The effects of collaborative writing on students' writing quality - A case study at Ho Chi Minh city Open University

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

THE EFFECTS OF COLLABORATIVE WRITING ON STUDENTS’

WRITING QUALITY: A CASE STUDY AT HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN

UNIVERSITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by NGUYEN VAN KHANH

Supervisor: PHAM VU PHI HO, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH City

September 2015

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled “Collaborative writing:

A case study of the second year students at Ho Chi Minh City Open University” as

the statement of requirements for thesis in Master’s Programs at Ho Chi Minh City

Open University, issued by the Higher Degree Committee.

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain

material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which

I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main

text of the thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for any degree in any other tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, 2015

NGUYEN VAN KHANH

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis has been conducted in the help and counsel of many people whom I now

wish to acknowledge with very deep gratitude.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Pham Vu Phi Ho for his

useful advice and guidance to carry out my master thesis.

Besides, I would like to thank all of my classmates (TESOL 7) who kindly

encouraged and helped me to conduct my thesis.

I was also very thankful for my family members who regularly encouraged and

motivated me to keep working on this thesis until it is completed.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all of students in DH12AV05 and

DH12AV06 classes and their lecturer Nguyen Phuong Thao at Ho Chi Minh City

Open University for helping me in collecting the data for the study analysis.

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ABSTRACT

Although collaborative writing has been used in language classrooms

because of its effectiveness, very few studies have been carried out to examine

whether collaborative writing effects on individual’s writing quality or not,

especially studies carried out at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Ho Chi Minh

City Open University. This case study investigates the effects of collaborative

writing on students’ writing quality and their attitudes towards using collaborative

writing methods. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of

Ho Chi Minh City Open University in the first semester of the Academic Year

2013-2014. The population comprised sixty- two 2nd year students in two intact

classes. The participants in Experimental group (EG) consisted of thirty-five

students who were divided into ten groups. The participants in Control group (CG)

consisted of twenty-seven students who were divided into seven groups. The EG

were asked to write argumentative essays collaboratively while the CG wrote

individually. Pre-tests and post-tests, and semi-structured interviews were collected

to compare differences between the two groups in writing skills. The results of the

study indicated that collaborative writing not only improved students’ writing skills

of collaborative, but also enhanced individual writing skills. Moreover, the students

had positive attitudes towards collaborative writing.

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CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................ i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii

ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. iii

CONTENTS.............................................................................................................. iv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................1

1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................1

1.2. The benefits of collaborative writing ............................................................2

1.3. Statement of the Problem ..............................................................................3

1.4. Purpose of the Study......................................................................................4

1.5. Research Questions........................................................................................5

1.6. The significance of the study.........................................................................5

1.7. Definition of Terms.......................................................................................5

1.8. Structure of this study....................................................................................6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................................................7

2.1. Theoretical Concepts/ Historical Overview ..................................................7

2.2. Model of writing instruction........................................................................10

2.3. Review of previous research studies ...........................................................13

2.3.1 Comparison of collaborative writing with individual writing ..............14

2.3.2 Peer review ...........................................................................................17

2.4. Research Gap...............................................................................................22

2.5. Chapter summary.........................................................................................23

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................24

3.1. Pedagogical context/ Research site.................................................................24

3.1.1. Pedagogical setting...................................................................................24

3.1.2. Participants...............................................................................................24

3.2. Design of the Study ........................................................................................25

3.3 Procedures of the Study...................................................................................26

3.3.1Training procedure .....................................................................................26

3.3.2 Classroom activities in the training procedure .....................................27

3.3.3 The course book used in the training....................................................28

3.4 The topics for Argumentative essays...............................................................28

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3.5 Instruments.......................................................................................................30

3.5.1 Rubric scales for Argumentative essays....................................................30

3.5.2 Inter-raters .................................................................................................32

3.5.3 Students’ interviews..................................................................................32

3.6 Data Collection ................................................................................................32

3.7 Methods of analysis.........................................................................................33

3.8 Chapter summary.............................................................................................34

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS/ FINDINGS/ AND DISCUSSION..................................35

4.1 Response to research question 1: Does the collaborative writing affect the

students’ individual writing quality? .....................................................................35

4.1.1 Students’ writing level of equivalent ........................................................35

4.1.2 Pre-test EG individual vs. Pre-test EG group............................................37

4.1.3 Descriptive Statistics of CG, EG individual and EG group ......................38

4.1.4 Post-test result of EG individual vs. Post-test result of EG group. ...........39

4.1.5 Pre-tests vs. Post-tests result of CG. .........................................................40

4.1.6 Pre-test vs. Post-test results of EG individual...........................................41

4.1.7 Pre-test and Post-test result of collaborative writing. ...............................43

4.1.8 Post-test result of CG vs. Post-test result of EG individual writing..........44

4.2 Response to research question 2: What are the students’ attitudes towards

collaborative writing activities?.............................................................................46

4.3 Response to research question 3: What are the students’ attitudes towards

individual writing activities? .................................................................................51

4.4 Chapter summary.............................................................................................54

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS.........55

5.1. Conclusions .................................................................................................55

5.2. Limitations of the study...............................................................................57

5.3. Recommendation for Further Research.......................................................57

REFERENCES..........................................................................................................58

APPENDIXES ..........................................................................................................65

Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................65

Appendix 2 ................................................................................................................79

Appendix 3 ................................................................................................................81

Appendix 4 ..............................................................................................................111

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Appendix 5 ..............................................................................................................113

Appendix 6 ..............................................................................................................115

Appendix 7 ..............................................................................................................142

Appendix 8 ..............................................................................................................143

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CG Control group

CW Collaborative writing

DIP Graduate Diploma in TESOL

EFL English as a foreign language

EG Experimental group

ESL English as a second language

HCMCOU Ho Chi Minh City Open University

L1 First language

L2 Second language

Max Maximum

Min Minimum

M Mean

MOET Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam

SD Standard deviation

TESOL Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

In chapter one, the researcher will present relevant statement of the problem as well

as the purpose and rationale for carrying out this research. Three research questions,

the significance, and definition of terms of the study as well as structure of this

research will be introduced in this chapter.

1.1. Introduction

Looking for an effective method of teaching writing is one of the things in which

most teachers are interested in order to improve student’s writing skills. Writing skill

can be seen as one of the most important skills, particularly in an academic

setting such as in schools, colleges or universities. However, according to Nunan &

Carter (2001), at the beginning of the twenty-first century, new pedagogy has changed

from traditional teacher-centered approaches to learner-centered courses, and

academic writing is considered as a communicative social act. In addition, recently

method of collaborative writing has been widely applied in teaching and learning

writing subject. According to Shehadeh (2011), collaborative writing has become

common in many classrooms all over the world in the last 15–20 years. The author

also added that the current point of view of language learning and teaching emphasizes

instruction in which collaborative writing is central to the writing classrooms.

Therefore, collaborative writing can help students not only gain writing skills but also

help them achieve others skills through collaborative activities. Handayani (2012) said

that collaborative writing is a current interest in colleges or universities, and the

concept of collaborative writing has broader meaning than simple idea of working

together to create a text. Besides working together to produce a text, they can learn

from one another about technique of working in groups such as sharing and receiving

ideas, giving and receiving immediate feedback, developing analytical and critical

reading and writing skills, etc.

Moreover, many research studies have been conducted around the world to find out

effective methods in teaching and learning writing skills. Then, cooperative learning

has shown its effectiveness in enhancing students’ writing skills. According to Johnson

& Johnson (1999), cooperative learning can assist students in learning collaborative

skills, developing interpersonal skills and achieving higher academic performance than

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they worked alone. Getting benefits from cooperative learning when engaging in

collaborative writing activities, students develop their writing skill from egocentrism

into larger audiences (Graham, MacArthur, & Fitzgerald, 2007). In addition, Brown

(1994) indicates that through learning collaboratively such as peer comments, review,

editing, and sharing ideas, students can learn from their friends so that they can use the

information to improve their writing skills. Gradually, students are learning to be

better writers. In short, collaborative writing could be seen as one of the most effective

methods to help improve students’ writing skills.

This study has carried out since academic year 2013-2014 at Ho Chi Minh City

Open University. The data used in this study are the same as the data used in

Phamvuphiho (2015). It is because the researcher and his supervisor, Dr. Pham Vu Phi

Ho, have worked together in one study. Then, however, this study used the different

method of analyzing data in comparison with the method used by Phamvuphiho

(2015).

1.2. The benefits of collaborative writing

Collaborative writing has a lot of benefits for teaching and learning writing.

According to Farrah (2011), collaborative learning is an effective method in learning

because it assists students in learning by discovery. This method allows learners to

be involved with new learning styles because it provides them with a lot of

opportunities to interact while sharing their ideas, and interests. Besides, collaborative

writing also produces opportunity for students to learn from another. Storch (2005)

also said that collaborative writing also helped students the opportunity to share and

receive immediate feedback on language, and this opportunity could be missed if they

worked individually. The problem which students often face with when they write

alone is lack of supporting ideas for their writings, so group work can help students to

solve this problem.

Group work also helps students improve their own writing skills, so their wording is

more accurate and smoother. Indeed, Dobao (2012) stated that writing in groups was

often more accurate than writing in pairs, and in individual. Moreover, group work

also produces a suitable environment for students to learn language. Storch (2011) also

said that writing in groups gave all students the opportunity to learn more about the

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language. These things they can learn from their friends such as word use, structures,

grammar, coherence, cohesion, etc.

Moreover, group work also requires students put their own effort into their work.

According to Dixon & Nessel (1983), writing in groups also gives students

opportunities to share, discuss, and react with each other. Moreover, the authors

also said that the benefits of collaborative writing express through three aspects: (1)

exchanging opinions, (2) pointing at grammatical errors, vocabulary and mechanics,

and (3) learning writing strategies. Every student has their own opinions but sharing

ideas from many students will enrich student’s ideas. However, students cannot

recognize their own errors that can be easily identified by other students. In addition,

each student has their own learning writing strategies, but when students work in

groups, they can learn from their friends to improve their learning strategies. These

things help students to improve their writing skills through sharing their ideas, finding

out errors and learning writing skills from each other.

According to Trible (1996), writing skills plays the importance role in foreign

language learners who should be competent in writing skills because if they do not

have a capacity for writing effectively in the target language, they will not have

opportunity for roles which would otherwise be available to them. Therefore, the

ability of writing is very necessary for language learners who learn English as a

foreign language.

1.3. Statement of the Problem

Writing skill is one of the most important skills in learning and teaching English.

However, writing skill is a serious challenge for foreign language leaners because it is

considered the last skill in four skills. Even students major English, writing skill is not

simple skill. The reason is that writing skill has two main difficulties. First, the large

size of class is from forty to forty-five students in each class (Phamvuphiho, 2013).

Second, teachers overloaded with marking written texts. So, the quality of students’

writing papers is not satisfactory. Finally, finding effective ways to improve students’

abilities of writing in second language is very necessary.

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In addition, in learning English, according to many researchers, writing skill is a

difficult skill. Homstad & Thorson (1996) indicated that writing skill is a difficult skill

for students who learn foreign language, because of their limitations of language

proficiency and linguistic knowledge. Indeed, writing skill not only requires students

to use language fluently, but also correctly grammar and structures in writing. Besides,

Wang and Wen (2002) said that students ran into difficulties in writing skills due to

the influences of L1 on L2 writing. The influences of L1 on L2 are one of the most

difficult things that students cannot avoid in their writing.

Moreover, Vietnamese students’ writing abilities should be interested in as soon as

learning language. Phamvuphiho (2013) indicated that learners’ writing abilities are

still limited and a large class size influences on improving students’ writing abilities.

In addition, a large class size also led to overload for teachers to mark test papers, so

the teacher saves up little time to have students improving their writing skills. So,

collaborative writing was used for the purpose of raising students’ writing abilities and

reducing teacher’s overload with marking students’ written texts.

1.4. Purpose of the Study

By using collaborative writing to help students in writing process, the purpose of

the present study is to examine whether the collaborative writing activities in the

writing classes have effects on students’ individual writing. In order to gain this aim,

the researcher will closely examine the contents of collaborative writing and students’

attitude after treating collaboratively. Particularly, this study at the Faculty of Foreign

Languages of Ho Chi Minh City University Open University will focus on three main

points: (1) to explore how collaborative writing impacts on the quality of students’ L2

individual writing and (2) to investigate the students’ attitudes towards the

collaborative writing and (3) to examine the students’ attitudes towards the individual

writing. Therefore, a case study was conducted at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of

Ho Chi Minh City Open University of the Academic Year 2013-2014 to satisfy three

purposes above.

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1.5. Research Questions

In short, in the Academic Year 2013-2014 at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of

Ho Chi Minh City Open University, a case study of collaborative writing was carried

out with the objectives could be summarized in the following questions:

1. Does the collaborative writing affect the students’ individual writing quality?

2. What are the students’ attitudes towards collaborative writing activities?

3. What are the students’ attitudes towards individual writing activities?

1.6. The significance of the study

This research is significant for both learners and instructors. As for the learners, the

results of this research may have a part in improving their writing skills by writing in

groups, sharing the ideas, getting feedbacks from their peers and instructor before

making their final drafts. As for the instructors, this research is intended to provide

them with a model of collaborative writing in order to solve the problems of large

class size in teaching writing. Hopefully, the results of the research may be useful and

applicable to learning and teaching writing.

1.7. Definition of Terms

1.7.1 Definition of collaborative writing

There have been numerous definitions of collaborative writing by many researchers.

According to Storch (2011), collaborative writing is the joint production between two

or more writers in a text and the feature of collaborative writing is the collective

ownership of document produced. In collaborative writing, the group-planning or peer￾feedback activities are differentiated manifest in instructing writing of the process.

Besides, Farrah (2011) indicated that collaborative learning was processes which

students were encouraged to work in groups, interact together and share their ideas to

achieve their desired objectives rather than to work and compete individually.

Moreover, also according to Farrah (2011), through collaborative learning, students

will discover their weak and strong points and will receive feedback from group

members and their teachers.

1.7.2 Definition of peer review

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According to Richards & Schmidt (2010), the definition of peer review (also known

as peer feedback, peer editing) is an activity in which learners work in pairs or small

groups to revise each other’s writing and give comments. Bartels (2003) defined “…

peer response, in which students read each other’s papers and provide feedback to the

writer, usually answering specific questions the teacher has provided” (p. 36). In

addition, the most comprehensive definition peer review in a study of Liu & Hansen

(2002) which considers peer feedback:

The use of learners as sources of information and interactants for each in such a way that

learners assume roles and responsibilities normally taken on by formally trained teacher,

tutor, or editor in commenting on and critiquing each other’s drafts in both written and

oral formats in the process in the process of writing (p.75).

Because of the great effect of peer review on learners’ revision and writing skill in

particular, learners have been required increasingly their responsibility for not only

their own composing but also for their peers’ writing.

1.8. Structure of this study

The study consists of five chapters. Chapter I provides a brief introduction to the

subject and an overview of the study. Chapter II reviews relevant literature including

an overview of peer review and collaborative writing to serve as the background for

the whole study. Chapter III describes the methods utilized in this study. Chapter IV

presents and analyzes the collected data from students’ writings, students’ semi￾structured interviews, and analysis as well as the discussion based on the findings.

Chapter V summarizes some main issues mentioned in the research, conclusions,

limitations, and suggestions for further research. Following the chapters are the

references and appendices.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter two presents reviews of the theories and literature related to collaborative

writing and its influence during the students’ writing process. Based on sociocultural

theory, social constructivism and process writing approach as theoretical foundations,

the literature review of this research will assess typical characteristics and benefits of

collaborative writing in L2 writing. In recent years, researchers have paid attention to

the effectiveness of collaborative writing. Mixed findings from previous studies will

be presented in lines of discussions to show the research gaps for the current study.

2.1. Theoretical Concepts/ Historical Overview

Lecturers have used two popular methods widely in their teaching writing: product

approach and process approach. Of the two methods, the former focuses on final

products and linguistic accuracy, the latter focuses on objective and the process of

writing rather than the final products. According to Thulasi, Salam, & Ismail (2014),

product approach was used widely before 1970s and process approach became popular

after 1970s and 1980s. A product approach is “a traditional approach in which students

are encouraged to mimic a model text, usually is presented and analyzed at an early

stage” (Gabrielatos, 2002, p.5). Moreover, Nunan (1991) stated that product approach

focused on the end result of the learning process, and the students were expected

to be good users of the language in terms of fluency and competence. Hyland (2002)

indicated that product approach only focused on the surface of language as rules of

grammar and structures without focusing on writers’ style. In other words, this method

cares about writing form more than writing style. Conversely, process approach was

defined by Kroll (2001) as follows:

The “process approach” serves today as an umbrella term for many types of

writing courses … What the term captures is the fact that student writers engage in

their writing tasks through a cyclical approach rather than a single-shot approach.

They are not expected to produce and submit complete and polished responses

to their writing assignments without going through stages of drafting and receiving

feedback on their drafts, be it from peers and/or from the teacher, followed by

revision of their evolving texts. (pp. 220-221).

According to Steele (2004), a typical product approach includes four steps that

students have to follow before producing the final product for evaluation. They are

familiarization, controlled writing, guided writing and free writing. Steele (2004) also