Using small group activities to compensate for the limitation of large classes the case of EFL classes in quangninh university of industry

For moredetail, this study is aimed to promote the students‟ participation through theemployment of small-group activities in a big size EFL class.. Research question This study is condu

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

IN QUANGNINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

Sử dụng các hoạt động nhóm bù đắp cho những hạn chế của lớp học đông: Một trường hợp nghiên cứu lớp tiếng Anh đông sinh viên tại

trường Đại học Công nghiệp Quảng Ninh

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Hanoi - 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

IN QUANGNINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

Sử dụng các hoạt động nhóm bù đắp cho những hạn chế của lớp học đông: Một trường hợp nghiên cứu lớp tiếng Anh đông sinh viên tại

trường Đại học Công nghiệp Quảng Ninh

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Minh Tâm, PhD

Hanoi - 2015

I hereby declare that the paper is my own original work and is neither copiedfrom another source without proper acknowledgement, nor written for me byanother person, in whole or in part, though I may have discussed the paper withothers and used advice and suggestions from others in writing it This minor thesis

is the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty ofPost-Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies, VNU,Hanoi and it has not been submitted for any degrees at any other universities orinstitutions

Nông Thị LenHanoi, October 2015

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.Nguyễn Thị Minh Tâm, for her invaluable guidance, critical feedback, andespecially, her enormous encouragement, without which my thesis would be farfrom completion

My sincere thanks also go to all the lecturers and the staffs of the Faculty ofPost-Graduate Studies for their useful lessons and precious helps

Moreover, I am greatly thankful to all my colleagues and students atQuangninh University of Industry for their assistance during the process of datacollection

In addition, my high appreciation extends to all the authors whose materialshave been used in the study Thanks to them, I could accomplish my study

Last but not least, the whole-hearted thanks and debt gratitude are reserved for

my dear family, friends and relatives who have supported and helped me toovercome the difficulties during my study

It is never easy to teach English as a Second / Foreign Language (ESL/ EFL)effectively because of so many common reasons Among them, one of the objectivereasons causing ESL/ EFL teaching a lot of difficulties is large classes

In Vietnam, large ESL/ EFL classes are unavoidable, especially in highereducation, because of the increasing English-learning needs associated with thelimitations of class facilities (limited number of classrooms), limited number ofteachers and so on In order to overcome the disadvantages of large classes, thisstudy makes clear on how properly the small-group activities can compensate forthe limitations of big size EFL classes

In other words, this minor thesis examines students‟ perceptions regarding theeffectiveness of small-group work in large EFL classes More specified, it considersand illustrates how small-group activities could reduce students‟ anonymityconnected with large classes and promote students‟ accountability In addition,strategies to use these types of activities to compensate for the limitations of a bigsize EFL class are worked out

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATION vii

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aim of the study 2

3 Research question 2

4 The significance of the study 2

5 Methods of the study 2

6 Scope of the study 3

7 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Small-group activities 5

1.1.1 Definition of small group 5

1.1.2 Common types of small-group activities 6

1.1.3 Benefits of small-group activities 8

1.1.4 Challenges of small-group activities 8

1.1.5 Principles to use small-group activities 9

1.2 Large classes 10

1.2.1 Class size and students‟ performance 10

1.2.2 Definition of large classes 11

1.2.3 Limitations of large classes 12

1.2.4 Managing large classes 13

1.3 Review of previous studies 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 Rationale for the use of action research 17

2.2 Context of the study 19

2.2.1 General introduction of QUI and English Division at QUI 19

2.2.2 The current situation of large EFL classes at QUI 20

2.3 Material 21

2.4 Subjects of the study 21

2.5 Instrumentation 21

2.5.1 Questionnaire 21

2.5.2 Class observation 23

2.5.3 Semi-structured interview 24

2.6 Research procedure 25

2.6.1 Phase 1: Pre-action 25

2.6.2 Phase 2: Action 25

2.6.3 Phase 3: Post-action 27

2.7 Data analysis 28

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 29

3.1 Analysis of preliminary investigation data 29

3.2 Data analysis 31

3.2.1 The findings from the questionnaire 31

3.2.2 The findings from classroom observation 32

3.2.3 The findings of the semi-structured interview 35

3.3 Discussion 36

PART C: CONCLUSION 40

1 Recapitulation 40

2 Implications 41

3 Limitations 42

4 Suggestions for further study 42

REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: Pre-action Questionnaire for Students I Appendix 2: Post-action Questionnaire for Students III Appendix 3: Classroom Observation Evaluation Sheet IV Appendix 4: Group Observation Evaluation Sheet V Appendix 5: Questions for student interview VI Appendix 6: Results from Questionnaire 1 VII Summary of Students‟ profile VII Summary of Students‟ purposes of learning English VII Summary of Students‟ learning style VII Appendix 7: Results from Group Observation Evaluation Sheets VIII

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

VNU: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ESL: English as a Second Language

QUI: Quangninh University of Industry

WTO: World Trade Organization

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

ICT: Information and Communications Technology MA: Master of Arts

CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables

Table 1 Types of small-group activities 7

Table 2 The action phase 27

Table 3 Summary of Students‟ self assessment about their participation 30

Table 4 Summary of Factors make students reluctant 30

Table 5 Summary of Students‟ responses after action 31

Table 6 Result of Classroom Observation Evaluation Sheets 33

Figures Figure 1 The action research cycle (Stephen Kemmis, 1988: 6) 18

Figure 2 Detailed action research mode 18

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Touching upon EFL teaching, it can be seen that large class nowadays isbecoming a global issue In Vietnam, EFL teachers and learners also have to facewith this problem According to Van (2010), after 1986, the teaching of English hasgrown and expanded rapidly in Vietnam There has emerged a boom of learningEnglish as foreign language in the whole country The number of English learners inVietnam has increased at an overwhelming speed with Vietnam‟s entry into theWTO along with the rapid development of globalization and communication amongall countries in the world Thereafter, due to the lack of quality teachers andresources, the size of language class at any educational level tends to be larger andlarger It is very common for Vietnamese teachers to teach a class with more than

50 students and even not rare to have a college class with over 100 studentsespecially after the expansion of college enrollment Teachers face many challenges

in teaching in large classes which cannot be easily avoided in Vietnam context Somuch research has been conducted in such environment in order to facilitateteachers to cope with the problems arisen by the increase of the students in theclassroom

With the experience of four-year teaching EFL at Quangninh University ofIndustry (QUI), I can see that QUI also cannot avoid the current real situation ofVietnam‟s EFL teaching It is usual to have an EFL class of over 50 students, even

120 students at QUI Our students come from all over the country, with differentbackground and learning habits It is really difficult for me, as well as other EFLteachers at QUI, to manage these large classes from the very easiest thing namelychecking students‟ attendance Therefore, I would like to do the research in order tofind out a better solution for the problem of large class in QUI More specifically,this research was carried out to make clear to what extent the small-group activitiescan compensate for the limitation of large EFL classes The pedagogicalimplications withdrawn from this study are definitely beneficial for QUI teachers

and students I sincerely hope that thanks to the findings of this action study EFLteachers at QUI can better manage large classes, improve teaching quality, and helpstudents in large EFL classes to significantly improve the effectiveness of theirEnglish learning.

2 Aim of the study

The aim of this study is to find out the extent to which the use of small-groupactivities can compensate for the limitations of the large EFL classes For moredetail, this study is aimed to promote the students‟ participation through theemployment of small-group activities in a big size EFL class A big size EFL classtruly has some limitations in which the most undesirable one is discouraging theparticipation of students In this action research it is hoped that small-groupactivities can be effectively used to compensate for that limitation of large EFLclasses at QUI

3 Research question

This study is conducted to find the answers for the following question:

To what extent do small-group activities promote students’ participation in large class?

4 The significance of the study

For the teachers of English division, this study is hoped to bring them thedetailed and full view on the reality of big size classes at QUI and the necessary use

of group activities to compensate for some of large class‟s limitation As a result,they can apply the proper teaching methods to their large classes For the students inthe large EFL classes, this action research can help them to realize their strengthsand their abilities to learn, develop their language skills and contribute in a largeclass

5 Methods of the study

Action research is employed in this study Both qualitative and quantitativemethods are used in this research The data were collected by means of:

6 Scope of the study

To promote students‟ participation in large classes, EFL teachers can usevarieties of techniques However, this study merely focused on studying howeffective small-group activities, that are considered well-matched to theCommunicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach – a learner-centered approach,can be used to reduce students‟ anonymity connected with large classes andpromote students‟ accountability Small-group activities seem to be the mostsuitable to the context of large classes Among so many different useful small-groupactivities, only two activities are employed in this thesis: Small-group discussionand Role play

This action research is applied in six consecutive speaking lectures Speakingskill is chosen because it is the best in expressing the students‟ participation amongfour performance indicators for language skills (reading, speaking, writing andlistening) The action is carried out for the first-year students of all majors in a class

of 50 at QUI The collected data are analyzed and discussed to figure out howsmall-group activities contribute to encourage students to participate in theiroversize class Then some solutions were proposed to improve the quality ofteaching and learning in large classes

7 Design of the study

The study is organized into three main parts: Introduction, Development andConclusion

In part A – Introduction, the rationale, aims, research question, significance,

methods, scope and the organization of the study are presented

In the second part, part B - Development, there are four chapters.

Chapter I, Literature Review, mentions some main points about the theoreticalbackground for the field of the study This is the review of literature on small-groupactivities and large classes

Chapter II describes the methodology, or the overall picture of how theresearch was carried out from the first step of determining the research design to thelast step of gathering the results

Chapter III presents data analysis and findings This chapter attempts toprovide answers to the posed research question: To what extent do the small-groupactivities promote students‟ participation in large class? Then there are somediscussions on the findings of the study

Part C is Conclusion This part gives the conclusion of the study and also

accesses some pedagogical implications which suggest some ideas for teacher sothat they can maximize the benefits of small-group activities in their large classes

In addition to that, this part points out the limitations of this study and offers somesuggestions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter discusses the theoretical background of the two main issues mentioned in this minor thesis: small-group activities and large classes More importantly, this section points out how large classes affect the students’ performance and how to effectively manage a large EFL class in order to promote the students’ participation according to previous researches.

1.1 Small-group activities

To solve the problem of less participation in large classes there exist quite a lot

of techniques such as using students‟ names, pair/ group work, questioning, class work, incentive marks and so on Among them, pair/ group work is one of thebest methods which focus on communicative competence and learner-centeredness

extra-1.1.1 Definition of small group

Group work or cooperative learning is a method of instruction that getsstudents to work together in groups In the past two decades there has been a rapidgrowth in the use of small group learning experiences in higher education (Fink,2004)

In fact, though EFL teachers do not have choice in the class size they teach,they can still create the best learning environment for their students Small groupteaching has become more popular as a means of encouraging students learning.The question is how small a group should be to be called a small group AsSurgenor (2010) stated, there is no magical number that defines a group as a smallgroup A lecturer used to taking 400 in a lecture would define 50 as a small group,while a lecturer used to taking a group of 50 would define 5-10 as a small group Asthere can be sub-groups within groups, it is hard to define small group In adiscussion, where participation is assessed some students may not speak up in agroup that begins to get bigger than 10 participants and in addition tutors would find

it hard to assess participation by individual students in groups with numbers greaterthan this Hence, a group of less than 10 students may be the most suitable choice.

1.1.2 Common types of small-group activities

To encourage students‟ participation, in “Twelve things you can do to helpstudents learn in small group situations”, Race and Brown (1993) mentioned sometypes of activities for use such as Discussion, Role play and simulation Besides,teachers can use Task groups, Problem-based learning groups For pairs of students

in a large lecture, Gibbs (1992) gave some ideas for active learning like Silentreflection, Solve a problem, Swap answers with person beside, Discuss an issues inpairs, etc The table below (modified from Bender, 2003; Exley & Dennick, 2004;Salmon, 2005) provides some information on a variety of teaching methods that aresuitable for small group work because they adopt a student-centred approach

Types of

activities

Role play Provide a situation or individual for a small group to act out There

are pros and cons of role-playing, be wary of the content and whatstudents are asked to do There are many different forms of role-playing

E.g.: Role-play a situation where you have to return an item to ashop or make a complaint; role-play a conversation between adoctor-patient, father-son, waiter-diner, etc

Simulations Provide a „real‟ world opportunity for rehearsal in the safety of aand games group

E.g.: Simulate a bus crash and respond with the appropriate firstaid

Discussion Students join small groups to discuss ideas, comments, etc

(Buzz group) E.g.: What are five things you got from today‟s lecture?

Student-led Small groups of students (or pairs) are provided with theseminars opportunity to led class (usually tutorials) Also called co-operative

learning it aims to develop collaborative skills between students andincrease student involvement, and decrease teacher talk time

Debate Prosecutor vs defendant, critic vs defender, affirmative vs

negative

Fish-bowling One group works at a task while another group observes (e.g

observe a PBL task, a role-play, a performance) and thencomments, responds

E.g.: Group A develops a role-play between a student and a teacherwhile Group B observes (evaluates, comments)

Jigsaw A student works individually on one part of a task/activity then

works with others to combine various parts and complete the taskBrainstorming Provide a cue, concept, question or idea in order to generate a list of

responses, options and suggestions

E.g.: Brainstorm „masculinity‟

Cross overs Organisational method where groups work together then one

member from each splits to form another group so that studentsreport findings to smaller groups rather than class

Adaptation Modify, adapt and use any or all of the learning and teaching

activities above in the specific context

Table 1 Types of small-group activities

In summary, the activities for small groups are flexible and open to adaptationand interpretation to suit teachers‟ individual needs EFL teachers should adapt theactivities in order to best suit to their practical teaching.

1.1.3 Benefits of small-group activities

Research shows that group work allows students to become active participants

in their learning and helps students develop skills valued by employers (such asproblem solving, negotiation, conflict resolution, leadership, critical thinking andtime management) In addition to that, group work exposes students to diverse ideasand approaches; acknowledges and utilises individual students' strengths andexpertise Besides, through discussion, group work also helps students articulatetheir ideas, refine concepts and develop interpersonal and communication skills andfacilitates a deeper understanding of course content For teachers, group-basedlearning can often reduce the marking and feedback load associated with individualassessment

To encourage active learning, in a meta-analysis of thirty-nine studies focusing

on small-group learning in undergraduate environments, Springer, Stanne, andDonovan (1997) found that small-group learning was effective in advancing notonly student motivation but also academic achievement

1.1.4 Challenges of small-group activities

Although group work has the potential to encourage positive student learningexperiences, research evidence suggests that this potential is not always realised(Fink, 2004, Pieterse & Thompson, 2010) Although some students report that theirgroup work projects or tasks are the best learning experiences of university, othersfind them the worst, and feel reluctant to work in groups again Some studentsprefer to work independently, and find the group experience challenging andconfronting Added to this tension is group work's appeal for teachers in the face ofincreasing class sizes and staff workloads (Burdett, 2003) But teachers oftenunderestimate the effort involved in organising effective group work Group work

can sometimes be time consuming and difficult to implement Nevertheless, giventhe benefits for learning and future employability, it is important that all studentshave the chance to work in groups during their study at the university When itcomes to developing students‟ group work skills, there is no single best approach orassessment strategy It all depends on teacher‟s particular learning and teachingcontext and objectives The challenge is to choose a range of strategies that willallow the students to develop effective group work skills within the context ofteacher‟s discipline.

To do small-group activity is one way to change the pace of a large class.There are so many types of small-group activity but what type an EFL teachershould use in his/ her class depends much on how large the class is, the length oftime available, the physical features of the class, and the nature of the group task

1.1.5 Principles to use small-group activities

To effectively implement in a large class, there are some strategies for usinggroup work technique Group activities should grow out of a learning-basedrationale (Harris and Watson, 1997) Primary goals for small-group activities are tocreate a trusting, cooperative atmosphere for later class discussions; developeffective groups for class projects; develop effective, complex, cooperative learning

or problem-solving groups; prepare for out-of-class study groups; reach people withdifferent learning styles; and illustrate course content EFL teachers who want toincorporate group strategies in their teaching should think comprehensively aboutthe components of the lecture: content, goals and objectives To be effective, groupwork must require learning, not merely completing tasks Moreover, successfulgroup work demands the teacher‟s attention Well-planned group work requires thatteachers are involved in the process from beginning to end (Harris and Watson,1997)

In conclusion, the use of small group learning experiences in higher education

is increasingly grown recently Although small-group activities present somechallenges, they really offer great benefits for large class teaching If EFL teachers

make reasonable, flexible adaptation and appropriate application, small-groupactivities will become an efficient supporter for teachers to cope with the problem ofbig size class.

1.2 Large classes

1.2.1 Class size and students’ performance

Extant research on the relationship between class size and student performancehas identified conflicting results (Toth & Montagna, 2002) The results of somestudies show no significant relationship between class size and student performance(Hancock, 1996; Kennedy & Siegfried, 1997), while other studies favor small classenvironments (Gibbs, Lucas, & Simonite, 1996; Borden & Burton, 1999; Arias &Walker, 2004) Results vary based on the criteria used to gauge studentperformance, as well as the class size measure itself When traditional achievementtests are used, small classes provide no advantage over large classes (Kennedy &Siegfried, 1997) However, if additional performance criteria are used (e.g., long-term retention, problem-solving skills), it appears that small classes hold anadvantage (Gibbs et al., 1996; Arias & Walker, 2004)

Teachers of large classes have found that students‟ participation can beidentified in terms of three kinds of interaction, namely, students to their teacher,students to students, and students to material (Hung, 2005)

In terms of the interaction between students to their teacher, students whomaintain good interaction with their teacher always participate in the classdiscussion They become involved in what is happening in the classroom by askingmore questions, share personal ideas, opinion and experience with their classmates.Hence, participation is not just come to class on time, take notes what their teacherssay and write down on the black board, and stay in the class all the time Studentsare considered being active and attentive only when they work on the problems withthe teacher during the class, laugh at jokes, respond to the teacher‟s questions, oftenshow great desire to learn and become good students

In terms of the interaction between students themselves, students tend todiscuss in small groups.

The last kind of interaction is the one between students and material It can beunderstood as students‟ success in completing assigned reading activities

There are some factors affecting students‟ participation: students‟ learningstyles and students‟ motivations According to Willing (1995, cited in Nunan,1988:93), learner styles can be classified into four types:

Concrete learners: they prefer learning by games, pictures, films and videos,talking in pairs and learning through the use of cassettes

Analytical learners: these ones like studying grammar, studying Englishbooks, finding their own mistakes, and learning through reading newspaper

Communicative learners: they like to learn by observing and listening to nativespeakers, talking to friends in English and learning English wherever possible

Authority-oriented learners: they like the teacher to explain everything,writing everything in their notebooks, having their own textbooks, learning to read,studying grammar, and learning English words by seeing them

Regarding to students‟ motivation, according to Brown (1987), motivation is

an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that encourages one to do a particularaction Teachers, therefore, should know and realize the source of student‟smotivation, both instrumental and integrative to meet specific needs as well as to

“actively push learners to realize their full potential and make maximum progress”(Ur, 1996:273)

1.2.2 Definition of large classes

It is not easy to give definition of large classes because we must first answerthe question: How large a class is considered as a large class? Hayes (1997) saysthere is no quantitative definition of what constitutes a large class, as people‟sperception of this varies from context to context In some private language schools a

class with 20 students may be perceived large, in Lancaster University project anaverage number of the large class is around 50 (Coleman, 1989), while in Vietnam,large class generally refers to that of holding 50-100 students or more, which tosome foreign teachers may be super large It can be seen that in different context orculture, people have different degrees of tolerance of class size Ur (1996)concludes that what is relevant to the class considered as large one is how theteacher perceives the class size in the specific situation, regardless of the exactnumber of the students in it Therefore, large class is one with more students thanthe teacher prefers to manage and available resources can support, from this point ofview, large classes usually are considered to pose insurmountable problems forteachers.

When does a class become large? It depends on the class Writing classesbecome “large” quickly because of the need to give written feedback A speaking/listening class can seem large, and the same size reading class can seem “small”.Young students make a class “larger” than older students because of shorterattention spans If your classroom is very small and desks don‟t move, a fewstudents can become a large class Diverse classes become “large” sooner thanhomogeneous classes However, in a survey done in 2008 covering more than 30countries, regardless of how many students the respondents typically taught(anywhere from 20 to 150), most felt that a class became large with about 30students (Brady, 2011)

1.2.3 Limitations of large classes

Before discussing the limitations of large class, it can be denied that largeclasses do have some advantages Ur (2000) and Hess (2001) argue that largeclasses can provide richer human resources and greater opportunities for creativitythan smaller class Actually, some researchers (like Zhichang, 2001) agree that morestudents mean more ideas, and therefore, provide more opinions and possibilities

However, large classes obviously have some limitations because in largeclasses, students come from different backgrounds, areas and they are different inlearning styles, preferences, levels of English proficiency, and general attitudestoward English Therefore, these classes are usually multilevel and cause variouschallenges for effective teaching and learning English One of the most criticalproblems instructors of large lecture classes face is that students are oftenanonymous to both the instructor and to one another (McKeachie, 1999) Studentswho believe they are anonymous often feel less personally responsible for learning,are less motivated to learn, and are less likely to attend class (Cooper and Robinson,2000) In addition to that, according to Ur (1996:303), teachers of large classes alsoface with the problems of discipline, correcting written assignments, creatingeffective learning for all, finding suitable materials, and activating all studentsespecially, silent ones In conclusion, the biggest problems with having a large classare related to class participation.

1.2.4 Managing large classes

Effective management of large classes is a popular topic among faculty inhigher education Carbone (1998) and Stanley & Porter (2002) have produced booksfocused on the large class environment, offering strategies for course design, studentengagement, active learning, and assessment The advantages of large classesinclude decreased instructor costs, efficient use of faculty time and talent,availability of resources, and standardization of the learning experience (McLeod,1998) However, there are significant disadvantages to large classes, includingstrained impersonal relations between students and the instructor, limited range ofteaching methods, discomfort among instructors teaching large classes, and aperception those faculties who teach large classes are of lower status at theinstitution (McLeod, 1998) Thus, teachers should comprehend thoroughly theadvantages and disadvantages of large classes in order to have the appropriatemanagement strategy in particular context

There is a management-related strategy that teacher can group student inmultiple ways Group work is a technique that focuses on communicativecompetence and learner-centeredness The groups can be permanent from thebeginning of the course or temporary with subject to each lesson content Studentswill have varying levels in the group, but this can be seen as a good thing If theclass is conducted in English the students can help each other, which is good forboth the good students and the slower ones Grouping strategies occasionally allowbetter student support for struggling students when the teacher sees the need butlacks the time, because she can pair a stronger student with a struggling student as aprovisional “stand in” for her own guidance Furthermore, teacher will find it mucheasier to manage students in each small group rather than in a large group of wholeclass Last but not least, to learn languages, practice is essential In large classes,teachers have to create ways for students to practice without continuous, directteacher monitoring - structured groups are the only way to accomplish this Usinggroups allows students to be self-managing and allows more time for practice.Groups can be created in almost any class Even when desks can‟t be moved,having the front students turn back and the back students turn forward can makepairs and quads.

To sum up, though there are some conflicting opinions, that large class hassome limitation which affects the students‟ participation is still existent It can beseen that a large class is a relative concept Problems and difficulties of teachingassociated with large classes can also be found in smaller classes Teachers need toview large classes from a different perspective and recognize that despite a lot ofdisadvantages they can also provide many opportunities for teaching and learning.Class size is not the determining factor of teaching efficiency Teachers need toenhance their innovative awareness and capabilities for developing effective waysfor dealing with large classes based on the characteristics of large classes It can beseen from all the literature review above that small-group activities can be one ofthe most effective techniques which should be used in a large class to achieve active

learning Teachers can effectively apply small-group activities to their multilevellarge classes because the small-group activities are multiform and flexible.

1.3 Review of previous studies

From the early 21st century, the issues of handling large English classesaroused the interest of teachers and researchers all over the world A study byQualters (2001) suggests that students do not favor active learning methods because

of the in-class time taken by the activities, fear of not covering all of the material inthe course, and anxiety about changing from traditional classroom expectations tothe active structure In contrast, research by Casado (2000) examined perceptionsacross six teaching methods: lecture/discussion, lab work, in-class exercises, guestspeakers, applied projects, and oral presentations Students most preferred thelecture/discussion method Lab work, oral presentation, and applied projects werealso favorably regarded Hunt et al (2003) also noted favorable student attitudestowards active learning methods

Some researchers express concerns over the challenges encountered by thelanguage teachers For example, Zhang Jiamin (2002) analyzes the large classes intwo colleges and identifies the problems as follows: 1) Discipline problems; 2)Effective learning; 3) Weariness, which confirms to those mentioned by someforeign researchers Yu Jianqiong (2004) identifies some similar problems of largeclasses, e.g students‟ individual differences are ignored and the classroomenvironment is worrying She also mentions that limited chance for students topractice English hinders the improvement of their oral English, which is particularlytrue in foreign language context like China, since speaking English in class might bethe only chance for students to practice oral English These problems of collegelarge classes are also reflected in those of primary and secondary schools (SuTongquan 2005, Tan Long 2009, Zhang Lian 2010)

In Vietnam, Trần Thị Ngọc Bắc (2005) conducted an experiment with the use

of group work and questioning techniques for increasing students‟ participation in

communicative activities in large classes at Thái Nguyên College of Education Shecame to the conclusion that these techniques strongly increase the students‟ talkingtime and participation and reduce teacher‟s talking time in language activities.Đặng Quỳnh Trâm (2006) carried out a survey research to find solutions toimprove co-operative learning in non-English major multilevel classes at TháiNguyên University of Education.

In a research by Trịnh Lan Hương (2008), she suggested some communicativeactivities for large multilevel classes at Electric Power University to help studentsacquire grammatical knowledge in a communicative way

In 2009, Nguyễn Đức Hưng carried out a study on increasing students‟participation in communicative activities in large classes by using group work andquestioning techniques at Marie Curie High School, Hải Phòng He proved that thetwo techniques: group work and questioning will help students increase theirparticipation in communicative activities in large classes

In short, although there have been a variety of books and researches onteaching and learning in large classes, but there is inadequate research touchingupon the issues of implementing small-group activities for speaking skill in largeEnglish classes while speaking skill is fundamental to people‟s communication.This fact leads me to do this study

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the chapter is to present the specific plan of procedure of the study In the first place, this chapter explains why action research is used to undertake this study Then the context of the study is described The next parts in this chapter are to present participants of the study, instrumentation, research procedure and data analysis.

2.1 Rationale for the use of action research

Action research is a work in progress As defined by Peter Reason and HilaryBradbury (2001:1), action research is: a participatory, democratic process concernedwith developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes,grounded in a participatory worldview which we believe is emerging at thishistorical moment It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory andpractice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues ofpressing concern to people, and more generally the flourishing of individual personsand their communities

Meanwhile, Cohen and Manion (1985) defined:

“Action research is first and foremost situational, being concerned with the

identification and solution of problems in a specific context The aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out.”

Action research is situational; the research is initiated by practitioner andderived from a real problem in the classroom Using action research concurrently tosolve a problem, improve the current state of affairs and generate new knowledge.The objective of a classroom action research project, according to Richards &

Lockhart (1994): “…is an action plan designed to bring about change in some

aspects of the teacher’s class with subsequent monitoring of the effects of the innovation.”

Action research tends to be:

Cyclic: similar steps tend to recur, in a similar sequence;

Participative: the clients and informants are involved as partners, or at least

active participants, in the research process;

Qualitative: it deals more often with language than with numbers; and Reflective: critical reflection upon the process and outcomes are important

parts of each cycle

“Circle within circle” process of an action research

Stephen Kemmis has developed a simple model of the cyclical nature of the typical action research process as follows:

Figure 1 The action research cycle (Stephen Kemmis, 1988: 6)

Slightly different, Susman (1983) identifies five steps to be implemented in

an action research as follows:

From a different point of view, concerning action research as activity research,Nunan (1992) proposed a model of action research as a cycle which consists ofseven steps:

Step1: Initiation - A problem triggers the idea of action research

Step 2: Preliminary investigation - Baseline data are collected to helpunderstand the nature of the problem

Step 3: Hypotheses - A hypothesis is formulated after reviewing the initialdata

Step 4: Intervention - A number of strategies are devised and applied

Step 5: Evaluation - An assessment is carried out to evaluate the intervention.Some steps may be repeated

Step 6: Dissemination - A report of the research is published Ideas emergedfrom the research are shared

Step 7: Follow-up - Alternative solutions for the problem are continuallyinvestigated

Because of the simplicity of the way it was presented by the author as well asits appropriateness regarding the context of the study, the researcher chose thismodel of Nunan to be the theoretical framework for the design of the thesis

2.2 Context of the study

2.2.1 General introduction of QUI and English Division at QUI

QUI has a history of 55 years in training the labor force mainly for the coalindustry of Quangninh province Nowadays, its field extends to many other majorssuch as Business Administration, ICT, Mechanics, Surveying, etc Like so manyother universities in Vietnam education system, QUI considers English as a primaryforeign language

English Division of QUI consists of 11 teachers All of the teachers aregraduated from the university of foreign languages and 80% of them has acquired

MA degree or is following a postgraduate course at University of Languages and

International Studies, VNU Teachers of English at QUI apply various teachingmethods according to the skills and the level of students they are in charge of Theyalso usually combine traditional methods and positive methods in their languageteaching in order to build an active learning atmosphere in their classes Thoughthey always maintain their enthusiasm in their teaching, they still admit that theyfind it so difficult to manage and teach a large class.

2.2.2 The current situation of large EFL classes at QUI

Teaching and learning English at QUI is always of great importance Forbetter quality of English teaching and learning, QUI pays attention to invest on thetraining to improve the teaching quality and the facilities as much as possible.However, because English is taught for all students at QUI, it is inevitable that theincreasing enrollments have made the size of EFL classes at QUI get bigger andbigger Multilevel students, limited facilities, etc make large classes be reallytroublesome Students of all majors are gathered in a group sitting in a bigclassroom with unmovable tables Although all classrooms are equipped withmodern projectors, microphones and speakers, students still find it difficult tofollow the lectures Teachers of such large classes at QUI give feedback that theycannot remember the names of students Moreover, teachers also face so manydifficulties in marking and assessment In large classes, teaching and learning aredisturbed by noise and distraction In the first year of applying the credit-basedtraining system at QUI in 2012, EFL teachers often have to be in charge of classesfrom 80 to 100 students each Recently, although the number of students in a classhas decreased, teachers of English Division still have to teach classes of 50-60students The smallest EFL class is still 30-40 students Students really feelanonymous and as a result, they are lazy and shy to contribute ideas in front of bigclass Moreover, while the teachers cannot take everyone and everything intoaccount, students are distracted and tend to have personal talk instead of discussingthe lesson

2.3 Material

Currently, like many other English Departments at non-English majoruniversities in Vietnam, English Division at QUI also chooses the student‟s bookNew Headway the third edition of John and Liz Soars published by OxfordUniversity Press in 2010 to teach for students of General English There are 12 units

in this main course-book mentioning 12 common topics in life such as Places andthings, Fame, Going places, etc Each unit is organized into seven parts: LanguageFocus, Vocabulary and Everyday English, apart from four basic English skills:Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing Sometimes, speaking parts of the unit areintegrated into others The course-book occasionally designs some activities forstudents to speak and work in groups or pairs to practice the grammar in LanguageFocus The total time duration for students to practice their speaking skills is around

2 periods per unit

2.4 Subjects of the study

In order to achieve the aims of the study, fifty first-year students in a generalEnglish class (DH01.K8) were selected to participate in the study My students,aged 18, come from different areas all over the country They have different Englishbackground as well as learning habits, even some of them has never learnt Englishbefore They are students of all majors (Underground Mining, Mineral Processing,Accounting, etc.) Their target level after the first year is Pre-Intermediate which isequal to CEFR level A2

2.5 Instrumentation

There is a number of instruments were used as data collection tools to collectthe data The study is both quantitative and qualitative kind of research in which thedata is collected by means of questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews

2.5.1 Questionnaire

Two questionnaires were used as data collection instruments

Questionnaire 1 (The pre-action questionnaire for students) - see Appendix 1:

 Purpose: The first questionnaire had been delivered to all fifty students in

class DH01.K8 before the researcher carried out the action in order to get the generalinformation about the students The information found from the first questionnaire helpedthe researcher to design and adapt the two small-group activities (discussion and roleplay) to best fit to the students

 Structure of the questionnaire: This questionnaire consists of ten questions

in which some is open-ended, some is close-ended The researcher use Likert scale inorder to able to collect rich data This first questionnaire is in Vietnamese

 Participants: Fifty first-year non-English major students in General

English class All of them are 18 years old

 Data collection procedure: The questionnaire was copied and distributed

to all fifty students Then it was collected and analysed before the action

Questionnaire 2 (The post-action questionnaire for students) - see Appendix 2:

 Purpose: The purpose of this questionnaire is to collect data about the

students‟ perception on the fact that small-group activities were used in their large classand to see whether the students feel satisfied with and beneficiary under the appliedsmall-group activities

 Structure of the questionnaire: The questionnaire consists of eight

statements The students show their attitude towards these eight statements based onLikert scale

 Participants: Fifty first-year non-English major students in General

English class All of them are 18 years old

 Data collection procedure: After six sessions of applying the action, the

questionnaire was copied and delivered to all fifty students in the class Then thequestionnaire was collected and analysed

2.5.2 Class observation

Two applied small-group activities are Discussion and Role play The oversizeclass was divided into ten groups of five In the speaking sessions, teacher assignedand instructed activities for students to do in their groups and then, while they wereworking in their groups, teacher could attend, support and observe each group andall class Besides, in order to get richer data about group activities, the researcherneeded the help from one more teacher, who worked as an assistant observer, toobserve the classroom while the researcher observed the groups

 Purpose: Classroom observation is the main tool to evaluate how effective

small-group activities can compensate for the limitations of the large class Classroomobservation provides more information about the level of students‟ participation inlessons, and the activities occurring in the class

 Structure: The classroom observation scheme is designed into two parts.

Part one is to observe and take note about the students‟ participation inSpeaking class Part 2 is to take note and evaluate the atmosphere of theclassroom All of the two parts are taken note and evaluated based onLikert scale In addition to that, the Group Observation Evaluation Sheetswere used to be the scheme for the researcher to evaluate the students‟participation in groups in each session and specifically take notes of theoutstanding or less active students

 Participants: The researcher - teacher of the large class is also the

observer One more observer is a colleague of the researcher

 Data collection procedure: During the six consecutive Speaking sessions

(of 45 minutes per each), the researcher applied the two small-group activities to theclass In each session, the researcher observed and took note into one sheet of ClassroomObservation Scheme After that, the observation results was analysed carefully

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2.5.3 Semi-structured interview

The semi-structured interview is used in this study Using this kind ofinterview gives the researcher a great deal of flexibility and allows a degree offreedom in getting information from interviewees

 Purpose: The purpose of the interviews is to test the validity of the

information obtained from the questionnaires and observations The interviews wereconducted at the end of the research with the aim of gaining more insights for evaluatingthe influence of small-group activities on students‟ participation in large class

 Structure of the interview: To interview the students, the researcher used

seven questions in which five of them are open-ended ones The questions are about thestudents‟ experience in the Speaking sessions that were applied the small-groupactivities

 Participants: The two most and two least achievable students in class were

chosen to participate in the interview

 Data collection procedure: After the action and the observation were

undertaken through all six sessions, four students were informed to be four intervieweestwo days before the interview The aim of this advance notice was to help studentsprepare and promote their “professional” attitude The students were chosen according totheir in-class performance Each student was hoped to spend around 15 minutes for thesemi-structured interview The interviews were recorded under the interviewees‟permission for the purpose of the study The interview was conducted one-by-one toallow the research to delve deeply into the issue

The students were allowed to speak in Vietnamese so that the researchercan elicit more information from the subjects The data from the semi-structured interviews was analyzed after gathering

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2.6 Research procedure

This action research was carried out in three main phases: Pre-action, Actionand Post-action Each of these phases concludes instruction steps introduced byNunan (1992)

Step 2: Preliminary investigation

The first questionnaire was delivered to students in order to check againwhether the researcher‟s observation was right The researcher released 50questionnaires and got back 50 questionnaires The result from the questionnaireshows that 43% students found it difficult for them to speak English and contributeideas in front of their big class although the students had motivation to learnEnglish They would like to learn in groups by talking with the other members Thepre-action questionnaire helped the researcher to confirm the real situation that largeclass really discouraged the students‟ accountability

was in 45 minutes Students were divided into small groups of five Teacher gave

clear instructions for the students to work in their groups Depending on the topic of

the lesson they learnt, the students was assigned to participate in one of the two

activities: discuss in their group and then present their ideas in front of class or play

roles in order to practice speaking All of the students had chance to practice, speak,

discuss and present (within their group and in front of all class) All the in-class

performance of students and teacher in each session was observed and took note

into the Classroom Observation Scheme Sheet The following table is the topic, the

structure/ grammar/ vocabulary for practice and the applied small-group activities in

detail

Structure/ Grammar/

Small-group activities to Topic/ Unit Vocabulary for

apply practice

Session 1 Unit 1: Getting The verb “have”: Discuss the questions in

to know you - How many good group:

Part 6 - friends do you have? Students ask and answer oneSpeaking: Best - Do you have a best by one Try to use the verb

- Why is he/ she your Take note

best friend?

Session 2 Unit 2: The way Do you know anyone Small group discussion:

we live who has lived or is Students one by one ask,Speaking: Living living in another answer and take note

they think of it?

Session 3 Unit 4: The - Which of the markets Discussion: answer the

market place would you like to visit questions in groups

Talking about - Have you visited a

country? If yes, describeit

Session 4 Unit 5: What do What are you doing Role play: Students work in

you want to do? tonight? pairs They need to arrange a

time to meet over the nextfew days They talk together

to find a time when both ofthem are free Student Alooks at the diary on p145

Student B looks at the diary

on p148

Session 5 Unit 7: Fame! Interviewing a band Role play: Students work in

groups of five Four studentsare members of a band One

is a journalist Look at p151

to make the interview

Session 6 Unit 8: Do‟s and Parents and children Role play: Students work in

Group B: Evie – Discusswhat to tell your parentsabout your life in London.What can you say to stopthem worrying about you?Students find a partner fromthe other group Roleplay aconversation Start:

- Evie it‟s so good to haveyou home again We‟vebeen so worried aboutyou

- I‟m fine Living inLondon is great Youshouldn‟t worry

- But …

Table 2 The action phase

2.6.3 Phase 3: Post-action

Step 5: Teacher’s evaluation

After undertaking the action within six consecutive sessions of 45 minutes per

each, a second questionnaire was delivered to collect the feedback of students on the

application of small-group activities in their speaking class Besides evaluating

based on the classroom observation, teacher can evaluate based on the students‟

perception of implementing small-group activities

At the end of the study, the researcher conducted a semi-structured interview

to seek more information about the improvement that learners achieved after the

action and some questions about their experiences in participating in small groups

Four students were selected based on their participation in small-group activities inthe six observed speaking classes Two were the most active (coded as S1, S2), onewas the least active (coded as S3) and one was of unstable and irregularparticipation (coded as S4) throughout the six observed sessions.

2.7 Data analysis

Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used in the study Thequestionnaires were analyzed quantitatively Data collected from the questionnaireswas collected and presented by table with percentage of subjects choosing a givenanswers The qualitative analysis was conducted with interview data