How to organize pair work and group work effectively in te aching english for 7th grade students

The ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively ……… 7 2.3.2.4.. From my own experiences, I find that using pair work and group work is one of the teaching strategies

TABLE CONTENT

1 INTRODUCTION……… 1

1.1 Reasons for choosing the topic ……… 1

1.2 Aims of the study ……… 1

1.3 Objects of the study ……… 1

1.4 Scope and research methodology ……… 1

1.5 New points of the study ……… 1

1.5.1 The formation ……… 1

1.5.2 Some common activities for pair work and group work ……… 2

2 MAIN CONTENT ……… 4

2.1 Theoretical background ……… 4

2.2 Practical background ……… 4

2.3 Solutions and methods for implementation ……… 4

2.3.1 Solutions ……… 4

2.3.2 Methods for implementation ………5

2.3.2.1 What are pair work and group work? ………5

2.3.2.2 Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems …… 6

2.3.2.3 The ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively ……… 7

2.3.2.4 Procedures for pair and group work ……… 9

2.3.2.5 Some demonstrations for pair work and group work activities 10

2.3.2.6 Suggestion for some popular kinds of practice ……… 13

2.4 Result after applying the study ……….14

3 CONCLUSION ……… 15

REFERENCE BOOKS ……… 16

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Reasons for choosing the topic

As we know, in traditional classroom, the teacher controls the class with authority, there is no active role of students during teaching- learning process Therefore, the introduction of a new English textbook at secondary school in the last few years has created some difficulties for teacher This innovation demands

a move in the direction of a more learner- centered approach to teaching The main objective of teaching English is to have communicative lesson

However, in fact, the teacher- student interaction is very limited in the classroom Many teachers have troubles adapting their teaching and the new textbook to their own students’ learning needs These difficulties include the use

of group and pair work

As a teacher of English at secondary school, I myself always desire to find out and apply the new methods of teaching in order to meet the educational goals I have been a teacher of English at secondary school for 10 years From

my own experiences, I find that using pair work and group work is one of the teaching strategies of collaborative language teaching which provides chances for communication and interaction among students and between students and teacher Language classroom is the place where teacher and learners come together for interaction and can learn in natural settings The effective use of pair work and group work in language class can provide a value experience to students and give them the opportunity to practically experience the ideas presented and strengthen their learning

I have applied pair and group work activities in teaching English at secondary school, especially for 7th grade students and got satisfactory results I, therefore, in this research, would like to share my own experience in how to use and organize pair work and group work effectively

1.2 Aims of the study

To introduce pair work and group work and show the advantages and disadvantages of working in pairs and groups

- To suggest how to organize pair and group work effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise

- To show how pair work and group work can be used for various classroom activities

- To help teachers be confident in using pair and group work themselves

1.3 Objects of the study

Students in grade 7 at Hoang Dao Secondary school

1.4 Scope and research methodology

- Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English at Hoang Dao

secondary school

- Research methodology: making survey, reading reference books, applying in

teaching, observing and drawing out experiences

1.5 New points of the study

1.5.1 The formation

We have to decide how to put individual students into pairs and groups

There are a number of factors we might consider when doing this According to Harmer (1999), I can base such decision on any of the following principles, and

I see they are quite effective

Friendship: A key consideration when putting students in pairs or groups

is to make sure that we put friends with friends rather than risking the possibility

of people working with others whom they find difficult or unpleasant However, our observation may not always accurate and friendship can change from time to time

Streaming: Students can be streamed according to their ability.

The first suggestion is that pairs and groups should have a mixture of weaker and stronger students Therefore, the more able students can help their less able students

The second one is that we can create groups in which all the students are

at the same level This may give us the opportunity to go to a group of weaker students and give them special help they need However, some of the values of cooperative work may be lost

Besides, we can stream students on the basis of participation Students less participating in the lesson may be put together in a group However, the teacher should observe and support them in order to make them concentrate more on the lesson

Chance: Students can be put in pairs and groups by chance This is the

easiest way since it demands little pre-planning We can have students sitting next to or near each other work in pairs or groups Also, students can be put in pairs or groups at random based on the order of their birthday, or some similar features such as wearing glasses, wearing black, or green, having the same occupation, ect

Changing groups: The group may change while an activity continues.

Students can first work in pairs then in groups of four, then groups of eight, or even sixteen

Free-grouping: Students make their own decision about who to work

with

Same proficiency level grouping: Students of the same proficiency level

are grouped together

Mixed proficiency level grouping: Students are grouped so that each

group has a mix of proficiency level

Random grouping: Students are located to group in some random way

on the basic of who is sitting next to whom in the class

Grouping based on other differences: In a mixed class, students are

grouped so that each group has a mix of some characteristics, e.g sex, age, nationality, mother tongue or ethnic origin

In short, our paring and grouping decision is made based on a variety of factors We can put students in pairs or in groups differently according to our own purpose or the class’s atmosphere or characteristic

1.5.2 Some common activities for pair work and group work

A variety of activities can be applied in communicative English classes through the use of pair work and group work The list of some common

activities is given below.

Role – play: the class is divided into pairs or groups Then these pairs and

groups are given roles to act out

Information gap activities: each participant in pairs or groups has

information not shared by any other but require to complete

Problem – solving: students are given some problems in real-life which

need solving Then they work in pairs or in groups to find out solutions to these problems

The lost twin: each student has a small card on which some features are

printed There are two copies for each card Students then have to go around the class to find out who has the same card

Picture card activities:

Kim’s game: students in groups look at the items on a table for about

thirty seconds Then the items are recovered, the groups have to describe and locate them

Spot the differences: students are given two pictures, then they work to

spot the differences

What is my line: students in groups have to ask questions of another

member within a limited time span and discover his or her occupation

2 MAIN CONTENT 2.1 Theoretical background

Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing attempt in research on teaching and learning and types and quantities of the relative amount of participation by the teacher and students

Group work and pair work started getting attention of educationists in the 70s During the 1980s and 1990s, the development of communicative language teaching brought an important change in the role of students Working together

is worthwhile as “pair and group work immediately increase the amount of students’ talking time” ( Harmer, 1991)

Researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative in learning learn more things and learn better than those who sit and passively wait

to be taught They also claim that a teacher’s dominance in class makes it dull and it kills the students’ interests

I am myself of the view that students are more motivated to engage in further communication when they have more opportunities to speak Using pair work and group work stimulates the learners’ experience of various types of interaction and helps to generate a more relaxed and cooperative classroom atmosphere It is during group and pair work that a lot of real learning takes place since the students can use language really to communicate with one another

2.2 Practical background

- There is a tendency of teacher- dominated lesson and students usually get bored with teacher- centered presentation

- Teachers at secondary schools are in the period of getting used to new English textbook Pair work and group work didn’t use to be organized in class,

so a lot of us – teachers of English at secondary school – get stuck in organizing pair work and group work effectively

- Some teachers haven’t been clearly aware of the roles of pair work and group work in teaching and learning a foreign language

- A few teacher reject the possibility of success of pair and group work They give different reasons for their belief, some of the reasons are lack of resources, students use mother tongue during pair and group work , discipline problem due to noise generated during pair and group work activities and so on

As a result, despite being an important part of collaborative teaching and learning, pair and group work generally neglected in teaching English at secondary school

2.3 Solutions and methods for implementation

2.3.1 Solutions

- Teacher should know well about what pair work and group work are,

their both advantages and disadvantages as well as solutions to their problems

- Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems

- The ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively so that we can make use of their benefits and limit their problems In order to

organize pair and group work well, teacher will need to do the followings:

1 Select the activity

2 Presentation

3 Prepare any physical materials for group work ahead of time

4 Anticipate the size and the selection of groups

5 Anticipate how students will be organized within the groups (tasks and roles)

6 Control the class well

7 Consider the timing of the group work

8 Give feedback

- Some demonstrations for pair work and group work activities

- Suggestion for some popular kinds of practice

2.3.2 Methods for implementation

2.3.2.1 What are pair work and group work?

Pair work:

Pair work is a procession which “the teacher divides the whole class in pair Every student works with his of her partner in pairs, and all the pairs work

at the same time (It is sometimes called “simultaneous pair work”) This is not the same as “public” or “open” pair work, with pairs of students speaking in turn

in front of the class” (Doff, 1988:137)

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

It can be seen that pair work can get students to practice the target language more and increase students’ talking time in the class

Group work :

Like pair work, group work also gives students more opportunities to practice the target language in the whole class In addition, students can work independently and freely under the teacher’s control without the pressure of the whole class watching what they are doing

2.3.2.2 Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems.

For certain types of activity, pair work and group work have a number of advantages over working with the whole class together Teachers should think what the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved in pair work, group work and the solutions for these

Here are some main advantages and problems:

- More language practice

- More speaking time

- Students are more involved

- Students feel secure, confident

- Students help one another

- Give students the sense of

achievement when reaching a team

goal

- Noise arrangements

- Students make mistakes

- Lose control of the class

………

Now, we will discuss each heading in more detail First, let’s start with the advantages

- More language practice:

Pair work and group work give students far more chance to speak English For example, students are given an exercise of making sentences (question & answer), working in pair, each student makes as many sentences as they can If the exercise were done ‘round the class’, students would only say one sentence each, and in a large class many students would say nothing at all

- More speaking time:

Learners in a class that is divided into 9 groups of 5 or 22 pairs get six times or fifteen times as many opportunities to talk as in full class organization

- Students are more involved:

Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students and others would lose interest if they are conducted with the whole class together Working

in pairs or groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate

on the task

- Students feel confident:

Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when they are on show 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

- Students help each other:

Pair work and group work encourage students to share ideas and knowledge In a reading activity, students can help each other to explore the meaning of a text; in a discussion activity, students can give each other new ideas

Now talk about the problems, and discuss the ways of recovering them:

- Noise arrangements:

Obviously pair work and group work in a large class will be noisy, and this can not be helped But:

- Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in the next room

- The noise created by pair work and group work is usually “good” noise

“Group work, by its nature, is designed to generate noise” (Nunan and Lamb p.14, 1996) Students use English or engage in a learning task Teacher should stop the activity when most groups or pairs have finished or prepare a “reserve” task to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected

- Students make mistakes:

During a pair or group activity, the teacher can not control all the language used, and should not try to do so When doing controlled language practice in pairs or groups, the number of mistakes can be reduced by:

- Giving enough preparation, the activity can be done with the whole class first, and pair work used for final stage

- Checking afterwards The teacher can ask some pairs or groups what they said , and then correct mistakes if necessary

- Difficult to control class:

The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pair work and group work than in normal class To stop activities getting out control, it is important to:

- Give clear instructions about when to start, what to do and when to stop

- Give clearly defined tasks which don’t continue for too long

- Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs or groups, and know exactly what to do

2.3.2.3 The ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively.

Steps in the classroom:

Select the activity

An activity that is best suited for group work may meet the following criteria:

- The activity has multiple tasks that can be shared among group members

or a single task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the participation of all individuals within a group

- The activity involves problem solving and discussion Examples of activities that may be suited for group work are investigations of materials

(newspapers, scientific specimens) and development of ideas or arguments

Presentation.

It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing the class into groups; and a preliminary rehearsal or ‘dry run’ of a

sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things If your students have already done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process, giving only brief guidelines; It is mainly the first time of doing something with a class that such care needs to be invested in instructing

Try to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary quick review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary Finally before giving the sign to start tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: If there is a time limit, or a set signal for stopping, say what it is; if the groups simply stop when they have finished, then tell them what they will have to do next It is wise

to have a reserve task planned to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected

Preparation of materials.

The teacher will need to personally collect, or organize students to collect, physical specimens for investigation For example, if the teacher anticipates doing a lesson on the role of the media, she or he might ask the students to bring into class examples of newspapers and magazines There should be materials sufficient for each group

Size and selection of group.

Group size normally ranges between 3-5 students Group size can sometimes go larger, although groups larger than 8 do not ensure that everyone will participate

Since groups often report their work back to the whole class, teachers also take into account the total number of groups within the class

Group membership can be determined in different ways A random selection might be done by "counting off" with students (go around the room systematically having students count 1, 2, 3, etc., with each numbers representing a group) or selecting groups on the basis of birth date

In a nonrandom selection, groups will be selected based on the teachers' prior knowledge Usually, groups are selected to maximize diversity within the group, since diversity enhances learning Such groups often have a balance of girls and boys, and students with differing ability levels Teachers can also use their best judgment about personality mixes that would enhance the work of the group

Sometimes groups are organized only for one activity Other times, teachers use the same small groups for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with one another

If the tables and chairs cannot be moved for group work, then students can form groups by turning around in seats to face the children behind

Organize students within the group.

A laissez-faire approach to group work would be that the teacher give a general assignment to the group like organize a research project on 'qualities

of good leaders' and the students are left to organize themselves

A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific role to each group member Depending upon the task, the roles might include 'materials handler', 'scribe', 'reporter to the large group' and so on A semi-structured approach might be that the teacher recommend certain roles, but

leaves it to the group to assign roles.

A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a group, is often used with younger children A less structured approach can be used with students with experience in group work or for simple tasks that do not require that students take on different roles

Control the class during students’ working time.

Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful If you

do decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of :

- Providing general approval and support;

- Helping students who are having difficultly;

- Keeping the students using the target language (in many cases your mere presence will ensure this!)

- Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent

Time the group work.

The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task results, sharing with the whole group, and so on After giving clear instructions

to the students, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not interfere with the groups' activities

It is common in many classrooms that a small group activity constitutes

20 minutes of a 40 minute-period, with 10 minutes allowed for sharing small group work with the whole class

Give feedback

A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction after the end of the group work Feedback on the tasks may take many forms:

- Giving the right solution, if there is one

- Listening to and evaluating suggestions

- Pooling ideas on the board

- Displaying the materials the groups/ pairs have produced

The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results Feedback on language may be integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later

2.3.2.4 Procedures for pair and group work

Harmer (1999) suggests three stages in carrying out pair and group work

as follows:

Before: We need to give instructions to let students understand what they

are going to do, give them ideas of when they will have finished the task they are going to get involved in Sometimes, we may ask them to repeat the instructions or to translate them into their first language so as to check that they

do understand In some cases, our instructions may involve a demonstration

During: While students are working in pairs or groups we have a number

of options We could, for instance, stand at the front or the side of the class or anywhere else in the classroom, and keep an eye on what is happening Therefore, we can “turn in” to a particular pair or group from some distance