Luận văn students’ participation in group work activities in english language classes at a high school in phu tho province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INFERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --000--- TRAN THI THANH HOA STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INFERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

000 -

TRAN THI THANH HOA

STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A

HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE

(NGHIÊN CỨU VẼ SỰ THAM GIÁ CÁC HOẠT ĐÔNG NHÓM

"TRONG GIỎ HỌC TIÊNG ANH CÚA HỌC SINH

OMOT TRUONG TRUNG HOC PHO THONG 6 PHU THO)

M.A MINOR TIIESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 8140231.01

Tlanoi - 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INFERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

000 -

‘TRAN THỊ THANH HÓA

STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A

THGIT SCHOOL IN PIU THO PROVINCE

(NGHIEN CUU VE SL’ THAM GIA CAC HOAT DONG NHOM

TRONG GIỎ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH

6 MOT TRUONG TRUNG HOC PHO THONG 6 PHU THO)

M.A MINOR TIIESIS

Field English 'Veaching Methodology

Supervisor : Assoc Prof Lé Van Canh, PhD

Hanoi - 2019

DECLARATION

Title: “ STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION LN GROUP WORK ACTIVITLES LN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A HIGH

SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE”

T certify thal no part of the thesis has been copied or reproduced by me from any

other works without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by

me under strict guidance of my supervisor

Tanoi, 2019

Student's signature

Tran Thi Thanh Hoa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firsl of all, T would like to sond my sincere and special gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr.Lé Văn Canh, who has given valuable assistance, guidance, precious suggestions, advice, and reference materials to me so that I can complete this Ihesis The success of my paper would have beon almost impossible without bis

tireless support

My thanks and gratitude also go to all professors and lecturers at Faculty of Post-

Graduate Studies, Universily of Languages and International Studies, Vielnam

National University, Llanoi for their valuable lectures

Last but not least, I would like to send my gratitude to my parents, all members in amy family and my friends (or their support and encouragement during the process

of writing this thesis

ABSTRACT

Group work activities play an important role in all slages of sccond language

acquisition Using group work activities has been considered an effective tool for enhancing English teaching and learning process The paper aims to find out the

participation in group-work activities of dhe 11 studertls af a high school in Phu

‘Tho and the reasons that make them participate the way From that finding, the

researcher could find ways to stimulate active involvement from students and make

using groupwork in teaching Tanguage effectively A mix-method approach

(quantitative and qualitative methods) was used to collect the required data for the study Questionnaires were collected from 58 students in two classes at this high school From this sample, 12 sludsnls were inlerviewed im more detail in face-lo-

face interviews The findings show that learners in this school were very excited

about the lessons when group-work activities were used It also means that group-

work activities can supporl the teachers in attracting the learners Lo the lesson Tr

other words, using group-work activities brought many benefits for not only

learners but also teachers im the school For example, students could improve Icarning skills, such as English skills, presentation skulls and groupwork skills,

Additionally, not only students but also teachers could have chance to learn

somelhing new from other students However, some leamers identified difficulties,

anostly related to students’ knowledge and skills, which can lead to meffectrve

teamwork Ilopefully, the study can be a useful source of reference for those

teaching English to young learners.

CHAPTER l: INTRODUCTION tre

1 Rationale of the siudy, 21222 erreoeE

3 Whe research questions .cscsccsssssssssessssceesssssnesensssaneseesee oes 2

6 Thờ significance of the SWdy ccs sesseteesessuetsetnseneneiiae see

3

7 Organization of the thesis

2.1 The Sociocultural perspectives on language learning: the role of social interaction

2.2.3, Challenges in Ôrodp WOIk coi cà nen

3.3 Participation as learHlNB in cọ ng, erresoeoaÐ

2.5 Overview of the rescareh projects related to the thesis topic L2 CHAPLER.3: RESEARCH VIVTHODOLOGY seo

3.2, The case study methodology .vscssesssnssssieessstsnasvestasiansineeateneensesnnd 5

3.2.3 Descriptive case study co ononeneiiiiriiireraararrrsoe T7 3.3, Research procedures cajeesssesenessssueessesieetsatsseetinee

3.3.2 The course bo0K non

3.4, Data oolleetien —

2 Linitations oŸ the studÿ cài eerriseieeaoiu.4Ð)

3 Sugpestions for futher research cac nai ¬— eA

APPENDIX 3: LESSON PLAN IN ‘THI CLASSROOM Seseeo,TW

vi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Description to Queslionnaire

Table 1.1: Summarizing the results of questionnaires in five week:

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1: Number of slndenis by Level of Study and Gender Studonls Participation Figure 4.1: ‘the role of students in group work activities in class A

Figure 4.2: The role of students in group work activities in class A

Figure 4.3: The contribution to the group work activities of students in class A

Figure 4.4; ‘The contribution to the group work activities of students m class B

Figure 4.5: Frequency of participation by olass A

Figure 4.6: Frequency of participation by class PB

igure 4.7: Reasons of aotive participation by class A

Figure 4.8: Reasons of passive participation by class A

Figure 4.9: Reasons of active participation by class B

Tigure 4.10: Reasons of passive participatien by classB

Figure 4.11: The change in students’ participation in group work activities

viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Interaction has now been recognized as the most effective way of learning a language ‘Therefore, group-work has been considered to be vital to students’ language learning because group-work offers opportunities for interaction to occur

Until now, there have been a great number of studies on using group work,

particularly using group work activities for English language teaching and learning Researchers have been working, on different aspects of group work such as : the role

of group work avtivities in language teaching, challenges in using group work, students’ attitudes towards group work, the relationship between students”

participation in group work activities and their achievement, et cetera, which will be

discussed more in the Llcrature review Generally speaking, they have made big efforts to find out what extent group work is offeetive in students’ leaming process

in the context of Thanh ‘Thuy high school where | have been teaching for several years I have observed that group work is not always welcomed by every student and teacher Moreover, students do not actively participate or become

passive im the group activitics despite cneouragements and usc of various leaching

ancthods by the teacher to stimulate active participation trom students As I believe

in the usefulness of group work to my students’ leaning English, | have a strong desire of investing the students’ level of participation in group work and what factors influence students’ participation in group work activities from their own

perceptions in order to design and sel appropriate and effective group activities Lor

Tny students,

With all factors above, I have decided to conduct a case study of 11 graders

at a Phu Tho high school which thoroughly investigates “students” participation in group work activities in Inglish language classes at a high school in Phu Tho.” This study hoped to fill the gap in understandiny, of sludents’ level of involvement in Faglish language classroom and the factors affecting their participaliom, which could help teachers find ways to increase students’ participation in group

interaction.

2 Aims of the study

‘The research aims to find out the level of students’ participation in group work activities and the factors thal affeet their partictpation From that resull, the researcher suggests some activities used effectively for group work

3 The rescarch questions

Tn order to got the above aims, the research was designed and conducted lo

seek answers to the following research questions:

1 How do students participate in group work activities in English language

classes and why do they parlicipale Uhal way?

2 What types of group tasks encourage students’ better participation?

4, Methods of the study

This is a descriptive case study Tr order to gain information Lhal can help lo

answer the above research questions both qualitative methods were employed to

collect the data To be specific data was ocbiained from two different sources:

questionnaire and interviews

5 The scope of the study

The research was carried out with one group of 58 high students (27 female

and 31 mals) at Thanh Thay high school m Phu Tho province The study focused on

only students’ participation in interactional activities in the classroom and the way

their participation influenced (heir English skills

6 The significance uf the study

The purpose of this study is to discuss the level of students” involvement in

group work activities and factors affecting their participation It is significant

because it will provide definition and advantages of group work to help students have a deeper understanding and apply this method in leaming effectively Besides,

the high school students are nol used lo using this way of studying al secondary

school, therefore they have to cope with many difficulties which are already in the study Through this study, the researcher would like to help the students and icavhors can use group work avtivilies oflectively

tò

This study will serve as the basis for students’ creative ideas in group work The results of this research stady may give them insights which would encourage them

to plan projects designed lo improve the quality of language learning, TL will enable the students in general to grasp at the innovative teaching-learning approaches

7 Organization of the thesis

The thesis is organized as follows

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION — introduces the rationale, aims of the study; research questions; significance of the study, and the thesis structure

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW — reviews and presents relevant theories and studies to the study

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY - describes the research design, the

participants selection, dale collection procedure, dale collection instruments

CITAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION — presents an analysis of the data and discusses the results of the study

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS — summanves the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Sociocultural perspectives on language learning: the role of social

other words, the sociocultural theory views the child’s cogintive development as a

product of social interaction, especially interactions with adults ( parents, teachers, relatives), or more capable peers

Sociocultural theory is origitaled in the works of the Russian psychologist,

Vygotsky (1978) The major theme of Vygotsky's works is that social interaction

plays a fiindamental role in cognitive development According to Vygotsky (1978),

"Rvery [umetion in the child's cultural devclopment appears twice: firsi, on the

social level, and later, on the individual level, first, between people

(imterpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological) This applies

equally to attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts All the

higher finctions originate as actual relationships between individual.” ( p 57)

Socinculiura theory postulates thal children are very impressionable and

therefore they can quickly adapts the pattern of speech, behavior, written language and even other symbols around them Through these inputs by themselves or with

the help with their parents or teachers, the information could gradually be

associated with the meanings and finally take root in children’s knowledge

framework

Viewed from socioculturat theory, learning is a dynamic process in which

participation in socially-mediated activities within the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is necessary therefore, instruction should be directed to the

ZPD, which is delined by Vygoisky (1978, pp 86-87) as follows

"The distance between the actual development level as determined by

independent problem solving and the level of potential development as delonmined Ubrough problem-solving under adull guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers." (Vygotsky, 1978, pp 86-87)

Differently, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the range of abilities that an individual can perform with assislance bul cannot yet perform independently ‘hese skills are called "proximal" because the individual is close to mastering them but needs more guidance and

Practice in order to perform these aclions independently

Vygotsky believed that peer interaction was an essential part of the learning process In order for children to learn new skills, he suggested pairing more competent students with less skilled ones Translated into classroom teaching, the learning process is composed of three stages

1 The presence of someone with the knowledge and skills to guide the learner;

nN Social interactions that allow the learner to observe and practice their skills; and

3 Scaffolding, or supportive activities provided by the mentor or

teacher that help guide the leamer through the ZPD

Ta summary, the sociecnllaral thoory emphasizes thal learning is changing participation in situated practices As such, this study aims to explore the students’ participation in group work

2.2 Group work

2.2.1 Definition uf group activities

In this study, Brown’s (2000) definition of group work is adopted According

to Brown, group work is when individuals work logether, they depend on each other

and they have a common goal If someone in the group is affected by an event or a thing, it will affect the whole group This definition is adopted because it reflects the nalure of group work im an EFT classroom This means that in the EFT.

classroom, individual students co-operate with one another in small groups to achieve a common goal, which is understood as the learning goal to be achieved in gach learning task or activity

Sharing Brown’s definition, Forsyth (2006) considered a group as two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships Forsyth also poidled oul that group should satisfy three factors: the number of individuals involved, connections, and relationships

222 The role of group work activities in language teaching

A fiteralure review shows thal the benefits of group work in EFT can be

classified into three categories ‘hese are discussed below

Group work activities can promote students’ responsibility and autonomy

AH students work together, share thei ideas, and always have desire Lo

achieve the goal in group activities, In addition, one of their main tasks is to take

charge of their group activities Every leamer is responsible for himself and others,

so there is a [riendly help and high personal inlerdependeniee belween than Dof[

(1998) believes that group work and pair wok encourage students to share ideas

knowledge In a reading activity, students can help each other to explore the aucaning of a text, in a discussion activity; students can give cach other new ideas

Chirac and Hempel (2008: 26-27) points out that group work can be a way to learn how to thirik for yoursell, as well as develop the students” argumentative abilities

and critical thinking” It was revealed in this study that student collaboration led to

higher productivity and higher results on the part of students” learning outcomes

Group work increase students’ talking time and oral fluency

According to Ur (1996), students can have a learning task in small

interaction in group work and it is considered as a kind of their activation and is

very valuable for practicing of fluency in speaking There are 5 groups in a cla students can get five times as some probability to speak as in a large class

Moreover, group work activities can be used to improve the students’

amotivalion Group-work aclivily can allow participants to usc and practice the

language It is also one of the most effective ways to motivate participants to

become more involved Richards and Loc Khart (1994) point out that students not

only play more active roles in the learning process bul also get the benefits of

sharing ideas with their group members through participation in groups Doff (1988, p.141) also shares the idea that while working in groups, “students felt less anxiety

whan they arc privately than when they are on shown in front of the whole class

Pair work and group-work can help shy students, who would never say anything in

a whole class activity.”

Group work helps to provide mutual learning and student-student interaction

Viewed from a sociocultural perspective, which emphasizes the role of social interaction in human cognitive development, group work can provide affordances for

learning For oxaruple, Lighthrown & Spada (2006) assert thal learning is supposed lo

‘happen when an individual interacts with an interlocutor within his/her zone of

proximal development (ZPD) It can be deduced that cooperative leaming pravide opportunities of # social interaction in a classroom while interaction for FFT is very

lnited outside the classroom ‘The sociocultural view of group work in second or

foreign language learnirys will be discussed in details in the subsequent section

The benefits of eroup-work can be scen in many different aspects, inchiding,

improving students’ language skills In the best group-work activity in a language

dlassroom, the participants of a learning group can benelil in many ways By

dividing the class into group, a new social context is created whereby learners have the opportunity to share personal awareness with their group mates and decide on a

conclusion based on the sum of these cognitions

in general, group work is beneficial to second language learning in several ways Tlowever, the organization of group activities can be a challenge ta teachers

For example, some studenis may control the group a lot and make others

uncomfortable, So, the effectiveness of group work to student Jeaming depends considerably on how group work is organized and the appropriateness of the tasks

or aclivitics for the students to work in group

2.23 Challenges in Group work

Along with these benefits, however, there are also some negative aspects that

muy be relaled to group work, For instanice, MeGraw and Tidwell (2001) say that

students often have to deaf with difficult issues such as getting credit without

working equally, poor communication, culturally different approaches to work, lack

of leadership, varying work cthies, and different grade expeclations Tn extreme

cases, teams collapse Group Work (n.d) and Fisher et al (1994) report other challenges such as “advantaging some students and disadvantaging others,”

“difficulty in grading inchvidual input” and “lime consuming for both students and

faculty.”

Scholars (Davis 1997; Ives 2000; Brown, 2001: Hess 2001; Alley 2005;

Ramirez 2005, Shamnn, F and olhers 2007) have identified a number of the reasons why teacher avoid using group work in their classes Some teachers are

concerned that most students will not participate during group work, will go ‘off-

task’, or that stadents will communicate in their nalive language (e.g Peacock

1998; Brown, H.D 2001)

The reason most commonly cited by teachers why they do not use group

work is classroom management For example, Davis (1997), Brown, (2001), Alley

(2005), and Ramirez (2005) report that teachers have difficulty controlling class

discipline during group work This may involve a lack of instruction or preparation

of the strategy For some teachers, group work means putting students together without planning or developing a rationale to use group work for that activity or

task For instance, Davis (1997) and Brown, (2001) show that teachers can operate

group work superficially, and that many of them do it without a thorough understanding of the underlying purposes for the technique As a result, the

oulcomes tend lo be Limited due Le a poor design

Similarly, group work represents a more student-centred approach which particularly in large classes has been difficult to implement as explained above Davis (1997,p 267) argues thal, for some tsachers, group work challerges the

“traditional teacher-contred classroom” and that “allowing learners to work without teacher supervision tends to disrupt the notion of teachers as “knowers” who impart

their knowledge to studenls, who are simply receptacles” He believes that this

Tn order to solve the discipline problems during group work, various studies

suggest clear instructions, teacher training covering group work strategies, careful planning, justified use of group work for the activity, and giving roles to the group amembors (Pasigna 1997, Brown, 2001; Hess 2001; Shamim, F and others 2007)

2.3 Participation as [earning

Class participation is an important aspect of student learning For examples,

when students speak up in class, they will learn how ta express their ideas in a way

that others can understand; or when they ask questions, they learn how to gather

information to improve their own understanding of a lopic Moreover, it also is a valuable Icarmng tool for teachers, Through the questions of students, the teachers

will leam what students do not understand, and can adjust your instruction

accordingly Therefore, participation betwoon lecturers and sindenis is

indispensable in the process of leaming here are several reasons why participation

is important in the learning process

Jong (in Theberge, 1994), it was found that students, who are active participants, tends to have better academic achievement, compared with students,

who are passive in participation This statement was supported by Astin (1999),

claimisys thal sLudents who actively participate in the classroom discussions showed

greater satisfaction in the leaming process Active participation of students in

discussions in the classroom is very important for the aim of achieving effective

leaning and plays a crucial role im the success of education and personal

development of students in the future (Tatar, 2005) This is because students will

learn how to think critically and enhance their intellectual development if they are

an active parlicipanil in the classroom

it can be said that the relationship between students’ participation in the classroom and students’ achievement is undeniable Participation provides an opportunily lo the students to learn (hrough their own contribution, and through the contribution of their classmates, Through discussion, students can practice thinking through problems, organizing concepts, formulating, arguments, testing their ideas

in a public setting, evaluating the evidence for their own and others? positions, arid

responding thoroughly to critical and diverse perspectives, Lahademe (1967) claims that there are interactions between the process of teaching and academic achievement Cobb (in Abu Bakar, 1986) found thal there are finks belweern

children’s behaviors in learning mathematics and their academic achievement

Therefore, student participation is one of instructional components in the instruction

cuhanced by school La help sluders lo learn more (Abu Bakar, 1986)

Hull ( 1985, cited in Horder 2010) also pointed out that adults leam best if

they were pul in group Working in groups can help learners achieve higher order

thinking skills and retain knowledge longer than working individually

Licks ( 1955) and Palinscar(1986) also stated that discussion which requires

students Lo participate and share their opitions and ideas permit teacher to provide

information and explanation in an efficient manner besides checking students’ understanding about the lessons ( as cited in Chu and Kim , 1999)

Classroom participation can help students to study better at school

According to Scepansky (2003), higher levels of classroom participation also tended to score slightly higher on personality traits of openness and consciousness

Classroom participalion can send posiave signals to sludenls about lhe type of

leaming and thinking such as growth in critical thinking, active learning, development of listening, and speaking skills needed for career success, and the ability to join a disciplined conversalion

10

Ewens (2000) points out that compared to traditional lecture style teaching, encouraging classroom participation promotes a higher level of reflective thinking, and problem solving, including application, analysis, synthesis, and cvaluation, and

that information Jeamed through discussion, is generally retained beler than

information Isamed through lecture

Based on the Rleralure and selected pasl research, il can be concluded that student’s participation in the classroom will ensure the effectiveness of the

learning process

2.4, Students’ attitudes towards group work

In spite of the benefits that research suggests can be accrued through academic group work, it is reasonable to expect that there would be a variety of opinions among students about their participation in group work In a recent article conceming academic group work, the author noted that it is common for students to

not enjoy group work (Butts, 2000) ‘This leads a potential instructor to a certain

problem: If group work is proven to have highly bonolicial results, il would scom wise lo incorporate group work into the curriculum However, if students oflen dislike group work, and if these negative altitudes arc related to a diminishing

effectiveness of such groups, the instructor might be understandably reluctant to use group work Tf we hope to improve student attitudes toward group work, the first important thing is to explore the issues that might affect such attitudes This information might then he used to address student concerns and to explore possible

techniques for improving students” attitudes and groups’ effectiveness

Recent research related to student attitudes towards group work suggests that

these attitudes may be influenced by a number of factors Roughly speaking, these factors can be divided into two broad categories: unique characteristics to the individuals which comprise the group (ie gender, or education level), and characteristics which belong to the group as a unit (ie the interpersonal

relationships that develop over time within the group, and the division of labor)

11

Students’ attitudes toward group coursework can pose a challenge to the performance of assessed group coursework tasks Such attitudes can be shaped by educators, mixed messages related to the purpose and effectiveness of group work

(Mulch, 1998) They can! also be shaped by the marmer in which the coursework is

operalionalised (Willeoxson, 2006) However, Chapman and Van Auken (2001)

believe thal educators’ negalive altiludes toward group coursework due lo recurrent

proup conflicts play an important role in influencing students’ attitudes, their perceptions of the benefits of teamwork, as well as their concems in relation to fairness in marking The authors also suggest that students are more likely to have positive attitudes toward assessed group coursework if their lecturers discuss group management issues with them and use tools such as peer evaluations to assess individual performance within the group(Chapman and Van Auken, 2001) Similarly, Pffaf and Huddleston (2003) argue that some group conflicts can indeed

be caused by the educator, due to practices such as determining groups without students’ impul, failing lo reduce (or insignificantly reducing) the marks of sovial loafers, and nol requiring peer evaluation

2.5 Overview of the research projects related to the thesis topic

The roles of using group work activities and its effectiveness in English teaching have heen the subject of many studies Recently, 1.i and Campbell's (2008)

examined Asian students’ perceptions of the much promulgated cooperative learning concepts in the form of group work and group assignments The population

in this study consisted of twenty- two Asian students Face-to face semi-structured

interviews were used as tools in this study The results revealed not only the strength of group work, but also some detrimental factors that affects proup dynamics, such as members’ attitudes and willingness to cooperate and contribute

as a team, the composition of the group, students’ competing demands on students” time and attention, heterogeneity from the natural abilities of students, and varying cultural values and beliefs held by group members

12

Another study by Chen and Huds (2906) auucd to cxamine both

quantitative and qualitative data relating to student behaviour in groups collected in

TEFL lessons in China The researchers were interested to find out how 36 Chinese

non- English major students behave in groups in EFL classroom in Normal University Both tape recordings of group discussion and interviews wore used in this research The results presented the difficulty of generalizing about what happens when students get into groups in English lessons, and argues that there are still many unexplored aspects regarding how group work functions and what students actually do in groups in English classrooms

Payne and Monk-Tumer (2006) alsa had a study to research how students

perceive group work aller completing a semesicr long group project The participants were 145 students taking an upper division rescarch methods class in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at a large regional university The data supported the idea that small groups may work more effectively together than larger one However, it sometimes inhibits the performance of the weakest amembers as those who are good in {he group dominate the tasks carried oul

According to Jeremy Harmer (2007), there are a lot of activities for students to

do in groups For instance, students can work and prepare a story, then they can take roles to perform a situation in their groups Moreover, the writer says that the students

tend (o participale more im sruall groups than large groups Tn kis opinion, sruall groups

will motivale sludems 1o communicale However, he stales thal when students work in

groups, students do usually like lo sit with (heir Ltierids in the group work activities because they like their teachers to pay special attention to them

Davis (1997) also did an action research which pointed out some issues in

the design and implementation in group activities and then included solutions for

the post-observation remodeling of activities willin a task and vontent-based

framework for language mslruction, The results imdicated that teachers bad

difficulty controlling class discipline during group work ‘This could be related to the lack of instruction or preparation of the strategy For some teachers group work

Teaus pulling students logether without planuing or developmg a ralionale to use

group work [or that aclivily or task

13

Nihalani ct al., (2010) also pointed out that group performance will reflect the groups’ member level in stead of the whole group together when one group taember dominates the group

In short, relevant studies above show that using group work activities could bring both advantages and disadvantages in teaching English for students Thus, the

present study was conducted with the aim to sce how sludents participate in group

work activities and find out the reasons for their participation From that point, teachers could find ways ta use eroupwork activities effectively in English language

classrooms

14

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter begins with the methodological orientation adopted in this study, which is the case study approach The chapter provides the reasons for

choosing the methodology This chapter also presents the research designs used in

the study with explanation of selection of research design and development of the

tools as well as the methods of data collection and its analysis The chapter ends

with ethical consideration of the present study and a brief summary of the chapler

3.2 The case study methodology

3.21 Definitions of case study

Case study is a very popular rescarch method in the current development of

society Ilowever, different researchers have different ideas about what a case study

is Yin (2003) considers case as “a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context, espevially when Ihe boundaries between a phonomenon and context are nol

clear and the researcher has little control over the phenomenon and context” (p 13)

His definition also reflects his support for the case study as a legitimate research ancthod, According to this definition, from Yinian viewpoint, case study is an

empirical inquiry investigating the case or cases that follow ta the above mentioned

definition by solving the “how” or “why” questions related te (he phenomenon of

interest He finds it particularly instrumental to evaluate the program The rest of his

technical definition draws attention to the aspects of data collection and analysis

related to the situation under study: in order to investigate a different situation

including “many more variables of interest than data points,” case study draws from

diverse lines of evidence for triangulating purposes and avails itself of “prior

development of theore!

2003, pp 13-14) ‘This attention shows that his approach is meticulous about the

propositions lo guide data collection and anal

cohesion and consistency among the design components and phases of case study as

a esearch siralegy.

In tens of the definition of case, Stake (1995) agrees with Louis Smith’s

(1978) rendition: researchers should view case as “a bounded system” and inquire into it “as an object rather than a process” (p 2)

¥or Merriam (1998), the defining characteristic of case study research is the

delimitation of the ease Her definition is consistent with Sinith’s (1978) view of

case as a bounded system and Stake’s view of case as an integrated syslem She

states that “the case as a thing, a single entity, a unit around which there are boundaries” (p 27)

Through all the defiritions above, il can be concluded that case study is

ses and

camied out with the aim of collecting information from one or more ci

study It mainly focuses on describing and explaining these cases through “how” and “why” questions Case studies can be single or multiple-case designs in which

a multiple design must follow a replication instead of a sampling logic In many

case studies, a number of cases are studied This is to investigate some common phenomenon When there is no other cases for replication, the researcher is limited

to single-case designs

3.22 Why choosing case study

The opportunity lo research students’ participation im group work aclivilics at

a high school in Phu Tho presented a ready-made case study However, in the

research process a case study approach was not the only consideration Llere 1

provide my reason to apply this methodology In the sub-sections, I explore two tam componenls 0É this approach: idenlifying the case and theorclical

underpinnings Finally, T oulling the struchure of the study

My starting point was the desire to have a better understanding of how students participate in proup work activities in language lesson and why the participate in [hal way One possibility was to conducl a survey of all students in the

school, however, T fel the exploratory nature of the enquiry did not suit a

methodology which presupposed quite specific prior understandings; moreover, from the outset 1 was strongly inclined towards interpretive research, which I understood as ideally qualitative in nature

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Yin (2003) suggests four types of design that case study researchers can imake use of They imelude single holistic design, single embedded design, multiple

holistic design and multiple embedded design Holistic designs require one unit of

analysis, whereas embedded designs require multiple units of analysis Yin advises the apprentice researchers to sclect the design which provides them with the

Tnaximum instrumentality to answer (heir research questions, and to consider the

strengths and limitations of each design and the certain pitfalls to be avoided while

implementing each of them Broadly speaking, Yin (2003) suggests three common approaches to designmg case studies These are exploratory, descriptive and explanatory case studies In this study, a descriptive approach was adopted

3.23 Descriptive case study

The case study research methodology was selected to investigate the students’ participation in group work within their classroom ‘his strategy provides

an “all-encompassing method” for systematically studying and describing a phonomenon (in this case, the studenls’ participation in group work avtivilics in

Faglish langnage lessons) within a real-life context, ie in the actual language classroom (Yin, 2003, p 14)

The case study research strategy also provides an excellent methodologival framework for performing mixed-nelhod research sludies im the social sciences

(Merriam, 1998: Yin, 2003) A descriptive case study successfully provides multiple

sources of qualitative and quantitative evidence for triangulating, such experiential

data in an all-encompassing manner (Yin, 2003) Yin (2003) also suggests that the

case study method is appropriate “when a ‘how’ or ‘why’ question is being asked

about a contemporary set of events, over which the investigator has little or no

contro!” (p 9) This study’s research questions align well with this viewpoint, asking how students participate in group work activities, and why they participated the way they did This design strategy focuses the inquiry on a single context (in this study, classroom-based Fnglish language lessons), but requires collecting and

analysing data from multiple units ( the students’ responses to Lhe questionnaire and

interviews) within that context.

3.3 Research procedures

Yin (1994) identified five components of research design that are important

for case stucdics:

1 A study's questions

2 Its propositions, if any

3 Tis unii(s) of analysis

4, The logic linking the data to the propositions

5 The criteria for interpreting the findings

(Yin, 1994, p 20)

Vor the present study, the single case study approach has been chosen, which

is appropriate to the phenomenon being studied Looking to the theoretical background of Ihe designs ol the ease study, the presenl study is the descriptive case study having embedded case study design

3.3.1 The context of the study

Thanh Thuy high school was founded over filly years ago and il has officially become a high school in Phu ‘Tho province at this time It has 27 classes in

which the majority of students are non-major English Although there are nrany

challenges the schcol has to face up with in the new era, English has also been put

auch emphasis on because of its popularity and necessity Thus, it is a compulsory subject in the teaching and learning curriculum Tis aims are (o help sludents acquire general English knowledge and the four English skills

In terms of physical setting, English teaching and leaming at Thanh Thuy are

carried out inside the classroom with basic equipment such as blackboard, tables

and desks, In some rooms, they also have cassette players, projectors and speakers

As for class size, the number of students in each class is often about 15 students This leads in fots of difficulties in teaching ard leaning

3.32, The course book

The textbook is the old version of English 11 published by the Vietnamese

Education Publishing House After a first glance on the contents of the book it

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cơuld be noticed that the book was dividcd mứo two parts : a workbook and a

student’s book The first page of the student’s book presents the aims of the units to

the students The book is comprised of twelve units which are further divided into

four small lessons In every lesson, there is a separate grammar section called “ Language [ocus” which is usually positioned aflor Reading lesson, speaking lesson, listening lesson and writing lesson In this section, grammar rules are first explained and exemplified, and the latter followed by tasks aimed at practicing the presented zules Purthermore, there is usually one grammar task preceding the “Language focus” and although there is a separate grammar section, a small number of grammar tasks can also be found in other places throughout the textbook Also, at

the cud of lhe book, before the “Word list”, there is a three-page “ Grammar

summary” which contain the basic grammar rules covered in the textbook

Not only does it present basic grammatical items but it also aims at developing students’ vocabulary and communication Therefore, it is considered as one of the mosh appropriate textbook to non-Rnglish major students al Thanh Thuy high school

33.3 The teachers

There are two teachers who take charge of the two classes The first one is male and the other is female The teachers have different degrees and different years

of work experience al leaching English at Thanh Thuy high school The male

teacher has got the Masior’s degree iti teaching English while the fernale toacher has gol Bachclor’s degrev In terms of Leaching experience, both of hem had taught for

10 to 15 years Ilowever, both of them are very good at teaching linglish with a flexible approach and always care about their students

33.4, The students

Tn thus study, class A, Grade 11 has 34 studerts, including 14 female students aud 20 male sludents, class B, Grade 11 has 24 studenis, mcluding 13 female

students and 1] male students ‘he total number of female students is 27 and male

is 31 students It is important to note that only the students who responded the

questionnaire the firsl week were asked 10 parlicipale im the study ( Grade A

(N 34), grade R(N 24)

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Figure ] showed the distributlon of students in the two classrooms

3.4 1 Data collection instruments

Since a case study approach was adopted in this study, it was decided that a

questionnaire was one of the instruments used to collect data concerning the

attitudes of the research participants A population of 58 high school students (non

major English) were invited to answer the questionnaire Along with the questionnaire, a semi-structured interviewing tool was also employed to collect

supplementary data needed to answer the research questions

In short, the main data collection instruments of this study include questionnaire, and interviews

3.4.1.1 The questionnaire

As mentioned earlier in this section, a questionnaire is used to collect as

much data as possible in a short time In this research study closed format questions

that consisted of multiple choices were used in an attempt to help students select the

attitudes that are mostly related to their ideas However, in order for the results of

the sample to be more authentic and valid, an open format question was included in

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the questionnaire as well This could allow the students cxpress their own views of

group work in the classroom Gilbert (2008) states that it is important for the validity and rehabilty of the research that the researcher uses difTerenl question formats when designing his/her questionnaire Cohen et al, (2007) state that the

questionnaire becomes more valid and reliable if it includes closed and open-ended

questions (ype However, if, is argued thal, the questionnaire has ily own weakuesses

as students might not be honest when filling it in which then might affect the overall results of the research study (May, 2001)

The questionaire consisled of 5 research related questions, which consliluted 4

close-ended questions and one open-ended question ‘the aim was to identify changes in the students’ opinions about group work over time Students were asked

to answer the questions in the questionnaire aller

h experimental lesson oF teaching period ( one lesson per week) A student was defined as a person who had

participated in group work activities Participants were given 5 minutes to fill in the

questionnaire individually Because all surveys were fully completed $8 students? survey results in five weeks were included in the analysis

The factors covered by the questions and the style can be summarized as follows:

table 3.1: Description to Questionnaire

No | Question Aim Yactors Covered | Style

1 |Qs 1 Define the [Number of group | MCQ (One Selection)

number of group | work activilies

work activities in

each lesson

2 |Qs 2: Collect the |The role of | MCQ (more than one selection It

rote of students in | students means thal in this seclion of ihe

students are asked to choose more

than one of them)

ibution MCQ Gnore than one selection)

The third question of the questionnaire focuses on the contribution of the siudemls regarding group work ‘The design

of this section is similar to the second one, however the theme is

L5Q (: very much - 2: Much —

3:: Tatile - 4: Noi at all)

Ta order Lo gain a better insighl inlo the possibilities [or improvement of the

period of the study

participated int answering the questiounaire They wer

produol range, semi- structured interviews were conducted with 12 students who

from two regular classes,

so-called class A and class B, Those students wore defined as Lrequent parlicipants

in group work activities and active contributors to their group during the five-week

Cohon ot al, (2007) argue that such fype of inicrview inereases the comparability of the answers from the respondents and helps the research to gain complete answers Moroover, it reduces bias in the data collected This type of

interview also increases the ability of the researcher to logically organize and analyze hisyher dala (The Open University, 2001) Furthermore, such lype of

inferview is effective in that il helps the researcher to access sludents' real feeling

about the aspect being investigated (Punch, 2009) In this study a standardized

open-ended interview is conducted with 12 students from two classes at Thanh

Thuy high schnol Such a type of interview allows the researcher to follow a scheduled list of open-ended questions

‘The interview protocol has three following open-ended questions

Hm hay nho lai va migu tả việc tham gia các hoạt động theo nhóm trên lớp của em theo các ÿ sau:

1 Mức độ tham gia nhóm của em có thay đối không? Tại sao?

2 Cam nhận của em về mắc dộ tham gia các hoại động nhóm cho việc học lập

relation to the topic under study

3.4.2 Data collection procedures

The time for data collection lasted during the third month of the second semester of the school year 2018-2019 This is the time when students learnt a

anajority of grade 11 knowledge ‘I'herefore, students may have an overview of their English ability or summarize the activities they participated in as well as evaluate

the effects of those activities.

The procedure for collecting data contains three stages as following:

Stage 1: Delivering questionnaires to 58 grade 1) students after cach experimental lesson (one lesson per week) Before answering the questions, they were informed in Vietnamese the purpose, methods and requirements of the study

to make sure they got the idea about what they would have to do and were willing

to take part in the study Then, the students completed the questionnaires It is very

important to note that before participating in groupwork activities and answering

questionnaire, students were instructed about the ways to work in group activities and how to evaluate their work in each learning period While students were

completing the questions, anything that (hey wondered was clarified by the author

Stage 2: Aftor collecting and analyzing data from questionnaires, it was time

to design and carry out the interviews with 12 students who reported that they

participated enthusiastically in group activilics Taterviews were conducted in a

small room at the school and lasted approximately 15 mimutes each Answers were

recorded by note-taking and 12 interviews were also filmed with consent

Stape 3: The numeric data and qualitative data gathered from questionnaires

in stage 1, interviews in stage 2 were recapitulated and analyzed

3.5 Summary

This chapter begins with an introduction then describes the research design employed in this study Population and sample study is also mentioned before discussing the research methodology used to conduct this research In collecting

data, library and field research are used For field research, both quantitative and

qualitative methods are chosen in which questionnaire and group of interviewees

are involved in the research procedure The data that were collected are then

analyved and discussed and the Tesults are displayed

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the research questions brought up in the first chapter will be answered through the analysis and discussion on the collected data from questionnaire and interviews After the data was collected, the next step was

analyzing the whole data obtained With those techniques of data analysis, it is

expected to answer the research question adequately and appropriately

4.1, Data analysis

4.1.1 Data from questionnaires

4.1.1.1 The role of students in group work activities

Question 2 in the questionnaire aims to examine the roles that individual

students reported they played in group work activities It is important to note that

before participating m group activities, students were informed about how to divide

the work and the role in each activities From the line chart, it is evident that the majority of students worked as a thinker ( 75 times) for five weeks in class A,

following by analyst with 48 times

Similarly, the number of thinkers in class B is also the highest, with 48 times

and following by the students working as analysts ( with 45 times)

There are also other roles, including leader, presenter, summarizer, checker