Arousing students’ interest in learning english through pair work and group work at thach thanh i high school

THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT THACH THANH I HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENTIAL INITIATIVE Arousing students interest in learning ’ interest in learning English through PAIR WORK AND

THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT

THACH THANH I HIGH SCHOOL

EXPERIENTIAL INITIATIVE

Arousing students interest in learning ’ interest in learning

English through PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK

AT thach thanh i HIGH SCHOOL

Author: Vũ Thị Xuân Occupation: Teacher Experiential initiative on: English

THANH HOA, YEAR 2020

INDEX

1.1 Reasons for the study

1.2 Aims of the study

1.3 Scope and object of the study

1.4 Study method

2 2 2 2 3

2.1 Theoretical rationale of the study

2.2 Status of the study problem

2.2.1 For the teachers

2.2.2 For the students

2.2.3 For objective factors

2.3 Solutions

2.3.1 Definition of pair work and group work

2.3.2 The advantages and disadvantages of pair

and group work

2.3.3 How to organize pair work and group work

2.4 Demonstration

2.4.1 Examples of pair work

2.4.2 Examples of group work

2.5 Some suggested pair and group exercises

2.6 Applying pair work and group work

2.7 Study effects

3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5

7

8 8 9

12 13 18

3.1 Conclusion

3.2 Proposal

19 19 20

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 REASONS FOR THE STUDY

Today, English has become an international language It is spoken as asecond language and an official language in many countries, and millions ofpeople speak English as a foreign language Besides, English is considered themedium of communication in many fields such as science, technology, aviation,internet, commerce, and so on Therefore learning and teaching English aregetting more and more important to non-native nations of English

In Vietnam, English is a compulsory subject at schools and colleges Itplays a key role in getting a good job The number of Vietnamese peoplelearning English is on the rise However, English is a language and it is a foreignlanguage so it is too difficult for students, especially rural students to learnalthough they have been learning for several years It would be too boring forteachers to teach and for students to learn English if teachers didn’t reformteaching methods to interest students

In recent years, at Thach Thanh I high school as well as the other highschools in rural and mountainous areas, teaching and learning English has beentaken into consideration Throughout years’ time of my teaching English in theperiod of general education renovation, I have myself thought that it is necessary

to reform methods of organizing activities in English lessons to motivatestudents’ interest in learning

I have positively realized that students are more interested and lessanxious when they work in groups and in pairs Moreover, pair work and groupwork can increase the amount of talking for individual students; encourageboarder skills of participation, cooperation, negotiation and so on Only byorganizing pair work and group work effectively can we interest students

in learning English

It is all the reasons above that led me to the choice of the study

“Arousing students’ interest in learning English through pair work and groupwork at Thach Thanh I high school”

measures to raise the effectiveness of speaking lessons through pair work

and group work activities for grade 10 students at Thach Thanh I high school”

This study is intended to make a modest contribution to anincreased understanding of using pair work and group work activities inteaching English at high schools

1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

- To arouse students’ interest in learning English through pair work and group work at Thach Thanh I High School

- Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English at Thach Thanh 1 High

- Object: This subject is concerned with ways of organizing activities in the

class

1.4 The study method

- Study method: Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers of

English, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences

2 STUDY CONTENT

2.1 The theoretical rationale of the study

A successful English period depends greatly on appropriate teaching modelschosen by flexible, competent teachers, good learning strategies and effectiveclassroom management In English teaching, pair work and group work areconsidered a useful and effective technique to assist learners to use the language

in class In considering the advantages of group work, Ur (1996:232) states thatgroup work is a form of learner activation which is of particular value in thepractice of oral fluency, and learners in a small group can get five times as many

opportunities to talk as in full-class organization She also emphasizes that group

work fosters learners’ responsibility and independence, helps to improvemotivation and contributes to a feeling of co-operation and warmth in the class.When students are put in groups or pair, they can help each other to carry outinterviews, to play roles in a dialogue, to do problem solving, surveys, andvalues clarification In agreement with Ur, Harmer (1998:21) says, “the otheradvantage of group work and pair work (but especially group work) is that theygive the teacher the opportunity to work with individual students” He also addsthat group work gives the students chances for greater independence becausewhen students work in groups, they take some of their own learning decisions.They can work without the pressure of everybody listening to what they arespeaking or watching what they are doing The use of pair work and group work

is not new But how to apply these methods efficiently to stimulate students’interest in English is what I want to share and present in this writing

2.2 Status of the study problem

2.2.1 For the teacher:

Most teachers understand the importance of using pair work and groupwork in motivating students’interest in learning English, especially for highschool students But pair work and group work; however, have some problemsthe teacher should take into account so that he or she can maximize itseffectiveness Ur (1996:232) points out, “ In individual classes, group work mayencourage students to be more disruptive than they would be in a whole classsetting” Obviously , in groups without the teacher, students can make

unneccesary noise or use their own language Furthermore, to prepare activities

for pair work and group work may take time

2.2.2 For the students:

According to Burns and Joyce (1977): 134, passive learning style makeslearners reluctant to take part in pair work and group work They still deeply

affected by the old methods such as Grammar Translation or Audio-lingualMethod and learning which didn’t encourage students speaking They get used

to listening to the teachers, take notes and do exercises That can explain whythey mind participating in pair work and group work

Furthermore, while working in pair and group, some students can notexpress ideas in English because of their poor vocabulary, grammar, and evenpronunciation Some of them do not have any knowledge to present the giventopic

In addition, many students are afraid of making mistakes because of theirlow level of proficiency and their lack of ideas They are not confident enough

to express their ideas for the partners All these reasons prevent students fromparticipating in pair work and group work, gradually they will lose their interest

in working in pair work and group work Passive learning way, low level ofEnglish language proficiency and the fear of making mistakes deter them tospeak in group

2.2.3 For objective factors

Most of classes at high school consist of more than 40 students, so that it

is very difficult for teachers to organize pair work and group work, to control theclass and to put an eye on every student Furthermore, lack of reference booksand teaching aids is also makes it difficult to use pair work and group work

These are the problems that urge me to find out the solutions to use pairwork and group work in teaching foreign language in a flexible and easy way

2.3 SOLUTIONS

In solving the above problem of pair work and group work, Brown(1994:177) suggests that we should be sensitive to our students’ preferences andhelp them to see that language is for communicating with people and that themore they engage in face -to - face communication He also mentions thatproblems of pair work group work, such as some members of a group beingreluctant to share information with the others, can be solved by careful planningand management and by interactive, interesting and relevant tasks, for examplepractising dialogues with a partner, question and answer exercises, performingcertain meaningful substitution “drills”, games, information gap tasks,interviews, problem solving and decision making activities Lynch (1996:115)says, “when setting up group work, one of the teacher’s important decisions iswho is to work with whom” In his book, Doff (1988: 142) says that clearlydefined tasks, clear instructions about when to start, what to do, and when tostop as well as teacher demonstration before students work on tasks All of themcan help students to know exactly what to do and they, as a result, get moreinvolved in pair work and group work

2.3.1 Definition of pair work, group work

2.3.1.1 Pair work:

According to Adrian Doff (1988:137), the whole class is divided in topairs by the teacher Every students works with his or her partner in pairs and allthe pairs work at the same time (It is sometimes called simultaneous pair work).This is not the same as ‘public’ or ‘open’, pair work, with pairs of studentsspeaking in turn in front of the class In fact, a pair work consists of two studentsworking together at the same time

2.3.1.2 Group work: Definition of group work

Doff (1988: 137) also defines group work as a process that “the teacherdivides the class into small groups to work together usually four or five students

in each group, as in pair work, all the groups work at the same time”

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

2.3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of pair and group work.

According to Hubert Skrzynski, pair work and group work have

both advantages and disadvantages These are mentioned below

2.3.2.1 The advantages of pair work and group work

- To increase the amount of students practice: When students work in

pairs or groups, they have more chance to practice Working in pair and group,students often feel more willing to talk among themselves in a small group thanwith a teacher in a large group, so that it dramatically increases the amount oftalking for individual students

- To increase the students’ confidence: the students feel much more

comfortable to speak English with one or two other students rather than with thewhole class and the teacher Especially shy students, or ones who are not good atspeaking language yet feel more relaxed and self- confident trying to put theirlanguage abilities to a test during the activity and seeing how they use them.This encourages students to cooperate with one another

- To develop students’ fluency: While working in pair and group, the

students can use the language freely and express their opinions and thoughtswithout any restrictions

- To increase students’ motivation: A huge variety of activities influences

the course of a lesson and its success The more different activities the teacheruses in the lesson, the bigger their motivation is In fact, students’ motivationincreases because they are active and feel important during these activities Inkeeping with this, the teacher is going to experience success in his/ her workbecause motivated students are usually good language learners and they alwaysmake progress

2.3.2.2 The disadvantages of pair work and group work

- To speak native language: one of the disadvantages is that students

often speak in their native language If the class is really big with too manystudents, it is difficult for the teacher to listen to all pairs or groups at the sametime

- To make mistakes: Another problem is incorrectness While students

work in pairs and groups, the teacher do not disturb them, even if he/she noticessome mistakes they have made

- To eliminate shy and weak students from the practice: Some shy or

weak students can be eliminated from the practice, because of individuals whoalways tend to dominate

- To make noise and indiscipline: Working in pair or groups in a large

class makes noise and discipline, the teachers have more troublesome than thelearners have Participants in a pair work or group work are normally unaware ofthe noise and of what other pairs and groups are doing

It seems that there are as many disadvantages as advantages of theseclassroom arrangements and one can not unanimously state which one is better,since each teacher has his/her own likes and dislikes It is his/her individualchoice which one should be used during the process of teaching a language.

2.3.3 How to organize pair work and group work

2.3.3.1 Preparation for pair and group work: In order to prepare for group

work, the teacher will need to do the following:

- Select the activity: The activity must have multiple tasks that can be

shared among group members

- Prepare any physical material for pair or group work: The teacher will

need to personally collect, or organize students to collect, physical specimensfor investigation For example, if the teacher anticipates doing a lesson on therole of the media, she/he might ask students to bring in to class examples ofnewspapers and magazines There should be materials sufficient for each group

- Size and selection of group: Group size normally ranges between 3-5

students Since group often report their work back to the whole class, teachersalso take in to account the total number of groups within the class

- Time the group work: The teacher should anticipate student question

about timing, the task result, sharing with whole group, and so on After givingclear instructions to the students, the teacher should be available to answerquestions, but not interfere with the pairs or groups’ activities

- Share pair or small group work in the whole class: Usually the results

of the pairs or groups are shared with the class This sharing can be oral, visual,

or both

2.3.3.2 Steps of organizing pair and group work

- Before: The teacher makes students feel enthusiastic about what they are

going to do They need to understand what they are going to do, and they need

to be given an idea of when they will have to finish the task they are going toinvolved in

The important thing about instruction is that the students shouldunderstand and agree on what the task is To check that they do, we may askthem to repeat the instructions, or in monolingual class, to translate them intotheir first language

- During: While students are working in pairs or groups, the teachers

have a number of options They could, for instance, stand at the front or the side

of the class (or at the back or anywhere else in the room) and keep an eye onwhat is happening, noticing who appears to be stuck or disengaged, or about tofinish

An alternative procedure is to go round the class watching and listening tospecific pairs and groups The teachers can stay (with their agreement) for aperiod of time and then intervene if we think it is appropriate or necessary,

always bearing in mind what we have said about the difference between accuracy and fluency work

When the students are working in pairs or groups, the teacher have an ideal opportunity to work with individual student whom they feel would benefit from our attention They also have a great chance to act as observer, picking up information about students’ progress

- After: When pairs and groups stop working, the teacher needs to give

feedback The teachers want to let them discuss what occurred during the group session and, where necessary, add their own assessments and make corrections

Finally, it is vital to remember that constructive feedback on the content

of the student work can greatly enhance students’ future motivation The feedback the teachers give on language mistakes is only one part of that process

2.4 Demonstration:

3 Some suggested exercises of working in pairs and groups and their

demonstrations

Before teaching teacher should prepare pair work and group work activities carefully If he can do so the students are attracted to his designed activities The climate of the class is very exciting as everyone must practise Some teachers say that pair work and group work can only be applied in speaking or reading periods For me Pairwork and groupwork can be organized

in teaching process about English skills such as listening, reading, writing, speaking and grammar Besides teacher can redesign the material so that it is suitable for his students And below are some my examples that I have already

applied

2.4.1 Examples of pair work:

Example 1: In Unit 3: People’s background - Part B: speaking (English 10)

Imagine you are a journalist Use the cues below to interview a classmate about his/ her background or that of a person he/ she knows well Change the role when you have finished

Greeting: Good morning!

Date of birth: When were you born?

Place of birth: Where were you born?

Home: Where do you live?

Parents: Can you tell me about your parents?

Brother(s): How many brothers/ sisters

Schoolwork: Were you a member of any club? Thanking: Thank you very much

Example 2: In Unit 4: School Education System – Part D- Writing (English 12)

(Before you write)

Teacher: Work in pairs Ask and answer these questions as quickly as possible 1 At what age does a child start school in Vietnam?

2 How many terms are there in a school year?

3 When does a school year generally begin and end?

4 How long does it take to complete primary education?

5 How many grades are there in Vietnamese lower secondary school?

6 How many grades are there in Vietnamese upper secondary school?

7 Is upper secondary education compulsory?

If students work in pairs carefully to answer these questions they will find it easy to write about the school education system in Vietnam Example 4: In Unit 1: Friendship – Part A- Reading (English 11)

Teacher: Practise these questions in pairs (Warm-up)

1 Do you have a best friend?

2 Why do you consider him / her as your best friend?

The theme of this unit is very familiar with the students Example 5: In Unit 7: World Population - Part E-Language Focus (English 11) Teacher: Practise asking and answering, using conditional sentences in pairs

(After the students study grammar)

Model:

A: What will you do if you pass the final exam?

B: If I pass the final exam I will try to find a good job

Students look at the model and it is easy for them to practise in pairs 2.4.2 Examples of group work: Example 1: In Unit 1: Home life – Part B - Speaking (English 12)

Teacher: Work in groups of four (the father, the mother, the daughter, the son) Each person

in the family says something about their duties in the family

Kind of work Father Mother Daughter Son

- taking out of the garbage

- mending things around the house

- running the household

Students work in groups and they find it easy to finish their roles

Example 2: In Unit 2: Cultural Diversity –Part A- Reading (English 12)

Teacher: Work in groups to discuss the question: “What are the differences between a

traditional Vietnamese family and a modern Vietnamese family?”

The features of a traditional

- Parents often decide who the

children will marry

- Parents let their children decide whom they will marry

- Men rarely cook in the kitchen

Cooking is considered women’s task

- The father can look after his children and help in the house even his wife doesn’t go out to work

- Men work to earn the living - Both the father and the mother work

to earn the living

Example 3: In Unit 3: A party – Part D- Writing (English 11)

Teacher: Work in groups Read the instructions carefully and cross out the words in the table When you have followed all the instructions, there will be five words left What are the five words? How are they connected? (Warm up)