--

4 (1) 2014

The effectiveness of peer feedback on graduate academic writing at Ho Chi Minh City Open University


Author - Affiliation:
Pham Vu Phi Ho - Ho Chi Minh City Open University , Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong - Ho Chi Minh City Open University , Vietnam
Corresponding author: Pham Vu Phi Ho - ho.pham@ou.edu.vn

Abstract
On thorough examination and analysis of English writing and comments by TESOL graduate students of Ho Chi Minh City Open University (HCMC OU), this study aims to address a useful instructional activity in teaching academic writing: employing peer feedback for revision processes. Data for analysis were collected from 37 students who have been in the first phase of Master Program in TESOL at HCMC OU. During a fifteen - week Academic Writing Course, the students were asked to write different types of paragraphs and essays, working in groups to provide comments on their peers’ writing. The descriptive statistics has shown that students produce more feedback on local areas than on global areas. The four most frequent types of comments belong to alteration, clarification, suggestion and explanation.
By comparing the participants’ drafts and revised essays, the study can confirm the correlation between peer feedback and students’ effective writing revision. A high percentage of recorded mistakes in the participants’ 1st drafts had been successfully corrected. Those positive results of the research have yielded a fresh insight into the deployment of peer feedback in teaching academic writing, especially at graduate level.

Keywords
peer feedback; local and global areas; writing revision.

Full Text:
PDF

References

Andrade, M. S., & Evans, N. W 2012, Principles and Practices for Response in Second Language Writing: Developing Self-Regulated Learners: ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series, Routledge.


Atlee, N 2005, Advancing Writing Skills: A Guide to Authentic Writing, (D. Draze, & S. Conroy, Eds.) California: Prufrock Press Inc.


Berbache, S 2007, Imrpoving ELF Students’ Writing Through Trained Peer Review, University of Constantine. Retrieved from http://bu.umc.edu.dz/theses/anglais/BER100039.pdf.


Björk, L., Blomstrand, I., & Corona, L. M 2006, Thinking and Writing Processes in English - Teacher’s Guide, SEE Editrice Firenze.


Coyle, W., & Law, J 2009, Research Papers, Boston: Cengage Learning.


Farrah, M 2012, The Impact of Peer Feedback on Improving the Writing skills among, An-Najah University Journal for Research - Humanities, 179-210. Retrieved from http://scholar.najah.edu/sites/default/files/journal-article/impact-peer-feedbackimproving-writing-skills-among-hebron-university-students.pdf.


Harris, M. J 2006, Three Steps to Teaching Abstract and Critique Writing, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 17, 136-146. Retrieved from http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/.


Hien, H. M 2008, The Impact of Online Peer Feedback on Efl Learners’ Motivation In Writing and Writing Performance: A Case Study at Can Tho University, Can Tho: Can Tho University. Retrieved from http://www.ctu.edu.vn/guidelines/scientific/ thesis/part1/Examples/LuanVanCaoHocHMHIEN%20K11DHCT.pdf.


Hosokawa, F 2010, Building Trust: Doing Research to Understand Ethnic Communities, Rowman & Littlefield.


Jacobs, G. M., Curtis, A., Braine, G., & Huang, S.-Y 1998, ‘Feedback on Student


Writing: Taking the Middle Path’, Journal of Second Language Writing, 307-317.


Jeske, J. M 1985, Resources for Graduate Writing Instruction, ERIC Clearinghouse.


Jie, Z 2011, ‘Chinese College Students’ Abilities and Attitudes for Peer Review’, Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics (Quarterly), 34, 47-58.


Lei, C 2012, ‘Relations among Peer Feedback, Writing Performance and Writing’ Reflecting Education, 8, 10-23.


Liu, J., & Hansen, J. G 2002, Peer response in second language writing classrooms, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.


Moloudi, M 2010, Effectiveness of Face-to-Face and Online Peer Review on Undergraduates’ Writing in English, Universiti Putra Malaysia.


Olson, C. B 1996, Practical Ideas for Teaching Writing As a Process, DIANE Publishing.


Pham-Ho, Vu Phi 2010, Blod-Based Response for L2 Writing Revision, Suranaree University of Technology. Retrieved from http://sutir.sut.ac.th:8080/sutir/bitstream/123456789/3392/2/Fulltext.pdf.


Pham-Ho, Vu Phi & Usaha, Siriluck 2009, ‘Blog-based peer response for EFL writing: A Case study in Vietnam’, AsiaCALL Online Journal, (ISSN 1936-9859) 4 (1), 1-29.


Pham-Ho, Vu Phi & Usaha, Siriluck 2011, ‘The Effectiveness of Blog-based Peer Response for L2 Writing’, Journal of Science – HCMC Open University, (ISSN 1859 - 3453), 3 (3), 27-44.


Pearce, J., Mulder, R., & Baik, C 2009, Involving students in peer review: Case studies and practical strategies for university teaching, Melbourne: Centre for the Study of Higher Education.


Phillips, T 2012, ‘Graduate Writing Groups: Shaping Writing and Writers from Student to Scholar’, Diversity in the Writing Center, 10. Retrieved from http://projects.uwc.utexas.edu/index.php/praxis/article/view/81/html.


Puegphrom, P., & Chiramanee, T 2011, The Effectiveness of Implementing Peer Assessment on Students’ Writing Proficiency, The 3rd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences (pp. 1-17). Prince of Songkla University.


Smith, C. B 2000, Writing Instruction: Changing Views over the Years, ERIC Digest D155, 1-7.


Srichanyachon, N 2012, ‘An investigation of university EFL students’ attitudes’, Educational Research and Reviews, 7, 558-562. doi:10.5897


Ting, M., & Qian, Y 2010, ‘A Case Study of Peer Feedback in a Chinese EFL Writing Classroom’, Chinese Journal of Applied Linguitics, 33, 87-98. Retrieved from http://www.celea.org.cn/teic/92/10120606.pdf.


Topping, K., & Ehly, S. W. (Eds.) 1998, Peer-Assisted Learning, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.


Weir, C 1988, Academic Writing - Can we please all the people all the time?, Academic writing: process and product, pp. 17-34.


Wichadee, S., & Nopakun, P 2012, ‘The Effects of Peer Feedback on Students’ Writing Ability’, European Journal of Social Sciences, 3, 393-400.



Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.