tailieunhanh - 7 colaborative writing in vietnamese secondary schools

Writing tends to be a neglected area in English language teaching at secondary schools in Vietnam. Among the reasons behind this trend lies an assumption that a good piece of writing is composed of grammatically correct sentences. Most hours of English instruction in Vietnamese schools, therefore, put a great emphasis on teaching abstract rules and fixed patterns. Such a structurally based approach to writing certainly plays a role in developing students’ language knowledge. However, learning to write should. | Taking a perspective that writing is a communicative act, the emphasis of the lesson is to draw students’ involvement in collaborative writing at different stages of the writing process. Group discussion to brainstorm the topic would likely generate a variety of ideas from which each individual could benefit and learn from their peer’s strengths. It also builds up students’ sense of teamwork when each member makes the highest quality contribution to the successful completion of the task. Drafting is accomplished individually based on the group’s selection of content and logical sequence of arguments with the help of the teacher as a facilitator or consultant. The revision stage includes whole-class feedback given by teacher on common problems in the first draft, followed by students giving comments on a peer’s first draft and the final revision. Peer-feedback activities allow for peer writer-reader interaction and help students refine their drafts by diagnosing their own mistakes with the help of a peer and a checklist on organisation, content and language use prepared by teacher. Learning through self-exploration and negotiation of meaning in the revision session will likely lead to students’ improvement in writing and establish a sense of taking responsibility for their own learning.