A survey on applying cooperative activities in writing lessons to improve writing skills of non – english major first year students at a college in ha noi

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The writing process approach Figure 2: The relationship between cooperative and collaborative learning Figure 3: Type of cooperative learning Figure 4: The role

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

VŨ THI BÍCH NGOC

A SURVEY ON APPLYING COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES IN WRITING LESSONS TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT A COLLEGE IN HA NOI

(Nghiên cứu khảo sát

về thực trạng sử dụng các hoạt động cộng tác trong giờ học viết

nhằm mục đích cải thiện kỹ năng viết của sinh viên khối không chuyên

trong một trường Cao Đẳng ở Hà Nội)

M.A Minor 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

VŨ THI BÍCH NGOC

A SURVEY ON APPLYING COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES IN WRITING LESSONS TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT A COLLEGE IN HA NOI

(Nghiên cứu khảo sát

về thực trạng sử dụng các hoạt động cộng tác trong giờ học viết

nhằm mục đích cải thiện kỹ năng viết của sinh viên khối không chuyên

trong một trường Cao Đẳng ở Hà Nội)

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Phạm Thị Thanh Thùy

HANOI – 2018

DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A Survey on Applying Cooperative

Activities in Writing lessons to Improve Writing Skills of non – English major first year Students at a College in Ha Noi” is the result of my own research for the

Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution

Hanoi, 2018 Signature

Vũ Thị Bích Ngọc

I am immensely grateful to the lecturers in the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies who gave me broad background and precious knowledge What they taught me is really plentiful resources for my study

Last but not least, I want to thank my family, my friends, my colleagues and my students for their supporting and encouraging me during the completion of this paper

Without the enthusiastic assistance of those people, this M.A minor thesis could have been hardly completed

ABSTRACT

Writing has a unique position in language teaching and language learning because it’s involved practice and knowledge of three other language skills: reading, speaking and listening Moreover, it is not easy to become a good writer even if you are a good speaker, reader or listener Learners always try the best to think or plan carefully, to set the objective and to write drafts for the writing In order to have perfect writing, learners should learn the way to write and find out the suitable method This study is the relation between cooperative learning and teaching writing skill at class This work will show the importance of using cooperatives activities at a college in Ha Noi as well as the attitude of teachers and students toward this method After all, some suitable activities will be proposed so that teachers can use to help their students improve writing skill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Objectives of the study 2

3 Significance of the study 2

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Method of the study 3

6 Organization of the thesis 3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Theoretical background of writing 5

1.1.1 Definition of writing 5

1.1.2 The writing process 5

1.1.3 The factors affecting student’s motivation to writing skill 8

1.2 Theoretical background of Cooperative learning 10

1.2.1 Definition of Cooperative learning 10

1.2.2 Types of Cooperative learning 14

1.2.3 Elements of Cooperative learning 19

1.2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of Cooperative learning 21

1.2.5 Group formation 24

1.2.6 Cooperative Activities 27

1.2.7 Cooperative activities in teaching and learning English 29

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 33

2.1 Settings 33

2.1.1 The context 33

2.1.2 Learners 33

2.1.3 Teachers 34

2.1.4 Syllabus 35

2.1.5 Textbooks 35

2.1.6 Equipment 35

2.2 The participants 36

2.3 Data collection instruments 36

2.3.1 Questionnaires 36

2.3.2 Interviews 37

2.3.3 Class observation 37

2.4 Data collection procedure 37

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 39

3.1 Cooperation and Cooperative activities 39

3.1.1 Students’ and teachers’ understanding about cooperation 39

3.1.2 Types of Cooperative activities 40

3.1.3 The frequency of using Cooperative activities in writing periods 41

3.2 Students’ attitudes to Cooperative activities and materials 42

3.2.1 Students’ attitudes to writing periods 42

3.2.2 Students’ attitudes to Cooperative activities 43

PART 3: CONCLUSION 52

1 Conclusion 52

2 Recommendations 54

3 Limitations 54

4 Suggestions for further study 55

REFERENCES 56 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRES I APPENDIX 2: OBSERVATION SHEETS IX APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW WITH TEACHERS XXIX

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The writing process approach

Figure 2: The relationship between cooperative and collaborative learning Figure 3: Type of cooperative learning

Figure 4: The roles of teachers in formal cooperative learning

Figure 5: Cooperative learning elements by Johnson, D.W., et al

Figure 6: Illustration of Random-grouping

Figure 7: Homogeneous and heterogeneous groups

Figure 8: Cooperative activities

Figure 8: Frequency of using cooperative activities in writing periods Figure 10: Student’s preferences for Cooperative activities

Figure 11: Group division in cooperative activities

Figure 12: Group forming in cooperative activities

Figure 13: Students’ preferences for materials

Figure 14: Time distribution for Cooperative Activities in writing class

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The difference between cooperative learning and competitive learning Table 2: Roles of teachers in CL and traditional learning

Table 3: Changes in Characteristics in Group Dynamics

Table 4: Students’ cooperation in cooperative activities

Table 5: Students’ attitudes to writing periods

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CL Cooperative learning M.A Master of Arts B.A Bachelor of Arts

Ss Students

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In the modern life, English becomes a very important mean to communicate in enhancing economy, culture, politics and other relations among countries Therefore, teaching and learning English play much significant position in education system in over the world Nowadays, learners concentrate mostly on communication as well as speaking skills They want to go abroad They want to work for foreign companies Hence, writing skills are not really promoted Otherwise, English is considered to be a mean of communication which people commonly used to exchange information, absorb experience as well as broaden their mind, writing in English is becoming a difficult goal to achieve Hyland (2003) believed that performance in language development is the process of writing skills English learners do not only speak a language they also have to write down it on paper to exchange email, report and so on A professional writing version can express cohesion, logicality, well-organization and interest (Jacobs & L, 1981; Hall, 1988)

Although there has been much innovation in English Teaching Methodology, students usually meet difficulties in writing comprehension in the target language

In other words, in some classrooms, teachers or lecturers tried to teach students by their own way They do not clearly observe or they do not have enough enthusiasm

to motivate learners Teachers mostly teach students by providing background knowledge of the topic; organizing learners to discuss a topic or analyzing the available writing; asking some related questions to the topic, providing words and structures etc., nevertheless; their writing comprehension in the second language is limited In addition, students are passive in learning language They always do not want to join in activities and work in pairs or groups Learners as well as teachers

do not really recognize that cooperation in leaning is a very good way to enhance leaning, especially writing skills

As a teacher of English, who is aware of the fact and wishes to motivate students into writing skills and involve them into cooperative activities, this study was conducted to make clear the current situation of using these activities in writing lessons and students’ attitude towards them to find out some practical methods so as

to incorporate them into writing periods to motivate the first year students at Hanoi

College of Pharmacy

2 Objectives of the study

The study aims at:

 Investigating the current situation of using cooperative activities in writing classes for non – English major first year students at Hanoi College of Pharmacy

 Identifying students’ attitudes and teachers’ ones towards cooperative activities in writing classes

 Suggesting some recommendations for applying these cooperative activities

to motivate non – English major first year students at Hanoi College of Pharmacy With those above objectives, three research questions were raised:

 Which cooperative activities are currently used in writing classes for non – English major first-year students at Hanoi College of Pharmacy?

 What is the situation of using these cooperative activities in writing class?

 Which cooperative activities are the students’ preferences in writing class?

3 Significance of the study

The study is conducted to examine the current situation of using cooperative activities and students’ attitude towards them Therefore, it is expected to bring about some advantages to both the lectures and students at Hanoi College of Pharmacy The researcher hopes that the students will raise their awareness of the benefits of cooperative activities in their writing lessons; hence, they will group with their partners to achieve their common goals in these classes Besides, it is hoped that the study will help teachers at Hanoi College of Pharmacy in Hanoi

in their own lessons Furthermore, this study is also believed as a reliable source of reference for all researchers or those who are concerned

4 Scope of the study

Analyzing the objectives and research questions, the study concentrates on the effectiveness of cooperative activities used in writing classes at Hanoi College of Pharmacy More specifically, the researcher focuses on cooperative activities used writing periods for non – English major first-year students at this college to find out some students’ preferences and effective methods to motivate students’ writing skills

In terms of participants, the study investigates 120 non – English major first-year students at Hanoi College of Pharmacy In addition, 7 lecturers of teaching English

in these classes will be included in this research

5 Method of the study

The research is conducted basing on both qualitative and quantitative methods First, quantitative methods were applied to investigate the participants’ performance

in writing lessons Additionally, close-ended, open-ended questionnaire items and rating scale response were used The survey was carried out with the participation

of 120 non – English major first-year students at Hanoi College of Pharmacy who come from two different Departments Besides, qualitative approach was also involved in the process of data collection, the data in semi – unstructured interviews with 7 lectures at Hanoi College of Medicine and Pharmacy contributed much to the data analysis

6 Organization of the thesis

This study consists of three main parts:

Part one named Introduction, is the introduction which presents the rationale of the

study, significance of the study, objectives, research questions, scope and method of the study

Part two called Development, consists of four main chapters:

Chapter one, literature review, deals with theoretical background about writing skills and cooperative learning

Chapter two, the study, is an overview of the reality of using cooperative activities

in writing classes for non-English major first-year students at Hanoi College of Pharmacy, students’ attitudes and teachers’ attitudes towards cooperative activities

in writing classes

Chapter three, data analysis and discussion, focuses on analyzing the data

Chapter four, recommendations, suggests some cooperative activities to apply in writing classes

Part three, conclusion, is the last part, summarizes the main contents of the study

In addition, the pedagogical implications, achievement and limitations of this study are discussed clearly

Besides, other parts of the study are the list of references and the appendixes

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical background of writing

1.1.1 Definition of writing

Academic writing is a key competence that is used as a means of building knowledge and allowing the knowledge that has been conveyed to be processed According to Klimova, B (2013), “Writing has a unique position in language teaching since its acquisition involves a practice and knowledge of other three language skills, such as listening, reading and speaking” The fact is that writing is a complex skill (not only in terms of academic language) Therefore, Adamzik and Pieth (1997: 34) differentiated some sublevels of writing skills such as: text competence and writing competences He stated that: “text competence - the receptive and productive handling of texts and writing competence which includes not only text type knowledge but also strategic and pragmatic/communicative competences coupled with discourse competence… Discourse competence means that students know that in principle they are writing even while still at university for

a (partial) public rather than solely for the seminar tutor”

The need for (academic) writing guidance is still neglected in teaching at some universities because many university lectures assumed that students will automatically equipped with the requisite knowledge of academic knowledge Therefore, defining some procedures in teaching writing process is one of essential factors that makes effective learning

1.1.2 The writing process

According to Murray (1987), writing process approaches are premised that writing

is an “iterative process” Similarly, Nunan (1991) clearly states that the process approach focuses on the steps to create a piece of work and the process writing allows a writer to get closer to perfection by producing, reflecting on, discussing and reworking successive drafts of a text

For more explanation, Murray (1987), in his study, diagrams the process of writing

as shown below:

Figure 1: The writing process approach

As Figure shows, the process approach includes different stages These stages of writing process can happen at different points Curry, (1996) claimed that

“Lecturers can help clarify student’s misconception about writing by explicitly teaching the stages of the writing process Some procedures of writing process approach can be discussed below:

 Prewriting

Prewriting strategies such as brainstorming and freewriting can help students brainstorm ideas, collect data and information, activate their thoughts and organise their ideas Although some experienced writers can invent and activate their ideas

while they are writing, students find useful to note down some ideas before creating

a formal text

 Drafting

As discussed before, writing is an “iterative process” Therefore, writing process should provide opportunities for students to revise a piece of work in response to feedback from peer - checker or the lecturer Murray (2003) also discussed that re – drafting a piece of work decreases opportunities of plagiarism since the lecture may have seen the first draft of it In official draft, the writer should focus on developing meaning, using ideas collected in prewriting strategies He also claimed that when drafting, writers, including non-native speakers of English, should try to avoid concerning too much on linguistic accuracy unless it prevents them from making meaning texts Ideally, revising a draft helps students internalise the types of responses that readers make to their work

 Peer reviewing

A key process of writing process approaches is the collecting and responding to the feedback of others while a text is under writing Feedback on students’ drafts may exist in two forms such as oral and written forms by peers or lecturers Clearly, students may feel that lecturers’ comment is worthier than students’ because of lecturers’ academic knowledge In reviewing process, students can develop their critical faculties and discover how others respond to their writing Peer review may occur within pairs or groups to do an assignment over a period of time

 Reflection

According to Murray (2003), reflection means letting a piece of writing sit with the feedback from peers or the lecturer This stage may allow writers to raise awareness of linguistic gaps in their text structure

 Editing and proofing

The final stages of writing process approaches consist of “editing, proofreading, and polishing a text” (Murray, 2003) In this stage, writers focus on the mechanic of

writing, including formatting, references, footnotes, and issues of linguistic accuracy It may be explained on the notion that again students have more

opportunities to work in pairs to review their partner’s work

According to these above descriptions, it can be concluded that process approach to teach writing focuses on the writing process rather than the product – orientation Teaching writing should be a process including some steps, namely “prewriting” (brainstorming, collecting ideas); “drafting” seeking feedback from peers or the lecturers; “revising” (collecting feedback, reconsidering organization);

“proofreading”, and “publishing” the final text In order to teach writing successfully, it is necessary that lecturers should take consideration into these useful writing process approaches

1.1.3 The factors affecting student’s motivation to writing skill

As discussed before, writing skill is a very complex process It also follows that teaching writing is a very difficult task The complexity of factors involved in the learning or teaching a second language makes it even harder to account for students’ low motivation in writing periods

The following table lists out summary of factors affecting to students’ motivation to writing through personal experience and consulting previous researchers

Table 1: Factors affecting students’ motivation to writing skills

Factors affecting student’s motivation to writing skill Reseachers

- Teacher’s knowledge and ability to motivate

students

- Learner’s shortage of inceptive skills, motivation

and pratice and effects of L1

Fareed, M.; Ashraf,

A and Bilal, M (2016)

- Internal factors: cognitive and affective attributes

- External factors: knowledge, exposure to the

language, background and surrounding

Latu, M.F

- Internal factors: insecurity, unwillingness to use

the target language, lack of knowledge and languages

the control the teacher had over almost

all activities, and student beliefs about learning in this

context

- The control of teacher on all activities

- Student’s beliefs about learning environment

- Mary, U H (1998)

- Personality factors within a person

- extrinsic factors-social cultural

- Brown (2000)

- Materials, media, classroom activities, classroom

management, teaching approach, and teaching strategy

- Yasin(2011)

- Materials, media, classroom activities, classroom

management, teacher’s strategy and teacher’s approach

- Herdi,H.(?)

With purposed outcomes by conducting the research, some factors influencing the students’ writing skill in the classroom will be identified by inferring some aspects based on Yasin’s ideas The factors that influenced the students’ motivation writing skill are illustrated by the following diagram:

Figure 2: Factors affecting students’ motivation to writing skill

In conclusion, due to the context and the scope of this study, the researcher focuses

on discussing classroom activities and some related issues to explore their effects on students’ motivation at Hanoi College of Pharmacy in the next part

1.2 Theoretical background of Cooperative learning

1.2.1 Definition of Cooperative learning

From the beginning of time, teachers and pedagogic experts in the world have been trying to discovery the best way to teach their children Many practices and researches have been done, some have failed and others have extended achievements In the development of teaching approaches, when group work is introduced in a classroom, one approach that continued to be a highly controversial topic is that of Cooperative learning There are many different points of view of cooperative as discussed below

According to a journal on Best Teaching Practices published on June 2014,

“Cooperative learning is not just group work, but a dynamic teaching strategy that is not as simple as it may seem” In order to understand it, more explicit definitions have been defined

Classroom activities

Classroom organization

Teaching approach/ pedagogy

Students’ motivation

to writing skill

Materials and teaching aids

In his study, Richard, J.C., Plat & Platt (1997) mentioned that “Cooperative learning

is an approach to teaching and learning in which classroom are organized so that students work together in small cooperative teams” There comes an agreement that these two points of view mention the structure of the teaching approach Because of the limitation, the following discussions may be the most understandable and recognizable ones in defining the definitions of cooperative learning

Johnson – Johnson (1999) in his study has claimed that “Cooperative learning is a teaching practice that breaks students into groups of 3-4 with each student having a particular role within the group”

In the journal published on June 1992, the authors noted that Cooperative learning

is a teaching strategy in which small groups of “different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject” Each member is responsible not only for learning but also for helping his partners, thus

“creating an atmosphere of achievement” Ideally, the above definition mentions to the structure; objective and function of the approach

Similarly, in their work, Johnson & Johnson and Smith, (1989) stated that:

“Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning” They explained that within cooperative learning, each member seeks outcomes that are beneficial to themselves and other members In comparison with the series of theories, this definition indicates two main characteristics of cooperative learning: group environment and member’s role

In conclusion, there are various points of view on the concepts of Cooperative learning Though they are presented differently, they all mention to function of group as well as group environment in which students work together to maximize their learning and their partners’ achievement

 Cooperative learning and Competitive learning

As discussed above, cooperation is working together in a small group to accomplish

a common goal Based on these characteristics, it seemed be contrasted with

competitive learning To understand more about Cooperative learning, the next part will focus on discussing about the difference between Cooperative learning and Competitive learning in language teaching

Johnson, D and Johnson, R (2003), in an overview of Cooperative learning, commented that while Cooperative learning directs to the instructional use of a small group, Competitive learning mentions the individualistic structure of a group

It means that instead of working together to achieve shared goals in Cooperative learning, students work by themselves to accomplish learning goals unrelated to those of the other students in Competitive learning Moreover, according to an article published by McIntyre, T., “in Cooperative and individualistic learning, you evaluate student efforts on a criteria – referenced basis while in competitive learning you assess students on a norm – referenced basis To conclude these points

of view, in the journal published on June 1992, the authors summarized as below:

Table 2: The difference between Cooperative learning and Competitive learning

Source: McIntyre, T., Retrieved at www.BehaviorAdvisor.com

- No interaction between pupils

- Not accountable to others

- Responsible only to themselves

- Homogeneous grouping, if any

- One student serves as leader

- Social skills assumed or ignored

- Active interaction with others

- Accountable to others

- Responsible to the group

- Heterogeneous grouping

- Positive interdependency

- Social skills taught directly

 Cooperative learning and Collaborative learning

To understand more about Cooperative learning, the next part will mention to the relationship between Cooperative learning and Collaborative learning Thus, what exactly is Collaborative learning? According to Laal, M and Ghodsi, S.M (2011),

“Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that

involves groups of learners working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product” In a workshop conducted by a group of authors from Educational Broadcasting Corporation (2004), “Collaborative learning is a method of teaching in which students gather to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project” They also gave some examples of Collaborative learning such as: a group

of students discussing a lecture or students from different schools working together

over the Internet

From the perceptive points of view, some researchers have been trying to differentiate collaborative and cooperative learning by pointing out the similarities and the differences of these two terms

In their work, a group of authors from Educational Broadcasting Corporation (2004) discussed as follows: “[ ] Cooperative learning is a specific kind of collaborative learning In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups on a structured activity…” In cooperative learning, students are individually responsible for their work and their group’s work Furthermore, while Collaborative learning just occurs any time students work together, Cooperative learning may happen when students work together in the same place on a structured project in a small group

Although there are a great number of linguistics researchers studying about this issue such as Cloud, T (2014), Dixx, J.M.(1998) Orr, J (1992), Brame, C J and Biel, R.(2015) However, despite the differences, in some researches, journals or article, these approaches are used interchangeably as follows: Nunan (1992); Richards, Platt, & Platt, (1997); Winter (1999); Canh, L.V (2003); Thanh, Q.T.T (2010); Ha, Ng.T.M (2010)

Briefly, the relationship between Collaborative and Cooperative learning can be illustrated as below:

Figure 2: The relationship between Cooperative and Collaborative learning

Frankly, based on some perceptive analysis and intrinsic characteristics of Cooperative learning and Collaborative learning, the writer may come to an objective conclusion in order to use these two approaches successfully in language teaching and learning, it is necessary that the researchers should take more consideration into their teaching context or the purpose of their teaching and learning

In conclusion, there are many researchers conducted to find out the most precise concepts of Cooperative learning in language teaching Personally, this study highly appreciates the definitions of Johnson & Johnson and Smith, (1989) stated in their work that: Cooperative learning is the “instructional use” of small teams in which students gather to foster their own and each other’s learning”

1.2.2 Types of Cooperative learning

Previously, when determining the characteristics of Cooperative learning, it’s important to understand the various kinds of Cooperative learning Based on the perspectives of the Johnson and Johnson (1999), this study will take three main

types of Cooperative learning into consideration as follows: formal, informal and

Cooperative Base Groups

Figure 3: Type of Cooperative learning

 Formal Cooperative learning

Johnson, Johnson, (1999) mentioned in his work that “Cooperative learning is a

type of group work assigned in groups of students in which the teacher analyzed

and assessed individuals to create the most effective group based on social

dynamics within group” (Johnson, Johnson, (1999) cited by Cloud, T (2014)

Ideally formal learning groups should be made based on a mixture of intellectual

ability, academic interest, and style (David, 1999) In order to understand more

about this concept, Johnson – Johnson and Holubec, (2008) suggested that students

in formal Cooperative learning groups work together for one class period to several

weeks, to achieve shared learning goals and complete tasks

In formal Cooperative learning, the roles of teachers are described as follows:

Cooperative learning

Formal cooperative learning

Informal cooperative learning

Cooperative Base Group

Figure 4: The roles of teachers in Formal Cooperative learning

 Informal Cooperative learning

Based on their experimental research conducted in 2008, Johnson – Johnson and Holubec defined that Informal Cooperative learning consists of assigning students

to achieve a shared goal in a short period of time that last from a few minutes to one class period Using informal Cooperative learning can help to transfer ideas between individuals and help students understand assigned materials in a small amount of time In their work, they mentioned that the teacher’s role in informal cooperative learning to keep students more actively focused discussions before and after the lesson and pair discussions throughout the lesson Two aspects of using informal Cooperative learning groups as to:

[…] make the task and the instructions explicit

[…] require the groups to produce a specific product

 Cooperative learning Base Groups

According to Johnson – Johnson and Holubec (2008) “Cooperative learning base groups are long – term, heterogeneous cooperative learning groups with stable membership Also, they list some members’ responsibilities as follows:

[…] ensure all members are making good academic progress

[…] hold each other accountable for striving to learn

[…] provide each other with support, encouragement, and assistance in completing assignments

Similarly, Johnson - Johnson (2009) added that “Cooperative Base Groups are created early on in a group of students to help foster relationships over time and can last for years” The teacher’s role in using Cooperative Base Groups is listed as follows:

[…] form heterogeneous groups of four (or three)

[…] arrange meeting schedule (such as beginning and end of each class session or the beginning and end of each week

[…] give specific agenda with concrete tasks that provide a guidelines for base groups to follow

[…] ensure the five basic elements of effective cooperative groups are implemented […] have students assess group members’ achievements and the effectiveness of working together as well

In comparison with the roles of teachers in Traditional learning, that of Cooperative Learning (CL) is more flexible and controllable The roles of teachers in CL will be discussed in the below table:

Table 2: Roles Teachers in CL and Traditional learning

Source: Johnson – Johnson, Holubec (1991, p.59)

As discussed above, each type of Cooperative can be used successfully and effectively highly dependent on the type of the lesson and the process in which they are applied For example, Johnson – Johnson (1999) suggested that “Formal Cooperative learning is most effective in longer types of projects Furthermore, Informal Cooperative learning can be used effectively in small amounts of time Finally, from the analysis the characteristics of Cooperative Base Groups, Cloud, T (2014) summed up that “Base groups can be used to effectively track the development of students throughout the year on subjects such as math and reading

… Effective use of cooperative learning can assist both teacher and student in the learning process”

Overall, there are three main types of Cooperative learning such as: Formal, Informal and Cooperative Base Groups Although Cooperative learning is not just

group work, but a complex teaching practice, therefore, using Cooperative learning effectively can assist both teacher and student in the learning and teaching process”

1.2.3 Elements of Cooperative learning

Figure 5: Cooperative learning elements by Johnson, D W., et al

As mentioned above, cooperative learning is considered the most effective instructional tool used in small groups Although small groups are ideal, “not all groups are cooperative” (Johnson - Johnson, 2009) Placing people in the same room and defining them as a group, does not mean they will cooperate effectively

In order to apply and integrate CL in the classroom, it is necessary that educators take into consideration 5 essential elements of Cooperative learning in classroom such as: positive interdependence; individual accountability; promotive interaction;

Ask clarifying questions to members

Positive independence

Cooperative learning model

Individual accountability

“a sense of sink and swim together”

“promote each

other’s success”

“ask what has been a success and what can be improved

“no hitchhiking!

No social loafing!”

interpersonal skills; and group processing (according to Johnson & Johnson 1989;

Johnson, D W et al, 1990, 1998; and Brandt 1987)

The first and foremost element is “positive interdependence” It is a sense of positively depending on each other in which individuals work together to identify members’ responsibilities and to “positively” contribute to the common task In cooperative learning, teachers must give a clear task and set a common goal in which students perceive that each member’s efforts benefit not only himself or herself, but all the group members as well If one succeeds, all succeed and vice versa However; according to Ha, Ng.T.M (2010: 9), “Working together […] does not mean that the learners can always depend on their teammates” For the success

of a group, members have to cooperate “positively”, and dignify a common goal In other words, Cooperative learning groups can be achieved by cooperative groups in

a common task and respecting each other’s learning benefits (Ha, NG T M (2010)

In their work, Johnson, Johnson (1999) stated that Positive interdependence can be achieved through:

The third aspect included “face-to-face promotive interaction” It means that when working in a group, students have more opportunities to discuss, praise each other’s efforts and share which they have known and what they have learned By the way, students can “do their real work together in which they promote each other’s success”… (Johnson – Johnson, 1999) Briefly, it can be drawn that only through

“face – to – face interaction”, students become “personally committed” to each other’s effort as well as to their “mutual goals” in a small group

The fourth key element is “interpersonal and small group skills” allowed group members to know how to resolve conflict, build trust and communicate while demonstrating mutual respect for other members Especially, When students participate in a small group, group members will improve social skills as follows: interpersonal skills; communicative skills, discussion making and conflict – management

The last but not least feature was “group processing” or “team reflection” Group processing consisted of self - evaluation and re – evaluation of the group work as well as members’ achievements In other words, Group processing exists when members assess what they gain and assess the achievement of the group as the whole… In addition, the continuous teams’ assessment of learning results is helpful for the entire group and individuals as well because it helps them recognize their strengths and weaknesses Therefore; the group can foster their relationship and their efforts in their learning

The five basic and significant components are not just procedures of CL, but meticulous strategies that are needed to enhance CL occurring According to Holubec, Johnson, and Johnson (1994), these components act as guidelines to produce outcomes that ensure students’ academic success When positive relationships are reinforced and the interpersonal efforts to achieve mutual goals occur, Cooperative learning will successfully maintained in language teaching

1.2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of Cooperative learning

Because of the fact that Cooperative learning has been applied in many countries and many universities in the world, There are some researchers conducted on the

benefits of CL in language teaching and learning According to Graves & Graves, 1990; Kagan, (1992), “Over the years, cooperative learning methods … enable students to acquire and practice effective interactions” (Graves & Graves, 1990; Kagan, 1992) Ross (1995) found that when children managed to provide assistance

to their peers, they become more “self-confident” and more willing to offer help others Many researchers suggested that CL increases student involvement and interest in learning (Johnson & Johnson 2000; Kagan; Sharan & Sharan 1976; Slavin 1978) Although, there are a great number of studies describing the advantages of CL, this research will discuss some main benefits of Cooperative learning to both teachers and learners mentioned by Cloud, T (2014)

 Advantages of CL to learners

According to Cloud, T (2014), Cooperative brings about three main advantages to students such as: fostering social interaction, idea exchange, and promoting leadership skills The first of these advantages is “social interaction” Social interaction between members of a given group helps dissolve nervousness and insecurity When taking part in a Cooperative group, students develop their communicative and interpersonal skills The second advantage of Cooperative learning is “idea transference” Working in a small group, students have more chances to exchange of ideas much quicker and effectively The last advantage of cooperative learning is leadership skills Cooperative learning helps to develop management and leadership skills in which each individual is accountable for his or her work and other members’ In his study, Johnson, D and Johnson, R (1999) stated that “To ensure that each member is strengthened, students are held individually accountable to do their share of the work” (Johnson - Johnson, 1999)

 Advantages of CL to teachers

Phuc, Ng T (2010), in her work, suggested three benefits of Cooperative learning

to teachers in language teaching Firstly, the role of teacher is clear and central Letting students work in a group allows teachers to manage the classroom; solve the problems and put more attention on students Secondly, the teacher will be less

stressful and depressive When setting up a group, teacher plays a role as a trainer, monitor and facilitator in the classroom “As a result, he/she can move around; work and interact freely with students” (Hamm & Adams, 1992) Last but not least, the teachers become more flexible and practical in applying a variety of group work activities and techniques to motivate students and create positive interaction environment

 Disadvantages of CL to learners

In her work, Randall, V (1999) gave some drawbacks of Cooperative learning to learners While cooperative learning has advantages it also reveals some disadvantages to learners These disadvantages consist of increasing the pressure on students and inequality among the group’s assessment In the first place, Cooperative learning places more burdens on students’ learning Because of the fact that in Cooperative learning, members of the group responsible for each other's learning and groups achievements In mixed-ability groups, the stronger students are left to assist weaker students Thus, it can put more stresses on stronger students

In the second place, Cooperative learning make a bridge gap in groups’ assessment Because Cooperative learning promotes the positive interaction and individual accountability, the results of groups’ assessments are unreliable When taking part

in a cooperative group, students “sink and swim together”, therefore, it is unfair to students who do most of work

 Disadvantages of CL to teachers

Despite of benefits, Cooperative learning has some disadvantages to teachers that needed to be improved in language teaching Randall, V (1999), in her article, claimed that although utilizing Cooperative learning can decrease the stress on teacher’s role, it can make an “avoidance of teaching” According to him, dividing the class into small groups allows the teacher to escape responsibility Instead of playing role as the center of the class, teachers work as the guide and facilitator in class Furthermore, using Cooperative learning in class can lead to some challenges

in delivering the task and setting a common goal in class Especially, in some mix –

ability and racial - inequity class, it seems difficult for teacher to assign students to work together and share a common task According to Sadker et al (1991), “… Cooperative learning does not necessarily lead to a more equitable and effective learning environment for females and minorities… in some areas of curriculum…” Last but not least, Cooperative learning can make some difficulties for teachers in managing and controlling class and activities……One of unexpected difficulties is continuous noise from different groups of students that is uncontrollable in a large class In addition, designing and exchanging numerous cooperative activities requires a lot of teacher’s effort and time

Overall, despite its unexpected drawbacks of Cooperative learning, it also reveals some undeniable benefits needed to be taken into consideration In order to apply CL effectively in class, it is necessary that teachers and educators balance both these advantages and disadvantage in language learning and teaching

1.2.5 Group formation

As discussed before, “not all groups are cooperative” (Johnson - Johnson, 2009) The difference between cooperative learning and traditional group work is that in traditional groups, students are requested to work in groups without any attention to group functioning, whereas in cooperative learning, group work is carefully divided, planned, organized and monitored (Jacobs, 1997; Johnson & Johnson, 1994; Lee, 1996) Because of its significant role in Cooperative learning, it is necessary that teachers should consider the way of forming a group and the quantity of students in

a group

 Ways of forming groups

Davis, B G (1993) extracts in “Tools for teaching” that: “[…] students working in

a small group tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer…”

Therefore; the next part will focus on two main topics: How a group forms and how many students a group consists

According to (Huong, T., 2006: 4) cited by Thuy, D T T (2013), there are three

teacher – formed arrangement Random groups means that assigning students to work in their groups unintentionally Groups can be formed by seat arrangement, counting, pairing up … and according to the numbers of students in a class by teachers or students This method of assigning groups tended to be “homogeneous

in nature” Because of unintentional formation, each group has randomly mixed language proficiency and competences; numerous interests and learning styles, etc Even though it is convenient, randomly formed groups may not be fair or may not

be the best way of forming a group

Figure 6: Illustration of Random - grouping

Another way to set up a group is using student – selected grouping As suggested, Teachers let the students form the groups by themselves In order to achieve a common goal, students tend to choose group members who have the same proficiency level, interests, and abilities or even background knowledge Regardless

of the benefits, it can cause some conflicts and discrimination gap in their group

The last and likely effective strategy to select a group is teacher – form

arrangement Teacher may select a group based on some special criteria to create

the groups These criteria are listed as follows: culture, background, gender, personality, level of knowledge, etc Dirkx, J M, (1998) cited by Thuy, D T T (2013:18) recommends that groups that are student - selected generally do not work

as well as groups which are appointed by the teacher, because the teacher always takes into consideration some factors in grouping such as age, race, sex, levels and

so forth so as to create “heterogeneous” teams to work independently and cooperatively if necessary Cooper (1979), in his work, distinguished

“Heterogeneity, leads to greater confrontation but provide the group with a wider range of resources Homogeneity, leads to greater intimacy, but promote less variety” As a result, it can restrict the number of learning possibilities available to the group

Figure 7: Homogeneous and heterogeneous groups

Source: Edited & cited by Thuy, D.T.T (2013)

 Quantity of group members

Although there is not ideal size of groups in Cooperative learning, the size of each group depends on each lesson’s objectives, student’s ages, experiences working in teams, and the available curriculum materials and equipment (Holubec, Johnson, & Johnson, 1994) Dirkx, J M (1998) indicates that “groups should consist of no less than three members and no more than eight members” Rice (1971) considered six

as the critical number for groups in all situations However, in her study, Ha, Ng T

M (2010) divides groups into three categories as follows: pair work; group work and the whole class Cooperative team may have two, three or four students depending on time, task type and learner’s ability Similarly, Johnson et al., (1991)

stated that “The shorter the time the smaller the group” Jacques (1991: 14) suggested the change of characteristics of Cooperative learning in below table:

Table 3: Changes in Characteristics in Group Dynamics

1.2.6 Cooperative Activities

Rod Killen (2004) indicates that: “Cooperative learning is more than just group work” Due to its scope, this study will only investigate some definitions about group work activities on the basis of cooperative learning hypothesis According to

Ha, Ng T M (2010: 15):

“[…] Cooperative teamwork activities are the activities in which teachers use structures and techniques to guide students to work in small group effectively to reach the shared goals Activities may be designed and implemented with particular criteria depending on the specific teaching context, purposes of the course, teachers’ proficiency or students’ abilities, needs, etc…

Source: Ha, Ng T M (2010: 15) cited by Thuy, D.T.T (2013

Ha, Ng T M (2010: 15) in her work, listed 20 activities used in cooperative learning such as Numbered Heads Together; Think – Pair – Share; Round Robin, Brainstorming; Team Interview; Jigsaw; Team Pair Solo; Three – Step Interview, Round Table; etc

Thuy, Dang T T (2013) recommended some team work activities as follows: Jigsaws; Number Heads Together; Think – Pair – Share; Inside or outside circle; Three step interview; Peer Tutoring; Games

According to Phuc, Ng T (2010), some activities in classroom are: Discussion; Problem – solving and Decision making; Games; Role play; Stimulations; Information gap, Brainstorming, Interview, Reporting; Share Presentation…

In Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (1997) written by Richard, J.C., Plat, J., & Platt, H (1997), some activities are included: Jigsaws; Numbered Heads Together; Cooperative Projects; cooperative interaction; Peer Tutoring; Three – Step Interview and Think – Pair – Share…

From the base of these studies, this research will describe some Cooperative activities used in classroom as below:

 Games: this is popular activity often used in collaborative learning Students

work together to take part in some objective and relaxing activities These activities are listed as: Spelling game, Phonics game, Action game, Linguistics Game…

 Think – Pair – Share: given by Orr, J (2010:3) This activity includes 3

steps: Think – Pair – Share First, students think about their answer and brainstorm ideas Next, students are given chances to work with a partner At last share the answer to the whole class

 Peer instruction: the modification of “Think – Pair – Share” allows students

to think about the answer and vote on a response before discussing with their partners

 Jigsaw: introduced by Brame, C.J and Biel, R (2015): Students work

together to become “experts” on materials After that, class arrange to allow “ Peer and Peer instructions”

 Discussion: Hammer (1984) claimed that “This activity fosters critical

thinking and quick decision making” Students gather to discuss about a topic based

on content of lesson Students also learn how to negotiate with the others and to support their partners or to check for clarification

 Problem solving and decision making: In order to solve the situations or

problems given by the teacher, students cooperate with their partners within a

limited period of time to find out the best answer to the problem

 Report: Each group of students is assigned with their task that requires them

to work together to carry out the final drafts before handing to teachers

 Peer Tutoring or Peer – Check: students work in groups to help each other,

and give feedback to their partners

There are various advantageous Cooperative activities can be applied into language teaching and learning Due to the scope of this research, it only focuses on some Cooperative group work activities such as Think – Pair – Share; Peer – Instruction; Jigsaw; Discussion; Problem solving and decision making; report; and Peer Tutoring Hopefully, to some extent, these activities are meaningful and practical to some teachers and educators in applying them into language teaching and learning

1.2.7 Cooperative in teaching and learning English

As mentioned above, Cooperative Learning is consider as “ instructional tool” and

“successful teaching practice” that has been recommended to use for many years in the world Therefore, there are numerous studies conducted to find out the effectiveness of this strategy Due to the scope of this research, researchers will take into account some studies which evaluate the using cooperative teamwork activities

in class Each study uses different methodology, however; they all determine the overall pedagogical value of activities and the suitable incorporation into specific teaching situations

“Teamwork activities in the 11th form speaking lessons at Lomonosov Private High School” is a study on applying teamwork activities in teaching speaking to promote student’s speaking competences This study is carried out by Nguyen Thi Phuc at