MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY
MASTER’S THESIS OF TESOL
EFFECTS OF GROUP WORK ON WRITING SKILLS FOR
ETHNIC MINORITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN LAM DONG
Student’s name:
Lê Thị Bích Đào
Student’ code:
18110083
Class:
MTESOL18K3
Supervisor’s name:
Assoc. Prof. Dr.Pham Vu Phi Ho
DALAT, 2022
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY.................................................................. vii
RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS..................................................... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................... ix
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... x
APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... xii
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ............................................. xiv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1
1.1. Statement of the problem ................................................................... 1
1.2. Aims and Objectives of the Study ..................................................... 3
1.3. Research questions ............................................................................. 3
1.4. Scope of the study .............................................................................. 3
1.5. Significance of the study.................................................................... 4
1.6. Organization of the thesis .................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................... 6
2.1. Definitions of the Terms .................................................................... 6
2.2. Writing ............................................................................................... 6
2.3. Writing process .................................................................................. 7
2.3.1. Planning ....................................................................................... 7
2.3.2. Drafting ....................................................................................... 7
2.3.3. Editing ......................................................................................... 7
2.3.4. The final draft .............................................................................. 7
2.4. Group work ........................................................................................ 8
2.4.1. Definition of group work ........................................................... 8
2.4.2. Advantages of working in groups ............................................... 9
ii
2.4.3. Disadvantages of working in groups ......................................... 11
2.4.4. Group work in language learning .............................................. 14
2.4.5. Group work in EFL writing classrooms .................................... 15
2.5. Vygotskian Perspective underlying cooperative learning ............... 17
2.6. Previous studies on group work ....................................................... 17
2.7. Theoretical framework:.................................................................... 23
2.8. Summary .......................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .................................................................. 26
3.1. Research design ............................................................................... 26
3.2. Research site .................................................................................... 27
3.3. Research participants ....................................................................... 29
3.4. Research instruments ....................................................................... 30
3.4.1 Pre-tests and Post-tests ............................................................... 31
3.4.2 Semi-structured interview .......................................................... 32
3.4.3. The questionnaire: ..................................................................... 32
3.5. Data collection procedures............................................................... 33
3.6. Data analysis procedure ................................................................... 35
3.7. Summary .......................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................. 38
4.1. The impact of group work on students' writing performance .......... 38
4.2. Students' attitude towards collaborative learning in writing classes 41
4.3. Discussion ........................................................................................ 48
4.4. Summary .......................................................................................... 51
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .................. 53
5.1. Summary of the main findings of the thesis .................................... 53
5.2. Pedagogical implications ................................................................. 53
5.3 Limitations ........................................................................................ 54
iii
5.4. Recommendations for further research ............................................ 55
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 56
APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... 59
iv
The thesis entitled EFFECTS OF GROUP WORK ON WRITING
SKILLS FOR ETHNIC MINORITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN
LAM DONG
was successfully defended and approved on at Ba Ria Vung Tau University
Academic Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Vu Phi Ho
Examination Committee
1Assoc.Prof. Nguyen Huu Duc
Chair
2. Ph.D. Bui Thi Kim Loan
Reader 1
3. Ph.D. Nguyen Xuan Hong
Reader 2
4. Ph.D. Nguyen Huu The
Member
5.Ph.D. Dinh Lu Giang
Secretary Member
On behalf of the Examination Committee
Chair
(full name, title, signature)
v
BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY
POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE
BRVT, April 10, 2022
MASTER’S THESIS REPORT
Student name: LE THI BICH DAO
Sex: Female
Date of birth: 29/ 10/ 1977
Place of birth: Lam Dong
Province
Major: English Language
Student code: 18110083
I- Thesis title:
EFFECTS OF GROUP WORK ON WRITING SKILLS FOR
ETHNIC MINORITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN LAM DONG
II-Objectives and contents:
This study investigates the effect of group work on EFL learners in
writing performance at Lam Dong Minority Boarding school, and it
examines students’ attitudes towards the use of group work. The research
objectives are as follows:
• To determine the effects of group work on learners’ writing skill
at Lam Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding;
• To learn about students' perspectives toward group work at Lam
Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding's writing classes;
• To find out if there is any relationship between the writing
scores and the attitude towards group work.
vi
This study was conducted at Lam Dong Minority Boarding school in
Dalat, Lam Dong Province. The participants were 61 EFL high school
students who were in grade 11. In the hope to gain the results, I employed
the mixed-method: quantitative and qualitative, three instruments were put
in use: a quasi-experiment, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview
to obtain the data, both of which were exercised for the students.
III- Starting date:
IV- Completing date:
V- Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Pham Vu .Dr. Phi Ho
ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR
FACULTY DEAN
((full name, signature)
((full name, signature)
vii
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
This is to confirm that the material of this thesis is my own work, to
the best of my knowledge. This thesis is not for a degree or for any other
reason.
I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the result of my
own efforts, and that I have acknowledged all sources and aid received in
the preparation of this thesis.
I certify that I am the author of the Master's Thesis entitled:
EFFECTS OF GROUP WORK ON WRITING SKILLS FOR
ETHNIC MINORITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN LAM DONG
Dalat, April 2022
LÊ THỊ BÍCH ĐÀO
viii
RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS
I, LE THI BICH DAO, a candidate for the degree of Master of
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, hereby declare that I, as
a candidate for the degree of Master of Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages, accept the University's requirements for the retention and
use of Master's Theses deposited in the Library.
In accordance with these terms, I agree that the original of my Master's
Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for study and research
purposes, subject to the Librarian's customary rules for the care, lending, and
reproduction of theses.
Ba Ria Vung Tau, April 20, 2022
Signature …………………………….
LE THI BICH DAO
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take this time to thank a number of amazing individuals
who helped me complete this thesis by providing advice, support, and
encouragement.
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Assoc.
Prof. Dr. Pham Vu Phi Ho, my academic supervisor, who has been a
tremendous help to me, who spent a significant amount of time advising and
aiding me during my research. His patience, as well as his vast knowledge
of academic prowess and performance, are qualities I admire. I admire his
constant generosity in motivating and assisting me in completing this project.
His insightful comments and encouragement aided me in overcoming
obstacles in completing this thesis.
I owe a debt of appreciation to Mrs. Pham Thi Hong, the Principal of
Lam Dong Minority Boarding School, for allowing me to complete my
studies alongside the school's students.
In addition, I will never forget each and every one of the students who
took part in this research. Without their assistance, I would not have been
able to complete my thesis.
Finally, I want to thank my family. I owe a debt of gratitude to my
parents for their efforts in raising me and providing me with the opportunity
to pursue a career in academia. I am also grateful to my husband, my siblings
for their patience and unwavering love. They have been my biggest
supporters throughout the long, and at times tough, academic road I've taken.
LÊ THỊ BÍCH ĐÀO
x
ABSTRACT
In this study, the influence of group work on English as a Foreign
language as learners' writing performance at Lam Dong Minority Boarding
School was investigated, as well as the students' attitudes about group work.
The study included 61 students from Lam Dong Minority Boarding School in
Grade 11, who were separated into two groups: one experimental group and
one control group. A quasi-experiment was conducted in four weeks to solve
Research Question 1. To begin, both the control and experimental groups were
given a standardized pre-test, with the findings assessed. A standardized posttest was done once the data was analyzed. An independent sample t-test and a
paired sample t-test were performed to evaluate if there were any significant
differences in writing performance. A questionnaire and an interview in semistructured format with members of the experimental group were performed to
answer Research Question 2. To find out if there was any relationship between
the scores of writing performance post-test and identified cooperative learning
attitudes of the experimental group, the Pearson correlation coefficient was
used to measure the strength of a linear association between two variables to
answer the Research question 3. The study's findings revealed that group work
aided students in the experimental group in making progress in terms of English
writing abilities, they outscored students in the traditional learning group.
Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that the experimental group's students
had an optimistic attitude regarding group work in English as a Foreign
Language writing classes. The study also indicated that there was a very small
positive association between the experimental group's writing performance
post-test scores and their attitude survey score.
xi
Keywords: writing performance, group work, student’s attitudes, English as a
Foreign Language learners, experimental group, control group, the relationship
between group work and attitude
xii
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Pre-test and Post-test scores......................................... trang 62
Appendix B: Semi-structured interview questions ............................ trang 65
Appendix C: The questionnaire ........................................................ trang 66
Appendix D: Students’ answers from the semi-structured interview .............
.......................................................................................................... trang 69
Appendix E: T test and Independent Samples Test .......................... trang 73
xiii
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Figure 2.1. Framework for collaborative writing. ............................................. 24
Table 3.1. Control and Experimental group under treatments ......................... 36
Table 4.1. Pre-test descriptive statistics for control and experimental group 38
Table 4.2. Pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics for the control group ... 39
Table 4.3. Pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics for the experimental
group...................................................................................................................... 40
Table 4.4. Post-test descriptive statistics for control and experimental group . 40
Table 4.5. The attitude towards group work descriptive statistics ................... 44
Table 4.6. The Pearson R Correlation Analysis between the writing
performance scores and the attitude ................................................................... 46
Figure 4.1. Scatterplot of Correlation between GW attitude Survey Scores and
Writing performance Post-test score of the experimental group...................... 47
xiv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
EFL
English as a Foreign Language
GW
Group work
N
Number
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
In the contemporary world, people have a tendency to employ English
not only to overcome the language barrier but to serve different purposes in
their lives as well. English plays a significant role in economy, politics, and
even education. It is undeniable speaking skill takes the first priority in
learning a language. However, among four basic language skills for learners,
writing has been much taken into account currently because writing is a
productive, creative skill that connects other skills in the process of learning
languages, which ensure the language acquisition. Writing, in fact, is an
effective and essential means for learners to convey their views, strengthen
language knowledge. Hyland (2003) stated that performance in language
development is the process of writing skill. English learners do not only
speak the language but they also have to write down it on paper to exchange
email, report and so on.
1.1. Statement of the problem
To all English as a Foreign Language students, writing is a challenging
skill. Thorson (1996) believed that it was not easy for EFL students to master
writing skill because of their limited language vocabulary and knowledge. In
Vietnam, Pham (2013) also indicated that the students at his college could
not produce high quality writing papers due to the influence of Vietnamese
in depth.
Writing in groups is proved to bring back considerable effectiveness
by many international and national researchers. In the view of Doff (1988),
writing in groups is a learning activity in which two or more students deal
with a writing task and work together to solve it. Storch (2014) realized that
2
in the world, group work in writing classes outside the classrooms occurred
more often than that in the classrooms. Besides, according to Storch, group
work would be an excellent way for students to develop their academic
writing quality. The effectiveness of writing in group work is also pointed
out in his study and other studies Kim (2008), Dobao (2012), Inglehart et al,
2003; Lowry et al, 2004).
In Vietnam, writing in group is not a new teaching strategy which is
employed by instructors at almost colleges and universities but it is still
limited in use at high schools. In the high school English courses in Vietnam,
the goals of teaching writing are to facilitate students in writing about the
topics they have learned in the textbooks. Although there has been much
innovation in English Teaching Methodology, some teachers tried to instruct
their students in their own way. Consequently, the students particularly
ethnic minority students encounter numerous difficulties in writing in the
target language. Learners are often passive, even lose their motivation in
language learning. They report that it is difficult for them to pass the writing
tests. The answer to this problem might be the way that English is
traditionally taught.
As a teacher of English, who is aware of the fact and wishes to
motivate ethnic minority learners into writing skill by group work activity,
the researcher conducted this study to shed the light on the effects of group
work on learners’ writing skill, to identify their attitudes towards group work
in writing classes and find out if there is any relationship between the writing
scores and the attitude towards group work.
3
1.2. Aims and Objectives of the Study
Not only the impact of group work on students' writing abilities but
also the attitudes towards group work in writing classes at Lam Dong Ethnic
Minority Boarding were investigated in this study. The following are the
research's precise goals:
•
To determine the effects of group work on learners’ writing
skill at Lam Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding;
• To learn about students' perspectives toward group work at Lam
Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding's writing classes;
• To find out if there is any relationship between the writing
scores and the attitude towards group work.
1.3. Research questions
The following research questions must be answered in order to attain
the aforementioned goals:
1. To what extent, group work can contribute to improving high school
students’ English writing skill?
2. What are their attitudes towards using group work in writing classes?
3. Is there any relationship between the writing scores and the attitude
towards group work?
1.4. Scope of the study
The study aimed to examine to what extent group work can
contribute to improving high school students’ English writing skill at Lam
Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding school and the students’ attitudes towards
using group work in writing classes.
The study was managed at Lam Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding
school. Only activities involved in the writing skill of 61 students who were
4
learning English in grades 11, at Lam Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding
school were investigated in the study. The mixed-methods design was done
by examining writing skill and the students’ attitudes. Questionnaires and an
interview in semi-structured format were exercised to collect information.
To analyze data, SPSS version 26.0 and content analysis were employed.
1.5. Significance of the study
The study would confirm the functions of group work in writing to
EFL learners in general to students at Lam Dong Ethnic minority boarding
school in particular. Therefore, it is expected to bring about some advantages
to both teachers and students at Lam Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding School.
The researcher hopes that the students will raise their awareness of the
benefits of group work in their writing lessons to help each other to achieve
the common goals. Besides, it is hoped that the study will notify the teachers
at Lam Dong Ethnic Minority Boarding school to adjust their teaching
methods as well as organize some activities appropriately. Furthermore, this
study is also believed as a reliable source of reference for all researchers who
are concerned.
1.6. Organization of the thesis
The introduction, literature review, research methods, results and
discussions, and implications and conclusions are the five components of this
study report.
Chapter 1: The first chapter provides an overview of the study's
background, as well as a summary of the problem, as well as the study's goals
and objectives. Three research questions are an integral aspect of the
package. Finally, the thesis's breadth, significance, definitions of
terminology, and arrangement are all justified.
5
Chapter 2 : The literature review in Chapter 2 shows the knowledge
and theories linked to group writing activity. The definition and nature of
group work are hotly discussed. Aside from that, certain past research in both
the Vietnamese and international contexts that are relevant to the current
study are taken into account.
Chapter 3 : The methodology of the study is defined in Chapter 3,
which includes the research design process, a description of the research
setting, research stakeholders, research methods, data collection methods,
and data evaluation.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4 examines the data acquired from the
questionnaire and semi-structured interview in order to convey the study's
findings. The discussion of the findings also highlights counterparts and
differences with data from relevant studies.
Chapter 5: Chapter 5 offers the shortening of the core findings of
the studies, suggestions of the research, restriction of the research, and
exhortations for further research.
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