Using small group activities to compensate for the limitation of large classes the case of EFL classes in quangninh university of industry

In order to overcome the disadvantages of large classes, this study makes clear on how properly the small-group activities can compensate for the limitations of big size EFL classes.. I

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

******

NÔNG THỊ LEN

USING SMALL-GROUP ACTIVITIES TO COMPENSATE FOR THE LIMITATION OF LARGE CLASSES: THE CASE OF EFL CLASSES

IN QUANGNINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

Sử dụng các hoạt động nhóm bù đắp cho những hạn chế của lớp học đông: Một trường hợp nghiên cứu lớp tiếng Anh đông sinh viên tại

trường Đại học Công nghiệp Quảng Ninh

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Hanoi - 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

******

NÔNG THỊ LEN

USING SMALL-GROUP ACTIVITIES TO COMPENSATE FOR THE LIMITATION OF LARGE CLASSES: THE CASE OF EFL CLASSES

IN QUANGNINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

Sử dụng các hoạt động nhóm bù đắp cho những hạn chế của lớp học đông: Một trường hợp nghiên cứu lớp tiếng Anh đông sinh viên tại

trường Đại học Công nghiệp Quảng Ninh

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Minh Tâm, PhD

Hanoi - 2015

i

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the paper is my own original work and is neither copied from another source without proper acknowledgement, nor written for me by another person, in whole or in part, though I may have discussed the paper with others and used advice and suggestions from others in writing it This minor thesis

is the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi and it has not been submitted for any degrees at any other universities or institutions

Nông Thị Len

Hanoi, October 2015

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Thị Minh Tâm, for her invaluable guidance, critical feedback, and especially, her enormous encouragement, without which my thesis would be far from completion

My sincere thanks also go to all the lecturers and the staffs of the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies for their useful lessons and precious helps

Moreover, I am greatly thankful to all my colleagues and students at Quangninh University of Industry for their assistance during the process of data collection

In addition, my high appreciation extends to all the authors whose materials have been used in the study Thanks to them, I could accomplish my study

Last but not least, the whole-hearted thanks and debt gratitude are reserved for

my dear family, friends and relatives who have supported and helped me to overcome the difficulties during my study

iii

ABSTRACT

It is never easy to teach English as a Second / Foreign Language (ESL/ EFL) effectively because of so many common reasons Among them, one of the objective reasons causing ESL/ EFL teaching a lot of difficulties is large classes

In Vietnam, large ESL/ EFL classes are unavoidable, especially in higher education, because of the increasing English-learning needs associated with the limitations of class facilities (limited number of classrooms), limited number of teachers and so on In order to overcome the disadvantages of large classes, this study makes clear on how properly the small-group activities can compensate for the limitations of big size EFL classes

In other words, this minor thesis examines students‟ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of small-group work in large EFL classes More specified, it considers and illustrates how small-group activities could reduce students‟ anonymity connected with large classes and promote students‟ accountability In addition, strategies to use these types of activities to compensate for the limitations of a big size EFL class are worked out

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATION vii

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aim of the study 2

3 Research question 2

4 The significance of the study 2

5 Methods of the study 2

6 Scope of the study 3

7 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Small-group activities 5

1.1.1 Definition of small group 5

1.1.2 Common types of small-group activities 6

1.1.3 Benefits of small-group activities 8

1.1.4 Challenges of small-group activities 8

1.1.5 Principles to use small-group activities 9

1.2 Large classes 10

v

1.2.1 Class size and students‟ performance 10

1.2.2 Definition of large classes 11

1.2.3 Limitations of large classes 12

1.2.4 Managing large classes 13

1.3 Review of previous studies 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 Rationale for the use of action research 17

2.2 Context of the study 19

2.2.1 General introduction of QUI and English Division at QUI 19

2.2.2 The current situation of large EFL classes at QUI 20

2.3 Material 21

2.4 Subjects of the study 21

2.5 Instrumentation 21

2.5.1 Questionnaire 21

2.5.2 Class observation 23

2.5.3 Semi-structured interview 24

2.6 Research procedure 25

2.6.1 Phase 1: Pre-action 25

2.6.2 Phase 2: Action 25

2.6.3 Phase 3: Post-action 27

2.7 Data analysis 28

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 29

3.1 Analysis of preliminary investigation data 29

3.2 Data analysis 31

vi

3.2.1 The findings from the questionnaire 31

3.2.2 The findings from classroom observation 32

3.2.3 The findings of the semi-structured interview 35

3.3 Discussion 36

PART C: CONCLUSION 40

1 Recapitulation 40

2 Implications 41

3 Limitations 42

4 Suggestions for further study 42

REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: Pre-action Questionnaire for Students I Appendix 2: Post-action Questionnaire for Students III Appendix 3: Classroom Observation Evaluation Sheet IV Appendix 4: Group Observation Evaluation Sheet V Appendix 5: Questions for student interview VI Appendix 6: Results from Questionnaire 1 VII Summary of Students‟ profile VII Summary of Students‟ purposes of learning English VII Summary of Students‟ learning style VII Appendix 7: Results from Group Observation Evaluation Sheets VIII

vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

VNU: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ESL: English as a Second Language

QUI: Quangninh University of Industry

WTO: World Trade Organization

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

ICT: Information and Communications Technology

MA: Master of Arts

CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

viii

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables

Table 1 Types of small-group activities 7

Table 2 The action phase 27

Table 3 Summary of Students‟ self assessment about their participation 30

Table 4 Summary of Factors make students reluctant 30

Table 5 Summary of Students‟ responses after action 31

Table 6 Result of Classroom Observation Evaluation Sheets 33

Figures Figure 1 The action research cycle (Stephen Kemmis, 1988: 6) 18

Figure 2 Detailed action research mode 18

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Touching upon EFL teaching, it can be seen that large class nowadays is becoming a global issue In Vietnam, EFL teachers and learners also have to face with this problem According to Van (2010), after 1986, the teaching of English has grown and expanded rapidly in Vietnam There has emerged a boom of learning English as foreign language in the whole country The number of English learners

in Vietnam has increased at an overwhelming speed with Vietnam‟s entry into the WTO along with the rapid development of globalization and communication among all countries in the world Thereafter, due to the lack of quality teachers and resources, the size of language class at any educational level tends to be larger and larger It is very common for Vietnamese teachers to teach a class with more than

50 students and even not rare to have a college class with over 100 students especially after the expansion of college enrollment Teachers face many challenges

in teaching in large classes which cannot be easily avoided in Vietnam context So much research has been conducted in such environment in order to facilitate teachers to cope with the problems arisen by the increase of the students in the classroom

With the experience of four-year teaching EFL at Quangninh University of Industry (QUI), I can see that QUI also cannot avoid the current real situation of Vietnam‟s EFL teaching It is usual to have an EFL class of over 50 students, even

120 students at QUI Our students come from all over the country, with different background and learning habits It is really difficult for me, as well as other EFL teachers at QUI, to manage these large classes from the very easiest thing namely checking students‟ attendance Therefore, I would like to do the research in order to find out a better solution for the problem of large class in QUI More specifically, this research was carried out to make clear to what extent the small-group activities can compensate for the limitation of large EFL classes The pedagogical implications withdrawn from this study are definitely beneficial for QUI teachers

2

and students I sincerely hope that thanks to the findings of this action study EFL teachers at QUI can better manage large classes, improve teaching quality, and help students in large EFL classes to significantly improve the effectiveness of their English learning

2 Aim of the study

The aim of this study is to find out the extent to which the use of small-group activities can compensate for the limitations of the large EFL classes For more detail, this study is aimed to promote the students‟ participation through the employment of small-group activities in a big size EFL class A big size EFL class truly has some limitations in which the most undesirable one is discouraging the participation of students In this action research it is hoped that small-group activities can be effectively used to compensate for that limitation of large EFL classes at QUI

3 Research question

This study is conducted to find the answers for the following question:

To what extent do small-group activities promote students’ participation in large class?

4 The significance of the study

For the teachers of English division, this study is hoped to bring them the detailed and full view on the reality of big size classes at QUI and the necessary use

of group activities to compensate for some of large class‟s limitation As a result, they can apply the proper teaching methods to their large classes For the students in the large EFL classes, this action research can help them to realize their strengths and their abilities to learn, develop their language skills and contribute in a large class

5 Methods of the study

Action research is employed in this study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in this research The data were collected by means of:

6 Scope of the study

To promote students‟ participation in large classes, EFL teachers can use varieties of techniques However, this study merely focused on studying how effective small-group activities, that are considered well-matched to the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach – a learner-centered approach, can be used to reduce students‟ anonymity connected with large classes and promote students‟ accountability Small-group activities seem to be the most suitable to the context of large classes Among so many different useful small-group activities, only two activities are employed in this thesis: Small-group discussion and Role play

This action research is applied in six consecutive speaking lectures Speaking skill is chosen because it is the best in expressing the students‟ participation among four performance indicators for language skills (reading, speaking, writing and listening) The action is carried out for the first-year students of all majors in a class

of 50 at QUI The collected data are analyzed and discussed to figure out how small-group activities contribute to encourage students to participate in their oversize class Then some solutions were proposed to improve the quality of teaching and learning in large classes

7 Design of the study

The study is organized into three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

4

In part A – Introduction, the rationale, aims, research question, significance,

methods, scope and the organization of the study are presented

In the second part, part B - Development, there are four chapters

Chapter I, Literature Review, mentions some main points about the theoretical background for the field of the study This is the review of literature on small-group activities and large classes

Chapter II describes the methodology, or the overall picture of how the research was carried out from the first step of determining the research design to the last step of gathering the results

Chapter III presents data analysis and findings This chapter attempts to provide answers to the posed research question: To what extent do the small-group activities promote students‟ participation in large class? Then there are some discussions on the findings of the study

Part C is Conclusion This part gives the conclusion of the study and also

accesses some pedagogical implications which suggest some ideas for teacher so that they can maximize the benefits of small-group activities in their large classes

In addition to that, this part points out the limitations of this study and offers some suggestions for further study

5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter discusses the theoretical background of the two main issues mentioned in this minor thesis: small-group activities and large classes More importantly, this section points out how large classes affect the students’ performance and how to effectively manage a large EFL class in order to promote the students’ participation according to previous researches

1.1 Small-group activities

To solve the problem of less participation in large classes there exist quite a lot

of techniques such as using students‟ names, pair/ group work, questioning, class work, incentive marks and so on Among them, pair/ group work is one of the best methods which focus on communicative competence and learner-centeredness

extra-1.1.1 Definition of small group

Group work or cooperative learning is a method of instruction that gets students to work together in groups In the past two decades there has been a rapid growth in the use of small group learning experiences in higher education (Fink, 2004)

In fact, though EFL teachers do not have choice in the class size they teach, they can still create the best learning environment for their students Small group teaching has become more popular as a means of encouraging students learning The question is how small a group should be to be called a small group As Surgenor (2010) stated, there is no magical number that defines a group as a small group A lecturer used to taking 400 in a lecture would define 50 as a small group, while a lecturer used to taking a group of 50 would define 5-10 as a small group As there can be sub-groups within groups, it is hard to define small group In a discussion, where participation is assessed some students may not speak up in a group that begins to get bigger than 10 participants and in addition tutors would find

6

it hard to assess participation by individual students in groups with numbers greater than this Hence, a group of less than 10 students may be the most suitable choice

1.1.2 Common types of small-group activities

To encourage students‟ participation, in “Twelve things you can do to help students learn in small group situations”, Race and Brown (1993) mentioned some types of activities for use such as Discussion, Role play and simulation Besides, teachers can use Task groups, Problem-based learning groups For pairs of students

in a large lecture, Gibbs (1992) gave some ideas for active learning like Silent reflection, Solve a problem, Swap answers with person beside, Discuss an issues in pairs, etc The table below (modified from Bender, 2003; Exley & Dennick, 2004; Salmon, 2005) provides some information on a variety of teaching methods that are suitable for small group work because they adopt a student-centred approach

Role play Provide a situation or individual for a small group to act out There

are pros and cons of role-playing, be wary of the content and what students are asked to do There are many different forms of role-playing

E.g.: Role-play a situation where you have to return an item to a shop or make a complaint; role-play a conversation between a doctor-patient, father-son, waiter-diner, etc

Students join small groups to discuss ideas, comments, etc

E.g.: What are five things you got from today‟s lecture?

Student-led

seminars

Small groups of students (or pairs) are provided with the opportunity to led class (usually tutorials) Also called co-operative learning it aims to develop collaborative skills between students and increase student involvement, and decrease teacher talk time

Debate Prosecutor vs defendant, critic vs defender, affirmative vs

negative

Fish-bowling One group works at a task while another group observes (e.g

observe a PBL task, a role-play, a performance) and then comments, responds

E.g.: Group A develops a role-play between a student and a teacher while Group B observes (evaluates, comments)

Jigsaw A student works individually on one part of a task/activity then

works with others to combine various parts and complete the task Brainstorming Provide a cue, concept, question or idea in order to generate a list of

responses, options and suggestions

E.g.: Brainstorm „masculinity‟

Cross overs Organisational method where groups work together then one

member from each splits to form another group so that students report findings to smaller groups rather than class

Adaptation Modify, adapt and use any or all of the learning and teaching

activities above in the specific context

Table 1 Types of small-group activities

8

In summary, the activities for small groups are flexible and open to adaptation and interpretation to suit teachers‟ individual needs EFL teachers should adapt the activities in order to best suit to their practical teaching

1.1.3 Benefits of small-group activities

Research shows that group work allows students to become active participants

in their learning and helps students develop skills valued by employers (such as problem solving, negotiation, conflict resolution, leadership, critical thinking and time management) In addition to that, group work exposes students to diverse ideas and approaches; acknowledges and utilises individual students' strengths and expertise Besides, through discussion, group work also helps students articulate their ideas, refine concepts and develop interpersonal and communication skills and facilitates a deeper understanding of course content For teachers, group-based learning can often reduce the marking and feedback load associated with individual assessment

To encourage active learning, in a meta-analysis of thirty-nine studies focusing on small-group learning in undergraduate environments, Springer, Stanne, and Donovan (1997) found that small-group learning was effective in advancing not only student motivation but also academic achievement

1.1.4 Challenges of small-group activities

Although group work has the potential to encourage positive student learning experiences, research evidence suggests that this potential is not always realised (Fink, 2004, Pieterse & Thompson, 2010) Although some students report that their group work projects or tasks are the best learning experiences of university, others find them the worst, and feel reluctant to work in groups again Some students prefer to work independently, and find the group experience challenging and confronting Added to this tension is group work's appeal for teachers in the face of increasing class sizes and staff workloads (Burdett, 2003) But teachers often underestimate the effort involved in organising effective group work Group work

9

can sometimes be time consuming and difficult to implement Nevertheless, given the benefits for learning and future employability, it is important that all students have the chance to work in groups during their study at the university When it comes to developing students‟ group work skills, there is no single best approach or assessment strategy It all depends on teacher‟s particular learning and teaching context and objectives The challenge is to choose a range of strategies that will allow the students to develop effective group work skills within the context of teacher‟s discipline

To do small-group activity is one way to change the pace of a large class There are so many types of small-group activity but what type an EFL teacher should use in his/ her class depends much on how large the class is, the length of time available, the physical features of the class, and the nature of the group task

1.1.5 Principles to use small-group activities

To effectively implement in a large class, there are some strategies for using group work technique Group activities should grow out of a learning-based rationale (Harris and Watson, 1997) Primary goals for small-group activities are to create a trusting, cooperative atmosphere for later class discussions; develop effective groups for class projects; develop effective, complex, cooperative learning

or problem-solving groups; prepare for out-of-class study groups; reach people with different learning styles; and illustrate course content EFL teachers who want to incorporate group strategies in their teaching should think comprehensively about the components of the lecture: content, goals and objectives To be effective, group work must require learning, not merely completing tasks Moreover, successful group work demands the teacher‟s attention Well-planned group work requires that teachers are involved in the process from beginning to end (Harris and Watson, 1997)

In conclusion, the use of small group learning experiences in higher education

is increasingly grown recently Although small-group activities present some challenges, they really offer great benefits for large class teaching If EFL teachers

1.2.1 Class size and students’ performance

Extant research on the relationship between class size and student performance has identified conflicting results (Toth & Montagna, 2002) The results of some studies show no significant relationship between class size and student performance (Hancock, 1996; Kennedy & Siegfried, 1997), while other studies favor small class environments (Gibbs, Lucas, & Simonite, 1996; Borden & Burton, 1999; Arias & Walker, 2004) Results vary based on the criteria used to gauge student performance, as well as the class size measure itself When traditional achievement tests are used, small classes provide no advantage over large classes (Kennedy & Siegfried, 1997) However, if additional performance criteria are used (e.g., long-term retention, problem-solving skills), it appears that small classes hold an advantage (Gibbs et al., 1996; Arias & Walker, 2004)

Teachers of large classes have found that students‟ participation can be identified in terms of three kinds of interaction, namely, students to their teacher, students to students, and students to material (Hung, 2005)

In terms of the interaction between students to their teacher, students who maintain good interaction with their teacher always participate in the class discussion They become involved in what is happening in the classroom by asking more questions, share personal ideas, opinion and experience with their classmates Hence, participation is not just come to class on time, take notes what their teachers say and write down on the black board, and stay in the class all the time Students are considered being active and attentive only when they work on the problems with the teacher during the class, laugh at jokes, respond to the teacher‟s questions, often show great desire to learn and become good students

Concrete learners: they prefer learning by games, pictures, films and videos, talking in pairs and learning through the use of cassettes

Analytical learners: these ones like studying grammar, studying English books, finding their own mistakes, and learning through reading newspaper

Communicative learners: they like to learn by observing and listening to native speakers, talking to friends in English and learning English wherever possible

Authority-oriented learners: they like the teacher to explain everything, writing everything in their notebooks, having their own textbooks, learning to read, studying grammar, and learning English words by seeing them

Regarding to students‟ motivation, according to Brown (1987), motivation is

an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that encourages one to do a particular action Teachers, therefore, should know and realize the source of student‟s motivation, both instrumental and integrative to meet specific needs as well as to

“actively push learners to realize their full potential and make maximum progress” (Ur, 1996:273)

1.2.2 Definition of large classes

It is not easy to give definition of large classes because we must first answer the question: How large a class is considered as a large class? Hayes (1997) says there is no quantitative definition of what constitutes a large class, as people‟s perception of this varies from context to context In some private language schools a

12

class with 20 students may be perceived large, in Lancaster University project an average number of the large class is around 50 (Coleman, 1989), while in Vietnam, large class generally refers to that of holding 50-100 students or more, which to some foreign teachers may be super large It can be seen that in different context or culture, people have different degrees of tolerance of class size Ur (1996) concludes that what is relevant to the class considered as large one is how the teacher perceives the class size in the specific situation, regardless of the exact number of the students in it Therefore, large class is one with more students than the teacher prefers to manage and available resources can support, from this point of view, large classes usually are considered to pose insurmountable problems for teachers

When does a class become large? It depends on the class Writing classes become “large” quickly because of the need to give written feedback A speaking/ listening class can seem large, and the same size reading class can seem “small” Young students make a class “larger” than older students because of shorter attention spans If your classroom is very small and desks don‟t move, a few students can become a large class Diverse classes become “large” sooner than homogeneous classes However, in a survey done in 2008 covering more than 30 countries, regardless of how many students the respondents typically taught (anywhere from 20 to 150), most felt that a class became large with about 30 students (Brady, 2011)

1.2.3 Limitations of large classes

Before discussing the limitations of large class, it can be denied that large classes do have some advantages Ur (2000) and Hess (2001) argue that large classes can provide richer human resources and greater opportunities for creativity than smaller class Actually, some researchers (like Zhichang, 2001) agree that more students mean more ideas, and therefore, provide more opinions and possibilities

13

However, large classes obviously have some limitations because in large classes, students come from different backgrounds, areas and they are different in learning styles, preferences, levels of English proficiency, and general attitudes toward English Therefore, these classes are usually multilevel and cause various challenges for effective teaching and learning English One of the most critical problems instructors of large lecture classes face is that students are often anonymous to both the instructor and to one another (McKeachie, 1999) Students who believe they are anonymous often feel less personally responsible for learning, are less motivated to learn, and are less likely to attend class (Cooper and Robinson, 2000) In addition to that, according to Ur (1996:303), teachers of large classes also face with the problems of discipline, correcting written assignments, creating effective learning for all, finding suitable materials, and activating all students especially, silent ones In conclusion, the biggest problems with having a large class are related to class participation

1.2.4 Managing large classes

Effective management of large classes is a popular topic among faculty in higher education Carbone (1998) and Stanley & Porter (2002) have produced books focused on the large class environment, offering strategies for course design, student engagement, active learning, and assessment The advantages of large classes include decreased instructor costs, efficient use of faculty time and talent, availability of resources, and standardization of the learning experience (McLeod, 1998) However, there are significant disadvantages to large classes, including strained impersonal relations between students and the instructor, limited range of teaching methods, discomfort among instructors teaching large classes, and a perception those faculties who teach large classes are of lower status at the institution (McLeod, 1998) Thus, teachers should comprehend thoroughly the advantages and disadvantages of large classes in order to have the appropriate management strategy in particular context

14

There is a management-related strategy that teacher can group student in multiple ways Group work is a technique that focuses on communicative competence and learner-centeredness The groups can be permanent from the beginning of the course or temporary with subject to each lesson content Students will have varying levels in the group, but this can be seen as a good thing If the class is conducted in English the students can help each other, which is good for both the good students and the slower ones Grouping strategies occasionally allow better student support for struggling students when the teacher sees the need but lacks the time, because she can pair a stronger student with a struggling student

as a provisional “stand in” for her own guidance Furthermore, teacher will find it much easier to manage students in each small group rather than in a large group of whole class Last but not least, to learn languages, practice is essential In large classes, teachers have to create ways for students to practice without continuous, direct teacher monitoring - structured groups are the only way to accomplish this Using groups allows students to be self-managing and allows more time for practice Groups can be created in almost any class Even when desks can‟t be moved, having the front students turn back and the back students turn forward can make pairs and quads

To sum up, though there are some conflicting opinions, that large class has some limitation which affects the students‟ participation is still existent It can be seen that a large class is a relative concept Problems and difficulties of teaching associated with large classes can also be found in smaller classes Teachers need to view large classes from a different perspective and recognize that despite a lot of disadvantages they can also provide many opportunities for teaching and learning Class size is not the determining factor of teaching efficiency Teachers need to enhance their innovative awareness and capabilities for developing effective ways for dealing with large classes based on the characteristics of large classes It can be seen from all the literature review above that small-group activities can be one of the most effective techniques which should be used in a large class to achieve active

15

learning Teachers can effectively apply small-group activities to their multilevel large classes because the small-group activities are multiform and flexible

1.3 Review of previous studies

From the early 21st century, the issues of handling large English classes aroused the interest of teachers and researchers all over the world A study by Qualters (2001) suggests that students do not favor active learning methods because

of the in-class time taken by the activities, fear of not covering all of the material in the course, and anxiety about changing from traditional classroom expectations to the active structure In contrast, research by Casado (2000) examined perceptions across six teaching methods: lecture/discussion, lab work, in-class exercises, guest speakers, applied projects, and oral presentations Students most preferred the lecture/discussion method Lab work, oral presentation, and applied projects were also favorably regarded Hunt et al (2003) also noted favorable student attitudes towards active learning methods

Some researchers express concerns over the challenges encountered by the language teachers For example, Zhang Jiamin (2002) analyzes the large classes in two colleges and identifies the problems as follows: 1) Discipline problems; 2) Effective learning; 3) Weariness, which confirms to those mentioned by some foreign researchers Yu Jianqiong (2004) identifies some similar problems of large classes, e.g students‟ individual differences are ignored and the classroom environment is worrying She also mentions that limited chance for students to practice English hinders the improvement of their oral English, which is particularly true in foreign language context like China, since speaking English in class might

be the only chance for students to practice oral English These problems of college large classes are also reflected in those of primary and secondary schools (Su Tongquan 2005, Tan Long 2009, Zhang Lian 2010)

In Vietnam, Trần Thị Ngọc Bắc (2005) conducted an experiment with the use

of group work and questioning techniques for increasing students‟ participation in

16

communicative activities in large classes at Thái Nguyên College of Education She came to the conclusion that these techniques strongly increase the students‟ talking time and participation and reduce teacher‟s talking time in language activities Đặng Quỳnh Trâm (2006) carried out a survey research to find solutions to improve co-operative learning in non-English major multilevel classes at Thái Nguyên University of Education

In a research by Trịnh Lan Hương (2008), she suggested some communicative activities for large multilevel classes at Electric Power University to help students acquire grammatical knowledge in a communicative way

In 2009, Nguyễn Đức Hưng carried out a study on increasing students‟ participation in communicative activities in large classes by using group work and questioning techniques at Marie Curie High School, Hải Phòng He proved that the two techniques: group work and questioning will help students increase their participation in communicative activities in large classes

In short, although there have been a variety of books and researches on teaching and learning in large classes, but there is inadequate research touching upon the issues of implementing small-group activities for speaking skill in large English classes while speaking skill is fundamental to people‟s communication This fact leads me to do this study

17

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the chapter is to present the specific plan of procedure of the study In the first place, this chapter explains why action research is used to undertake this study Then the context of the study is described The next parts in this chapter are to present participants of the study, instrumentation, research procedure and data analysis

2.1 Rationale for the use of action research

Action research is a work in progress As defined by Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury (2001:1), action research is: a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview which we believe is emerging at this historical moment It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to people, and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities

Meanwhile, Cohen and Manion (1985) defined:

“Action research is first and foremost situational, being concerned with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out.”

Action research is situational; the research is initiated by practitioner and derived from a real problem in the classroom Using action research concurrently to solve a problem, improve the current state of affairs and generate new knowledge The objective of a classroom action research project, according to Richards &

Lockhart (1994): “…is an action plan designed to bring about change in some aspects of the teacher’s class with subsequent monitoring of the effects of the innovation.”

Action research tends to be:

18

Cyclic: similar steps tend to recur, in a similar sequence;

Participative: the clients and informants are involved as partners, or at least

active participants, in the research process;

Qualitative: it deals more often with language than with numbers; and

Reflective: critical reflection upon the process and outcomes are important

parts of each cycle

“Circle within circle” process of an action research

Stephen Kemmis has developed a simple model of the cyclical nature of the typical action research process as follows:

Figure 1 The action research cycle (Stephen Kemmis, 1988: 6)

Slightly different, Susman (1983) identifies five steps to be implemented in an action research as follows:

Figure 2 Detailed action research mode

19

From a different point of view, concerning action research as activity research, Nunan (1992) proposed a model of action research as a cycle which consists of seven steps:

Step1: Initiation - A problem triggers the idea of action research

Step 2: Preliminary investigation - Baseline data are collected to help understand the nature of the problem

Step 3: Hypotheses - A hypothesis is formulated after reviewing the initial data

Step 4: Intervention - A number of strategies are devised and applied

Step 5: Evaluation - An assessment is carried out to evaluate the intervention Some steps may be repeated

Step 6: Dissemination - A report of the research is published Ideas emerged from the research are shared

Step 7: Follow-up - Alternative solutions for the problem are continually investigated

Because of the simplicity of the way it was presented by the author as well as its appropriateness regarding the context of the study, the researcher chose this model of Nunan to be the theoretical framework for the design of the thesis

2.2 Context of the study

2.2.1 General introduction of QUI and English Division at QUI

QUI has a history of 55 years in training the labor force mainly for the coal industry of Quangninh province Nowadays, its field extends to many other majors such as Business Administration, ICT, Mechanics, Surveying, etc Like so many other universities in Vietnam education system, QUI considers English as a primary foreign language

English Division of QUI consists of 11 teachers All of the teachers are graduated from the university of foreign languages and 80% of them has acquired

MA degree or is following a postgraduate course at University of Languages and

20

International Studies, VNU Teachers of English at QUI apply various teaching methods according to the skills and the level of students they are in charge of They also usually combine traditional methods and positive methods in their language teaching in order to build an active learning atmosphere in their classes Though they always maintain their enthusiasm in their teaching, they still admit that they find it so difficult to manage and teach a large class

2.2.2 The current situation of large EFL classes at QUI

Teaching and learning English at QUI is always of great importance For better quality of English teaching and learning, QUI pays attention to invest on the training to improve the teaching quality and the facilities as much as possible However, because English is taught for all students at QUI, it is inevitable that the increasing enrollments have made the size of EFL classes at QUI get bigger and bigger Multilevel students, limited facilities, etc make large classes be really troublesome Students of all majors are gathered in a group sitting in a big classroom with unmovable tables Although all classrooms are equipped with modern projectors, microphones and speakers, students still find it difficult to follow the lectures Teachers of such large classes at QUI give feedback that they cannot remember the names of students Moreover, teachers also face so many difficulties in marking and assessment In large classes, teaching and learning are disturbed by noise and distraction In the first year of applying the credit-based training system at QUI in 2012, EFL teachers often have to be in charge of classes from 80 to 100 students each Recently, although the number of students in a class has decreased, teachers of English Division still have to teach classes of 50-60 students The smallest EFL class is still 30-40 students Students really feel anonymous and as a result, they are lazy and shy to contribute ideas in front of big class Moreover, while the teachers cannot take everyone and everything into account, students are distracted and tend to have personal talk instead of discussing the lesson

21

2.3 Material

Currently, like many other English Departments at non-English major universities in Vietnam, English Division at QUI also chooses the student‟s book New Headway the third edition of John and Liz Soars published by Oxford University Press in 2010 to teach for students of General English There are 12 units

in this main course-book mentioning 12 common topics in life such as Places and things, Fame, Going places, etc Each unit is organized into seven parts: Language Focus, Vocabulary and Everyday English, apart from four basic English skills: Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing Sometimes, speaking parts of the unit are integrated into others The course-book occasionally designs some activities for students to speak and work in groups or pairs to practice the grammar in Language Focus The total time duration for students to practice their speaking skills is around

2 periods per unit

2.4 Subjects of the study

In order to achieve the aims of the study, fifty first-year students in a general English class (DH01.K8) were selected to participate in the study My students, aged 18, come from different areas all over the country They have different English background as well as learning habits, even some of them has never learnt English before They are students of all majors (Underground Mining, Mineral Processing, Accounting, etc.) Their target level after the first year is Pre-Intermediate which is equal to CEFR level A2

2.5 Instrumentation

There is a number of instruments were used as data collection tools to collect the data The study is both quantitative and qualitative kind of research in which the data is collected by means of questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews

2.5.1 Questionnaire

Two questionnaires were used as data collection instruments

22

Questionnaire 1 (The pre-action questionnaire for students) - see Appendix 1:

 Purpose: The first questionnaire had been delivered to all fifty students in

class DH01.K8 before the researcher carried out the action in order to get the general information about the students The information found from the first questionnaire helped the researcher to design and adapt the two small-group activities (discussion and role play) to best fit to the students

 Structure of the questionnaire: This questionnaire consists of ten questions

in which some is open-ended, some is close-ended The researcher use Likert scale in order to able to collect rich data This first questionnaire is

in Vietnamese

 Participants: Fifty first-year non-English major students in General

English class All of them are 18 years old

 Data collection procedure: The questionnaire was copied and distributed

to all fifty students Then it was collected and analysed before the action

Questionnaire 2 (The post-action questionnaire for students) - see Appendix 2:

 Purpose: The purpose of this questionnaire is to collect data about the

students‟ perception on the fact that small-group activities were used in their large class and to see whether the students feel satisfied with and beneficiary under the applied small-group activities

 Structure of the questionnaire: The questionnaire consists of eight

statements The students show their attitude towards these eight statements based on Likert scale

 Participants: Fifty first-year non-English major students in General

English class All of them are 18 years old

 Data collection procedure: After six sessions of applying the action, the

questionnaire was copied and delivered to all fifty students in the class Then the questionnaire was collected and analysed

23

2.5.2 Class observation

Two applied small-group activities are Discussion and Role play The oversize class was divided into ten groups of five In the speaking sessions, teacher assigned and instructed activities for students to do in their groups and then, while they were working in their groups, teacher could attend, support and observe each group and all class Besides, in order to get richer data about group activities, the researcher needed the help from one more teacher, who worked as an assistant observer, to observe the classroom while the researcher observed the groups

 Purpose: Classroom observation is the main tool to evaluate how effective

small-group activities can compensate for the limitations of the large class Classroom observation provides more information about the level of students‟ participation in lessons, and the activities occurring in the class

 Structure: The classroom observation scheme is designed into two parts

Part one is to observe and take note about the students‟ participation in Speaking class Part 2 is to take note and evaluate the atmosphere of the classroom All of the two parts are taken note and evaluated based on Likert scale In addition to that, the Group Observation Evaluation Sheets were used to be the scheme for the researcher to evaluate the students‟ participation in groups in each session and specifically take notes of the outstanding or less active students

 Participants: The researcher - teacher of the large class is also the

observer One more observer is a colleague of the researcher

 Data collection procedure: During the six consecutive Speaking sessions

(of 45 minutes per each), the researcher applied the two small-group activities to the class In each session, the researcher observed and took note into one sheet of Classroom Observation Scheme After that, the observation results was analysed carefully

24

2.5.3 Semi-structured interview

The semi-structured interview is used in this study Using this kind of interview gives the researcher a great deal of flexibility and allows a degree of

freedom in getting information from interviewees

 Purpose: The purpose of the interviews is to test the validity of the

information obtained from the questionnaires and observations The interviews were conducted at the end of the research with the aim of gaining more insights for evaluating the influence of small-group activities

on students‟ participation in large class

 Structure of the interview: To interview the students, the researcher used

seven questions in which five of them are open-ended ones The questions are about the students‟ experience in the Speaking sessions that were applied the small-group activities

 Participants: The two most and two least achievable students in class were

chosen to participate in the interview

 Data collection procedure: After the action and the observation were

undertaken through all six sessions, four students were informed to be four interviewees two days before the interview The aim of this advance notice was to help students prepare and promote their “professional” attitude The students were chosen according to their in-class performance Each student was hoped to spend around 15 minutes for the semi-structured interview The interviews were recorded under the interviewees‟ permission for the purpose of the study The interview was conducted one-by-one to allow the research to delve deeply into the issue

The students were allowed to speak in Vietnamese so that the researcher can elicit more information from the subjects The data from the semi-structured interviews was analyzed after gathering