Áp dụng kĩ thuật vòng tròn văn học vào hoạt động nhóm nhằm thúc đẩy việc học tập hợp tác trong giờ học nói tiếng anh lớp 10 tại trường THPT lương thế vinh, tỉnh quảng ninh

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITYSCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES VU THI THU HIEN APPLYING LITERATURE CIRCLE TECHNIQUE TO GROUP-WORK ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSON

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

VU THI THU HIEN

APPLYING LITERATURE CIRCLE TECHNIQUE

TO GROUP-WORK ACTIVITIES

TO ENHANCE COOPERATIVE LEARNING

IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS AT GRADE 10

IN LUONG THE VINH UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

QUANG NINH PROVINCE

(Áp dụng kĩ thuật Vòng tròn văn học vào hoạt động nhóm nhằm

thúc đẩy việc học tập hợp tác trong giờ học Nói tiếng Anh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Lương Thế Vinh, tỉnh Quảng Ninh)

M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2019

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

VU THI THU HIEN

APPLYING LITERATURE CIRCLE TECHNIQUE

TO GROUP-WORK ACTIVITIES

TO ENHANCE COOPERATIVE LEARNING

IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS AT GRADE 10

IN LUONG THE VINH UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

QUANG NINH PROVINCE

(Áp dụng kĩ thuật Vòng tròn văn học vào hoạt động nhóm nhằm

thúc đẩy việc học tập hợp tác trong giờ học Nói tiếng Anh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Lương Thế Vinh, tỉnh Quảng Ninh)

M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION)

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Dr Đặng Thị Thu Hương

THE CANDIDATE'S STATEMENTS

I hereby declare that the minor thesis entitled “Applying literature circle

technique to group-work activities to enhance cooperative learning in English speaking lessons at grade 10 in Luong The Vinh Upper Secondary School, Quang Ninh province” is my own work To the best of my knowledge, it contains no

materials previously published or written by another person, or substantialproportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree

or diploma at SFL or any other educational institutions The thesis has not beensubmitted to any other examining body and has not been published Anycontribution made to the research by others is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis

The candidate

Vu Thi Thu Hien

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Dr Dang Thi Thu Huong

To complete this study, I am indebted to many people for their thoughtful help

I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Dang Thi Thu Huong,

for supporting me from the proposal stage to the completion of my thesis Shehelped

me begin my project and provided guidance and suggestions throughout all of mydrafts She spent a great deal of time working with me to help me through the multi-step research process by emails or in person She tirelessly edited my thesisproposals, drafts and final thesis

I would also like to acknowledge a particular debt to Dr Nguyen Trong Du forhis valuable advice and patient guidance though he is not my supervisor

I would also like to thank the staff and students at my school, Luong The VinhUpper Secondary School, Quang Ninh province, for their support They assisted mygoals by being flexible, lending resources and engaging in informal discussionsabout my challenges over the course of the project

Most importantly, I wish to acknowledge my family, who has patientlyallowed me the time to work on my thesis They were invaluable to the success ofthis paper and I thank them for believing in my accomplishments

Thai Nguyen, June 2019

Vu Thi Thu Hien

Cooperative learning is undeniably helpful to students, especially to those whoare studying a foreign language Practice of speaking is considered as one of themost important factors for the acquisition of languages This study is conducted toexamine the effectiveness of literature circle technique on cooperative activitiesinside the classroom in English speaking lessons for students grade 10, Luong TheVinh Upper Secondary School, Quang Ninh province Particularly, the researcheraims at collecting factual evidences about difficulties that teachers face whileapplying the cooperative learning technique (what difficulties do teachers face intypical Vietnamese classrooms while applying the cooperative learning technique?)

An action research has been carried out experimenting the application of modifiedliterature circle technique in that context (does the adapted literature circle techniquehelp enhance cooperative learning in Vietnamese classrooms?) The findingsindicate a significantly positive effect of literature circle technique which helpsenhance cooperative learning considerably in English lessons Practical exercisesand lessons learnt from the study suggest the use of literature circle technique inother places in Vietnam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF CHARTS ix

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study and research questions 1

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Significance of the study 2

5 Method of the study 2

6 Organization of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Cooperative Learning 4

1.1.1 Definition 4

1.1.2 Characteristics of a cooperative learning group 5

1.1.3 The roles of cooperative learning in language education 5

1.1.4 Challenges in applying cooperative learning group work 6

1.2 Literature circle technique 6

1.2.1 Definition 6

1.2.2 The use of literature circle techniques for cooperative learning group work in improving speaking skills 7

1.2.3 Limitation of using literature circle in real classrooms and the adapted model 8

2.2 Research questions 11

2.3 Research approach 11

2.3.1 An overview of action research 11

2.3.2 Rationale for the use of an action research 12

2.4 Description of the research 12

2.4.1 Population 12

2.4.2 Data collection instrument 13

2.4.3 The action procedures 13

2.4.4 Data collection procedures 15

2.4.5 Data analysis procedure 16

2.5 Summary 17

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 19

3.1 Research question 1 19

3.1.1 Pre-questionnaire for teachers 19

3.1.2 Pre-questionnaire for students 24

3.2 Research question 2 30

3.2.1 Observation 30

3.2.2 Post-questionnaire for students 33

3.2.3 KII with teachers 36

PART C: CONCLUSION 39

1 Conclusion 39

2 Implications 40

3 Limitations of the study 40

4 Suggestions for further research 41

REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX I: Pre-questionnaire for teachers I APPENDIX II: Pre-questionnaire for students V APPENDIX III: Post-questionnaire for students VII APPENDIX IV: Questions for KII with teachers IX

APPENDIX V: Instructions for teachers’ using literature circle technique XAPPENDIX VI: Sample lesson plan XIIIAPPENDIX VII: Observations form XIIII

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT : Communicative Language Teaching

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

SFL : School of Foreign Languages

STT : Students’ Talking Time

TTT : Teachers’ Talking Time

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The characteristics of a traditional group 20 Table 2: The benefits of cooperative learning group activities to the students 22 Table 3: Observation table of checklist 31

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Responses from selected teachers selecting characteristics of a traditional

group versus a cooperative learning group 21

Chart 2: The number of responses by teachers about the benefits of cooperative

learning group activities to the students 23

Chart 3: How often teachers organise group activities during speaking lessons 24 Chart 4: How much students like working in groups 25 Chart 5: How much the majority of students spoke during group work 26 Chart 6: Students prefer stay in the same group or move around and join more than

one group during speaking lesson 26

Chart 7: Students’ perception about the importance they have in the group work 27 Chart 8: Students’ feeling of engagement and interaction with other group members

28

Chart 9: Current speaking lessons’ attractiveness to students 29 Chart 10: Observation results after 4 experimental lessons 32 Chart 11: How much the same students like working in group before and after 4

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This is a study on the influence of modified literature circle techniques oncooperative activities inside the classroom in English speaking lessons This chapterstarts with the rationale of the study Then, the aims, scope, significance and method ofthe study will be presented

1 Rationale

Under the draft new curriculum (version May 2018) for comprehensive educationreform, secondary students are expected to develop communication and collaborationabilities as one out of ten core competencies (Thao, 2018)

For English as a school subject, communicative language teaching has been taken

as the approach Standard national high school curriculum is designed according to CLTapproach which takes speaking, listening, reading and writing competencies as the endproducts of the teaching and learning process (Van, 2011, p.98)

Therefore, it can be said that a language classroom teaches more than the languageitself – students are to be given chance for both communication and collaboration skillsimprovement

The need is becoming increasingly vital for teachers in Vietnam to apply methodsand techniques which enable students to interact, exchange ideas using the language,and develop their collaboration skills

Of numerous techniques, cooperative learning and literature circle technique areassumedly significant as they are suggested by some progressive educators recently Inthe meantime, they are predicted to cause failures if neglectfully applied in Vietnameseschool contexts

From this suggestion and above initial problems, the author decided to do anaction research project to examine the effectiveness of literature circle technique oncooperative activities inside the classroom in English speaking lessons for studentsgrade 10, Luong The Vinh Upper Secondary School, Quang Ninh province

2 Aims of the study and research questions

First of all, the research sought for understanding of cooperative learning and

typical Vietnamese province The survey first aimed at collecting factual evidences about difficulties facing teachers while applying the cooperative learning technique.

Research question 1: What difficulties do teachers face in typical Vietnamese classrooms while applying the cooperative learning technique?

Next, a type of action research has been carried out by experimenting theapplication of modified literature circle technique in that context Data gathered wasanalyzed to decide the level of appropriateness of the technique in enhancingcooperative learning activities

Research question 2: Does the adapted literature circle technique help enhance cooperative learning in Vietnamese classrooms?

All those practical exercises and lessons learnt from the study helped extent theuse of literature circle technique to a larger geographical region for future research

3 Scope of the study

The study was conducted on 84 students from classes 10A9 and 10A10 at LuongThe Vinh Upper Secondary School during the second semester and restricted to thesecond semester of 2018-2019 The study focused on exploring the current state ofcooperative learning activities and then experimented the adapted literature circletechnique on grade 10 in an average upper secondary school in North Vietnam,especially for the effectiveness on improving students’ speaking skills

4 Significance of the study

On completion, the study provided an insight into the effects of using literaturecircle techniques on EFL high school students’ interest and acquirements duringcooperative learning activities What has been achieved in this research would helpteachers consider utilizing literature circle techniques to improve students' oralcompetences in English speaking lessons Moreover, this study is much beneficial tostudents who wonder how to develop their speaking skills as well as their collaborationteamwork

5 Method of the study

This study is conducted as an action research because action research is the bestchoice for the purpose of improving the current state of affairs within educationalcontext in which the research is carried out In order to get data, a combination ofdifferent instruments, namely questionnaires, pre-questionnaire and postquestionnaire,

observation, and key informant interview (KII), was used The data collected throughthe questionnaire has been analyzed by quantitative method, using an MS Excelspreadsheet and calculation The KII and observation inputs have been discussedqualitatively.

6 Organization of the study

The study consists of three parts:

Part A Introduction: presents the rationale, aim, scope, significance and method

of the study

Part B Development: comprises three chapters:

- Chapter 1: Theoretical Background and Literature Review covers the overview

of the literature which includes relevant theoretical background and reviews of relatedstudies concerning literature circle techniques and cooperative learning in languageteaching

- Chapter 2: Research Method continues with the research method including

participants of the study, the instrumentation, the methods and procedures of datacollection and data analysis

- Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion demonstrates the findings accompanied by

data analysis and discussion

Part C Conclusions: recapitulates the major findings of the study and represents

further recommendations for the implementation of literature circle techniques

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1:

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, a review of literature in theory and practice on literature circletechniques and cooperative learning is provided First, the definition, principles,effectiveness as well as challenges of cooperative learning approach in languageteaching are introduced Second, literature circle techniques and their use in EFLclassrooms are presented Next, the adapted model of literature circle includingmembers’ roles and steps in organising are discussed Following this, theimplementation of literature circle techniques in cooperative learning is reviewed.Upon initial research into the literature, the researcher has gained some knowledgeabout literature circle techniques and cooperative learning Literature about bothcooperative learning and literature circle is briefly stated as below:

motivated to increase the learning of others.” (p 56)

Co-operative learning, in other words, can be understood as closely planned andorganized teaching strategies that retain learners in tiny organizations and worktogether It is worth noting that participants in the same group are not competing witheach other to win the reward for themselves, but all as a group are doing their utmost tocontribute to the group's ultimate accomplishment Members have to assist each otherand promote each other to learn to create the group rewarded This technique thereforeenables to boost student motivation to study

Likewise, Williams (2002) defines cooperative learning as a teaching techniquethat is supposed to assist learners enhance their learning by interacting in tiny

organizations with their colleagues Jacobs, et al (2002, reviewed in Lin, 2009)proposed that

cooperative learning offers students the opportunity not only to work together, but also

to make the most of their peer communication and learning as well as their own

1.1.2 Characteristics of a cooperative learning group.

Jacobs (1998, as cited in Lin, 2009) points out seven characteristics of acooperative learning group as follows:

 Group formation: teachers (and students) plan group size and composition so as

to maximize the potential of the groups

 Seating arrangements: group members sit in such a way as to see and hear oneanother easily, and at the same time, bother other groups as little as possible

 Collaborative skills: collaborative skills are explicitly taught

 Duration of Groups: groups often stay together for more than one activityperhaps for weeks or months and spend time discussing how they can work togetherbetter

 Group solidarity: teachers attempt to build group solidarity

 Individual participation and learning: teachers encourage each group member tofeel responsible for participating and learning

 Teachers’ roles: teachers actively monitor groups to see if they are learning andfunctioning smoothly

1.1.3 The roles of cooperative learning in language education

In Lin (2009), the technique of cooperative learning was assessed as an efficientteaching method because it offers more possibilities for learners to enhance theircommunication skills Several advantages can be mentioned below:

 Develop group work skills;

 Increase students’ talking time;

 Forster and develop interpersonal relationships and build positive friendships;

 Help students use language creatively and confidently;

 Enhance students’ satisfaction with the learning experience;

 Create an environment of active, involved, exploratory learning (p 79)

Matikainen (2009) claims in the same vein that cooperative learning maximizesinteractive communication between learners, leading to their language enhancement

1.1.4 Challenges in applying cooperative learning group work

However, there are some challenges to teachers when applying traditionalcooperative learning method and these may cause failures in language classrooms,especially for oral activities and in Asian contexts According to Wang (2017), the mostemerging limitation of traditional cooperative learning method is that of students’unequal speaking opportunities within groups The more capable students will get morechances to speak in groups than the lower achievers Zhang (2010, as cited in Wang,2017) explains that while the less able students need more time to think about teacher’squestions and to arrange their ideas, the others get the answers before them, and theyoften lose the opportunities to speak in class In addition, it is often suggested that groupleaders respond to the teacher's issues and be the representatives to make speeches infront of the school If there is no group leader, the elevated attainders will have theopportunity to talk in school, and students with low oral English skills will not have theopportunity to talk

1.2 Literature circle technique

1.2.1 Definition

Daniels (2006) identified: circles of literature are tiny debates among learners in agroup about commonly selected tales Students themselves lead these conversations, andthe interactions between the members are essential Each student must play his/her part

in this reading circle in each group, and then the others will offer them some feedbackand questions The groups have regular meetings with discussing roles rotating eachsession When finishing reading the stories, the groups can share their discussions to thewhole class Finally, the circles are completed The new circles continue to be formedbasing on the books or stories that students choose

Daniels (2002, quoted in Bedee, 2010) proposed 11 key literature circlecharacteristics:

 Students decide which stories to read;

 Students who choose the same stories form temporary groups;

 Each group has a different story;

 Participants in each group build up regular schedules to meet each other and

discuss about what they have read;

 The group discussions are peer-led;

 The groups choose their own topics for the discussions;

 The groups’ meetings should be open, friendly, and favorable;

 During the groups’ discussions, the teacher should act as the observer, and

facilitator, not a group member or instructor;

 Evaluation is based on the teacher’s observation and students’ peer-evaluation;

 The learning environment in the classroom should be exciting and fun;

 When one story is finished reading, the groups have to report to the whole class

about the stories they have read, then the groups are broken, and the new ones are formed basing on the new common stories of the group members.

1.2.2 The use of literature circle techniques for cooperative learning group work in improving speaking skills

Cooperative learning difficulties can be overcome by applying literature circlemethod to educators Each student becomes active learners by working within literaturecircles (Daniels, 2002, quoted in Bedee, 2010) Different roles are allocated that requireindividual job, followed by unique sharing, exchange and cooperation By exchangingviews, personal experiences and reactions to the same materials, literature circles enablelearners to collaborate and learn with each other in a secure learning setting because oftheir particular characteristics The learners often give their views orally in most of thedebates; therefore, their speaking abilities can be significantly created In this manner,the communication skills of learners are significantly enhanced when participating in aliterature circle exercise, and most importantly quite similarly among participants Inbrief, the method of the literature circle can assist address the unequal speaking issue oflearners in cooperative learning operations

In addition, according to Long and Gove (2003, quoted in Bedee, 2010), literaturecircle practices provide learners with possibilities to improve their critical thinking,

"become more reflective, and push themselves outside the box to read, speak, question,feel, and believe." During their debates, students use various abilities: "oral language,

group discussions Daniels (2006) pointed out that, with literature circles, students areasked to do the same tasks that adults do in a book club Therefore, literature circles aremore interesting for students than the teacher-centered activities in traditionalclassroom.

1.2.3 Limitation of using literature circle in real classrooms and the adapted model

However, Furr (2004) asserted that when educators adapt the literature circlemethod in EFL schools, all of the 11 above characteristics as listed in Section 1.2.1 ofthis thesis are not really appropriate He talks about the difference between L1classrooms and EFL classrooms, so we can't adapt this technique without altering

In this study, the researcher decided to adapt the 11 essential features of a literature

circle to form the modified literature circle technique as below:

Those elements are similar as in Daniels’s (2006) model:

 The group discussions are still peer-led;

 The group working environment is also open, friendly, and favorable;

 The teacher’s role during the group discussions is an observer and facilitator;

 Marks are given based on both the teacher’s observation and students’

self-evaluation;

 The learning inside the classroom should be interesting and fun;

 Once the topic is finished, the groups have to report to the class what they have

discussed, then the new circles continue to be run, and the roles in the groups are rotated among the group members;

Implemented features:

 Instead of students’ choice of book as Daniels’s model, the teacher is the one to

choose the topic for the students to discuss about;

 The groups are formed by the students sitting near one another in the class (4

students will form a group) Teacher can make changes in the participants of the groups appropriately;

 All the groups have the same topic;

 Students will work in literature circles inside the classroom (it means that there

will be no regular schedules for students to meet apart from the lessons);

Surprisingly, despite all these above stated strengths and the possibility to beadapted, the literature circle was not widely used in Vietnam for unstated purposes Few

educators are thought to have applied the methods in reading courses to some extent.The

current research is therefore significant in fulfill the gaps with understanding about the application of literature circle techniques in speaking classes.

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides background information about action research, the currentsituation of implementing cooperative learning, the states of teaching speaking lessons

at Luong The Vinh Upper Secondary School and the description of methodologiesemployed to collect data for the study

2.1 Research context

It is clear that English language education in Vietnamese high schools has recentlychanged and got much better results thanks to the adjustment of textbooks and teachingmethods Particularly, the textbook series – Tiếng Anh 10, Tiếng Anh 11, Tiếng Anh 12(English 10, English I1, and English 12)- introduced into schools since 2005 hasattracted both teachers and students by introducing a theme-based, task-based, andcommunicative approaches However, while teaching, the researcher found that manystudents at Luong The Vinh Upper Secondary School had difficulties in developingtheir spoken communication abilities When interviewed, the students claimed thatspeaking lessons seemed to be far from effectiveness for them

The main reason, as investigated, is that teachers failed to overcome the challengesposed from organising students in traditional group work and had difficulties to organisecooperative learning groups They might have to invest too much time preparing lessonsfollowing cooperative learning approach while their students still showed less interest ingroup work in class

One of the researcher’s colleagues has introduced literature circle techniquesrecently which possibly effective to solve the problems as noticed at the school

A study should have been conducted at Luong The Vinh Upper Secondary School,where all the students have learned English for about nine years and have three Englishclasses per week and half of them have one optional lesson every week The newtextbook series English 10 to English 12 is taught and the students have to take theentrance exam including English as a compulsory subject The physical condition ofthe school can provide a supportive environment for language teaching and learningwith favorable facilities such as rooms equipped with overhead projector, screen, loudspeakers, CD and CD player, and especially movable chairs and desks

2.3.1 An overview of action research

The term “action research” refers to two dimensions of activity: the word

“research” refers to a systematic approach to carrying out investigations and collectinginformation that is designed to illuminate an issue or problem and to improveclassroom practice, meanwhile the word “action” refers to taking practical action toresolve classroom problems (Richards, 2005) Therefore, action research achieves bothaction (change or improve) and research (understanding)

According to Cohen and Manion (2007), action research is “small-scaleintervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects

of such intervention”

Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988) identify three characteristics of an actionresearch, which are “carried out by practitioners”, “cooperative” and “aimed at changingthings”

Tsui (1993) suggested 5 steps in conducting action research: Identifying problems;Finding causes of the problem; Designing strategies for improvement (plan for action)and writing a proposal for action research; Trying out the strategies (action) and keeping

a diary of what happened in the class; and Evaluating the try-out Whereas, Nunan(1992) defines the framework of a research as consisting of seven steps as follows:

Different from Tsui, Nunan (1992) suggested that teachers should observe andtake notes on what their learners said and did in class, and then, based on theseobservation, identified positive ways to bring about this change.

A necessary component of action research is the collaboration among differentteachers, their colleagues and students, who should be willing to talk with each otherabout the problems and find out the solutions together, as well as help each other inimplementing classroom-centered action research projects It also needs the cooperativeefforts of students who participate in the action research project Students' collaborationplays an important role in the success of the action research project

In this study, the researcher followed Nunan’s action research model

2.3.2 Rationale for the use of an action research

Cohen and Manion (2007) state that the aim of action research is to improve thecurrent state of affairs within educational context in which the research is carried out.Koshy (2005) also maintains that action research is a powerful and usefulmodel for practitioner research because research can be set within a specific situationand researchers can be participants - they do not have to context or be distant anddetached from the situation Teachers in general and teachers of English in particularactually carry out research for most of their time Whenever s/he identifies aproblem which is happening in the class, it is his/her task to find ways to solve thatproblem Therefore, action research is inevitably a very common practice

2.4 Description of the research

2.4.1 Population

Five English teachers at Luong The Vinh Upper Secondary School participated inthe survey as informants as they completed questionnaires and let the researcher observeone lesson each to find out about the difficulties they might have while applying thecooperative learning technique Only two of them was chosen to deliver experimentteaching lessons during the action part of the research

The 84 students of two classes 10A9 and 10A10 at Luong The Vinh UpperSecondary School have been selected to participate in the action part of the research

aspects Class 10A9 has more male students who are much more active in lessons wheregames and other creative activities are applied However, their cooperativeness amongthemselves seem to be looser than that of class 10A10’s.

2.4.2 Data collection instrument

Using questionnaires, observation and interviews, the researcher collected raw datafor the evaluation of the experiment

Questionnaires: Three questionnaires were employed in the research, one for

teachers and two for students To remove one of the limitations of using questionnaires(respondents must be able to read the questions and respond to them), both of themmight be in Vietnamese The one for teachers was used in the mini-survey to collectinformation about their awareness of cooperative grouping, their perception of the actualeffectiveness of cooperative learning, as well as the difficulties they might have to facewhen promoting cooperative learning The other two for students were pre- and post-experiential, so they were administered before and after the lessons to collect feedback

on literature circle technique’s enhancement on cooperative learning from students’points of view in comparison with their own feelings and thought before theexperiment

Observation: Before the application of literature circle technique, observation was

employed to verify the researcher’s assumption about difficulties the teachers mighthave to face when applying cooperative learning techniques During the experimentteaching lessons, standardised control observation form was used to assess how muchthe literature circle technique enhances cooperative learning and check if the teachershave to face the same type of difficulties as before or not

Interviews: There has been a KII with teachers after the lessons The KII is

effective in providing useful information that questionnaire or observation alone or eventhe combination of them fails to provide More specifically, the KII sought for theexperiment teachers’ qualitative comments and comparison about the differences theynoticed at their students before and after the intervention

2.4.3 The action procedures

The action was conducted during four weeks of the second semester of school year2018- 2019 from February 12th to March 19th, 2019 Adapting steps in Nunan (1992)’saction research cycle, the action was developed in four main steps as follows:

Step 1: Problem identification

During the teaching process in the school-years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 for the

10th form students, the researcher and her colleagues discovered that their students were

generally weak at speaking skills They were not keen on joining group activities Theresearcher discussed her concern with other teachers, and they admitted that theirstudents have the same problems Moreover, the time for in class practice is notenough, which means students have to extend their self-grouping and practicing outsidethe class time to improve their speaking skills as well as their collaborativecompetences This urged the teacher to find a better way to work with her new classes inthe school-year 2018- 2019 The researcher got interested and decided to collaboratewith the teacher and conduct an action research.

Step 2: Preliminary investigation

After observing and analyzing the results from many tests, especially the fact thatonly 12.1% of the students got mark 5+ in the GCSE exam at the end of the 2017-2018school year, the researcher found that, in general, the students’ English competence israther low Meanwhile, initial interviews with students showed that almost all of themfound speaking lessons not enough interesting and helpful, even when their teachersapplied collaborative learning approach

Therefore, the researcher raised two questions for exploration: “What difficulties

do teachers face in typical Vietnamese classrooms while applying the cooperative learning technique?” “Does the adapted literature circle technique help enhance cooperative learning in Vietnamese classrooms?”

To answer these questions, a questionnaire for teachers was administered Thecollected data were analyzed to point out some possible challenges for the teachers,from which the researcher had belief that literature circle technique would be used toraise students’ interest so that the problem would be solved That was the reason whythe researcher decided to introduce literature circle technique to her students

Step 3: Intervention

To solve the problem, the teacher decided to use literature circle technique for

cooperative learning activities This step of intervention was carried out as follows:

The researcher asked the Head Master of the school for permission to recruit 84students from classes 10A9 and 10A10 at the school during the second semester of theschool year 2018-2019

Firstly, the students of both groups gave their comments about their experience ofspeaking lessons by answering seven questions in the pre-questionnaire

Then a series of four lessons were prepared basing on the adapted literature circletechnique

The teachers and the students had one experimental lesson every week Theresearcher conducted the observation along

Finally, after four weeks, the students answered the post-questionnaire so theresearcher could see if there were any differences in their feelings and experience Theresearcher also had KII with the two teachers who taught the lessons.

Step 4: Evaluation

In order to see the effects of adapted literature circle technique, data collected fromthese sources were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively The data analysis resultswere then used to discuss the research questions

2.4.4 Data collection procedures

2.4.4.1 Planning

The researcher prepared the first draft of data collection instruments whichconsisted of the questionnaires, observation sheets and KII query frame

2.4.4.2 Pre-questionnaire for teachers

The pre-questionnaire for teachers was administered during the third week of thesemester to collect background information about their awareness of cooperativegrouping, their perception of the actual effectiveness of cooperative learning, as well asthe difficulties they might have to face when promoting cooperative learning

2.4.4.3 Pre-questionnaire for students

The pre-questionnaire was delivered to the population of the research to get theinformation about their feelings, interest and comments on previous speaking lessonsand their expectations of the intended lessons applying literature circle techniques Itwas conducted in the fourth week of the second semester in the school year 2018-2019

at Luong The Vinh Upper Secondary School

2.4.4.4 Observation

The researcher worked with the selected teachers on the program, explained theirmain tasks, arranging schedule for all the participants After planning steps withsufficient preparations in terms of materials, expected outcomes, methods and problemspredictions, the action was conducted where students took part in the learning activities,played the role of active learners; while the teacher played the role of a guider, afacilitator and an advisor who also observed, gave feedbacks and provided necessaryinvolvement and adjustment The researcher used the observation form to collectdata through observation of actual lessons during the second month of the semester

lessons applying literature circle technique, their suggestions and expectations for similar future lessons.

2.4.4.6 KII with teachers

A discussion was conducted among the researcher and the two teachers who taughtthe lessons to collect their qualitative comments and comparison about the differencesthey noticed at their students before and after the intervention

2.4.5 Data analysis procedure

Data was processed using Microsoft Excel application The outputs was presentedusing descriptive statistic techniques

Microsoft Excel is popular and low-cost, so it is quite practical for a school teacherdoing research

Steps of data analysis are as follows

For the teachers’ questionnaire:

 Step 1: Data from completed questionnaires was input on to a Microsoft Excelsheet, question by question

 Step 2: Numbers of options chosen by respondents was automatically countedand converted to percentage and charts or graphs using formula functions from theapplication

 Step 3: Interpretation from those numbers and percentages was made andillustrated with charts or graphs A list and corresponding level of difficulties teachersmight have to face when promoting cooperative learning was made so the researcherwas informed for the experiment of speaking lessons applying modified literature circletechnique

For observation 1 (before the application of literature circle technique):

 Step 1: Basing on the list of difficulties as identified Basing on the list ofdifficulties as identified by teachers via questionnaire, the researcher developed anobservation form

 Step 2: By observing some actual lessons, the researcher put ticks next to thosedifficulties being seen The researcher also made notes about those difficulties

 Step 3: Conclusions was made comparing with conclusions drawn from thequestionnaires, verifying the actual difficulties the teachers had to face when applyingcooperative learning techniques to current practice of teaching

For the students’ questionnaire (post-experiential, being administered after the experimental lessons:

 Step 1: Data from completed questionnaires was input on to a Microsoft Excelsheet, question by question.

 Step 2: Numbers of options chosen by respondents was automatically countedand converted to percentage and charts or graphs using formula functions from theapplication

 Step 3: Interpretation from those numbers and percentages was made andillustrated with charts or graphs Feedback on literature circle technique’s enhancement

on cooperative learning from students’ point of view was discussed accordingly Initialconclusion was then made about level of suitability of literature circle technique inenhancing cooperative learning which in turn leads to the improvement of students’communication and collaboration skills

For observation 2 (while the application of literature technique):

 Step 1: Basing on the list of difficulties as identified after observation 1, theresearcher developed a form for observation 2

 Step 2: By observing the experimental lessons, the researcher put ticks next tostatements of fact being seen The researcher also made notes about those related facts

 Step 3: Conclusions was made that if the teachers have to face the same type ofdifficulties as before or not and how much better the experimental lessons became

 Step 4: Conclusions was also made about how much the literature circletechnique enhances cooperative learning comparing with feedback on literature circletechnique’s enhancement on cooperative learning from students’ point of view

For the KII (with teachers after the experimental lessons):

 The KII is effective in providing useful information that questionnaire orobservation alone or even the combination of them fails to provide It was conductedright after the experimental lessons Therefore, it’s quite flexible by nature It was up tothe researcher at that moment of time to decide what questions to make However,basically the researcher sought to know what the teachers and studentsrecommend so the application of the modified literature circle technique may betterenhance cooperative learning in the next lessons

The analysing of data from KII is of qualitative type Reasoning will be employedand conclusions will be used for Recommendations in the report

research question, collecting data, the participants of the study, the process of datacollection and data analysis applied to seek the answers for the two research questions,the pre-questionnaire and post- questionnaire and KII used as tools of research In thenext chapter, there will be a presentation of the findings of the study and a discussion ofthe two research questions raised in this study.

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter provides the findings of the study It also includes the presentation ofdata gathered, its analysis and interpretation

3.1 Research question 1

The statistical analysis of the pre-questionnaire for teachers and pre-questionnairefor students was aimed to answer the first research question:

“What difficulties do teachers face in typical Vietnamese classrooms while

applying the cooperative learning technique?”

For teachers, there are three questions two of which are closed, checking theirawareness of differences between a traditional group and a cooperative learning one, aswell as their perception of benefits that cooperative learning group activities bring about

to the students The researcher assumed that her colleagues at Luong The Vinh schoolare well aware of what cooperative learning means and how good the cooperativelearning activities are to the development of their students’ language skills At the sametime, the researcher would want to discover more about the difficulties her colleagueshave to face while applying the cooperative learning technique That is why the thirdquestion is an open one

3.1.1 Pre-questionnaire for teachers

Question 1 Which characteristics do you think belong to a traditional group or

a cooperative learning group?

Below is the table indicating 7 characteristics of a traditional group and 7characteristics of a cooperative learning group mixed up together After asking 5teachers at Luong The Vinh school, the number of choices they made has been included

in the last two columns to the right of the table

group

2 Teachers (and students) plan group size and

composition so as to maximize the potential of

the groups

hear one another easily, and at the same time,

bother other groups as little as possible

together

activity perhaps for weeks or months and spend

time discussing how they can work together

better

with their fellow group members and to care

about one another

participating and learning

responsible for participating and learning

are learning and functioning smoothly

catch up on grading and other paperwork

Table 1: The characteristics of a traditional group

More visually, the data was represented in the chart form as below:

Teachers' awareness of a traditional vs cooperative leaning group

5 5 5 5

3 2

0 0

0 0

2 3

5 5 5 5 5

3 2

0 0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Tradition group Collaborative learning group

Chart 1: Responses from selected teachers selecting characteristics of a traditional

group versus a cooperative learning group

Of the 14 characteristics, those of a traditional group are characteristics 1, 4, 5, 7,

9, 11, 14; the rest are of a cooperative learning group

As can be seen, the teachers know quite well what a traditional or a cooperativelearning group is However, it was questionable that all the five teachers failed tochoose the right characteristics number 13 and 14 Perhaps, they misunderstand aboutthe role of a teacher when leading the two different types of group: they might havethought that teachers would not have to monitor closely when students work incooperative learning groups

Question 2 How much do you agree about the benefits of cooperative learning group activities to the students?

to specific benefits Again, the data was also represented in the form of a chart after the table.

Help students use

language creatively and

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Stronly agree

Develop group work skills Increase students’ talking time Forster and develop interpersonal relationships and build positive friendships Help students use language creatively and confidently Enhance

students’ satisfaction with the learning experience Create an environment of active, involved, exploratory learning

Chart 2: the number of responses by teachers about the benefits of cooperative learning

group activities to the students

Although there were a number of neutral choices which shows that the teacherswere not quite confident about the benefits that cooperative learning group activitiescould bring about to the students, it is a good thing that none of the teachers chose

“Strongly disagree” and “Disagree” It does mean that all the teachers at Luong TheVinh School know for sure these are the benefits their students can gain fromjoining cooperative learning group activities organised by their teachers

Question 3 What difficulties have you ever encountered when applying groups activities (even with cooperative learning groups)?

Answering this question, the teachers provide some useful information for the researcher Noticeably, the following three difficulties can be generalised:

- Unequal opportunities to speak among group members (due to unbalancedoral English proficiency of the group members and as a result the less ablemembers lost opportunities because it took them more time to utter)

- Group leaders are often recommended to answer the teacher’s questions and

be the representatives to produce speeches in front of the class

- If there are not the group leaders, the opportunities to speak in class will bebelonged to the high achievers, and the students with low oral Englishproficiency will have no chance to speak

in teaching and students in learning Otherwise, weak students would be left behind.

As soon as the researcher decided to apply literature circle technique as anintervention which helps improve the situation, it requires exploration into the currentstatus of students’ experience during speaking lessons at school To do so, a pre-questionnaire was administered to the 84 selected students in the study Thequestionnaire also aimed to cross check about the difficulties noted by teachers fromthe students’ perspectives

3.1.2 Pre-questionnaire for students

Question 1 How often do your English teachers organise group work activities during speaking lessons?

Question 1 How often do your English teachers organise group work

activities during speaking lessons?

A Very often B Often C Rarely

Chart 3: How often teachers organise group activities during speaking lessons

Answers to this question revealed potentials that the study can exploit andcontribute to the students’ skill development Majority of students admitted theirteachers very often organise group activities during speaking lessons With this highfrequency, if the group work activities are conducted in a good way then the students