Application of process writing to improve college student’s composition skill

i ABSTRACT This study looks into the impact of process writing to improve K18 English course’s writing fluency and their writing accuracy to find out effective methods of teaching Engli

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

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ABSTRACT

This study looks into the impact of process writing to improve K18 English course’s writing fluency and their writing accuracy to find out effective methods of teaching English writing skill to K18 English course at Bình Phước Teacher’s Training College The study investigates students’ participation in process writing, their fluency and accuracy in writing ability, together with useful implication to the teaching of writing skill at Bình Phước Twenty students of K18 English course participated in the study Each student had to write four drafts, so eighty ones were collected to be evaluated and analyzed The findings of the research show that the implementation of process writing in teaching writing can improve students’ writing quality Students made many errors in the first drafts However, after receiving the teacher’s feedback and rewriting the drafts, students made significant improvements

in their writing The study concludes by recommendations of using process writing

in teaching paragraphs at colleges

My thanks also go to 20 students of K18 English course at Bình Phước College Finally, many thanks are for my family, whose support has been very important to me, this thesis would not have been successfully completed without their support and encouragement

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES……… vi

LIST OF FIGURES……… vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rational 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Methods of the study 2

1.5 Significance of the study 2

1.6 Scope of the study 3

1.7 Organization of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

2.1 Theoretical background for the study 4

2.1.1 Writing skill 4

2.1.2 Principles of teaching writing 5

2.1.3 Approaches to teaching writing 7

2.1.3.1 The Grammar- Syntax- Organization Approach 7

2.1.3.2 The Free- Writing Approach 7

2.1.3.3 The Paragraph-Pattern Approach 8

2.1.3.4 The Genre Approach 8

2.1.3.5 The Product Approach 10

2.1.3.6 The Process Approach 10

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2.1.3.7 Process Approach versus Product Approach 11

2.1.4 The Process of writing……… 12

2.1.4.1 Prewriting……… 13

2.1.4.2 Drafting……….13

2.1.4.3 Reviewing/ Revising……… 13

2.1.4.4 Editing……… 15

2.1.4.5 Publication………15

2.1.5 Providing feedback to students’ writing……… 16

2.1.5.1 Feedback………16

2.1.5.2 Strategies for providing corrective feedback……… 17

2.1.5.3 How to respond to and correct students’ writing……… 20

2.1.5.4 The role of teacher in providing feedback to students’ writing……21

2.1.5.5 Evaluation of student writing……… 21

2.2 Review of previous studies related to the current research………22

2.3 Summary……… 26

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY …27

3.1 Context of the study ……… 27

3.2 An overview of the textbook “Effective Academic writing 1 by Alice Savage”………27

3.3 Participants …27

3.4 Data collection instrument …28

3.5 Procedures of data collection …28

3.6 Procedures of data analysis …29

3.7 Summary……… 29

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 31

4.1 The results 31

4.1.1 Students’ writing achievement in content and organization aspect 31

4.1.2 Students’ writing achievement in vocabulary and language use …32

4.1.3 Students’ writing achievement in mechanical aspect …32

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4.2 Findings of the study 33

4.2.1 Overall improvement of students’ writing 33

4.2.2 Improvement in the number of the paragraph errors of the students’draft……… 39

4.2.3 Improvement in the number of the errors in content and organization aspects 40

4.2.4 Number of the errors in vocabulary and language use aspect 40

4.2.5 Number of mechanical errors 43

4.3 Discussions 44

4.4 Teaching implications 49

4.5 Summary 51

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 52

5.1 Recapitulation of major findings 52

5.2 Conclusion 53

5.3 Limitations of the study 54

5.4 Suggestions for the further study 55

REFERENCES 56

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LIST OF TABLES Table Page

Table 2.1: Comparison of Process approach and Product Approach…………11

Table 4.1: Errors in content and organization in 3 drafts………31

Table 4.2: Errors in vocabulary and language use of the students’ drafts…… 32

Table 4.3: Mechanical errors in the students’ drafts……… 33

Table 4.4: Number of paragraphs in the first drafts .39

Table 4.5: Number of paragraphs in the second drafts 39

Table 4.6: Number of paragraphs in the third drafts 39

Table 4.7: Number of the error in content and organization of the students’ drafts……….40

Table 4.8: Errors in vocabulary and language use of the second drafts …41

Table 4.9: Errors in vocabulary and language use in the third drafts …42

Table 4.10: Errors in vocabulary and language use in the final drafts …43

Table 4.11: Number of error types in mechanical aspect …44

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Codes/symbols Meaning

1 W.C The words are inapplicable with sentences/ meaning

3 V.T Verb tense or GR = more general grammar problems

Wrong tense/ use another tense

5 Art Use article a, an or the for singular noun

6 ^ There is a missing word needing to insert

8 S/V A Subject and verb do not agree

9 ?(question mark) Unclear meaning Write in another way to make the

meaning clearer

10 W.O The words in this sentence are in the wrong order

Writing was traditionally considered as a product, which means that students write a composition and the teacher provides comments and gives correction and the students do not have to rewrite the draft The present trend regards writing as a process That is, students write multiple drafts before the completing final draft The ability to write well is not a naturally acquired skill; it must be practiced and learned through experience Writing is a complex combination of skills that is best taught

by breaking down the process The writing process involves series of steps to follow

in producing a finished piece of writing By breaking down writing step-by-step, the mystery is removed and writer’s block is reduced Most importantly, students discover the benefits of constructive feedback on their writing, and they progressively master, and even enjoy writing Although this idea is not new in theory, how to apply it in practice is not easy Being a teacher of English at a college, I see the reality of teaching writing skill in my setting I have, therefore, decided to conduct a study on this area to improve the teaching practice in my college

The study deals with the use of writing process to improve K18 English course’s writing skill at Binh Phuoc Teacher’s Training College It focuses on the students’ revising and editing the drafts after they receive feedback from the teacher

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and the changes made to each paper between the first and final drafts The text type was opinion essay

1.2 Aims of the study

This study attempts to find out measures to improve the quality of teaching writing to students at Binh Phuoc Teacher’s Training College It specifically aims to:

- To investigate the impact of process writing on first year English students’ writing fluency and accuracy

- To find out effective methods of teaching English writing skill to first year students at Binh Phuoc Teacher’s Training College

1.4 Methods of the study

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is employed in the study The study involves the analysis of students’ writing, interviews, reflexive journals, and statistical data Multiple drafts approach is used for error treatment and content development Interviews and reflective journals provide in-depth information that supplements the analysis of writing drafts

1.5 Significance of the study

The study looks into students’ writing and their common problems The findings can help practitioners improve their teaching quality, and the study tries to find out how fluent and accurate students’ writings are The process writing approach itself is not new; nonetheless, its application in local schools may require adaption The study is also an attempt to find out how to apply the writing process

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in practice effectively and to discover the benefits of constructive feedback on their writing The research results can make theoretical and practical contributions to English language education

1.6 Scope of the study

The study deals with the use of writing process to improve K18 English course’s writing skill at Binh Phuoc Teacher’s Training College The students are in their first year of study

1.7 Organization of the study

Besides the abstract, references, and appendices, the study is organized as follows

Chapter 1: Introduction provides an introduction and an overview of the

research It presents the rationale for the research, defines the aims, research questions, methods, significance, scope and organization of the study

Chapter 2: Theoretical background discusses previous related research and

presents the theoretical background for the study It deals with the writing skill, writing process and feedback on students’ writing This part also provides description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work quoted

Chapter 3: Methodology presents the detailed procedure of the study: the

methodology, population selection, data collection and analysis

Chapter 4: Data analysis and discussion deals with the major findings drawn out from the research It includes further discussion of the themes that arise from the data analysis and a response to the research questions based on the literature and the study

Chapter 5: Conclusion

Main points and contents of the study will be summarized based on the results

of the study The implication of the study and the recommendation for further research will be presented

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CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter covers the theoretical issues related to the study It reviews the works of foreign and Vietnamese scholars and researchers, and discusses theoretical issues to lay the foundation for the data analysis and implication chapters

2.1 Theoretical background for the study

2.1.1 Writing skill

Writing is one of the four skills in language acquisition It has been defined in many ways, which show different viewpoints of the authors According to “Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” (1989), writing is to “make letters or other

symbols on a surface (usually paper), especially with a pen or pencil” Writing, for

Crystal (1995: 257), is ‘‘… a way of communicating which uses a system of visual

marks made on some kind of surface’’ Hedge (2000:302) contends that writing is

“a complex process which is neither easy nor spontaneous for many second

language learners” This proposition concurs with Ur’s point of view (1996: 161)

“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”

Writing has a number of functions It is used to facilitate communication as letters, newspapers, advertisements; each of them carries out a specific purpose According to Nunan (1991: 84), writing serves four main functions Firstly, it is used primarily for action such as the public signs on roads and stations, product labels and instructions on food or tools, recipes, maps, bills, etc Secondly, it is for social contact as letters, postcards, greeting cards and personal correspondence Thirdly, writing provides the readers with information as newspapers and magazines, non-fiction books (textbooks, public notices, guidebooks, etc) Finally, written language entertains the readers with comic strips, fiction books, poetry and drama

in parts of style, content and logic This requires the writers to spend a great deal of care and thought on the process of writing

For that reason, writing also helps students learn (Rames, 1983) Writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that students have learned Moreover, when students write, they have chances to go beyond what they have just learned to say They can discover the language Finally, in the process of writing, students necessarily become involved with new language and the effort to express ideas The constant use of eye, hand and brain helps reinforce learning With all the roles mentioned above, we can see that writing is an important skill in teaching and learning languages at any levels

2.1.2 Principles of teaching writing

Teaching how to write effectively is one of the crucial life-long skills that instructors impart to their students It is a matter of prescribing a set of predetermined tasks or exercises to the students When teaching a writing course, instructors not only teach about how to develop ideas in writing, but also pay proper attention to how to write English sentences grammatically and systematically The effectiveness of writing instruction depends on both teaching compositions and

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assessment Self-evaluation is an essential component that must be imbedded in the process In assessing students’ compositions, teachers should respond to their writing based on criteria that have been communicated and taught to students and responses

to errors To respond the error the teacher can use a feedback that contains specific

criteria

According to Graham and Perin (2007), a set of recommended approaches for teaching writing to adolescent students include the 11 instructional methods below:

1 Writing strategies involves teaching students strategies for planning, revising, and editing their compositions

2 Summarization involves explicitly and systematically teaching students how

10 Study of models provides students with opportunities to read, analyze, and emulate models of good writing

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11 Writing for content learning uses writing as a tool for learning content material

2.1.3 Approaches to teaching writing

Various methods of teaching composition have been employed in language teaching They can be categorized into two major approaches, namely the process and the product approach

2.1.3.1 The Grammar-Syntax-Organization Approach

This approach stresses on simultaneous work on more than one composition feature This approach originates from the idea that writing should not ever be taught separated from other skills which are learnt sequentially Thus, students are trained to pay much their attention to organize; they should also work on the necessary grammar and syntax This approach helps students see the connection between the purpose of their piece of writing and the forms of language that are needed to convey messages Through this approach, teachers may emphasize their students’ grammatical and discourse competence

2.1.3.2 The Free-Writing Approach

Different from the Controlled -to- Free Approach, this approach stresses writing quantity rather than quality The emphasis in this approach is on content and fluency rather than on accuracy and form It is partly illustrated by the fact that students are often given the topics and self-manage to write with only minimal teachers’ correction Teachers may start their classes by asking students to write freely about a particular topic without concern about grammar and spelling within a short while In free-writing approach, it is important that teachers allow students to express what they want to say and focus on the students’ own creativity and self- discovery In addition, one more important feature of this approach is that little is done with errors because according to Raimes, teachers do not correct students’ free-writing but only comment on the content Some students volunteer to read their writing to the class, which provides a real audience for students Nevertheless, the concern for accuracy, syntax, and mechanics are seen as of little importance in this

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approach In this regard, the free-writing approach has limitations in preparing EFL students for academic writing In conclusion, the free-writing approach considers

content as the most important instead of accurate forms of languages

2.1.3.3 The Paragraph –Pattern Approach

Instead of emphasis on accuracy of grammar or fluency of content, this approach stresses on organization Classroom procedures associated with this tradition have tended to focus students’ attention primarily on ‘form’ Students are asked to read and analyze a model text and then write another piece of writing that has the same organization with the original one Besides, some common writing activities, within this tradition, require students to group provided relevant facts, rearrange them in the logical order to form an outline, and then write a complete text based on that outline In short, this tradition sees writing as basically a matter of arranging sentences and paragraphs into particular patterns Typical organizational principles for materials include paragraph structuring, particularly related to functional categories, and the use of a range of linking devices Sentence-level and grammar practice is not omitted but is set in the context of a longer and purposeful belief of language

2.1.3.4 The Genre Approach

In the 1980s the genre approach became popular along with the notion that student writers could benefit from studying different types of written texts Derewianka (1992) defines genre as the schematic structure of a text which helps it

to achieve its purpose Texts differ in terms of their purpose, and different cultures achieve their purposes through language in different ways Texts also differ according to particular situation in which they are being used

In essence, genre theory is a theory of language use The genre-based writing teaching is actually developed on the basis of child language studies undertaken within the systematic functional model that shows how young children learn language and how, in particular they learn to develop texts (Halliday, 1975, Paiter,

1986, Oldenberg, 1987) These studies demonstrate that in the course of adult

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takers and children interaction, adults are constantly modeling genres in their discourse with young children So we must find ways to introduce strategies familiar to students from their experience of learning to talk Usually in the course

of learning, the adults and the children share the same experiences Therefore, the classroom genre for teaching genres should include the three basic stages: modeling, joint construction and independent construction Sawyer and Watson (1982) stresses that learning to write is learning to control genres Genres are identified by their generic structures Students should learn first of all the structure, but the emphasis on structures should not detract from the essential emphasis on meaning Rothery’s (1985) suggestion for a genre-based approach to teaching writing includes the following steps:

1 Introducing a genre: modeling a genre by reading to the whole class,

2 Focusing on a genre: modeling a genre explicitly by naming its stages,

3 Jointly negotiating a genre: teacher and class jointly composing the genre under focus,

4 Researching: selecting material; assessing information before writing,

independent construction: students individually construct the genre

It should be noted that the genre approach sees writing as “predominantly linguistic” They also emphasizes that writing in the genre approach “varies with the social context in which it is produced.” At the heart of the approach therefore is the view that witting process should offer students explanations of the way language functions in social contexts (Hyland, 2003) According to Grossmann (2009, p.7), the language chosen in writing will be chosen by several elements which are not only the “purpose” of the writing but also “the subject matter, the relationships between the writer and the audience, the pattern of organization” Therefore, the teacher plays an important role in providing model language and facilitating the learner’s understanding of the writing purpose and context Hyland (2003) proposes that the teacher takes an authoritative role to scaffold or support learners as they move towards their potential level of performance until they gain autonomy

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2.1.3.5 The Product Approach

The product oriented approach focuses on the end result of the learning

process, what is expected from the learner is to do as fluent and competent user of the language (Nunan, 1991: 86) This is a traditional approach, in which students focus on the study of model texts Priority is given to accuracy and conversations

are taken from the model

The product approach aims at making the students competent in the language when they write relevant and coherent pieces of writing It focuses on the final product of the writers and the texts written by the students are based on models provided by the teacher Brown (2001) notes that significant attention was paid to

“model” compositions that students would emulate and on how well a student’s final product measured up against a list of criteria that included content, organization, vocabulary use, grammatical use, and mechanical considerations such

as spelling and punctuation

2.1.3.6 The Process Approach

Writing in process approaches is seen as predominantly to do with linguistic skills, such as planning and drafting, and there is much less emphasis on linguistic knowledge, such as knowledge about grammar and text structure There are different views on the stages that writers go through in producing a piece of writing, but a typical model identifies four stages: prewriting; composing/drafting; revising; and editing (Tribble 1996: 39) This is a cyclical process in which writers may return to pre-writing activities, for example, after doing some editing or revising A typical prewriting activity in the process approach would be for learners to brainstorm on the topic of houses At the composing/drafting stage they would select and structure the result of the brainstorming session to provide a plan of a description of a house This would guide the first draft of a description of a particular house After discussion, learners might revise the first draft working individually or in groups Finally, the learners would edit or proof-read the text In process approaches, the teacher primarily facilitates the learners’ writing, and

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providing input or stimulus is considered to be less important Like babies and young children who develop, rather than learn, their mother tongue, second language learners develop, rather than consciously learn, writing skills Teachers draw out the learners’ potential Process approaches have a somewhat monolithic view of writing The process of writing is seen as the same regardless of what is being written and who is writing So while the amount of pre-writing in producing a postcard to a friend and in writing an academic essay are different (Tribble 1996: 104), this is not reflected in much process teaching

2.1.3.7 Process Approach versus Product Approach

There are certain differences between the two approaches to teaching composition The product approach pays much attention to the study of the model text provided by the teacher The result of the learning process depends on the final product The process approach, in contrast, focuses on the writing process rather than the final product It argues that the final draft of the writer is the result of many stages In the process approach, students have time to write and rewrite the composition before handing the final In the process of composing the writing, they can change, rearrange, add or delete any words or sentences that make their thoughts more clearly, more effectively and in a more interesting way

The main differences between two approaches are outlined by Steele (2007)

in the table below:

 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 emphasized

 Collaborative

 Emphasis on creative process

 Imitate model text

 Organization of ideas more important than ideas themselves

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Table 2.1: Comparison of Process Approach and Product Approach

It should be noted that certain genres may lend themselves more favorably to one approach than the other Formal letters or postcards, for instance, in which the features are very fixed, would be perhaps more suited to a product-driven approach,

in which focus on the layout, style, organization and grammar could greatly help students in dealing with this type of writing task Other genres, such as descriptive and narrative essays, may be more suitable with process-driven approaches, which focus on a process of idea generation Writing multiple drafts before an effective product is created and exchanging of texts help the students to direct their writing to their reader, therefore making a more successful text

2.1.4 The Process of writing

The process of writing comes through several stages before reaching the final draft It is a process that involves six distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, responding, revising, editing and publishing It is known as a recursive process While writers are revising, they might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand their ideas The following is a figure illustrating recursive nature of writing and the stages of writing process

Figure 2.1: Stages in Writing Process (Hyland, 2003)

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2.1.4.1 Prewriting

In this stage, students involve the activities such as reading, brainstorming, mind mapping, discussing, fast writing, questioning, interviewing, which encourage them to generate ideas before they write their sentences in the first draft Then, students try to order their data and arrange them according to their priorities that mean which idea is going to be the first, which is the second, and so on

The prewriting stage is divided into three steps The first step is to put the ideas into objectives according to the main idea and eliminate all the irrelevant ones The second step relies on putting a topic sentence to each of the objectives made in the first step and the topic sentence must reflect the whole objectives that is when the reader reads the topic sentence, he can infer what is coming The last step

in the first stage is to order the objectives according to what the writer thinks is appropriate to be the first, second and so on

2.1.4.2 Drafting

Drafting is to start writing according to the ideas planned before The result of brainstorming session provides opinions about topic Oshima and Hogue (2002; 28) call this stage as writing and revising drafts They argue that no piece of writing is perfect the first time and the writer has to write and revise several drafts until he/she produces the final draft In the first step, the composition might be written without considering grammar, punctuation, or spelling and no importance to the structure Students may add new information in the drafting stage; there is no matter to hesitate because the focus is on ideas, purpose, coherence and relevance, unity, sufficient supporting ideas and concluding sentences As a last step in the drafting stage, the student checks the grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes

2.1.4.3 Reviewing /Revising

Revising is the stage where the writer comes through his/her final draft and tries to define the different lapses and corrects them in a second draft All good writers go through several steps of the revision because they want to make their writing the best it can At this point, they consider what they have written, get

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feedback from others, and then make changes They can scratch out unnecessary or irrelevant information, squeeze ideas that they want to add into the margin, and even cut up and re-paste the paper to change the order or make addition According

to Oshima and Hogue (2002; 29), during the first revision we should concern

mainly with content and organization This is how to proceed:

 Read over the paragraph carefully for a general overview Focus on the general aspects of the paper and make notes in the margin

 Check to see that you have achieved your stated purpose

 Check for general logic and coherence

 Check to make sure that the paragraph has a topic and that the topic sentence has a central (main) focus

 Check for unity Cross any sentence that does not support the topic sentence

 Check to make sure that the topic sentence is developed with sufficient supporting details Be certain that each paragraph gives the readers enough information to understand the main idea

 Check the use of transitional signals

 Finally, does your paragraph have or need a concluding sentence? If you wrote a final comment, is it on the topic?

The next revision is to check for grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation This checking is specific as following: (Oshima and Hogue, 2002; 30)

 Check over each sentence for correctness and completeness: no fragments and no choppy or run-on sentences

 Check over each sentence for a subject and a verb, subject- verb agreement, correct tenses, etc

 Check the mechanics: punctuation, spelling, capitalization, typing errors, etc

 Change vocabulary words as necessary

In this stage, the students review a draft to check errors based on the

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feedback from himself or herself and teacher or peers The writers need to make changes to another draft before having someone else read it and offer further feedback and suggestions Thus, drafting and revising could theoretically be completed and repeated indefinitely

2.1.4.4 Editing

Editing is an important step because it helps moving from the stage of revising where there are many incomplete ideas, incorrect spelling and unstructured sentences to the stage of correcting all the final draft Once revisions are made and changes to major traits of a writing project are complete, editing must take place as

“a diamond is polished after being shaped” Whereas revisions are easily guided by any peer reviewer, editing changes may require the assistance of someone who is knowledgeable about grammar This is where the role of teacher in giving direct and indirect feedback will be applied

According to Trimbur (1999: 680), the reason that the writers must learn to edit their work is not simply to avoid grammatical errors, misspellings, and poor style as if writing were a matter of abiding by the law There are two further reasons for editing that are important to understand The first reason is that the correctness of writing influences readers The sentence errors, punctuation mistakes, misspelling words, and stylistic lapses can distract readers and undermine a writer’s credibility The second reason is that sentences are basic units of meaning that express the relationship among ideas Writers edit their work not just to make sure the grammatical correctness of sentences but also to clarify what they are trying to say For these reasons, editing involves working with sentences to make a piece of writing persuasive to readers

2.1.4.5 Publication

This stage takes place when a product of the writing process is shared with its intended audience Publication can occur in a variety of forums as well as numerous times for a single product The rewards of the writing process are often revealed at the publication stage, when readers of a product express that the purpose

of a written project has been fulfilled The writers realize the payments of their hard

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work at the publication stage

2.1.5 Providing feedback to students’ writing

2.1.5.1 Feedback

In language teaching, feedback is information conveyed to the learner about

his or her performance of the learning task, usually with the objective of improving their performance (Ur, 1996: 242) It is seen by Larsen-Freeman (2003: 123) as

“evaluative information available to learners concerning their linguistic

performance.” In writing, feedback is the comments that the teacher gives the

students about their writing Feedback plays a central role in writing development

It helps the students realize what their strengths and weakness are

The most important aspect while giving feedback is adopting a positive attitude to students’ writing It takes a lot of time and effort to write, so it is only fair that student writing is responded suitably Positive comments can help build student confidence and create good feeling for the next writing class If the student receives only negative feedback, he may easily be discouraged from trying to form complex structures and using new vocabulary However, feedback sessions can be a beneficial experience for the student if the teacher shows the strong points as well Furthermore, teacher should consider the students’ mistakes on part of language use and content and organization equally Ur (1996: 171) notes that mistake correction

is part of the language teaching, but overuse of correction can be discouraging and demoralizing Too much emphasis on language mistakes can distract both learners’ and teachers’ attention from the equally important aspects of content and organization

Feedback on writing is most valuable to students’ writing development when students can use the feedback to revise and edit their writing Based on the given feedback, students can improve their writings, besides they will learn how to evaluate themselves Consequently, this helps them feel more confident on their performance

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2.1.5.2 Strategies for providing corrective feedback

There are six strategies for providing corrective feedback (adapted from Rod

Ellis, 2007)

- Direct corrective feedback

With the direct corrective feedback, the teacher provides the student with the

correct form of the errors This can use the form of crossing out an unnecessary

word, phrase, or morpheme, inserting a missing word, or writing the correct form

above or near to the wrong form The following example illustrates the direct

correction

a a the

A dog stole ^ bone from ^ butcher He escaped with having ^ bone When over a a saw a

the dog was going through^ bridge over the river he found ^dog in the river

Example 1 (from Ellis, 2007: 99)

- Indirect corrective feedback

Indirect corrective feedback involves indicating the location of the error but

without providing the correct form This can take the form of underlining or circling

the errors, using cursors to show omissions in the student’s text or placing a cross in

the margin next to the line containing the error This strategy guides students to

learn by providing problem solving and encouraging them to self-correct their

writing

A dog stole X bone from X butcher He escaped with X having X X bone

When the dog was going X through X X bridge over X the X river he found X dog

in the river

X = missing word

X X = wrong word

- Metalinguistic corrective feedback

Metalinguistic corrective feedback involves providing learners with some

form of explicit comment about the errors they have made The explicit comment

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can take two forms: using error codes or providing metalinguistic explanations of

the errors In the first form, the teacher writes codes above the location of the error

or in the margin In the second form, teacher numbers the errors in text and writes a

grammatical description for each numbered error at the bottom of the text

Art Art WW Art

A dog stole ^ bone from ^ butcher He escaped with having bone When the dog

Prep Art Art

Was going through bridge over the river he found ^ dog in the river

Example 3 (from Ellis, 2007: 101)

Art x 3;WW A dog stole bone from butcher He escaped with having bone

Prep.; art When the dog was going through bridge over the river he

Art found dog in the river

Example 4 (from Ellis, 2007: 101)

(1) (2) (3)

A dog stole bone from butcher He escaped with having bone When the dog

(4) (5) (6)

was going through bridge over the river he found dog in the river

(1), (2), (5), and (6)—you need ‘a’ before the noun when a person or thing is

mentioned for the first time

(3)—you need ‘the’ before the noun when the person or thing has been

mentioned previously

(4)—you need ‘over’ when you go across the surface of something; you use

‘through’ when you go inside something (e.g ‘go through the forest’)

Example 5 (from Ellis, 2007: 102)

Correction codes/symbols seem to be the most popular way to deal with

learners' written work They involve placing little symbols beside the problem that

there is in the piece and letting the student try to work out what the correct version

might be The useful correction codes are shown in the table below

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1 W.C The words are inapplicable with sentences/ meaning

3 V.T Verb tense or GR = more general grammar problems

Wrong tense/ use another tense

5 Art Use article a, an or the for singular noun

6 ^ There is a missing word needed to insert

8 S/V A Subject and verb do not agree

9 ?(question mark) Unclear meaning Write in another way to make the meaning

clearer

10 W.O The words in this sentence are in the wrong order

An example of using correction symbols is given below

SP W.f

He lives in a big hause, but he often feels boring

- Focused versus unfocused corrective feedback

With focused corrective feedback, teacher selects one or two types of errors to correct This provides students with the chance to understand the nature of the error Whereas, unfocused corrective feedback strategy involves correcting all of the students’ errors This has the advantage of addressing a range of errors

This involves a native-speaker rewriting the part of the text containing an error

to make the language seem as native-like as possible while keeping the content of the origin The writer then revises it and decides which of reconstructed part is accepted

2.1.5.3 How to respond to and correct students’ writing

According Brown (2001: 355), writing is the extensive planning stage so error treatment can begin in the drafting and revising stages The teacher should take the role of consultant when responding to students’ writing This means that the teachers just identify the error and provide the students opportunity to fix errors themselves

- Guidelines for responding to students’ writing are below:

* Guidelines for responding to the first draft (from Brown 2001: 355)

a Resist the temptation to treat minor (local) grammatical errors; major (global) errors within relevant paragraphs- can at this stage be indicated either directly (say, by underlining) or indirectly

b Generally resist the temptation to rewrite a student’s sentences

c Comment holistically in term of the clarity of the overall thesis and the general structural organization

d Comment on the introductory paragraph

e Comment on features that appear to be irrelevant to the topic

f Question clearly inadequate word choices and awkward expression within those paragraphs/ sentences that are relevant to the topic

* For the subsequent drafts, teachers’ response can include all of the above except that (a) changes its character slightly

- Guidelines for writing comments on students’ writing:

c Use questions rather than giving too much advice

d Always find something positive to write on the paper, and make it specific For example: nice introduction, good description, good/ interesting idea, good information, etc

2.1.5.4 The role of teacher in providing feedback to students’ writing

Writing is a process of composing from the first draft to the final draft Students cannot write alone They need the guidance and advisor to make their writing better Therefore, they need someone to check the errors of the writing that they themselves cannot realize This help can be from peer or teacher

Although peer feedback can be helpful to students at any time, teacher feedback is eventually needed to provide the whole viewing on students’ errors With complicated errors, teacher feedback is more trusted than student feedback Before giving feedback, teacher should be a reader and as advisor for students The teacher offers guidance in helping students to engage in the thinking process of composing in a spirit of respect students’ ideas He/ she must not impose his or her

own thoughts on students’ writing Before the final draft is handed in, “the role of a

consultant will be the most productive way to respond” (Brown, 2001: 355)

When responding to students’ writing, the teacher is there as a facilitator The teacher offers self-correction opportunity for students by providing indirect feedback on student’s errors In addition, students are able to express their ideas more clearly in writing and to get clarification on any comments that teachers have made to their writing

2.1.5.5 Evaluation of student writing

In assessing the students’ writing quality, Jacob (1981: 67) suggests five components or criteria to evaluate the students’ writing quality: content,

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organization, vocabulary, language use (grammar) and mechanics

Content of writing must be knowledgeable, substantive, thorough development

of thesis and relevant to assigned topic Organization of writing must be fluent expression, clearly stated/supported idea, well organized, logical sequencing and cohesive Vocabulary of writing must be sophisticated range, effective word choice and usage, word form mastery, and appropriate register With the language use (grammar) in writing activity, the students will create the sentences based on their ideas and the words in the sentences must be arranged grammatically which deals with tenses and agreement The last is mechanics of writing that consists of spelling and punctuation (capital letter, period, question mark, exclamation mark, comma, semi colon, and apostrophe)

According to Brown (2001), there are six categories for evaluating writing They are content, organization, discourse, syntax, vocabulary and mechanics To evaluate the students’ writing, the teacher should be a judge and a guide at the same

time He argues, “The key to being a judge is fairness and explicitness in what you

take into account in your evaluation” The feedback that the teacher gives should be

clear and explicit enough for students to understand That also provides the suggestions and advices for students to deal with their errors

2.2 Review of previous studies related to the current research

The process writing approach has been dominant in EFL/ESL composition classes for over two decades now (Brown, 2001; Gordon, 1996; Johnston, 1996; Muncie, 1999) Central to the method is the role of teacher feedback which helps students to improve their writing through several stages of composing Although a multitude of research projects concerning the issue have been done, the findings still seem to be inconclusive (Chandler, 2004; Ferris & Robert, 2001; Ferris, 2004; Guenette, 2007; Muncie, 2000) The following section will shed light on the different views on the writing process, and to investigate what aspects of writing are

most influenced by teacher’s feedback

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Muncie (2002) investigated students’ vocabulary development in process writing Using the Lexical Frequency Profile (LFP), she analyzed four drafts, including a timed composition which aimed to measure the students’ normal vocabulary range, the first and the final timed drafts, and the mid-draft (no timing)

of a composition written through process writing She found that there was no significant difference between LFPs among the three timed compositions However, the participants used a higher percentage of more sophisticated vocabulary in the (no timing) free revisions between the first and the final draft She contends that process writing (even without teacher feedback) can be a good way to help students extend vocabulary Her research result seems to be supported by Ferris and Roberts (2001), who also found that the control group (no teacher feedback) was more successful in editing word choice errors than other categories, including verbs, noun endings, articles and sentence structure (although it was outperformed by the experiment groups, which receive teacher feedback) In terms of grammar, Young and Cameron’s (2005) research revealed that the group which received no feedback also had some improvements in the use of past tense and the definite article It is therefore evident that process writing can, to some extent, help students self-edit their rewrites

In a related studies, a heated debate of corrective feedback was raised by Truscott (1996), who claims that feedback on forms should be abandoned since it does more harm than good (as cited in Ferris, 2004) This view, however, is challenged by many subsequent publications Lyster, Lightbown and Spada (1999) refer to different studies to point out Truscott’s weaknesses in his reasoning Chandler (2004), also in response to Truscott (1996), investigates the effect of feedback on fluency and accuracy by doing experimental research on two groups of students The longitudinal study of Young and Cameron (2005) focuses on the improvement of accuracy in new pieces of writing Further, the question of explicitness in feedback was addressed by Ferris and Roberts (2001), who attempted to answer the question how explicit error feedback should be to help

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students to self-edit their compositions In a similar vein, Sheen (2007) compared feedback with metalinguistic comments and with that without metalinguistic comments to see what type of response is more effective

Nevertheless, teacher mid-draft feedback as mentioned above is criticized by Muncie (2000), who claims that if the teacher gives mid-draft feedback, it hinders students’ creativeness since they tend to strictly follow what the teacher suggests She argues that such feedback does not have long-term benefits In order to avoid what she calls “overshadowing role of evaluator”, she recommends using peer mid-draft feedback so that the writer has total choice over which recommendations to use To support her claim, she administered a questionnaire to 29 upper-intermediate students at a Japanese university so as to elicit students’ attitude to types of feedback A five-scale questionnaire ranging from 1 (not at all useful) to 5 (extremely useful) was employed to elicit their responses It was revealed that the average rate was 4.03 for peer mid-draft feedback, and 90% (26 out of 29) reported amendments to their rewrites after receiving peer feedback However, 65% reported that they did not utilize suggestions from their peers This, according to her, implies that they had more freedom over

Using or not using their partner’s comments while they would mostly follow the teacher’s recommendations She suggests that the teacher should give final-draft feedback and students should write a summary with the title “How I can improve future compositions” This summary will keep reminding them to refer back to the directions while writing the next compositions Her claim, I think, is premature since she does have enough empirical evidence to argue that mid-draft feedback given by the teacher does not have long-term effects Moreover, she did not look at the essays to see to what extent the subsequent drafts had improved

Fathman and Whalley’s study (1990) involved 72 students who were required

to write a composition about a sequence of a story in 30 minutes Four types of feedback were provided, including zero, content, form, and content and form The feedback on form involved underlining all grammar errors, feedback on content was

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composed of general comments The original writing and rewrites were graded by two independent raters based on the number of grammar errors in each essay Their writing was also graded holistically for content based on four criteria: organization, description, coherence, and creativity The results show that content and form feedback provided at the same time was as effective as when they were given separately They argue that it might not be necessary to have multiple drafting since revision and editing can be done simultaneously However, this suggestion, which discards multi-draft composition, seems to be ungrounded because they have not conducted any longitudinal research to test the claim With a similar research question and method, Ashwell (2000) conducted a study with 50 Japanese students They were asked to write a 500-word composition with two drafts before the final version Four different patterns of teacher feedback were given: (1) content-focused feedback on draft 1, then form-focused feedback on draft 2, (2) the reverse direction (3) both types given simultaneously, and (4) no feedback at all The form feedback included circling or underlining grammatical, lexical and mechanical errors The content feedback mainly focused on multiple sentence level issue, organization, cohesion and relevance The compositions were assessed by English native-speaker scorers He found that pattern 1, content feedback followed by form feedback, was not superior to the reverse pattern or the mixed pattern In addition, content quality was not significantly influenced by feedback His post-hoc analysis showed that students tended to heavily attend to form feedback and pay less attention to content These findings almost completely concur with Fathman and Whalley’s It is now evident that the mixed pattern seems to prevail since it can incorporate two major components simultaneously without being affected

In Vietnam, there have been a few attempts to investigate the issue Dao Thi

Thu Huong (2008) studied the process approach to writing at FPT University Her subjects of the study were 144 second year students The effectiveness of the programme was investigated through post- interviews and the comparison of a pre- and post-questionnaire, a pre-test and a post-test, and pre- and post- observations of