Besides, teacher with teaching experience of ourselves,observe, talk to friends and colleagues in and outside of schools to choose andorganize students to work in pair and group for suit
Trang 1Nowadays English has become more and more important part in Vietnamand it is an international language Therefore, it has been taught in Vietnam fromprimary schools to high schools as a compulsory subject In English teaching,the main objective is to prepare students for communication in the real worldand it is very important for a learner to efficiently equip himself with four skills:
Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, together with relatively sufficientbackground knowledge Among those skills, speaking is a crucial part oflanguage learning The mastery of speaking skill in English is a priority formany second or foreign language learners
The goal of education is currently focused on the development ofdynamic, the creative and active of students enable them to identify and solveproblems So the application of traditional methods - centered teachers - are notsuitable for the development of education The innovation of teaching andlearning method is affirming the advantages in the process of receiving lessons
of students In fact, the last aim of learning foreign language is to communicate
So in the period of learning, students don’t speak much, there is no effect in thatperiod Foreign language teachers need to take advantages all chances to suggeststudents practising speaking more than other subjects Therefore, the foreignlanguage period is very different from other subject periods Students are alwayswilling to speak They speak a lot and understand what other people speak, theycan reach the aims of learning foreign language
With many years of experience in teaching English at Nguyen Quan Nhohigh school, I found that most students are lazy in giving ideas and answeringthe questions If the teachers apply traditional teaching methods in the lessons,students will be more and more passive in learning So, through the form pairsand groups can support forms of work or working class individual The trainingactivities in pairs, two - way nature of the group, strengthening the exchange ofinformation over the student or give the activities of communication practiced inclass so students can communicate in confidence English To achieve this goal,teacher should study the content of each lesson in the textbook, study subjectsand suitable students Besides, teacher with teaching experience of ourselves,observe, talk to friends and colleagues in and outside of schools to choose andorganize students to work in pair and group for suitable lessons, with cognitiveabilities of the children and attract their attention, giving the atmosphere morelively lessons, relieved stress to promote the initiative and creativity of students
Trang 22 AIMS OF THE STUDY
The study is aimed at:
- The research firstly aims to introduce pair work and group work and to show the advantages of working in pairs and groups
- The research secondly aims to show how to organize pair and group work
effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise
- The research thirdly aims to show how pair and group work can be used for various classroom activities
- The research lastly aims to give teachers confidence in using pair and group work themselves
With this study, I put focus on investigating and discovering obstacles ordifficulties encountered by students in English speaking lessons at Nguyen QuanNho high school From these findings, the internal and external causes areanalyzed to give some suggestions for tackling them in order to motivatestudents and help improve students’ speaking competence by using pair workand group work
The study was conducted on the students of grade 11 at Nguyen QuanNho high school with the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11”
4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study is carried out to find the answer to the following questions:
1 How often are pair work and group work applied in English speaking
In order to get the goals of the study, I used some methods such as:
1 Observation method: The subjects performed self-exploration research project conducted classroom visits, attended colleagues’ lessons
2 Experimental methods: Teachers teach test conducted on each specific purpose requires some speaking lessons
3 Investigation method: Teachers ask questions to check understanding content assessment of the students’ lessons
UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com
Trang 3II DEVELOPMENT
Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century
The period from the 1950s to the 1980s has often been referred to as “The Age
of methods”, during which a number of quite detailed prescriptions for languageteaching were proposed and each method has in turn fallen out of favor and hasbeen replaced with a new one Since the 1960s, there has been an increasingattempt in research on teaching and learning and types and quantities of therelative amount of participation by the teacher and students (Chaudron, 1993)
Pair work and group work started getting attention of educationist in the1970s In 1970s educationists were concerned about increasing teacher talkingtime in language classes During the 1980s and 1990s the development ofcommunicative language teaching brought an important change in the role ofstudents (Nunan & Lamb 1996) Working together is worthwhile as “pair andgroup work immediately increase the amount of students talking time” (Harmer,1991) Researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative inlearning learn more things and learn better than those who sit at the feet ofteachers passively waiting to be taught (Knowles as cited in Hedge, 2000)
Researchers reported that it is a source of intrinsic motivation for students asworking in groups is fun for them It provides the students with the opportunity
to communicate with each other to share “suggestions, insights, feedback aboutsuccesses and failures” Researchers also claim that a teacher’s dominance inclass makes it dull and it kills the students’ interests (Kundo & Tutto, 1989)
1.2 Review of theoretical background 1.2.1 An overview of language teaching and learning 1.2.1.1 Definitions of language teaching and learning
"Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learners tolearn, setting the conditions for learning" Foreign language learning, like othersubjects, is part of the overall development of all students Through learning aforeign language, the students can enrich their experience of life, broaden theirworld vision, and enhance their thinking skills Language learning is mosteffective when students' interest, motivation and attitudes are taken intoconsideration Therefore, evaluation should be summative and formative anddesigned and administered to encourage the learners rather to frustrate them Itshould be carried out in terms of what students can do rather than what theycannot do
1.2.1.2 The goal of teaching speaking
In the book Language Learning Strategies by Rebecca L Oxford, shewrites: "A more practiced eye, a more receptive ear, a more fluent tongue, amore involved heart, a more responsive mind are the characteristics we want to
Trang 4stimulate in students to enable them to become more proficient languagelearners." In other words, the goal of teaching speaking skills is communicativeefficiency Learners should be able to make themselves understood, using theircurrent proficiency to the fullest They should try to avoid confusion in themessage due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to observethe social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation.
Besides, the nature of the new teaching theory is promoting a positive,creative initiative of students, student is the subject of learning activities, teacherorganizes and guidances to students receiving new knowledge, language trainingthrough a variety of communication forms such as personal activities, pair work,groupwork In the teaching process, to promote actively the activities of thestudent pairs, it is a form of good group learning activities Through this form oflearning conditions they have presented, discussed and expressed their thoughtsabout the information about lessons that they understand The information ofeach student can be right or may be wrong part Through pair and group, theyreturned to their teacher Since then teacher can know their understanding Thisprocess is taking place in accordance with the two-way relations In terms oflearning theory, this is a dialectical relationship Working in pairs and in group
is to practise the students' skills, thoughts and expression when they want topresent their ideas before a class Through this activity, the skills of listening,speaking, reading and writing of students are improved better
1.2.2 An overview of speaking 1.2.2.1 Definitions of speaking
Speaking is one of the four language skills (reading, writing, listening andspeaking) It is the means through which learners can communicate with others
to achieve certain goals or to express their opinions, intentions, hopes andviewpoints In addition, people who know a language are referred to as speakers
of that language Furthermore, in almost any setting, speaking is the mostfrequently used language skill As Rivers (1981) argues, speaking is used twice
as much as reading and writing in our communication
Speaking has usually been compared to writing, both being considered
"productive skills", as opposed to the "receptive skills" of reading and listening
Speaking also is closely related to listening as two interrelated ways ofaccomplishing communication Every speaker is simultaneously a listener andevery listener is at least potentially a speaker (Oprandy, 1994 & EL Menoufy,1997)
Speaking has been classified to monologue and dialogue The formerfocuses on giving an interrupted oral presentation and the latter on interactingwith other speakers (Nunan, 1989) Speaking can also serve one of two mainfunctions: transactional (transfer of information) and interactional (maintenance
of social relationships) (Brown and Yule, 1983)
UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com
Trang 51.2.2.2 The importance of speaking
Developing speaking skills is of vital importance in English foreignlanguage programs Nunan (1999) and Burkart & Sheppard (2004) argue thatsuccess in learning a language is measured in terms of the ability to carry out aconversation in the language Therefore, speaking is probably a priority for mostlearners of English (Florez, 1999) Speaking instruction is important because ithelps students acquire English foreign language speaking skills thus conversespontaneously and naturally with native speakers Furthermore, if the rightspeaking activities are taught in the classroom, speaking can raise generallearners' motivation and make the English language classroom a fun anddynamic place to be (Nunan, 1999 & Celce-Murcia, 2001) In addition,speaking can support other language skills Recent research has considered oralinteraction as an important factor in the shaping of the learner's developinglanguage (Gass & Varionis, 1994) For instance, it was proved that leraningspeaking can help the development of reading competence (Hilferty, 2005), the
development of writing (Trachsel & Severino, 2004) as well as the development
of listening skills (Regina, 1997)
1.2.3 An overview of pair work and group work 1.2.3.1 Definition of pair work
Pair work is learners working together in pairs One of the main motivations to encourage pair work in the English language classroom is to increase the opportunities for learners to use English in the class The teacher
devides the whole class into pairs Every student works with his or her partnerand all the pairs work at the same time The teacher walks around, listens andintervenes little if necessary
Example
The learners are answering comprehension questions in pairs after reading a text This allows them to compare answers, and clarify problems together using English In the classroom, teachers can evaluate the impact and effectiveness of pair work on their learners by using action research tools such as asking the learners how they feel about working like this or by actually participating in an activity in a pair and evaluating this experience afterwards.
1.2.3.2 Definition of group work
According to Giselle Konopka: Group work as defined as “as a method
of social work which help individual to enchance their social functioning through purposeful group experience and to cope more effectively with their personal, group and comminity problems”.
Group work is a form of voluntary association of members benefiting from cooperative learning, that enhances the total output of the activity than when done individually It aims to cater for individual differences, develop skills (e.g communication skills, collaborative skills, critical thinking skills),
Trang 6generic knowledge and socially acceptable attitudes or to generate conforming standards of behavior and judgement, a "group mind".
So, students work in small groups (of four or five) on tasks that entailinteraction: conveying information, for example, or group decision making Allthe groups work at the same time The teacher walks around listening,intervenes little if necessary
1.2.4 The advantages, problems and solution to the problems
For certain types of activity, pairwork and groupwork have number ofadvantages over working with the whole class together Teachers should thinkwhat the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved inpairwork, groupwork and the solutions for these
1.2.4.1 Advantages
- Students feel secure, confident
* More language practice
Pairwork and groupwork give students far more chance to speak English
For example, students are give an exercise of making sentences (question &
answer), working in pair, each student makes as many sentences as they can Ifthe exercise were done, round the class, students would only say one sentenceeach, and in a large class many students would say nothing at all
* Student are more involved
Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students and otherswould lose interest if they are conducted with the whole class together Working
in pairs and groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate
on the task
* Students feel secure
Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when theyare on show in front of the whole class Pairwork and groupwork can help shystudents who would never say anything in a whole class activity
* Students help each other
Pairwork and groupwork encourage students to share indeas andknowledge In a reading actictivity, students can help each other to explore themeaning of a text, in a discussion activity, students can give each other newideas
1.2.4.2 Problems and solution to the problem
- Noise
UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com
Trang 7* Solution to the problem
- Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it ismore noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in the nextroom
- The noise created by pairwork and groupwork is usualy”good” noise Students useEnglish or engage in a learning task Teacher should stop the activity when most groups or pairs havefinished or prepare a “reserve” task to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected
* Students make mistakes
During a pair and group activity, the teacher can not control all the language used, and should not try to do so
* Solution to the problem
When doing cotrolled language practice in pairs and groups, the number
of mistakes can be reduced by:
- Giving enough preparation, the activity can be done with the whole class first, and pair work used for final stage
- Checking afterwards The teacher can ask some pairs and groups what they said, and then correct mistakes if necessary
* Difficult to control class
The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pairwork and groupwork than in normal class
* Solution to the problem
To stop activities getting out control, it is important to:
- Give clear instructions about when to start, what to do and when to stop
- Give clearly defined tasks which don’t continue for too long
- Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs and groups, and know exactly what to do
1.2.5 Organizing pair work and group work 1.2.5.1 Pair and group work depends on some extents
The success of pair and group work depends on some extents:
- The surrounding social climate
- How habituated the class is to using it
- The selection of an interesting and stimulating task whose performance is well
within the ability of the pair and group
[More immediately, it also depends on:
- Effective and careful organization
UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com
Trang 81.2.5.2 Organization steps
The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial If the students do not understand exactly what they have to do, there will be time- wasting, confusion, lack of effective practice, possible loss of control Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily and in monolingual classes, you may find it cost - effective to explain some or all in the students “mother tongue” It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing the class into groups and a preliminary rehearsal, dry run of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things If your students have already done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process, giving only brief guidelines It is mainly the first time of doing something with a class that such care needs to be invested in instructing.
* Process
Teacher goes from pair to pair, group to group, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful If you
do decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of:
- Helping students who are having difficultly
- Keeping the students using the target language (in manycases your mere
presence will ensure this!)
- Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent.
* Ending
Draw the activity to a close at a certain point Try to finish the activity while the sudents are still enjoying it and interested, or only just beginning to flag.
* Feedback
A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full- class interaction after the end of the group work Feedback onthetasks may take many forms:
- Giving the right solution, if there is one.
- Listening to and evaluating suggestions.
- Displaying the meterials the pairs/groups have produced and so on.
The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results Feedback on language may be integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later.
1.2.6 Some activities work in pairs and in groups effectively * Interview
UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com
Trang 9* Arrange the events in order
Arrange the events in order Teachers prepare the content of the lesson but not the order in the post The teacher asks students to work in pairs and groups and rearrangethe story Representatives of the pairs and groups to tell the story after arrangement.
* Free Role play
Role play or real situations in class Students work in pairs and groups
by role or character which they are assigned.
UNIT 1: FRIENDSHIP
Activity 1 Teacher gives out the network and people below and asks students to
work in pair to give the questions used to ask about the information in it todescribe their physical charcteristics
Objectives of activity : Students will be able to work in pair to describe the
physical characteristics of some people in the picture
Face(square,oval,round…)
Eyes(small, big,brown…)
Nose(straight, small,flat…)
Hair(long, shott,black…)
Describing people’sappearance
Lips(thin, full, heartshaped…)
Build(slim, thin,plump…)
Appearance(handsome,beautiful, )
Height(tall, short,medium…)
Trang 10*Suggested answers:
Eg: 1 Can you describe the boy in the picture?
Activity 2 Students work in groups Discuss and number the following
personalities in order of importance in friendship
Objectives of activity: Students will be able to understand some adjectives in
the book to order of importance in friendship
Trang 11UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com
Trang 12- caring - hospitable - modest
- Teacher divides the class into 3 groups and asks students to complete the network
Activity 3 Students work in pairs, one student plays the role of a journalist is
going to interview an other student to ask some questions about his/ her friend
Using the network and the information in activity 2
Objectives of activity: Students will be able to ask and answer some questions
to describe the physical characteristics and personalities of their friends
*Suggested answers:
A: What’s your best friend’s name?
A: When was she born? (How old is she?)
B: She was born in 2004 (She is 17 years old)
A: What does she look like?
B: She is very beautiful She is tall She has big eyes and long black hair
B: She is helpful and honest
A: What does she usually do in her free time?
B: She usually reads book in her free time?
B: They are reading and swimming
A: What subject does she like best?
B: She likes Maths best
A: How much time does she spend on Maths every day?
B: About an hour a day
UNIT 3: A PARTY
Activity 1: Warm up: Brainstorming: Types of parties.
Objectives of activity: Students will be able to talk about some kinds of parties
and revise the vocabulary on the topic party
UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com