An investigation into the influences of psychological factors on grade 10 students participation in group activities in english speaking classes at ha trung high school thua thien hue province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES --- HOANG THI KIM OANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INFLUENCES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS ON GRADE 10 STUDENT

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-

HOANG THI KIM OANH

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INFLUENCES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS ON GRADE 10 STUDENTS‟ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES AT HA TRUNG HIGH SCHOOL,

THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: Assoc.Prof.Dr PHAN VAN HOA

HUE, 2013

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

TRUNG, TỈNH THỪA THIÊN HUẾ

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP

DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH

MÃ SỐ: 60140111

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS PHAN VĂN HÕA

ABSTRACT

This study generally attempted to look at some psychological factors which influence group activities in English speaking classes Both positive influences and negative influences will be investigated carefully To achieve these objectives, 100 students in two classes from Ha Trung high school were involved The data were obtained through the analysis of students‟ questionnaire, interviews with five language teachers The findings showed that there were a significant correlation between the psychological factors and the students‟ English language attainment Some of them are positively correlated, and some are negatively correlated The findings also suggest that understanding a student‟s individual needs and problems

in English language learning, and providing a more interesting and appropriate English language learning process are particularly necessary for those who have been suffering from failure and frustrations Benefited from these measures, they could probably regain the confidence and interest in learning English as a second language

My deep appreciation is due to Hue College of Foreign Language for shaping and widening my knowledge of theory and methodology of English language teaching

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

SUB COVER PAGE i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii

ABSTRACT iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Previous Researches 2

1.2 Objectives of the Study 3

1.3 Research Questions 3

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Speaking Skill and Teaching Speaking Skill 4

2.2 Group Work in English Speaking Classes 5

2.2.1 Definition of Group Work 5

2.2.2 Types of Group Work 5

2.2.3 The Benefits of Group Work 6

2.2.4 Problem When Doing Group Work 7

2.2.5 Organizing Group Work 8

2.2.5.1 Presentation 8

2.2.5.2 Process 9

2.2.5.3 Ending 9

2.2.5.4 Feedback 9

2.3 Psychological Factors Influence Group Work in English Speaking Classes 10 2.3.1 Motivation 11

2.3.1.1 Definition of Motivation 11

2.3.1.2 Causes of Lack of Motivation 13

2.3.2 Attitudes 15

2.3.2.2 Developing Attitudes 16

2.3.3 Emotion 17

2.3.4 Anxiety 18

2.3.4.1 Definition of Anxiety 18

2.3.4.2 Type of Anxiety 18

2.3.5 Self-esteem 19

2.3.6 Empathy 20

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 23

3.1 Research Methods 23

3.2 Participants 23

3.3 Procedures 23

3.4 Data analysis methods 24

CHAPTER 4 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 25

4.1 The Reality of Learning and Teaching English at Ha Trung High School 25

4.1.1 Teachers and Students 25

4.1.3 Course Book 26

4.2 Data Analysis 28

CHAPTER 5 FINDING AND DISCUSSION 40

5.1 Motivation and Attitude of Students at Ha Trung High School toward Learning Speaking Skill and the Use of Group Work in Speaking Classes 40

5.2 Participation in Group Work in English Speaking Classes of Students at Ha Trung High School 41

5.3 Psychological Factors Affect Students‟ Participation in Group Work in English Speaking Classes at Ha Trung High School 41

5.4 Suggestions to Improve Group Work in English Speaking Classes 43

5.4.1 Teachers Should Create a Low-anxiety Atmosphere in English Speaking Classes 43

5.4.2 Teachers and Students Should Be Empathic 45

5.4.3 Teachers Should Not Harm Students‟ Self-esteem 45 5.4.4 Teachers Should Vary Group Activities to Motivate Students‟ Participation 46

5.4.5 Suggested Group Activities 46

5.4.5.1 Roll the Dice and Students Participate 47

5.4.5.2 Describe the Picture 47

5.4.5.4 Storyline 47

5.4.5.5 Telephone 48

5.4.5.6 Pre-Written Dialogues 48

5.4.5.7 Complete the map 48

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION 49

REFERENCES 51 APPENDICES

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 4.1 Speaking activities and topics/drills in the course book „English 10‟ 26

Table 4.2 Students‟ attitude toward learning speaking English and its importance 28

Table 4.3 Students‟ purposes of learning speaking English 28

Table 4.4 The frequency of group activities organized in English speaking classes 33

Table 4.5 Activities normally used in group works of speaking lessons 34

Table 4.6 Things students do when participating in group works 35

Table 4.7 Factors affect students to participate in group work 36

Table 4.8 Problems students usually face when working in groups 38

Figure 4.1 Students‟ opinion of the effectiveness of group activities in English speaking classes 30

Figure 4.2 Students‟ self-evaluating their abilities of speaking English 31

Figure 4.3 From “Motivation-Where Does It Come From?” (Littlejohn, 2001) 32

Figure 4.4 The frequency of teachers giving praise when students workin group 32

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, English has become internationally popular English dominants many areas of our life “including business, finance and banking, science and technology, culture, media and international relations Fluency in the English language is a key to success in life” (Hall, 2012) The ever-growing need for good communication skills in English has created a huge demand for English teaching around the world In Vietnam, English has become a compulsory subject at primary school, secondary school and high school In recent years, with the application of the communicative approach to language teaching, teaching and learning styles have changed a lot from teacher-dominant to learner-centered Therefore, group work activities have been used widely in almost language classrooms

In the new textbook, English 10, most of the activities in speaking lessons are encouraged to be organized in group work activities It has been reported by a number of the studies Group work activities make it possible for the teacher to devote more time to the students' oral production, which perhaps before had not been a priority in the foreign language classroom Thanks to group work activities, less confident students get the chances to put their knowledge of the new language into practice in a non-threatening environment, away from the critical eye and ear of the teacher Through group work activities, the teachers try to develop cooperation and skills in doing group works

No one can deny the benefits of group work in speaking classes However, not many teachers use this strategy They seem to believe that “group work is difficult to carry out” (Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2012, p 3) During group activities, each group has its own way to solve one problem and even each member in each group has his/her own way, too Some groups are successful and all members seem to be eager to participate in the activities but some others are not A number of students prefer to listen, observe, or daydream rather than engage

ideas What are the reasons for those differences? Have psychological factors made any effect on students‟ participation in group activities? This research project may answer those questions It aims to explore the influences of psychological factors

on group activities in English speaking classes of grade 10 students

1.1 Previous Researches

In reality, some researches pay attentions to factors that may influence both the willingness of students to take part in group learning, and the degree to which group learning might effectively occur Also, there were a lot of researchers wrote about group activities but few of them deeply talked about the psychological factors which influences group activities Qian (2011) investigated the

“Psychological factors in SLA” but he didn‟t mention any specific skill such as reading, writing, speaking or listening Qashoa (2006) studied the “Motivation among learners of English in the secondary schools” His research only focuses on motivation and the strategies to improve learners‟ motivation in the secondary school Hall (2012) carried out a study on “Attitudes towards learning English” This study has made a deeper look at the attitudes of students when learning English Chen (2008) also examined “The effect of empathy on college English speaking” However, other psychological factors which can deeply affect learning English are not mentioned there

It seems that not many researchers investigate the psychological factors that influence group activities in speaking classes I believe that this research can find out some more implications for me and for all English teachers to carry out group activities in speaking classes successfully

Realizing the vital role of the psychological factors in English speaking classes,

in addition to the desire of school administrations and teachers to know what affects the student‟s participation in group work at English speaking classes and the shortage of studies about psychological factors affect students‟ participation in group work at English speaking classes at Ha Trung high school This actually

drives me to this research, namely “An investigation into the influences of

psychological factors on grade 10 students‟ participation in group work in English speaking classes at Ha Trung high school, Thua Thien Hue province”

Via the literature review, the study will first provide some information on speaking skill and teaching speaking skill This study also made a deeper understanding about group work and the psychological factors affecting group work participation in English speaking classes such as motivation, attitude, emotion, anxiety, self-esteem, empathy It also describes the methodology used in collecting the data and displays the results from the questionnaires and interview From the objective results, the study will draw out many practical implications for both teachers and students at Ha Trung high school to improve the quality of group work

in the English speaking classes Many interesting and useful group activities are introduced in the investigation, too The finding in this study will suggest many implications which are of significance to not only teachers and students at Ha Trung high school but also for all English teachers and learners in general

1.2 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study were:

1 To identify how psychological factors influence students‟ participation in group activities in English speaking classes

2 To draw out some implication and practical solutions to improve group activities in English speaking classes

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Speaking Skill and Teaching Speaking Skill

Chaney (1998, as cited in Kayi, 2006) defined speaking as “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in

a variety of contexts” Teaching speaking skill is to teach learner to “use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as fluency” (Nunan, 2003, as cited in Kayi, 2006) Speaking activities aim, therefore,

to develop confidence, desire, and ability to use the target language accurately, appropriately and effectively for the purposes of communication as well Teaching speaking is to prepare students to be able to use language naturally

Ur (1996) believed that “of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking seems intuitively the most important” (p 120) That is because speaking is an active skill requiring students to combine the words into sentences without preparation, and no time to revise

According to Bashir (2011), language learners need to recognize that speaking involves three areas of knowledge:

Mechanics (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary): Using the right words

in the right order with the correct pronunciation

Functions (transaction and interaction): Knowing when clarity of message is essential (transaction/information exchange) and when precise understanding is not required (interaction/relationship building)

Social and cultural rules and norms (turn-taking, rate of speech, length of pauses between speakers, relative roles of participants): Understanding how to take into account who is speaking to whom, in what circumstances, about what, and for what reason (Bashir, 2011, p 38)

English speaking teachers should help their students develop knowledge by providing authentic practice that prepares students for real-life communication situations They help their students develop the ability to produce grammatically

correct, logically connected sentences that are appropriate to specific contexts, and

to do so using acceptable pronunciation

2.2 Group Work in English Speaking Classes

2.2.1 Definition of Group Work

„Group work‟ is the term used to talk about “any classroom activity in which the whole class is divided up into pairs or larger groups” (Ibnian, 2012, p 193) For examples, ranking discussions, jigsaw activities, project work group and group writing tasks, etc According to Nation (1988, as cited in Meng, 2009), group work can help learning in the following ways: learning the content matter in the activity, learning new language items from other participants in the activity, development of fluency in the use of previously met language items, learning communication strategies, and development of skill in the production of comprehensible spoken discourse All these serve as the learning goals which can only be achieved through speaking activities in group work (p 220)

In group work, teachers are people who select activities, work out the instructions for an activity carefully, present the activity to the class, monitor the students' performance, provide feedback and keeping a record while students have

to cooperative together in order to accomplish group goal

Teachers should be aware of the process of forming groups such as: kind of grouping, size of grouping, lay-out of furniture, and seating arrangement It is said that a good working group channels a sense of achievement Therefore, various qualities such as tolerance, team spirit, giving and taking, establishing a direction in learning, developing imaginative and creative thinking, developing a critical and informed mind, developing an ability and sense of enjoyment in life –long learning are also brought forth by group work (Nunan, 1991, as cited in Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2012, p 4)

2.2.2 Types of Group Work

According to Johnson, Johnson & Smith (1991, as cited in Davis, 1993), there are three main types of group work They are informal learning groups, formal

Informal learning groups are temporary groups of students within a single lesson Informal learning groups can be initiated by asking students to turn to a neighbor and spend from two to five minutes discussing a question that the teacher has given them This type of group works can be taken play any time in a class of any size

Formal learning groups are “teams established to complete a specific task […] these groups may complete their work in a single lesson or over several weeks” (Johnson et al, as cited in Davis, 1993, p.1)

Study teams are long term groups with “stable membership whose primary responsibility is to provide members with support and assistance in completing course requirements and assignment” (Johnson et al, as cited in Davis, 1993, p.1)

Another way to classify group work is „heterogeneous‟ grouping and

„homogenous‟ grouping “Heterogeneous means grouping students of different ability levels together while homogeneous grouping means grouping together students that are similar” (Ibnian, 2012, p 193)

2.2.3 The Benefits of Group Work

Group work provides opportunities to practice speaking naturally Students can only develop speaking skill by practice frequently with their classmates And group work activities help them to do that

The experience that students have when doing group work are very practical and useful for them Communication in group work is real-world communication In the classroom, via doing group work students can have opportunities to learn from other friends' mistakes or success Moreover, group work also frees the teacher from controlling class too much Group work gives more chances for students' initiation, practice in negotiation of meaning, extended conversational exchanges, face- to- face give and take and adoption of roles Ur (1996) also shares the same idea: "In group work, learners perform a learning task through small group interaction It is a form of learner activation that is of particular value in the practice of oral fluency; learners in class divided into five groups get five times as many opportunities to talk

as in full class organization" (p.232)

Furthermore, group work has advantages not only for the learners but also for the teachers Group work may be a good way to help the teacher to check students' progress in learning

Doff (1988) pointed out the advantages of group work:

More language practice: Group work give students far more chance to speak English If the exercise were done „round the class‟, students would only say one sentence each, and in large class many student would say nothing at all

Students are more involved: Group work encourage 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 they are „on show‟ in front of the whole class Group work can help shy students who would never say anything in a whole-class activity

Students help each other: Group work also stimulate students to share ideas and knowledge

2.2.4 Problem When Doing Group Work

Every student has their own opinion and they always believe that they are better This leads to personality clashes

One person does all the work Some students talk too much or dominate the group They may pressure other to confront to their opinions and don‟t listen to fellow group members

Students are resistant to group work The lack of knowledge to make meaningful contribution into group work is the typical difficulty faced by almost the students Once students do not know enough of the language to express themselves with ease, they often become reluctant to participate in group work When students cannot express their ideas in English, they will resort to use mother tongue or chat with each other

Students are not on task or are chatting inappropriately Some group members are lazy They may rely too much on others

The classrooms at the high schools are often big with unmovable desks and a large number of students This leads to difficulty relating to class organization and management.

The activities of speaking such as brainstorming, discussion carried out through a group are time - consuming For many teachers one of the major frustrations about group work is the time it takes to accomplish the tasks It takes longer time for students to talk and listen to others

The noise is also a big problem when organizing group work Obviously, group work in large class will be noisy, and this cannot be helped But usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side The noise created by group work is usually good noise-students using English, or engaged in a learning task (Doff, 1988, p 141)

2.2.5 Organizing Group Work

Ur (1996) has pointed out four steps of organizing group works: presentation, process, ending, feedback (p.233)

2.2.5.1 Presentation

According to Ur (1996) the presentation step should follow some notes: The instructions that are given at the beginning are important If the teacher‟s instructions are not clear enough, students will not understand exactly what they have to do This will lead to a result of little participation in group work and the group work activities will be time-wasting, confusion, lack of effective practice, possible loss of control

If the task is new to students, teachers should make a preliminary rehearsal or

„dry run‟ of a sample of the activity with the full class to clarify things In case those students have already done similar activities, teachers 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

To make it easier for students to participate in the task, teacher can give some necessary vocabularies and structures related to the speaking topic Last but not least, the time for finishing the activity should be announced to every group If there is a time

limit, or a set signal for stopping, say what it is; if the groups simply stop when they have finished, then tell them what they will have to do next A reserve task should be planned to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected

2.2.5.2 Process

During the group work, teacher should goes around the class to:

“- Providing general approval and support;

- Helping students who are having difficultly;

- Keeping the students using the target language

- Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent” Ur (1996, p.233)

2.2.5.3 Ending

Teacher should try to finish the activity while the students are still enjoying it and interested If the activity is not ended at the right point, the students will find it boring and turn around to chat with their classmates

2.2.5.4 Feedback

After ending the activity, teacher should attract the whole class attention and keep them silent then give feedback The most vital thing here is to highly appreciate the students‟ work The teacher‟s feedback should include:

“- Giving the right solution, if there is one

- Listening to and evaluating suggestions

- Pooling ideas on the board

- Displaying the materials the groups/ pairs have produced” Ur (1996, p.233) According to Doff (1988), most group activities have three stages:

1 Introduction to the activity The trainer introduces the activity and makes sure that teachers understand what to do

2 The activity itself During this stage, students are working independently in their groups Teacher moves from group to group, listening and giving help where necessary

3 A round-up stage The trainer asks teachers from different groups what answers they gave, or, after a discussion activity, what conclusions they came to (p.3)

2.3 Psychological Factors Influence Group Work in English Speaking Classes

While joining in group activities, learners are easily influenced by many factors such as age, cognition, language, society, environment, etc (Qian, 2011) Because of those factors, learners achieve to different levels after a period of study

In the learning process, various factors interact with each other One change is likely to affect other factors, which directly affects learners‟ level Among the factors mentioned above, the psychological factors play a very important role in the learning process

As the researcher Stephen Krashen (1982) has pointed out, some of the greatest barriers to second language acquisition are psychological factors Psychological barriers exist in all learners: Canadians learning speaking French, Koreans learning speaking Chinese or Vietnamese learning speaking English However, it seems that the psychological barriers in Vietnamese learners are especially numerous and deep-rooted Krashen (1982) in his theory of the five hypotheses discussed about affective factors on second language acquisition Affect refers to non-linguistic variables such as motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety According to him affective variables such as fear, nervousness, boredom, and resistance to change can effect the acquisition of a second language by preventing information about the second language from reaching the language areas of the mind It is clearly understood that non-linguistic factors are equally or in fact more important than the linguistic factors to determine who is successful ultimately What that means is that things like emotions, things like peer group, the community that students belong to, students‟ feelings about English are as important or more important than the methods they are using to learn English

Spolsky (2010) claimed that most English students struggle and fail because

of psychology, not because of methods, not because of teachers Robbins (cited in Spolsky, 2010) talks about the fact that psychology is 80% of success, 20% are the methods used to study, the schools to go to, the teachers, the course books Therefore, it is rather clear that psychological factors have made a big affect on English speaking students

Psychological factors can be divided into two categories: affective or emotional, and cognitive However, there is not a clear cut between affective and cognitive factors The mastery of a language creates on the students an affective or emotional response: enjoyment, pride, etc, but also the work of mastering a language can be considered cognitive (Martos, 2006) The teachers need to be aware of all these factors when organizing group work activities and work with students in order to help them promote their learning

The psychological factors that influence English study are dynamic, complex, and flexible Its influences are not immediately known, but it rather accumulates over a period of time If students want to speak English well, first they should solve the psychological problems

2.3.1 Motivation

2.3.1.1 Definition of Motivation

Motivation is “the impulse, emotion or desire that causes one to act in a certain way” (Martos, 2006, p 48) When we talk about motivation, we talk about the ways in which a pupil will make a positive mental effort towards the learning tasks Dornyei (2001, as cited in Qashoa, 2006), also claimed that “a demotivated person is someone who initially has had motivation to fulfill a goal or to engage in

an activity and has lost the motivation to do so because of negative external factors which related to the environment in which learning takes place such as the classroom and school” (p 2) Nunan (1999, as cited in Juhana, 2012 ) stresses that

“motivation is important to notice in that it can affect students‟ reluctance to speak

in English In this sense, motivation is a key consideration in determining the preparedness of learners to communicate” (p 103)

Characteristics of motivated learners

Positive task Orientation: The learner is willing to tackle tasks and

challenges, and has confidence in his or her success

Ego- involvement: The learner finds it important to succeed in learning in

order to maintain and promote his or her own self-image

Need for achievement: The learner has a need to achieve, to overcome

difficulties and succeed in what he or she sets out to do

High aspiration: The learner is ambitious, goes for demanding challenges,

high proficiency, top grades

Goal orientation: The learner is well aware of the goals of learning, or of

specific learning activities, and directs his or her efforts towards achieving them

Perseverance: The learner consistently invests a high level of effort in

learning, and is not discouraged by setbacks or apparent lack of progress

Tolerance of ambiguity: The learner is not disturbed or frustrated by

situations involving a temporary lack of understanding or confusion; he or she can live with these patiently, in the confidence that understanding will come later

Deci & Ryan (2000) distinguish between different types of motivation based

on the different reasons or goals that give rise to an action: “The most basic distinction is between intrinsic motivation, which refers to doing something because

it is inherently interest or enjoyable, and extrinsic motivation, which refers to doing something because it leads to a separable outcome” (p 55)

Intrinsic motivation is the term used to generate the joy and satisfaction from language learning activity itself; it does not require external conditions or participation Kyriacou (1997) said that:

“Human beings are born with a strong desire to explore their environment and to seek out stimulation Almost any situation which puzzling will gain a person‟s attention and interest Indeed, an useful way of starting

a group activity is to present a topic in the form of a question or problem that needs to be addressed to elicit pupils‟ interest such as information gap, brainstorming and discussion”(p 26)

In contrast, extrinsic motivation is learning situations in which the successful completion of the task is a means towards some other end “Here, the person‟s satisfaction is derived from the fact that completing the task leads to an end which they value and is not derived from the task itself” (Kyriacou, 1997)

Clearly, since a students gain success in school learning they are able to satisfy the needs that can form the basic for extrinsic motivation such as the desire

to earn status, esteem, approval and acceptance in the eyes of others (friends, peers, teachers and parents) These may be earned in the short term by means of obtaining good marks and teacher‟s praise and in the long term by entrance to degree courses and professional occupations Another prime motive for school learning is the avoidance of teacher reprimands and punishments

According to Kyriacou (1997), “Although intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are contrasted with each other, it is important to note that most tasks involve a mix

of the two” For example in an activity, the students can find the subject matter is interesting and success in the subject can bring them other benefits In the long-term

of the learning process, the two kind of motivation are interacted with each other and may change into each other Although it is hard to identify and study it, motivation is a key to learn speaking English and has impacts on the group work participation Aware of these facts, many teachers resort to the extrinsic reward and the extrinsic punishment In the classrooms, teachers may reward good students with good marks or praising words or punish other students with low marks

In very general terms, educational psychologists point to three major sources

of motivation in learning

“- The learner‟s natural interest: intrinsic satisfaction

- The teacher/institution/employment: extrinsic reward

- Success in the task: combining satisfaction and reward” (Fisher, 1990)

Another theory is introduced by Gardner There are two types of motivation:

Instrumental motivation: the need to acquire a language for a specific purpose, e.g.,

getting a job and integrative motivation: the desire to become a member of the

culture of the second language group (Gardner, 1985, p 11)

2.3.1.2 Causes of Lack of Motivation

Gardner in Nunan (1999, as cited in Juhana, 2012) analyzed the causes of the students‟ lack of motivation such as “uninspired teaching, boredom, lack of perceived

program” (p 103) It means that uninspired teaching can lead to lack of motivation and “motivation is a product of good teaching” (Juhana, 2012, p 103)

In the same line with Juhana, Slavin (1994, as cited in Westwood, 2004) indicates that:

“Almost all children, regardless of social class or other factors

enter school for the first time full of enthusiasm, motivation and confidence, expecting to succeed But before the end of Year 1 some of them lose that confidence because they are not experiencing success Lack of success reduces mastery orientation, weakens a child‟s feelings

self-of self-efficacy, lowers elf-esteem and diminishes motivation” (p 1)

According to Driscoll (2000, as cited in Westwood, 2004) English teachers believe that “this lack of motivation is the underlying reason students avoid class work, refuse to become fully engaged in a learning task, fail to complete work they could easily do, or are willing to complete a task only for some tangible reward it may bring” (p 30) Therefore, it is essential for teachers to be aware of the general principles for maximizing students‟ motivation in the classroom Motivation is likely to be highest when:

• Learners do not experience frequent failure and harsh criticism

• The curriculum material is interesting and relevant; topics are sufficiently challenging, but not overwhelming

• Learners are encouraged to set their own goals and are then supported in achieving them

• Learners are given the opportunity to make choices and exercise some control over what they do in class and the manner in which they do it (greater autonomy)

• Collaborative group work is used frequently

• Teachers reverse students‟ negative thinking about their own capabilities, and enhance positive self-belief by encouraging open discussion about learning, learning strategies, effort, and ability

• Teachers remember to apply the principle that learners‟ motivation and confidence are enhanced by respect and approval from others

• If a reward system is used in the classroom it should ensure that all students attain rewards if they put in sufficient effort (Westwood, 2004, p 33)

2.3.2 Attitudes

2.3.2.1 Definition of Attitudes

Likert (cited in Noursi, 2013), defines the term attitude as "an inference which is made on the basis of a complex of beliefs about the attitude object" Ajzan (cited in Edward & Charles, 2004) considers attitudes as “a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to an object, person, institution, or event” (p 92) Lindzey, Gilbert & Fiske (2003) said that attitude is "a psychological tendency that

is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor" (p 269) It is "the sum total of a man's distinctions and feelings, prejudice or bias, preconceived notions, fears, threats, and convictions about any specified topic" (Thurstone,1928, as cited in Kurt, 1997, p 149)

In learning speaking English, some of the students are achieving much more because their attitude towards studying is higher than of the other ones Attitudes toward self, toward language, toward English-speaking people, and toward the teacher and the classroom environment affect students‟ participation in speaking lessons As for education, Brown (2000, as cited in Ibnian, 2012) noted that English teachers must understand that “all students possess positive and negative attitudes in varying degrees” and “the negative attitudes can be changed by thoughtful instructional methods, such as using materials and activities that help students achieve an understanding and appreciation of the foreign culture” (p 192)

Language attitude means speakers of different language or language variants hold various attitudes toward their native language or other languages To society and individuals, the position and the importance of language comes from the attitude people treat this language Although attitude is just a kind of psychological condition, but it affects human language learning The second language learning attitude refers to learners‟ cognition, emotion, behavior in the learning tendency

Attitude is usually includes three parts: cognition composition, that for the faith in

language Dynamic composition refers to the intention and action in learning the

target language (Qian, 2011)

The positive attitudes help learning language by raising the efficiency while

negative attitudes hinder language learning Schumann (cited in Qian, 2011) points out: social distance and psychological distance are the main factors to keep learners

making progress Negative attitudes will make learners do not wish to contact the

target language people and culture, have a low motivation to adapt to this culture This allows anxiety to appear and it obstructs learning process For example, learners who take English as a second language, their attitudes toward the people in this country is negative, therefore learners lose their interest and change their attitude Their negative attitude causes the majority of students lose confidence Although it is necessary to take it as second language, learners still perform in a negative way and make less progress

Different language learners have a lot of differences such as: parents, friends, learning environment, teachers and ethnic emotions Those differences make them treat the target language, the target language society and culture, and other relevant matters with different attitudes It‟s clear that attitude affect students‟ achievements

in learning English in general and in learning speaking English in particular In many cases, attitude and motivation are key measures to predict the success in speaking English Therefore teachers should pay attention to develop learners' positive attitudes, for instance, positive attitudes in the target language culture Teachers can strengthen cultural introduction in class, to enhance the mutual understanding, in order to help learners develop positive attitudes After all, as a psychological factor, attitude is important to the concrete implementation and final success of speaking English

2.3.2.2 Developing Attitudes

Regarding the developing of attitudes, Westwood (2004) stated that

“attitudes cannot be taught directly” Attitudes can be formed by “a combination of observing a model displaying the particular attitude, reflecting upon the outcomes from the actions of self and others, from peer group pressure, and to some degree

through active persuasion and the use of rewards” (p 102) Once attitudes are acquired, they tend to be reinforced when others agree with and support them

2.3.3 Emotion

Human beings are emotional creatures It is extremely important to understand human beings‟ feelings, react, beliefs, and values for learning speaking English From the educational point of view, one of the biggest psychological factors is the learners' emotional control For second language learners, emotional factors are the engine and might become resistance sensor; emotional factors affect the effectiveness of group works in speaking class directly

According to Krashen (1982), certain emotions such as anxiety, self-doubt, and mere boredom interfere with the process of acquiring a second language They function as a filter between the speaker and the listener that reduces the amount of language input the listener is able to understand These negative emotions prevent efficient processing of the language input The hypothesis further states that the blockage can be reduced by sparking interest which provides low anxiety environments and bolsters the learner's self-esteem When learners are bored, angry, frustrated, nervous, unmotivated or stressed, they may not be receptive to language input and so they 'screen' the input This screen is referred to as the affective filter This suggests that when learners are bored, angry, frustrated, nervous, unmotivated or stressed, they may be unsuccessful at speaking English Classroom atmosphere is very important so that it should be delighted, lively, friendly and harmonious Carrying out group work activities can help students overcome their psychological barrier, and lower their anxiety in English speaking classes As Howe (1999, as cited in Westwood, 2004, p 63) has remarked „A lack of confidence in one‟s capacity to do well, or a fear of failure, can impede a young learner just as effectively as an absence of knowledge or mental skills‟ Students with learning difficulties hate to be identified and labeled because they feel that others look down

on them and marginalize them (Westwood, 2004, p 63)

2.3.4 Anxiety

2.3.4.1 Definition of Anxiety

In the process of learning speaking English, anxiety refers to the “feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the automatic nervous system” (Hersen, 2004, p 71) More specifically, McIntyre (1998, as cited in Zheng, 2008), states that language anxiety is “the worry and negative emotional reaction aroused when learning a second language” (p 2) Anxiety plays a very important role in the process of learning speaking English It is

a collection of unpleasant emotional reactions and psychological discomfort, and caused by self-doubt, stress, tension or other bad feelings (Qian, 2011)

2.3.4.2 Type of Anxiety

Anxiety might be the largest emotional obstacle in the process of learning speaking English For all the learners, anxiety can bring motive power or difficulties On the one hand, certain anxiety could make learners produces the courage to meet the new task and participate actively in group work, and that is one

of the important factors in learning speaking English On the other hand, extreme anxiety could make learners avoid participating in group works According to Qian

(2011), there are personality anxiety and environmental anxiety (p.38) Personality

anxiety determined by learners‟ individual characters, it is a long-term and stable factor Environmental anxiety caused by different environment, it is a short-term and changeable factor

Qian (2011) classify anxiety into three categories: class anxiety, test anxiety and communication anxiety The first one means in class, some students are afraid

of making mistakes in front of teachers and students The second one is an emotional factor that might lower the normal level of learners If Learners are not afraid of test, then his second language learning results are likely to be normal The third one is the emotion when learners are afraid of using the target language to communicate with other, because they couldn't express themselves well It is clearly indicated that relaxed and optimistic learners can concentrate, memorize, think well,

and improve the learning efficiency Hence, they could speak English fluently and use English to share their ideas when participating in group work tasks

MacIntyre and Gardner (1991, as cited in Nguyen, 2011) identified “three approaches to the study of anxiety, which are: trait anxiety, state anxiety, and

situation-specific anxiety” (p 24) Trait anxiety is a “relatively stable personality‟s

characteristic, a person who is trait anxious would probably become anxious in

many different kind of situation” (Nguyen, 2011, p.24) Tate anxiety is not an

enduring characteristic of an individual‟s personality It is the apprehension that is experienced at a particular moment in time (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991, cited in

Nguyen, 2011, p 25) Situation-specific anxiety reflects a trait anxiety that recourses

consistently over time within a given situation (Nguyen, 2011, p.26)

Every learner‟ anxiety is different; so he or she will express his or her anxiety with different manners Teachers are key factors to cause environmental anxiety in the group activities in speaking class, their behavior and attitude affects learners‟ participation enthusiasm Anxiety when learning speaking a second language can be seen as similar to general feelings of tension that students experience in the classroom Almost everyone feels some anxiety when learning, and having to perform in a new language compounds anxious feelings Teachers shall make sure that the students have enough sense of security, encourage students with appropriate material In this way, learners can keep their self-confidence, avoid harming their self-esteem

2.3.5 Self-esteem

Self-esteem is “a large part of a person‟s feelings revolve around the way that person feels about himself/herself” (Martos, 2006) According to Schumann (n.d, as cited in Martos, 2006), there are three aspects of self-esteem:

Global (overall assessment of one‟s worth)

Specific (self-evaluation in various life situations, e.g., at work, and in individual characteristics, such as personality and intelligence)

Task (self-evaluation in particular tasks)

The effect of self-esteem, which is usually classified as an affective factor, is one of the crucial factors that determine success in academic performance in general (Koosha, Ketabi & Kassaian, 2011, p 1328) Therefore, English teachers should encourage students to feel proud of their successes and abilities, because they may facilitate language learning

As Koosha et al (2011) maintain, those students who have higher levels of self-esteem are “more sociable, more risk taking and more prepared to share their views with others regardless of whether, lexically or grammatically, they produce what can be regarded as accurate or standard or even correct English” (p 1335) It can be inferred that “fluency for the person who has a positive view of his worth comes before accuracy, something which can perhaps take care of itself in the process of communication” (Koosha et al, 2011, p 1335) Miyagawa (2010, as cited in Koosha et al, 2011) talks about „self-esteem‟ as a fundamental psychological factor and “is about the feeling of being worth something just because we are who we are, and not because we have done something.” (p 1328)

The level of learners' self-esteem has a significant effect on the fluency of learners' speaking So it might be helpful if teachers pay more attention to their students' level of self-esteem and try to enhance it

2.3.6 Empathy

Empathy is “the capacity to be aware of another‟s feelings and to share them

It involves the connection of oneself with others” (Martos, 2006, p 48) Brown (1994, as cited in Chen, 2008) describes empathy as “the projection of one‟s own personality into the personality of another in order to understand him or her better” (p 142) According to him, “there are two necessary aspects to the development and exercising of empathy: first, awareness and knowledge to one‟s own feeling, and second, identification with another person” (Chen, 2008, p 142)

Guiora (1972, as cited in Chen, 2008) defines empathy as “a process of comprehending in which a temporary fusion of self-object boundaries, as in the earliest pattern of object relation, permits an immediate emotional apprehension of the affective experience of another, this sensing being used by the cognitive

functions to gain understanding of the other” (p 142) According to him, empathy can be the main factor in the harmonious coexistence of members in a group, and it facilitates communication, since communication requires people to “permeate” their ego boundaries so that they can send and receive messages clearly

Batson (2007, as cited in Decety & Ickes, 2009) give out eight definitions of empathy:

Knowing another persons internal state, including thoughts and feelings

Adopting the posture or matching the neural responses of an observed other

Coming to feel as another person feels

Intuiting or projecting oneself into another's situation

Imagining how another is thinking and feeling

Imagining how one would think and feel in the other's place

Feeling distress at witnessing another person's suffering

Feeling for another person who is suffering

Figure 3.1 The empathy wheel (From: http://cultureofempathy.com)

We can understand the term „Empathy‟ more by seeing the 'Wheel of Empathy' and the "Feel of Empathy" There are 4 major spokes to the wheel but we can keep adding more and more to become more and more 'granular' in describing

Okuzaki (1999) believes that “learners with empathy can compensate for their lack of knowledge and experience and make better decisions about appropriateness in intercultural communication Empathy involves relativism and flexibility, which knowledge alone cannot furnish” It means that even students lack

of vocabulary and structures when speaking in group, they can overcome that problem with the empathic attitude If students in group have empathic attitude with each other, they can read and interpreting nonverbal signal and understand their partners easily

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the methods of conducting the research including the research methods, participants and procedures

The interview was used to collect opinions of three teachers and how they felt about the group work activities There were 10 questions for the interview and the researcher could ask some more questions to understand more clearly

After collecting enough data, they were classified and analyzed in order to draw out the implications

3.2 Participants

The participants were 100 Vietnamese grade 10 students studying at Ha Trung High school in Hue province All of the participants spoke English as a foreign language and Vietnamese is their first language

3.3 Procedures

The questionnaire was piloted between March 7 and 8, 2013 with a random sample of one hundred students At the beginning of the study, the targeted school showed their willingness to collaborate in this study To get the subjects‟ participation, they were informed that their answers would be confidential and they

students were assured that the main objective of the researcher was to find out why they like to study English and what make them sometimes dislike the English speaking classes Besides, students were told that their answers and opinions would not affect their grades or their teachers‟ impression and their participation in the survey would help teachers to understand their desires and problems

For the interview, the teachers who were selected to be interviewed have long experience of teaching speaking English They are told that their information and opinions will help the study to find out the factors that demotivated or motivate students‟ learning spirit

The aim of the interview was to get in-depth answers to three research questions:

d To what extent do grade 10 students participate in group activities in English speaking classes?

e What are the psychological factors which influence group activities in English speaking classes?

f How do the psychological factors influence group activities in English speaking classes?

3.4 Data analysis methods

The results of the questionnaires and the interview were analyzed carefully The data obtained from questionnaires were analyzed according to statistical frequency and converted into percentages Afterwards, it was presented in figures and tables Also, the findings gained from interviews were analyzed

The questionnaires will code for different types of comments including how English teacher should do to improve group work in English speaking classes The analysis of the questionnaire data and interviews will help the researcher get the valuable assessments on speaking teaching and learning speaking skill

In short, with the combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods through 100 questionnaires, 5 interviews of teachers and the students at Ha Trung high school, the researcher had a careful plan to collect and analyze the data elaborately so that the research results can be appreciated

CHAPTER 4 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

4.1 The Reality of Learning and Teaching English at Ha Trung High School 4.1.1 Teachers and Students

Ha Trung high school is in Phu Vang district It includes 6 grade 10 classes with five English teachers The grade 10 students at Ha Trung high school are mostly come from poor families Their parents have to work very hard on the rice field to make the end meets Many of them live on by fishing at Vinh Thanh coastal area, Phu Vang district Their children‟ studies are not concerned properly Most students are at the same age and have the same living situation Lots of families have many children, so they can not afford to buy some cassettes or tapes for their children to practice English at home Besides going to school, students also have to

do a lot of housework and have no time for learning Vinh Ha is a poor coastal village with a low living standard Therefore, students haven‟t chance to contact with English like students in the city

All the teachers of English at Ha Trung high school have got BA degree in TEFL and at least several years of teaching experience Most of them are young and have passion for the job Three of them are studying the MA course to improve their teaching skill They come from different part of Thua Thien Hue to Vinh Ha village

to teach children with all the enthusiasm

Students at Ha Trung high school have learned speaking English since they were at grade 6 During secondary school, pair work and individual work are used more frequently rather than group work Grade 10 students have average one speaking class per week Each class lasts 45 minutes Teachers usually carry out three activities in a lesson and the speaking lessons are normally through pre-speaking, while-speaking and post-speaking At the pre-speaking, teachers can have

a warm-up activity, then teacher run through some necessary vocabulary and structure At while-speaking, teacher let students work in pairs and practice the