An investigation into teachers perceptions and use of group work in english reading comprehension classes for grade 11 students at le hoang chieu upper secondary school in ben tre province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --- HO THANH TRUC AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF GROUP WORK IN ENGLISH READING

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

HO THANH TRUC

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF GROUP WORK

IN ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION CLASSES

FOR GRADE 11 STUDENTS

AT LE HOANG CHIEU UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

IN BEN TRE PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

HO THANH TRUC

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF GROUP WORK

IN ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION CLASSES

FOR GRADE 11 STUDENTS

AT LE HOANG CHIEU UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

IN BEN TRE PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: PHAM HOA HIEP, D.Ed

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

-

HỒ THANH TRÖC

ĐIỀU TRA VỀ NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC THỰC HIỆN HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG TIẾT ĐỌC HIỂU

BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 11

TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT LÊ HOÀNG CHIẾU, TỈNH BẾN TRE

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP

DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH

MÃ SỐ: 60140111

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS PHẠM HÕA HIỆP

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed

in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere

Author

Ho Thanh Truc

ABSTRACT

This thesis reports a study on the use of group work activities in teaching and learning English reading comprehension at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school

The data of the project were collected by means of questionaires and interviews The participants consists of eighty students in grade 11 class and five teachers of English at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school

The findings show that both teachers and students saw the benefits of group

work such as creating a relaxing learning environment, generating and sharing ideas, peer support and mutual learning, sharing responsibilities and promoting teamwork skills and so on Besides, they also reported some problems including lack of experience in cooperating and sharing responsibilities among students, inappropriate seating arrangement, and disagreements and conflicts among the group members

From the main findings, it is recommended that there must be the close- knit relationship between the teachers and the students Teachers must have good preparation for their teaching: various materials for lessons, suitable seating arrangement, clear instructions for every task requirement, close observation, and encouraging feedback Meanwhile, students must be active learners who are fully aware of their roles in the groups to positively participate in this activity

Secondly, I would like to thank all teachers and students at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school in Ben Tre for their kind participation in the study

Thirdly, I would like to send my deep gratitude to all lecturers and the staff

of Hue University, College of Foreign Languages for their useful materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my MA course

Finally, I am truly grateful to my dear family, who always stand with me in the difficult time

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sub cover page

Statement of authorship i

Abstract ii

Ackowledgements iii

Table of contents iv

List of abbreviations vii

List of tables viii

List of figures ix

CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1

1.2 Research questions 2

1.3 Scope of the study 3

1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.5 Structure of the research 4

CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 5

2.2 Definitions of key term 5

2.2.1 Communicative language teaching in EFL 5

2.2.2 Group work 6

2.3 Group work in teaching reading 7

2.3.2 Group discussion in reading lessons 8

2.3.3 Group size 9

2.3.4 Teachers and students' roles in group work activities 10

2.3.5 The benefits of group work 12

2.3.6 The problems of group work and solutions 13

2.4 The use of group work in Vietnam 14

2.5 Previous studies of group work in English language teaching 15

2.6 Conclusion 18

CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction 19

3.2 Research methodology 19

3.3 Participants 19

3.4 Data collection procedure 20

3.5 Instrument for data collection 21

3.6 Data analysis 22

3.7 Summary 22

CHAPTER 4- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Introduction 24

4.2 Teachers' and students’ perceptions of group work 24

4.2.1 The use of group work in reading comprehension lessons 24

4.2.2 Reasons for using group work in reading comprehension lessons 26

4.3 Group work activities in reading comprehension lessons 27

4.3.1 Student grouping 27

4.3.3 The activities used in English reading lessons 30

4.3.4 The benefits of group work in reading comprehension classes 31

4.3.5 Teachers’ ways to motivate students to participate in the group work 33

4.3.6 Problems in group work activities 35

4.3.7 Possible solutions 36

4.4 Conclusion 37

CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 5.1 Introduction 38

5.2 Summary of key findings 38

5.3 Implications 39

5.3.1 For teachers 39

5.3.2 For students 40

5.4 Limitations of the research 40

5.5 Suggestions for further studies 42

References 42 Appendices

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT : Communicative Language Teaching EFL : English as a Foreign Language

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: The activities used in English Reading lessons Table 4.2: The benefits of group work

Table 4.3: Problems in group work

Table 4.4: Possible solutions

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1: The use of group work in reading comprehension lessons Figure 4.2: Reasons for students to work in groups

Figure 4.3: Student grouping

Figure 4.4: Number of students in each group

Figure 4.5: Teachers’ ways to motivate students in group work

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background

The implementation of the new series of EFL (English taught as a Foreign language) textbooks in teaching English as a Foreign language in secondary and high schools in Vietnam is considered as a giant step in EFL curriculum renovation

in Vietnam According to Hoang at al (2006), the renovated curriculum is better than the previous because the content of the books are designed for meeting the objectives of real life communication through improving four basic language skills with the aid of grammatical structures, whereas the previous one is focused only

on improving students’ grammatical and reading competence To meet the standards of specific objectives that the curriculum offers, the communicative approach is compulsorily as mandated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training used for teaching the textbooks (Hoang, Hoang, Do, Nguyen, & Nguyen, 2006) So, cooperative learning like pair work and group work activities are designed for teaching all the sections of each unit including four critical language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing and language focus

Correspondingly, all EFL teachers are required to implement the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) techniques for this curriculum Clear guidelines for implementing CLT are presented in EFL teachers’ handbooks highlighting the combination of learner-centered classrooms often structured in cooperative learning groups and using the communicative approach for teaching

English (Hoang et al, 2006)

In the context of Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school in Ben Tre province, group work activities are popular Group work activities are always organized and students have many useful opportunities to practice using English when communicating with their friends However, it is not always simple to

conduct these activities because there are so many factors that require students to have basic skills relevant to using English as well as working in groups The fact that not every student is fully aware of the significant necessity of a group work activity As a result, they have little knowledge of how to have a successful group work activity Besides, having not enough vocabulary, grammatical structures, communicative skills prevents students from expressing themselves during group work activities So are the teachers of English, it is their duty to find out which method is useful to apply for their students so that they can create an exciting learning atmosphere in class Although the teachers at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school often use group work activities in their classes, the frequency, organizing and effectiveness of these activities have not been studied

Moreover, according to a report by Ben Tre Department of Education and Training (2011) only 21.25 % of 673 grade 9 students taking the English test of high school entrance examination to Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school in Ben Tre in 2011-2012 school year passed with a criterion score at least 5 out of a possible 10 Over 19 % of the students receive a score between 0.25 to 2, and nearly

90 percent of students had difficulties in learning reading comprehension

Motivated by the desire to help students do better in their reading comprehension, I set out to investigate Teachers' Perceptions and Use of Group Work in English Reading Comprehension Classes for a group of students in my community I expect to explore EFL teachers’ perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of group work in English comprehension class and find out practical ways to ensure that group work can be more beneficial to students in learning reading comprehension

1.2 Research questions

This research project attempts to investigate the perceptions of teachers at Le

Hoang Chieu upper secondary school towards the use of group work in English

reading comprehension classes for grade 11 students The points to be explored will

- To understand the theoretical background of group work to improve students’ language skills

- To investigate the use of group work in English reading comprehension classes for grade 11 students at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school in Ben Tre province

- To help teachers at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school to identify effective techniques to organize group work in teaching reading comprehension

- To enable students to apply group work positively in their reading comprehension lessons

The study will concentrate on answering the following questions:

1 What are teachers' perceptions about the use of group work in teaching reading comprehension for grade 11 students at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school in Ben Tre province?

2 How do the teachers at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school actually use group work in teaching reading comprehension for grade 11 students?

3 What can be done to ensure that group work can be more effective in teaching reading comprehension for grade 11 students?

1.3 Scope of the study

To improve the reading skill for students at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school, the teachers can make use of various techniques and a number of things should be done However, the researcher only intends to draw a brief overview of group work in reading comprehension classes for grade 11 students at

Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school and to find out the ways to use group work more effectively

1.4 Significance of the study

The study highlights the use of Communicative Language Teaching ( CLT) and cooperative group learning It will help teachers at Le Hoang Chieu upper

secondary school identify the strengths and constraints of cooperative group learning strategies in EFL classes It will also assist teachers in better understanding the relationship of group work and their students’ growth in reading skills Finally, the results of the project will help guide in the changes in the implementation of CLT group work strategies to better support students’ learning

1.5 Structure of the research

This research consists of five chapters

Chapter 1 presents a general overview of the study It states the background, the

significance, the aims, the scope, and the organization of the study

Chapter 2 reviews the theory about Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction

This chapter consists of four parts The first part will provide the definition

of some key terms related to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and group work Secondly, group work activities in teaching reading will be discussed Thirdly, an overview of previous studies relating to the research will be presented to lay the foundation for the research Finally, the use of group work in Vietnam will

be discussed The benefits as well as problems of the use of group work in the EFL classroom will also be described The chapter will close by an argument for the rigour of this research

2.2 Definition of key terms

2.2.1 Communicative language teaching in EFL

Communicative language teaching or the communicative approach was developed in the early 1970’s The teaching approach came from the growing dissatisfaction with the disadvantages of such traditional language approaches as audio-lingual and grammar-translation methods, which were the products of behaviorists (Orellana, 2008; Crandall, 1999) Unlike traditional teaching methods, for instance, the grammar-translation or the audio-lingual approaches which used drills and repetitions in unreal situations, CLT, based on the concept that language

is used for communication, emphasizes communication and real-life situations in context (Galloway, 1993)

From previous studies of CLT approach, Chen (2005) indicates that CLT focuses on meanings rather than forms Naturally, language is not only used for communication but also represents social and cultural background So, the CLT approach emphasizes acquiring a target language in different contexts through communication Its goals are:

(1) to enable learners to promote social, cognitive and linguistic skills by focusing on meanings rather than grammatical forms

(2) to create comprehensible input and output

(3) to increase interactive communication in the target language

Since it aims to have students develop ability to speak EFL more clearly, by communicating with peers in group work, for example, CLT discourages excessive teacher-controlled drills and repetitions, focuses on memorized materials, and grammar forms It encourages low profile teacher roles, problem- solving in frequent pair work/ small group work, student authentic responses, extended changes in interesting topics, and the integration of four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Deckert, 2004)

2.2.2 Group work

It cannot be denied that group work plays an important part in language teaching and learning Moreover, group work helps students learn a foreign language more effectively Therefore, various definitions of group work have been suggested by many researchers

According to Doff (1988), group work is a group of students working together

A class can be divided into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), and all the groups work at the same time

Correspondingly, Slavin (1986, as cited in Dunkin ed 1987: 238) "Group work is a division of the class into learning groups of four to six members who are

of all levels of ability These groups also have mix of boys and girls and students of different racial, ethnic backgrounds in about some proportion, they represent in the class as a whole.”

In addition, Long & porter (1985) point out that group work is a form of cooperative learning which aims to enhance learners’ social skills, knowledge, positive relationships among them

Beard (1978, as cited in Godek, 2003: 28) also confirms that “Group work is a discussion of academic work that affords students the opportunity to organise their thinking by comparing ideas and interpretation with each other and to give expression and hence form to their understanding of a subject.”

Actually, there is a distinction in the definitions of group work, but group work is essential in language learning as it is considered to promote lifelong learning skill (Boud, Cohen, & Sampson, 1999) and engaging in group work supports students to learn and communicate with each other Group members have

to help the group to reach the highest goal (Botton, 1974)

2.3 Group work in teaching reading

2.3.1 Definition of reading

Reading is a very important skill to most of foreign language or second language learners Carrell (1988:1) stated that "Without solid reading proficiency, second language learners cannot perform at levels they must in order to succeed" Additionally, It has been indicated by Anderson (1999: 3) that "the more exposure

a student has to language through reading, the greater the possibilities that overall language proficiency will increase"

There are a number of different definitions of reading According to Harmer (1989:153), reading is considered as a mechanical process that “eyes receive the message and the brain has to work out the significance of the message” Goodman (1971:135) defines reading as “a psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language user reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by

a writer as a graphic display” Furthermore, Rumelhart (1977) points out “reading involves the reader, the text, and the interaction between the reader and the text” The interaction, in his opinion, is the interaction between purpose and manner of reading and through reading strategies Purpose determines how people read a text People may read the text to understand it (reading for full comprehension), or simply to get the general idea (skimming), to find the part that contains the

information they need (scanning) Readers can use various activities that are often referred to as reading practice to construct meaning from a text

2.3.2 Group discussion in reading lesson

Richards and Rodgers (2001) state that teachers must use the most available activity depending on the size of class, the length of time, physical features of the classroom, and the nature of the group task Group work activity is a form of cooperative learning which aims to enhance learner’s critical thinking skills, language skills and social skills

Almasi (1996) found that peer-led discussion groups encouraged students to share their thoughts about a book they had read and helped students understand the story better from group discussion Discussion in groups enhances students' reading comprehension because students have a chance to learn from their peers, and the ideas they gain from discussion produce their own idea (Long & Porter, 1985) Actually, working together in groups gives students the opportunity to learn from and teach each other Classroom research has shown that students often learn better from each other than they do from a teacher (Barkley et al 2005)

Moreover, through group discussion, students can apply knowledge of text structures- one of the effective reading comprehension strategies such as setting, problems, cause-effect, or compare-contrast to recall the details of stories (Carrell, 1984) They can also discuss details of stories that help readers comprehend reading (Raphael & McMahon, 1994)

Harmer (1984) also affirmed the strength of discussion in his book that this kind of activity can motivate critical thinking and make quick decisions In this activity, students can learn how to negotiate with the others by justifying themselves in a polite way when their ideas are different from the other members of the group They are encouraged to ask questions, support their partners and check for classification

Bridges (1979, as cited in Godek, 2003: 30) shows that discussion has the

teacher with feedback on student progress In addition, teachers can provide a suitable learning atmosphere to low learning students (DES, 1978) The shy and silent students benefit to join conversations, discussions They become social persons

Thus, group discussion is one available activity in learning and teaching strategy It provides the learners with supportive opportunities both for developing their communicative competence and for gaining responsibility and mutual respect when they interact in groups in the EFL classroom

2.3.3 Group size

Jacobs and Hall (1994) stated that two people can form a group Group size

can also range between 3-5 students Group size sometimes goes larger although groups larger than 8 do not ensure that everyone will participate

2.3.3.1 Pairs

According to William Pellowe (1996), pair work activities are integral aspect

of many teachers' approach to language teaching He noted that “pair” refers to groups of 2 or 3 For classes of odd numbers of students, there must be group of three

In addition, Jaques (2000) affirmed that doing a small group activity is a way

to change the pace in the classroom The purpose of this division is to collect ideas, increase students' confidence in their answers and encourage the participants to involve in the activities, then the students have a chance to validate their ideas in pairs before sharing the ideas with the whole class Hence, shy students can feel more confident to take part in activities

2.3.3.2 Groups of there, four or five

Barnes, et al., (1969, & Barnes & Todd,1977, as cited in Galton & Williamson, 1991) noted that students working in groups of four or five are very successful Their discussion is very good quality Especially, as students have

pair work is not a good choice; the size of groups should be larger Students normally work in groups of there, four or five The group leader is responsible for dividing tasks for each member and then collects the results to make the final product of the whole group

2.3.3.2 Larger groups of more than six

According to Jacobs and Hall (1994), larger groups are the best choice for doing big tasks as they increase the number of people in a group in terms of skills, personalities, backgrounds and so on Larger groups will reduce the number of groups, which makes it easier for the teacher to control the class

Group membership can be determined in different ways A random selection might be done by “counting off” with students (go around the room systematically having students count 1, 2, 3, etc., with each numbers representing a group) or selecting groups on the basis of birth date

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 judgement 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 can not be moved for group work, then students can form groups by turning around in seats to face the ones behind

2.3.4 Teachers and students' roles in group work activities

Nowadays, cooperative learning is no longer unfamiliar to teachers and students because it is recognized as one of the best ways to improve students' communicative competence In the environment of cooperative learning, the roles

of both teachers and students are much different from the roles in traditional teaching methods

2.3.4.1 Teachers' roles

Teachers' motivation plays an important role in fostering students in learning English as well as working in groups According to Adrends (1998), motivation is a process to encourage behaviors and actions The role of the teacher as a motivator is vital in fostering and arousing students' interest and expectation to take part in group work activities

In addition, Hamm and Adams (1992) stated that in real life, the teacher has

to take more responsibilities as followed:

 Planning the lessons, activities, and evaluation

 Grouping the students

 Setting physical placement of the students

 Presenting and explaining the tasks to the students

 Monitoring work activities and entervening when necessary

 Helping students when necessary

 Evaluating students as individuals

2.3.4.2 Students' roles

According to Hamm and Adams (1992), a teacher can delegate authority to

groups of students by using cooperative learning technique Through observations

he presents students' roles as followed

Each group member makes constructive contributions to the group's effort

 Group members encourage their group members to contributes

 Group members keep each other on task, working with their goal

 Compromise is required from all members

The group members do their best to teach and learn from each other with care and respect They adopt the axioms: “ all for one and one for all”, and “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” (Hamm & Adams, 1992, p.52) Each small group points out the leader to assign tasks and roles to every single group member Besides, the group leader is responsible for keeping the whole group stick

to the task without any private talks

It has been proved that exploiting group work activities as a main technique

in teaching English The success of the lesson depends much on the kinds of activities designed by teachers as well as the ways they are recognized Therefore, the teachers' role is very important This is to say that although students are considered the center of the lesson, the teachers' role is still a focus

2.3.5 The benefits of group work

According to Atkinson (1993), Doff (1998), Harmer (1999) group work has many benefits:

2.3.5.1 To increase the amount of student practice

When students work in groups they have more chance to practise and often feel more willing to talk among themselves in a small group than with a teacher in a large group, so that it dramatically increases the amount of talking for individual students

2.3.5.2 To increase the learner’s confidence

The students feel much more secure and comfortable to speak foreign

language with one or two other students rather than with the whole class and the teacher Especially shy students feel more relaxed and self- confident trying to put their language abilities to a test during the activity and seeing how they use them.This encourages students to cooperate with one another

2.3.5.3 To increase students’ understanding

Through discussion and explanation, students can share ideas and help each

2.3.5.4 To increase students’ motivation

While working in groups, the activities are available Activities influences the course of a lesson and its success The more different the activities the teacher uses in the lessons, the bigger their motivation is Actually, students’ motivation increases because they are active and feel important during these activities In keeping with this, the teacher is going to experience success in his/ her work because motivated students are usually good language learners and they always make progress

Moreover, Burdett (2003) classified positive aspects of group work into five main categories:

(1) generating ideas and sharing views

(2) meeting people and building friendship

(3) improving learning processes

(4) sharing workload

(5) improving grades

2.3.6 The problems of group work and solutions

Besides the above benefits, both teachers and students have to face a lot of problems and challenges in group work activities as Atkinson (1993), Doff (1998), Harmer (1999) pointed out:

2.3.6.1 To speak native language

One of the problems of group work is that students often speak in their native language If the class is really big with too many students, it is very difficult for the teacher to listen to all groups at the same time However, the teacher can still do something to change situation The teacher should establish certain rules at the beginning of the school year and be very strict about them After some time the good habit of speaking only English may be established

2.3.6.2 To make mistakes

Another problem is incorrectness While students work in pairs and groups, the teacher usually do not disturb them, even if he/she notices some mistakes they have made, but we should not forget that errors or mistakes are an indissoluble element of the process of learning Besides, students try to correct each other rather than learn the mistakes One of the main points of having learners speak to each other is to help them increase their confidence and reduce the anxiety that is often found in a purely teacher- centered classroom Group work activities are usually geared to fluency enhancement rather than accuracy practice

2.3.6.3 To eliminate shy and weak students from the practice

Some shy or weak students can be eliminated from the practice, because

of individuals who always tend to dominate It is not a problem when they work in pairs, but as far as the groups are concerned, the teacher should assign roles to avoid one or two learners taking over the activity and others becoming passive observers

2.3.6.4 To make noise and indiscipline

Working in pairs and groups in a large class makes noise and indiscipline,

the teachers have more troublesome than the learners have Participants in a pair work or group work activity are normally unaware of the noise and of what other pairs or groups are doing The only possible problem here could be if the classroom had particularly thin walls

As mentioned above, group work has both benefits and difficulties However, it cannot be denied that group works is really useful in EFL classroom and needs to be encouraged to use widely The teachers should take into account so that he or she can maximize its effectiveness

2.4 The use of group work in Vietnam

Since the school year 2006-2007, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has decided to use a new English textbook series for upper secondary

objectives of the EFL curriculum are to enable students to communicate in simple real-life situations at the basic levels of listening, speaking, reading and writing Therefore, all EFL teachers are required to implement the Communicative

Language Teaching (CLT) techniques for the renovated curriculum (Hoang et al,

2006)

As being advocated for the EFL classroom, group work has been more and more popular and highly appreciated According to Le Pham Hoai Huong (2008), group work gives students the opportunities to use the target language and it also helps the group members to learn new words effectively (Le Pham Hoai Huong, 2006) Moreover, Tran Thi Thanh Ngoc (2001) states that when working in groups, students have opportunities to speak the target language and exchanges information, ideas and feeling However, Group work also has some problems as the students tend to use the mother tongue when they communicate with their group members and they also have arguments and idea conflicts in group work performance (Le Pham Hoai Huong, 2007)

2.5 Previous studies of group work in English language teaching

There is no doubt that the main goal of learning a foreign language is able to communicate It is through communication that people send and receive message effectively and negotiate meaning (Rubin and Thompson, 1994).Therefore, students are required to work in groups in almost any language learning classes

Actually, group work has become so closely associated with CLT since the early 1970s, hence there have been many researches about group work in English language teaching

In the research on group and collaboration work, Godek (2003) defines its importance, purposes, benefits for both students and teachers and then discusses some problems that teachers confront in their classrooms Furthermore, he points out the evidences on group work and the consistency of results then suggests recommendations for teachers in using group work and collaborative work

activities Group work can increase the quantity of language practice opportunities, improve the quality of students' talk, help individualize instructions, create a positive affective climate in the classroom and increase students' motivation

In addition, Ur (1996) states that group work is a form of learner activation and learners in a small group can get five times as many opportunities to talk as in full-class organization Moreover, group work fosters learners’ responsibility and independence, helps to improve motivation and contributes to a feeling of co-operation and warmth in the class When students are put in groups, they can help each other to carry out group activities to gain the highest goal

However, Kumar (1992) points out that large classes size may make interaction and involvement difficult According to Croll & Hastings (1996: 52)

“Group discussions can soon lead to angry confrontation.” It requires the teachers to have to learn how to arrange groups, how to manage with them, and how to teach effectively

In Vietnam, Le Pham Hoai Huong (2006) states that students who work in groups can learn new words in English through communication and explanation of other students in group In another study, she shows the drawbacks the students face when working in groups in English classes in Vietnam Students overuse their mother tongue when they communicate with their group members as well as have arguments and idea conflicts in group work performance (Le Pham Hoai Huong, 2007)

Tran Thi Thanh Ngoc (2001) and Vo Thi Kim Thuy (2004) argue

convincingly that that when working in group , students have opportunities to speak the target language and exchange information, ideas and feeling

To put it briefly, group work is very popular in language learning and teaching Thus, there have been many studies on the topic of group work and these studies provide a general view for my thesis However, teachers' reflections and perceptions about the use of group work in teaching reading were not mentioned

Furthermore, through the researcher's observation, many students at Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school had difficulty in understanding various text books The researcher assumed that it was caused by several factors The first factor was the students’ lack of vocabulary mastery If the students didn’t have enough vocabulary, of course it would be difficult for them to comprehend the reading text The next factor was the students’ lack ability of recognizing the grammar because mastering grammar was also an important problem to understand the text, such as sentence pattern, syntax, and others The students must be familiar with those terms Then, it was about students’ passiveness toward reading It could be identified from their attitude toward the text they read, such as they were not curious to read and explore more details information from the text Finally, the last problem was related

to the teacher’s method of teaching reading Usually teachers asked the students to read the entire page by reading it loudly Then teachers explained the difficult words if there was any If not, they asked the students to answer certain questions which were related to the text, this way of teaching was not interesting to the students They easily felt bored with reading because the techniques or strategies of teaching reading were not following such kind of interesting reading techniques In the other words, teachers couldn’t attract the students’ interest in reading As a result, students felt reluctant to read even didn’t understand the text optimally

In conclusion, Group work is one of the teaching strategies available to teachers attempting to make their teaching more effective (Godek, 2003) More and more teachers use group work in their classrooms Many studies (for example, Qinxi, 2011, Le Thi Mai Anh, 2009) have been conducted on the topic of group work They actually provide a general view for my thesis However, teachers and students' reflections and perceptions on group work in reading classes have not been not reported I thus conduct this group work project with the hope to help the students to do better in their reading comprehension

2.5 Conclusion

This chapter has discussed group work activities, its benefits and difficulties and the ways it is used in reading lesson In fact, there are various group work activities which are effective and interesting, but not all of them are suitable for students' level Additionally, the chapter has reviewed some the previous studies about group work which will lay foundations for the research The next chapter

will discuss the research methodology

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the methodology and the procedures of the research Accordingly, the participants of the study, instruments for the data collection, reasons for choosing those instruments and procedures of data analysis will be all presented in this chapter

3.2 Research methodology

Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches provide the methodology framework for this study Accordingly to Condedelli and Wrigley (1991) the best research design is a mixed method that integrates quantitative and qualitative research Qualitative approach provides data that can give insights into how findings work and how findings can be translated into practice, and quantitative approach seeks a deeper truth Therefore, the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods are used to fulfill the purpose of this research

Two data collection tools were employed in this study including questionnaire and interview The use of questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions supply both quantitative and qualitative data collection Quantitative data from closed questions provide the frequency of occurrence of the subject under investigation The qualitative data from open-ended questions and the interview data provide deeper data into the study

3.4 Data collection procedure

The first source of data derived from questionnaires with teachers and students Eighty copies were delivered to students of grade 11 and five for teachers teaching English language skills

The second one of came from interviews with the students At this stage, the researcher reaffirmed the results from the questionaires, and more information can

be added For the interview, the researcher chose at random five students who listened to questions and gave responses

Other data came from interviews with the teachers The researcher

interviewed in turn each of five teachers and tried to create a relaxing atmosphere to talk and discuss interview questions

The data collection includes two parts namely piloting and main study

3.4.1 Piloting

In this part, the researcher found out whether there were any problems of

words, spelling, grammar or understanding of the question instructions If this occurred, all the mistakes would have been corrected in order that the chosen participants have no difficulties in doing their task

For the purpose of overcoming the questionnaires’s weak points, motivated people were chosen to complete the questionnaire before the real survey

These chosen people should be neither expert nor familiar with completing questionnaire forms In fact it is possible that the chosen participants are not familiar with the questionnaire; thus, they sometimes encountered with some problems in understanding the instructions

3.4.2 Main study

Eighty printed questionnaires in Vietnamese were delivered to 80 students of

Le Hoang Chieu upper secondary school at their break time To make sure that all the survey participants were clear about the instructions, the researcher spent a short