Skkn cấp tỉnh adopting colour coding technique on google doc to deliever corrective feedback in letter writing task

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGLAM SƠN SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL *** EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE ADOPTING COLOR-CODING TECHNIQUE ON GOOGLE DOC TO DELIVER CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

LAM SƠN SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL

***

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

ADOPTING COLOR-CODING TECHNIQUE ON GOOGLE DOC TO DELIVER CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN LETTER WRITING TASK

The author: Nguyen Thi Bich Nga

Position: Teacher

Field (Subject): English

THANH HÓA, 2025

TABLE OF CONTENT

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 3

1.1 Rationale of the study 3

1.2 Aims of the study 4

1.3 Research methods 4

1.4 New points of the study 4

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 5

2.1 Current situation of the problem

before applying the experiential initiative

5-7

2.2 Theoretical basis of the experiential

initiative

7-9

2.3 Applying the experiential initiative to

solve problems

9-11

2.4 The effectiveness of the initiative for

educational activities, for the writer,

colleagues and the school

11-16

PART 3: CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATION

16

3.1 Conclusion 16-17 3.2 Recommendation 17-18

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

In Vietnam, recent changes to the curriculum have aimed to promote communicative language teaching approaches One major emphasis of the national curriculum, supported by the National Foreign Language 2008-2025 Project is the focus on practicing and applying learned knowledge and skills to solve problems in study and life (MOET, 2018) At the upper-secondary-school level, it has been recorded that letter-writing skills have been highlighted as one the core skills for learners to sharpen their competence for real life situations Noting that significance, the Provincial Excellence Student Examination switched the form into letter writing tasks instead of rewriting sentences Hence, it is noteworthy that teachers conducted learning strategies and effective corrective feedback for students so that they can enhance their writing skills in this task-oriented assignment

No one can deny the fact that technology nowadays has become a vital part of our life Applying digital usage is no longer a trend, but one of the top priorities in education, especially in English language teaching (ELT) Google Docs, accessible via Google Drive, is

a web-based application for creating and sharing text documents Because these files are saved online, it becomes easier to collaborate and manage different versions of the document

In educational settings, Google Docs serves as an effective platform for writing instruction

by allowing teachers to give feedback throughout the writing process Additionally, the revision history feature enables both students and teachers to review not only the final version of a text but also the steps taken to reach it

Students can revise their work across multiple drafts while instructors offer guidance

at different stages Learners may also highlight parts of their writing they find challenging or want help with One of the key benefits of using Google Docs in a writing class is that it provides a clear view of each student's writing process, helping teachers evaluate their choices more effectively Instead of collecting printed drafts and peer reviews, educators can simply check the document’s revision history for insights into how the work evolved

In the Google Doc, there is a bar containing a coloring symbol Colour has been recognized as a potential factor influencing how long information stays in the human brain,

as it stimulates visual perception (Dzulkifli & Mustafar, 2013) According to Brown (2012), various colours can have distinct impacts on students’ writing performance While existing research has provided some insight into how colour affects memory retention in learners, further investigation is still required (Olurinola & Tayo, 2015) As a result, this study aims to

explore the effectiveness of using colour as a tool on Google Doc for delivering corrective

feedback in student letter writing.

This initiative discusses the benefits of adopting color-coding techniques in correcting English-major students’ letter-writing tasks Besides, the paper offers generalized checklist criteria in letter-writing tasks so that teachers can apply in both K12 curriculum and in their intensive class to prepare for the Provincial Examination

1.2 Aims of the study

Writing skills plays an important role in students’ foreign language comprehension However, this skill frequently lacks sufficient attention due to the limited periods in the curriculum as well as lacking the standard criteria in evaluating students’ performance in letter writing tasks Traditionally, teachers are more accustomed to marking handwritten assignments rather than digital submissions This approach has its merits, especially since students are usually required to complete exams in handwritten form However, during the preparatory stage, using Google Docs to record and provide feedback on writing tasks proves

to be highly beneficial In this study, I aim to present findings on the advantages of incorporating color-coding techniques when giving feedback on students’ letter-writing exercises

1.3 Research methods

a Participants: The subject of the study is 15 students of the Excellence Provincial English

Exam team from Lam Son high school for the Gifted, which I was assigned as a lead teacher

As they are all English-major students, their language competency is around C1 to C1+ according to CEFR All the participants have given consent to participate in this research group and share their writing documents for social considerations

b Data collection instruments

The data were collected through their writing performance before and after applying the research and researcher’ daily observations of students’ progress and a questionnaire given to the participants at the end of the study The pre-test and post-test are based on writing tasks given to students when they joined the group and later on at the end of the study period Researcher’s daily observations aimed at noticing students’ progress in writing A questionnaire prepared by the researcher was also given to their opinions regarding the effectiveness of color-coding technique in developing their writing skills based on the experience they had during the study

In this study, I have adopted a mixed research method to collect and analyze the needed data Student’s letter writing tasks in both pre-research and post-research phases have been consistently collected to evaluate their performance over a 2-month period

1.4 New points of the study

- The initiative systematically builds theory, expands the issues related to enhancing students’ letter writing skills

- Develop a sample checklist in an appropriate and effective way to serve as criteria for teachers to use in various contexts, both in classroom-based situations and exam-oriented environments

- In addition, this is also a document for students of specialized schools as well as highschoolers to refer to and use for learning and scientific research purposes

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Current situation of the problem before applying the experiential initiative.

a Lack of sufficient materials and marking criteria

- Currently, in the coursebook Global Success from grade 10 to grade 12, there have been some units containing task-based writing tasks, as listed below:

+ Grade 10, unit 4: Letter of application for a volunteer position

+ Grade 11, unit 7: Letter of requisition information about a course

+ Grade 12, unit 5: Letter of application for a position of a part-time receptionist

As far as it can be observed, this is apparently lacking in other types of letter writing tasks according to common standard tests such as IELTS General task 1 or VSTEP Hence, teachers have to actively accumulate sufficient types of letter writing to help students prepare for the Provincial Excellence Examination

Besides, the official criteria for marking a letter writing task have not yet been available when the new form of writing assignment of the exam was introduced This led to the fact that the teacher had to design a generalized criteria so that they could use that to evaluate students’ papers themselves and for other fellow colleagues to follow

In this study, I would introduce my marking rubrics, which have been used last year for teaching and for the inter-school friendly examination

b Students lack opportunities for specific outcome feedback

Students' performance in the letter-writing course in the pilot-study was not so excellent That was clear in a pilot study conducted by the researcher in October 2024 The pilot study was conducted on 15 students in the team that registered to sit for the exam Provincial Excellence Examination team at Lam Sơn high school for the gifted They were asked to write a letter of complaint and request (mixed type) about an annoying incident that was near their house in about 15-20 minutes

A letter of complaint about declining quality

As we can observe in some students’ writing when the corrective feedback was delivered in pen and paper form, most of the students' errors were in expression and letter

development in structures It was noted that most of the writing was required to be accomplished under time pressure (20 minutes) At the same time, the form of the paper is not quite user-friendly, especially for marking and commenting on Students may receive their corrected paper and find it discouraging to revise their errors in writing

+ Content development

In the pilot-study, a number of students still had some difficulties in exploring their ideas due

to lack of knowledge about the topic They had difficulties in developing their ideas consistently because they did not adopt flexible structures particularly for each type of letter Some students forget to develop their main idea in a different paragraph of a letter

+ Language function and language register

As evaluated from the number of letters that students handed in, they still had difficulties in determining and employing language function and language registers appropriately There is still some repetition in their word use and errors in the expression

+ Grammar and punctuation

As the students in this pilot study have a command of English so their language use and grammar errors are not frequent in their performance However, in the test scenario, especially under time pressure, they often make some minor mistakes in grammar and punctuation Fragment sentences – a sentence that’s missing a subject (the thing doing the action) or a verb (the action) in the compound-complex sentences are errors that students often make They use it like in spoken discourse Here is the summary of their mistakes in letter writing

Content development Language function and

language register

punctuation

Thus, the study problem is identified in the number of students who are learning and preparing for the Provincial Excellence Examination, particularly letter writing tasks Students are struggling to improve their letter writing skills, specifically in terms of content development, language use, grammar and punctuation More importantly, they need a platform where they can revise and record their writing so that they can easily pay attention to their mistakes and feel motivated to redo their original version

Therefore, the current study attempted to adopt color-coding technique through Google Doc

to help students improve these aspects in letter writing skills To reach this aim, the study tried to answer the following main question:

1 – What are the benefits of using color-coding techniques in delivering corrective feedback

to students’ letter writing skills?

2 – What steps should be undertaken for developing writing skills for students through using Google Doc technology?

2.2 Theoretical basis of the experiential initiative.

As indicated in Watskin (2004), writing not only serves as a tool for communication, but also a means of learning, thinking, and organizing knowledge or ideas In other words, it

is a sophisticated activity involving some stages of composition and task completion Tomlinson (1998, p.320-321) also highly stresses the importance of outcome feedback contributing to the development of explicit and implicit knowledge When it comes to the phase of correction after each student finishes their piece of writing, their teacher or fellows will utilize the checklist provided to help each other develop procedural knowledge

A research conducted by Evans, M & Lee, M.K (2019) points out that corrective feedback does play a determining role in impacting L2 writing self-efficacy and motivational outcomes As receiving teacher’s comments and peer comments on their draft products, they continue to engage their individuality as human beings to provide opportunities for personal development before submitting their final work for the teacher

Research in second language acquisition emphasizes the importance of corrective feedback in fostering learner autonomy and language development (Ellis, 2009) However, traditional written comments may often be vague or overwhelming for learners, particularly

at lower proficiency levels Color-coded feedback, as a form of focused visual scaffolding, helps reduce cognitive load (Sweller, 1988) by providing immediate and intuitive cues about error types When applied through collaborative writing tools like Google Docs, the feedback becomes not only timely but also interactive Moreover, learners who receive more colorful forms of feedback are more likely to notice and internalize language rules, a concept aligned with Schmidt’s (1990) Noticing Hypothesis

In sum, the literature supports the integration of color-coded corrective feedback in online platforms such as Google Docs as an effective means to increase student awareness of errors and foster a more active revision process This technique not only aids comprehension

of feedback but also empowers learners to take responsibility for their writing, thereby

fostering a growth-oriented mindset As such, color-coding represents both a practical and psychologically supportive tool in writing instruction, especially in blended and remote learning environments

2.3 Applying the experiential initiative to solve problems - The use of color-coding technique via Google Doc in delivering corrective feedback for students

2.3.1 A checklist for teachers and students

Letter writing self-assessment Tick/cross

● Use appropriate salutations and closing remarks

● Cover all the requirements in the writing prompt

● Follow closely the outline

● For each main idea, extend your ideas with description as

learnt

● Use language functions for each type of letter flexibly (no

repetition)

● Use language register appropriately and consistently

● Develop each main idea in a different paragraph

● Show overall progression throughout the letter

● Contain a few compound/complex/compound-complex

sentences

● The ways you start and end sentences are flexible

● Use topical vocabulary

● Use some vocabulary items that give deep

description/clarification

2.3.2 Using color-coding technique on Google Doc

In recent years, the integration of technology in writing instruction has brought about innovative approaches to feedback delivery Among these, the color-coding technique— particularly when used within digital platforms such as Google Docs—has gained attention for its pedagogical benefits in enhancing students’ error awareness and motivation for revision Color-coded feedback involves assigning different colors to highlight various types

of writing errors, such as grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, organization, and coherence This visual strategy has been found to promote student engagement, encourage self-correction, and support the development of metacognitive writing strategies

Step 1 Create a Google Classroom group: Teachers add their students’ emails in the

Google Classroom link or create a Google Classroom and share the link to the targeted students to join

In the Google Classroom, each student will be assigned to a file Google Doc with their name

on it to make distinction among students

Step 2 Set the rule: First, teachers have to introduce students about the roles of using

Google Doc (on Google Classroom) in a letter writing portfolio Then, they might want to add their own rules about what kind of information should and should not be shared in the Google Classroom e.g jokes, and informal chats

Step 3 Set up for class use: Since many of the features of Google Docs are similar to other

word processors, students may find that some of the sections in the Google Doc user-friendly For example, the steps for how to format a Google Doc will be quickly picked up by someone with just a basic understanding of Microsoft Word

However, other features take advantage of the web-based format These are useful for teachers to give feedback for students, so they should pay particular attention to the sections

on "Inserting Comments" and how to "Share your document with other people"

Step 4 Assign the color codes: For each type of the letter, students will receive the topic and

the color code assigned by the teachers During writing, they should follow the codes flexibly

as long as the development of the letter is fully employed In a digital environment, especially

one that supports real-time collaboration like Google Docs, color-coded comments and highlights allow for immediate revision and teacher-student interaction, and they can record their improvement Google Docs’ commenting and suggesting features also allow teachers to leave consistent and categorized feedback using pre-assigned color schemes as examples below

Letter of apology