Luận văn thạc sĩ teaching writing in large classes through peer tutoring in university of economic and technical industries

Teachers and students’ evaluation of current situations of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes in UNETI………...………30 3.2.1.1 Frequency of use of peer tutoring in large classes………

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

HỌC KINH TẾ-KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

HANOI - 2011

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

HỌC KINH TẾ-KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

Supervisor: Phan Thị Vân Quyên, M.A

HANOI - 2011

ABSTRACT

This study was carry out to investigate (1) current situations of use of peer tutoring

in large writing classes (2) advantages of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes and ( 3) difficulties of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes 250 students and 6 teachers are asked to answer survey questionnaires In addition, to clarify the issues raising from the questionnaires, interview and classroom observation were conducted

The result showed the evaluation of students and teachers toward use of peer tutoring in large writing classes Because of large-size classes, writing stages is often used peers and teachers mainly use dyadic fixed-role tutoring and match peers based on their students’ knowledge In contrast, students appreciated the effectiveness of dyadic reciprocal-role tutoring In terms of advantages, both of them have the same ideas of advantages in peer tutoring such as: establishing close relationships, providing real audience for writer and reducing discomfort in large writing classes There is little contrast but it is not considerable Besides, in terms of difficulties in peer tutoring, three most difficult issues are listed by both students and teachers: lack of facilities in classes and time

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study and research questions 1

3 Scope of the study 1

4 Research methodology 2

5 Design of the study 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

1.1 An overview of teaching writing 4

1.1.1 Teaching writing 4

1.1.2 Writing versus speaking ………5

1.1.3 Approaches to teaching writing 6

1.1.3.1 Approaches to teaching writing 6

1.1.3.2 Controlled to Free Approach……….……… 6

1.1.3.3 Free-Writing Approach ……… 6

1.1.3.4 Paragraph-Pattern Approach……….……… 6

1.1.3.5 Grammar- Syntax-Organization Approach………….………6

1.1.3.6 Communicative Approach……….……… 7

1.1.3.7 Process Approach……… ………… 7

1.1.3.7.1 Pre-writing ……….……… ………… 7

1.1.3.7.1.1 Brainstorming……… ………… 8

1.1.3.7.1.2 Planning……….…… ………… 8

1.1.3.7.1.3 Debating……… ………… 8

1.1.3.7.1.4 Interviewing……… ………… … …… 8

1.1.3.7.2 Writing stage……… ……… ………… 8

1.1.3.7.3 Post-writing stage ……… …… …… 9

1.2 Large classes ……… …… …… 9

1.2.1 Definition of large classes 9

1.2.2 Problems of large classes ……… ……… … 10

1.3 Peer tutoring ……….……… ……… ……… 11

1.3.1 What is peer tutoring? ……… ……… ………… 11

1.3.2 Criteria for matching peers……… ……… ………… 11

1.3.3 Formats of peer tutoring ……… ……… ………… 12

1.3.4 Advantages and difficulties of peer tutoring……… 13

1.3.4.1 Advantages of peer tutoring……… ……… …… 13

1.3.4.1.1 At the student level ……… ……… ………… 13

1.3.4.1.2At the teacher level ……… ……… ………… 13

1.3.4.1.3At the system level ……… ……… ……… 14

1.3.4.2 Difficulties in peer tutoring……… ……… …… 14

1.4 Teaching writing in large classes through peer tutoring ……… 15

1.4.1 Using peer tutoring in stages of process writing……… 15

1.4.1.1 Peer tutoring in Pre - writing stage……… ……… 15

1.4.1.2 Peer tutoring in Writing stage……… ……… … 15

1.4.1.3 Peer tutoring in Post- Writing stage……… …… 16

1.5 Effectiveness of using peer tutoring in large writing classes……… 16

1.6 Summary……… ……… ………… ……… 17

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21

2.1 Context of the study 18

2.2 Methodology 18 182.2.1 Participants 2.2.2 Instruments 19

2.2.3 Data collection procedure 20

2.3 Summary 20

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 21

3.1 Data analysis 21

3.1.1 Data analysis from students’ survey questionnaire………21

3.1.1.1 Students’ evaluation of current situations of use of peer tutoring………… ……21

in large writing classes 3.1.1.1.1 Frequency of use of peer tutoring in writing classes in UNETI………21

3.1.1.1.2 Students’ evaluation of use of peer tutoring and writing stages……… …21

3.1.1.1.3 Students’ evaluation of Formats of peer tutoring in large writing classes ……… 22

3.1.1.1.4 Students’ evaluation of currently-used criteria for matching peers ………… 23

3.1.1.2 Students’ evaluation of Advantages of peer tutoring in large writing classes … 24 3.1.1.3 Students’ evaluation of Difficulties of peer tutoring in large writing classes ……25

3.1.2 Data analysis from teachers’ survey questionnaire……… … 26

3.1.2.1 Teachers’ evaluation of frequency of using peer tutoring……… …… 26

in writing classes in UNETI 3.1.2.2 Teachers’ use of use of peer tutoring and stages of writing ……… ………… 26

3.1.2.3 Teachers’ use of Formats of peer tutoring in large writing classes ……… … …27

3.1.2.4 Teachers’ Criteria of matching peers……… 28

3.1.3 Teachers’ evaluation of Advantages of peer tutoring in large writing classes………29

3.2 Findings ………30

3.2.1 Teachers and students’ evaluation of current situations of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes in UNETI……… ………30

3.2.1.1 Frequency of use of peer tutoring in large classes……… 30

3.2.1.2 Peer tutoring and stages of writing in large classes in UNETI ……… 31

3.2.1.3 Formats of peer tutoring in large writing classes in UNETI ……… 31

3.2.1.4 Criteria of matching peers in large writing classes in UNETI ……… 31

3.2.1.5 Advantages of peer tutoring in large writing classes in UNETI ………32

3.2.1.6 Difficulties of peer tutoring in large writing classes in UNETI ……… 33

3.3 Summary ……… 34

CHAPTER FOUR: RECOMMENDATIONS……… 35

4.1 Upgrading facilities in classes……….……… 35

4.2 Improving some class activities ……….………36

4.2.1 Combining three formats of tutoring……… ……….36

4.2.2 Encouraging students to communicate in English……….………….… 36

4.2.3 Bettering the activities of pre-writing stage……….……… 36

4.2.3 1 Identifying the purpose and audience……… ….……… 36

4.2.3 2 Analyzing models……….……… 36

4.2.3 3 Brainstorming ……….……….……… 37

4.2.3.4 Interviewing……….……… ……… 37

4.2.3 5 Asking journalists’ question ……….……… 38

4.2.4 Bettering the activities of post-writing stage……….……… 38

4.2.5 Training students as tutors……….……… 38

4.3 Summary……….……… ……… 39

PART C: CONCLUSION 40

1 Summary and conclusion of the study 40

2 Limitations of the study 41

3 Recommendations for further study 41

References 42 Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix F

LIST OF FIGURES & TABLES

Figure 1: Students’ evaluation of frequency of using peer tutoring in writing……… 21 classes in UNETI

Figure 2: Students’ evaluation of advantages of peer tutoring in large writing classes….25

Figure 3: Students’ evaluation of difficulties of peer tutoring in large classes………… 25

Figure 4: Teachers’ evaluation of frequency of using peer tutoring in writing classes… 26

in UNETI

Figure 5 : Teachers’ evaluation of advantages of peer tutoring in large writing…………29

Figure 6: Teachers’ evaluation of difficulties of peer tutoring in large classes………… 30

Figure 7: Teachers & Students’ evaluation of use of peer tutoring in large writing …… 31

Table 1: Challenges to teachers and students……….10

Table 2: Frequency of using peer tutoring in large writing classes………22

Table 3: Students’ evaluation of frequency of teacher’s using formats of peer ……… 23

tutoring

Table 4: Students’ evaluation of Effectiveness of teacher’s using formats of …………23

peer tutoring

Table 5: Students’ evaluation of frequency of using criteria of matching peers………23

Table 6: Teachers’ evaluation of Frequency of using peer tutoring in stages ………… 24

Table 10 : Teachers’ evaluation of Frequency of using criteria of matching peers………… 28

Table 11: Teachers’ evaluation of Effectiveness of criteria of matching peers……… 29

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Numerous methodologies have emerged in the field of education throughout the centuries One of the methods is peer tutoring “Peer tutoring refers to the concept of students teaching other students in formal or informal learning situations that are delegated, planned or directed by the teacher” ( Wagner( 1982-5)) A lot of researches states that peer tutors are effective in helping students with the different stages of the writing process which is considered to be the most difficulty and complex skill in teaching and learning English language

Moreover, Johnson and Johnson( 1975-37) showed that “ peer tutoring takes the pressure off the teacher by allowing her to teach a large group of students, at the same time, it allows the slow learners the individual attention they need.” Buckholt and Wodarski( 1978-50) added that “ peer tutoring can reduce anxiety caused by vast differences in age, status, and background between students and teachers A peer tutor can may possible communicate more easily with a student” Therefore, peer tutoring has advantages of teaching in multi-level large classes It creates communicative opportunities

as well as additional motivation for learning Also, the teachers do not have to have difficulties in management and organization of large classes

In addition, I have been teaching English in University of Economic and Technical Industries (UNETI) for at least three years I realize similar issues also have appeared in UNETI, which encourages me to conduct the study “Teaching writing in large classes through peer tutoring in UNETI”

2 Aims of the study

This study was aimed to:

(1) Examine the current situations of using peer tutoring to teach large writing classes (2) Examine the advantages of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes

(3) Examine the difficulties of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes

3 Research questions

The study was carried out in order to find out the answers to 2 research questions

(1) How has peer tutoring been used in large writing classes in UNETI?

(2) What are advantages of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes?

(3) What are difficulties of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes?

4 Scope of the study

The study is focused on only second-year college students whose major is economics and electricity because most of these classes are large classes of 60-100 students Yet, the study results cannot be true to all Vietnamese universities with large classes Thus, my suggestions of large writing classes though peer tutoring are only appropriate for second-year college students

5 Method of the study

Both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed to carry out the study With the aim of increasing validity and reliability of the data collected, the survey questionnaires will be delivered The purpose of the survey is to collect data about the current situation of use of peer tutoring in large writing classes Classroom observations were conducted in two different classes After that, the interviews with two teachers were done to clarify aspects which were inadequate and vague in the survey questionnaires

6 Significance of the study

It is hope that the study will help to better my own teaching and give the colleagues at UNETI and those whose are concerned with current situations, advantages and difficulties

of using peer tutoring in large writing classes

7 Design of the study

The study is comprised of three parts

Part A - Introduction provides a brief introduction of the study

Part B– Development which is the main part is divided into 3 chapters

Chapter 1 – Literature review reviews the literature relevant to the study including aspects

of teaching writing and peer revision

Chapter 2 – Methodology is a detailed discussion of the method used in the study

encompassing the justification for using action research, the context of the study, the

intervention, data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis methods

Chapter 3 – Data analysis, findings present significant findings of the study, It describes

how collected data is analyzed and presented

Chapter 4: Recommendation provides recommendations for better teaching and learning

English writing skill through peer tutoring in large classes

Part C – Conclusion summarizes the main issues addressed in the study Some limitations

of the study that serve as the basis for the researcher’s suggestions for further study were also pointed out in this part

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides the theoretical background for the study It covers theories related to

teaching writing, large classes and peer tutoring

1.1 An overview of teaching writing

Within the traditional higher education system, written output is often used as a vehicle for assessment of the individual, and collaborative writing can be problematic to assess However, in recent years there has been greater interest in writing as a device for improving learning and thinking, couple with the advocacy of “writing across the curriculum”, “writing centers”, and “collaborative writing” Therefore, writing is viewed more as a process and less as a product, which addresses teachers new challenges how to teach writing

1.1.1 Teaching writing

Teaching writing, in language teachers’ opinions, is “a language skill which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble, 1996: 3) because teaching writing is an increasingly

“multifaceted activity” with some following ideas:

 People learn to write by writing

 Writing is a process

 Writing grows out of many different purposes

 Convention of finished and edited texts are important to readers and therefore to writers

 Writing and reading are related

 Writing has a complex relationship to talk

 Literature practices are embedded in complicated social relationships

 Composing occurs in different modalities and technologies

 Assessment of writing involves complex, informed, human judgment

(Writing Study Group of the NCTE Executive Committee (2004))

As you can see, writing is defined as a complicated language skill in association with speaking and reading skills For example, Ur (1996-161) mentioned that teaching writing seems to

be more confusing than teaching speaking He stated that “most people acquire the spoken language (at least their own mother tongue) intuitively, whereas, the written form is in most cases deliberately taught and learned” He added, “Writing normally requires some form

of instruction It is not a skill that is really picked up by exposure.” (p11)

Moreover, writing is defined as a social process by Candlin and Hyland (1999: 107) They stated that “Writing is therefore an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed

to engage colleagues and persuade them of the claims that are made” Hence, teaching writing is connected with communicational skills of which the relationship between writers and readers is a main role

In my opinion, writing skills consist of other skills such as reading, speaking, and communicative skills Therefore, teaching writing is overall one, which brings about teachers and learners’ difficulties in writing

1.1.2 Writing versus speaking

Both writing and speaking are productive skills However, according to some researchers, writing is different from speaking in such terms of three criteria as linguistics, creating process and interaction

In terms of linguistics, Ur (1996: 160) distinguished writing from speaking based

on “its explicitness, density and standard language” He asserted that the distance between the reader and the writer deprived the writer of speech-related advantages like the real context, paralinguistic feature etc The writing content, thus, was expected to be more explicitly, densely and universally comprehensibly presented than that of speech

In terms of producing process, these two productive skills are also different Raimes (1983: 5) found out that while “speaking is usually spontaneous and unplanned,” writing process is “recursive, planned” and “time consuming” Harmer (2004:8) concluded that writing process with “its recursiveness and multiple drafting” is more complex than speaking process

In terms of interaction, according to Ur (1996), due to the “detachment” of space and time in writing, the writer tends to be cut short of “immediate feedback and interaction” with “known” audience, which are supposedly available to the speaker (p 161) Harmer (2004) also points out the two features of face-to-face interaction which writing is devoid of, i.e immediate verbal or non-verbal reactions and frequent role swapping between the addresser and the addressee (p 8) Consequently, the writers tend to

encounter common difficulties in defining audience (Brown, 1994, p 326) and receiving feedback from readers (White (1981)

To conclude, regarding the three criteria investigated in previous studies including linguistic feature, producing process and interaction, writing and speaking, by nature, are two different stories This sheds more light on the characteristics of writing

1.1.3 Approaches to teaching writing

1.1.3.1 Approaches to teaching writing

Raimes (1983: 5- 10) presents 6 approaches to writing, namely: The Free Approach, The Free-Writing Approach, The Paragraph-Pattern Approach, The Grammar-Syntax-Organization Approach, The Communicative Approach, and The Process Approach

Controlled-to-1.1.3.2 Controlled to Free Approach

This approach stress upon three features: grammar, syntax and mechanics and on accuracy rather than fluency Thus, students are likely to have good grammatical competence and low communication skills

1.1.3.3 Free-Writing Approach

Unlike the Controlled Approach, the emphasis in this approach is on audience, content and fluency However, concern for accuracy and form is seen as of little importance in this approach This shortcoming has very likely negative effects on learner’s grammar competence in writing

1.1.3.4 Paragraph-Pattern Approach

The Paragraph-Pattern approach stresses on organization They copy paragraphs and imitate model passages This approach is based on the principle that in different cultures people construct and organize communication with each other in different ways Therefore, students should invest time in learning to organize their ideas well in the target language

1.1.3.5 Grammar- Syntax-Organization Approach

Teacher adopting this approach often devises writing tasks which draw their students’ attention to organization while working on grammar and syntax For example, to write a clear set of instructions on how to operate a calculator, the writer needs more than the appropriate vocabulary He needs the simple forms of verbs, an organizational plan based on chronology; sequence words like first, then, next, etc In the preparatory stage,

these vocabulary and structures are reviewed and taught In short, this approach is the combination of the purpose and the form of the writing

1.1.3.6 Communicative Approach

The communicative approach emphasizes the audience and purpose of a piece of writing In writing class adopting this approach, students are encouraged to ask two questions as if they wrote in real life:

- Why am I writing this?

- Who will read it?

Providing a reason and an audience for students may provide motivation for them to write well Therefore, this approach should be exploited to teach writing to secondary students as it can vary the situation and context of students’ writing

1.1.3.7 Process Approach

As mentioned below, writing is a process, so students are given time to set out ideas, make plans, write a first draft, revise what has been written after a peer feedback, then they can edit their writing or write other drafts before the final version is produced

There are different points of views on the number of stages comprising the writing process According to Oshima and Hogue (1991), writing process has four stages: pre-writing, planning, writing and revising draft and writing the final copy to hand in Tribble (1996) identified four stages in writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing The author of this study takes the views that are close to the ways Tribble , Oshima and Houge defined writing process- that is, the writing process comprises three stages: pre- writing, writing, and post- writing

1.1.3.7.1 Pre-writing

Pre-writing can be defined as any structural experience that influence active students’ participation in thinking, talking, writing and working on the topic under the focus in a writing lesson (Tribble, 1996) In other words, pre-writing stage is the

“information-gathering phase in the process of writing” ( Scarcella & Ofxord ,1992:125 )

According to Gu Yue Gou (1990:170), pre-writing is a very important stage of the whole writing process, and the task at this stage may include deciding on the purpose, the audience, the content, and the general outline

White and Adrnt (1991) briefly categorized prewriting activities into three types: generating, focusing and structuring activities

In the view of Bryne (1988), students generate ideas and also develop fluency in this stage Pre-writing involves activities like brainstorming, outlining, debating, interviewing, etc

1.1.3.7.1.1 Brainstorming

According to Raimes (1983), brainstorming is a technique whose purpose is to initiate some sorts of thinking process Whatever the writing assignment is based on- a reading, picture, textbook topic, personal experience…- it can be preceded by student talks, especially by a brainstorming activity, with students producing relevant vocabulary, making comments, asking questions and making associations as freely as they can in a short time After brainstorming orally together, students can then do the same on paper, writing down as many ideas as they can without worrying about grammar, spelling, organization, or the quality of the ideas

1.1.3.7.1.2 Planning

In this stage, groups of students spend time organizing and focusing ideas and outlining their writings (Coffin et al., 2003) Planning is an orientation for students to have logical sets of ideas that would be later employed in their pieces of writing

1.1.3.7.1.3 Debating

This is an activity in which groups students orally present two sides of an argument Oral debates provide the opportunity to develop some writing skills such as planning, selecting, marshalling, and organizing ideas Debating helps students make judgments about the relevance and logicality of their ideas and make wise choice of which ideas to be used to compose a text.

1.1.3.7.1.4 Interviewing

In this activity, students are asked to interview other group members for writing ideas When the students write the record of an interview, they convey to other genuine information transmitted to them by other students The interview is an useful technique because it creates a relaxing atmosphere in which students have chance to get to know each other and writing could be more enjoyable and interesting to students

1.1.3.7.2 Writing stage

The writer starts the while-writing stage as “composing” (Hedge, 1988), “drafting” (White and Arnt, 1991)

According to Tribble (1996:14), during while-writing stage “writers are in dynamic interaction with” (1) “the idea for their writing” (2) “their probable readers’ expectations”, and (3) “the model of the genre they are currently composing”

Besides individual work in this stage, group work and pair work can be used

1.1.3.7.3 Post-writing stage:

Hedge (1988) asserted revising and editing after composing was an integral part of the writing process There are two main post-writing activities The first, mentioned by Harmer (2003) are self-revision and self-editing The second type of post-writing activity is rewriting based on the feed back or comments from the teachers or their peers (Harmer, 2004)

Teachers are required to guide their students’ writing systematically and flexibly Hence, there are a lot of approaches to improve the quality of teaching ESL writing with many different purposes As we can see that process approach focuses on readers as well as process of writing as pre-writing (brainstorming, outlining, debating, interviewing), while-writing( composing); and post-writing ( revising, editing and publishing with the main role

of audiences) This approach encourages students to fulfill WH questions: What, How, and for Whom in process of writing Thus, writers not only concern about purposes and audience but also have to make decisions on how to begin and how to organize a piece of writing They are given time to set out ideas, make plan, write a first draft, revise what has been written after a peer feedback, then they can edit their writing or write other drafts before the final version is produced

In addition, process approach is sociable so it can help students have better opportunities to discuss with each other Hence, relationships, academic knowledge and communicational skills may be improved

Therefore, my thesis mainly aims the approach of writing – process approach with three stages of writing: pre-writing, while-writing and post-writing

1.2 Large classes

The first theory- teaching writing, its approaches and steps of teaching writing, is brought

up clearly in my study Moreover, I would like to introduce the second issue: defining and related statements of large classes

1.2.1 Definition of large classes

What is a large class? The answer varies There are, of course, many very different notions of what constitutes such a class As we can see, it is not easy to provide an exact definition of what constitutes a large class Language classes also tend to be highly heterogeneous That is, students in many of our classes are of different genders, maturity, occupations, ethnicities, cultural and economic backgrounds as well as personalities According to Rob Nolasco & Lois Arthur ( 1988), “ teachers who are used to groups of 12-

14 students might find a group of 20 to be rather threatening Others may be relieved when they have only 40….but we have seen very large classes of several hundred students in a university” More specifically, Natalie Hess (2005:2) defined large classes as “classes of thirty or more students in elementary, secondary, adult, and tertiary settings” In short, classes of 40 students are defined as large classes so English classes in UNETI are also large classes because of the number of 60-100 students

1.2.2 Problems of large classes

Teaching large classes fill with different genders, maturity, jobs, cultural and economic backgrounds as well as characters Therefore, many studies show that teachers in large classes may have some trouble in teaching math, reading and writing Teachers in UNETI have the same challenges

Challenges to teachers’ teaching Challenges to student’s learning

1 management of paperwork: assigning, marking and

recording work

2 management of distraction: discipline( talking),

late coming

3 Perceived anonymity of students: difficulty to learn

names, engagement and participation, providing

feedback

4 lack of flexibility of class activities: difficulty of

variation of activities, arranging group work

5 diversity of backgrounds and preparation of

students

1 hesitation of asking question or other ways of showing lack of understanding

2 Not knowing what is important and relevant

3 Perceived and feeling of anonymity that prevents them to challenges authority of the teacher

4 lack of access to the teacher’s attention and to share materials and resources

5 need to be self-driven with little external push from the teacher to complete tasks

Table 1: Challenges to teachers and students

Nakabugo, M G.;Opolot- Ukurut, C.; Ssebbunga, C M ; Ngobi, D H.;Gumisriza,E L.; Mbaga, R et al (1997)

As you can see, almost teachers are difficult to control large class, and arrange group work while students feel uncomfortable with the authority of the teachers Large class causes teachers and students some difficulties in lessons such as temporal and management aspects

In contrast to this, as cited in “Practical tips for teaching large classes – A teacher’s guide” (2006) states that it may give teachers good chances to advance lecturing; it can also bring satisfying and fruitful achievements for teachers and learners Also, teachers can gain some achievements if they teach in large classes: “Organizational and managerial skills, interpersonal skills, teaching and presentation skills, evaluation skills”

In short, in order to assist students and teachers in large classes, a lot of researchers and educator have used peer tutoring as an effective instructional strategies

1.3 Peer tutoring

Peer tutoring has a long historical precedent in western civilization It reappeared in USA during the 1960s with popularity in every age group, subject and level of intelligence

1.3.1 What is peer tutoring?

According to Falchikov ( 2001:1) cited in Adams, J.( 2008): The term” peer” is now used to describe a variety of relationships in the context of teaching and learning Relationship between tutors and tutees may be same- age or cross-age one Peers is defined

by Cambridge Dictionary (2nd edition) as “someone are the same age, or who has the same social position or abilities as other members of a group” Therefore, peer tutoring may be seen as interaction among same-age students while in cross-age tutoring, the tutor is older than the tutee However, sometimes the term peer tutoring is used to include both types Moreover, Edward E Gordon(2005) defines that “ Peer tutoring is an instruction in which one child tutors another in material on which the tutor is an “ expert” and the tutee is

a “ novice””

Besides, as Wagner.( 1982:5) cited in Deming, M.,P.( 1986) made a definition: “ peer tutoring refers to the concept of students teaching other students in formal or informal learning situations that are delegated, planned, or directed by the teacher”

In short, Peer tutoring consists of two partners: tutors and tutees- teaching and be taught, which may foster interaction among same-age learners It also makes classes’ atmosphere comfortable based on communicative approaches

1.3.2 Criteria for matching peers

According to Falchikov & Blythman showed that teachers choose tutors with some following criteria as:

 Randomly assigned by lecturers

 Matched by ability/attainment/gender

 Selected for interpersonal skills

 Students self-selection/ volunteers

 All participate

The two authors suggested how to match peers Therefore, my thesis focuses on three main aspects: gender, knowledge and ability to work together

1.3.3 Formats of peer tutoring

According to National Center on Physical Activity and Disability( 2011), there are four types of peer tutoring First, unidirectional peer tutoring is that the trained peer tutors teaches the entire time, and the child with a disability remains the students in pair Second, Bi-directional , or reciprocal, peer tutoring is that a child with and a child without a disability form a pair, both of them take turns at being the tutor while the other serves as the students Third, class-wide peer tutoring involves breaking the class into dyads Each child participates in reciprocal peer tutoring by providing prompts, error correction, and help their partner Last, cross-age peer tutoring occurs when an older child is chosen to tutor a younger child

According to Topping, K.J( 1996:7), there are nine main formats of peer tutoring based

on the nature of the tutor and the tutor’s role in the learning experience: Cross-year group tutoring, Same year dyadic fixed-role tutoring, Dyadic cross year fixed-role peer tutoring, Same year dyadic reciprocal peer tutoring, Same year group tutoring, Peer assisted writing and Peer assisted distance learning Cross-year small-group tutoring is defined when older students guides younger students Each tutor is responsible for a small group of tutees Same year dyadic fixed-role tutoring is between two students who are equal to age, year of study, point in the course, where a student takes responsibility as a tutor Dyadic cross year fixed-role peer tutoring in which more experienced students’ partners with and tutees less experienced students, in this case, the peer tutors are generally juniors and seniors who have performed well academically in the course they tutor Same year grouping take part in only a part of classes while the other may continue their regular work

small-In my view, four types of peer tutoring by National Center on Physical Activity and Disability( 2011) are divided based on organization, structure and age while nine formats

by Topping, K.J( 1996) are really specific and clear for the researcher to study only based

on the role of tutors However, participants of the study are merely second-year college students in UNETI, and peer tutoring is interaction among same-age learners Therefore, I

decided to choose three following formats for our university such as: Same year dyadic

fixed-role tutoring, same year dyadic reciprocal peer tutoring and same year group tutoring.

1.3.4 Advantages and difficulties of peer tutoring

1.3.4.1 Advantages of peer tutoring

A lot of advantages arise from the use of peer tutoring as an instructional method in the classroom, from which students, teachers as well as educational system benefit

1.3.4.1.1 At the student level

There are five considerable advantages of peer tutoring for students:

First, students may gain higher academic achievement

Second, they can also establish good relationships in the classes of which there are individual, cultural and economic differences They have good interaction with those who sit next to them and personally explain the work in a way that is just right for them- not too slow and not too fast

Third, they may learn in more positive learning environment They have good chances to get feedback, get encouraged and get more fun with their partners, which make students active and motivated in large classes Also, they have more opportunities to talk about what they are learning, to practice what they are learning, to read aloud, and to write;

or ask questions when they are confused, without fear of being embarrassed in front of the whole class

Next, learners may understand how to enhance personal and social development through peer tutoring In other words, they learns how to communicate and listen effectively

Last, students learn how to take responsibilities for both themselves and their partners during completing the tasks

In conclusion, peer tutoring creates learners a positive learning environment to gain academic knowledge and communicative skills

1.3.4.1.2 At the teacher level

Large classes cause teachers a lot of challenges so peer tutoring is defined as an effective instructional strategy to deal with these challenges

First, peer tutoring has a positive effect on the instructional performance in the classroom It provides procedures for individualizing instruction, strategies to assist big classes, increase opportunities to control and examine student’s performance and their activities in classes

Second, teachers can teach not only academic knowledge but also new behavioral and social skills

In short, peer tutoring saves time for teachers’ instruction during the lessons while they can manage the participation as well as activities in large classes

1.3.4.1.3 At the system level

According to Maheady(1998) cited in Moustapha( 2004), the researcher stated that peer tutoring provides comprehensive set of strategies for enhancing student achievement, improving general classroom discipline, reducing academic failure, enhancing faculty’s instructional capacity, promoting educational reforms, and introducing cost effective instructional interventions

In conclusion, effectiveness of peer tutoring is widespread at educational systems, and it contributes to handle challenges in large classes as well as teaching writing

1.3.4.2 Difficulties in peer tutoring

As cited in Deming (1986), Bloom (1997) and Falchikov (2001) showed one of the weakest of peer tutoring is organization of peers while Allen( 1976) and Bloom( 1976) mentioned to the role of tutor and tutee, there are variables affecting the outcomes of tutoring: personal traits of the tutor and tutee Then, the effect of the peer tutoring, Harper

et al (1999) says that peer-mediated strategies are occasionally criticized for their focus on the development of basic skills and factual knowledge It lacks the opportunities to develop the high level of cognitive development Finally, the logistic factors, Sheldon (2001): time, space, size and monitoring

Besides, Maheady( 1998) presented the following difficulties

a lack of time lessens the systematic peer training and ongoing evaluation and monitoring

b Amount of content coverage possible during teacher-led versus peer teaching methods

c Required adaptations to curricula materials need more time and work

d The choice of combination and the preparation of the tutor need time and good knowledge

of the students

e Peer tutoring may provide students a chance of cheating

The author added that most of difficulties come from the limitation of time available during implementation

Powell (1997) also stated that a lot of factors affected peer tutoring such as

a testing and matching of tutors with students who had similar personalities

b Disagreement of coordination among tutors and classroom teachers

c Frequency and duration of tutoring

d tutoring time

e tutoring location

f quantity and quality of training for tutors

g levels of parental participation and support

As you can see, many researchers also agreed that time was the most difficult for peer tutoring, time is to organize peers, implement peer tutoring during the lesson, and train students as tutors Then, how to choose and train tutors as well as match peers are the second issues Finally, in UNETI, it is not easy to apply peer tutoring in large classes

1.4 Teaching writing in large classes through peer tutoring

1.4.1 Using peer tutoring in stages of process writing

Research in the 1960s and 1970s has shown that writing is a process concluding three stages: pre-writing, writing and re-writing Good writers followed all three stages and gaining insight along the way Hence, the emphasis in writing instruction is not the writing

of a perfect product but instead is the working through of all three stages of composing

1.4.1 1 Peer tutoring in Pre - writing stage

Prewriting activities are necessary for students because it helps students prepare ideas, materials and explore many things on the given topics In this stage students are often asked to brainstorm, outline, debate and interview, which requires students take part

in either oral or written activities By doing this, students can develop linguistic skills Peer tutoring in this stage is an effective way to assist students in generating, sharing and focusing ideas, planning the content and organizing the text Peer tutors need to stress the importance of writing that is logical, well developed and interesting, while not overemphasizing the editing techniques of mechanics and spelling During the stage, they also quickly divide their analyses into higher order of concerns category includes thesis, voice or tone, organization and development On other hand, the lower order of concerns analyzes problems as sentence structure, punctuation, usage and spelling

1.4.1 2 Peer tutoring in Writing stage

During the stage, peer tutors help writers evaluate their higher order of concerns such as examining choice of word and sentence structures and style of composition Next, both tutors and tutees investigate the organization and structure of the writing paper, meanwhile, tutors can help their partners review some types of organizations Then, when peer tutors review the first draft’s organization, they may take notice of parts of the paper which need more development-the highest order of concern

1.4.1 3 Peer tutoring in Post - writing stage

During the rewriting period, the tutor can begin to address the lower order of concerns such as pointing out problems with sentence structure, variety, and length Also, the tutor could present mini lessons in usage, spelling and punctuation; and provide worksheets and other resources for the student to practice weak mechanical areas.This stage involves the procedures of giving feedbacks for the written version Feedbacks may

be given by peers which can be done in groups or by teachers Peer correction is very important because it could help students develop their critical ability and understand how other readers respond to their writing

Therefore, peer tutoring is worthwhile during every part of the writing process, and peer tutors often provide listening posts for students’ personal and academic problems

1.5 Effectiveness of using peer tutoring in large writing classes

According to Topping (1996), peer tutoring can be really flexible in time and place Therefore, its objective may be so large that this kind of teaching method can be used to teach not only students/pupils but also those who are disable or dropped-out Moreover, according to Buckholt and Wodarski( 1978), peer tutoring can reduce anxiety by differences in age, status, and background between students and teachers

Moffet cited in Gebhardt (1980) suggested that peer tutoring is useful because it provided real audience for students’ writing, and chances for interaction between tutors and writers The tutors not only show the sense of audiences but they also gain insights into their own writing as they comment on the partners’ writing Peer tutors, besides providing a friendly and safe audience, also share the same undergraduate experience as their tutees Close in age to their tutees, these tutors are represented to have already mastered a skill that the tutee still needs to learn Consequently, the peer tutor-tutee relationship is a supportive, non-hostile one

In term of writing and collaborative learning, Bruffee( 1973) mentioned that “ learning to write differs from other types of learning because students are using skills and techniques which they have been using every day of their lives” Therefore, it is essential for the writer to support Peer tutors as supporters, demand clarity and logic in each other’s writing, meanwhile, they can improve their own academic knowledge Also, Bruffee (1978) stated that: “peer tutoring is a way of involving students in each other’s intellectual, academic and social lives, an involvement which can benefit both tutors and their students”

In a word, peer tutoring is an effective instructional strategy because it gives real audiences to writers, then they have a chance to discuss and assist each other during the writing Besides, peer tutoring helps teachers and learners in large writing classes participate in a positive learning environment

1.6 Summary

In short, this chapter conceptualizes the discussion of issues and aspects concerning topic

of the study First, it concerns the concepts and ideas of teaching writing, the differences between speaking and writing and the different approaches used in teaching writing Secondly, it focuses on definition and challenges of large classes Last, it mentions concept, formats, and criteria of choosing peers as well as advantages and disadvantages of peer tutoring The practical contents of the research, i.e research methodology, discussion

of the results and recommendations concerning the specific research context, are to be described in details in the following sections

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY

2.1 The context of the study

The study was conducted in UNETI, the most popular university in Nam Dinh Most of UENTI classes are large with the number of 60-100 students, which causes uncomfortable atmosphere for students and teachers Also, these college classes seems not

to foster learners’ motivation as well as participation because they are not nearly equipped with modern teaching equipment as data projector, PC, Laptop input, Whiteboard, Visualiser, DVD/VHS player, except for sound amplification

Besides, UNETI students’ specialties are not English language so their levels are at lower-intermediate Their purposes to learn English are to pass exams, which results in their mostly concentrating on grammar, vocabulary and translation skills

Moreover, there are twelve teachers in Nam Dinh Branch of UNETI, six of whom are at the levels of masters with at least five-year experience They handle the considerable challenges to teach four language skills, especially writing in large classes

In recent times, peer tutoring, the latest trend of teaching language skills, was studied by the whole English Group of UNETI The study was reported successfully at Annual Research Seminar in 2007 It attracted many teachers of UNETI so the teachers have applied peer tutoring in classes since then It is mentioned as practical instructional strategies to assist students and teachers, in which individual instructions can be delivered while missing the demand pressures on the teachers

First, participants are six of twelve teachers who have just at least five-year teaching experience They are able to have experience of handling challenges of large writing classes than novices Moreover, four in five people are masters and they are currently teaching second-year college students

Second, the participants are second-year college students in four classes of 250 students These classes belong to three representatives of the whole university Moreover, they are large classes focused on my thesis instead of the other multi-level, multi-culture classes which are joined by two different majors Besides, learners’ majors are not English

so their levels are pre-intermediate

2.2.2 Instruments

Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 59) suggest that there are a large number of ways in which information can be gathered about target needs such as interview, observation, questionnaires and so on In this study, three instruments chosen to collect information are, the questionnaires, observation and interview

(i) Instrument one: Questionnaires

The questionnaires are designed for teachers and students (see appendix A,B,C) Moreover, the questionnaire for the students was written in Vietnamese so that they would not misunderstand the questions while the questionnaire delivered to the teachers was strictly conducted in English Both of them aimed to find out students and teachers’ evaluation of current situations, advantages and difficulties of using peer tutoring in large writing classes:

Each question is only divided into three points in stead of 5 points This way is acceptable in that it does not affect study result, and is widely used in other studies (Kobayashi, 2002)

(ii) Instrument two: Classroom observations

It is a quantitative method of measuring classroom behaviors from direct observations It specifies both the events and behaviors that are to be observed and how they are to be recorded Therefore, I use classroom observation in KT18A1& DI18D conducted in June, 2011

(iii) Instrument three: interviews

The interviews help to get better insights into the research questions and classroom observations The interview questions, including 02 questions, were sorted out based on the survey questionnaires to get more information in details Only two teachers observed were invited to discuss for further information about the items raised in the questionnaires and classroom observation

2.2.3 Data collection procedure

The data collection was performed as follows:

For the survey questionnaire: Before directly delivering the questionnaire to the

students, the author translated the students’ questionnaires into Vietnamese language Then, the author asked students to complete it in classes for 20 minutes After that, the author collected immediately For the teachers, a survey questionnaire was delivered to six people who are currently teaching second-year college students at the beginning of the English Group Meeting-hold every Friday afternoon It was collected after the meeting ended in order for them to have enough time to respond to all the questions exactly and fully

For classroom observation: after collecting the questionnaires from students and teachers, it was conducted for two classes, KT 18A1 and DI 18A The observation was to examine directly how peer tutoring was taken place in classes I concentrated on students and teachers’ behaviors during three stages of writing: pre-writing, writing and post-writing Each class was observed for 45 minutes

For the informal conversational interview: after the survey and observation, two teachers who had taught KT 18A1 and DI 18A participated in the interviews to clarify and supplement information from the surveys and classroom observation

As mentioned above, data for this study were gathered from the main source: survey questionnaire; the questionnaires were handed in, answers were tallied and presented in the percentage tables and charts Therefore, it requires statistical analysis

2.3 Summary

To conclude, this chapter presents the methodology of the study In other words, it describes the aims, context, participants and instruments of the study Given the collected data, Chapter 3 will depict the data analysis and the study results

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

3.1 Data analysis

This part of the thesis is the treatment of all the data collected from the survey

questionnaires conducted on 6 teachers and 250 students data analysis is also added by

classroom observation and interview

3.1.1 Data analysis from students’ survey questionnaire

3.1.1.1 Students’ evaluation of current situations of use of peer tutoring in large

writing classes

3.1.1.1.1 Frequency of use of peer tutoring in writing classes in UNETI

The chart shows the students’ evaluation of using peer tutoring in large writing

classes in UNETI As you can be seen, 58% stated that peer tutoring is always used in

classes while 42% mentioned this strategy is sometimes applied in large classes Therefore,

the chart illustrated that UNETI teachers often use peer tutoring as an instructional strategy

Figure 1: Students’ evaluation of frequency of using peer tutoring in writing classes in UNETI

3.1.1.1.2 Students’ evaluation of use of peer tutoring in different writing stages

Stages of

writing Very often Sometimes Never

my observation, students wrote for 20 minutes and two classes hardly had enough time for feedback in class because it took them much time in pre-writing stages controlled by their teachers

As it can be seen, the highest effectiveness of peer tutoring is in writing at 70%, then, 60%

at pre-writing stages Moreover, the percentage of “I don’t know” answers is not considerable so most of students consider peer tutoring as a useful strategy However, 42% stated that in post-writing stage, they had no ideas of peers’ advantages; meanwhile, 30% showed that there is no effectiveness during the stage Both of my observations were taken notes that the writing lesson ended when there was no time for post-writing stages or “no time for any peer group to edit” Therefore, students rarely have chances to evaluate the effectiveness of peer tutoring in post-writing stage exactly

3.1.1.1.3 Students’ evaluations of Formats of peer tutoring in large writing classes

Format Very often Sometimes Never

Same-year

Table 3: Students’ evaluation of frequency of teacher’s using formats of peer tutoring According to the table, 62 % indicated that they participated in dyadic fixed-role tutoring and 40% realized that the teachers often asked them to work in same-year group tutoring Whereas, 34% found that they have no opportunities to join in same-year dyadic reciprocal tutoring Moreover, it is shown the total of the percentage of using dyadic fixed-role and group tutoring is 90% and 82 % Therefore, these two kinds of formats are usually used in writing classes

Format Very useful I don’t know Not useful at

Table 4: Students’ evaluation of Effectiveness of teacher’s using formats of peer tutoring

As it can be seen, the most effective format is dyadic reciprocal-role tutoring at

60% and the second is dyadic fixed – role tutoring at 58% The disproportion of percentage

is not dramatic; however, it is opposite to the frequency of use of these two formats It is illustrated that students appreciated dyadic reciprocal-role tutoring more highly than dyadic fixed-role one Similarly, in term of using small group tutoring, 38% said it is very useful when 30% illustrated it is not useful In short, students seem to lean toward the dyadic reciprocal-role tutoring

3.1.1.1.4 Students’ evaluation of criteria for matching peers

Criteria Very often Sometimes Never

Table 5: Students’ evaluation of frequency of using criteria for matching peers

According to the table of students’ evaluation of criteria for matching peers, 100%

of students realized that their teachers do not use gender to match peers Moreover, 82%

indicated the “ability to work together” is not considered as a popular standard to choose a tutor Meanwhile, 84% of learners chose knowledge In a word, knowledge criterion always comes high on the teachers’ list of criteria of matching peers

Criteria Very useful I don’t know Not useful at

Table 6: Students’ evaluation of effectiveness of currently-used criteria for matching peers

The table shows the Students’ evaluation of effectiveness of currently-used criteria

of matching peers 70% stated that gender is not helpful for teachers to match peers while 86% found that students’ levels are the most effective to choose tutors and tutees Besides,

36 % said “ability to work together” is very useful while 40% stated that they did not know whether it is effective or not Generally, in the learners’ view, knowledge is the “first” choice for matching peers Moreover, if it is associated with “ability to work together”, matching peers will gain achievement

3.1.1.2 Students’ evaluation of Advantages of peer tutoring in large writing classes

According to the chart of advantages of peer tutoring in classes, 90% said that they have close friends after peer tutoring 70% stated that they have real readers which can help them read their writing papers and focus on the given topic Improving composition skills and reducing discomfort in large classes are appreciated by students at about 50-60%

of the students Besides, 20% stated that peer tutoring assists them to improve communication skills It is clearly approved in my observation that the students often use Vietnamese language to discuss and communicate without their teacher’s control

improving communication skill

improving composition skill

reducing discomfort in large classes

%

Figure 2: Students’ evaluation of advantages of peer tutoring in large writing classes

3.1.1.3 Students’ evaluation of Difficulties of peer tutoring in large writing classes

%

Figure 3: Students’ evaluation of difficulties of peer tutoring in large classes

The chart shows the students’ difficulties of peer tutoring in large classes 54% said that the most difficult issue for students is limited time allowance In my observations, two classes were nearly short of time for post-writing stage Moreover, 48% mentioned that reliability among students seemed not to be high while 40% found that the classes were not well-equipped Lack of facilities in class were reported in my observations, the two