Effect of teachers feedback on freshmens motivation to learn writing skill a survey research at hanoi university of business and technology

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ HƯƠNG LAN Effect of teachers’ feedback on freshmen’s motivation to learn writing skill – A survey research at Hanoi University of Business and Technology (Ảnh hưởng việc phản hồi giáo viên đến động lực học kĩ viết sinh viên năm thứ nhất: Một nghiên cứu tìm hiểu trường đại học Kinh doanh Công nghệ Hà Nội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Major: ELT Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Hanoi - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ HƯƠNG LAN Effect of teachers’ feedback on freshmen’s motivation to learn writing skill – A survey research at Hanoi University of Business and Technology (Ảnh hưởng việc phản hồi giáo viên đến động lực học kĩ viết sinh viên năm thứ nhất: Một nghiên cứu tìm hiểu trường đại học Kinh doanh Cơng nghệ Hà Nội) M.A Minor Program Thesis Major : ELT Methodology Major code: 60 14 10 Supervisor : Đỗ Thị Thanh Hà, M.A Hanoi - 2012 iv Table of content PART A: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………1 Rationale…………………………………………………………………… Aim of the study………………………………………………………… ………2 Scope of the study………………………………………………………………2 Research questions …………………………………….………………………3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………… ………… Chapter I Literature review ………………………………………….……4 I.1 Motivation…………………………………………………… ………………4 I.1.1 Definition of motivation………….……………………………….….………4 I.1.2 Motivation in second/foreign language learning ………….…… ……5 I.1.3 Types of motivation and their effect in language learning….……………6 I.1.4 Vietnamese students’ motivation in learning writing ……….……………7 I.1.5 Summary of main issues in motivation and Vietnamese students’ motivation in learning writing……… ………………………………………8 I.2 Teacher feedback ……………………………………………….……………9 I.2.1 Definition of teacher feedback in language learning and teaching……9 I.2.2 Feedback as an extrinsic motivation to student learning ……………10 I.2.3 Feedback in teaching and learning writing ……… ………………… ……13 I.2.4 Types of feedback in teaching writing ………………………………14 I.2.5.What types and what ways of teacher feedback best motivate students to write? …………………………………… ………………………….……18 I.2.6 Summary of teacher feedback and it effect on student motivation to write ………………………………………………………………………………21 Chapter II Methodology ………………………………………………….………….22 v II.1 Context of the study…………………………………… ………….………22 II.1.1 Time distributed to English at HUBT……………………………… 22 II.1.2 English course book at HUBT………………………………………22 II.1.3 Time and schedule distributed for writing skill………… …………23 II.1.4 How HUBT teachers give feedback to student writing …….………24 II.2 Participants……………………………………….…….……………………25 II.3 Data collection instruments………………….……………… ………….…25 II.4 Data collection procedure and analysis ……………………………………27 Chapter III Finding ……………………………………………………….……29 III Written feedback …………………………………………………………29 III.1.1 Types of written feedback HUBT teachers use in writing lesson………………………………………………………………………29 III.I.2.The influence of teacher written feedback on HUBT freshmen’ motivation to write …………………………………………………… …31 III.1.3 The methods HUBT teachers give written feedback in writing lessons……………………………………………………………… ……33 III.1.4 The influence of written- feedbacks-giving methods on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write ………………….………………………36 III.2 Oral feedback………………………………………………………………40 III.2.1 Types of oral f eedback HUBT teachers use in writing lesson………………………………………… ……………………………40 III.2.2 The influence of teacher oral feedback on HUBT freshmen’ motivation to write ………………………………………………………41 III.2.3.Whether oral or written feedback encourages HUBT freshmen to write more.………………………………………………………… ……43 Chapter IV Discussion ………………………………………….………………46 vi IV.1.Written feedback……………………………………………………………46 IV.1.1.The types of teacher written feedback in writing lessons and their influence on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write ……… ………….…46 IV.1.2.The methods teachers give written feedback in writing lessons and their influence on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write …… ……… 48 IV.2 Oral feedback……………………………………….……… ……50 IV.2.1.The types of teacher oral feedback in writing lessons and their influence on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write …………… ……50 IV.2.2.Oral feedback versus written feedback …………………… ………51 IV.3 General discussion on HUBT teacher feedback on freshmen’s motivation to write ……………………………………………………………………… ….52 PART C Conclusion …………………………………………………….…… 54 1.Summary of the finding…………………………………….………………54 2.Recommendation ……………………………………………………………55 3.Limitations…………………………….………………………….…………56 4.Suggestion for further studies………………………………………………57 References ……………………………………………………………… …… 58 Appendix Questionaire –English version…………….….………………………I Appendix Questionaire –Vietnamese version….………….…………………VI Appendix Interview transcript with students ……….…………………… …XII vii List of abbreviations HUBT Hanoi University of Business and Technology EFL English as a Foreign Language List of tables and charts List of tables Table 1.Williams and Burden's (1997) framework of motivation in language learning, (cited in Dornyei, 1998)………………………………………….… 10 Table Components of foreign language learning motivation (Dornyei, 1994a: 280, cited in Dornyei, 1998) ………………………………….……… 11 Table 3.The category of feedback in teaching writing employed in this study ……………………………………………………………………………………… 17 Table 4.Description of the questionnaire … ………………………………….26 Table 5: The frequency of HUBT teacher written feedback in writing lessons…………………………………………………………………………… 29 Table 6: The influence teacher written feedback on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write ………………………………………… ….……………… 31 Table 7: The frequency of the methods HUBT teachers give written feedback in writing lessons ……………………………………………… …….………….33 Table 8: The influence of feedback-giving-methods on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write ……………………………………………… …………….37 Table 9: The frequency of HUBT teacher oral feedback in writing lessons ……………………………………………………………………………………….40 10 Table 10: The influence of HUBT teacher oral feedback on freshmen motivation to write ……………………………………………………………… 41 11 Table 11: Oral feedback versus written feedback ………… ……………… 43 12 Table 12: The reasons for oral feedback ………………………………….44 13 Table 13: The reasons for written feedback ……………………………………45 viii List of charts Chart 1: The frequency of HUBT teacher written feedback in writing lessons ……………………………………………………………………………………… 30 Chart 2: The influence teacher written feedback on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write ……………………………….……………………………… 32 Chart 3: The frequency of the methods HUBT teachers give written feedback in writing lessons ………………………………………………… …………… 35 Chart 4: The influence of feedback-giving-methods on HUBT freshmen’s motivation to write………………………………………………………….…… 38 Chart 5: The frequency of HUBT teacher oral feedback in writing lessons……………………………………………………………………………… 40 Chart 6: The influence of HUBT teacher oral feedback on freshmen motivation to write …………… ………………………………………………….42 Chart 7: Oral feedback versus written feedback ………………………………43 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale There are four main reasons for this study Firstly, as a teacher of English at Hanoi University of Business and Technology (hereafter HUBT), the author notices that HUBT freshmen need motivation in learning writing Many of HUBT freshmen show their frustration when writing They complain about the difficulties and low scores in writing Besides, their writing still has many mistakes Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to find out the way to motivate them to learn writing skill Also, it is worth finding out the impact of teacher response on their motivation, because giving feedback in writing class is generally considered as an important stage in teaching writing The second reason for this study is the need for an investigation of the effect of teacher feedback on students’ written works at HUBT If their teachers not give as much comment as students expect, they show a disappointment Otherwise, if students receive a paper back with a lot of teacher- red-pen comment and correction, they feel frustrated, too Some students not understand the meaning of their instructors’ feedback Furthermore, HUBT teacher’s practice of giving feedback in writing session is different How the different types of feedback motivate students? Therefore, this study is to find out the answer to this problem Thirdly, there have been disagreements on which kind of teacher feedback best stimulate students to write The examples include the argument between Truscott (1996, 2007) and Ferris (1999, 2001) (cited in Park, 2006), the different results in the researches by Vengadasamy (2002), Duppenthaler (2002) Ashwell (2000) , Conrad & Goldstein (1999) and so on This study, therefore, is expected to contribute an answer to this debate Lastly, this research is inspired by several previous studies relating to the topic and within the context of HUBT The examples are the studies on the motivation to learn English in general of HUBT students who are major in Finance and Banking (Nguyen, 2010), and on the effect of teacher feedback on their motivation in speaking (Truong, 2011) However, the participants of those studies are limited only to the majors in Finance and Banking Therefore, the author of this paper wants to widen the participants who are from several departments but share the same course book and English schedule, as well as to widen the area of research: teacher feedback in teaching writing and its effect on learner’s motivation All the reasons above inspire the author to this research to find out the influence of teacher feedback (both written and oral) on first- year- student’s motivation to write Aim of the study This study intends to seek the influence of teacher feedback on freshmen’s motivation to write Scope of the study Because this study only investigates the impact of teacher feedback on student’s motivation to write, it does not look into the impact of non-teacher feedback such as peer-respond and self-correction In addition, it does not study the correction ability, revision ability, the performance or improvement of students under the effect of teacher feedback There have been a great number of studies on the influence of written assessment to learners’ writing, such as Hyland & Hyland (2001), Duijnhouwer (2010), Ashwell (2000), Duppenthaler (2002), and Ferris (1997) However just a few researchers mention the oral feedback in writing class, such as teacher-student conference, teacher-class discussion Meanwhile, in writing session at HUBT, many teachers choose and take advantages of oral feedback Because teacher feedback can be in written or oral form, this study will discuss the effect of both kinds of feedback, instead of limiting to only written one It is also important to note that the participants of this study are the nonEnglish major freshmen at departments of Banking, Management, Finance, Accounting at HUBT According to Nguyen (2010), they share the similar motivation to learn English The author does not include the freshmen at other departments such as Architecture, Tourism, Electronics, because their motivation differs from the one of freshmen at the departments mentioned above Research questions What kinds and what ways of teacher - written - feedback are used in writing session for freshmen at HUBT? How those written feedbacks influence HUBT freshmen’ motivation to write? What types of teacher - oral - feedback are used in writing session for freshmen at HUBT? How those oral feedbacks can motivate HUBT freshmen to write? Whether HUBT freshmen prefer written or oral feedback? VIII Giáo viên thường đưa phản hồi theo cách nào? Chỉ lỗi vấn đề viết không chữa Chỉ lỗi vấn đề viết chữa lỗi trực tiếp Chỉ lỗi vấn đề viết gợi ý cách chữa chúng Phê bình Khen ngợi Động viên Đánh giá điểm mạnh yếu viết Đưa dẫn (yêu cầu bạn thêm, bớt, di chuyển, xếp lại câu ý) Yêu cầu bạn đưa thêm giải thích ý chưa rõ ràng Không Hiếm Thỉnh Thường Luôn thoảng xun ln IX Những phản hồi ảnh hưởng tới động lực học viết em? Chỉ lỗi vấn đề viết không chữa Chỉ lỗi vấn đề viết chữa lỗi trực tiếp Chỉ lỗi vấn đề viết gợi ý cách chữa chúng Phê bình Khen ngợi Động viên Đánh giá điểm mạnh yếu viết Đưa dẫn (yêu cầu bạn thêm, bớt, di chuyển, xếp lại câu ý) Làm Khơng Khuyến khích Khuyến Thực em có ảnh em viết chút khích em khuyến nản hưởng khơng viết khích em lịng nhiều nhiều viết X Yêu cầu bạn đưa thêm giải thích ý chưa rõ ràng Phần Phản hồi dạng ngơn ngữ nói Loại phản hồi giáo viên bạn thường dùng? Không Hiếm Thỉnh Thường Luôn thoảng xuyên Giáo viên trao đổi, nhận xét viết sinh viên lúc sinh viên viết Giáo viên trao đổi, nhận xét sinh viên sau sinh viên viết xong Giáo viên nhận xét, trao đổi chung viết, lỗi chung với lớp Những phản hồi ảnh hưởng tới động lực học viết em? Giáo viên trao đổi, nhận xét viết sinh Làm Khơng Khuyến khích Khuyến Thực em có ảnh em viết chút khích em khuyến nản hưởng khơng viết khích em lịng nhiều nhiều viết XI viên lúc sinh viên viết Giáo viên trao đổi, nhận xét sinh viên sau sinh viên viết xong Giáo viên nhận xét, trao đổi chung viết, lỗi chung với lớp Loại phản hồi (bằng ngơn ngữ nói hay viết) khuyến khích em viết nhiều (đánh dấu vào lựa chọn em)  Phản hồi hình thức nói  Phản hồi hình thức viết Hãy giải thích em chọn loại phản hồi đó: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………….…………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Cảm ơn giúp đỡ bạn nhiều! XII Appendix Interview transcript with students SS1 (Student 1) What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - I always receive the feedback on form Sometimes I also receive the one on content or on both content and form, but hardly on writing style How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? - I feel really motivated with the feedback on form, especially on grammar, because I am bad at grammar, therefore I know where and how I make the mistakes to correct them In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers usually identify and suggest the way to correct my surface mistakes and other writing problems I also often receive criticism from them How those ways affect your writing motivation? - I feel frustrated when teachers identify but not correct or offer the ways to correct my errors This way helps me know where I make the mistakes but I will forget them when I come home If teachers give instructions and ask me for clarify any unclear ideas, this does not influence me because I am lazy, so I not want to revise my writing I feel encouraged quite a lot when teachers identify the mistakes and correct or offer the way to correct them, as well as when they give praise and encouragement What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They often run teacher-student conference during and after writing XIII How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - I am encouraged quite a lot when I receive both teacher-student conferences during and after writing, because this makes my writing better I am really motivated with teacher-class conference because this makes everybody interested, classmates are compared Besides, I pay attention and learn from mistakes of other classmates Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? - I prefer oral feedback, because, for me, communication is important And when teachers address me, I feel they pay attention to me This makes me feel good SS2 What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - Most of my pieces of writing are returned with written feedback on form and on content separately and integrated feedback as well How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? - I feel motivated quite a lot with the feedback on form, on content and integrated one I not feel really motivated because the topics in the lessons are not interesting enough I just have a little motivation with feedback on writing style, because I not usually get feedback on writing style In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers always identify and suggest the way to correct my mistakes and problems, because they may think their students not know how to correct the mistakes My teachers also always evaluate both my strengths and weaknesses in a writing work XIV They usually identify and offer at least one solution to help students with their writing errors and problems; give instructions, and encourage me to write However, they hardly discover mistakes without correcting them How those ways affect your writing motivation? - I am really encouraged when teachers comment on both my strengths and drawbacks This helps me to understand my general ability If teachers spot out my mistakes without correcting them, I feel encouraged quite a lot because I am curious want to self-correct them What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They often run teacher-student conference during and after writing They always have class conference in which teachers summarize the common mistakes and give general comment on the class writing How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - I am encouraged quite a lot when I receive teacher-student conferences during writing, because when I am in the process of writing, I will have interest to make change to my writing Teacher-class conference is good, too, because I can listen the teacher’s comment and immediately revise to my paper Teacher-student after writing just encourages me a little because after finish writing, I am too lazy to revise Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? - I prefer oral feedback, because this give us chance to interact with teachers, give us better response to English Besides, this brings us confidence when expressing my thought and ideas in English XV SS3 What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - I always receive feedback on form The other three types of written feedback are also given often by my teachers How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? - I think the mistakes on form are easy to correct so this feedback so not encourages me a lot, but a little The feedback which most drives to write is the integrated one Through integrated feedback, I realize I have many mistakes in my writing, which drives me to improve them In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers seldom identify mistakes and writing problems without offering the ways to correct them For other types of written feedback, teachers either sometimes or usually give How those ways affect your writing motivation? - I am really encouraged when teachers give praise; this drives me to correct my mistakes to get better praise Another way of feedback giving that I feel very motivated is giving instruction This helps my writing better and personally I like something perfect If my teachers identify mistakes and writing problems without offering the ways to correct them, I just feel like a little because there are some mistakes which are too difficult for me to self-edit and I need suggestion from instructors What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They often run teacher-student conference after writing They always have class conference but seldom have teacher-student conference while writing XVI How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - I am really encouraged when I receive teacher-student conferences after writing, because this helps me to know how to improve my papers Teacher-class conference is ok (i.e I feel motivated quite a lot) because I can listen the teacher’s comment and I can learn from mistakes of other students Teacher-student while writing just encourages me a little because when writing, I not want to be interrupted Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? - Written feedback, because it is clearer and more detailed than teacher’s oral comment Besides, I can have a look back when necessary, which creates motivation for the next writing SS4 What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - I always receive feedback on form, on writing style and integrated one The other three types of written feedback are also given by my teachers How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? - I think the mistakes on form are easy to correct so this feedback not encourages me a lot, but a little The feedback which most drives to write is the integrated one Through integrated feedback, I realize I have many mistakes in my writing, I want to improve them In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers always give criticism, evaluate both my advantages and disadvantages, and give instruction XVII How those ways affect your writing motivation? - I lose confidence when teachers criticize my writing or spot out my mistakes but not help me to correct them I am really motivated if teachers suggest several ways to correct them This encourages me more than when teachers directly correct them, because I can choose the option which I like best I also feel really provoked if I get evaluation and instruction, because they help me to know where I should focus on What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They sometimes run teacher-student conference after and while writing They always have class conference How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - I am really encouraged when I receive teacher-class conferences after writing, because this helps me to learn from some mistakes Teacher-student conference while and after writing motivates me quite a lot, because I feel close to teachers, I know my mistakes and fix them immediately Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? Oral feedback I will understand the issues quickly and directly, which is more effective SS5 What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - I always receive feedback on content, on writing style XVIII How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? - Although I usually receive feedback on form, this encourages me to write a little, because I am quite lazy at correcting grammar mistakes The things that really motivate me are feedback on content and writing style, because I always want to produce a persuasive piece of writing, I pay more attention to content of any written works However, the writing topic for freshmen at HUBT is rather boring I would rather have the topics that raise argument or discuss social issues In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers always give instruction, evaluation of both my advantages and disadvantages, and ask for clarification How those ways affect your writing motivation? - Identifying form mistakes and other writing problems then offering the ways to correct them; praising; encouraging; evaluating; giving instruction; asking for clarification are all really motivate me to write What I always want most is teachers evaluate the content of my writing Asking for clarification helps me to express my ideas better What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They often run teacher-student conference while writing They always have class conference and teacher-student conference after writing How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - I am really encouraged when I receive teacher-class conferences and teacherstudent conference after writing, because this helps me to know my and other friends’ ability to correct Teacher-student conference while writing motivates me XIX quite a lot, because I can avoid the problems of going out of topic, and if teachers suggest good ideas I can take them Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? Oral feedback I want to communicate with teachers the problems of my writing Direct communication helps me to have better content and grammar structures SS6 What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - I usually receive feedback on content, on writing style because they are my weaknesses I not receive a lot of grammar feedback, sometimes, because I not make a lot of such kind of mistakes How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? - Because form errors are easy to correct, therefore I feel motivated a little, not much Other three types of written feedback motivate quite a lot because I not really like writing skill at HUBT, the topics are quite boring However, the writing topic for freshmen at HUBT is rather boring I would rather have the topics that raise argument or discuss social issues In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers hardly give instruction For the other ways of giving feedback, they either sometimes or often give How those ways affect your writing motivation? - Both identifying form mistakes and other writing problems with and without offering the ways to correct them motivate me a lot in their own way If teachers XX not correct them, I will study and correct them myself Otherwise, if teachers suggest more than one way to help me to improve my writing problems, I can increase my creativeness The thing that discourages me is asking for clarification, because I am bad at this clarifying What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They seldom run teacher-student conference while writing How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - All three types of oral feedback motivate me a little; they make me feel I am cared by teachers Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? Oral feedback It goes into my mind easier, while with written feedback I can forget because I hardly open the paper to revise SS7 What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - I always receive feedback on content, usually on writing style and grammar errors Sometimes I get integrated feedback How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? - I feel frustrated by too much errors feedback I want to focus more on content Feedback on writing style motivates me a lot, because it shows that teachers read my papers and pay attention to me In general, if the feedback is short and focused, XXI it will have good effect on students When it is too long, students will feed discouraged In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers never praise me They seldom encourage me and spot out the mistakes without correcting them How those ways affect your writing motivation? - I feel motivated quite a lot when teachers criticize my bad points – I will try more next time; when teachers encourage and praise me – I feel inspired What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They usually run teacher-class conference after writing How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - Teacher-students conference after writing is best because teachers pay attention to me, which is a great motivation to me It also helps me to improve the quality of my writing Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? Oral feedback I can make change to my paper directly when listening SS8 What types of written feedback you teachers usually use in writing lessons? - I always receive feedback on form, seldom on writing style and content How those written feedback affect your motivation to write? XXII - I not usually get feedback on writing style so it does not affect me The feedback on content has the same effect because I find the writing topics at school are easy and boring In what ways your teachers give written feedback? - My teachers never praise and encourage me How those ways affect your writing motivation? - I feel motivated a lot when teachers encourage and praise me I need these from teachers to confirm that I can learn English What types of oral feedback your teachers give in writing lessons? - They always run teacher-student conference while writing How those oral feedbacks influence your writing motivation? - The oral feedback, in general, does not have big influence on me I find English at HUBT is easy; teachers not have to comment on my writing much Do you prefer oral or written feedback in writing? Oral feedback It is easy to remember ... teacher feedback and it effect on learner motivation to write 9 I.2 Teacher feedback and its effect on learner motivation to write I.2.1 Definition of teacher feedback in language learning and. .. outstanding field of motivation researching Now, we are going to look into the role of motivation in language learning I.1.2 Motivation in second/foreign language learning Motivation plays a very...VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ HƯƠNG LAN Effect of teachers? ?? feedback on freshmen’s motivation