during listening periods, we can’t catch words so we can’t understand the text Student 5: I think listening skill is the most difficult because they speak too fast so I can’t catch words Furthermore, I often mispronounce some words so when hearing them I not know Student 6: I used to think that listening is the most challenging skill But now I think writing is the most difficult It needs the accuracy Student 7: I think listening is the most difficult I hear the tapecript but I not know what they speak about They speak too fast And they usually link words, which makes me difficult to distinguish what they speak Student 8: I think listening is the most difficult They speak too fast in fact even the teacher rarely use English in class I can’t catch words so I can’t understand the text Question 4: What you think of your writing skill? Student 1: I think my writing skill is not good Student 2: I think my writing skill is bad I usually get bad marks III Student 3: I think my writing skill is not very good Student 4: I think my writing skill is not good Student 5: I think my writing skill is not good Student 6: I think my writing skill is not good Student 7: I think my writing skill is not good Student 8: I think my writing skill is not good Question 5: Which difficulties have you met in writing lessons? Student 1: In writing lessons, I usually lack words and structure to express my ideas Sometimes I think of many interesting ideas but I not the words to convey So my writings are not good Student 2: I usually get bad marks in writings because I not make the outline I usually write what I think of first and then the others I no organize the ideas logically Another problem is that my vocabulary is not various Student 3: when writing a single sentence I not make mistakes But when writing an essay I usually make mistakes because I use verb tenses wrongly I lack vocabulary and structures Student 4: in writing lessons I usually have many problems such as lacking vocabulary, structures and ideas Student 5: I usually lack vocabulary and structures to convey my ideas Furthermore, I usually think in Vietnamese and then translate into English so I not know the word, another problem is that I often use verb tense wrongly Student 6: I usually lack vocabulary and structure to express my ideas Some words I know but when writing I rarely use it Sometime when meeting strange topic I not have ideas to write Student 7: I think that my lack of vocabulary is the biggest problem when writing Sometimes I write what I think first so my writing performance seems to be illogical IV Student 8: I usually lack vocabulary when writing Sometimes I think of many ideas but not know how to express in English Furthermore, my ideas are usually not clear and disorganized Question 6: if there is an alternative method of teaching writing such as collaborative writing, what you hope from this method? Student 1: I hope it will help me improve my writing I will have more words and structures Student 2: I wish to better my writing I have more words, structures and ideas Student 3: I hope that my writing will be improved Student 4: I hope my writing will be better It will help me to overcome all the difficulties we met before Student 5: I hope that it will help improve my writing skill I will have more words, and ideas My ideas are clearer Student 6: I hope that I will not make stupid mistakes when writing It will help me to overcome all the difficulties in previous writing lessons Student 7: I wish it would help me improve my writing skill I will have more words, structures and ideas Student 8: I hope the writing lesson will be more exciting I also hope that my writing skill will be improved Prior interview with a teacher Question 1: How long have you been teaching at this school? I have been teaching English for ten years and I started teaching at this school years ago Question 2: What you think of our students ‘ English level? To tell the truth, English is not highly appriciated at our school It is the result of the fact the most students choose to follow group A So when teaching students English, V sometimes I feel rather sad However, students who follow group D are relatively good at English But they seem to focus on grammar and reading skill more Question 3: In your opinion, among four English skills, which is the most difficult skill to teach? Generally speaking, each skill has it own difficulties But in my own opinion and from my experience, writing is the most demanding skill to teach Writing needs the accuracy It is a fact that our students can writie a single sentence or short sentence correctly They can identify the mistakes in the level of sentence But they not succeed in writing skill Furthermore, the writing context of English and Vietnamese is different It causes students a lot of difficulties Question 4: In your observation, which difficulties students usually encounter during writing lessons? The first and foremost problem that students meet in writing lessons is that their vocabulary is limited Even the best students not risk using new words They usually use the common words Students also lack structure to write Sometimes they use wrong structures Furthermore, their background knowledge is not good, so they lack the ideas Another problem I think most students meet is that they write what come to their mind first As a result their writing is not logical Most students think in Vietnamese, and then try to translate into English Question 5: What they when they meet these problems They usually ask friends and teachers, sometimes they look them up in the dictionary Question 6: In your opinion, what should we to improve our students’ writing skill? VI I think that writing in group is an alternative way to teach writing Students can help each other I hope it will assist students to overcome some of their difficulties in writing lessons VII APPENDIX POST- TREATMENT INTERVIEW WITH THE OBSERVING TEACHER Question 1: What you think of collaborative writing after three periods? In fact group works are rarely used in writing I myself only apply group or pair works at the pre-writing stage After observing three periods of collaborative writing, I’m surprised to see how exciting the class is The atmosphere is very noisy but friendly Students are very involved in dicussion Furthermore, instead of marking 40 writings, teachers only mark fourteen writings, so collaborative writing helps teachers reduce workload Students are able to help each other I’m very happy to hear a group near my seat arguing about the preference between “when I was ten” and “when I was a ten-year-old girl” Question 2: What are the drawbacks of collaborative writing? It is the fact that our school students not use much English when discussing If only they used English, this method would be perfect This method is suitable to these students, for students can correct the grammatical mistakes It is difficult for students to correct the vocabulary mistakes because students’ vocabulary is limited Question 3: What should be done to make full use of collaborative writing? Collaborative writing should not be implemented in all the writing tasks It is suitable for the tasks which need many arguments Especially, with the writing tasks at high school, there is a need to adapt some tasks so that the teacher can apply collaborative writing.” VIII APPENDIX Comparison of students’ writings Table 1: Fluency of writing Students Individually produced Mean S.D Collaboratively produced (No=28) Mean S.D t p Table 2: Accuracy of writings Individually produced essays (No= 80) Mean S.D Collaboratively Mean S.D t IX p Table 3: Complexity of writings Individually produced Mean S.D Collaboratively produced Mean S.D t p X APPENDIX RESULTS OF STUDENTS’ WRITINGS Before experiment 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Hoài Tâm Tiến Đinh Nga Thùy Linh Đức Huyền Vân Anh Hường Lâm Oanh Nhung Phương Linh Luyến Lộc Hương Hiền Thảo Trà Phương Hiền Tú anh Hiền Thuong Thảo XI No of words No of Tunits 111 85 122 90 115 108 114 89 69 72 94 98 71 112 128 91 89 110 98 91 94 93 95 89 14 10 16 14 17 19 18 13 12 10 13 15 10 17 18 13 12 19 16 13 13 12 12 13 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Thư Hịa Nhi Bích Đào Quỳnh Son Trang Ngân Dung Phương Giang Trang Tâm v.Anh Minh Phương Mai Linh Chi 92 93 92 105 98 115 99 84 104 95 67 85 89 87 86 96 After experiment Group Group Number of words Number of Tunit Number of clauses 134 13 16 125 14 17 XII G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 G12 G13 G14 mean 105 126 124 109 117 180 105 103 104 75 138 102 117.6 14 17 16 13 13 20 12 12 11 16 10 13.4 XIII 21 22 19 17 18 25 15 15 13 10 22 12 17.3 ... presents the results of the impact of collaborative writing approach to the 11th form students’ writing performance, students’ attitudes toward collaborative writing and the teacher’s opinions on collaborative. .. Structure of the study The study consists of three main parts: Part A, INTRODUCTION presents the rationale of the study, the aims, the research questions, the significance, the scope, the method and the. .. The researcher stressed on the students’ 16 activities and participation of the writing process Another aspect the observing teacher should concentrate on was the drawbacks of collaborative writing