Improving students english writing skills through teacher feedback and student self assessmant an action research at le quy don high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY ± HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ,03529,1*678'(176¶(1*/,6+:5,7,1*6.,//6 THROUGH TEACHER FEEDBACK AND STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT LE QUY DON HIGH SCHOOL A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature LQSDUWLDOIXOILOPHQWRIWKH0DVWHU¶VGHJUHHLQ7(62/ by TRAN LAM NGAN VI Supervised by Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, JUNE 2020 STATEMENT OF ORGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: ,03529,1*678'(176¶(1*/,6+:5,7,1*6.,//67+528*+ TEACHER FEEDBACK AND STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT LE QUY DON HIGH SCHOOL in terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Theses in Master¶s programs issued by Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, June 2020 TRAN LAM NGAN VI i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, TRAN LAM NGAN VI, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University pertinent to the retention and use of Master¶s theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan, or reproduction of the theses Ho Chi Minh City, June 2020 TRAN LAM NGAN VI ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful for the support, help, and assistance of many people who have aided and stood by me during the time I conducted my thesis First, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my research supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, Ph.D., for her valuable guidance, timely advice and strong encouragement She kindly gave me considerable inspiration, constructive feedback and generous encouragement when my enthusiasm for writing was flagging or when I got stuck in findings solutions for my thesis This thesis would obviously not have been possible without her support in every step throughout the process Indubitably, words fail me in expressing my indebtedness to her Secondly, I would like to extend my profound gratitude to all the lecturers at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities for their gifts of knowledge on my learning journey They were unwavering in their personal and professional support during the time I spent at the University, which equipped me with many skills in researching I am also grateful to all my students at Le Quy Don High School They were brave and eager to join the study Without their passionate participation in the study, this thesis would be far from being completed My particular thanks go to them Importantly, I would like to take this opportunity to send my huge thank to all my friends in Class MATESOL-2016A They have provided me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement We have together experienced many ups and downs in the past four years Without them, I could not successfully harness the motivation to complete this thesis My gratitude extends to them and our beautiful memories Last but not least, I must express my heartfelt gratitude to my family I am indebted to my parents for their unceasing support and encouragement I also place on record, my sense of gratitude to my sisters who cheered me up when I was ready to quit I could not have accomplished this thesis without their unconditional love and support iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORGINALITY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES ix ABSTRACT x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Rationale for the study 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Scope of the study 1.7 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 English writing skills 10 2.1.1 Definitions of English writing 10 2.1.2 Approaches in the teaching and learning of English writing 11 2.1.3 Skills for English writing 13 2.2 Transferable skills 18 2.2.1 Definitions of transferable skills 18 2.2.2 Importance of transferable skills 19 2.2.3 Transferable skills for EFL classrooms 19 2.3 Formative Assessment 26 2.3.1 Formative assessment and summative assessment 27 2.3.2 Teacher feedback 30 2.3.3 Student self-assessment 38 2.3.4 Guidelines for teacher feedback and student self-assessment 41 2.4 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJVNLOOV 49 ,PSDFWVRIWHDFKHUIHHGEDFNRQVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJVNLOOV 49 iv 2.4.2 Impacts of student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJVNLOOV 50 2.5 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶WUDQsferable skills 53 ,PSDFWVRIWHDFKHUIHHGEDFNRQVWXGHQWV¶WUDQVIHUDEOHVNLOOV 53 2.5.2 Impacts of student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶WUDQVIHUDEOHVNLOOV 55 2.6 Conceptual framework of the study 57 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 60 3.1 Research questions 60 3.2 Research design 60 3.3 Research context 63 3.4 Research participants 63 3.5 Data collection methods 65 3.5.1 Teacher journals 65 3.5.2 Semi-structured interviews 66 3.5.3 Classroom documents 67 3.6 Data collection procedures 74 3.6.1 Research cycle 74 3.6.2 Research cycle 75 3.6.3 Reliability and validity issues 77 3.7 Data analysis procedures 78 3.7.1 Thematic analysis 78 3.7.2 Analysis procedures 79 3.8 Research procedures 82 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 84 4.1 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQWKHVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJVNLOOV 84 ,PSDFWVRIWHDFKHUIHHGEDFNRQWKHVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJVNLOOV 84 4.1.2 Impacts of student self-assessment on the stuGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJVNLOOV 87 4.1.3 Teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWDQGWKHLULPSDFWVRQWKHVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVK writing skills 90 4.2 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQWKHVWXGHQWV¶WUDQVIHUDEOHVNLOOV 94 4.2.1 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQWKHVWXGHQWV¶FULWLFDOWKLQNLQJ skills 94 4.2.2 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQWKHVWXGHQWV¶SUREOHP-solving skills 97 4.2.3 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-assessment RQWKHVWXGHQWV¶VHOI-regulation skills 100 v 4.2.4 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-assessment RQWKHVWXGHQWV¶UHVHDUFKVNLOOV 104 4.2.5 Impacts of teacher feedback and student self-assessment RQWKHVWXGHQWV¶WLPHPDQDJHPHQW skills 105 4.3 The advantages and disadvantages of the implementation 106 7KHVWXGHQWV¶DGYDQWDJHV 106 7KHVWXGHQWV¶GLVDGYDQWDJHVDQGWKHLUVXJJHVWLRQV 109 4.4 Summary of major findings 115 4.5 Discussion of findings 116 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 125 5.1 Conclusion 125 5.2 Pedagogical implications 126 5.3 Limitations of the study 129 5.4 Recommendations for further research 130 REFERENCES ««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««1 APPENDICES 154 APPENDIX A 154 APPENDIX B 157 APPENDIX C 160 APPENDIX D 162 APPENDIX E 164 APEENDIX F 166 APPENDIX G 167 APPENDIX H 168 APPENDIX I 172 APPENDIX J 173 APPENDIX K 174 APPENDIX L 175 APPENDIX M 176 APPENDIX N 179 APPENDIX O 182 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS E Entry EFL English as a Foreign Language ELLs English Language Learners ELT English Language Teaching I Item L1 First Language L2 Second Language LQDHS Le Quy Don High School S Student SLA Second Language Acquisition RQ Research Question SA Self-assessment SR Self-reflection T Teacher TF Teacher feedback W Writing vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: The guidance and feedback loop 48 Figure 2.2: Conceptual framework of the study 58 Figure 3.1: Summary of research cycle 74 Figure 3.2: Summary of research cycle 76 Figure 3.3: Thematic network of the study 81 Figure 3.4: Research procedures 82 Figure 4.1: $VWXGHQW¶VGUDIWDERXWDILOPUHYLHZ 92 Figure 4.2: $VWXGHQW¶VUHYLVHGSDSHUDERXWDILOPUHYLHZ 93 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Micro- and macro-skills for EFL writing 17 Table 2.2: Two key clusters of transferable skills 20 Table 2.3: Critical thinking skills for writing .21 Table 2.4: Problem-solving skills for writing .22 Table 2.5: Formative and summative assessment .28 Table 2.6: Characteristics of formative assessment 29 Table 2.7: Summary of characteristics of constructive feedback .37 Table 2.8: Analytic rubrics and holistic rubrics 44 Table 3.1: Structure and timeframe of the research cycles 62 Table 3.2: Summary of journal entries .65 Table 3.3: Summary of interview items 67 Table 3.4: Summary of writing topics 68 Table 3.5: Summary of assessment criteria in teacher feedback and student self-assessment forms .70 Table 3.6: Summary of student self-reflection items 71 Table 3.7: Student self-assessment and student self-reflection 72 Table 3.8: Summary of the uses of data collection methods 73 Table 3.9: Data and coding summary 79 ix 2003, p 57) Researchers (Andrade & Valtcheva, 2009; Lawson, 2012; Ross, 2006) contend that problem-solving skills are fundamentally shaped when student self-assessment enables students to explain, think aloud and make decisions about the way they learn, the learning strategies they use to solve a problem, and the adjustments they make to ignite and promote their learning In brief, through self-assessment students should better encode and resolve confusion in a problem context, seek alternative solutions and choose the best ones to improve their learning 2.5.2.3.Impacts of student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶VHOI-regulation skills o Impacts of student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶JRDOVHWWLQJ With self-assessment, EFL learners would be more engaged, productive and committed in the writing process and have more concerns about their writing (Andrade, Du, & Mycek, 2010; Panadero et al., 2015) Brown & Abeywickrama (2018  SRVWXODWHG WKDW ³WKH PRVW important implication of reflective self-assessment is the potential for setting goals for future learning and GHYHORSPHQW´S :KHQVWXGHQWVOHDUQWRDVVHVVWKHPVHOYHVDVZULWHUVWKH\OHDUQWRSODQDQG to make decisions; to commit more personal resources to learning tasks; to set individualized, realistic and manageable goals for bettering their writing; and to record and stimulate academic growth; thereby enhancing their English learning (Pajares et al., 2007; Reardon, 2017; Ross, 2006) o Impacts of student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶VHOI-awareness Self-DVVHVVPHQW HQFRXUDJHV VWXGHQWV ³WR EHFRPH SDUW RI WKH ZKROH SURFHVV RI ODQJXDJH OHDUQLQJDQGWREHDZDUHRILQGLYLGXDOSURJUHVV´+DUULVS %HVLGHV%URZQDQG+DUULV (2013) asserts that self-assessment would make students increasingly mindful and more aware of their learning (i.e of learning strengths and weaknesses), especially in how and what of their learning The development of self-awareness in students is said to occur when they contemplate to see mistakes as helpful, identify their learning progress, and detect the discrepancy between their learning goals and current learning status during self-assessment (Ismael, 2017; Khodadady & Khodabakhshzade, 2012; Lee & Coniam, 2013; Zimmerman & Moylan, 2009) o Impacts of student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶VHOI-regulation Studies has propounded the idea that self-DVVHVVPHQWFDQSURPRWHVWXGHQWV¶VHOI-regulation (Andrade & Du, 2007; Andrade & Heritage, 2017; Andrade & Valtcheva, 2009; Bailey & Heritage, 2018; Butler & Lee, 2010; Hammann, 2005) Self-assessment is the key of encouraging 56 self-UHJXODWLRQDV³LWJLYHVVWXGHQWVVRPHRIWKHUHVSRQVLELOLW\IRUMXGJLQJZULWWHQZRUNLQVWHDGRI SODFLQJWKDWUHVSRQVLELOLW\VROHO\RQWKHWHDFKHU´(Saddler & Andrade, 2004, p 50) According to Rivers (2001), self-regulated learners use more mnemonic devices, develop a more positive attitude towards the learning process, take more risk and feel less fear of errors What is more, ³VHOI-assessment playV D VLJQLILFDQW UROH LQ LQFUHDVLQJ VWXGHQWV¶ PRWLYDWLRQ WR OHDUQ´ DQG motivation forces students to act (Cheng & Fox, 2017, p 182) Self-regulation developed through self-assessment in EFL writing classes would help learners form better learning habits and sharpen their learning skills, thus enhancing academic outcomes (Andrade & Heritage, 2017; Butler & Lee, 2010; Hammann, 2005) 2.6 Conceptual framework of the study Thus far, the relevant literature tells us that teacher feedback and student self-assessment should be undertaken by the teacher and the learner working as allies in the cycle of formative assessment in the EFL writing classrooms, toward common learning goals (Andrade & Du, 2007; Andrade & Heritage, 2017; Black et al., 2003; Butler & Lee, 2010; Gibbs & Simpson, 2004; Jonsson, 2012; Nguyen, 2009; Nicol & MacfarlaneǦDick, 2006) Key terms and the relationships among them are presented in the conceptual framework (see Figure 2.2 on the next page) For the sake of brevity, I would like to make just three points about this conceptual framework First, under the umbrella of formative assessment, teacher constructive feedback should be bound up with student self-DVVHVVPHQWEHFDXVH³WKHUHLVQRRQH best method for language teaching This is equally trXHRIDVVHVVPHQW´&KHQJ )R[S 22) Second, what has been under consideration is the impacts of teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJVNLOOVLQFOXGLQJPLFUR-skills and macro-skills) and transferable skills (i.e cognitive skills and metacognitive skills) as addressed in research questions and Last but not least, during the incorporation of teacher constructive feedback and rubricbased student self-assessment, what problems students may encounter are under investigation (research question 3) The research questions, the research instruments and the research findings are aligned with the conceptual framework of the study 57 Formative assessment Teacher constructive feedback Student selfassessment Writing skills Transferable skills Micro-skills Cognitive skills Macro-skills Meta-cognitive skills Figure 2.2 Conceptual framework of the study 58 Chapter summary In this chapter, I reviewed a voluminous body of research on English writing skills, approaches in the learning and teaching of English writing skills, micro- and macro-skills for writing As English writing skills are linked to transferable skills, subsets of transferable skills are provided Formative assessment is revisited with its two critical components: teacher constructive feedback and student self-assessment I explained the role and types of teacher feedback in the English writing classrooms before moving on to constructive feedback and its characteristics Having presented key characteristics of student self-assessment I then justified my choice of a holistic rubric and elaborated on the principles for incorporating teacher feedback and student selfassessment The impacts of teacher constructive feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQWRQVWXGHQWV¶ English writing skills and transferable skills were discussed Last but not least, the conceptual framework, the linchpin of the study, which helps to keep the study on the right track of its objectives was introduced The next chapter, Methodology, will expound to you the research design, research methods, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures of the study 59 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY Chapter overview Throughout, this chapter covers the research methodology employed in the study In the pages that follow, this section thus restates research questions and describes in detail the research design, research context and participants The chapter then proceeds with data collection methods and data collection procedures Chapter also centres on data analysis procedures with the thematic network coming as a result Lastly, we will end this chapter with the procedures of the thesis 3.1 Research questions In order to accomplish the aforementioned aims of the study, the three guiding research questions that help the study go were given as follows: (1) Do teacher feedback and student self-DVVHVVPHQW KHOS LPSURYH WKH VWXGHQWV¶ English writing skills? If so, how? (2) Do teacher feedback and student self-assessment help the students develop transferable skills? If so, in what ways? (3) What advantages and disadvantages the students experience during the implementation of teacher feedback and student self-assessment? What are their suggestions? 3.2 Research design It is downright impossible to overstate the magnitude of action research in education in general and EFL instruction in particular The value of action research has hence been extolled for decades by a bulk of studies (Burns, 2005; Gaventa & Cornwall, 2008; Glanz, 2014; Mills, 2011) Mills (2011 FODLPHGWKDWWHDFKHUVZHUHH[SHFWHGWRGRDFWLRQUHVHDUFKZLWKWKHDLPRI³JDLQLQJ insight, developing reflective practice, effecting positive changes in the school environment and RQHGXFDWLRQDO SUDFWLFHV LQ JHQHUDO DQGLPSURYLQJVWXGHQWRXWFRPHV´S   ,Q D IHZZRUGV Gaventa and CorQZDOO VXPPHGXSWKHNH\HOHPHQWVRIWKLVDSSURDFKWRDQHQTXLU\DV³VKDUH experiences through a dynamic process of acWLRQUHIOHFWLRQDQGFROOHFWLYHLQYHVWLJDWLRQ´S  60 Burns (2009) echoed the view of previous authors, claiming succinctly that action research LVDQDSSURDFKZKLFKLV³WRLQWHUYHQHLQDGHOLEHUDWHZD\LQWKHSUREOHPDWLFVLWXDWLRQLQRUGHUWR EULQJDERXWFKDQJHVDQGHYHQEHWWHULPSURYHPHQWVLQSUDFWLFH´%XUQVS &RQGXFWLQJ action research empowers teachers to find the gaps in their instructional practices and take necessary actions to close these gaps based on observed results (Koshy, 2009) I, myself, identified the gaps in the teaching, learning and assessing practices of English writing skills in my EFL class Thus, I decided to carry out this action research ZLWKWKHVWXGHQWV¶DQGP\UROHDVWKHSDUWLFLSDQWV to formulate and implement new approaches and solutions, to take measures for changes in my EFL writing class as Glanz (2014) embrDFHGWKHRSLQLRQWKDW³HYHQWVFDQQRWEHXQGHUVWRRGXQOHVV RQHXQGHUVWDQGVKRZWKH\DUHSHUFHLYHGDQGLQWHUSUHWHGE\SHRSOHZKRSDUWLFLSDWHLQWKHP´S 80) This action research HPSOR\HG TXDOLWDWLYH DSSURDFK ZKLFK LV XVHG ³IRU H[SORULQJ DQG understanding tKHPHDQLQJLQGLYLGXDOVRUJURXSVDVFULEHWRDVRFLDORUKXPDQSUREOHP´&UHVZHOO &UHVZHOOS 4XDOLWDWLYHDSSURDFKLVXVHIXOLQWKLVVWXG\EHFDXVH³OLWWOHLVNQRZQDERXW the research area, and the research question is being framed to enable the discovery of new LQIRUPDWLRQ´ 1RUWRQ  S  ... 6.,//6 THROUGH TEACHER FEEDBACK AND STUDENT SELF- ASSESSMENT: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT LE QUY DON HIGH SCHOOL? ? 7KLV WKHVLV DLPHG DW WKH implementation of teacher constructive feedback and student. .. ,QWHUPVRISUDFWLFHWZRNH\JRDOVRIWKLVSURMHFWDUHWRGHYHORSVWXGHQWV¶(QJOLVKZULWLQJ skills and transferable skills and to better my teaching practices It stands undisputed that good English writing skills and transferable skills open learners to greater opportunities... feedback and student self- assessment help the students develop transferable skills? If so, in what ways? (3) What advantages and disadvantages the students experience during the implementation of teacher