AN INVESTIGATION INTO PRE INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS ATTITUDES TOWARDS PEER CORRECTION IN ENGLISH WRITING AT UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE HO CHI MINH CITY

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

AN INVESTIGATION INTO
PRE-INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES
TOWARDS PEER CORRECTION
IN ENGLISH WRITING
AT UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE HO CHI MINH CITY

A project report submitted to the
Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature
in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL
by
PHẠM PHÚC KHÁNH MINH

Instructed by
Lê Hoàng Dũng, Ph.D.
Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Ph.D.
Phó Phương Dung, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2016


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Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 2
CHAPTER 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER 2: Literature review ................................................................................................ 6
CHAPTER 3: Methodology ..................................................................................................... 13

CHAPTER 4: Results and discussions .................................................................................... 19
CHAPTER 5: Conclusions and recommendations ................................................................ 30
References ................................................................................................................................... 33
Appendices .................................................................................................................................. 36


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ABSTRACT
It is widely known that teacher written feedback plays an important role in teaching
writing skill, and that this feedback technique has been employed for a long time in many parts
of the world as well as in Vietnam. By using a questionnaire, the study investigates elementary
learners’ attitudes towards a particular technique of error correction in English writing – peer
correction. The population of the study includes forty students who are randomly chosen from an
English class at University of Science Ho Chi Minh City. The learners are instructed and
conducted peer correction for a semester of twelve weeks, including six writing assignments
followed by peer correction activity. At the end of the term, an adapted questionnaire is
distributed to the learners for data collection.
The questionnaire findings revealed that students generally have positive attitudes
towards peer correction. They generally agree and enjoy the activity. However, since their
English proficiency is not at a high level, the students are noticed of insecurity and anxiety when
participating in the process. Thus, the researcher suggested that peer correction should be applied
in a proper way, with teachers’ careful supervision and monitoring; and it was suggested that
peer correction can be employed in other lessons such as listening, speaking, and reading classes.
Besides, more applications and recommendations for further research were also proposed.
Keywords: attitudes, peer correction


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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the study
It is well known that learning a second language is a gradual process during which
mistakes are expected to be made in every stage of learning. It is important for teachers and
learners to accept the fact that errors are an inevitable part of the learning process (Davies and
Pearse, 2002). Learners’ errors are considered to represent what learners are struggling to master,
what they have misunderstood and what they need to put more effort in (Lavery, 2001).
Therefore, errors are a sign of learning in the language learning process.
Error correction has been a major point for researchers in the field of second language
acquisition. The responsibility of correcting learners’ mistakes is known to belong to teachers,
who are supposed to hold a wide knowledge of the target language and show no tolerance to
errors. It is also regarded as the most exhausting and time-consuming aspect of teachers’ work
(Ferris, 2002; Mantello, 1997). As a result, learners’ errors and feedback to errors have become a
great interest to language teachers and researchers (Diab, 2005, Wang, 2010; Katayama; 2007).
In most of the studies, the importance of feedback, ways of providing and receiving feedback as
well as what the effect of feedback on students' writing are perceived as crucially significant
aspects (Lee, 2005; Noora, 2006). However, what have been neglected in such studies are the
attitudes of the learners and teachers towards error correction (Katayama, 2007). Specifically,
many language attitudes studies pointed out the important role of language attitudes to the
learning process, and its contribution to language loss and language retention. Gardner (1985)
found that the favorable language attitudes can result in less attrition in the target language. In
detail, learners who have positive attitudes towards a second language will less likely to lose
competence of that language.
The importance of providing feedback to learners’ writing cannot be denied in the second
language learning process. However, there are still questions of what would be the most effective
way to improve learners’ writing skill and what approach would be suitable to the needs of
particular students. The available literature shows that there are various ways to provide
feedback that are commonly used in teaching a language: teacher correction (with comments),

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error identification, commentary, teacher-student conference, peer correction, and selfcorrection.
Peer correction has been discussed in first language settings (George, 1984; Jacobs, 1987;
McKendy, 1990; Herrington and Cadman, 1991). Witbeck (1976) showed the advantages of peer
correction and outlined four techniques for peer editing. He concluded that peer correction leads
to a "greater concern for achieving accuracy in written expression in individual students and
creates a better classroom atmosphere for teaching the correctional aspects of composition" (p.
325).
All of the above arguments have been a drive for this study to be conducted under the
title of Pre-Intermediate Learners’ Attitudes towards Peer Correction in English Writing at
University of Science Ho Chi Minh City.
1.2. Aims of the study
Since the attitudes have a great impact on the entire process of English learning, this
study aims to investigate pre-intermediate learners’ attitudes towards a particular type of
feedback – peer correction. Then, the researcher will be able to find an appropriate way to apply
peer correction into practice for better quality of learning and teaching activities.
1.3. Research question
The main question of this research is “What are pre-intermediate learners’ attitudes
towards peer correction in English writing at University of Science Ho Chi Minh City?”
1.4. Significance of the study
There is considerable significance of this study in the English writing teaching activity at
University of Science. Firstly, this study will help the teachers of English decide whether to
implement this feedback technique into teaching writing. Secondly, by reading this study,
teachers of English are expected to have a better view on learners’ attitudes towards peer
correction. The researcher hopes this study will give a contribution to writing teaching and
learning activities using peer correction approach. Last but not least, it is expected that this study


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will be one of the references for other researchers in the same field to explore more deeply about

learners’ attitudes towards peer correction.
1.5. Scope of the study
The study is carried out at University of Science Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Due to the
lack of time and the limited framework, the study only focuses on the attitudes of preintermediate learners towards peer correction in English writing. Hopefully, the findings of the
study will reflect the actual situation and help the researcher find out the effective approaches to
teaching English writing.
1.6. Outline of the report
The study is divided into five chapters:
Chapter one is the introduction to the entire study, which covers the background, aims,
research question, significance and scope of the study.
Chapter two reviews the related literature, which concerns with all the technical terms of
the study. In detail, the literature review examines the term attitude in general and language
attitude in specific in terms of their definitions and importance.
Chapter three introduces the methodology which the researcher follows in the study.
Chapter four imparts the results of the study, which focuses much on the analysis of the
data collected from pre-intermediate students at University of Science, followed by the
discussion of the findings.
Chapter five includes the final words of the study and the researcher’s suggestions and
recommendations for implementation of peer correction into language teaching.


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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Definitions of terms
2.1.1. Definition of attitude
Eagly and Chaiken (1993) have considered an attitude as an implicit state which allows
psychologists to conceive and explain the reason why a person reacts in a particular way in a
certain situation. Although there are no observable approaches to identify attitudes, attitudes
themselves can be inferred through behaviours and can be perceived by a core notion:

evaluation. More specifically, Ajzen (2001) summarized the definition of an attitude as “a
summary evaluation of a psychological object captured in such attribute dimensions as good –
bad, harmful – beneficial, pleasant – unpleasant, and likeable – dislikeable. Furthermore, Baker
(1988) concluded that attitudes are learned tendency and are not inherited, which are relatively
stable and are affected by experiences.
In short, attitude is a natural part of everyday expressions. It is an evaluation about
natural phenomena through attitudinal levels such as good – bad, harmful – beneficial, pleasant –
unpleasant, and likeable – dislikeable, leading to positive or negative reactions towards the
object. Moreover, attitudes are complex constructs as they cannot be observed directly.
Therefore, learners specifically need to experience a particular skill themselves in order to infer
whether they can have a favorable attitude to the skill or not.
2.1.1.1. The important role of attitude
Baker (1992) gave out three reasons for the importance of attitude, which are “its close
connection to individual construct system, its value as an indicator of viewpoints in the
community and its centrality in psychology theory and research for over sixty years attest to
attitude as a central topic.” The author also considered attitude as both input and output, which
means a favorable attitude towards language learning counts as a vital input in the target
language success, and after a period of time, learners are expected to have a favorable attitude
towards the language and to seek further development or interest in the future. Thus, attitude
serves a double function: a product variable and an outcome.


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It cannot be denied that attitude is a crucial notion in the study of second language
acquisition. This belief leads to problems of identifying attitudes of second language learners,
and what factors affect these attitudes of learners. It is therefore significant for teachers of
English to have a better understanding of learners’ attitudes towards learning English in general
in order to help improve their second language learning process.
2.1.2. Definition of the language attitude
Richards, Platt and Platt (1992) have defined learners’ attitudes as “the attitudes which

speakers of different languages or language varieties have towards each other’s languages or
their own language. Expressions of positive or negative feelings towards a language may reflect
impressions of linguistic difficulty or simplicity, ease or difficulty of learning, degree of
importance, and so on.” The authors have also emphasized that language attitudes may have an
effect on second language learning, and the measurement of language attitudes provides useful
information for language teaching and language planning.
Nunan and Lamb (1996) have concluded that “the attitude of learners towards the target
language, the learning situation and the roles that they are expected to play within that learning
situation will have an important effect on the learning process.” Teachers should therefore
acknowledge and respect learners’ attitudes in order to have them enhance the process of second
language learning.
In brief, language attitudes can be seen as the attitudes of learners towards a language and
the learning situation of that language, which express the positive or negative feelings about the
language learning process. The importance of knowing learners’ attitudes cannot be neglected
since learners may lose their language competence easily when possessing a negative attitude.
Hence, it is advisable for teachers to decrease the negative attitude of learners, and to promote
their positive feeling with determination, courage and academic success.
2.1.2.1. Types of language attitudes
Baker found that language attitude consists of two main parts – instrumental and
integrative attitudes. Besides, the existence of general attitude cannot be depreciated.


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Gardner and Lambert (1972) have claimed that “instrumental attitude is characterized by
a desire to gain social recognition economic advantages through knowledge of a foreign
language.” Brown (2000) stated that “the instrumental side referred to acquiring a language as a
means for attaining instrumental goals: furthering a career, reading technical materials,
translation, and so forth.” Therefore, it can be concluded that instrumental attitude to learning a
second language relates to purposes, practical values, personal success, self-improvement, selfactualization or even basic security and survival (Baker, 1992).
Integrative attitude has been considered as “a desire to be representative member of the

other language community” (Gardner and Lambert, 1972). Baker (1976) also considered an
integrative attitude towards a language as mostly social and interpersonal in orientation, and such
attitude links to the need for affiliation. Besides, Baker (1992) mentioned that instrumental and
integrative attitudes are not necessarily opposites or alternatives, and can exist within an
individual at the same time with different contexts and expectations.
Baker (1992) discovered a kind of attitude which is mix between instrumental and
integrative attitudes and named it general attitude. Learners are said to possess a general attitude
when they have both instrumental and integrative attitudes. For example, learners decide to take
English writing seriously for their purpose of passing the examination, getting a job in the future
since writing can help with better communication with native speakers from English speaking
countries.
2.1.3. Peer correction
In the early methods of language teaching, teachers were considered to be the sole
source of knowledge; therefore, it was only his/her authority to impart knowledge as well as to
correct students’ knowledge. However, the recent approaches and methods have emphasized on
learners’ cognition and their autonomy. With such a change, student-oriented techniques of error
correction, such as peer correction has come up.
The emergence of learner-centered approaches in language teaching leads to the
considerably frequent practice of peer feedback in language classrooms. Peer correction seems to
be promising and effective since it can involve students in the teaching and learning process.


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This method can be informative as well because it comes from someone who has had the same
experience in learning a second language. Furthermore, it is less threatening as no scoring is
involved.
De Guerrero and Villamil (1998) believed that peer correction fitted into Vygotsky’s
theory of cognitive development, because he put emphasis on the social origin of language and
thought. It is clear that Vygotsky's concept of “Zone of Proximal Development” (Vygotsky,
1978) in particular suggests that “communicative collaboration with adults and peers contributes

to the development of self-regulation, which is the capacity for independent problem solving”
(p.86).
As a correction technique, peer correction has been backed by a lot of theories of
language teaching. According to Paul Rollinson (2005), the principles operating behind applying
this technique are:
1. Peer feedback is less threatening than teacher feedback because students are more
comfortable with their classmates and therefore, getting corrected by own friends evokes less
anxiety.
2. When correction comes from the teacher, it reinforces teacher’s authority. In a
traditional language class, the teacher is the authoritative figure and he/she is considered the sole
source of knowledge. Students play the role of just a passive receiver of information. In contrast,
the practice of peer feedback leads the classroom to be less dominated by the teacher.
3. The involvement of peers in the correction process makes the classroom atmosphere
more supportive and friendlier.
Peer correction is now acknowledged by most of the practitioners that students’
involvement in classroom should be enhanced in order to achieve better learning, and
involvement increases when students give feedback to each other’s performances (Gower et al.
1995). Also, peer feedback takes the focus away from teachers and thus initiates a transfer of
roles from teachers to learners.


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Finally, since peer correction offers opportunities to the students to be responsible for
their own learning, it is also advocated by the practitioners who believe in learner autonomy.
Ágota Scharle and Anita Szabó (2000) have strongly suggested peer feedback to be applied for
checking, especially, students’ written work. They have provided an outline of how it can be
applied in classroom; once students finish writing, the teacher gives one essay (or any written
work) to each student and students are asked to evaluate each other’s work. They correct the
errors and send notes to the respective authors about what they have corrected.
Although peer feedback is largely welcomed for its cognitive, social and affective

values, many of the teachers as well as students still doubt the benefits of it. This technique has
caused some of the following problems:
Firstly, some students might feel reluctant to correct their friends’ errors because
correcting friends’ errors might harm their relationship. In Nelson’s study (1996), the Chinese
students have been found to have reserved critical comments to maintain “group harmony”.
Secondly, Harmer (2004) anticipated a possible problem with peer correction. The
student, after getting corrected by a peer, might feel that he/she is inferior to his peers. In such
cases, students prefer to be gently corrected by the teacher.
Thirdly, students might feel reluctant about giving their work to their peers for
correction because they do not want their classmates to know about their errors. To such
students’ minds, peer correction exposes them to the community and therefore, it affects their
self-esteem.
Finally, Macdonca and Johnson (1992) have found that students sometimes do not
appreciate their peers’ knowledge; therefore, they do not revise their written works based on
their friends’ feedback, but the same comments coming from their teachers are taken into
consideration while revising.
In conclusion, there is evidence to consider peer correction as a technique which is not
an absolute “good thing” to do in class. Problems might occur when peer correction does not suit
the learners or not applied in a proper way. Therefore, it has to be done carefully, and this also


11
urges the researcher to conduct this study in order to acknowledge learners’ attitudes towards
peer correction and to find a good way to apply this technique into practice.
2.2. Review of previous studies
In a study by Cheng and Warren (1995/96), fifty-two Hong Kong first year
undergraduates were given training in peer assessment and practiced peer assessment in group
projects such as oral presentations and written reports. The teacher was in charge of examining
all of the students’ assignments in order to make precise and proper evaluation. The researchers
have been interested in learners’ attitudes towards peer assessment. Specifically, the writers were

in favor of examining “general shifts in attitude before and after the exercise and whether
students' attitudes towards specific assessment criteria (language versus layout and presentation,
for example) differed significantly” (Cheng and Warren, 1996). The instruments of the study
consisted of pre and post questionnaires and interviews. In an attempt of better implementations
of peer assessment, the researchers were also eager to discover more closely the reasons behind
the learners’ attitude changes.
The study revealed that in spite of generally positive attitudes towards peer assessment,
the learners still doubted their objectivity and preciseness of their evaluation given to their peers.
The students also claimed that they had not received enough training in peer assessment, which
leads to “unfair and risky” evaluation to their peers. However, the findings of the study pointed
out “a positive shift overall” (Cheng and Warren, 1996) in the students’ both attitudes and
confidence.
In another qualitative research by Topping (1998), peer assessment was proven to be “of
reliability and validity in a wide variety of applications.” Furthermore, peer correction of writing
showed “positive informative effects on student achievement and attitudes.” The researcher also
stated that these effects were “as good as or better than the effects of teacher assessment.” For
example, peer assessment in writing was said to be widely used in several countries, and it was
noticed that the student “use their peer assessor’s critically and selectively.”
2.3. Conceptual framework of the study


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Attitudes

Attitudes in general

Language attitude

Instrumental

attitude

Integrative attitude

Peer correction in
writing

Questionnaire
adapted from
Burnett and Cavaye
(1980)

In order to conduct the study to discover the pre-intermediate learners’ attitudes towards
peer correction in writing, a widely-used and well-known questionnaire was adapted from a
study by Burnett and Cavaye (1980), which investigated one hundred and seventy-five
Australian students’ attitudes after participating in a peer assessment exercise. However, the
questionnaire was modified and adapted so that it would be suitable with the context of the
University of Science in Vietnam.


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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1. Research question
The aim of this study is to investigate pre-intermediate learners’ attitudes towards a
particular type of feedback – peer correction at University of Science Ho Chi Minh City. Thus,
the researcher focused on what students think about peer correction in English writing;
moreover, the researcher might be able to consider beneficial ways to apply this type of feedback
in teaching writing to pre-intermediate learners at University of Science Ho Chi Minh City.
The research design in this study is to answer the question:

What are pre-intermediate learners’ attitudes towards peer correction in English writing at
University of Science Ho Chi Minh City?
3.2. Research design
To conduct this study, the researcher used the quasi-experimental method based on an
adapted questionnaire from Burnett and Cavaye (1980) in order to collect data needed. Students
who are currently studying their second year at the university were selected and considered as
the subject and convenient sampling of the study. Considering the importance of teaching
English writing, it is of significance since the learners have to take a final examination which
includes a writing part. Therefore, teaching and learning how to write properly is crucial in this
particular context.
All of the chosen learners were to be doing six writing assignments in class for a period
of three months. Each of their writing assignments would be examined and corrected by a
different classmate. The peer corrector would be chosen randomly by the researcher to insure
that there is no bias or favouritism involved. However, in order to ensure the quality of the
correction, the researcher had to make proper corrections for each of the learners.
At the end of the semester, all of the students were given a questionnaire to complete. The
questionnaires were then to be collected afterwards by the researcher and the data would then be
processed by using the SPSS 18 software.


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Main researcher tools of this study consist of such instruments as mean, mode, frequency,
and standard deviation. These tools are well-known and popular for their important roles in
descriptive research.
3.3. Context of the study
According to the main website of the university, the history of the school is provided in
details. In 1977, after the unification of Vietnam, the University of Ho Chi Minh City was
created by the combination of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Letters. After several
reformations, the Faculty of Science became the University of Natural Sciences in 1996. It was
recognized as one of the five affiliated universities of the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi

Minh City. From 2007, the university was renamed as the University of Science. This university
is the public institution which plays an important role in education and scientific research in
southern Vietnam. Recently, the University of Science has featured the Laboratory of Stem Cell
Research & Application in order to support academic research and new technology in related
fields. Also, the Faculty of IT (FIT) has grown considerably in the last few years and is currently
sponsored by the government to become one of the key faculties of Information Technology in
HCMC and Vietnam.
As a teacher of English at one of the most popular universities in Vietnam, the researcher
is dedicated to teaching English in order to help the learners improve their knowledge, and other
skills. Moreover, new techniques in teaching are finding their ways to be applied for a better
quality of learning and teaching English. Nevertheless, the fact that the learner-centered
approach is now broadly accepted by many teachers all around the world has become an urge for
Vietnamese learners of English to follow the trend and be in charge of what they are learning in
the classroom environment. Therefore, such activities as peer correction should be employed,
especially in teaching English writing for its implementation in classrooms is to enhance learner
autonomy, cooperation, interaction and involvement.
As mentioned before, many studies on effectiveness of peer correction have been
conducted throughout the long history of education. Thus, this present study only focuses on the
attitudes of pre-intermediate learners at the university towards peer correction in English writing.
As a result, the researcher may find an appropriate way to apply this technique into the teaching


15
activity, especially teaching English writing, considering learners’ attitudes, adapting available
methods, and making necessary adjustments.
3.4. Participants
For the population of this study, the researcher chose forty students in a pre-intermediate
class at University of Science. They were chosen thanks to their convenient quality for sampling.
The students’ age is nineteen and they have been studying English for more than one year. The
relationship between the learners is considered well-built, which helps maintain a friendly

atmosphere during the lessons.
3.5. Research tools
Questionnaire is the central tool of this quantitative research through which questions are
answered by participants. The questionnaire is mostly based on a questionnaire used by Burnett
and Cavaye (1980) from a study of one hundred and seventy-five students in Australia who
participated in a peer assessment exercise.
However, the researcher has modified and added more questions in order to examine
learners’ attitudes thoroughly for this particular context. The questionnaire consists of three
parts. There are two questions in the first part which concerns personal information of the
learners. The next part is designed to investigate learners’ attitudes towards studying writing in
English, consisting of five questions. The third part further examines learners’ attitudes towards
peer correction in English writing, which includes twenty-one questions in total. This final part is
mainly based on Burnett and Cavaye’s questionnaire towards peer assessment collected and
analyzed from Australian students.
On the next stage of the study, the researcher has to describe the responses. In order for
the questionnaire to be both reliable and valid, it is important that the questions are constructed
properly. Questions should be written so they are clear and easy to comprehend. Another
consideration when designing questions is whether to include open-ended, closed-ended,
partially open-ended, or rating-scale questions (Jackson, 2009). Advantages and disadvantages
can be found with each type:


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Open-ended questions allow for a greater variety of responses from participants but are
difficult to analyze statistically because the data must be coded or reduced in some
manner. Closed-ended questions are easy to analyze statistically, but they seriously limit the
responses that participants can give. Many researchers prefer to use a Likert scale because it is
very easy to analyze statistically. (Jackson, 2009, p. 89)
According to Jackson, it is important to emphasize that descriptive research methods can
only describe a set of observations or the data collected. It cannot draw conclusions from that

data about which way the relationship goes; for example, does A cause B? or vice versa.
For all of the reasons above, the researcher has decided to provide only closed-ended
questions using a Likert scale since it would be easier for the students to fulfill the questionnaire,
and for the ease of statistical analysis.
3.6. Data collection procedure
The researcher chose a pre-intermediate class of forty English learners for this study,
conducting in the same classroom, under the same conditions of classroom environment, which
hopes to provide better accurate and valid answers for the data to be analyzed later. The activity
of peer correction follows the below diagram:

1st step

2nd step

3rd step

• The students receive their first writing assignment whose topic is
familiar to them, i.e. telling a story in the past.
• The students are randomly to receive one of their friends' writing and
make corrections based on their knowledge of English.

• The students receive the writing papers from their classmates, doing
correction for the papers, and then submit them to the teacher.

• The teacher has to check the learners' writing assignments in order to
ensure the quality of correction. Then, the students will receive their
final correction on the next lesson.


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During the three-month semester, the class had to fulfil six writing assignments, which
were free-writing style with six different topics. After collecting all the pieces of writing, the
researcher then distributed randomly to other students for peer correction activity. In order to
provide the learners with clear instructions on correcting their peers’ writing, the researcher
followed the guidelines which include the criteria that students would be examined on their final
test in writing. The guidelines consist of five parts. The first one takes grammar into
consideration. For example, the use of tenses in each writing topic should be appropriate and
accurate in the context. The second part concerns with the vocabulary or word choice, and
examining the spelling of the students. The third part is about the meaning of the writing
assignment, whether it is clear or not. The next criterion concerns with content of the writing,
checking whether the student focuses on the topic properly or not. The last part of the guidelines
considers about the linking words used in the writing, showing time expressions, contrasting
ideas, causes and effects and so on.
After completing correction for another friend’s writing, the students recollected their
writing with corrections from classmates. They had to submit their writing assignments to the
teacher afterwards. The teacher was to check the writing papers again in order to ensure accurate
corrections for the students. On the next lesson, all of those writing assignments would be
returned to the students. The last stage fell on the sixth lesson on which learners received an
attitude questionnaire which was designed to investigate their attitudes towards peer correction in
English writing.
3.7. Data analysis procedure
A descriptive research refers to calculations that are used to “describe” the data set. The
most common descriptive tools used are:
Mean – the numerical average of scores for a particular variable
Minimum and maximum values – the highest and lowest value for a particular variable
Median – the numerical middle point or score that cuts the distribution in half for a
particular variable


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Mode – the most common number score or value for a particular variable
The researcher used the SPSS 18 Software to process the data collected through the
questionnaire. From the descriptive instruments provided by SPSS, the result and discussion
were made afterwards.


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CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
In this chapter, the results of the data analysis process are to be presented. The data were
collected and analyzed in response to the research question. The findings are to identify learners’
attitudes towards peer correction in English writing at University of Science Ho Chi Minh City.
The participants consist of forty pre-intermediate learners of the faculty of Information
Technology at the school. The students have all completed an adapted questionnaire delivered by
the researcher. The questionnaire comprises of three sections and data generated will be
presented as follow:
The first section consists of two questions about personal information of the participants,
namely their genders, and how many years they have studied English.
The second section comprises of five questions, which were designed in order to examine
the learners’ attitudes towards studying writing in English.
In the third section, twenty-one questions were proposed in order to identify the learners’
attitudes towards peer correction in English writing.
In this research, descriptive statistical analysis is used to identify the frequencies and
percentages of twenty-eight questions in the questionnaire. As a result, the researcher will be
able to identify and to be acknowledged of the learners’ attitudes towards peer correction in
English writing at the university. Furthermore, discussions on the findings will also be
withdrawn in this chapter.
4.1. Personal information of the participants
The participants were asked to answer two questions relating to their personal
information, which are their genders and their experience in studying English. All of the

participants responded, which reached the percentage of one hundred. Among the forty
participants, there are eight females and thirty-two males, which counted as twenty percent and
eighty percent respectively.


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Table 1: Question 1 (What is your gender?)

Valid

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Male

32

80.0

80.0

80.0

Female

8

20.0

20.0

100.0

Total

40

100.0

100.0

As presented in the table, the female students of the class only account for twenty
percent, which is considered normal since the class major in Information Technology, a natural
science. The percentages of male and female participants are not significant since the study does
not examine the gender differences in their attitudes. Therefore, the imbalance of the two gender
is of no importance.

Table 2: Question 2 (How long have you been studying English?)

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent

Valid

more than 2 years

40

100.0

100.0

100.0

The second question in the first part is used to identify the experience in studying English
of the learners. Although they are all considered as pre-intermediate learners according to the
school classification, it is important to ensure that they have studied English for a certain time. In
this case, all forty participants have studied English for more than two years, which means that
they are acknowledge of grammar points and able to write a paragraph or a short story as
described in the school requirements for the learners. Moreover, the participants are sophomore


21
students, at the age of nineteen, so that they are believed to be able to give feedback and receive
corrections in an open and mature way.
4.2. Learners’ attitudes towards studying writing in English
According to the requirements from University of Science Ho Chi Minh City, the
learners’ final examination includes a writing section. Therefore, learning writing in English is

crucial for their exam in particular and for their studying progress in general. For these reasons,
the second part of the questionnaire aims at identifying learners’ attitudes towards studying
writing in English. However, this is not the main target of the research so it is not employed in a
detail way.
There are five questions concerning learners’ attitudes towards studying writing in
English, which were adapted from Burnett and Cavaye (1980) whose study related to one
hundred and seventy-five students in Australia participating in a peer assessment exercise. The
answers to these questions are to be analyzed and discussed so that the researcher will be
acknowledged of what the learners’ feelings towards studying writing in English are. As a result,
the researcher may seek an appropriate approach in teaching writing to the college students.

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics of the Second Section

I like studying English writing.

I try to write in English as
much as possible.

I am nervous when I have to
write in English.

N

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

Std. Deviation

40

1

5

3.35

1.075

40

1

5

3.07

.944

40

2

5

3.70

.758

22

I am afraid of writing in
English because I will make

40

2

5

3.47

1.109

40

1

5

2.67

1.095

mistakes easily.

I am afraid of writing in

English because my English
teacher will give bad scores
for my mistakes.

Valid N

40

As seen in the table above, the first two questions show that learners have considerably
positive attitudes towards studying writing in English, meaning that they are aware of the
importance and necessity of their studying. However, there is a number of students who are not
in favor of studying English writing, and that their willingness to practice writing in English is
not remarkable.
The next two questions indicate that the participants are not confident when they have to
complete a writing task. They are nervous and worried because they might make mistakes easily,
which is easily understood since these learners do not major in English, studying English as a
second language. However, their nervousness may be resulted from other reasons such as their
proficiency of English, not because of the mistakes they might be judged on. For instance, their
word choice or tense usage may be barriers that make them feel less confident when writing a
paper in English.
For the last question, the result shows that learners nowadays do not depend too much on
or in favor of high scores, which can be interpreted that they are more interested in getting the
experience and making progress in their studies. Concerning this matter, the researcher will be
able to provide them with more activities and learning techniques in order to interest the lesson
and the learners as well. For example, peer correction or checking the work in pairs can be


23
applied in other lessons such as reading, speaking or listening so that the students get more
involved, interested in the lesson and become more aware of their learning process.

4.3. Learners’ attitudes towards peer correction in English writing
The next section of the questionnaire focuses on learners’ attitudes towards peer
correction in English writing, which is also the concentration of the study. Twenty-one questions
are included in this section in order to examine the learners’ feelings and opinions before, during
and after practicing peer correction.

Table 3: Percentages of the answers for questions investigating learners’ attitudes
before practicing peer correction

I like reading my
friends' writing
papers.

I am comfortable

I like making

of my friends

correction on my

reading my

friends' writing

writing papers.

papers.

I think students

should have a
chance to practice
peer correction in
English writing.

Strongly disagree

2.5

2.5

5.0

2.5

Disagree

12.5

17.5

22.5

5.0

Neutral

32.5

40.0

32.5

30.0

Agree

37.5

35.0

37.5

45.0

Strongly agree

15.0

5.0

2.5

17.5

Valid N

40

24
The table above describes the percentages of the answers for four questions which were
designed to identify learners’ feelings and opinions towards peer correction in general. Most of
the learners generally feel content with practicing peer correction; for example, they feel
comfortable and interested in reading and correcting their friends’ papers. Furthermore, fortyfive percent agree that students should have more opportunities to practice peer correction in
English writing. Remarkably, more than seventeen percent of the students strongly agree with
the idea of more peer correction practice in English writing.

Table 4: Percentages of the answers for questions investigating learners’ attitudes
during practicing peer correction

Strongly

Strongly

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

5.0

20.0

47.5

25.0

2.5

5.0

10.0

30.0

55.0

0

7.5

22.5

40.0

30.0

0

2.5

15.0

30.0

47.5

5.0

disagree

agree

I think I am able to give
corrections

to

my

friends'

writing assignments.

I feel comfortable in doing
peer correction.

I think I can make fair and
correction comments in doing
peer correction.

I think I am willing to correct
my

friends'

writing.

mistakes

in