Luận văn techniques for organizing communicative activities in pải work and group work for the 1st year students at tourism faculty thanh hoa university of culture sports and tourism

TL1LA, Descriptions of teaching and learning of English speaking skills for the first year students at Tourism Faonly tư tzough 0 organizing pair work and group 1.3.1.4.. For all the abo

TECHNIQUES FOR ORGANIZING COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITE

IN PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK FOR THE 1*7 YEAR STUDENTS AT

TOURISM FACULTY, THANH TIOA TINIVERSTTY

OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM

(Những thủ thuật tỗ chức cáo hoạt động giao tiếp theo cặp, nhóm

cho sinh viên năm thi: nhdt khoa Du Lich,

trường Dai hoc Van hoa, Thé thao, Du lịch Thanh Iloá )

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME TIIESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology

Hanoi, 2013

TAO THI THU THAO

‘TECHNIQUES FOR ORGANIZING COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

IN PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK FOR THE 1°" YEAR STUDENTS AT

TOURISM FACULTY, THANH HOA UNIVERSITY

OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM

(Những thủ thuật tế chức các hoạt động giao tiếp theo cặp, nhỏm

cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất khoa Du Lịch,

trường Đại học Văn hoá, Thé thao, Du lich Thanh Hoá )

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology

Supervisor: M.A Nenyén Thi Minh Tâm

Hanoi, 2013

IIL Scope of the study

IV, Research questions

V Methods of the slndy,

VL Significance of the study

VII Design of the study

PART B: DEVELOPM T

1.1 Communicative langnage teaching

1.2 Commumieative acfIvIfies

1.2.1 Definition of Communicative activitios

1.2.2 Types of Communicative activities

1.3 Interactions in speaking 0lass0es ceccsecsenseessssssrsersienansesoersnneenenananien

1.3.1 Definition of Classroom Interaction

1.3.2 Speaking skill in language teaching and learning

1.3.3 Types of interactions in speaking class

14, Pair work and group work in speaking classes

1.4.1 Definition of pair work

1.4.3 Definition of group work

1.4.4 Som: common activitics for pair work and group woiE

1.5 Review of previous studies

Chapter II: Methodology

TL.1 Background of the siuẩy seteieeerrer

TLL An overviw of the rescarch sile

IL.1.2 Deseriptions of English teachers, teaching method and teaching material

in TUCST

IL1.3 Descriptions of students at TUCST

TL1LA, Descriptions of teaching and learning of English speaking skills for the

first year students at Tourism Faonly tư tzough 0 organizing pair work and group

1.3.1.4 Students’ appreciation on how useful pair work and group work are

to improve their tearning speaking English afler the 1 semester

11.3.2.2 Teachers” appreciation of using pair work, group work

11,3.2.3 Teachers’ amplemention of pair work, group work in current

to improve studcnt”s lcarning spcaking English after the Ist scinestcr

1.4, Summary

IIL.1 Research questions restated

IIL2, How pair work and group work are used in English speaking classes of the 1“

year students at ‘fourism Faculty TUCST

TIL3, What are uscful techniques of pair work and group work to the 1-year

1113.1 The uscfal techniques of pair work and group work lo the 1 year

students in learning speaking English

11.3.2 The use of suggested activities at 'UOCST

T11.3.3, Sarnple lesson pÏan snemeeiniissemeamenne ieee

PART C: CONCLUSION

TL Lintitations of the study

ILL Suggestions for fiuther research

Appendix I: Questionnaires for students

Appendix 2: Questionnaires for teachers

Appendix 3: Interview questions for smdents

Appendix 4: Interview questions for teachers

PART A: INTRODUCTION

I Rattonale

In Vietnam, English is taught not only at all colleges and universities, but also almost every high school and it is considered as a compulsory subject at secondary school To mest the demand of Icarners, the teaching English in Vietnam has been changing By applying various new approaches, methods, and techniques, English teaching has shift tom the traditional grammar translation approach to the communicative approach According to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the purpose of language teaching and learning is

to develop communicative competence in the target language In the view of this approach, the learner is considered the center of the leaning process; the teacher serves as a facilitator, allowing students 1o be in change of Their own leamring,

In learner-centered approach, the choice of teaching methods are often more

complicated tun the construction of many leaching objectives Some authors suggest thal this type of work can carry out in two periods, In the first petiod, teachers need to find the student's experience and learning methods they prefer, and with their existing experience, leachers can select appropriate tsaching wethods In the second stage, leachers need to engage the active participation of students in planning their academie programs This work cen be done by encouraging students to think, to engage in learning activities organized by

‘Tourism Faculty, However, they have faced many challenges in organizing these techniques

during tessons, such as barge elas sex; lay and passive students, etc

For all the above mentioned reasons, I have decided to carry out a rescarch work in:

chniques for organizing communicative activities in pair work and group work for the TT

wear students at Tourism Faculty, Thanh oa University of Culture, Sports, and Tourism”

This study is intended ta make a small contribution on how to use the pair work, group work

effectively and successfully in English teaching and leaming practice in Viet Nam

TI Aims of the siudy:

This study is aimed al:

- finding out the use of pair work and group work in English speaking classes of the

19 year students al Tourism Faculty, TUCST

- suggesting the useful techniques of pair work and group work to the |* year students

al Tourism Faculty in learning speaking English

IIL Scope of the study:

To improve communivalive skills for students at TUCST, the teachers can amke us

of various techniques and a number of things should be done However, within the framework of a minor thesis, the researcher only intends to draw a bnef overview of how are the pair work and group work used at TECST

Among for language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing, pair work and group work arc used ficquenlly in the speaking lessons, Thercfore, this rescarch tends Lo find out the useful pair work and group work techniques in speaking classes

Also, duc to the time constraints, this study only involves a small number of English

teachers and students in their first academic year of Tourism Faculty, TUCST

TV Research question:

This study was aimed to answer the following research questions:

1 How pair work and group work are used in English speaking classes of the 1" year students at Tourism Faculty, TUCST?

2 What are usefiil techniques of pair work and group work to the 1” year students at

Tourism Faculty in learning speaking English?

Y Methods of the study:

In order to find out the answers to the research questions, both quantitative and qualitative methods wore cmploycd to carry out the study The data were collected by means

of questionnaires and inferviews for English teachers and the first year students of Tourism

VI Significance of the study:

This sludy is hoped to be uscd lo ball Leachers and shadents of Tourism Facully al TUCST This study has been able to contribute to teachers’ knowledge of communicative language teaching, communicative activities in general and pair work, group work in particular Resides that, from the finding of the study, leachers can be provided with important information which may be valuable for their fhture lesson planning On the other hand, the teachers’ transformation in pair work and group work implementation will be beneficial to the students

VIL Design of the study:

This study consists of three parts: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion

The development part comprises four chapters

+ Chapter I: Theoretical Background

+ Chapter II: Methodology

+ Chapter IIL: Finding and Discussion

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER L THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

dn this chapter, a brief description af the theoretical knowledge relating to the study was provided It includes some concepts af CLT, comaumicative activities, interaction in the

speaking clays, pair work, group work

1.1 Communicative language teaching (CLT)

Commumicative Language Teaching (CLT) is the most influcntiat language teaching

methodology in the world Since the introduction of communicative language teaching in the

late 1970s, there have been a variety of definitions and ideas about CLI’

and an integrator The leacher’s role is as a facilitator of the communication process

Materials promote communicative language use, they are task based and authentic”

(Numan 1989:194) Richards and Rodgers (1986) consider CLT as an approach rather than a method which comprises two sets of theories: assumption of what to teach, and assumption of how to

teach Inthe first assumption, the purpose of language teaching is to develop "communicative

competence” - 4 basic conccpl in CLT Hymes (1972) defines “communicative competence”

as “what a speaker needs to know in order to be communicatively competent in a speech

conmuority” According to this, CLT has two following main aims pointed out by Richards

and Rogers (1986:64):

1 ‘To make communicative competence the goal of language teaching,

2 To develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge

the interdependence of language and communication

The second assumption shows another point about CLT, that is: “is learner-centered

and experience based view of second language teaching Students in this approach are seen

to be able to play a more active and participatory part than in traditional approaches 4nd

therefore, the roles of teacher will be re-defined with the change of activity organisation

because each leaner is thought to have unique learning styles, needs and goals, which should

be reflected in the design of the method of instruction.” (Richards and Rodgers, 2001-67)

To sum up, CLT is beat considerođ an approach rathzr than a method It is most often defined as a list of general principles or characteristics One of the most recognized of these

lists is David Nunar's (1991: 279) five charactenstics of CLT:

- An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language

- The introduction of authentic texts m to the learning sitiation

- The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also

on the learning process itself

- An enhancement of the leamer’s own personal experiences as important

comributing elements to classraom learning

- An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the

classroont

These characteristics will be the principles for teachers to choose to improve their

students’ participation in commumicative activities in a language classroom Some ideas about communicative activitics will be discussed in the next section

1.2, Communicative activities

1.2.1, Definition of Communicative activities:

Communicative activities, defined by Littlewood (1981), are those that provide whole task practice, improve students’ motivation, allow natural Jearning and create a context

supporting learning as well “Jn communicative activities the teacher creates a situation and sets an activity in notion, but it is the learners themselves who are respansible for conducting

the interaction to its conclusion” (Littlewood, 1981: 18)

Nolasco and Athur (1993) characterized communicative activities as follows:

- They involve using language for a purpose

- They create a desire to communicate This means there must he some kind of “gap”

which may be information, opinion, or reason that students seek lo bridge

- They encourage students to be creative and contribute their ideas

- They focus on the message and students concentrate on “what” they are saying rather than “how” they are saying it

- The students work independently off the teacher

- The students determine what they want ta write and say The activity is not designed

to control what the students will

(Nolasea and Athur 1993: 58)

According to Hariner (1991), communicative activitics arc those that give students

involved desire and a purpose to commmmieate Such activities are very beneficial for students because they can do their best lo use (he target language and arrive al the degree of proficiency in the end

1.2.2 Types of Connnunicative activities:

Harmer (1991) also divides communicative activities into oral and written ones Oral

aelivilies include such categories as cormtumicalion games, problem-solving, reaching a

consensus, discussion, replaying instructions, role-play, etc, Written communicative activities

consist of writing reports and advertisements; co-operative writing, exchanging letters,

writing journals and so on

In addition, according to Littlewood (1981), there are two main types of communicative

activities which he calls: “fimetional conumunication activities and social interaction

activities” These lwo types of activilies aim to prepare students for their first contact with

authentic spoken English

Functional communication activities primarily require students to use their knowledge

of language lo solve problems through iiprmation-gap and reasoning-gap selivilics

Communicative interaction that encourages cooperative relationships among students is

achieved by a series of tasks: learners comparing sets of pictures and noting similarities and

differences; piolure strip stories predicting a likely soquencs of evonls, đi

features in a map or on pictures; one leamer communicaling from bebind a screen lo another

learner and giving instructions on how to draw a picture or shape, or how to complete a map;

following directions: and solving problems from shared clues These activities provide the

learner with immediate fecdback from the listeners on whether or not he or she has successfully commumicated

Social interaction activities require (he learner Io focus on the context and the roles of

the people involved Role play and simulation are vital examples of this type of activities

Role play gives students an opportunity to practice communication while playing different

roles Examples of role play are socio-drama, sketches, story dramatization, mock interviews,

business meetings and even dbates, Simulation activities require Ìcamers lo cnacL am imaginary situation keeping, their own identities These two types of activities, role play and simulation provide stadents with the opportunity to practice communicating in different social roles and in different social contexts Tharefine, sladents learn how to usc language forms appropriately and realize how context is essential in giving meaning to the utterances Moreover, they lea grammar and vocabulary through function, situational context and the

6

roles of interlocutors Further activitics are opinion-gap activities such as conversations,

discussion sessions and debates (Richards and Rodgers, 2001)

1.3 Interactions in speaking classes

1.3.1 Definitian af Classroom Interaction

‘As mentioned above, the communicative approach is mainly based on the theory of

communicative competence In the communicative approach, most researchers agree an the need for the communicative compelence tp suppor! learning and make the classroum

interaction successful The communicative process involves interaction between at least two

people who share a list of signs and semiotic rules ‘he concept of interaction is defined as

“vactprocal events that require at least two objects and two actions Interaction occurs when

these objects and events naturally influence one another” (Wagner, 1994:8) Therefore,

interactions do not occur only from one side, there mast be mutual influence through giving and receiving messages in order to achieve communivation, Tharmond & Warrback (2004)

defines interaction as “The learners’ engayement with the course content, other learners, the

instructor and the technological medium used in the course True interactions with other

learners, the instructor and technology results in a reciprocal exchange of information The

exchange of information intended to enkimve knowledge development in the learning

environment.”

Classroom interaction involvas Iwe min aspzcls, which are the negotiation of

meaning and fecdback, if These two clernents are not available im the classroom, then we

cannot speak of a successful leaming through interaction Ellis and Foto (1999:09) say,

“Interaction contributes to acquisition through the provision of negative evidence and through opportunities for modified oulpui.” Interaction then is rich of meaning negotiation

where the learners can receive feedback from their interlocutors

1.3.2 Speaking skills In language teaching and learning:

Among the four skills in learning English, speaking and writing are the productive

skills, However, speaking is regarded as very important for language teaching and learning Speaking is a bridge to reach other skills Speaking helps learners to read better, to listen mare |

Judged while first impressions are being formed.” That is to say speaking is an important skill which deserves more attention in both first and second language because it reflects people’s thoughts and personalities

In language teaching and learning spsaking has an important part to play It is a medium through which much language is learnt, and which is particularly usetid tor learning According to Kayi, (2006), the ability to comnmmicate in a sccond language clearly and efficiently contributes to the snccess of the Feamer in school and success laler in every phase

of life, Bygate (1987), who holds the same view, claims that our learners need to have ability

to speak confidently to carry out their most basic transactions More than this, speaking is reparded as the first step to confirm who knows or does not know a language Ur, P (1996) indicaled that people who know a Tanguage are referred ta as “speakers” of that language as

if speaking included ail other kinds of knowing Consequently, a lot of foreign language learners are primaxily interested in learning to speak

Therefore, having dealt wilh the imporlance of oral skills in language teaching and learning it is essential that language teachers should pay great attention to teaching speaking skills rather than Jeading stadents to pure memorization In order to cary out many of the

most basic transactions, it is necessary for learners to speak with confidence

1.3.3 Types of interaction in speaking class:

As stated in 1.3.1, it’s obvious that there are four types of interaction: learner - course content interaction, leamer - learner interaction, learner - teacher interaction and learner - technology intcraction, In speaking classes, we shall focus in this rescarch work only on the learner learner interaction

Learner-learner interaction occurs among learners In this form of interaction, the

teacher plays a role as a monitor and learners are the tain participanls Learner-learner interaction occurs in groups called learner-leamer interaction, in pairs called peer interaction, Student-student: the instructional activities give students the opportunity fo collaborate with

thair cla:

sates by exchanging and building information together Thore ar muny Lypes of instructional activities that encourage student collaboration, As the rubric states examples of student-to-student interactions may include self-introductions, group discussion postings small-group projects, peer critiques, etc

Frem the theory on speaking activitics nbove, teachers should know how to adopt appropriate speaking activities witich can help learners develop speaking skill, Pair work and group work are Ihe useful ways thai the teacher can help students practice whl they have learnl, find ways lo achieve communicative objectives

14 Pair work and group work in speaking classes

1.4.1 Definition of palr work

According to Adrian Doff (1988 :137), the whole class is divided in lo pairs by the teacher Every students works with his or her partner in pairs and all the pairs work at the same time (It is sometimes called simultaneous pair work) ‘This is not the same as ‘pblie’ or

‘open’, pair work, with pairs of studenls speaking in lun in front of the class Tn fact, @ pair work consists of two students working together at the same time

‘There are two main types of pair work: fixed pairs and flexible pairs, given by Byrne (1983) Tn the former, sludenls work with the same partner to practice the largel language Fr the later, stadants keep changing their partners they like, This may make the activity more interesting but the class noisier

Tt can be seen thal pair work can gel studcnls to practice the largel language more and

increase students’ talking time in the class

1.4.2 Definition of group work

Doll (1988: 137) also defines yroup work as a process thal “the teacher divides the

class into small groups to work tagether usually four or five students in each group, ax in

pair work, all the groups work at the same time”

Like pair work, group work also gives students more opportunities to practice the

targct language in the whole class In addition, students can work independently and frecly

under the teacher’s control without the pressure of the whole class watching what they are doing

1.4.3 Advantages af pair work and group wark

Pair work and group work gives the students far more chances to sp2ak English in the

classroom Students participate in the lesson much more actively because they are involved in talking lo their riends exchanging opinions, practicing new slruclures mors [han Fistening lo

their teacher talking This is important in our schools when English lessons usually take place

three times a week, teachers have to practice, develop all the language skills and it happens

thal there is no time tefl for speakitys So if a Leacher has Len minutes tefl during the lesson it

is better to divide the class into groups to give the Ieamzrs opportunity to really usc the language to communicate with each other

According to Michael Long and his colleagues (1985) who investigated differences in the quantity and guatily of shudent Language in group work versus teacher centered activities the language produced by students working in groups is more varied and greater in quantity Learners take the initiative to express themselves, they are more spontaneous Asking questions and responding [hey use more language functions, (Lighlbown and Spada, 1993:85)

By dividing the class into groups students get more opportunities to talk than in full class organization and each student can say something Penny Ur recommends that teachers working with large classes should divide them into five groups which is the most effective organization for practicing spoaking (Ur, 1996:232)

In the long ran group work develops Isarners' independence At first preparing a group presentation may be time consuming and requires more effort ftom the student

Howe

using Ihis technique regularly students become mors efficient and skilled al

practicing the language They become more confident, their motivation also increases and they can manage without regular teacher's supervision Students lear how to learn and

gradually take responsibility for their own learning

Working in pairs and groups is less sticssful and more effective for students,

especially introverts who needn't perform in the front of the whole class They feel more confident working with the friend they like and are more likely to accept his/her correction or

criticism There are always morc and less gifted pupils in the process of language learning

and these methods prevent them from not being laughed at by the whole class if they say

something wrong "Ft is generally easier to show that you do not know, or do not understand

something, in a smaller group than in a large one” (Norman, Lovilm and Hodznyuist,

1986:8)

1.4.4, Some common activities tor pair work and group work

There are a varizly of aclivilics which can be applied in communicalive English

classes through the use of pair work and group work Some common activities are:

- Game: A game could be any activities that formalize a technique into units that can

be score in some way Guessing games are common language classroom activities Mor

elly decides

that he or she is some famous person; the rest of the group has to tind out who, within twenty example, twenty questions arc casy adapled lo # small group One member

yes/ no questions, with cach member of the group taking tums asking questions The person

who is “it” rotates around the group and points are scored

+ Role-play: Role-play minimally involves giving a role (a one or more members af a group and assigning an abjcelive or purposo thal perticipanis must accomplish A group rele play might involve a discussion of a political issue, with each person assigned to represent a particular political point of view

+ Drama: Drama is a mors formlived form of tole-play and simulation, with a pro- planned story line and script Sometimes small groups may prepare their own short dramatization of some event, writing the script and rehearsing the scene as a group But they

are tin

onsurning smd rarely ean form purl ofa typical school curricndum,

- Projects: Mainly for young learners who can greatly benefit trom hands-on approaches to language, certain projects can be rewarding indeed

+ Interview: A popular activity for pair work, but also suilable for group work, interviews are useful at all level of proficiency

- Information gap: Uhis technique is one of the easiest and most interesting forms of commmmicalive avlivily in the speaking 1

nm Tnformalion-gap activities include ø tremendous variety of techniques in which the objectives is to convey or to request information ‘The two main characteristics of information-gap techniques are their primary

Decision-making techniques are simply one kind of problem-solving where the ultimate goal

is for students to make a decision

+ Opinion exchange: Opinion exchange is a difficult technique for students lo deal with at the beginning levels of proficiency, but by the intermediate level, certain techniques cen effectively include the exchange of various opinions Sometimes, opinions are appropriate, somelimes Ihcy are nol Tn opinion exchanges, the lcacher mst assure alt students in the class that, while there may be disagreement on issues, all opinions are to be valued, not scomed, and respected, not ridiculed

HH

1.5 Review af previous studies:

‘The use of pair and group work in speaking lesson is not a totally new area to researchers Many of researchers invested the effectiveness of using pair and group werk in language toaelsing and learning, McDonongh (2004) reports that loarnor-foarnar interaction through group work activities was useful for practicing oral communication skills The studies mentioned above have firmly asserted the important roles of group work activities in improving learners” spsaking skill, Phuong (2008) reporls that pair and group work helped to increase students’ participation in communicative activities in large classes, Phuong (2008) found out the students’ interest in discussion when applying group work activities in speaking

lesson According to Dunng (2006), group work helped studenls to realize that they could work independently of the teachers and they could learn trom other students and helped each other In addition, group work created a good atmosphere in the speaking class and it also helped to build rapport among class members Most af these sludies explored trainÏy on the benetits of the techniquas, they have not made clear what process teachers and leamers went through when implementing pair and group work,

Thore have now boon a few rosoarches on the proce:

s ofimptsmenting group work in speaking lessons Rob Watkins (2005) suggested that the efféctivensss of group work depends on the types of motivation the teacher use in the class and the way they design group work activity Duong (2006) investigated the current siluations of teaching and Tcarning

a close and providing feedback) Phuong (2008) show that the suecess of communicative pairs and group work activities is oflen delermined by the work the teacher does before the students begins the activities itself, These studies have focused on the process of group work implementation in speaking lesson of non-major English students Understanding of the pair and group work organizing processes would enable teachers to better facilitate learners in commmmicative activities

1.6, Summary

In summary, ths previous stndies mentioned above considered the use of pair and group work in language tzaching according to the product approach and the pracess approach In this study, both of benefit and implementing of using pair and group work in speaking classes are concerned However, the researcher mainly focuses on the pair and

12

group wơik Implcmentation The rcscarcher wants to invcstigatc the activitics of pair and

group work ate used in speaking class in hope of finding out the useful ones for both teachers and the 1* year sluderts al Towist Faculty, TUCST

13

CHAPTERH: METITONOLOGY

This chapter starts by describing the situation where the study ix conducted It

includes an overview of TUOCST, the teachers of English, the students, the textbooks, the

current teaching and learning situation The subjects and the method of data collection are

also discussed in details The analysis of the data collected from the survey questionnaires

and interviews is at the end of the part

ILI Background of the study

11.1.1 An overview of the research site

Thanh Hoa University of Culture, Sports and Tourism is newly established on basis of

upgrading ‘Thanh Hoa College of Culture and Arts When the school was the college, its duty

was lo tain in the Gelds of Art, Music, Culture Maragement, Informatics Library, Tour Guide English serves as a mean that provides students with basic knowledge about grammar

and vocabulary

Since upgrading to the Universily, every year our universily admits aboul 1,000 newly

enrolled students for a course of' 4 years study There are numerous of students in the Faculty

of Culwe, and Faculty of Tourism in which train future culture managements and tour guides Therefore, Fnglish is considered as the computsory subject in the course syllabus

with the purpose of helping the students to develop their English communicative skills to

meet the demand for their fixture employment So General English is chosen for providing

basic knowledge and skills lo the first year students

J1.1.2 Descriptions of English teachers, teaching method anil teaching material in

TUCST

Our imiversily has gol 8 teachers of Bnglish aged ftom hotwacn 25 fo 40 Almost of

them have Master Degree and at least tour years of teaching experience Both of them love

and enthusiasm with teaching English,

In terms of langnage teaching, teachers are always aware of the importance of the new

trend in teaching method nowadays: lcamer- centered approach, communicative approach

when teaching English to the students, They try to give their students independence in

ing them some instructions before asking them to make presentation or role play in front

of the class, students at the time play the key role in the lesson However, only one or two

teachers can sometimes do these and (he ammount of time spent on such act s is nol much.

Gur current material of tcaching Gencral English is the coursc-book Lifelines — Elementary written by ‘fom Hutchinson, This course-book is divided into fourteen units, each

providing students the difforont Lopies and struchaes through listening and raquirs

practice speaking skills Atter every two units there is an “extension” section accompanied

with two class cassettes ‘Ihe total time of learning is 135 periods within 16 weeks of two

students have

of the first yoar, Rach urrits lasts for 8 periods, So in gach s

to learn English in 6-8 periods par week All of teachers agree to spend 2-3 periods each unit

to teach speaking Some teachers teach speaking with others skills, but most of teacher teach speaking as

11.1.3, Descriptions of students at TUCST

Most of students at TUCSF are those who are low-based knowledge of English and

sparated pariods,

most of them come from tural areas They are begimers al English when entering the first year of university and of diffrent language proficiency levels, Some of them have learned English for 7 years at secondary and high school some have only learned English for 3 years and some others have nover Icamned English before, sơ il ix very difficult for the (cachers apply new approaches in teaching them

11.1.4, Descriptions of teaching and kearning of English speaking skills for the first year students at Tourism Vacuity through organizing pair work and group work

It can be seen that communication is the goal of Fngtish language learning Is purpose is to help students develop their communicative competence, This makes teaching and leaming to improve students’ speaking skills to be an important part in any English course Like in many other universities in Victnam, English teachers at TUCST find out the benefits of using pair and group work and spend much time to apply these techniques to develop students’ speaking skills, Tlowever, we have some problems such as: large classes; noises; lazy and passive students The major concerns of this research are find out the usefial techniques for organizing pair work and group work to help teachers and students in teaching and learning speaking English

T1.2 Methodology

11.2.1 Partictpants

The subjccts of the study arc 6 icachcrs of English who teach Gencral English for students of Tourism Faculty at TUCST They range fom 25 to 40 years of age Of the 6 teachers, four teachers have more than five years experience in teaching and the other two

15

have teaching cxpcricnee ranging fiom 2 to 5 ycars All teachers have Master Degree and experience pair and group work activity when they were students,

The firs! year, 110 siudenis were randomly chosen from 122 students of 2 classes Their age varied botwoen 19 and 21 sơ they belonged io the same psychologivat age group Because of entering in Tourism Faculty, most of them have low English background Their length of English learning at school (before entering our university) was different Some of them who live in the city have Icarned Engtish for 7 yours, others who live in the countryside have learnt English for 3 years,

11.2.2, Research instruments

The instruments used to collect data was questiomnaire and interview for the teachers and the first year stndents to get information about using pair work, group work in speaking classes Two scts of questionnaires were designed to investigate the teachers’ and students’ opinion about the use of pair work and group work in the speaking classes of the 1* year

students af Tourism Department, TUCST

The first are the questionnaires for the students including 10 questions written in Victnamesc, was administered to 110 students, This is divided into 4 parts

Part 1; Students* opinions on speaking skill (Question 1, 2, 3)

Part 2: Students’ opinions on the use of pair work, group work in speaking class (Question 4, 5)

Part 3: Students’ recommendation for organizing of pair and group work (Question 6,

Part 1; Teachers’ opinions on teaching speaking skill (Question 1, 2,3)

Part 2: Teachers’ appreciation of pair, group work in spcaking class (Question 4, 5) Part 3: The teachers’ implemention of pair work, group work in their current speaking class (Question 6, 7, 8)

16

Part 4; Teacher's appreciation the improvement of students’ [earning speaking English after the 1* semester of using pair work and group work (Question 9,10)

In order to test the validity of the information obtained from the questionnaires, two interviews with both the teachers and students were cartied out Three teachers and five students choscn at random from twe classes were invited to the interviews The questions in the interview were basically based on those in the questionnaire, but they were extended to cover more open-ended questions to get through understanding of the reasons behind each choice And the main aim of the interview was to appreciate the improvement of students’ speaking skill after the 1* semester leaning speaking at our university

11.2.3 Data analysis

The data of the sindy was analyzed both quanlilatively and qualitatively As for quantitative analysis, we used descriptive statistics to quantify the data in form of charts and

figures The qualitative data were obtamed ftom the interview

11.3 Presentation of statistical results:

11.3.1 The result of language kearning survey questionnaires and dircct interview:

11.3.1.£, Students’ opinions on speaking ski

Table 2: Students’ opinions on speaking skill

a Is compulsory subject in the curriculum 16 145

b Learning speaking Engtish is lo pass the oval 56 182

c Speaking English is necessary fot your firture job — %0 B18

đ Tesming spoaking Tglish is your interes 20 182

speaking skill just to pass the oral test About 18,2% of them stated that English is their

interest It means that speaking English is so important for most of the students

Table 2: Students’ opinions on the way to learn speaking skill

7, answering the teachers’ questions 33 30

5 listening and taking notes 45 40,9

As can be seen from the table 2, (83,6%) of the students asked said that they like

working in pairs and groups, whereas they had very little favor for working individually

(20,9%) only 14,5% of them liked working in whole class, 30% of students enjoyed

answering the teacher’ questions and 40,9% liked listening and taking note From this, it can

be understood that most of the students see the importance of working in pair and group for

the better speaking skill This also means that pair work and group work are surely the most suitable activities for the speaking skill In the interview, some students revealed:

“ Tfeel really comfortable when I work with my parmers”

“ Tike working in pairs and in groups because I feel free and active”

“I'm afraid of answering the teacher's questions as I have just learnt English, so I am not

Not very surprising information from table is that the students (85 %) affirm that the teachers

in their university often use the pair work and group work in the speaking lesson very often

because it is compulsory that the teachers implement this to follow the book activities

18

planned in the teacher’s book and make the students get used to doing this for any oral test

and may be for the students’ future job This is of great use in helping the students to

communicate with each other

Table 3: Students’ opinions on the impact of pair and group work

P students %

a It increases the students’ speaking time 82 74.5

b.It promotes students’ independence and 80 27

5 cooperation

~ d Shy and passive students have more chance of expressing themselves ` = T6 69

c Itimproves students’ motivation 85 77,3

e Students can learn from each other 80 727

It was obvious that almost all the students ( more than 70%) found that pair work and

group work were so beneficial for their speaking skill that they can speak more in English, they can be much more confident and they also have chance to express themselves, their independence, cooperation and motivation in speaking were improved Regarding the benefit

of learning from each other of group work, 72,7% (80 out of 110) the students stated that they

learnt each other so much Some of them said as follows:

“Tm encouraged to speak out with my friends’ help I don't feel shy to express my opinion

with them My parmers help me a lot with my pronunciation”

“ My friends helps me.a lot with my English especially grammar and vocabulary when I work

with them”

“When answering my teacher's question I really shy, but I am much more confident as

speaking to my partners in pairs or in groups”

1.3.1.3 Students’ recommendation for the success of pair and group work

Chart 2: Activities students wished teachers to select for pair and group work (Question 0)

ile Mee Monin Ss, Hạn lin ine iin

“As can be seen in Chart 3, all of the students (100%) chose role-playing, games, information gap, discussing interviewing and opinion exchange to be their favorite activities

19

Problem solving was the choicc of 75% of th students And Drama and projects reccived

only 10% and 20% of the students respectively

The reasons to explain students’ high appreciation for these selections were given by students

in interviews, such as

“J hike games and interviewing because these aciivilies offen creaie exciting atmosphere.”

“These activities are also not tao difficult and time-consuming for us to prepare and make

presentation”

“I like work in puir with my partner io exchange my opinions, discussing and problem

solving on favorite topics They make me feel confident and comfortable in speaking

« F don't like drama and project activities hecanse they are actually difficult and need much

a Students of the same Rnglish proficiency 35 318

7 ¢ Students of lower English proficiency level 10 91

d Students sitting next or near to each other 13 118

‘About the students they preferred working with in pairs and in groups, most of the

students wanted to work with the students who were at the same level or higher level of

proficiency Working with the people they really liked was also preferred by 10,9% Also,

some of them (111,8%) liked working with the ones at the same table However, few of them (9.1%) liked working with the students who were worse at Tnglish In the inlerview sore

students revealed as follows

“L enjoy working with the students who are better than me as I can learn from them”

“If my partners are good, they can help me”

“Working with the students at lawer level of proficiency often makes ma lazier”

“Discussing with the people Ilike might be more effective”

Table 5: Students’ recommendation for the things the teacher should do

@ Give clear instmetion with examples H0 100

20