IMPROVING WRITING SKILL THROUGH PEER FEEDBACK

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGVINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THANH TU IMPROVING WRITING SKILL THROUGH PEER FEEDBACK Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages TESOL Code: 60

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI THANH TU

IMPROVING WRITING SKILL THROUGH PEER FEEDBACK

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Code: 60.14.01.11

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Dr.NGO ĐINH PHUONG

NGHE AN, 2017

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that the thesis entitled “ Improving writing skill through peer

feedback for grade 10 students at Nguyen Trung Thien high school” is the

result of my own work, and that the thesis or my any parts of the same has notbeen submitted to any university or institution

Vinh, July 2017

Author’s signature

Nguyen Thi Thanh Tu

This thesis focuses on the effect of peer feedback on improving writingskill for students in grade 10 and comparing peer feedback strategy with thetraditional learning method to know which is more effective Because manyteachers prefers teacher feedback to peer feedback (PF), this study will focus onwhether PF is really useful and important or not.In this thesis we will look at thedefinition of writing, writing approach, rules of PF as well as methods and somestrategies for using peer feedback in ways that will be the most helpful inimproving writing skill This thesis also provides discussion of the results of thestudy, some implications and suggestions for both ESL teachers and learnersbesides recommendations for future research and conclusion

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr NgoDinh Phương, for his kind help, careful guidance, valuable advice andencouragement from the first draft till the completed thesis

I am also grateful to my colleagues and students of grade 10 at NguyenTrung Thien high school who helped me to finish the study

I wish to thank my parents and my loved family who love, support andencourage me a lot in the production of this thesis

Finally, I am too aware that despite all the advice and assistance, thethesis is far from perfect, it is, therefore, my sole responsibilities for anyinadequacies that it may be considered to have

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESL: English as a Second Language

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

PF: Peer Feedback

TL : Traditional Learning

MD : Mean Difference

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

CHAPTER 1 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Scope and limitations of the study 3

1.5Methods of the study 4

1.6 Design of the thesis 4

CHAPTER 2 6

LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1.Definition of writing 6

2.2 The nature of writing 8

2.3 Approaches to teaching writing 10

2.3.1 The product approach 10

2.3.2 The process approach 12

2.3.3 A summary of the differences 14

2.3.4 The genre approach 15

2.3.5 Which approach to use 16

2.4 Stages in a writing lesson 17

2.4.1 Prewriting 17

2.4.2 Drafting 18

2.5 Collaborative writing 20

2.6 Feedback 21

2.6.1 Definition of feedback 21

2.6.2 Principles for feedback practice 22

2.6.3 Feedback in writing classes 23

2.6.3.1 Peer feedback 24

2.6.3.2 Benefits of peer feedback 25

2.6.3.3 Difficulty of applying peer feddback in writing classes 26

2.6.3.4 Key Strategies for peer feedback 27

2.6.3.4 Empirical studies on PF 29

2.7 Assessing students’ writing 34

2.7.1Some general principles 35

2.7.2 Means of Responding 37

2.7.3 Rubrics: Tools for Response and Assessment 38

2.7.4 Simple ways to assess the process 39

2.7.5 Simple ways to assess the product 40

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 41

3.1 Research questions 41

3.2 Participants 41

3.3 Materials 42

3.4 Procedure 44

3.4.1Steps of conducting peer feedback in the study 44

3.4.1.1.Before the treatment starts 44

3.4.1.2 Before the first peer review session 46

3.4.1.3 During Peer-Review Sessions 48

3.4.1.4.After Peer-Review Sessions 49

CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 51

4.1 The judges and judging 51

4.2 Equivalence of the experimental group and control groups before

receiving treatment 51

4.3 Essay scores in the pre-test 49

4.4 There were significant differences between scores for the first drafts and those for the second drafts in the six lessons……… 49

4.5 Pre- and post-test scores for the essays of students in the experimental group……… ……….

………52

4.6 There was also a significant difference in the control group between the pre-test and the post-pre-test……….……… 58

4.7 There was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group .62

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 67

5.1 Discussion of the study findings 67

5.2 Implications and suggestions for ESL teachers and learners 70

5.3 Implications for further research 71

5.4 General contribution of the study 72

5.5 Conclusion 72

REFERENCES 74

APENDIX A RUBRIC………79

APENDIX B - The experimental group’s pre-test scores 81

APENDIX C - The control group’s pre-test scores 82

APENDIX D - The experience group’s scores for the first draft ( written before receiving PF ) and the second draft ( written after receiving PF ) 83

APENDIX E - The control group’s post-test scores 84

APPENDIX F The experimental group’s post-test scores 85

APPENDIX G THE GENERAL TEST 86APPENDIX H THE PRE-TEST AND POST -TEST FOR EXPERIMENTALAND CONTROL GROUPS (45 mins) 88APPENDIX I Examples of peer feedback sheet 1……….89 Examples of peer feedback sheet 2……….……… 90

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter is written in order to give the rationale, aims of the study,the research questions, the significance of the study, the scope of the study, anoverview of research methodology and finally introduces the outline of the

thesis.

1.1 Rationale

English is a useful and even necessary language to know It is the most

common foreign language That’s why everyone needs to learn the language inorder to get in touch on an international level Knowing it will help youcommunicate with people from countries all over the world In many countries,children are taught and encouraged to learn English as a second language Even

in countries where it is not an official language, such as Lao, Vietnam, we willfind many syllabi in science and engineering are written in English, because it isthe dominant language in the sciences, most of the research and studies you find

in any given scientific field will be written in it as well At the university level,students in many countries study almost all their subjects in English in order tomake the material more accessible to international students On the Internet, themajority of websites are written and created in English.It's also the primarylanguage of the press: more newspapers and books are written in English than inany other language, and no matter where in the world you are, you will findsome of these books and newspapers available.With good understanding andcommunication in English, you can travel around the globe Because it is theinternational language for foreigners, it is easy to get assistance and help inevery part of world You can test it by online travel Any travel booking site youcan find will have English as a booking option.English skills will also help you

in any business venture you choose to follow If you visit some offices,companies, governmental organizations, or even math or engineering

companies, you will see the importance of English Any big company will hiretheir professional staff after getting to know whether the people they are hiringare good at English or not Companies who want to function at an internationallevel only consider their staff well educated if they are good English speakers,writers, and readers.

In TESL (teaching English as second language) or TEFL (teachingEnglish as foreign language), writing is one of the four English macro skills.Writing, among the other English skills; listening, speaking, and reading; isregarded as the most valuable and important skill although it is difficult topossess In fact, it can be argued that writing skill is even more important now

than ever despite the rise of digital media.

However, one study states that 85% of high school graduates are unable topass the English GCSE and suffer from weaknesses in English The poorresults o129+f the English GCSE have shocked parenthood for the last fewyears.Almost 90% of students left out writing task in their English GCSEpapers because they did not know how to write a short passage Only 10% ofstudents at high school can write their English compositions .Universitygraduates in Vietnam do not attract employers because of their poor English,particularly in speaking and writing, in addition to other problems.Therefore, weshould look into the way we teach writing skill as a "matter of urgency"

As an English teacher, the author always expects to see an improvement

in students’ process of learning writing skill in spite of the fact that the Ministry

of Education and Training has decided to omit writing task in the GCSEpaper.The expectations are that teachers ensure that high standards are met andstudents are fully prepared for the rigorous academic ielts , tofel exam Theauthor has been studying and trying some different methods in teachingwriting skill As a result , the author has found out peer feedback can be used

as a critical technique for improving students' writing although it has been littlediscovered and applied in writing lessons at high school in HaTinh province sofar It is also an effective way to make lessons more student-centered oriented

There have been researches on the role of written corrective peerfeedback in improving writing skill (e.g Ellis, 2009; Ferris, 2006; Hyland andHyland, 2006) But they suppose written corrective peer feedback is acontroversial matter Through this study the researcher wants to determinewhether peer feedback is really useful and important in learning writing skill

For the above-mentioned reasons, the author aims at conducting the studyentitled “Improving writing skill through peer feedback ”

1.2 Aims of the study

The purpose of this study was to determine whether peer feedback isreally useful in learning writing skill and from that,propose some effective ways

to improve writing skill

1.3 Research questions

Based on the purposes of this research,this research question weredesigned:

1 To what extent will peer feed back affect students’ writing skill?

2 Will peer feed be more effective than the traditional learning methodwith only teacher’s feedback?

1.4 Scope and limitations of the study

Although there are a variety of ways to improving students’ writing skill,this thesis only focuses on whether peer feedback can help improve writingaccuracy and to what extent it can affect students’ writing skill This researchwas carefully prepared; however, I am still aware of its limitations andshortcomings

First of all, the research was conducted in the two grade 10 classes whichhave lasted for ten weeks Ten weeks is not enough for the researcher to observe

all of the students’ writing performance in their classes and their improvement Itwould be better if it was done in a longer time.

Second, the population of the experimental group is small, only fortystudents and may not represent the majority of the students of grade 10

In addition, since the assessment of the pretest and post test wasconducted by the author herself, it is unavoidable that in this study, certaindegree of subjectivity can be found In fact, it would have been sort of objective

if it had been decided by two or three examiners

1.5 Methods of the study

This study employs two types of research method; quantitative, whichincludes a quasi-experimental study to investigate the efficiency of peerfeedback on students’ writing, and qualitative, where results are collected fromobservation

1.6 Design of the thesis

The thesis consists of the following parts:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This part introduces the issues leading to the study, including rationale,aims, methods, scope, and organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review

This chapter provides theoretical background relevant to the topic such asthe definition of writing and peer feedback , stages in a writing lesson, theimportance of feedback , rules of giving peer feedback and its roles inimproving writing skill

Chapter 3: Research methodology

This part presents the study and these include, research questions,participants, material, procedures and results

Chapter 4: Analysis and finding.

This chapter presents their analysis and interpretation

Chapter 5: Conclusion

Main points and contents of the study are summarized based on the

results of the study The discussion,the implication of the study and therecommendation for further research will be presented

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides theoretical background relevant to the topic such asthe definition of writing , writing approach , stages in a writing lesson, theimportance of feedback , rules of peer feedback and its roles in improving thewriting skill

2.1.Definition of writing

Simply, writing is the use of graphic symbols that are called letters When

it involves producing clear and meaningful pieces to carry a message in thelanguage, writing becomes more complicated Accordingly, Widdowson (2001:62) stated that: “Writing is the use of visual medium to manifest thegraphological and grammatical system of the language That is to say, writing inone sense is the production of sentences as instances of usages”

Consequently, students must have an acceptable level of masteringdifferent aspects of language such as : the graphic system, the grammaticalstructure, and select appropriate vocabulary (mechanisms of writing) related tothe subject matter Another definition was given by Crystal (1999: 214) whostated that : “Writing is not a merely mechanical task, a simple matter of puttingspeech down on paper It is an exploration in the use of the graphic potential of alanguage -a creative process- an act of discovery”

Sohel (2014) stated that : “Writing is the record or the recorded form ofspeech It is a medium of communication that represents language through theinscription of signs and symbols The development of writing, as we know it, is

a relatively recent phenomenon” Olshtain (1991 235) stated that “writing as acommunicative activity needs to be encouraged and nurtured during thelanguage learner’s course of study” Writing is considered to be a tool whichenables students to express and communicate their ideas, feelings, and differentattitudes in a written form Writing can be an individual, a personal, 11 and

social endeavor (Cited in Maarek, S 2009) As it is reported by Miller (2001,

as cited in Richards & Renanya,2003: 25) “even though the writing production

is an expression of one’s individuality and personality, it is important toremember that writing is also a social endeavor, a way of communicating withpeople” Richards and Schmidt (2002) supported this idea where it is stated

“writing is viewed as a result of complex processes of planning, drafting,reviewing and revising” (p.529) Which means,various operations cause the finaldraft Also, Pincas (1992: 125 Cited in Ghothbene, N 2010) claimed that

“writing is a system of graphic symbols, i.e., letters or combinations of letterswhich relate to the sounds we produce while speaking” Writing can be defined

as much more than the production of these symbols For that, the graphicsymbols must be arranged according to some conventions in order to formwords, and words to form sentences, and sentences to form paragraphs andessays Accordingly, writing is not producing or making list of words, asinventories of items of a shopping list."Although this shopping list may notseem to provide an example of sophisticated writing, it tells us something aboutthe writing process”

The achievement of writing is linked to the existence of coherencebetween the words or the sentences which are arranged in a particular order andlinked together in certain ways and above all, holding a meaning In this respect,

“learners at schools [and universities] must master the academic writing whichwas needed in writing essays and paragraphs or other assignments for exams”(Bailey, 2003: 1)

Furthermore, Kate and Guy (2003: 1480 Cited in Ghothbene, N 2010)stated that:“writing is a process of exploring one’s thoughts and learning fromthe act of writing itself from what thoughts are It means that writing is a tool oflearning rather than a process limited to express thoughts via written symbols

As it is considered to be the most difficult and complex skill to be mastered byEFL students, Rivers and Temperley point 12 out: “To write so that one is reallycommunicating a message isolated in place and time, is an art that requiresconsciously directed effort and deliberate choice in language” (Rivers andTemperley 1979: 263 Cited in Azzioui, A.2009)

In addition to the complexity of writing, it needs a considerable training to

be mastered Hedge (2000) had completely investigated this issue and came with

a result “all the time spent in communicative activities, adults devote 45% oftheir energies to listening, 30% to speaking, 16% to reading, and 9% to writing”(Hedge, 2000: 305) This explains why the majority of students feel stress whichprevents them from conveying the desired message Accordingly, Brookes andGrundy (2009: 11 Cited in Ghothbene, N 2010) reported that "it must be worthasking precisely what is difficult about writing and, especially, about writing in asecond language”

Moreover, Ramet (2007: 9) stated that : " Whatever your writing interestmay be, fiction or nonfiction, literary novels or specialist articles, you shouldread anything and everything in your chosen genre" This may refer to theimportance of reading before the process of writing takes place The followingquotation shows that writing is viewed as a powerful tool "although writing isnot this explosive, it is one of the humankind's powerful tool But they aresometimes confused about the source of its power"(Mc Arthur, Graham, &Fitzgerald, 2008: 1 Cited in Ghothben, N 2010) Also, to clarify things aboutthis skill, we have to investigate its nature which is the next point

2.2 The nature of writing.

Writing is a complex process that demands the mastery of many languagelevels; morphological level, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse level

In contrast to speaking, writing includes more elaborated linguistic systems,

complex clauses, different syntax and vocabularies Many experts, therefore,consider writing the barometer of one’s 13 proficiency on a particular language.They also think that writing is the most difficult basic language skills due to itscomplexity and complete reliance on these language levels

Also, writing is considered to be a productive skill that urges the writer tocarry out the meanings or messages in the written form In the writing process,the writer tries to interact with the readers by exploring the ideas in the writtenform The ideas usually contain the context, prior knowledge, and discourse Aswriting is transactional and message-oriented, its goal must be conveyedinformation accurately, effectively and appropriately The writer must be able toexpress the ideas explicitly using the effective language and avoiding theambiguous words The writer must be aware that the readers cannot confirm theideas being delivered to writer immediately as what they can do in speakingprocess Therefore, it is the writer’s duty to make his writing clear enoughbefore the readers

For Bloomfield:“Writing is not language, but merely a way of recordinglanguage by means of visible marks.”(Bloomfield;cited in Crystal 1994: 178).For him it means that writing is considered to be limited in visible marks.Further, Crystal (2006: 257) specifies that: “writing is a way of communicatingwhich uses a system of visual marks made on some kind of surface It is onekind of graphic expression” Here, Crystal also explained the nature of writing inthe use of graphic and visual marks Also, Byrne (1991: 1) stated that: “writingcan be said to be the act of forming these symbols : making marks on a Flatsurface of some kinds” In addition, Nancy Arapoff (1967: 23 Cited in Selmen,

S 2006) described writing as “ much more than an orthographic symbolization

of speech It is, most importantly, a purposeful selection and organization ofexperience” According to her, “experience” includes all thoughts, facts,

opinions, or ideas, whether acquired first hand through direct perceptions and/oractions or second hand through reading and hearsay To explain more about thecomplexity of writing Scrivener(1994:192 Cited in 14 Maarek, S 2009) arguedthat Writing is a great challenge to produce a fluent and coherent piece ofwriting “….involves a different kind of mental process There is more time tothink, to reflect, to prepare, to rehearse, to make mistakes and to find alternativeand better solutions

The overall difficulty of writing was fairly observed by Collins andGenther (1980: 62 Cited in Ouskourt, M 2008) who saw that :

Much of the difficulty of writing stems from the large number ofconstraints that must be satisfied at the same time In expressing an idea thewriter must consider at least four structural levels : Overall text structureparagraph structure sentence structure (syntax), and word structure clearly theattempt to coordinate all these requirements is a staggering job

This quotation may refer to the complexity of the writing skill, and towhat extent students should aware about this productive skill in order to be able

to produce well structured and meaningful productions

2.3 Approaches to teaching writing

There are different types of approaches to teaching writing The nextproduction will include the three main types of approaches that are : the productapproach, the process approach, and the genre

2.3.1 The product approach

The main focus of the product approach is on the production of produced composition “The product approach to writing focuses on the endresults of the act of composition, i.e the letter, assay, story and so on Thewriting teacher who subscribes to the product approach will be concerned to seethat the end product is readable, grammatically correct and obeys discourse

well-conventions relating to main points, supporting details and so on “ (Nunan,1989: 36 Cited in Maarek, S 2009)

The product approach is concerned with the writers’ knowledge of thestructure of the language, and writing in this case is considered to be animitation of texts produced by the teacher Basically, writing in product-basedapproaches has served to reinforce L2 writing in terms of grammatical andsyntactical forms There are a variety of activities in the product writing whichcan raise students’ awareness in second language writing from the lower level oflanguage proficiency to advance like English major students such as the use ofmodel paragraphs, sentence-combining, and rhetorical pattern exercises Writing

in the product approach is viewed as a simple linear model of the writingprocess which proceeds systematically from prewriting to composing and tocorrecting .Tribble (1990) Besides, instructors and learners believe thatplanning stage of writing in text based approaches begins and finishes in theprimary period of composition However, Raimes (1983) found that product-based writing can in no way be described as linear or as neat as is generallybelieved:

“Contrary to what many textbooks advise, writers do not follow a neatsequence of planning, organizing, writing and then revising For while a writer’sproduct - the finished essay, story or novel - is presented in lines, the processthat produces it is not linear at all Instead, it is recursive.” (Raimes, 1985: 229)

Nevertheless, the pattern-product writing approach is widely acceptedamong writing teachers because they have found several advantages in it for thewriting classroom Firstly, learners learn how to write in English compositionsystematically from using the pattern-product techniques, namely the logic ofEnglish rhetorical patterns such as narration, description, and persuasion Theyalso learn how to use vocabulary and sentence structures for each type of

rhetorical pattern appropriately Finally, product-based writing helps instructorsraise learners’ L2 writing awareness, especially in grammatical structures.However, there are also disadvantages associated with the use of the product-based writing Writing with this approach gives little attention to audience andthe writing purpose since learners and instructors tend to overemphasize on theimportance of grammar, syntax, and mechanics Learners will lack motivation inlearning and have high pressure in creating their writing tasks, as theirinstructors mostly focus on the accuracy of the language structures

2.3.2 The process approach

The process approach came as a reaction to the weaknesses of the productapproach It started to gain ground in the mid 1970s It developed from theassumption that:

“If we can analyze the different elements that are involved in a longerpiece of writing, and can help learners to work through them, and use thisknowledge positively in their own writing, then such writing will have a lot ofstress taken out of it “ (Brookes and Grundy, 1991: 7 Cited in Maarek, S.2009)

Process-based writing is viewed as the way writers actually work on theirwriting tasks from the beginning stage to the end of the written product O’Brien(2004 Cited in thanatkun, T 2008) defines the concept of this approach as anactivity in which teachers encourage learners to see writing not as grammarexercises, but as the discovery of meaning and ideas Writing in the processapproach can thus be seen as a dynamic and unpredictable process Due to thenumber of its benefits Process-based approaches are well-known tools forwriting instructors to teach L2 writing Students can improve their writing step

by step since instructors will guide them through the whole process of theirwriting tasks by giving them feedback and enough time and opportunity through

peer and teacher review to develop a sense of audience, which allows them notonly to reflect upon their previous writing but also to consider the possibleexistence of other viewpoints Also, they have to spend quite a long time tocomplete one particular piece of writing in the classroom Badger and White(2000) also point out that learners have no clear understanding about thecharacteristics of writing and are provided insufficient linguistic input to write inL2 successfully in a certain text type

The following figure shows how we might produce a longer text such as acomposition:

18 generate/ gather ideas for content ( brainstorming)

write final draft

Figure .1 The Process Approach (Adapted from Lindsay and Knight.Cited in Thanatkun, T 2008)

The next explanation tries to make the previous diagram clear:

“Notice that the arrows between the stages in the diagram of thewriting process go in both directions This is because the process of writing and

re -writing does not just develop in a straight line For example, you mightdecide at the first draft stage to re-order some of the ideas, or to take some ideasout and put different ones in So, when we write we move backwards andforwards between the different stages “ (Lindsay and Knight, 2006: 86 Cited inThanatkun, T 2008)

Finally, to summarize it the process approach comes as a reaction to theproduct approach The former stresses the creativity of the individual writer andsees writing as a highly complex activity This orientation pays attention to thedevelopment of good writing rather than the imitation of model texts Theprocess approach emphasized that writing is an activity that is composed of avariety of activities, and that these different activities are typically recursive.The teacher in the process approach becomes a facilitator

2.3.3 A summary of the differences

Process-driven approaches show some similarities with task-basedlearning, in that students are given considerable freedom within the task Theyare not curbed by pre-emptive teaching of lexical or grammatical items.However, process approaches do not repudiate all interest in the product, (i.e thefinal draft) The aim is to achieve the best product possible What differentiates aprocess-focussed approach from a product-centred one is that the outcome of thewriting, the product, is not preconceived

2.3.4 The genre approach

Genre approaches are relative newcomers to ELT However, there arestrong similarities with product approaches and, in some ways, genre approachescan be regarded as an extension of product approaches Like productapproaches, genre approaches regard writing as predominantly linguistic but,unlike product approaches, they emphasize that writing varies with the socialcontext in which it is produced According to Badger and White (2000), writing

in the genre approach is regarded as an extension of the productorientedapproach since learners have an opportunity to study a wide variety of writingpatterns, for instance, the business letter, the academic report, and the researchpaper Like other writing approaches, the genre approach is increasingly used inthe L2 writing classroom due to having certain strengths The focus of writing inthis approach aims to integrate the knowledge of a particular genre and itscommunicative purpose, these help learners to produce their written products tocommunicate to others in the same discourse community successfully

Process writing Product writing

- text as a resource for comparison

- ideas as starting point

- more than one draft

- more global, focus on purpose,

theme, text type, i.e., reader is

emphasised

- collaborative

- emphasis on creative process

-imitate model text-organisation of ideas more importantthan ideas themselves

-one draft-features highlighted includingcontrolled practice of those features-individual

-emphasis on end product

“Learning to write is part of becoming socialized to academic community

- finding out what is expected and trying to approximate it.…The reader is aseasoned member of the hosting academic community who has well-developedschemata for academic discourse and clear and stable views of what isappropriate The text is a more or less conventional response to a particular tasktype that falls into a recognizable genre.” (Silva, 1990: 16 Cited in Thanatkun,

T 2008)

Thus, learning specific genre construction can be considered as a way tohelp learners come up with appropriate actual writing in their real life outsidethe classroom Genre writing reflects a particular purpose of a social situationand allows students to acquire writing skills consciously by imitation andanalysis of each writing genre (Badger and White, 2000)

The negative side of the genre approach is that learners may not haveenough knowledge of appropriate language or vocabulary to express what theyintend to communicate to a specific audience Another weakness, as Badger andWhite (2000) point out, is that the genre approach undervalues the writing skillswhich learners need to produce a written product and ignores the writingabilities that learners have in other aspects In order to combine and use thegenre approach effectively as a part of the integrated approach in the writingclass, its weaknesses should be modified in the following ways Instructorsshould describe clearly the genres which students have to learn at the beginning

of the writing class so as to allow learners to prepare and have ideas about thelanguage use for each genre Furthermore, teachers should help learners toproduce their written products step by step For example, teachers may use abrainstorming technique to help students generate their ideas and come up withthe appropriate language use or specific vocabulary for what they want tocommunicate to people in a particular discourse community Finally, instructors

should pay attention to the skills that will help learners develop their writingcompetence through the writing process.

2.3.5 Which approach to use

The approach that you decide to use will depend on you, the teacher, and

on the students, and the genre of the text Certain genres lend themselves morefavourably to one approach than the other Formal letters, for example, orpostcards, in which the features are very fixed, would be perhaps more suited to

a product-driven approach, in which focus on the layout, style, organisation andgrammar could greatly help students in dealing with this type of writing task

Other genres, such as discursive essays and narrative, may lendthemselves to process-driven approaches, which focus on students' ideas.Discursive activities are suited to brainstorming and discussing ideas in groups,and the collaborative writing and exchanging of texts help the students to directtheir writing to their reader, therefore making a more successful text

One or the other, the two approaches are not necessarily incompatible Ibelieve that process writing, i.e re-drafting, collaboration, can be integratedwith the practice of studying written models in the classroom

What I take from the process approach is the collaborative work, thediscussion which is so important in generating and organising ideas Oncestudents have written their first drafts, model texts can be introduced as texts forcomparison Lightbown found that learning appeared to be optimal in 'thosesituations in which the students knew what they wanted to say and the teacher'sintervention made clear to them there was a particular way to say it.Teacherintervention through model texts could thus aid the learning process I also like

to incorporate the exchanging of drafts, so that the students become the readers

of each others work This is an important part of the writing experience as it is

by responding as readers, both during the collaborative stage of writing in

groups, as well as when reading another group's work, that students develop anawareness of the fact that a writer is producing something to be read by someoneelse

2.4 Stages in a writing lesson

2.4.1 Prewriting.

Prewriting is everything you do before you begin to draft the paper Look

over an assignment handout, choose and narrow your topic, and assess youraudience and purpose Research is also an important aspect of prewriting Youcan use certain prewriting strategies to help you to choose and develop a topic:

• Make lists of ideas on a topic

• Read and take notes on a topic

• Make a cluster, which is a visual map of ideas and concepts related toyour topic

• Ask questions about a topic

• Discuss ideas about a topic with others and take notes

• Make an outline of your paper You may also need to consider youraudience before you begin to write To make sure that your writing will fit theaudience you are addressing, you need to consider who they are To do that youmight want to assess your audience by considering the following:

• How much does my audience know about my topic?

• How do they feel about my topic: enthusiastic, neutral or hostile?

• What are their personal characteristics that might affect their views on

my paper: age, gender, culture, socioeconomic background, values, politics,etc.?

Your audience, typically, will be the professor who assigned the paper, butoccasionally classmates may read it Once you have thought about your topic,

developed your ideas on the topic, and taken into account your purpose andaudience, you are ready to draft the paper

2.4.2 Drafting

Drafting is the stage when you begin to put the paper in paragraph form.When you begin to draft your writing, you need to keep in mind five separatewriting techniques that will help your reader to understand your paper:

1 Thesis statement: At the end of your introduction, write a one-sentencestatement that is the basis for your entire paper A good thesis statement lets thereader know what your paper will cover For example, you might write thisthesis statement: “There are four possible causes for alcoholism, yet not allalcoholics drink for these reasons.” The paragraphs that follow should supportthis statement, and each paragraph should focus on one of the possible causes 2.Topic sentences: Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that statesthe main idea of that paragraph Just like the thesis statement, the topic sentencelets you know what the paragraph contains

3 Sufficient support: While your opinions are important, they cannot bethe legs your paper stands on You need to support you topic ideas by developingthe paragraphs with evidence from credible sources Support comes in manydifferent forms: statistics, researched information, observations, descriptions,case studies, interviews, personal experience, hypothetical situations,definitions, etc.The more specific the information, the more interesting theparagraph

4 Coherence: This means it all comes together If an essay is coherent, allthe paragraphs relate to the one before it and all the sentences relate to the onebefore it Transitional words and phrases help to create bridges betweensentences, words such as: however, for example, in other words, in contrast,

nevertheless, etc You set up the key words to an essay and a paragraph withinthe thesis statement and the topic sentences

5 Unity: The idea here is not to veer off into the woods Stay on the path.Make sure all sentences relate to the topic sentence and all paragraphs relate tothe thesis As you draft your paragraphs, you want to try to include all theseeffective writing techniques

2.4.3 Revising:

1 Check to see if the essay fits the thesis

2 Make sure each paragraph has a topic sentence

3 Make sure there are smooth transitions between paragraphs

4 Check for digressions

5 Do you have sufficient support in all paragraphs?

6 Is your paper logical in order?

7 Do you have an introduction and a conclusion?

2.4.4 Editing and Proofreading:

Here is where you check on your spelling and grammar and mechanics.Spell check is your friend! In a research paper, you would also check to see ifyour documentation is done properly Most students skip this step, but mostteachers take off points for papers that are not proofread It might be in your bestinterest to take a look, and sometimes four eyes are better than two Have afriend look over it, or take it to the writing center for extra help

The act of continuous non-stop writing forces your mind to come up withnew ideas Getting these on paper then allows the creative juices in your brainbegin to flow

2.5 Collaborative writing.

In its broadest definition, group writing includes “…any writing done incollaboration with one or more persons” (Ede & Lunsford, 1990: 14) According

to Noel and Robert (2004), collaborative writing was first investigated in the1970s; however, the process was not actually explored until the late 1980s Inthe field of second language writing, a number of researchers (e.g., Daiute,1986; Wells et al., 1990) suggest that students should work collaborativelyduring the writing process in order to develop their 40writing skills Duringthis collaboration, learners share responsibility for the quality of the producedtext, making decisions on different aspects of that text In addition,researchers have shown that collaborative writing fosters reflective thinking(e.g., Higgins et al., 1992; Keys, 1994).Peer Feedback (PF) in writing is oneexample of collaborative writing which has been found to be highly effective ineducational contexts (Ruys et al., 2010; Tsuei, 2011) It involves, if presented in

a well structured design, a mechanism of turn taking (i.e., the learners take turns

to assume the roles of sender and receiver) in each given learning activity(Tsuei, 2011), signifying learner accountability in learning writing Inaddition, as PF technique involves giving and receiving PF in one-to-oneconferences, it can develop a sense of criticality that can have a positiveinfluence on a learner’s own writing, as will be discussed later on in this chapter

Feedback, as a central component of PF technique, in the field ofsecond language writing can provide elaborated information (i.e., detailed andgiven with much care; for example, do this add or avoid etc), whichcan be used effectively to overcome a learner’s weaknesses Additionally, itcan include justifications for seeing something as an error in the task in question(for example, this is wrong because ) In this regard, Gielen et al (2010a)suggest that associating feedback with proper justification can have a positiveeffect on writing skills In this sense, it can be said that feedback can helpimprove students’ writing, as will be discussed in the following sections

2.6 Feedback

2.6.1 Definition of feedback.

Feedback is a key element in language learning It can promote minimal

or deep learning Hattie and Timperely (2007) state that feedback is "informationprovided by an agent regarding some aspects of one's task performance" (p.81).Narciss (2008) also defines feedback as "all post-response information that isprovided to a learner to inform the learner on his or her actual state of learning

or performance" (p.127) what is clear from these definitions is that feedback isdesigned to provide an understanding of performance through offering guidance

on the knowledge that they possess One of the factors which seems to be ofgreat importance in dealing with feedback is that it helps students to reconstructtheir knowledge or skill to what is desired Mory(2003) discusses fourperspectives on how feedback supports learning First, feedback can beconsidered as an incentive for increasing response rate and/ or accuracy Second,feedback can be regarded as a reinforcer that automatically connects responses

to prior stimuli (focused on correct responses) Third, feedback can beconsidered as information that learners can use tovalidate or change a previousresponse (focused on erroneous responses) Finally, feedback can be regarded asthe provision of scaffolds to help students construct internal schemata andanalysis their learning processes A part from these perspectives on howfeedback supports learning, the type of feedback varies considerably as well.Nelson and Schunn (2009) identified two types of feedback, namely; cognitiveand affective In cognitive feedback, more attention is given to the content of thework and involves summarizing, specifying and explaining aspects of the workunder review Affective feedback concentrates on the quality of works and usesaffective language to bestow praise ("well written") and criticism ("badlywritten"), or uses non-verbal expressions, such as facial expression gestures andemotional tones

2.6.2 Principles for feedback practice

Nicole and Macfarlane-Dick (2006)suggested seven principles forfeedback practice They claimed that good feedback practice:

1 - Helps clarify what good performance is (goal, criteria, expectedstandards)

2 -.Delivers high-quality information to students about their learning3- Facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection)in learning.4- Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning

5- Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem

6- Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desiredperformance

7- Provides information to students that can be used to help shapeteaching (p.205)

Based on these principles, it is clear what feedback is trying to achieve.Sadler (1998) asserts that good feedback lies at the heart of good pedagogy withits source(i.e teachers or peers) It must be stated that various kinds of feedbackhave been used in the class namely; peer feedback, conferencing, and writtenteacher feedback Some innovative methods also are recommended in the classfor learning such as taped commentaries and computer- based respond It isimportant to mention that based on the way these types of feedbacks are given,their effect can be either positive or negative (Musa et al., 2012).Walker (2009)acknowledges that feedback must be usable by students He points out that to beusable by students, peer feedback must be designed to help students to reducethe gap in their performance and look beyond the assignment just submitted tofuture work

2.6.3 Feedback in writing classes

Given the importance claimed in the literature for the role offeedback in language learning generally, it is not surprising that feedback

is also seen as central to the learner-centred approaches to writing instructiondeveloped in the 1970s (Hyland & Hyland, 2006a) Before that time thefeedback mainly took the form of marginal notes, as compared to thecurrent form, which commonly extends to include oral interaction betweentwo parties (i.e., teacher-learner/learner-learner) (Hyland & Hyland, 2006a).The way feedback is given depends on the form of the written task and theintended effect For instance, giving feedback on communicative or creativewriting (e.g., reports, stories or letters) requires our close observation andclear demonstration of points of interest within the content (Harmer, 2001).However, it should be mentioned that the way we give feedback to learners cansignificantly affect their attitudes towards writing and their motivation forlearning in the future (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996: 377).evelopment of writing skills.Its importance in this regard was first recognised when.There are several ways

of giving feedback on a written task which can promote successful writing.One is for the given feedback to respond to, rather than assess or evaluate, thestudents’ written task (Harmer, 2001; Hyland & Hyland, 2006b) This isaccomplished by explaining how successful we think the text is and how

it can be improved In this case our comments should be helpful and notcritical (Harmer, 2001)

Another method is by using codes, either in the body of the text or

in the corresponding margins These codes can be something like: S forincorrect spelling, P for punctuation etc These can act as neat, non-threatening and more helpful comments Additionally, teachers are advised toavoid the over–correction of scripts (Harmer, 2001; Bitchener & Ferris,2012), since this will help learners to focus on other important issues rather

than being distracted by too many comments (Harmer, 2001) After providinglearners with feedback on a written task, we expect to receive a revised draftwhich responds to the given comments, and this can show how effective thefeedback is within the learning process (Harmer, 2001)

2.6.3.2 Benefits of peer feedback.

Firstly, students often learn more from people at their level of learning.Teachers feel responsible for their students’ learning, however, it is useful tostep back and have students learn more independently; allowing the student todiscover knowledge for him or herself can be very powerful And one way thatmany students learn well, is from one another (Boud, Cohen, & Sampson,2014).Secondly Peer-review can build comfort and normalcy around receivingconstructive feedback

Being able to listen to others and utilize feedback effectively is important

to future career success When writing recommendation letters for students, I’venoticed that many graduate programs ask that we discuss the student’s openness

to feedback, as this is central to student success To better serve our students, it

is thus important that we help them develop their ability to effectively work withconstructive criticism early on With this, it is also important to monitor thatfeedback remains constructive The teacher can assist in this by developing aguided peer-review worksheet and by discussing acceptable feedback in class.Next , Providing peer feedback can strengthen students’ own work.By providingfeedback to peers, students often begin to think more flexibly about their ownwriting For example, by taking the grader’s perspective, a student might start tobetter understand that the writer isn’t always successful in communicatingsomething clearly This experience may then promote the student’s ability totake the grader’s perspective when they review their own work beforesubmitting it for a grade Furthermore , peer feedback gives studentsresponsibility for critiquing writing (and thinking), rather than letting all theresponsibility for that rest on teachers The hope is that they will internalize thisprocess and carry it on independently, to the benefit of their future work.Additionally, by having students review each other’s writing assignments, theyhave to divide the paper writing process up into at least two stages: the draft andfinal paper Scaffolding assignments in this way is known to lead to more criticalengagement and learning (Bean, 2011) Lastly , Peer review can save gradingtime

It makes sure that all your students will get some feedback on a piece ofwriting immediately, the same day they bring it to class, rather than having towait for you to write your comments This does not prevent you fromcommenting as well, later.However, implementing a peer-review component

may not immediately save you time It is important to think about the design ofthe peer-review activity, so that it is designed to integrate well with your currentgrading system

2.6.3.3 Difficulty of applying peer feddback in writing classes.

Firstly , many students feel uncomfortable with the task of having to pronounce a judgment on their peers’ writing This discomfort may be the result

of their maturity level, their desire not to hurt a peer’s feelings (perhaps mademore acute by the fact that they are anxious about having their peers read andjudge their own writing), or simply their inexperience with providingconstructive criticism on a peer’s work A vaguely positive response allows them

to avoid a socially uncomfortable situation and to create an environment ofmutual support (Nilson 2003)

Secondly , if students are not given clear guidance from their teachers ,they may not know how to comment on one another’s writing in a specific andconstructive way In addition, it should be noted that students may notunderstand how to comment on their peers’ writing because over the years theyhave not received helpful feedback from instructors who have graded theirpapers

Thirdly , many students do not perceive feedback from peers as relevant to theprocess of writing a paper for a course Especially at the beginning of theirundergraduate work, students are likely to assume that it is only the instructor’sfeedback that “counts.”.And even when they take seriously feedback provided

by their peers, students often do not know how to incorporate that feedbackwhen they revise their papers

To respond to the challenges described above , The resarcher have read alot of books, articles on the internet and come up with some strategies

2.6.3.4 Key Strategies for peer feedback.

Firstly ,the teacher should identify and teach the skills required for peer

review I made a list of the skills that students should be learning and putting

into practice when participating in peer review These include reading skills(discerning a writer’s main point, locating key points of support or relevant data,etc.), writing skills (writing clear, specific comments and questions), andcollaboration skills (phrasing critiques in a descriptive, constructive way).Articulating what I saw as the core skills involved in peer review helped medevelop a coherent plan for integrating peer review into my lessons and makemore clear the specific instructions my students would need as they learn how toreview a peer’s paper and how to use the comments they receive during peerreview.Secondly ,teacher should teach peer review as an essential part of thewriting process , emphasize to students that peer review is not just a courserequirement: it is an essential part of the writing process that all successfulwriters engage in at some point Your students may not realize the extent towhich scholars and other professionals practice peer review as an integral part ofproducing effective writing in their fields Consider explaining why, as a scholar,you find peer review helpful-even when you do not agree with or appreciateevery comment made by a peer- reviewer For example, you might tell themabout a specific instance when a reader’s comments helped you to clarify andstrengthen your writing

Remind students that the process of producing academic and professionalwriting generally involves three steps: drafting, revising, and editing Peerreview is often most helpful to student writers when it is utilized between thedrafting and revision stages, or after each student has produced a complete draft,but while there is still time to make substantial changes A writer might learnfrom peer-reviewers, for example, that a paper’s introduction is its strongest

point, or that the paper’s main point or thesis is not yet clear, or that there are

“gaps” in the logic or the support that detract from the paper’s effectiveness, orthat a paper’s conclusion presents an interesting idea that leaves the reader withunanswered questions The purpose of peer review as a prelude to revision is tohelp the writer determine which parts of the paper are effective as is, and whichare unclear, incomplete, or unconvincing.In addition , describe peer review as anopportunity for students to learn how to write for an audience High schoolstudents often do not perceive how completing academic writing assignmentswill prepare them for work in the professional world Participating in peerreview can help them learn to shape their written language as a medium ofcommunication with readers For example, seeking out peer feedback can helpone student construct a convincing argument by anticipating and answeringcounter-arguments that his readers might pose, while peer review can helpanother student determine how to explain the significance of her research toreaders who are not experts in her field.Lastly , teacher should define the role of

the peer-reviewer as that of a reader, not an evaluator

Develop guidelines for peer-reviewers that ask them to complete specifictasks: examples include indicating the strongest part of a paper; identifying orrephrasing the thesis; listing the major points of support or evidence; andindicating sentences or paragraphs that seem out of order, incompletelyexplained, or otherwise in need of revision Some of these tasks are descriptiveand others are evaluative However, those that are evaluative should put theemphasis on the reader’s impressions and responses and should not require thepeer-reviewer to pronounce a judgment on the paper as a whole (Nilson 2003).This approach should help you develop specific instructions to students that willclarify how they should respond to one another’s writing and should also helpyou pare down your expectations of what students can realistically accomplish

during in-class peer-review sessions Defining the role of the peer-reviewer as areader will also help you underscore the fact that it is up to the writer to decidewhether and how to make changes to the paper through revision In other words,the writer should think about all of the reviewers’ comments, but may decide toignore some of the comments and to make changes in response to others.

2.6.3.4 Empirical studies on PF

The literature includes an enormous number of studies that haveinvestigated the field of PF as a collaborative learning technique in writingclassrooms There is not space here to examine all of these studies, so thosewhich are of particular relevance to the current study have been selected In thissection, only four studies that were seen to have a close connection to thetheoretical framework of the current study are presented, with the aim ofproviding proper justification for the design of the current study Theaims, background, methodological designs, data collection instruments, andresults of these selected studies are examined below

Hu and Lam (2010) investigated whether PF can be considered to

be an effective pedagogical activity in a Chinese L2 writing context, andwhether factors such as perceptions of the influence of PF on writing,previous experience, feedback preference and beliefs, relate to itspedagogical effectiveness as an activity The subjects were 20 postgraduatestudents enrolled on an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme, andthe investigation lasted 12 weeks The subjects were required to write fourassignments, three drafts each PF was given on the first draft, and teacherfeedback was given on the second The first drafts, peer comments and reviseddrafts were collected as data for the study, as well as questionnaire and interviewdata The findings revealed that there were significant improvements in therevised drafts, and that the level of learners’ interest in PF did not affect the

effectiveness of PF as an activity Additionally, PF was generally accepted as

a “socioculturally appropriate pedagogical activity” in a Chinese L2 context.The use of questionnaires, interviews and documentary evidence are seen aspoints of relevance to our study

Using an action research approach, McMahon (2010) sought toanalyse a common problem identified in previous PF studies that studentscould be reluctant to participate for fear of appearing critical (as discussedabove in section 2.9.1 on the general benefits and limitations of PF) Heobserved that this reluctance led the students to act as a learning audience ratherthan as a learning community The subjects of this study were undergraduatesocial science students enrolled on an education module As this study wascarried out over four years, four cohorts were examined, with more than 20students in each cohort During the fourth cohort, a self-assessmenttechnique was involved as an additional technique to PF No control group wasused in this study The focus was on helping the students to generate highquality feedback for their peers The subjects were divided into groups,and they were required to provide on their classmates’ performances inwritten essays The main research technique was observation and reflection

by the researcher, but data were also collected using questionnaires andwritten evidence, such as students’ written comments McMahon’s studyrevealed that by the end of the intervention the students had becomeparticipants who produced immediate, reflective and useful feedback Theyhad also become more enthusiastic about taking part in the process, as opposed

to feeling uncomfortable, as they had at the beginning The key factors inbringing about this change were the facts that the feedback was providedformatively rather than summatively; that proper training was provided in how

to use assessment criteria in the peer feedback technique, and that training was