Teachers' perceptions & their practices regarding cooperative learning in teaching EFL in large multilever classes at Vietnam National University, University of Economics and Business

Teachers' perceptions & their practices regarding cooperative learning in teaching EFL in large multilever classes at Vietnam National University, University of Economics and Business

Teachers' perceptions & their practices

regarding cooperative learning in teaching EFL

in large multilever classes at Vietnam National University, University of Economics and

Business Quan điểm của giáo viên về việc sử dụng phương pháp học hợp tác để dạy tiếng Anh tại các lớp Đông Đa trình độ và việc thực thi trên

lớp tại trường Đại học Kinh tế, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội

Hoàng Việt Hà

University of Languages and International Studies M.A Thesis English Teaching Methodology; Mã số: 60 14 10

Supervisor : M.Ed Đỗ Bá Quý

Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract Cooperative learning has been recognized as the most successful learning

strategy in educational history Therefore, it has been widely adopted in many Asian countries recently Although there is substantial research on the benefits of cooperative learning, little is known about how teachers implement cooperative learning under typical school conditions The purpose of the present case study was to reach three aims First, it aims to investigate EFL teachers’ perceptions of different aspects of cooperative learning in their classroom at VNU, UEB Second, it aims to explore how the teachers implemented cooperative learning in their classroom Final, it aims to explore how teachers’ practices in their classroom reflect their perceptions Data was collected by means of teacher interviews and systematic classroom observation Results showed that teachers applied cooperative learning in most of their lessons There were some similarities and differences between teachers’ perceptions and their actual classroom practices regarding different aspects of cooperative learning including implementation, group composition, task construction, student preparation, student motivation, assessment and teachers’ reflection on CL The findings emphasize all of these results and present pedagogical suggestions from teachers for further

implementation of cooperative learning in their large multilevel classroom In addition, the researcher’s major recommendations are also listed out to enhance the effectiveness

of implementing cooperative learning in teaching English in large multilevel classes at VNU UEB

Keywords Phương pháp giảng dạy; Giáo viên; Tiếng Anh

Content

This initial part states the rationale for the study, the aims, the scope and methods of the thesis More importantly, the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research Lastly, this part concludes with an overview of the rest of the thesis, serving as a compass to orientate the readers throughout the study The rest of the thesis includes four chapters

Chapter 1 (Literature review) provides the background of the study including

definitions of key concepts, aspects of cooperative learning, multilevel classes and previous findings of cooperative learning

Chapter 2 (Methodology) describes the aims, research questions, context, participants

and instruments of the study, as well as the procedures employed to carry out the research

Chapter 3 (Results of the study) presents all results collected from data from the

interviews and classroom observations

Chapter 4 (Discussion of the study): summarizes main findings, analyzes the findings,

and compares them with previous research to answer three research questions

Conclusion summarizes the main issues discussed in the thesis, the findings that the researcher found out from the data collected according to three research questions, the limitations of the research, several pedagogical recommendations concerning the research topic as well as some suggestions for further studies Following this chapter are bibliography and appendices

Summary

In this chapter, the researcher has elaborated the following points:

1 Rationale

2 Aims of the study

3 Research questions

4 Scope of the study

5 Significance of the study

6 Methods of the study

7 An overview of the rest of the study

In brief, these elaborations have not only justified the major contents and structure of the study but it also works as the guidelines for the rest of the thesis

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