Kết hợp các hoạt động tập thể vào bài giảng kĩ năng nghe hiểu để khuyến khích sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm hai tại trường ĐH Khoa học tự nhiên Hà Nội

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ĐẶNG THỊ THU THÚY INCOOPORATING TEAM WORK ACTIVITIES INTO LIST

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

ĐẶNG THỊ THU THÚY INCOOPORATING TEAM WORK ACTIVITIES INTO LISTENING LESSONS TO MOTIVATE THE NON - ENGLISH MAJOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE (HUS)

(Kết hợp các hoạt động tập thể vào bài giảng kĩ năng nghe hiểu để khuyến

khích sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm hai tại trường

ĐH Khoa học tự nhiên Hà Nội)

M.A Minor Program Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

HÀ NỘI – 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

ĐẶNG THỊ THU THÚY

INCOOPORATING TEAM WORK ACTIVITIES INTO LISTENING

STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE (HUS)

(Kết hợp các hoạt động tập thể vào bài giảng kĩ năng nghe hiểu để khuyến

khích sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm hai tại trường

ĐH Khoa học tự nhiên Hà Nội)

M.A Minor Program Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: Dr Nguyễn Thi ̣ Ngo ̣c Quỳnh

HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2013

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Incorporating team work activities into listening lessons to motivate the non– English major second year students at Hanoi University of Science (HUS) is the result of my own work It is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Education This minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted for any other universities or institutions

Author’s signature

Secondly, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quynh whose help, stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped me in all the time of carrying out the research and writing this thesis

Thirdly, I am bound to my friends and my colleagues who supported and helped

me collect data and corrected some grammatical and spelling mistakes in my writing

Lastly, I would like to give my special thanks to my husband who gave me technological support

ABSTRACT

This research is an investigation on the current situation of using cooperative teamwork activities in listening class and students’ attitude towards these activities to find out some practical methods so as to incorporate them into listening class to motivate the non English major second - year students at Hanoi University of Science (HUS) A groups of 84 non - English major second year students and five teachers of English at HUS were participated in a questionnaire, interviews and class observations Results indicate that cooperative teamwork activities were used regularly but inappropriately and unequally among listening classes Moreover; while discussion is the most common activity used in listening class, students paid more attention to games In addition, although listening is an importance skill, listening practice has not been performed regularly in class Moreover, kinds of activities, group forming and durations for activities are three factors which have influences on students’ participations in cooperative team work activities

1 Rationale of the study

2 Objectives of the study

3 Significance of the study

4 Scope of the study

5 Method of the study

6 Organization of the study

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Theoretical background of listening

1.1.1 The nature of listening

1.2 Theoretical background of cooperative learning

1.2.1 Definitions of cooperative learning (CL)

Cooperative learning

Cooperative leaning and competitive learning

Collaborative leaning and cooperative learning

1.2.2 Basic factors of cooperative learning

1.2.3 Effectiveness of CL

Page

i

ii iii

iv vii viii

1.2.7 Cooperative teamwork activities

1.3 Related studies on the topic

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Cooperative team work activities

3.2.1 Students’ attitudes to cooperative team work activities

Students’ preferences for cooperative team work activities

Grouping in cooperative team work activities

Group’s size

Group forming

Students’ cooperation in groups in cooperative team work activities

Students’ preferences for materials

Duration for cooperative team work activities

3.2.2 Students’ attitudes to listening lessons

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

CL: Cooperative learning

HUS: Hanoi University of Science

UlIS: University of Languages and International Studies

MCQ: multiple choice questions

CTET: College of Technology and Economics in trade

HUBT: Hanoi University of business and technology

EFL: English as a foreign language

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Figures

Figure 1: Bottom up and top down processing

Figure 2: Cooperative learning elements by Johnson, D W., et al

Figure 3: Illustration of random groups

Figure 4: Homogeneous and heterogeneous groups

Charts

Chart 1: Cooperative teamwork activities

Chart 2: Frequency of using cooperative teamwork activities in listening class Chart 3: Students' preferences for cooperative teamwork activities

Chart 4: Group sizes

Chart 5: Grouping in cooperative team work activities

Chart 6: Students' preferences for materials

Chart 7: Duration for cooperative teamwork activities in listening class

Tables

Table 1: Group structures and associated tasks

Table 2: Students’ attitudes to grouping in listening class

Table 3: Students’ cooperation in cooperative team work activities

Table 4: Students’ attitudes to listening lessons

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter focuses on six main parts namely the rationale for the study, the objectives; the scope of the study; the significance of the study; the method used to conduct this research and the organization of the study

1 Rationale of the study

Since English has become one of the most influential languages in the world, it has been widely taught at many universities for such a long time English is considered

to be a means of communication which people use to exchange information, share experience as well as to broaden their mind Nevertheless; the goal of acquiring it for communication has not been emphasized In addition, although there has been much innovation in English Teaching Methodology, students have some difficulties in listening comprehension in the target language (Huyen, Ng (2010:14)

With the aim of motivating students into listening classes and involving them into cooperative practice, the teachers improved their teaching methods by applying

CL into their classes; incorporating cooperative teamwork activities in listening classes However, the current situation of incorporating cooperative team work activities to motivate the second year - students has not been examined Therefore; this study focuses on investigating the current situation of using these activities in listening class and students’ attitude towards them to find out some practical methods so as to incorporate them into listening class to motivate the second year students in HUS

2 Objectives of the study

The study aims at:

 Investigating the current situation of using cooperative teamwork activities used in listening class for non – English major second year students in HUS

 Exploring the students’ preferences for these activities

 Identifying students’ attitudes and teachers’ ones towards cooperative teamwork activities in their listening lessons

 Suggesting some recommendations/ methods for incorporating/ implementing cooperative teamwork activities in the listening lesson to motivate non – English major second year students in HUS

In order to achieve these objectives, three research questions were raised:

 Which cooperative team work activities are currently used in listening lessons for non – English major second year students at HUS?

 What is the situation of using these activities in listening lessons in HUS?

 Which cooperative team work activities are the students’ preferences?

3 Significance of the study

The study is conducted to examine the current situation of using cooperative teamwork activities and students’ attitude towards them in order to indentify some practical methods to motivate non – English major second year students at HUS Therefore; it is expected to bring about some advantages to both the lectures and students at HUS The first and foremost aim; thus, is for the sake of the students The researcher hopes that the students will raise their awareness of the benefits of teamwork activities in their listening lessons; hence, they will cooperate with their partners to achieve their common goals Besides, it is hoped that the study will help teachers absorb, adjust their teaching methods as well as design teamwork activities appropriately in their own teaching lessons Furthermore, this study is also believed as

a reliable source of reference for all lecturers, teachers or those who are concerned

4 Scope of the study

There is a variety of means and factors which play important roles in the teaching of listening skills Considering the objectives and research questions, the study concentrates on the effectiveness of cooperative teamwork activities used in

listening lesson at HUS, not in other linguistic lessons, which interferes with students’ ability to determine the level of listening comprehension or motivate students in listening lessons More specifically, the researcher focuses on cooperative teamwork activities used in listening class for non – English major second year students at HUS find out some students’ preferences and effective methods to motivate students in listening lessons

In terms of participants, the study investigates 84 non – English major second year students at HUS In addition, 5 lecturers of English teaching in these classes will

be included in this research

5 Method of the study

The research is conducted basing on both qualitative and quantitative methods First, quantitative methods were applied to investigate the participants’ performance in listening lessons Quantitative analysis was involved in the process of data collection and analysis via some pieces of information collected by class observation The checklists were carefully noted down to provide some proofs happening in listening classes

Additionally, questionnaires which aimed at investigating students’ attitudes towards cooperative teamwork activities; listening lessons and their preferences for cooperative teamwork activities which influenced on their participation in listening lessons were utilized Close-ended; open-ended questionnaire items and rating scale response were used The survey was carried out with the participation of 85 non – English major second year students at HUS who come from some different Departments They were asked to complete the questionnaires

Besides, qualitative approach was also involved in the process of data collection, the ideas in semi – unstructured interviews with 5 lectures at HUS contributed much to the data analysis After that, the researcher processed the data and drawn conclusions basing on these instruments

6 Organization of the study

This minor thesis consisted of three main parts namely Introduction, Development and Conclusion

Part one: Introduction briefly introduced the general background information of the study such as the rationale and statement of the problem; objective of the study research questions; significance of the study; scope of the study, method of the study and design of the study

Part two: Development was divided into 3 small chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Literature reviews discussed the theoretical background knowledge that is relevant to the study

Chapter 2: Research Methodology provided some pieces of background information related to the participants such as the context, etc… and the methods of collecting data

Chapter 3: Discussion and Findings provided the detailed results of the surveys and covers an analysis of a range of data and interprets the findings of the research

Part 3: Conclusion: This part included a review of the study, recommendations; limitations of the study and suggestions for further researches

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter discusses the theoretical background knowledge that is relevant to the study and provides some key information of current research to see how this research contributes to the field

1.1 Theoretical background of listening

1.1.1 The nature of listening

Referring to the nature of listening skill, there are many different concepts in the world When referring to listening, many researchers tend to assimilate it with hearing However, according to Burley- Allen (1982) “Listening involves a more complex process than hearing”

In addition, Anderson & Lynch (1988) divide the nature of listening into two principal source of information “Schematic information and systematic knowledge” (p.13-15) While schematic knowledge involves back ground knowledge and procedural knowledge, Systematic knowledge involves knowledge of language system

as follows semantic, syntactic and phonological systems

Also, in his book “Listening and speaking: From theory to practice” (2008), Richard, J generalizes the nature of listening process into 2 points of views such as:

“bottom – up processing” and the “top – down interpretation” According to him, the former refers to understanding the messages through using the incoming inputs (p.4) whereas; the latter refers to using background knowledge in understanding text’s meaning He claimed that while “bottom – up processing goes from language to meaning, top – down processing goes from meaning to language” (p.7) He also describes the background knowledge used in top – down processing, are previous background knowledge about the topic of the discourse, situational and contextual knowledge, etc…

According to him, “bottom – up processing” and “top- down interpretation” are two necessary and essential natures of listening process Richard points out that “If the listener is unable to make use of “top – down processing”, utterance or discourse may be incomprehensible “Bottom – up processing” alone often provides an insufficient basis for comprehension.”(p.9)

Richard’s concept is described by this model:

Figure 1: Bottom up and top down processing

According to Richard, J (2008), to process text bottom- up, the learners need a great number of vocabularies and sentence elements Some listening activities which help students understand the inputs are listed as dictation; close listening; multiple, gap – fillings, jigsaws and multiple choice questions (MCQ)… Additionally, Richard (2008: 10) indicated some activities which help develop top – down listening skills as follows:

 Students generate a set of questions, a list of things related to the topic, listen and compare

 Students read some suggestions, key points, key words related to the topic, situation or included in the listening part, guess and compare

Background knowledge Situational knowledge Discourse type Discourse structure Discourse function Cohesion Sentence or utterances Sound and words

 Students read news headlines, guess what happened, listen and compare

 Students listen to the part of the story, complete it, listen and compare……

In real listening class, generally, both bottom-up and top-down processing are combined together According to Richard (2008: 10), the extent to which one influences on the other relies on the listener’s familiarity with the topic and content; the density of information; the text type and the listener’s purpose

A typical lesson involves three phases such as pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening and contains activities which combine bottom-up and top-down listening (Field, 2000).The pre-listening phase encourages students to activate their background knowledge, making predictions and reconstructing The while-listening phase provides students with exercises that focus on comprehension and the purpose of listening The post-listening phase normally requires students to give their opinions about a topic

From the discussion above, it can be concluded that there is a common belief among these scholars in determining the nature of listening They all emphasize the important role of “meaningful language units” and “background knowledge and situational background” in the process of listening comprehension Although these concepts have existed and have been developed since 1980s, up to now, they are still a valuable model for some scholars and pedagogues in the world They not only provide the scholars with a variety of characteristics of two listening process but they also figure out a large number of activities which enable students to develop their listening skill in the class They are also considered as the precious and useful references for other researchers

1.2 Theoretical background of cooperative learning

1.2.1 Definitions of cooperative learning (CL)

Cooperative learning

Currently, there are a great number of researchers which focus on the concepts

of CL in language teaching In order to understand it, it is recommended that some explicit definitions be presented

In Longman Dictionary of Language and teaching and Applied Linguistics

(Richard, J.C., Plat & Platt 1997), cooperative learning is defined as “an approach to teaching and learning in which classroom are organized so that students work together

in small cooperative teams” This point of view is quite implicit in which it just mentions the structure of the approach Because of the limitation, the following concepts may be the most understandable and recognizable ones in defining the definitions of cooperative learning

In a journal, a group of scholars from NSW Institute of Teachers define that cooperative learning refers to methodologies and environment in which a small group

of students are included in a common task so that they can “maximize their learning and that of their peer” The above definition mentions to the structure; objective and components of the approach It is widely developed among the teachers and scholars from NSW Institute of Teachers

Also, Canh, L V (2003) in his work indicates that “the theory and the practice

of CL are built based on the basis of principles which learners learn from both the teachers and each other” Therefore, he emphasizes on the role of social interaction and teachers in building and organizing “sufficient classroom opportunities” in order to enhance students’ cooperation and interaction in classroom

Similarly, in their work, Johnson & Johnson and Smith, (1989) state that: Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work

together to maximize their own and each other’s learning” Frankly, this definition indicates two main characteristics of collaborative learning: structure and objective

In conclusion, there are a lot of different points of view on the concepts of CL Though they are presented differently, they all direct to group environment in which students work together to maximize their learning and their partners’ learning

Cooperative leaning and competitive learning

In their book, Johnson & Johnson (1989) make a comparison between cooperative learning and competitive learning While in cooperative learning, students work together in small groups to maximize their own learning, in competitive classes, students work against each other to achieve an academic goal Although there are a lot

of researchers who argue that competitive learning rather than cooperative learning motivates students to compete and work harder to get the best results, Good & Brophy (1987:437 – 8) suggest different ideas about this issue: “[…] the key is not motivation

to win competitions against other teams but motivation to assist one’s team as a whole will do well.” The fact is shown that if the teachers regard competition as motivation to students, it also declines the collaboration as well as encouragement among their students because the majority of students will think they have no chance to take part in

a common task Whereas instead of competing, students can cooperate work together

and support each other in order to achieve a common goal

Collaborative leaning and cooperative learning

There are some researchers who try to differentiate collaborative learning and cooperative by pointing out the similarities and the differences of these two terms Orr,

J (2010: 1-2) in a report, describes the difference between collaborative learning and cooperative learning as follows:

“ [ ] Collaborative learning is a method in which students group together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project

Cooperative learning is a specific kind of collaborative learning In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups on a structured activity…

Also, there are some other researchers who conduct researches on this issue such

as (Myers (1991); Palmer, Peters & Streetman, (2008) However, in some researches, articles or books, they are used interchangeably such as Canh, L.V (2003); Nunan (1992); Winter (1999); Thanh, Q (2010); Ha, Ng (2010); Richards, Platt, & Platt, (1997); Smith and MacGregor, (1992) According to Smith and MacGregor, (1992),

“both favor small-group active student participation over passive, lecture-based teaching and each require a specific task to be completed In both situations, students are required to possess group skills may include this as an instructional goal” Intrinsically, both collaborative learning and cooperative one stress on organized groups in a common task in a specific situation Probably, they can used interchangeably based on teaching context; situation and the purpose of learning and teaching

1.2.2 Basic factors of cooperative learning

Cooperation is one of the most important factors which create a successful class However, Johnson & Johnson (1989) claim that “not all groups are cooperative” Grouping students in a room, arranging the class and requesting them to work cooperatively, does not mean they will collaborative effectively There are many different ideas about the basic elements need to be taken into consideration

In his writing, Canh, L V (2003) discusses two key issues which create a successful collaborative learning such as: collaborative skills and cooperative atmosphere According to him, the former can be achieved positively and it must be taught explicitly as it is the language skills which are necessary for the development of some learning’s linguistics competences and for their academic careers as well The latter is completely essential for learners to get them involved in a “learning

communities, learning organizations and communities of professional learning” or

“communities of practice”

There are five basic essential elements for successful cooperative learning such as: positive interdependence; individual and group accountability; promotive interaction; appropriate use of social skills; and group processing (Johnson & Johnson

1989; Johnson, D W et al, 1990, 1998; Brandt 1987)

The first and foremost element is “positive interdependence” It is a sense of working together for mutual benefits in a common task and respecting each other’s learning benefits Moreover, according to Ha, Ng (2010: 9), “[…] students can be more independent of teacher when taking parting in cooperative learning However, she argues that it does not mean that the learners can always depend on their teammates For the success of a group, members have to cooperate “positively”,

“share” a common goal

Another essential factor is “individual and group accountability” The group has to be clear about its goals in order to ensure that no one “hitch – hikes” on the works of the others In other words, everyone in the team joints together, cares for his

or her work as well as the teammates” in order to assure who need more assistance, support and encouragement Obviously, equally “positive” contribution and distribution of all group members to the group is a key to the group’s success

The third key element making collaborative learning successful is “promotive interaction” “Promotive interaction” occurs when members share resources and support; encourage each other’s effort to learn It gives students opportunities to discuss, argue which they have known, what they have learned Clearly, only through

“face – to – face interaction”, students have more chance to understand each other, become personally committed to each other as well as to their mutual goals

Furthermore, the fourth essential element is “interpersonal and small group skills” When students participate in a small group, they will improve social skills as

interpersonal skills; communication and conflict –management Therefore; procedures and prerequisite skills for teaching students social skills constructively may be especially important for a long term – success Like Goodwin (2003) comments that

“[…] students who have been taught the prerequisite social skills cannot be expected to work together effectively”

The last component of successful cooperative learning is “group processing”

or “team reflection” Group processing exists when group’s members assess what they gain; how well they are achieving their common goals, etc… The continuous assessment of learning results is helpful for the entire group and individuals as well because it helps them recognize their strengths and weakness to be improved

The following figure illustrates the relationship between five factors:

Figure 2: Cooperative learning elements by Johnson, D W., et al

In conclusion, these five elements all are very essential to successful cooperative learning in which students can work together collaboratively to achieve

their common goals Mastering the basic elements and combining them successfully and effectively not only help teachers arrange the class, diagnose the problems and intervene to increase the effectiveness of students’ learning but it also make students collaborative and successful in their learning

1.2.3 Effectiveness of CL

Benefits to learners

Not until when cooperative learning become one of the most favorite subjects

in the world, have its benefits been discovered In a report written by Orr, J (2010: 1), the author lists over 7 benefits of cooperative learning as follows:

 Increase academy achievement

 Help students as they negotiate meaning

 Ensure active participation

 Provide natural oral communication events

 Ensure high – level thinking

 Practice procedural language

 Gain group skills for life

Also, according to Panitz, T (1999), “CL can improve learners’ attitudes by creating a favorable disposition towards the learning experience through personal relevance and choice” Besides, Kagan (1995) emphasizes the importance of cooperative learning in raising the performance level of each member By requesting students to work together in small groups and asking them to be responsible his or her work as well as the teammates, students improve their “positive relationship”;

“promotive interaction”; and “interpersonal social skills” (Cohen, (1991)

In brief, there are four basic benefits of cooperative learning First, it increases the learners’ academic achievements The second benefit is that it develops the positive interpersonal relationship in which students are accountable for each other’s work and for groups’ success The third one of cooperative is psychological benefits CL

improves students’ self esteem, social confidence, social skills and communicative competences The last benefit is “group assessment” or “team reflection” By using cooperative learning, students can assess what they gain; what are the strengths or weaknesses; what needs to be improved Thanks to these benefits of cooperative learning, it is becoming one of the most successful and effective tool in foreign language learning

Benefits to teachers:

Hamm & Adams (1992), in their work, indicates that teachers can benefit from utilizing collaborative learning in their class Firstly, by dividing the class into small groups, teachers can put more attention into each group and save a lot of time and energy Secondly, the teacher will be more comfortable and less stressful when he/she works as a guide, monitor and facilitator in the classroom As a result, he/she can move around; work and interact freely with students (Hamm & Adams, 1992) Last but not least, the teachers can utilize a variety of collaborative activities and techniques to motivate students and make them work and cooperate together

1.2.4 Challenges of cooperative learning

Besides the undeniable benefits, both teachers and students have to face a lot

of challenges of collaborative learning

Another problem of using cooperative class is individual assessment In cooperative learning, all the students work together and share the same materials and same ideas about a common task It is unfair among them if all the members in the same group get the same mark because not all the members cooperate “positively” with the others The fact is that some students depend too much on their peers and they even

do not have any contribution to the success of the whole group In this case, the teacher should be flexible and careful in assessing students’ contribution in order to assure the equality among them

Challenges to learners

Uncooperative working and difference about competence or level are two

main challenges caused by collaborative learning In “Some Difficult with

Collaborative learning”, Smitt: 12) comments that when working in groups, some

members will feel very uncomfortable to work in their group To deal with this situation, pair work or small groups of three or four are considered as the best choices Besides, using pair work will force students to work fairly and independently from the other members

Another problem arises in cooperative class is the homogeneous level and ability among the students Obviously, in a group, there must be outstanding and intelligent students or groups who can solve the problem quickly This is a common phenomenon which caused inequality; inconvenience and discrimination among students in a class Therefore; arranging the class and dividing the task and groups clearly; suitably and equally are challenging tasks for teachers in cooperative classes

1.2.5 Roles of teachers, learners and materials in cooperative learning

Learners’ roles:

It is obvious that students play the most important role in any cooperative learning When discussing any cooperative learning approach, many researchers claim that CL is a student – centered approach In other words, in cooperative learning, students are considered the center of the lesson in the light of CL Frankly speaking; the success of a lesson mostly depends on the interaction and cooperation among students, not their individual work In order to achieve a common goal, every member has to work hard and seriously on their task and be willing to cooperate with their partners and teachers in solving problems and in real situations

Teachers’ roles:

To achieve the success of a lesson, apart from learners, teachers are regarded

as the second most important factors in cooperative learning It may be true that there are no successful lessons without teachers’ careful and well - planned preparations and organization Therefore; in cooperative learning, teachers play a role as the facilitators and consultants who instruct their students to achieve their goals Besides, they are also monitors who control each group’s activities, check the results and conduct

“purposeful performance assessment” Thus, according to Ha, Ng (2010: 14 - 15), their responsibilities are not just “aimlessly wandering” but instead, purposefully moving around so as to “offer encouragement, reinforce positive demonstrations of cooperative learning in class

Role of materials:

Undeniably, materials have an important influence on the success of a group The fact is that some tasks are considered too challenge for low level students, whereas, some students at advanced proficiency level are not willing to do such simple tasks In other words, regardless of low or high proficiency levels, students are not happy to work with inappropriate materials to their needs; level; interest; etc To

balance these limitations of materials, it is necessary that teachers choose suitable materials to satisfy all students at mixed English proficiency levels in class In her work, Ha, Ng (2010:15) suggests a solution that “materials for CL class should be designed with modification basing on leaner’s’ interest, proficiency, and needs The activities can be borrowed, created or combined from existing materials”

1.2.6 Group forming

Type of grouping

In “Tools for teaching”, Davis, B G cited by winter (1999) extracts that:

“[…] students working in a small group tend to learn more of what is taught

and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats”

When forming groups, it is important to consider how groups are formed and how many members will be selected because grouping is one of the most important steps to create a successful cooperative learning

According to (Huong, T., 2006: 4) there are three ways to form a group including Random grouping, student – selected grouping, and teacher – formed arrangement According to her, randomly assigned groups can be formed by seat arrangement, counting, pairing up or casting lots and according to the numbers of students in a class This is considered a common and fair way among students Because

of unintentional grouping, each group has randomly different language proficiency and competences; abilities; interests and learning styles, etc

Figure 3: Illustration of random groups

Another strategy to form a group is using student – selected grouping in which students have their own rights to choose their own groups Normally, in order to gain outstanding accomplishments, students will prefer to working with someone who has the same proficiency level, interests, abilities or even background knowledge Despite some advantage of being comfortable, free and safe, there remains a big gap and discrimination among groups and students in a class

The last type of group forming is teacher – formed arrangement Dirkx, J M, (1998) recommends that groups that are student-selected generally do not work as well

as groups which are appointed by the teacher, because the teacher always takes into consideration to age, race, sex, levels and so forth so as to create “heterogeneous” teams to work independently and cooperatively if necessary

Figure 4: Homogeneous and heterogeneous groups

Sizes of groups:

When forming collaborative groups, it is also important to take into consideration to the size of the group Dirkx, J M (1998) indicates that “groups should consist of no less than three members and no more than eight members” However, Ha,

Ng (2010) divides groups into three categories as follows: pair work; group work and the whole class Cooperative team may have two, three or four students depending on time, task type and learner’s ability Like Ha’s division, a report released from a

“Center for Faculty Excellent Presents” (Oct, 2006) suggests that groups of two or three should be formed to “compare work” and “generate ideas” However; when a

task is very complex and difficult to solve, larger groups of four to six are used in more complex problems Lastly, according to Valentino, (2000) the whole class can be utilized at the beginning or at the end of the class when all students are requested to brainstorm; share their ideas and results or assess the achievement of groups and other students in class

The suggestions are illustrated by a report released from a “Center for Faculty

Excellent Presents” (Oct, 2006) as follows:

Table 1: Group structures and associated tasks

From the following discussion, it can be drawn a conclusion that depending on the nature of the task and the activities in which the group is expected to engage; the purpose of cooperative learning or the specific context of learning and teaching, etc , the teacher should take into account choosing appropriate type of group formation, size

of each group in order to create a successful collaborative learning, motivate student work together and enhance their collaboration in groups

1.2.7 Cooperative teamwork activities

Rod Killen (2004) indicates that: “Group work occurs when you ask two or more students to work together” Cooperative learning is more than just group work The difference between cooperative learning and traditional group work is that in traditional groups, students are requested to work in groups without any attention to group functioning, whereas in cooperative learning, group work is carefully divided, planned, organized and monitored (Jacobs, 1997; Johnson & Johnson, 1994; Lee, 1996) Due to its scope, this study will only investigate some concepts about team work

activities on the basis of cooperative learning In other words, these concepts will be examined from some aspects of cooperative learning’s views Therefore; this study will only examine Ha’s views (2010) According to Ha, Ng (2010: 15), cooperative teamwork activities are the activities in which teachers use structures and techniques to guide students to work in small group effectively to reach the shared goals Activities may be designed and implemented with particular criteria depending on the specific teaching context, purposes of the course, teachers’ proficiency or students’ abilities, needs, etc…

There are many researchers and scholars who mentioned in their work a series

of teamwork activities used for collaborative classes

Ha, Ng.(2010: 15) lists over 20 activities used in cooperative learning such as Numbered Heads Together; Team Interview; Jigsaw; Think – Pair – Share; Round Table; Round Robin, Brainstorming; Team Pair Solo; Three – Step Interview, etc

Orr, J (2010: 3-5) lists some activities as follows: Think – Pair – Share; Inside – Outside circle; Word – Square; Line – Up, Sentence – Maker and Numbered Heads Together

In Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (1997) written by Richard, J.C., Plat, J., & Platt, H (1997), some activities are listed as: Jigsaws; Numbered Heads Together; Peer Tutoring; Cooperative Projects; cooperative interaction; Three – Step Interview; and Think – Pair – Share

These are some representative examples of cooperative teamwork activities often used in CL in some studies synthesized from these suggestions

 Jigsaws: each member in the group holds a piece of information to complete a group task To achieve the success, every member has to cooperate together

in a common task This is a good way to improve positive interdependence and individual responsibilities in cooperative learning

 Number Heads Together: Kagan (1994) indicates that “this powerful and engaging cooperative learning strategy can be used at many stages of a lesson: for brainstorming; problem solving; preview or review” Orr, J (2010, 6) in his paper, clearly describes this activity Groups include four members, count off 1 to 4 The teachers ask a question at a time Students discuss, agree on their answer The instructor calls a specific number randomly and then teacher give feedback and comment on their students’ presentation

 Think – Pair – Share: introduced by Orr, J (2010:3) Pair Share Structures offer learners the opportunities to think, listen and respond to their peers This structure includes 3 steps: Think – Pair – Share In the first step, students have chances to think about their answer and relate it to their experience After that, students are given chances to work with a partner and then share the answer to the whole class

 Inside or outside circle: to give learners real opportunities to give and get information from their partners This activity is the same as gathering information activity or gap – gathering activity Inside or outside circle is helpful in speaking or listening class which give students chances to practice fluency; conversation, communicative skills, etc…

 Three step interview: an activity in which each student choose their partner, in turns ask or answer questions and finally share their ideas with the whole class

 Peer Tutoring: students work in groups to help each other, give feedback

 Games: this is popular activity often used in collaborative learning Students work in their groups, support and cooperate together to achieve the success

1.3 Related studies on the topic

There are a lot of previous studies carried out by many researchers to evaluate the using cooperative teamwork activities in listening class Each study is made use of

different approach However, they all share the same aims to determine the overall pedagogical value of activities and the suitable incorporation into the specific language program

“Using group wok to improve speaking skill of the first – year students” by Truong Hong Thuy (2011) is a minor thesis on using group work in particular classes

at the College of Technology and Economics in trade(CTET) After a brief introduction about teaching context; students and the course book “Market leader – Elementary” in CTET; a study is carried out from both the micro and macro perspectives dealing with two main aims are to find out the reasons for some problem in speaking class and to offer group work as a key to improve speaking skills of the first year students at CTET” In order to do them, the researcher gives two research questions and use both quantitative methods and qualitative ones such as teacher’s observation, semi – structured interview and groups’ note, etc…By carrying out this study, the author gives findings, recommendations as well as conclusions to adjust, modify and combine the group work into teaching context However; the number of participants of the study is not suitable This action research is conducted in the class of 24 students Due to the limitation of participants, the value of this study is also limited In other words, some conclusions are considered valuable in some typical situations and they cannot represent for a large population of participants However; to some extent, despite its limitations, the study is considered an informative piece of writing about applying group work and team work into speaking classes in CTET If these studies are taken into further steps, they could be highly recommended reference for EFL teachers and researchers in teaching speaking skills for the first – year students and for other studies related to the topic

“Using cooperative learning principles in structuring groups to enhance participants in speaking lessons of second year college students of English” is a study

on applying cooperative learning principles in building groups or teams to improve

students’ attendance This study is carried out by Quach Thi Tuyet Thanh at Thanh Do University in 2010 This study applies a wide variety of relevant and contextually appropriate principles for structuring team work in class To set up the background framework, she gives 2 main aims with 2 research questions The research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods Like Thuy’s study, this study focuses on building team work or activities based on cooperative learning principle that is very useful and helpful for other studies However; this research herself reveals some following detects Firstly, the number of students in this study can not reveal some typical characteristics of a large population Therefore, the variability and reliability of this research is somehow influenced Secondly, it would have been more reliable and valuable if the research had recorded, taken note instead of memorizing and her interviews with the students Lastly, due to the limitation of population of this study, the research should have carried out more teaching observation in her class in order to improve students’ motivation in class Despite these shortcomings, the study is considered as an informative reference for other researchers and teachers

“Enhancing the third year non major students’ participant in speaking lesson through collaborative activities at Hanoi University of business and technology (HUBT)” carried out by Nguyen Thi Minh Ha (2010) is aimed to invest the effectiveness of using collaborative activities in teaching speaking to the third year students and to provide practical suggestions for using them in particular teaching context This study applies a various set of activities used in speaking lessons in HUBT

to find out the way or the method of applying these activities into class to improve students’ participant Conducting this research, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used A series of questionnaire (closed and rating scale responses); interviews and class observation are carried out and provided to the instructors and the third year English non major students at HUBT Then, it also provides considerable contributions to the application of these collaborative activities to enhance students’

attendance in class Nevertheless, the study also reveals these two following limited points In the first place, this research is conducted in only two classes with 58 third – year non English major students, thus some conclusions drawn are not suitable for all students in HUBT Therefore; the results of this study are unreliable In the second place, due to the limitation of time, the researcher cannot observe and cover all groups

in class, thus, the results of class observation is limited In spite of these limitations, this research is considered as valuable and informative reference for some researches related to the using of collaborative activities in teaching speaking, listening skills, etc…

“A study on the effects of pre-listening activities on the listening performance

of non-major 10th grade students at Nguyen Gia Thieu High school, Hanoi” is conducted by Nguyen Dieu Huyen (2010) with the aim of evaluating the effects of pre- listening activities used by the teachers on grade 10 students’ performance at Nguyen Gia Thieu High school The research reveals some useful recommendations for grade

10 students at Nguyen Gia Thieu Also, the effects of pre – listening activities on students’ performance and students’ preferences for pre – listening activities are also highlighted and examined Probably speaking, the study is regarded as a highly recommended reference for EFL teachers and researchers in applying pre- listening activities in listening lessons

From all these studies mentioned above, it can be stated that although all these studies have been carried out on the different aspects of cooperative learning theory, subjects at various proficiencies, they are informative and valuable reference for other studies in TESOL field All these studies related to applying cooperative learning in ESL classes have been conducted in some typical contexts such as CTET; Thanh Do University; HBUT and Nguyen Gia Thieu high school where gained effective collaboration or cooperation in communicative language learning and teaching To some extent, theories, findings and recommendations of these researches have

remarkable contributions to conducting researches which apply cooperative learning principles in speaking classes or other language classes

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents some information about the setting of the study; the materials; the participants; instruments, methods of the study and the procedure of the study

2.1 Setting

Hanoi University of Science (HUS) is one of four most well – known universities of Hanoi National University As its name suggests, the subjects like Biological technology, Chemistry technology, Mathematics – Informatics, Physics, etc… are the major ones in the training program Besides its achievements, this university still encounters several shortcomings related to foreign teaching and learning Although English is regarded as an important subject because it serves as means of international communication and it’s also helpful to the students in accessing modern science and advanced achievements in the world, it has not been paid much attention Moreover, though there has been much innovation in teaching and learning English; few students really achieve communicative competence Listening skill is still

a big challenge for students

Currently, HUS is divided into many major departments such as biological technology, Chemistry technology, Mathematics – Informatics, Physics, Basic departments, etc From 2006 up to now, this university has been applying new assessment method like teaching and learning by credits As a result, the results of a student will be assessed by A (excellent), B (Credit), C (Fair), D (Bad), F (Fail) Those who pass the final exam at Elementary level can take courses at Pre – intermediate or intermediate level Graduated students are those who accumulate enough compulsory credits after completing their module Those who have not completed their studying before graduating will be failed and forced to stay at school until when they finish

2.1.1 Syllabus

The final goal of English teaching program at HUS is that the students are able

to use English in their job and their science research and pass the Ielts tests (B1) at the end of second year of the course To those students, English is not their majors but a compulsory subject in the course The training program is diversified according to students’ proficiency such as Basic English class, International class or gifted class The course book of these three types of classes are the same, however, teaching periods

is divided differently at the different level classes For example, at International classes

or gifted classes, teaching periods will be much more than that of Basic classes Moreover, although the course book is similar, teachers in these classes have more chances to use their references or supplementary materials such as PET, Ielts…

The students have 6 periods (equivalent 2 lessons) each week Each period lasts for 50 minutes Each student is assessed with two tests, mid – term test or final test The mid – term test is in charge of 30% over the total score and the final test makes up 60% The rest 10% is students’ participation Each semester lasts for 15 weeks Totally, the course lasts for 3 semesters

2.1.2 Textbooks

The student’s book is New English File Intermediate by Clive Oxenden, Christina Latham- Koenig – 2004 - Oxford University Press The work book New English File Intermediate is composed by Clive Oxenden, Christina Latham- Koenig with Tracy Byrne – 2004 It introduces intermediate English level students to the practical communication and language skills necessary for real situations such as participating in meetings, conferences, negotiations… The student’s book includes 7 lessons Each lesson is divided into many smaller parts such as Part A, B, and C with all 4 language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing; Grammar; Vocabularies; and Pronunciation, etc Besides, each lesson is composed of many supplementary parts such as Practical English, Writing, etc… In general, this book uses a lot of authentic

materials which helps students to build their background knowledge and communicative skills in real situations

2.1.3 Learners

The majority of learners at HUS are aged from 18 to 22 The students of each department had been classified into English classes including 25 – 30 students Due to the different major, the number of male or female students in each class is different, mostly, the males outnumber the females

In general, students’ proficiency level is mixed ability Many of students come from remote or mountainous religions where they did not have many chances to learn English Many of them did not have opportunities to learn listening, speaking at high schools That is the reason why listening is a challenge to most of them Consequently,

in English listening class, students are passive and unwilling to take part in some activities

Despite their lack of proficiency, students at Hus are enthusiastic and industrious Moreover; they are stimulus and encouraging in exploring or researching new and effective learning methods

2.1.4 Teachers/ Lecturers

Teachers at HUS are dedicated; enthusiastic and responsible to devote their efforts, energy to teaching Most of them are exchanging teachers between HULIS (Hanoi University of Languages and International studies); University of Social Sciences and Humanities; etc Many of them have acquired an M.A degree or they are following a M.A course or Ph D course inside or outside the country

Due to increasing demand of learning English, they have to invite a lot of teachers of English and part time teachers Thus, their responsibilities or duties are not unstable and inconsistent