(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) promoting students’ interest in english speaking lessons by using group work for 11th grade at duong tu minh high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NÔNG THỊ THANH HUYỀN PROMOTING STUDENTS’ IN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

AT DUONG TU MINH HIGH SCHOOL

Tăng cường hứng thú của học sinh trong giờ nói Tiếng Anh bằng sử dụng hoạt động nhóm đối với học sinh lớp 11 tại trường THPT Dương Tự Minh

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

NÔNG THỊ THANH HUYỀN

PROMOTING STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS BY USING GROUP WORK FOR 11 TH GRADE STUDENTS

AT DUONG TU MINH HIGH SCHOOL

Tăng cường hứng thú của học sinh trong giờ nói Tiếng Anh bằng sử dụng hoạt động nhóm đối với học sinh lớp 11 tại trường THPT Dương Tự Minh

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: HÀ CẨM TÂM, PhD

Hanoi, 2014

DECLARATION

I certify that this thesis is entirely my own work I have provided fully documented references to the work of others The material in this research has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course of study

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Dr Ha Cam Tam for her generous assistance, enthusiastic guidance and constructive supervision throughout my research Dr Ha Cam Tam‟s enlightening suggestions and comments have shaped to a very large extent Without her help, this study would not have been completed

I would also like to send my sincere thanks to all teachers at Post - graduate Studies Department, ULIS – VNU who gave me interesting lessons and comprehensive knowledge

I am most thankful to students of class 11A4, Duong Tu Minh high school for their enthusiastic participation in the study

I am grateful to colleagues at Duong Tu Minh High School, my friends,

my classmates for their continued help and encouragement

Last but not least, I would like to thank my husband, my parents who always encourage me while the work was in process

Ha Noi, August 2014

Nong Thi Thanh Huyen

in class activities The students found working in groups interesting, which made them participate more in the lesson However, there were some problems the teachers should take into consideration when conducting these activities such as group size, the way of grouping, students‟ level of proficiency, and so on It is hoped that this thesis will help other teachers of English be aware of the effectiveness of group work and apply it in their teaching

TABLE OF CONTENS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OFCONTENT iv

Part A: INTRODUCTION 1

1.Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Hypothesis 2

5 Methods of the study 2

6 Organization of the study 3

Part B: DEVELOPMENT 5

Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5

1.1The importance of teaching speaking skills 5

1.2 Characteristics of a successful speaking lesson 6

1.3 Learners’ interest in learning languages 7

1.3.1 Concept of interest 7

1.3.2.Factors affecting students’ interest 7

1.4 Group work 9

1.4.1 Definition of group work 9

1.4.2 Types of group work 10

1.4.3 Group work activities … 11

1.4.4 The benefits of teaching and learning speaking English by group work 14

1.5 Organization of group work 15

1.5.1 Preparation for group work 15

1.5.2 Steps of organizing group work 17

Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 19

2.1 Hypothesis 19

2.2 Setting of the study 19

2.3 Participants of the study 19

2.4 Data collection instruments 19

2.5 Data collection procedure 21

Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 25

3.1 Students’ participation 25

3.2 “Learners talk a lot” 27

3.3 Students’ attitude in speaking lessons 33

Part C: CONCLUSION 1 Major finding 36

2 Limitations of the study 36

3 Recommendation for further study 32

4.Implications 37

REFERENCES: …38 APPENDIXES I

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English has become one of the most popular languages in the world today It is used widely in every field of society such as politics, business, international conference, education and everyday communication As a result, teaching and learning English play an important role in the development of the society However, it cannot be denied that teaching and learning English appear not to be really effective Students have difficulty using English in their work as well as in their daily life, which results in limitations in their work

To improve students‟ speaking skills, promoting their interests is reallyimportant in teaching and learning As we may know, teaching and learning are complex activities; the quality and effectiveness belong to the learners, and this also belongs to many factors such as awareness capacity, purposes of study, determination and other objective factors such as learning atmosphere, teachers and interests of the learners Among them, student interests play an important part in effectiveness of learning process When students are interested in learning, especially in speaking lessons, they will become more active and learn more effectively As a result, their speaking skills will improve

There are many ways to promote students‟ interest in English speaking classes, among them, group work, key features of learner- centered orientation- has received more emphasis because of a number of advantages it brings about Group work creates more opportunities for students to work with each other by exchanging their ideas and, therefore, learning so many things from their partners Participating in group work makes students confident and creative in learning English Group work also helps students

overcome shyness and make students are more interested in English speaking lessons as well as other English lessons

Being a teacher of English at Duong Tu Minh High School, the researcher is well aware of the importance of using group work to promote students‟ interest in English speaking lessons This led me to the choice of the

study “Promoting students’ interest in English Speaking lessons by using

group work” in the hope of finding the ways teachers organize group work to

promote students‟ interest in English lessons, especially in speaking lessons

so that we will achieve successfulness in teaching and learning It is also hoped that this study may offer the teachers of English at Duong Tu Minh High School ways on how to use group work in teaching more effectively

2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is to investigate whether the use of group work in English speaking lessons promotes students‟ interest and the difficulties that teachers and students face with when conducting this technique

3 Scope of the study

The study focuses on group work to promote students‟ interest in English speaking lessons, especially group work that was appropriate to 11th grade students in mountainous areas Group work in this study was tested with the participation of these students

4 Hypothesis

This study was set up to test the following hypothesis: “Group work helps promote students‟ interest in English speaking lessons.”

5 Methods of the study

Group work activities were designed and conducted on the students of grade 11 Data was collected through group work implemented by the students Data was also collected by photos and notes taking

6 Organization of the study

This study consists of three parts:

Part A, Introduction, presents rationale, aims, scope, hypothesis,

methods and design of the study

Part B, Development, consists of three chapters

Chapter 1 discusses the theoretical background relevant to issues of

the study The first section presents teaching speaking skills in general, the second section discusses the learners‟ interest in learning languages and the last section is the discussion of group work activity

Chapter 2 discusses the methodology of the study In this chapter, the

hypothesis, data collection instrument and data collection procedure are presented

Chapter 3 presents data analysis and findings show the results of the

research In this chapter, the author tried to find out the answers to the hypothesis

Part C, Conclusion, summarizes the key issues as well as the

limitations of the study and makes suggestions for further research

PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In the beginning, this chapter will present some theoretical background based on which the study will be carried out The first section discusses the speaking skill The second section presents the students‟ interest and the factors affecting their interest in speaking lessons Then group work activities

in language teaching and learning are discussed in the third section

1.1 The importance of teaching speaking skills

For many years, teaching speaking has been underestimated and English

teachers seem to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization

of dialogues

Nowadays, the world requires that the goal of teaching speaking should

improve students‟ communicative skills so that students can express

themselves with their new language

According to communicative language teaching, teaching speaking skills involves the use of language through different communicative activities When using communicative activities in speaking, it is very important to make sure that students feel comfortable and confident to participate in learning activities This makes students find it easy to discuss and share ideas with their partners Students should be given more chances to speak in class

so that they can attain mutual understanding and practice language

Communicative activities offer opportunities to improve speaking skills

as well as cognitive ability It is clear that successful communication is an integrated accomplishment When participating in communicative activities, students will become more active; have opportunities to interact with other In brief, communication activities can boost proficiency and greatly improve communicative competence

There are various definitions of speaking and the popular acceptance comes from Jones, R (1989: 86) who defines speaking as “Speaking is a form

of communication, so it is important that what you say conveyed in the most effective way” Chaney states that “ speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non- verbal symbols, in a variety of context” (Chaney, 1998, p.13)

As for Ur(1996) , people who know a language are referred to as

“speakers” of that language as if speaking includes all others kinds of knowing Florez claims that speaking is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving.” (Florez, 1999) To help students to become “speakers” of a new language, it is important for language teachers to pay attention to teaching speaking skills rather than leading students to memorization The teacher should give their students opportunities to practice language so that they can promote their language

Teaching speaking for students is very important because the goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency Students should be able

to make themselves understand what they said, using their current proficiency

to the fullest They can try to avoid misunderstanding in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to see the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation

In teaching English speaking, teachers may face many difficulties that prevent them from a good conduction such as: number of learners, types of learners, size of class, and types of materials Therefore, the teachers must

have a variety of techniques and procedures through which are suitable for students

1.2 Characteristics of a successful speaking lesson

According to Ur (1996), there are four characteristics of a successful speaking lesson The first characteristic is “learners talk a lot” This means that the amount of learning in a speaking lesson is correlated with the amount of talking by the learner Thus, the more time learners engage with in the course of a lesson, the more language they can obtain, so learners speaking time makes a speaking lesson successfully

The second characteristic that he mentions is “participation is even”

He means that classroom discussion should not be dominated by a minority of

talkative participants All students should have opportunities to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed It is clearly that a successful speaking lesson must provide opportunities of speaking to all learners with different levels

“Motivation is high” is the third characteristic of a successful speaking activity Learners are eager to speak because they are interested in the topic, they find the topic is familiar and want to talk about it and they want to contribute to achieve the task objective The activities that teachers design should make learners have a high motivation Brown (1994) states that it is when students‟ learning styles are matched with appropriate approaches in teaching that their motivation, performances, and achievements will increase and be enhanced Nunan (1989) points out that accommodating learners‟ needs and preferences is vital in designing a learner-centered curriculum Understanding of students‟ preferred way of learning helps the teacher not only to alter his or her teaching style but also to diversify classroom tasks or activities to accommodate different learning style

The last characteristic is “Language is of an acceptable level” Ur means

that learners express themselves with suitable language, easily comprehensible to each other To help learners get success in speaking, the teacher should choose the suitable topics for learners so that learners can express their own ideas with their vocabulary, experience and knowledge Besides, the teacher should provide relevant information, vocabulary and structures related to the topic before organizing the activity so that all learners are willing to participate in speaking

1.3 Learners’ interest in learning languages

1.3.1 Concept of interest

Ellis (1994) (cited in Keller, 1984) states that interest is one of the main elements of motivation and a positive response to stimulate based on existing cognitive structures in such a way that learners‟ curiosity is aroused and sustained In other words, interest shows learners‟ desire to learn the target language It can be seen that students who are given opportunities for communication will be eager to talk to share information with others

Ellis (cited in Dickinson, 1987) also points out that “interest is engendered if learners become self-centered” This means they are able to determine their learning objectives, choose their own way of achieving these, and evaluate their own progress In this case, students have the desire to talk

or to ask for information They want to know and try to talk it through to achieve their goals

1.3.2 Factors affecting students’ interest

There have been some studies on the factors affecting students‟ interest

in learning a foreign language so far Some factors such as language level, learner level, learning situation level were stated by Dornyei (2001) and

internal and external factors stated by Williams and Burnden (1997) Although researchers have had some different views in this issue, they all have come to an agreement with a list of common factors affecting students‟ interest These factors can be divided into three main factors: Students‟ motivation, teaching techniques of teachers and teachers‟ personalities

Motivation is an important factor that leads to students‟ success in

learning in general, and in learning language in particular And when students have their own motivation they will have interests in learning So what is

motivation?

According to Littlewood (1998), “motivation is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual‟s drive and need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience that make up her motivation In other words, motivation is both intrinsically and extrinsically- originated.”

Intrinsic motivation is a type of motivation that plays an important role

in most learners‟ second language learning success For many learners, the purpose for learning a different language is the "interest in the culture and the

target language group" or the "positive attitudes towards the target language group" while for some others it is the interest in learning tasks Teaching

methods and learning activities can attract them, arouse and maintain their interest in doing the tasks In short, intrinsic motivation "Involves the arousal and maintenance of curiosity and can ebb and flow as a result of such factors

as learners' particular interests and the extent to which they fell personality

involved in learning activities."

While Extrinsic motivation derives from the influence of some kinds of

outside indicators, including the influence of the teacher, the learner's desire

to please significant people or their wish to succeed in an external exam, or

peer group influence, which are different from the wish to learn for its own sake or interest in learning tasks

Teaching techniques of teachers is considered one of the main factors

that affect students‟ interest According to the new methods of teaching, the teachers no longer played the role of the knowledge provider and the students were the passive knowledge receivers, the teaching techniques is really important to guide students in their learning process and different teaching techniques create different degrees of students‟ participation and interest in the lesson

The last factor that I would like to mention is teachers‟ personal qualities So as to draw students‟ attention and interest, teachers should make students trust and feel comfortable when they participate in speaking lesson Barry (1993) points out some characteristics a teacher should have The necessary characteristics are being natural, being warm, being pleasant, and being tolerant

Being natural means the relationship between him and his students will

be closer, if the teacher behaves naturally, which promotes students‟ interest

in the lesson Being warm is when the teacher considers students as his friends Students therefore will find it easy to express themselves in the lesson Being pleasant will make the classroom‟s climate comfortable and interesting, which increases students‟ motivation and participation Being tolerant that Barry mentions is when the teacher is and patient with all students so as to stimulate all students to participate in the lesson

1.4 Group work

1.4.1 Definition of group work

There are a lot of definitions about group work, but here I would like to review some typical definition of group work According to Adrian Doff

(1988: 137), group work is a process in which “the teacher divides the class into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), all the groups work at the same time” Rod Killen (2004) indicates that “Group work occurs when you ask two or more students to work together.”

Clearly, group work is a co-operative activity, during which students share aims and responsibilities; moreover, they have chance for greater independence as they take some of their own learning decisions, without the teacher controlling every move Also they can work without the pressure of the whole class listening to what they are doing They learn to listen to different opinions They feel free to experiment and use the language, and the most important thing is that they have many chances to interact with each other

1.4.2 Types of group work

Davis (1993) divides group work into 3 types; they are informal learning groups, formal learning groups and study teams The three types of group work should be applied in teaching properly to get great effectiveness

Informal learning groups are temporary clustering of the students with

a single class session Informal learning groups can be initiated, for example,

by asking students to turn to partners and spend several minutes discussing a question the teacher has raised The teacher can also form groups of three or five to solve a problem Informal learning groups can be organized at anytime

in a class of any size to check on students' understanding of the material, to give students an opportunity to apply what they are learning, or to provide a change of pace Informal learning groups have a short lifetime ranging from a few minutes to the class period With informal learning groups, the tasks are

generally created quickly, for example, the teacher may say “discuss the questions with your partners” and have little explanation

Formal learning groups are teams established to complete a specific

task, such as perform a lab experiment, write a report, or carry out a project These groups may complete their task in a single class session or over several weeks Typically, students work together until the task is finished and their work is graded Formal learning groups can last several days or several weeks They require more planning They also have greater explanation

Study teams are long- term groups (usually existing during the course

of a semester) with stable membership whose primary responsibility is to provide members with support, encouragement, and assistance in completing course requirements and assignments Study teams serve a broader purpose They last the entire semester (or even several semesters)

From the above definitions of group work types, the term "group work activities" used in this thesis belongs to the first type- informal learning groups It means that students are required to work in groups of three to five

to do a specific speaking tasks set in the textbook, English 11 The speaking tasks in this book are designed to develop students' communicative competence Group work activities are often conducted and last about ten minutes to fifteen minutes

1.4.3 Group work activities

According to Hayriye Kayi (2006), there are nine main group works activities that can be used to promote students‟ speaking skills

a Discussion: A discussion can be held for various reasons, after a

content-based lesson The students may aim to arrive at a conclusion, share ideas about an event, or find solutions in their discussion groups Before the discussion, it is essential that the purpose of the discussion activity is set by

the teacher In this way, the discussion points are relevant to this purpose, so that students do not spend their time chatting with each other about irrelevant

things

b Role play: In role play Students pretend they are in various social

contexts and have a variety of social roles In role-play activities, the teacher gives information to the learners such as who they are and what they think or feel Thus, the teacher can tell the student that “You are David, you go to the doctor and tell him what happened last night, and…” (Harmer, 1984)

c Simulations: are very similar to role-plays but what makes

simulations different than role plays is that they are more elaborate In simulations, students can bring items to the class to create a realistic environment For instance, if a student is acting as a singer, she brings a microphone to sing and so on Role plays and simulations have many advantages First, since they are entertaining, they motivate the students Second, as Harmer (1984) suggests, they increase the self-confidence of hesitant students, because in role play and simulation activities, they will have

a different role and do not have to speak for themselves, which means they do

not have to take the same responsibility

d Information gap: is the activity that students are supposed to be

working in pairs One student will have the information that other partner does not have and the partners will share their information Information gap activities serve many purposes such as solving a problem or collecting information For example, filling in the gaps in a schedule or timetable (Partner A holds an airline timetable with some of the arrival and departure times missing Partner B has the same timetable but with different blank spaces The two partners are not permitted to see each other‟s timetables and must fill in the blanks by asking each other appropriate questions These

activities are effective because everybody has the opportunity to talk

extensively in the target language

e Brainstorming: gives students opportunities to produce ideas in a

limited time Depending on the context, either individual or group brainstorming is effective and learners generate ideas quickly and freely The good characteristic of brainstorming is that the students are not criticized for

their ideas so students will be open to sharing new ideas

f Storytelling: is the activity that students can briefly summarize a tale

or story they heard from somebody beforehand, or they may create their own stories to tell their classmates Story telling fosters creative thinking It also helps students express ideas in the format of beginning, development, and ending, including the characters and setting a story has to have Students also can tell riddles or jokes For instance, at the very beginning of each class session, the teacher may call a few students to tell short riddles or jokes as an opening In this way, not only will the teacher address students‟ speaking

ability, but also get the attention of the class

g Interviews: get students to conduct interviews on selected topics with

various people It is a good idea that the teacher provides a rubric to students

so that they know what type of questions they can ask or what path to follow, but students should prepare their own interview questions Conducting interviews with people gives students a chance to practice their speaking ability not only in class but also outside and helps them becoming socialized After interviews, each student can present his or her study to the class Moreover, students can interview each other and “introduce” his or her

partner to the class

h Playing cards is the game that students can form groups of four

Each suit will represent a topic, for instance, Diamonds: Earning money,

Hearts: family, Spades: personal experiences, Clubs: jobs in the future Each student in a group will choose a card Then, each student will write 4-5 questions about that topic to ask the other people in the group However, the teacher should state at the very beginning of the activity that students are not allowed to prepare yes-no questions, because by saying yes or no students get little practice in spoken language production Rather, students ask open-ended questions to each other so that they reply in complete sentences

e Picture Describing: another way to make use of pictures in a

speaking activity is to give students just one picture and having them describe what it is in the picture For this activity students can form groups and each group is given a different picture Students discuss the picture with their groups, and then a spokesperson for each group describes the picture to the whole class This activity fosters the creativity and imagination of the learners

as well as their public speaking skills

1.4.4 The benefits of teaching and learning speaking English by group work

- Increase in the amount of student practice: When students work in group

they have more chances to practice Group work dramatically increases students talking time and students‟ participation

- Increase in the students’ confidence: Students, who are shy of speaking in

front of the whole class, or to the teacher, often find it much easier to express themselves in front of a small group For teachers, because there are more than two people in a group, there is a greater chance of different opinions and varied contributions than in working individually or in pairs, it frees the teacher from her traditional role of “an expert who always lectures” and allows her to wander freely round the class, leading and encouraging discussion, giving help where needed.(Harmer, 1999: 116)

- Mutual help: Group work encourages students to share ideas and

knowledge In a class, there are always weak and strong students, so working

in groups, students can learn from each other a lot It recognizes the old maxims that “two heads are better than one”, thus promoting learner cooperation (Adrian Doff, 1988: 144)

1.5 Organization of group work

1.5.1 Preparation for group work

In order to prepare for group work, according to Felisa Tibbits from Harvard University, the teacher needs to do the following to make an effective group work

First, the teacher should select suitable activity for students An activity that is best suited for group work need to meet some necessary criteria: The activity has multiple tasks that can be shared among group members or a single task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the participation of all individuals within a group, the activity involves problem solving and discussion and examples of activities that may be suited for group work are investigations of materials (newspapers, scientific specimens) and development of ideas or arguments

Second is the preparation of the materials The teacher will need to personally collect, or organize students to collect, physical specimens for investigation For example, if the teacher anticipates doing a lesson on the role of the media, she or he might ask the students to bring in to class newspapers and magazines There should be materials sufficient for each group

Third, size and selection of group should be prepared with consideration when organizing group work Generally, group size normally ranges between 3-5 students Group size can sometimes go larger although groups larger than

8 do not ensure that everyone will participate Since groups often report their

work back to the whole class, teachers also take into account the total number

of groups within the class

Group member can be determined in different ways A random selection might be done by “counting off” with students In a non random selection, groups will be selected based on the teachers‟ prior knowledge Usually, groups are selected to maximize diversity within the group, since diversity enhances learning Such groups often have a balance of girls and boys, and students with differing ability levels Teachers can also use their best judgment about personality mixes that would enhance the work of the group

Sometimes groups are organized only for one activity Other times, teachers use the same small groups for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with one another If the tables and chairs cannot be moved for group work, then students can form groups by turning around in seats to face their partners behind

Finally, group work timing should be suitable for each activity It is necessary for the teacher to anticipate student questions about, the task results, timing, sharing with the whole group, and so on After giving clear instructions to the students, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not interfere with the groups‟ activities

It is common in many classrooms that a small group activity constitutes

20 minutes of a 40 minute- period, with 10 minutes allowed for sharing small group work with the whole class Usually the results of the small group work are shared with the class This sharing can be oral (reporting out), visual (written or graphic representation), or both

It cannot be denied that to conduct a group work activities, teachers should have good preparation from beginning to end so that group work activities become effective and gain successfulness

1.5.2 Steps of organizing group work

Harmer (1991) divides group work organization into 3 steps : before activities, during activities and after activities In this part I will discuss more about them

In the before activities, the teacher should make students feel

enthusiastic about what they are going to do They need to understand what they are going to do, and when they have to finish the task they are going to take part in Teacher‟s instructions should be clear to students so that they understand what to do and how to do in the task The important thing about instructions is that the students should understand and agree on what the task

is To check students‟ comprehension teacher may ask them to repeat the instructions, or, in monolingual classes, to translate them in to their first language

In the during activities, while students are working in groups the

teachers have a number of options They could, for instance, stand at their convenience in the classroom and keep an eye on what is happening, noting who appears to be stuck, disengaged, or about to finish In this position teacher can „tune in‟ to a particular group from some distance away The teachers can then decide whether to go over and help that group An alternative procedure is to go round the class watching and listening to specific groups

When students are working in groups the teacher has an ideal opportunity

to work with individual students whom they feel would benefit from their

teachers‟ attention They also have a great chance to act as observer, picking up information about students‟ progress

After activities happen when groups stop working together the teacher

needs to organise feedback The teacher wants to let them discuss what occurred during the group session and, where necessary, add their own assessments and make corrections

Where groupwork has formed part of a practice session, our feedback may take the form of having a few groups quickly demonstrate the language they have been using The teachers can then correct it, if and when necessary, and this procedure will give both those students and the rest of the class good information for future learning and action

Finally, it is vital to remember that constructive feedback on the content of student work can greatly enhance students‟ future motivation The feedback the teachers give on language mistakes is only one part of that process

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter will discuss the design of the study to test the hypothesis outlined below It begins with the presentation of hypothesis, setting of the study, participants, data collection instrument and finally the data collection procedure

2.1 Hypothesis

As mentioned in the first part of the study, this study is aimed at testing the following hypothesis: Group work helps promote students‟ interest in English speaking lessons

2.2 Setting of the study

The study was conducted at Duong Tu Minh High School, in Thai Nguyen province At our school, English is taught as a compulsory subject for students There are three levels of English: English 10, 11 and 12 The students have English lessons during the first term and second term of the school year

2.3 Participants of the study

The study was conducted on 20 non-English-major students from grade

11, Duong Tu Minh High School The students were of different English competence Some of them have learned English for 5 years, while some have learned for 9 years In general, most of the students were at the elementary level of English and only a few of them at intermediate level Most of them can do grammar exercises very well but they have difficulties in mastering four language skills Among the four skills, they find speaking especially important but most difficult one That is the reason why most of students were bored and unmotivated in speaking classes

2.4 Data collection instruments

Five group work activities were designed as the data collection