Applying cooperative learning principles to the teaching of english speaking skills in large classes

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIESFACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ---NGUYỄN THỊ XUÂN HƯƠNG APPLYING COOPERATIVE LEARNING PRINCIPLES T

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

-NGUYỄN THỊ XUÂN HƯƠNG

APPLYING COOPERATIVE LEARNING PRINCIPLES TO THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS IN

LARGE CLASSES

ỨNG DỤNG CÁC NGUYÊN LÝ HỌC HỢP TÁC VÀO VIỆC DẠY

KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO CÁC LỚP ĐÔNG

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi - 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

-NGUYỄN THỊ XUÂN HƯƠNG

APPLYING COOPERATIVE LEARNING PRINCIPLES TO THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS IN

LARGE CLASSES

ỨNG DỤNG CÁC NGUYÊN LÝ HỌC HỢP TÁC VÀO VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHO CÁC LỚP

ĐÔNG

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: PHAN THỊ VÂN QUYÊN, M.A

Hanoi - 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……… ………

ABSTRACT………

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………

LIST OF TABLES………

PART A: INTRODUCTION………

1 Rationale for the study………

1 2 Objectives of the study………

2 3 Scopes of the study………

2 4 Research questions………

2 5 Method of the study………

2 6 Organization of the study………

3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT………

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND………

1.1 Speaking skills………

1.2 Large classes………

1.2.1 Definitions………

1.2.2 Advantages of large classes………

1.2.3 Disadvantages of large classes………

1.2.4 Teaching speaking skills to large classes………

1.2.5 Key aspects effective for large class management………

1.3 Cooperative learning (CL)……… …………

1.3.1 Definitions of CL………

1.3.2 Principles of CL………

1.4.1 Goals of CLL……….

1.4.2 Advantages of CLL………

1.4.3 Disadvantages of CLL………

1 1.4.4 Main differences between CLL and traditional method………

1.5 Application of CL principles in teaching English speaking skills to large classes………

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY………

2.1 Current situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at VIMARU………

2.2 Research questions………

2.3 Research methods………

2.4 Subjects of the study………

2.5 Data collection instruments………

2.5.1 Classroom observation………

2.5.2 Students’ journals………

2.5.3 Informal interviews………

2.5.4 Questionnaires………

2.5.5 Speaking tests………

2.6 Data analysis procedure………

CHAPTER 3: DATA FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION………

3.1 Difficulties affecting teaching of English speaking skills to large classes at VIMARU……….………

3.1.1 Insufficient time for giving instructions and checking………

3.1.2 Challenges in maintaining the class’ discipline………

3.2 The benefits of the application of CL principles in teaching English speaking skills to large classes at VIMARU……… ………

3.2.1 Enhancing students’ participation………

3.2.2 Changes in nature of participation………

3.2.3 Improvement in speaking skills………

3.2.4 Improvement in social skills………

3.2.5 Improving collaborative skills………

3.2.6 A solution to the problem of mixed-ability students………

3.2

7 Les

s tim e-con su min g…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

3.2.8 Improving independent working………

2

16182222

222225252526262627272828

282829292930323435353636

3.2.9 Preventing social loafing phenomena ………

3.2.10 Reducing the teacher from hard workload ………

CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS……… 37

4.1 CL implementation plan……… 37

4.1.1 CL group structuring……… 37

4.1.2 Classroom arrangment……… 37

4.1.3 CL atmosphere……… 38

4.2 Difficulties in CL application……… 38

4.3 The teacher’s role in a CL speaking lesson……… 38

PART C: CONCLUSION……… 39

1 Conclusion………

… 39

2 Recommendation………

… 39 3 Limitations of the study……… 39

4 Suggestions for furtherstudy………

……… 40

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

3

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

The current English language teaching and learning context in Vietnam shows thatthe demand for English learning is very great As a result, English classes at

schools and universities are large in number of students However, the teaching of speaking skill encounters many difficulties due to large class size as well as lacks

of appropriate methods, teaching aids, insufficient time, unmotivated students,… The choice of this study was made in an attempt to solve the problems the

researcher faced after three years of working as a teacher of English at VIMARU She finds herself unable to manage large classes effectively especially during speaking lessons because of the following reasons First, most of students of VIMARU had learned English in difficult conditions before they entered the university, so their motivation was low Secondly, their levels of proficiency are low especially in speaking skills This made them unwilling to speak English in the classroom To make matter worse, the number of students in each class is usually over 60 and even 90 which is too difficult for the teacher to keep the class

in good discipline

One of the teachers’ concern is, therefore, how to help the students to speakEnglish better by participating more actively in speaking activities In order toaddress this concern, the researcher found the suggestion on using cooperativelearning seemingly effective After studying the CL principles which areheterogeneous grouping, collaborative skills, group autonomy, simultaneousinteraction, equal participation, individual accountability and positiveinterdependence, the researcher found these applicable to her teaching context asshe had long been searching an effective method in teaching speaking skills tolarge classes Therefore, the researcher decided to carry out a study in order to findout how well students can cooperate with each other to improve their speakingskills and build up confidence On the other hand, it helps overcome thedisadvantages while improving the advantages of a large class Most importantly,

4

it may encourage students to get involved in the speaking lessons and thus,improve their participation in a more conscious way.

Many CL programmes have been carried out worldwide and in Vietnam However,few have been done particularly for large classes while this is one of thedifficulties the researcher and her colleagues have encountered at VIMARU.Accordingly, the researcher of this study would like to conduct an action researchproject to find out how CL works in her teaching context

Once the study proves the CL works well, it is hoped to be widely recommendedand implemented to enhance the students’ participation in speaking lessons andserves as effective way to improve the traditional ways of teaching and at the sametime to make the teacher’s job in a large class less hard

2 Objectives of the study

The overall objective of this study is to examines how CL works in a universitycontext where students are studying English as a curriculum subject Particularly,the study was conducted to experiment CL principles in a large class wherestudents’ oral competence was really low to see if CL could help to improve thesituation

3 Scope of the study

In this individual research, the researcher will only focus on the effectiveness ofapplying CL principles in teaching speaking skills to two large classes of first-yearInformatics students at VIMARU, 76 of whom were male (57.57%) and 56 female(42.43%) Most of the participants were between 19 and 21 years old who were intheir second semester of general English course The speaking activities areselected and adapted the course book New Headway Elementary 3rd edition(Oxford University Press), basing on Spencer Kagan’s CL structures The datacollected from classroom observation, informal interviews and questionnaires arethen analyzed by the researcher herself

4 Research questions: The study aims at answering the two following

5 Method of the study: The action research employs both quantitative method

and qualitative method to analyze the collected data During speaking lessons onthe basis of CL principles, classroom observation is made to note down the

students’ attitude, participation and cooperation in groups, discussion and evenconflicts,…The students are also interviewed to clarify their answers in thequestionnaires previously done by themselves The collected information, thus, ismore reliable and straightforward

6 Organization of the study: The study is divided into three main parts The

contents covered in each part are as follows:

- Part A is the introduction which gives the rationale of the study, the objectives, the research questions, the scope, methods and organization of the study

- Part B is the development of the study which comprises 3 chapters Chapter 1presents the literature reviews of the study Chapter 2 describes the process ofimplementation of the study such as data collecting and analyzing, findings andresearch discussing questions Chapter 3 is devoted to pedagogical implicationsand suggestions for further study

- Part C is the conclusion of the study

6

PART II CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Speaking skills………

1.2 Large classes………

1.2.1 Definitions………

1.2.2 Advantages of large classes………

1.2.3 Disadvantages of large classes………

1.2.4 Teaching speaking skills to large classes………

1.2.5 Key aspects effective for large class management………

1.3 Cooperative learning (CL)……… …………

1.3.1 Definitions of CL………

1.3.2 Principles of CL………

1.3.3 Benefits of CL………

1.4 Cooperative Language Learning………

1.4.1 Goals of CLL………

1.4.2 Advantages of CLL………

1.4.3 Disadvantages of CLL………

1.4.4 Main differences between CLL and traditional method………

1.5 Application of CL principles in teaching English speaking skills to large classes………

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLODY2.1 Current situation of teaching and learning speaking skills at VIMARU

The teaching and learning of English speaking skills at VIMARU face commonproblems that most universities with large classes of students do Within a limitedtime and a large size of students in each class which ranges from 65-80, mostteachers find themselves unable to implement efficiently their tasks Besides, it itimpossible to carry out individual checks which is essential for evaluating andadjusting their teaching methods and materials To make matter worse, the levels

of proficiency of the students are mixed while it is extremely difficult for theteacher to carry so many teaching plans simultaneously Most students enrolledVIMARU with relatively poor knowledge of English since it is neither their majornor a requirement for university entrance exam This made them moredemotivated and disinterested in English in general and in improving theirspeaking skills in particular

2.2 Reseach questions: the reseacher would like to have an action research

aiming at finding answers to two following questions:

-What are difficulties of teaching English speaking skills to large classes atVIMARU?

- To what extend did the application of cooperative learning principles improve English speaking skills of students in large classes at VIMARU?

2.3 Reseach methods: Both quantitative method and qualitative method are

employed to analyze the data collected through classroom observation sheets,students’ journals, questionnaires and informal interviews Procedures this actionresearch is implemented basing on the 7 steps proposed by Nunan (1992) asfollows:

Step 1 Problem identification: From her own experience as a teacher of English

at VIMARU for 3 years, the researcher has found a common problem of all largeclasses in speaking lessons It is impossible to teach speaking skills to a greatnumber of students at the same time and that group work does not always help to

8

solve the problem as only one or two better students in a group works and the rest

do nothing Therefore, the assessment is not correct and can not motivate both theactive and the passive ones

Step 2 Preliminary Investigation: The researcher had some informal talks in

class with students to give preliminary insight into perceptions of group work, theactivities they wish to perform, the topics to talk about in their speaking lessons tofind out what teaching method is most likely to suit them After defining thedifficulties encountered when working in groups, which are low, unevenparticipation among group members and poor cooperation, she then introduced the

CL principles to solve these problems

Step 3 Hypothesis: The researcher conducted classroom observation and had

some discussion with students about the reasons for ineffective learning ofspeaking skills and group working in order to form the hypothesis of the studybasing on the initial data collected: applying CL principles to the teaching ofEnglish speaking skills in large classes The research questions then were set up,followed by the theoretical background for the study

Step 4 Intervention: The intervention was implemented basing on the 7

principles of CL as follows:

a Group structuring: The decision of member grouping was made by the teacher

basing on heterogeneous principle which means a group will consist of both boysand girls of different levels of proficiency and ages There were some studentscoming from rural areas and others from big cities whose abilities were different,too The group members discussed the allocation of each role: a speaker, a leader,

a moderator, a note taker whose tasks are relatively equal as it is believed that theideal number of students in each group is four

b CL introduction: The students were then made known of the CL definitions, its

7 principles, how it has been applied in different countries especially in languagelearning and teaching; and most importantly, how it was going to apply in theirown classes There was a demonstration on how this works, the students

took their roles and tried working basing on these principles The teacher guidedthem necessary skills for group working and how to cooperate effectively such asgroup planning, task dividing, timing, solving possible conflicts, …

c Implementing CL activities: The speaking tasks were suitably designed for

group working by the teacher basing on the textbook There were several differenttasks assigned to different groups to ensure that the groups would not discuss tocopy each other’s work They were organized to sit knees by knees for betterinteraction and discussion Besides, they were asked not to discuss too loudly so asnot to affect other groups as well as to control the noise of the whole large class.The assessment was also made known to the class which was of different levelsbasing on the contribution of each individual

Step 5 Evaluation: When the students first worked with their groups, the teacher

walked around to render help where necessary After that she noted down theperformance of all groups in her observation sheets At the end of each lesson,informal talks were carried out to find out the students’ opinions on CL, theirinquiries and progress The collected data were then analyzed both qualitativelyand quantitatively The role rotation and member participation which hadpreviously been marked were then calculated and demonstrated in tables Theirfeedbacks and attitudes towards CL were also noted down for analysis

Step 6 Dissemination: While carrying out the study, whenever the researcher

encountered any problem or noticed any progress with the teaching of speakingskills using CL principles, she shared the experience with other teachers fordissemination as well as for their advice and consultation The action research wasalso hoped to be introduced to some other teachers when this M.A thesis ispresented

Step 7 Follow-up: Lessons and suggestions for better application were made in

this final step

2.4 Subjects of the study: This action research is carried out in two classes of

first-year IT students who are taking their second course of general English The

10