Promoting the effectiveness of pair and group activities in the process of teaching english

During my teaching time I have noticed that: - Pair work and group work are the main activities in teaching English at schools.. Pair work and group work did not use to be organized in c

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

A Rationale:

I have been teaching English in Nhu Xuan high school for 9 years Ofcourse, I always try my best to teach effectively However, I have encountered alot of difficulties due to the level of students, and we have not found anysuccessful sollution yet, which make me think a lot

During my teaching time I have noticed that:

- Pair work and group work are the main activities in teaching English at schools

- Teachers at high shools are in the period of getting used to new Englishtextbook Pair work and group work did not use to be organized in class, so a lot

of us –teachers of English at high school – get stuck in organizing pair work andgroup work effectively

- Some teachers have not been clearly aware of the roles of pair work and group work in teaching and learning a foreign language

So I believe that the purpose of Promoting the effectiveness of pair and group activities in the process of teaching English, which is necessary part of

Enghlish for Specific Purposes, is to help students find that learning English iseasy And, I hope that my own experiences in Nhu Xuan high school can giveyou some ideas in teaching grammar as well as ways of organizing the class

B Aims of the study:

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

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

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

- To give teachers confidence in using pair and group work themselves

C Scope, object and researching method:

- Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English at 11C1,

11C4,12B5,12B6 classes at Nhu Xuan High School

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

- Researching method: Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT

I GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1 What are pair work and group work?

1.1 Pair work:

Pair work is learners working together in pairs One of the main

motivations to encourage pair work in the English language classroom is toincrease the opportunities for learners to use English in the class Example The

learners are answering comprehension questions in pairs after reading a text.

Group sizes can vary from pairs to large groups of students This guidedeals with small groups (pairs and small teams of three to six) While the focus

is on the face-to-face environment, much of the content also applies to largergroups or the online context

2 Main advantages, disadvantages and tips to improve working in a pair or group:

For certain types of activity, pairwork and groupwork have number ofadvantages over working with the whole class together Teachers should thinkwhat the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved inpairwork, groupwork and the solutions for these

Here are some main advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages and Disadvantages of working in a pair or a group:

Advantages of Working in a Pair and a Disadvantages of Working

2.1: Advantages of working in a pair or a group:

One might opt to work in a group and a pair, due to many reasons Whatone needs to see is what works best for the lesson as well as the person

So if you are confused on why work in groups or positives or advantages ofteamwork then here are some points on the positives and advantages of working

in a group

* More Productive:

It is been found that one of the main benefits of working in a group is that

it helps to raise the complete output

If working in a group, everyone works together making use of the best oftheir skills to make sure of quality output

It will also guarantee that there has not been any compromise on thequality of the production, whilst working as a team This is one of the bestbenefits of team working

* More Resources:

One thing to realize is that more the number of people that joins thegroup, the resources also increase alongside it This is one of the pros ofteamwork.

For example, as more people are added, the total ability of the person alsoincreases Other than the skills, the experience of each new person is as welladded to the group

If the person is working individually, he will not have the support fromthe other people in the group

* More Reliable:

One good thing about working in groups is that if in case someone is notkeeping well or if they miss the work for some reason, the job can still be doneproperly and efficiently by the rest of the people in the team

Since working in a group there are people who are aware of what’shappening at work This is not possible if a person is working alone orindividually

If one works in a group, they can also ensure that the ideas or suggestions,which are not at par, are rejected at the very beginning This is one of thebenefits of group work

* New Method:

When working in a pair, a group, each one gets the opportunity to comeout with their own ideas and suggestions, thus paving way for new methods onhow to complete the job, properly

Each one can work towards the success of the work Since it is a largegroup, there could be quite a few of the suggestions or ideas by some of thepeople that are innovative and novel, which could help the job to completesuccessfully

2.2: Disadvantages of Working in a pair or a group:

At the same time, working in groups is not without its disadvantages Itmay not work out for the best, all the time

Trying to get our students in a pair, a group to work together is verystrenuous and also takes up a lot of time

At the same time, if students come together to work towards the success,there is nothing better than that Here are some negative points of working in apair, a group or disadvantages for pair, group work

* Unequal Participation:

It is quite possible that while in a pair, a group some of the students maynot do that much work, while others may work hard This inequality in the workdone could cause trouble between the people in the group

It also causes bitterness amongst the members of the group, because somemay be getting acknowledged for a work that they have not even done, at all,while others may have strived hard to get that honor Jealousy, in such ascenario, is without a doubt inevitable

as well put a stop to the flow of work until the issue is resolved

* Decision making takes time:

In view of the fact that it is a pair, a group effort, suggestions and ideasfrom all the people in a group have to be taken into account

Prior to making any decision, all aspects are to be thoroughly discussed andconsidered, which consequently takes up a lot of time and energy

* Easy to avoid work:

When in a pair or a group especially a large one, it is very easy for the person to avoid work and leave it to others to complete It may take some time before someone actually pays attention to this fact

One can work, in whatever way possible and can also getacknowledgment for work done by someone else, as it is teamwork and theperson is part of the team.

* Loss of Creativity:

Whenever you need to work as a pair or a group, the group or a pairthinking becomes more relevant Because of this reason, the creativity has beenstumped

One can never make a good decision, as each and every person of thegroup will have a say in it

* Time Consuming:

The whole process could be time-consuming while working in a pair or agroup It takes a lot of time since there is the need for agreement andcoordination from all members of the team

* Inequality in getting work:

If the person opts to work in a pair or a group, when the work is beingdistributed chance is not everyone gets an equal amount of work

Some one might end up with more work, while other might get only little to do.This discrepancy in getting the work can also lead to conflict

* People might loaf around:

One other issue while working in a group, is that some of the people mayjust hang around, gossiping or loafing around without doing the work Thiscould result in lesser productivity from their end

2.3: Tips to improve working in a pair or a group:

To make the students understand more about the lectures I want to metionsome tips:

It is often found that students working in a pair or group can work betterwhen they are comfortable with each other

Engaging in social activities together can help one to overcome thisproblem

Once, the role to be assumed by all is clearly marked out it becomes easier

to work in a pair or group

The students need to have a proper ongoing exchange of ideas

In Order to get the best of output, one needs to focus more on the benefits

of working in a pair or group

Thus, working together can prove to be advantageous for the lesson, as well asthe job

3 Major issues of the English teaching:

Nhu Xuan district is a mountainous area It is considered a poor district

As the school has 1250 students, but the quality is not very high Teachersused simple method, and did not know how to organize the

whole class in learning Enghlish effectively

Results before using games in teaching

School year: 2017- 2018

Number Good Rather Average Weak

II ORGANIZING PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK

1 Group and pair work depends on some extents:

- The success of group or pair work depends on some

extents: The surrounding social climate

How habituated the class is to using it

The selection of an interesting and stimulating task whose

performance is well within the ability of the group or pair

- More immediately, it also depends

on: Effective and careful organization

2 Organization steps:

2.1.Presentation:

The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial If thestudents do not understand exactly what they have to do, therewill be time-wasting, confusion,lack of effective practice, possible loss of control Selecttasks that are simple enough to describe easily; and in monolingual classes, youmay find it cost- effective to explain some or all in the students’mother tongue

It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing theclass into groups; and a preliminary rehearsal or “ dry run” of a sample of theactivity with the full class can help to clarify things If your students havealready done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process, givingonly brief guidelines; It is mainly the first time of doing something with a classthat such care needs to be invested in instructing

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

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

2.2 Process:

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

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

- Providing general approval and support;

- Helping students who are having difficultly;

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

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

2.3.Activities which lend themselves to pair work and group work: 2.3.1 Activities which lend themselves to pair

work *Roll the ball

This can be used to practise any language that requires a question/answerpattern They can roll the ball to each other and have to say the appropriatesentence as they roll the ball E.g 'Hello.' 'Hello.' 'What’s your name?' etc.Remember the sentences they practise should be fairly short

*I nformation gap

Give each pair a picture The pictures should be nearly the same with two

or three elements missing from each picture Without showing each other thepictures they should describe the missing objects They will practise colour,prepositions of place, and adjectives such as big, small, etc Then they cancompare their pictures

*Telephone conversations

Sitting back to back they can practise telephone language or just simpleexchanges that don’t have to be connected to the telephone itself Sitting back toback should arouse their interest and help train them with listening skills It’s achallenge, but a fun one!

2.3.2 Activities which lend themselves to group

work *Posters

Used to practise categorizing skills, reviewing colours and names of toys.The children can be in charge of finding pictures of toys and grouping interms of colour or type of toy and displaying their work

* Cuisenaire rods

If you can find a set of these wooden, colour coded rods you’ll find theycome in handy for a whole host of activities Give a random selection to thesmall groups Together they must imagine a scene and build it to then describe

to the class

*Weather dressing

Bring in a selection of items of clothing You can ask the children to bring

in one item each the week before but bring a few extra yourself to account forthose who forget Put the items in four piles around the room to make accesseasier and to avoid a scramble on one pile The class should be in four groups –one for each season They have a few minutes to collect a certain number of

items that they could wear in that season Everyone must have at least one item.But no-one in the group must have the same item as their other group members.The language they use can be describing to their group what they’re wearing,using colours and clothing vocabulary, and saying in what weather conditionsthey would wear the item The other group members can say if they think it’sappropriate for their season or not.

2.4 Ending:

Draw the activity to a close at a certain point Try to finish the activitywhile the sudents are still enjoying it and interested, or only just beginning toflag

2.5 Feedback:

A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full- classinteraction after the end of the group work Feedback on the tasks may takemany forms:

- Giving the right solution, if there is one

- Listening to and evaluating suggestions

- Pooling ideas on the board

- Displaying the meterials the groups/pairs have produced And so on.The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that hasbeen invested and its results Feedback on language may be integrated into thisdiscussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later

Likes and dislikes

Pairwork: Ask what your friend likes and doesn’t like

Ask about:

Food Clothes Sport School subjects Things the teacher did

before, during and after the activity

Before: Teacher says “All right Exercise 3 Work in pairs; ask and

answer the questions”

During: Teacher sits at one place and says nothing

After: Teacher says “Everyone finished? Good Now look at exercise 4 ” - Some questions for us:

Do you think the activity was successful ?

What do you think might have gone wrong ?

What could she do to make it more successful ?

* Discuss why the activity was not successful, and what the teacher could

do to make it more successful:

- She could prepape for the pairwork by establishing what the

questions and answers should be She could also demonstrate the pairwork byasking questions round the class, or by getting one pair of students to ask andanswer in front of the class Then students would know exactly what to do.

- She could be more active in starting the pairwork Instead of just saying

„work in pairs‟, she could show students who to work with, check that everyonehad started working in pairs This would be very important if the class were notused to pairwork

- During the activity, she could move quickly round the class to check thatstudents were talking and to see when they finished

- Instead of waiting for everyone finished, she could stop the activity.Then there would be no chance for students to get bored and start talking aboutother things

- After the pairwork, she could ask some pairs what they said, or ask a few pairs to repeat their conversation in front of the class

3.2 Example of group work.

Task 4 (Unit 5 –Part B: Speaking –English 10) This is a free activity and aims to develop fluency in speaking The procedure may be:

Divide student into groups of four or five

Read through the instructions and make sure that each groupunderstandswhat to do Choose one “secretary” in each group to write the list but emphasisthat everyone in the groups should agree on what to write.While the activity isgoing on, move from groups, but do not interrupt more than is necessary.Whensome groups have finished their discussion, stop the activity, ask one personfrom each group to report on what they decided

Give feedback:

- Content

- Popular mistakes

3.3 Example of dividing the class:

First, draw a plan of your own class of 4 students Show how you woulddivide the class for a pair work or a group work activity and what instructionsyou would give:

Here are two rows of a class of 40 students The desks are fixed and thestudents sit on chairs

For pair work:

Most students could work with the person next to them Student 1 couldturn round and work with student 2 and students 9, 10 Or student 3 could move

to work with student 4, 11,12,2

For group work:

Students could work in fours along each row This would be easy toorganize but would make it difficult for students to work well as a group, as theywould be in a straight line Or students in the first row could turn round andform groups with those behind

The first few times that you try pair or group work, you need to give carefulinstructions and know exactly how you will divide the class Pair work andgroup work can become a routine Once students are used to it and haveregularworking partners, it can be organized quickly and easily

4 Suggestions for some popular kinds of practive

Pairwork and groupwork are not “teaching methods”, but ways oforganizing the class They can be used for many different kinds of activity, andare naturally more suitable for some activities than for others Before decidingwhat kind of activity will be used teacher should answer the followingquestions:

- Could you use pairwork on groupwork for part of the activity?

- If so, exactly what would students do in pairs or groups?

- What would you need to do before the pair/ group stage?

- Is there anything you would do after it?

Here are suggestions for some popular kinds of practice

* Pattern practice:

This can be done in the same way as practicing structure with “used to”mentioned in part 2 – Demonstration Any controlled oral practice can be donefirst with the whole class, and then in pairs

* Practising short dialogues:

Acting out short dialogues can be very easily be done in pairs, with littlechance of making mistakes It can be done first with pairs of students in front ofthe class and then with all students working in pairs at the same time

* Reading a text and answering questions:

Students can disscuss questions in pairs or groups and then read the text

or they can read the text silently and then ask and answer questions in pairs orgroups This is a good way of involving the whole class in answering questions

* Short

- Writing exercises:

Student can sit in groups and decide together what to write One studentacts as “secretary” This can be difficult to organise but in a large class it has theadvantages that students correct each others,mistakes and the teacher only has afew papers to mark at the end

Pair work can be used for correcting written work (eg:homework)