Enhancing group cohesiveness and motivation in efl classroom = Tăng cường tính liên kết và động lực học tập của học viên trong lớp học tiếng Anh. M.A. Thesis. Linguistics: 81402

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES HOÀNG HỒNG THÚY ENHANCING GROUP COHESIVENESS AND MOTIVATION IN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

HOÀNG HỒNG THÚY

ENHANCING GROUP COHESIVENESS AND MOTIVATION

IN EFL CLASSROOM (Tăng cường tính liên kết và động lực học tập của học viên trong lớp học tiếng anh)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi – 2018

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

HOÀNG HỒNG THÚY

ENHANCING GROUP COHESIVENESS AND MOTIVATION

IN EFL CLASSROOM (Tăng cường tính liên kết và động lực học tập của học viên trong lớp học tiếng anh)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Tran Thanh Nhan, PhD

Hanoi – 2018

DECLARATION

This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes

I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged

Student

Hoàng Hồng Thuý

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the all library media specialists for their participation who supported my work and helped me get results of better quality

In addition, I would like to thank my fellow master students for their feedback, cooperation and of course friendship

I am also grateful to the Ms Trần Thanh Nhàn PhD, for her guidance Without her, this thesis may not be possible

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents, my brother and my husband for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general

ABSTRACT

English learning is considered a social process Therefore, it is vital to analyze how the process works This action research presents the results of a study exploring the relationships of classroom group cohesiveness and motivation among groups of students in Vietnam universities Six lessons of six different teachers were filmed and analyzed by the method of conversation analysis The results show that teacher‘s class management skill affect group cohesiveness Each activity was closely monitor and the techniques that the teachers use were accurately recorded The findings show that novice teachers may enhance and inhibit group cohesiveness, either purposefully or unintentionally More study is recommended to look at this matters at a different demographic and age groups

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Scope and aims of the study 3

3 Significance of the study 3

4 Research questions 4

5 Design of the thesis 5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 7

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

1.1 Group cohesiveness and motivation 7

1.2 Review of previous studies 12

1.2.1 Review of previous studies on group cohesiveness 12

1.2.2 Review of previous studies on classroom interaction using Conversation analysis 14

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15

2.1 Restatement of the research questions 15

2.2 The setting of the study and participants 15

2.3 Research types 16

2.4 Implementation of the Action Research 16

2.5 Data collection instruments and procedures 17

2.6 Data analysis methods 18

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS 20

3.1 Encouraging the cooperation of the students 20

3.2 Developing and encouraging the experience of a good group and

organizing group cohesiveness opportunities inside the classroom 22

3.3 Developing a competition between groups 23

3.4 Evidence of group cohesiveness inhibition 28

PART C: CONCLUSION 41

1 Recommendation 41

2 Limitations and suggestion for further study 42

3 Implication 42

4 Conclusion 42

REFERENCES 43

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Over the course of time, there have been traditional and long-standing views of both the nature of language and the nature of learning Firth and Wagner (1997 and revisited in 2007) challenged existing conceptualisations

of learning Firth and Wagner argues that learning should be seen as a social process and that language should be viewed as a complex, dynamic system that is locally managed by interactants in response to emerging communicative needs Under this view, learning can be traced in the moment-by-moment co-construction of meanings and by using conversation analysis (CA) The relatively new, emergent field known as CA-for-SLA quite clearly views learning as participation and maintains that we can measure and track learning through the interactions that take place (Markee 2008)

One can hardly deny that learning, as a social process, is more effective

if it is comfortable Excessive stress can damage memory capacity and thought processes Therefore, the teachers‘ duty, which is to accommodate learning, is to make students‘ learning experience more enjoyable and motivating One way to do this is to create a learning environment in which all students are motivated to work and feel comfortable with other members

of the group If learners are hostile to each other or resist any cooperation, the effectiveness is likely to plummet, making the learning experience rather tense and unsuccessful In contrast, a friendly and comfortable learning atmosphere stimulates students to enjoy exploring new knowledge If a group member feels attracted towards and accepted by the others, they will likely form a strong bond that help each individual override negative feelings during the course of learning This accepting climate is the base of group

cohesiveness The necessity and importance of a language class as a social group has been realized (Brumfit, 1984; Hadfield, 1992;Senior, 1997; Dörnyei and Murphey, 2003).

Group cohesiveness (also called group cohesion and social cohesion) arises when bonds link members of a social group to one another and to the group as a united entity Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it can

be broken down into four main components: social relations, task relations, perceived unity, and emotions (Forsyth, 2010) Members of strongly cohesive groups are more inclined to participate readily and to stay with the group Group cohesiveness brings a number of advantages, including motivation, performance or member satisfaction This is why there are activities to boost group cohesiveness in almost every field, from team building sessions to boost employees‘ morale to fraternities and sororities in American universities

According to Cummins and Davison (2007), group cohesiveness refers

to the closeness and the ―we‖ feeling of a group, that is, the internal gelling force that keeps the group together Enhancing group cohesiveness, therefore, can be very beneficial to the teacher and their students, especially in Asian culture One typical trait of Chinese or Vietnamese students is the concept of

―keeping face‖, which can be subjected to the group‘s judgment and can be demotivated very quickly if they do not feel accepted in the group

In ELT, group cohesiveness certainly proves its significance in motivating students to learn, socialize and make learning a social activity that

is enjoyable The process of exchange information and helping each other prove to be more effective if the students are willing to cooperate with their friends and their teacher Since cohesiveness affect participation greatly, it is vital to look at how teacher facilitate the development of group cohesiveness

in class Even though there have been a lot of research carried out in this field, not much research is conducted in the context of Vietnamese education Therefore, the author wants to take a closer look at this matter in Vietnam with the hope to offer another perspective of cohesiveness and motivation in ELT

2 Scope and aims of the study

2.1 Scope of the study

The study focuses on the interaction between teachers and students in English language lesson The centre question of this research is how teacher and students interact with each other Furthermore, the author intend to determine whether the interaction observed is effective and if they inhibit or enhance group cohesiveness The study‘s scope narrows down into the context of two universities in Vietnam with Vietnamese trainers and Vietnamese students Six lessons were recorded and analyzed

2.2 Aims of the study

The study aims to find out evidences of enhancing and inhibiting group cohessiveness in the conversations among teacher and students in the classroom

3 Significance of the study

As indicated by the title of the research “Enhancing group

cohesiveness and motivation in EFL classrooms”, the author hopes to

understand which technique may boost cohesiveness and which one suppresses it From then on, modification can be made to the teacher‘s classroom management skill Furthermore, this study also offers a more detailed observation into the matter by analyzing conversation and interaction

in class with a more ad hoc method Since ad hoc method in conversation analyses are more flexible and attentive to details, readers are provided with a

closer look into English lessons in Vietnam Therefore, this research paves way for more possible comparison with other country and improvement in motivating students in ELT

4.1 The setting of the study and participants

The study was conducted at University of Languages and International Studies and the Academy of Policy and Development Each classroom has the capacity of 30 students and all rooms are fully equipped with a projector, a television and a board

In terms of teachers, there are six novice teachers of English All of them have achieved the certificate of C1 in English They work with the class once

a week for 4 hours Teachers are active to choose their own teaching methods

as long as they find students satisfied with their teaching and make progress The students in the two chosen institutions are of different level of proficiency with the former are in B2 level while the latter are approaching B1 level in CEFR scale

4.2 Data collection instruments and procedures

This research use observation as the instrument for data collection Six novice teachers were chosen to participate Then, one lesson of each teachers

is recorded by means of the camera and microphone

Data-gathering was planned largely around the teachers‘ course

schedules, with efforts being made to avoid observations on days when lessons centered around in-class writing, oral presentations, or other evaluative measures that might reduce the possibility of experiencing teachers‘ group-management techniques After the observations, the class video recordings were reviewed by the author The observed classes were then analyzed with the teachers in recorded interviews The data was partially transcribed as three common themes regarding what generally ―worked‖ in terms of group-management techniques promoting group cohesiveness were identified:

1) Encouraging the cooperation of the students

2) Developing and encouraging the experience of a good group and organizing group cohesiveness opportunities inside the classroom 3) Developing a competition between groups

4) Evidence of group cohesiveness inhibition

4.3 Data analysis methods

Six recordings of the lessons are then analyzed in term of the interactions between the teachers and students The Interaction Analysis approaches are followed In detail, the recordings are analyzed in an ad hoc method This instrument is designed to answer only the question of how the teachers can enhance interaction and group cohesion through different management techniques rather than study a large variety of the matters The reasons why this method is chosen for this study will be discussed in Part B

5 Design of the thesis

This study consists of three main parts: introduction, development adn conclusion

The introduction provides rationale, scope, aims, significance, research questions, methods, and design of the study

The development contains three chapters Chapter one deals with literature review of theoretical framework related to the study Chapter two is devoted to the methodology used in the study Chapter three discusses the findings of the study

The conclusion provides a brief summary of all main parts presented in the study, the conclusion which encloses practical suggestions for teaching and further research

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Group cohesiveness and motivation

A group is the integration of two or more individuals who are connected to each other through social relationships Several important factors associated with the formation of a group are communication, influence, interaction, interdependence, interrelation, shared identification, shared tasks and goals, structure and system (Forsyth, 2006) A study group is essentially all group efforts to help each other learn optimally Thus, at least four crucial elements must be considered for the effort of cooperative learning to function: motivation, social cohesion, development and cognitive elaboration In the first aspect, in view of Slavin (2014), motivationalists found that a group bonding may forster the group's performance and ultimately success will be the success of the group together Moreover, it motivates learners to be more persistent against adversity to optimize their performance in the group The second aspect, named social cohesion includes the importance of cooperative learning impact against a strong desire to help others, especially members of other groups who did not master Here we find the existence of a good social cohesion and quality where members are less able to get help from the others who are better able to jointly achieve group goals The third and fourth aspects, cognitive development and learning, can be explained as when learners undertake cooperative partnership, this will automatically lead to the development of critical analysis of each group member This critical development happens because they continuously encounter problem solving and task completion requirements

Students‘ motivation to learn is influenced by a variety of interrelated elements including the teachers, the assignments, and their working groups Because they have already been confident, their perception of classroom learning and attitudes foster their efforts to attain achievements Intrinsic motivation has a positive tendency in language learning towards an increase

in the level of proficiency (Colibaba, 2009) The positive relation between group work and student motivation in a constructive teaching model for adult learners is also shown in Anwar‘s (2015) study, indicating that interaction in group work activities can strengthen students‘ motivation to master the teaching materials Thus, grouping and student motivation are inter-related to gear prospective attitudes to learn English and finally achieve better language proficiency (Kalvodova, 2008; Kuo, 2009)

In cooperative learning, Slavin (2006) asserts that members of the group consists of a variety of learners who have a diversity of skills to work together to achieve the learning objectives Therefore, in cooperative learning, learners may construct several skills to maximize the cooperation to succeed

in the group work, which involve the ability to listen actively, the ability to be

a good speaker, the ability to always avoid demeaning other members, and the ability to always accept others as new members Furthermore, he explains that the cooperative learning activities can be conducted in at least three forms/ stages The first phase of which is the learning group that aims to discover where each member is to understand each other and the theory or a particular application After that the group discussions are geared to ensure the best findings The final step is to make sure that all groups had finished working and to acquire something from the lesson by following the quiz from the teacher

Other researchers also look into how to enhance group cohesiveness According to Ronald and Rivas (2005), the strategies needed to maximize the group dynamics are as follows:

- Identify the group dynamics during the group interaction

- Assess the impact on the group dynamics and members as part of the entire group

- Assess the impact of group dynamics of members from various ethnic backgrounds and social and economic

- Assess the impact of group dynamics today on the utilization of the group in the future

- Facilitate and guide the development dynamics of the group members

In the study group, cohesiveness or group cohesion is the key to sustain the success of the group task Group performance is definitely linked and influenced by the success to create cohesion of all the interests and contributions of group members, which in turn can result in learning achievement in the group task As noted by Dornyei (2009), there are three main elements that can affect group cohesiveness in learning, namely:

1) Interpersonal attraction: There is a strong desire to love the members

of the group naturally with rational and realistic objectives to promote common goals

2) Commitment to task: A strong desire to have and be a member of the group because of the interest in completing the task, in other words, the feeling of individual involvement of the group is more due to the bonding strength of the group's goals

3) Group pride: A strong desire to join the group because of the prestige that comes as part of the membership of the group

Although it can be any one of these three elements in the group, ideally

the blend of more than one elements or even coherence of all these components becomes a driving force of better and stronger group cohesion In this case, group cohesiveness is also highly supported by effective leadership

of the teachers as well To succeeding in maintaining group cohesiveness, they need to be able to focus their students on a common goal and encourage them to work as a team Thus the teacher should be an effective facilitator and leader to understand the different models of leadership of the group of which the success depends on the group support to lead independent learning (Gałajda, 2012; Burke, 2011)

To affirm the cohesion of the group, Dornyei (2009, 273-277) describes the characteristics of a group that has a strong cohesion as follows:

1) The learning atmosphere of mutually-welcomed and appreciate one another so that shows signs of strong mutual desire and sharing;

2) Mutual to pay attention to one another;

3) Insist on and loyal to his group but also welcome and convince others to join;

4) Pay attention to group norms and oppose efforts that lead to the destruction of the group;

5) Participate in group voluntarily and pleased to work with others 6) Easy to cooperate with anyone who is in the group members, so that the group task can be changed flexibly

7) Actively participate in group activities and always ready to share personal experiences with others

8) Frequently use the term ―we‖ when conveying the idea and can even produce a special group jargon

9) Have a competitive relationship with parties outside the group as well 10) Easy to express satisfaction of group experience; and

11) Participate more easily with one another within the group or outside the group.

In general, it appears that all the above characteristics of the learning atmosphere will flourish in communicative situations in which all members of the group provide optimal contribution to the completion of the group tasks Thus, the choice of interactive and communicative learning methods presents

a good opportunity to increase the cohesiveness of the group, so that the ultimate goal of learning can be well-achieved

The next concern is considering the optimal application of communicative learning strategies, especially in learning the language because the chances of cohesion in the group to learn more is influenced by the varieties and types of learning activities undertaken by language learners Some ways that need to be taken into consideration in the implementation of cohesion that optimizes learning group to complete the tasks are:

1 Learning from each other in the group and the class;

2 Providing a frequent interaction touch to fellow learners;

3 Encouraging the cooperation of the students

4 Developing and encouraging the experience of a good group and organizing group cohesiveness opportunities inside and outside the classroom

5 Developing a competition between groups; and

6 Provision of models and total support of teachers as a whole is necessary

The six types of activities above may increase group cohesion in the classroom, yet some of them signaled the group's activities both inside and outside the classroom Outdoors activities, in particular, may potentially enhance cohesion

The above brief review indicates the importance of group cohesiveness

in optimizing the role of assignments in study groups so as to provide optimal impact of learning outcomes Therefore, this study aimed to identify the level

of group cohesiveness after the application of group work activities

1.2 Review of previous studies

1.2.1 Review of previous studies on group cohesiveness

In the past, there has been other studies on the matter of group cohesiveness in different countries In ―Working with group tasks and group cohesiveness‖, Khoirul Anwar aimed at exploring the connection between the use of group task and group cohesiveness in Indonesia Subjects of this study are 28 students on the course Teaching English for Young Learners at the University of Muhammadiyah Gresik After the application of group work activities during the learning process, all subjects are given questionnaires and some are interviewed to make sure the group cohesiveness The results showed that the group work activities had settled the group cohesiveness mainly to the dominance of group pride, interpersonal attractions, and commitment to tasks of the group

In ―Group dynamics in the EFL classroom: The role of the cohesive group of Syrian tertiary learners‖, Mohammad Musaab WAZZAN endeavors

to explore factors with the potential to develop a cohesive language classroom environment in Syria In this environment, initializing and sustaining co-operation and commitment is primarily sought 10 Syrian tertiary learners, aged 18-24, from different academic departments in the University of Aleppo, Syria, taking a general English course have been chosen to constitute the context of the study The paper highlights particular techniques utilized by the learners and pinpoints particular problems they encountered It has been clearly noticed that learning is likely to be more fruitful when the group is

cohesive, flagging the importance of raising the EFL teachers‘ full cognizance about the efficacy and effectiveness of establishing cohesiveness in the EFL classroom Subsequent to collecting and analyzing the data, the results strongly indicate that students‘ classmates play an essential part in their learning and in their motivation as well

In Japan, Katsuko Matsubara‘s paper presents the results of a study exploring the relationships of L2 motivation, willingness to communicate (WTC), and classroom group dynamics among a group of 237 rural Japanese

administered—one for L2 motivation and classroom group dynamics, and another for WTC Among the several classroom group dynamics components

that emerged, Student-centered Approach and Intergroup Approach Tendency

showed significant influences on students‘WTC

In China, the frequently discussed notion of Chinese students‘ supposed reticence and passivity in the English as a Foreign Language classroom was discussed Using the concept of group dynamics as a starting point, the study ―Group Dynamics and Student Participation in a Chinese Setting: Teacher and Observer Perspectives‖ examines teachers‘ classroom- management techniques in terms of promoting (or not promoting) active student participation The study, using a grounded theory of research, analyzed classroom data obtained from class observations and from class filmings and supplemented these data with post-lesson interviews with the four involved teachers Findings suggested that Chinese students were not necessarily reticent or passive but rather engaged actively when given a learning environment conducive to active engagement The study pointed to three practical implications for classroom teachers: (1) promoting participation by working toward group cohesion, (2) promoting participation

by providing effective teacher-student scaffolding and by providing opportunities for student-student scaffolding, (3) promoting participation by actively replacing textbook materials in order more effectively to offer students adequate support in terms of both language and affect

1.2.2 Review of previous studies on classroom interaction using Conversation analysis

There has been a number of research that applies CA to the analysis of second language interactions, which aims to promote language learning Seedhouse (2011) states that ―CA provides a means of exploring the variable ways in which competence is co-constructed in particular contexts by the participants involved‖ Hellermann (2008) and Cekaite (2007), offer two of the most systematic analyses of interactional development They combine CA with a framework of language socialization with a longitudinal perspective Similar studies include Young and Miller (2004), Brouwer and Wagner (2004), and Hellermann (2006, 2007) Brouwer (2003), examines word search sequences between native and nonnative speakers and develops a distinction between word search sequences that act as language learning opportunities and those which do not (also see Lazaraton, 2004 and Mondada and Pekarek Doehler, 2004 for other examples of cross-sectional studies)

Summary

In this chapter, we have just reviewed the definitions group cohesiveness and motivation We also reviewed recent studies on classroom interaction and motivation in other Asian countries Finally, current trend of using CA for SLA is discussed

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the research questions are raised again The information about the setting of the study, participants, research types, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, data analysis methods will

be described in details

2.1 Restatement of the research questions

The research question has clearly been shown in part A already Nevertheless, for the sake of highlighting the selected research method, the research question is restated here again:

1) In what ways may group-management techniques enhance group cohesiveness?

2) In what ways may group-management techniques inhibit group cohesiveness?

2.2 The setting of the study and participants

The study was conducted at University of Languages and International Studies and the Academy of Policy and Development Each classroom has the capacity of 30 students and all rooms are fully equipped with projectors, tv and board

In terms of teachers, there are six novice teachers of English All of them have achieved the certificate of C1 in English They work with the class once

a week for 4 hours Teachers are active to choose their own teaching methods

as long as they find students satisfied with their teaching and make progress The students in the two chosen institutions are of different level of proficiency with the former are in B2 level while the latter are approaching B1 level in CEFR scale

2.3 Research types

The study employs action research to investigate how teacher‘s management techniques can enhance or inhibit group cohesion and motivation The research goals are achieved by means of qualitative data Six lessons were observed and recorded The tapes are then analyzed

2.4 Implementation of the Action Research

In education action research is certainly very popular This is due to the fact that teachers often stumble upon numerous problems while teaching To solve those problems, teachers need to identify the problems and test out different means to solve it Denscombe (2010, p 6) writes that an action research strategy's purpose is to solve a particular problem and to produce guidelines for effective practices

Kurt Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term "action research" in 1944 In his 1946 paper "Action Research and Minority Problems" he described action research as "a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading

to social action" that uses "a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action"

The procedure of an action research obeys step by step As stated by Eileen Ferrance (2000), an action research is carried out with five main steps The first step is to identify the problem Then, data is collected through means of interviews, questionnaires, observation and so forth After that, the data is analyzed to find out the problems Designing a plan of action is the next step so that the researcher can make a change and study that change After the interference has been carried out, it is time for the researcher to evaluate its effects

to see whether the action worked or not Then, if it had not happened effectively

as expected, another method should be considered to improve the situation

Among kinds of methods, the researcher chose an action research for this study because of the problem-focused nature of action research As can

be observed, all of the six novice teachers employ a lot of group activities in class However, a common problems that the teachers as well as the research face is that the students are not always willing to work together Even in cases where they are more enthusiastic, the lack of cohesiveness still prevent students from producing a better outcome under the limited time Therefore, the research wishes to find out the more desirable technique to improve group cohesiveness and point out the less effective ones This action research also brought the researcher a good opportunity to evaluate the teachers‘ intervention to find out the rising problems and give decision for changing

2.5 Data collection instruments and procedures

This research use observation as the instrument for data collection Six novice teachers were chosen to participate Then, one lesson of each teachers

is recorded by means of the camera and microphone

As mentioned above, the study reported here was based on the data gathered from six videos In each video, an entire 45-minute lesson was observed by the author of this paper and filmed by an assistant crew

Teacher T‘s lessons were filmed on the the 29th of Ferbuary and 7th of March

2017, 2017, which are marked as video 1 and video 2

Teacher D‘s lessons were filmed on the 7th and the 9th of March, which are marked as video 3 and video 4

Teacher P‘s lessons were filmed on the 10th

of March and 16th of March, where are marked as video 5 and video 6

Data-gathering was planned largely around the teachers‘ course schedules, with efforts being made to avoid observations on days when lessons centered around in-class writing, oral presentations, or other

evaluative measures that might reduce the possibility of experiencing teachers‘ group-management techniques After the observations, the class video recordings were reviewed by the author The observed classes were then analyzed with the teachers in recorded interviews The data was partially transcribed as three common themes regarding what generally ―worked‖ in terms of group-management techniques promoting group cohesiveness were identified:

1) Encouraging the cooperation of the students

2) Developing and encouraging the experience of a good group and organizing group cohesiveness opportunities inside the classroom 3) Developing a competition between groups

2.6 Data analysis methods

Six recordings of the lessons are then analyzed in term of the interactions between the teachers and students The Interaction Analysis approaches are followed In detail, the recordings are analyzed in an ad hoc method This instrument is designed to answer only the question of how the teachers can enhance interaction and group cohesion through different management techniques rather than study a large variety of the matters

The main advantage of this approach to IA is that it allows the researcher to focus on specific details in the interaction that can be then describe and attempt to explain The whole process is much more from the inside looking out and less from the outside looking in In other words, an ad hoc system is more likely to promote understanding and generate explanations than the system-based approaches discussed above

Steve Walsh (2011) summarizes the main advantages of ad hoc approaches to interaction analysis as follows:

• Ad hoc approaches to classroom observation give participants ownership

of the research design process and greater insights into the issues under investigation

• By focusing on the detail of the interaction, such approaches allow practitioners to access and understand complex phenomena that might otherwise take years of class experience to acquire

• Ad hoc systems enable observers to focus on the microcosms of interactions that might so easily be missed by the ‗broad brush‘ descriptions provided by systems-based approaches

Due to the above mentioned advantages of the ad hoc approach toward conversation analysis, the research decided to adopt this method for the study

Summary

Throughout the chapter, the methodology of the study, which is the qualitative method, was fully shown First, the research context, the participants and materials were clearly described, and after that the reasons for choosing an action research was stated Following with those sections was the thorough description of data collection instruments Also, the chapter was finally concluded by a full account of the methods and procedure of data analysis

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS

After a process of analyzing the videos, the findings are categories into four different categories The first categories show the evidence of how the teacher encourage the students’ cooperation effectively The second categories show how teachers show develop and encourage the experience of a good group and organize group cohesiveness opportunities inside the classroom The third categories show how teachers create opportunities for competitions among groups Finally, the fourth categories show examples of technique that inhibit group cohesiveness In each section, tables of description are added before each activities to help the readers visualize the context

3.1 Encouraging the cooperation of the students

In the class analyzed from the video 1, the teacher promoted the cooperation of the students She set up a rule that each time a student hear her friend using the wrong tense of the verb, he/she will gently smack her friend‘s hand as an alert or punishment

This activity can be considered as instant peer feedback, which encourages the students to pay attention to the friends‘ speech and help their friends correct themselves Since the students take turn to speak, they are supposed to help each other correcting the mistakes that they are not fully aware of when they speak English

Another activity that the teacher used in this class to promote cooperation was to encourage student to ask more open-ended questions Excerpt from video 1

Teacher: “In case you need to work in pair but you don’t know what to

say, what do you do? For the listeners, when your friends are talking, they may be stuck and don’t know what else to say, then you have to