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Exploring the use of collaborative peer assessment through narrative and expository texts in the English language curriculum
Author
Sia, Alice Seng Poo
Supervisor
James, Joyce
Abstract
This study explores the concern of improving the learning of English Language through learning from assessment within the Singapore English Language (Secondary) Curriculum 2001. Premised upon the use of dialogue as instrumental to learning (Vygotsky 1962); learning as ‘a shared experience’ (Vygotsky, 1978; Bruner,1986 and 1990); and that language learning is ‘learning how to mean’ (Halliday, 1975 and 2004), it explores how participants could acquire meaningful language use through collaborative peer assessment.
The research questions addressed the nature of group learning in collaborative peer assessment as well as the potential benefits of collaborative assessment accrued to more mature learners in other studies. Through systematic random sampling, pupils in a class of thirty-four in a neighbourhood secondary school participated in the study for a semester. To control research effects, two other sessions were conducted in the last semester for the whole class with the seventeen participants functioning as group leaders. Text analyses of session recordings and learning logs were based on the theoretical framework of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (2004) and Butt (2001), with the occasional use of the Sinclair and Coulthard’s Discourse Analysis Model (1975, 1992).
Findings from text analyses, triangulated with findings from interviews and questionnaire, tend to suggest a positive relationship between the use of collaborative peer assessment and improved learning outcomes of deeper thought processing skills, team work and responsible learning. A t-test on the pre- and post-test scores also revealed that student assessors have benefited from an improved understanding of the text-types. Students, however, were found to be still dependent on the teacher for ready-made answers. The conclusion was the use of the pedagogy facilitated greater pupil-pupil collaboration and encouraged an attitude of learning from assessment.
The research questions addressed the nature of group learning in collaborative peer assessment as well as the potential benefits of collaborative assessment accrued to more mature learners in other studies. Through systematic random sampling, pupils in a class of thirty-four in a neighbourhood secondary school participated in the study for a semester. To control research effects, two other sessions were conducted in the last semester for the whole class with the seventeen participants functioning as group leaders. Text analyses of session recordings and learning logs were based on the theoretical framework of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (2004) and Butt (2001), with the occasional use of the Sinclair and Coulthard’s Discourse Analysis Model (1975, 1992).
Findings from text analyses, triangulated with findings from interviews and questionnaire, tend to suggest a positive relationship between the use of collaborative peer assessment and improved learning outcomes of deeper thought processing skills, team work and responsible learning. A t-test on the pre- and post-test scores also revealed that student assessors have benefited from an improved understanding of the text-types. Students, however, were found to be still dependent on the teacher for ready-made answers. The conclusion was the use of the pedagogy facilitated greater pupil-pupil collaboration and encouraged an attitude of learning from assessment.
Date Issued
2006
Call Number
PE1068.S55 Sia
Date Submitted
2006