Luận văn high school students' perceptions of the benefits of the group work to their english language learning

LISTS OF TABLES Table 4: Students’ altitudes in three grades 10, 11 and 12 22 TableS: Students' perceptions ofthe benefits ofgroup work G.10 2 Table 6: _ students’ perceptions of the ben

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGTAGES POSTGRADUATE DEPARTMENT

VŨ THỊ HÃI

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF

THE BENEFITS OF GROUP WORK TO THEIR

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: A SURVEY

RESEARCH IN NGOC TAO HIGH SCHOOL

(Nhận thức của học sinh phé théng về lợi ích của hoạt động nhóm đối với việc học tiếng Anh:

Nghiên cứu kháo sát ở trường THPT Ngọc Tảo)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Methodology Cade: 601410

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGTIAGES POSTGRADUATE DEPARTMENT

VU THI HAI

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF

THE BENEFITS OF GROUP WORK TO THEIR

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: A SURVEY

RESEARCH IN NGOC TAO HIGH SCHOOL

(Nhận thức của học sinh phố thông về lợi ích của hoạt động nhóm đối với việc học tiếng Anh:

Nghiên cứu kháo sát ở trường THPT Ngọc Tảo)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Methodology Cade: 601410

Supervisor: Lé Van Canh, MLA

Hanoi, 2009

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2, Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Research questions

5 Method of the study

6 Design of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.2.1 Definition of pair work and group work - - coe 8

2.3.3 The role of group work in language teaching and its benefits 9

2.2.3.2.1 Group work creates classroom atmosphere wreussinsneiennesinnen TỔ

2.2.3.2.3 Group work increases students’ participation and their talking time 11

2.2.3.2.4 Group work fosters learners’ responsibility and indapendeRice 12

2.3 Limitations of group work

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2.3.2 Learners’ use of the mother tongue B 2.3.3, Unequal distribution of Work it SF OUPS.eceeiesecieinensnesneeiantsninenneen 7E

3.2 The rationale of using the survey method

3.3 The participants

3.4 The questionnaire

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Students! attitudes towards group work

4.2 Students’ perceptions of the benefits and limitations

of group work (» their language learning

4.2.1 Snedents’ perceptions of the benefits of group work 22 4.2.2, Students’ perceptions of the limitations of group work 3$

4.3 Activities that students would most prefer to do in group

4.4, Students' opinions of the main benefits and limitations of

group work according to grades

4.5 Discussion

4.5.2 Students’ perceptions of the henefits of group work 34

4.5.3 Saudents’ preferences to ĐTGHĐ WOFR (CIVHES cào SHỂ

Trap

.3 Limitations of the stud:

5.4 Suggestions for further studies

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

ions for the use of group wor!

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2.1 Learner heliefs about language learning

As mentioned above, group work is one of the important activities that enhance learners’ participation in class Group work motivates learners in their language learning Learners” success in language leaming depends on a number of factors Among them are Icarncrs’ needs, their motivation as well as them attitudes towards learning a foreign language To understand more about this, an overview of leamer beliefs about language learning is niceessary,

2.4.4, Defittition of beliefs and learner beliefs

* Belief According to Oxford Advanced Leaner’s Dictionary, belief is defined as a thing that one accepts as true or real Another definition of belief provided by Horwilz, (1987) is a statement thal is held to be truc, that affects language learning practices

® Learner belief Language learners hold a set of beliefs conceming language

2.1.2, The necessity of studying learner belief in language teaching

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For recent years, foreign language teaching and leaming have shufted from teacher directed instruction to student-centred leaming Therefore, many researchers have raised their interest in learners’ perspective Numerous studies related to teaching methodology have been carried out from learners” perspective because learners are key figures in teaching and

learning process, and beliefs abou! language learning play an imporlant role in learning

achievements and experiences

According lo Horwitz (1999), il is likely thal language leaner beliets have the potential to aftect their learning experiences as well as their actions, Some beliets are likely influenced

by leamers’ previous experiences which could be positive or negative A negative learning experience might lead learners to believe that they do not possess the special abilitics required to learn a foreign language (Horwitz, 1987), In addition, attitudes and perceptions

to learning beliefs take an important role on leaming behaviours (Cotterall, 1995) Mantle- Bromiley (1995) points oul that learners wilh positive beliefs are more likely to perform better in class Thus, it is important to discover leamers’ beefs to meet their expectations and avoid students’ resistance to instructional approaches and activities in the classroom

(Horwitz, 1987)

Besides, learners’ beliefs in language leaming will shape their attitudes as well as their motivation towards a forcign language Richards & Lockhart (1994) claims that “belicts can influence leamers’ motivation to lear, their expectations about language learning, their perceptions about whal is easy or difficult aboul a language, and the slralegies they choose in learning” (p52) In reality, leamers may have different goals for language leaming Some learners leam a language for the purpose of communicating with speakers

of thal Tanguage Others may want to learn for their fulure jobs, Some may consider grammar to be the most difficull task; the others think listening is the most difficult one,

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LISTS OF TABLES

Table 4: Students’ altitudes in three grades 10, 11 and 12 22 TableS: Students' perceptions ofthe benefits ofgroup work (G.10) 2 Table 6: _ students’ perceptions of the benefits of group work (G.11) 23 Table 7: Students” perceptions of the benefits of group work (G.12) 24 Table 8: Students’ perceptions of the benefits of group work (G.10, Il and 12) 25 Table9: —_ Students’ perceptions of the limitations of group work (G.10) 26 Table 10: Students’ percoptions of the limitations of group work (G.11) 26 Table 11: Students’ perceptions of the lunitations of group work (G 12) 27 Table 12: Students’ perceptions of the limitations of group work (G.10, 11 and 12) 28 Table13: Activilics thal students would mosl prefer to do in group (G.10) 29 Table14: Activitics that students would most prefer to do in group (G.11) 29 Table 15: Activities that students would most prefer to do in group (G.12} 30 Table 16: Activities thal students would prefer lo do in groups (G.10, 11 and 12) 31 Table 17: Students’ opinions of the main benefits and limitations of group work 32

to their Linglish learning according to grades

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS

cLT: Communicative Language Teaching

EFL English Forcign Language

HULIS Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies

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LISTS OF TABLES

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4.5 Discussion

Trap

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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questionnaires in research may help participants approach the problem more easily However, this method has its own limitation, that is, the results collected may not reflect the matter proposed precisely, In order to reduce the invalidity and unreliability, the author will give clear instructions to the students; observe the class to make sure that the students

answer each question themselves; or ask the students Lo check their answers

Vor all that has been mentioned above, the survey research seams to be the most suitable for the scope and objectives of my study To collect data, the survey questionnaires will be delivered to 150 students in grades 10, 11 and 12

The study is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1 is (he introduction, which covers some tric information about the study such as the rationale, aims, scope, research questions, method and design of the

study,

Chapter 2 deals with the Filerature review relevant to the study,

Chapter 3 describes the selting of the slurly and how the sluly is carried oul:

Chapter 4 presents the data analysis and discussion

Chapter 5 is the conclusion which reviews what has been presented in the study and suggests some implications for improving the cffsctiveness of group work

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4.5 Discussion

Trap

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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(Horwitz, 1987)

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Why some students are eager to group work and the others are not? And what do they perceive of the benefits of group work to their English learning? These questions have drawn my interest in camying out the ewrent which focused on the investigation of high school students” perceptions of the benefits of group work

1

ims of the study

‘The study is carried out with the aims at:

- Surveying students” allitudes towards group work using in their Finglish lessons;

- Investigating students’ perceptions of the benefits of group work to their English leaming,

- Giving some suggestions to increase the effectiveness of group work to students in Ngoc Tao High School It is hoped that the study will be useful for teachers and students in gencral and for thosc in my school in particular

Group work is widely uscd in almost high schools, Howevar, dus to the time and length constiaint of the study, the author only focuses on surveying students in Ngoc Tao High school (grade 10, 11 and 12) to find out their perceptions of the benefits of group work to their English learning,

To reach the aims of the study, the following questions are given:

L What are high school students’ attinides towards group work in their language learning?

2 What do the students perceive of the benefits of group work to their English

learning?

3 What activities would students most prefer to do in groups?

5, Method of the study

‘To seek answers to the above research questions, a questionnaire survey was used, Miles

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1

ims of the study

learning?

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study,

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1

ims of the study

learning?

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LISTS OF TABLES

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study,

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study,

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LISTS OF TABLES

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4.5 Discussion

Trap

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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study,

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LISTS OF TABLES

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

With the advent of communicative Tanguage lacking (CLT), group wark has always beer promoted in the English Foreign Language (EFL) literature as an instructional strategy which encourages students” interaction Group work is believed to play an important role

in language teaching and leaming process Many researchers have paid their attention to this field In reality, group work has been used widely in almost high schools and universities because the effectiveness of group work is always taken for granted, Fram learners’ perspaclive, group work is beneficial 1o students in many fields, and students are therefore more involved and motivated in the lesson Group work gives more chances for students to help one another and foster their responsibility, autonomy and independence,

(Ur, 1996)

However, all those claimed benefits of group work seem to be viewed ftom the researchers’ or teachers’ perspectives Little is known about students” beliefs about gronp work, Whether group work is cfiftetive or not depends on students themselves If students have positive attitudes towards group work, they will participate in the lesson actively In contrary, they will be inactive whenever the teacher asks them to work in groups

As a teacher of English, | have obscrved that the students do not sccm to gct actively involved in speaking activities in the classroom When asked, most of them are attaid of speaking English or they do nat know how to express their ideas in English, Students are familiar with the traditional teaching method in which their teacher plays a role as a knowledge provider; and students only do the task like a machine without creativeness as well as activeness ‘hus, when group activities are applied in class, | realize that not many

students are cager to this activity or in other words, group work is nol very efficient in

large classes,

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

With the advent of communicative Tanguage lacking (CLT), group wark has always beer promoted in the English Foreign Language (EFL) literature as an instructional strategy which encourages students” interaction Group work is believed to play an important role

in language teaching and leaming process Many researchers have paid their attention to this field In reality, group work has been used widely in almost high schools and universities because the effectiveness of group work is always taken for granted, Fram learners’ perspaclive, group work is beneficial 1o students in many fields, and students are therefore more involved and motivated in the lesson Group work gives more chances for students to help one another and foster their responsibility, autonomy and independence,

(Ur, 1996)

However, all those claimed benefits of group work seem to be viewed ftom the researchers’ or teachers’ perspectives Little is known about students” beliefs about gronp work, Whether group work is cfiftetive or not depends on students themselves If students have positive attitudes towards group work, they will participate in the lesson actively In contrary, they will be inactive whenever the teacher asks them to work in groups

As a teacher of English, | have obscrved that the students do not sccm to gct actively involved in speaking activities in the classroom When asked, most of them are attaid of speaking English or they do nat know how to express their ideas in English, Students are familiar with the traditional teaching method in which their teacher plays a role as a knowledge provider; and students only do the task like a machine without creativeness as well as activeness ‘hus, when group activities are applied in class, | realize that not many

students are cager to this activity or in other words, group work is nol very efficient in

large classes,

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study,

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1

ims of the study

learning?

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(Horwitz, 1987)

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(Horwitz, 1987)

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4.5 Discussion

Trap

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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LISTS OF TABLES

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study,

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4.5 Discussion

Trap

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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(Horwitz, 1987)

Tiêu đề	High school students' perceptions of the benefits of group work to their English language learning
Tác giả	Vũ Thị Hải
Người hướng dẫn	MLA. Lộ Văn Canh
Trường học	Vietnam National University, Hanoi
Chuyên ngành	English Methodology
Thể loại	Luận văn
Năm xuất bản	2009
Thành phố	Hanoi

Định dạng
Số trang	75
Dung lượng	199,03 KB