Organizing pairwork in the english lessons at pho yen high school 11th grade, thai nguyen province m a thesis linguistics 60 140 111

This thesis was carried out to investigate the use of pairwork activities todevelop speaking skills for the first year English students at Pho Yen High School.. However, it seems that th

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

ORGANIZING PAIRWORK IN THE ENGLISH LESSONS AT

PROVINCE

Tổ chức hoạt động cặp trong các giờ học Tiếng Anh tại khối lớp 11 của trường THPT Phổ Yên, tỉnh Thái Nguyên

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

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

ORGANIZING PAIRWORK IN THE ENGLISH LESSONS AT

PROVINCE

Tổ chức hoạt động cặp trong các giờ học Tiếng Anh tại khối lớp 11 của trường THPT Phổ Yên, tỉnh Thái Nguyên

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111

SUPERVISOR : Assoc Prof Dr LÊ HÙNG TIẾN

Hanoi, 2014

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT -***** -

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled

Organizing pairwork in the English lessons at Pho Yen High School 11 th grade,

Thai Nguyen Province.

In the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at College ofForeign Languages, Hanoi National University, and that this thesis has not beensubmitted for any degree at any other university or institution wholly or partly

Hanoi, August 2014

Vũ Thị Khánh Vân

In completion of my thesis, I have received generous advice and help frommany lecturers whose lectures are very practical and useful Firstly, I would like to

express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mr Lê Hùng Tiến Ph.D from Vietnam

National University, Hanoi College of Foreign Language, for his close guidance,criticism, and his generous help in the process of completing my thesis

My special thanks also go to all lecturers and the staff of the Department ofPost Graduate Studies at Hanoi College of Foreign Language for their usefulmaterials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course of study

I really wish to thank all my colleagues and my students at Pho Yen HighSchool- for their kind cooperation in giving valuable information

Finally, I owe my deep thanks to my dear family, especially my husband, mysons who always stand by me with their consideration and encouragement

Vũ Thị Khánh Vân

Learning language well depends on many factors such as personalcharacteristics, the structure of the native and target languages, opportunities tocommunicate with other people and with native speakers, etc For students at schools,these factors can only work well with the help of the teachers‟ using differenttechniques, and approaches in language teaching

In communicative language teaching, students have more chances to practise inthe target language through different classroom activities, among them pairwork andgroupwork appear to be the most appropriate application

This thesis was carried out to investigate the use of pairwork activities todevelop speaking skills for the first year English students at Pho Yen High School

Survey questionnaires for teachers and students were employed to find answers

to these two questions The use of paiwork activities are also beneficial for bothteachers and learners However, there were some problems such as student lowproficiency and their passive way of learning styles, which prevent them from takingpart in pairwork activities Teachers‟ lack of time and have to deal with large andmulti-level classes in unqualified conditions hinder them a lot in implementingpairwork activities to teach four language skills By analyzing and comparing theresults of students‟ and teachers‟ responses to questionnaire about pairwork activities,the author attempts to shed light on the effectiveness of these activities and how to bestimplement them

In Pho Yen Upper Secondary School in Pho Yen district, Thai Nguyen province,pairwork is widely used in foreign language classes However, it seems that the use ofthese implemetation activities at Pho yen High School is not effective enough, therefore,focuses on pointing out how to organize pairwork in a more effective way so that it helpsstudents find learning English a great fun and less demanding

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Students‟ and teachers‟ opinion about the main benefits of pairwork 19

Chart 2: Students‟ opinion about the useful for pairwork. 20

Chart 3: Teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about the useful of pairwork 21

Chart 4: The important role when using pairwork 22

Chart 5: The factors effected about the success of pairwork 22

Chart 6: Students‟ and teachers‟ opinion about the appropriate time for PW 23

Chart 7: Students‟ frequently used activities of pairwork 23

Chart 8: How are teachers and students often create pairwork? 24

Chart 9: Teachers‟ responsibilities for successful pairworks 25

Chart 10: Teachers‟and students‟opinion about preparing materials for PW 26

TABLE OF CONTENT

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF CHARTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENT v

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 2

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Methods of the study 2

6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Communicative approach to Language Teaching 4

1.1.1 What is meant by communication? 4

1.1.2 Communicative language teaching 5

1.1.2.1 Nature of Communicative Language Teaching 5

1.1.2.2 The techniques of Communicative Language Teaching 5

1.2 Definition of pairwork 7

1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of pairwork 7

1.3.1 Advantages of using pairwork activities 7

1.3.2 Disadvantages of using pairwork activities 8

1.4 How to organize pairwork 9

1.4.1 Preparation for pairwork 9

1.4.2 Steps in the classroom 10

1.4.2.1 Select the activity 10

1.4.2.2 prepare of materials 10

1.4.2.3 Size and selection of pair 10

1.4.2.4 Organize students within the pair 10

1.4.2.5 Time of pairwork activity 11

1.4.2.6 Share pairwork with the whole class 11

1.4.3 Steps of organizing pairwork 11

1.4.3.1 Pre activities 11

1.4.3.2 While activities 12

1.4.3.3 Post activities 12

1.5 Difficulties in organizing pairwork and suggested solutions 13

1.5.1 Difficulties 13

1.5.1.1 Space 13

1.5.1.2 Instruction 13

1.5.2 Solutions 13

1.6 Previous studies related to organizing pairwork 14

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15

2.1 Research setting 15

2.1.1 An overview of Pho Yen High School 15

2.1.2 The students 16

2.1.3 The teachers 16

2.2 Methodology 17

2.2.1 The participants 17

2.2.2 Data collection instruments 17

2.2.2.1 Questionnaires 17

2.2.2.2 Class observations 17

2.2.3 Data collection procedures 18

2.2.4 Data analysis 18

2.2.4.1 Results from questionnaires 19

2.2.4.1.1 Teachers’ and students’ opinions about benefits of pairwork 19

2.2.4.1.2 Teachers’ and students’ judgements about the use of pairwork activities in English classes 21 2.2.4.1.3 Teachers’ and students’ desires to learn English via pairwork Activities 22 2.2.4.2 Data analysis from class observations 26

2.2.4.3 Examples of pairwork 27

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 30

3.1 Major findings 30

3.1.1 The way the teachers at Pho Yen High School use pairwork 30

3.1.1.1 Steps of organizing pairwork 30

3.1.1.2 The materials used in organizing pairwork 31

3.1.1.3 Teachers’ difficulties 32

3.1.1.3.1 Lack of knowledge of pairwork 32

3.1.1.3.2 Habits of old teaching methods 32

3.1.1.3.3 Unefficient preparation 32

3.1.1.4 Students’ difficulties 32

3.1.1.4.1 Passive learning style 32

3.1.1.4.2 Low level of English language proficiency 33

3.1.1.4.3 Learners’ fear of making mistakes 33

3.1.1.5 Object factors 33

3.1.1.5.1 Large-sized lasses 33

3.1.1.5.2 Lack of reference and teaching aids 33

3.2 Recommendations 33

PART C: CONCLUSION 35

1 Summary of the findings 35

2 Concluding remarks 36

3 Limitations of the study 37

4 Suggestions for further study 38

REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 V APPENDIX 3 X APPENDIX 4 XIV APPENDIX 5 XVIII APPENDIX 6 XX

of countries throughout the world.

English, nowadays, is widely taught in Vietnam, from primary school touniversity, including English centers throughout the country People learn Englishfor their work or for their higher study However, the results of the English coursesare not very good Vietnamese teachers of English have not known how to apply theteaching method in effective ways They are lack of knowledge, teaching aid, time,and money to teach four language skills: listening skills, speaking skills, readingskills and writing skills

Like many teachers in the schools of Vietnam, teachers of English at Pho Yenupper secondary school face the same problem: students‟ inactive participation inlearning activities in the classroom In fact, there are a variety of reasons for thispoor participation, and therefore using appropriate techniques and methods forteaching English effectively to students at Pho Yen upper secondary school requires

a teachers‟ enthusiasm and commitment

This led me the choice of the study “Organizing pair work in the English lessons

at Pho Yen High School 11th grade, Thai Nguyen Province” with the hope ofcontributing to improve the teaching and learning English in pho Yen High School

in particular and in Vietnam in general My study only focuses on how to organize pair work more effectively for students at Pho Yen High School in Thai Nguyen.

2 Aims of study

The study is aimed at:

 Investigating the use of pairwork at Pho Yen High School- a school located

in Pho Yen district, Thai Nguyen province

 Finding out effective technique to organize pairwork with the hope of helping teachers at Phổ Yên High School in teaching English

3 Research questions of the study

This study is aimed to answer the following research questions: How do theteachers at Phổ Yên High School use pair work?

4 Scope of the study

To improve four skills for students at Phổ Yên High School, the teachers canmake use of various techniques and a number of things should be done However,the researcher only intends to draw a brief overview of pair work in classes at PhổYên High School and to find out the ways to organize pair work more effectively

5 Methods of study

To realize the aims of the study The theoretical background of the studycomes from many published books written by different authors on languageteaching and language acquisition The data collected for the study came from twosources: the students and the English teachers at Phổ Yên High School (6 Englishteachers and 120 students) survey questionnaires and observation

In this research, quantitative method is used, too All comments, remarks,recommendations assumption and conclusion provided in the study based on theanalysis of the statistics from the survey questionnaires conducted with students andteachers of Phổ Yên High School The study is also based on a qualitative methodwith the author‟s own experience and observation during 9 years of teachingEnglish

6 Design of study

This study consists of 3 parts:

Part A: provides an introduction which includes the rationale, aims, scope, research

questions, methods and design of the study

Part B: provides a development which is divided into three chapters.

Chapter 1: Literature Review: is intended to give some theories related to the

study such as communicative language teaching, communication learning process,definitions of pairwork along with some common pairwork oral activities Thechapter also mentions advantages and disadvantages of using pairwork

Chapter 2: The Study Research – provides an analysis on the current situation of

using pairwork in teaching and learning English at Phổ Yên High School Datacollection and analysis are also presented in this chapter

Chapter 3: Findings and Suggestions - focuses on how the teachers at Phổ Yên

High School organized pairwork and difficulties facing them and their students incarrying out these activities and some suggestions for the teachers to organizepairwork more effectively

Part C: Conclusion - which is the conclusion of the study Some explanations,

interpretations of the findings of the study and some pedagogical implications aregiven in this chapter In addition, some possible suggestions for further research arealso discussed

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter briefly covers the theories related to the study : Communicativeapproach to language teaching, and pair work in language teaching and learning

1.1 Communicative approach to language teaching

1.1.1 What is meant by Communication?

“Communication is such a well-integrated part of our day- to- day existencethat we tend to take it for granted rarely pausing to consider what it involves or just

how important it is to us” ( Thompson 2003: 9)

Before he expressed his own ideas about communication, he mentionedsome of Fiske‟s ideas:

“Communication is one of those human activities that everyone recognizes but

few can definite satisfactorily” (Fiske 1990:1)

“Communication is too often taken for granted when it should be taken to

pieces” (Fiske 1994:8)

Thompson noticed “I quickly recognized that communication is used in anumber of senses and at a number of levels to indicate the transmission ofinformation or even, as in the transport networks example, the transmission ofgoods and people” (Thompson, 2003:10)

However he completely agreed with Fiske‟s ideas that “the most relevantdefinition of communication for present purposes is social interaction throughmessages” (Thompson, 2003:10) There are two related aspects that we shouldconsider when talking about definition of communication is “social” and

“interaction”

According to Dwyer (2000:8), communication is very important in daily life: “Forthose working in our changing social and economic environment, effectivecommunication is as important as it has always been Now, however, we must graspthe fact that we are dealing with more layers of communication than ever before

The exchange of information and ideas becomes more complex daily,

as management structures flatten, work teams emerge and interact with other teamsand as globalization requires us to link up with individuals and organizations atregional, national and international levels Increasingly sophisticated technologyenables us to achieve a scope and range of communication unimaginable even 20years ago”.

1.1.2 Communicative Language Teaching

1.1.2.1 Nature of Communicative Language Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching means little more than an integration ofgrammatical and functional teaching Littlewood (1981:1) states, “One of the mostcharacteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematicattention to functional as well as structural aspects of language”

Communicative Language Teaching means using procedures where thelearners mainly work in pairs or groups employing available language resources inproblem- solving tasks CLT stresses the importance of providing the learners withopportunities to use English for communicative purposes and attempts to integratesuch activities into a wider program of language teaching

1.1.2.2 The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching

The techniques of Communicative Language Teaching are described by differentlinguists as following:

Nunan (1991a:279) gives five features to characterize CLT:

+ An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target

language

+ The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation

+The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also

on the learning process itself

+ An enhancement of the learner‟s own personal experiences as

important

contributing elements to classroom learning

+ An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom

According to Richards and Rodgers (1986:170), because communicativeprinciples can be applied to the teaching of any skill, at any level, and because ofthe wide variety of classroom activities and exercise types discussed in the literature

on Communicative Language Teaching, description of typical classroom proceduresused in a lesson based on CLT principle is not feasible Savignon (1983) discussestechniques and class management procedures associated with a number of CLTclassroom procedure (e.g., group activities, language games, role plays), but neitherthese activities nor the ways in which they are used are exclusive to CLTclassrooms

Johnson and Johnson (1998) offer five core characteristics that underliecurrent applications of communicative methodology:

+ Appropriateness: Language use reflects the situations of its use and must beappropriate to that situation depending on the setting, the roles of the participantsand the purpose of the communication, for example Thus learners may need to beable to use formal as well as casual styles of speaking

+ Message focus: Learners need to be able to create and understand messages, that

is, real meanings Hence the focus on information sharing and information transfer

in CLT activities

+ Psycholinguistic processing: CLT activities seek to engage learners in the use ofcognitive and other processes that are important factors in second languageacquisition

+Risk taking: Learners are encouraged to make guesses and learn from their errors

By going beyond what they have been taught, they are encouraged to employ avariety of communication strategies

+ Free practice: CLT encourages the use of “holistic practice” involvingthe

simultaneous use of a variety of sub-skills, rather than practising individual skills one piece at a time

To sum up, Communicative Language Teaching is best considered an approachrather than a method It refers to a diverse set of principles that reflect a

communicative view of language and language learning and that can be used tosupport a wide variety of classroom procedures.

1.2 Definition of pairwork

The definitions of pairwork have been developed over the years with thecontributions of a great number of linguistics and are brought together by Doff

(1988: 137): “In pairwork, the teacher divides the whole class into pairs Every

student works with his or her partner in pairs, and all the pairs work at the same time (it is sometimes called “simultaneous pair work”) This is not the same as

“public” or “open” pairwork, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front of the class.”

The definition of pairwork in this case is an activity that gives students achance to talk to each other practice language together, study a text, researchlanguage or take part in information-gap activities They can write dialogues,predict the content of reading texts, or compare notes on what they have listened orseen

In general, there are two main types of pairwork, fixed pairs and flexible

pairs, suggested by Byrne (1983) The first type is when the students work with the

same partner in order to complete task In this kind of pairs, they will deeplyunderstand each other and know the other‟s ability Meanwhile, the second one iswhen students keep changing the partners They can lift their chairs freely to talk toany partners they like Therefore, this will make the activity more interesting

1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of pairwork

1.3.1 Advantages of using pairwork activities

Brumfit says that pairwork is the most effective techniques of classroomorganization which combine aspects of communication learning and naturalinteraction in a stress free environment (Brumfit, 1984:78)

Pairwork gives students more opportunities to speak English in classroom.Students participate in the lesson much more actively because they are involved intalking to their friends exchange opinions, practising new structures more than

listening to their teacher talking By dividing the class into groups, students getmore chances to talk than in full class organization, thus each student can saysomething Penny Ur recommends that teachers working with larger classes shoulddivide them into five groups which is the most effective organization for practisingspeaking (Ur, 1996: 232)

Students may feel less anxious when they are working in a group with asmall number of people Particularly, timid students find it hard to speak in front ofthe class and teacher in their eyes seems to be a fear They become silent and cannotopen their mouth with an empty mind However, when participating in pairs orgroups, they may be find easier to share their opinions naturally

Beside practising and consolidating the language, pairwork helps to integratethe class Students learn how to cooperate with one another, make compromise,negotiate, and respect individual with different abilities and views, which isimportant for the class atmosphere and relationship with the teacher Instead ofsitting alone trying to understand something difficult, they can help each other Insuch a class the teacher is no longer a supervisor but becomes a resource center andadvisor for the students

To introduce pairwork, teacher brings variety into the classroom It enableshim to individualize work by preparing different tasks taking into accountsstudents‟ abilities and potentials when both able and less able students may feel asense of achievement while completing the task

1.3.2 Disadvantages of using pairwork activities

Gorgon (2008) also points out clearly disadvantages of using pairworkactivities as follow:

Some teachers are reluctant to use pairwork being afraid of noise ordiscipline problems which might occur particularly Indeed students make noisewhile working on the task; they discuss things, check words and communicate withone another However, this is so-called “positive noise” and it does not disturb thestudents They are concentrated on the task and they do not hear it If an activity

goes on for too long; students, especially the poor ones make noise because theybecome bored, they want to get the teacher‟s attention and they become disruptive.

Another disadvantage of using pairwork activities is the use of mothertongue When students get excited working in pairs they sometimes use their mothertongue to express something they are not able to express in a foreign language Such

a situation is normal because they want to communicate

One of the disadvantages of using pairwork activities is making mistakes.Some teachers neglect to use pairwork saying that students make mistakes trying toexpress their own ideas Indeed incorrectness is a problem yet in real life, it iscommunicative fluency that matters not accuracy, so we should not be concernedtoo much with accuracy if we want to practise oral skills According to Doff (1988:141), when learners work in pairs it is impossible for the teachers to listen andcorrect all the mistakes they make and it is not the purpose of this activity However,she/he can reduce the number of mistakes before the students start working bydemonstrating the activity to the class first and by asking pairs to perform in front ofthe class afterwards and discussing what they said and pointing out the mostcommon mistakes

1.4 How to organize pairwork

1.4.1 Preparation for pairwork

In order to prepare for pairwork, according to Felisa Tibbits ( 1998), the teacherwill need to do the following:

- Select the activity

- Prepare any physical materials for pairwork ahead of time

- Anticipate the size and the selection of pairs

-Anticipate how students will be organized within the pairs (tasks and roles)

- Consider the timing of the pairwork

- Consider how the pairwork will be shared with the entire class and linked with the overall curriculum

1.4.2 Steps in the classroom

1.4.2.1 Select the activity

An activity that is best suited for pairwork may meet the following criteria:

- The activity has multiple tasks that can be shared among pair members or asingle task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the articipation of allindividuals within a pair

- The activity involves problem solving and discussion

- Examples of activities that may be suited for pairwork are investigations ofmaterials (newspapers, scientific specimens) and development of ideas orarguments

1.4.2.2 Preparation of materials

The teacher will need to personally collect, or organize students to collect,physical specimens for investigation For example, if the teacher anticipates doing alesson on the role of the media, she or he might ask the students to bring into classnewspapers and magazines There should be materials sufficient for each pair

1.4.2.3 Size and selection of pair

Pair size normally ranges between 2 students Group size can some times golarger although groups larger than 8 do not ensure that everyone will participate.Pair membership can be determined in different ways A random selection might

be done by “counting off” with students (go around the room systematically havingstudents count 1, 2, etc., with each number representing a pair or selecting pairs onthe basis of birth date

Sometimes pairs are organized only for one activity Other times, teachers usethe pair for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with oneanother

1.4.2.4 Organize students within the pair

A laissez- faire approach to pairwork would be that the teacher gives ageneral assignment to the pair- like organize a research project on „qualities of goodleaders‟- and the students are left to organize themselves

A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific role

to each pair member Depending upon the task, the roles might include „materialshandler‟, „scribe‟, „reporter to the pair‟ and so on A semi- structured approachmight be that the teacher recommend certain roles, but leaves it to the pair to assignroles

A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a pair, is often usedwith younger children A less structured approach can be used with students withexperience in pairwork or for simple tasks that do not require that students take ondifferent roles

1.4.2.5 Time the pairwork

The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task results,sharing with the whole pair, and so on After giving clear instructions to thestudents, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not interfere withthe pairs‟ activities

It is common in many classrooms that a pair activity constitutes 20 minutes

of a 40 minute- period, with 10 minutes allowed for sharing other pairwork with thewhole class

1.4.2.6 Share pairwork with the whole class

Usually the results of the pairwork are shared with the class This sharing can beoral (reporting out), visual (written or graphic representation), or both

It is highly interesting to contrast the results of pairwork

1.4.3 Steps of organizing pairwork

Harmer ( 1999) devides it into 3 steps : Pre activities, While activities and Postactivities

1.4.3.1 Pre activities

We need to give instructions to let students understand what they are going to

do, give them ideas of when they will have finished the task they are going to getinvolved in Sometimes, we may ask them to repeat the instructions or to translate

them into their first language so as to check their understanding In some cases, ourinstructions may involve a demonstration.

1.4.3.2 While activities

While students are working in pairs the teachers have a number of options.They could, for instance, stand at the front or the side of the class (or at the back oranywhere else in the room) and keep an eye on what is happening, noting whoappears to be stuck or disengaged, or about to finish In this position we can „tunein‟ to a particular pair from some distance away The teachers can then decidewhether to go over and help that pair

An alternative procedure is to go round the class watching and listening tospecific pairs The teachers can stay (with their agreement) for a period of time andthen intervene if we think it is appropriate or necessary, always bearing in mindwhat we have said about the difference between accuracy and fluency work

When students are working in pairs, the teachers have an ideal opportunity towork with individual students whom they feel would benefit from their ttention.They also have a great chance to act as observers, picking up information aboutstudents‟ progress

1.4.3.3 Post activities

When pairs stop working together the teacher need to organize feedback Theteachers want to let them discuss what occurred during the group session and, wherenecessary, add their own assessments and make corrections

Where pairwork has formed part of a practice session, our feedback may take theform of having a few pairs or groups quickly demonstrate the language they havebeen using The teachers can then correct it, if and when necessary, and thisprocedure will give both those students and the rest of the class good informationfor future learning and action

Finally, it is vital to remember that constructive feedback on the content ofstudent work can greatly enhance students‟ future motivation The feedback theteachers give on language mistakes is only one part of that process

1.5 Difficulties in organizing pairwork and suggested solutions

When teachers organize pairwork, they might encounter some difficulties

1.5.1.2 Instruction

It is neccessary for students to know what the teacher wants them to do Thissounds obvious and easy, but in some cases, some students hadn‟t known exactlywhat they had to do Some teachers try to give instructions in students‟ targetlanguage, and, so funny it sometimes appears that understanding the instructions intarget language is much more difficult than doing the exercise

1.5.2 Solutions

If the furniture in the class is fixed and it is impossible to rearrange them, thenthe teacher should plan more carefully, and try to create gaps between the groupsand circles of interaction

Drawing a plan of the room and visualizing the arrangements will help toachieve this

For difficulties in giving instructions, students should give instructions in thestudents‟ mother tongue It‟s better to be strict, then ease up, than to allow studentstoo much leeway to use their mother tongue in the first few lessons and then try tostop them overusing it One method is to explain briefly in English, then ifnecessary supply written instructions in their mother tongue If students are still notclear, about what to do, then the written instructions probably weren‟t very good !

The teacher can then allow a couple of minutes for them to clarity the instructionsfor each other in mother tongue, and one example can be made to make studentscompletely understand the instructions.

Teachers should choose more simple types of activities for pairwork Thesetypes must be less controversial than the ones for groupwork, but dialogues andspeaking activities are more suitable to pairwork than groupwork

1.6 Previous studies related to organizing pairwork

The use of pairwork in English lesson is not a totally new area to researchers.Many of researchers invested the effectiveness of using pairwork in languageteaching and learning Donough (2004) reports that learner-learner interactionthrough pairwork activities was useful for practicing oral communication skills Thestudies mentioned above have firmly asserted the important roles of pairworkactivities in improving learners‟ speaking skill Thao ( 2013) found out the benefits

of using pair and groupwork and spend much time to apply these techniques todevelop students‟ speaking skills Phuong (2008) reports that pairwork helped toincrease students‟ participation in communicative activities in large classes Phuong(2008) found out the students‟ interest in discussion when applying pair andgroupwork activities in speaking lesson Minh ( 2011) carried out to investigate theapplication of pairwork and groupwork in speaking class, the human factorsaffecting students‟ participation in pairs and some feasible solutions to improvestudents‟ participation in pairwork Most of these studies explored mainly on thebenefits of the techniques, they have not made clear what process teachers andlearners went through when implementing pairwork Phuong (2008) show that thesuccess of communicative pairwork activities is often determined by the work theteacher does before the students begins the activities itself These studies havefocused on the process of groupwork implementation in speaking lesson of non-major English students Understanding of the pairwork organizing processes wouldenable teachers to better facilitate learners in communicative activities

CHAPTER 2 : METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research setting

2.1.1 An overview of Pho Yen High School

At Pho Yen High school, students are taught English in grade 10, 11, 12 Inthe past, students learnt the three - year -course textbooks Now they are studyingthe seven-year course textbooks English is now a compulsory subject in Vietnameducational system Students here have three English lessons in a week

The chosen textbook is English 10, 11,12 compiled by Hoàng Văn Vân,Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Đỗ Tuấn Minh, Nguyễn Thu Phương, Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn,nhà xuất bản Giáo Dục (2006), each consists of 16 lessons which have been coveredthroughout the school year with mid- term and term tests in between Each unit isdevided into 5 lessonss with the aim of giving the students basic knowledge ofEnglish and practice four language skills : speaking, listening, reading and writingskills This is a new textbook with many pictures and suitable for applyingCommunicative Language Teaching By using this textbook, teachers are able todevelop the students‟ communicative through authentic materials Students arerequired to work in pairs, in group to practise English in common situations.Additionally, students also have chances to listen to both native and non-nativespeakers from the tapes The textbook also develops students‟reading skills andwriting skills At the end of each term, students have an exam assessing four skills

The objectives of the English course are clear At the end of the course (after

105 periods), students are required to obtain:

- General knowledge of English grammar and an active vocabulary

- The ability to communicate with foreigners in English in common situations like : showing ways, making requests, etc

- The ability to read English pre-intermediate book, English newspapers or

magazines

At Pho Yen High School, English teaching and learning activities are mostlycarried out inside the classrooms which are designed for lessons with the only

classroom equipment – a blackboard, tables and desks The only type of teachingaid that the English group has is some cassette recorders and projectors In term ofclass size, the number of students in an English class is quite big, from 40 to 50.This large number causes a great deal of difficulties for the teaching and learning alanguage.

The materials for reference and self- study are not available for teachers andstudents at Pho Yen High School In the school library, there are only some Englishbooks but they are not really helpful for teachers and students Therefore, teachershave to go out to get their own references but it is very difficult for the students to

do so themselves

2.1.2 The students

Like the students of other schools, in order to be students of Pho Yen Upper Secondary School, they have to take entrance examination in Maths and Literature only Actuallly, most of the students of Pho Yen school live in the countryside New students here have the same level of English language proficiency They have learnt English for 4 years at lower secondary school However, they have a basic

knowledge of English grammar but their language skills are not good Comparing tostudents in the past, now the students are more aware of the importance of learning English, they are more intelligent, more active and more motivative in learning English Besides many other subjects, they have 3 lessons of English per week In class, they are given chances to practise mainly four skills : speaking, listening, reading and writing skills

2.1.3 The teachers

If students are considered most important factor in the learning process, teachersare the most important factor in the teaching process At Pho Yen High School, thereare 7 teachers of English language aged ranging from 25 to 54 but none of themhave ever been to any English speaking countries They all graduated from ThaiNguyen Teachers‟ Training University In the past, most of these teachers mainlyused the Grammar- Translation Method - a way of teaching and learning a

foreign language on the basis of detailed analysis of grammar rules and application

of these rules to the translation of sentences and texts into the mother tongue andinto English Now, the textbook is designed for Communicative Language Teaching

in which the use of procedures that develop the four language skills throughworking in pairs

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 The participants

The participants of the study were 120 students who were selected randomlyfrom class 11B1 to 11B3 and 6 teachers of English The research was conducted inthe second term of the school year The participants took part in the surveyquestionnaires by answering the given questions

2.2.2 Data collection instruments

The questionnaire for teachers also consists of two main parts with 10questions In part I the information of gender, age and years of teaching wasdescribed In part II, it was about teachers‟ opinions about benefits of pairwork,teachers‟ judgements about the use of pairwork activities in English classes, andteachers‟ desires to learn English via pairwork activities

2.2.2.2 Class Observations

The researcher observed 6 classes taught by 6 other teachers Besides surveyquestionnaires, the researcher still used class observations to confirm the reliabilityand validity of the information about the way to use pairwork at Pho Yen High

School and the effect of the applied techniques The researcher observed severalEnglish lessons before and during the treatment In each lesson, the information ofteacher‟s activities, teaching techniques (giving instructions, encouragement,comment and feedback) and students‟ involvement, preferences and attitudestowards the applied techniques were mentioned in the checklist.

Apart from the survey questionnaires for both students and teachers, classobservations were employed to clarify and test the validity of information about theapplication of pairwork, the human factors affecting students‟ participation in pairwork, the teacher and students‟ desire when organizing/ participating in pairwork.The researcher designed the classroom observation sheets before observing classes.For each lesson, the researcher observed in 45 minutes She designed a checklist forwhat she wanted to observe and what to be taken notes and with all six teachers ofEnglish must not be prepared especially for being observed

2.2.3 Data collection procedures

The data of the research was collected by means of questionnaires andclassroom observations Firstly, the researcher delivered the questionnaires to 6teachers and 120 students who were selected randomly After one week, thesequestionnaires were collected Information from these questionnaires was thensummarized and presented in the form of statistic information (graphs, tables anddiagrams) for analysis to make implications and recommendations on the mostsuitable pairwork activities to enhance four language skills for students

Besides, the method of observation was carried out during the second semester,two weeks after the administration of the questionnaires Thirdty lessons wereobserved All implemented communicative activities were noted down to see howthey were organized and how effective they were Discussions with the classroomteachers and randomly selected students were made after the lessons to ensurevalidity and reliability of the collected data

2.2.4 Data analysis

The main source of data is derived from the answers of the two

questionnaires for students and teachers Along with the information via surveyquestionnaire, classroom observation were used to add further data.

2.2.4.1 Results from Questionnaires

120 sheets of language learning survey questionnaires were delivered forstudents in 11th grade Students were chosen freely in order to have differentabilities of English study with different attitudes to English learning

After having the participants answer the questions in survey questionnaire forteachers, it took a lot of time for the researcher to collect data from the othersources And here are the results

2.2.4.1.1 Teachers’ and students’ opinions about benefits of pairwork

Question 1 was about the benefit of pairwork in language classes 50% of themsaw the benefits of these activities in making the lessons more interesting and33,3% agreed that pairwork helped motivate students in learning process Bothteachers and students found pairwork useful for making the class more interesting,helping the learning process and motivating students ( 97,5% students and 100%teachers) Only 2,5% of students thought it was not effective

Teachers' Students'

results results

Chart 1: Students’ and teachers’ opinion about the main benefits of pairwork

In question 2, the teachers in this school thought that pairwork was really usefulfor teaching grammar and speaking skills (100%), and then reading, writing,listening skills But the students in this school showed that pairwork was the most

suitable for speaking lessons (65%), next was grammar and vocabulary lessons(6,7%), and then other ones.

Chart 2: Students’ opinion about the useful for pairwork.

With the same point of view of question 2, in question 3, most of the teachersconsidered pairwork as one of the most important and useful activities in languageclasses Some of them stated that it was a vital activity in language teaching

Like the teachers, the students also found pairwork useful in language classes.The high rate of students (70,8%) enjoyed pairwork activities They saw it as mainauthentic and useful activities to practise speaking However, there were fewstudents (13,4%) did not see the usefulness of pairwork in their learning process

Chart 3: Teachers’ and students’ opinions about the useful of pairwork.

The questionnaire results helped the author know teachers‟ attitude, theirknowledge and understanding of pairwork at Phổ Yên High School For thequestion about the time amount for pairwork in a class, none of them chose 5minutes, most of the teachers (83,3%) considered 10 minutes or more was a suitabletime Only one person chose more than 15 minutes

In conclusion, the result from the first three questions indicates that theteachers and the students were conscious of the benefit of pairwork in languageteaching and learning Most of the teachers and students considered pairwork as one

of the most important and useful activities in language classes

2.2.4.1.2 Teachers’ and students’ judgements about the use of pairwork

activities in English classes

In question 1, 93,3% of the students and 83,3% teachers said pairwork wassuitable and appropriate in their school Only 6,7% thought they were notappropriate in school because they did not see the usefulness of these activities

Option B

Option C

Option D

Option E

Chart 4: The important role when using pairwork

Surprisingly, most of the students (81,7%) and teachers (100%) thought thattheir hardship, their cooperation and their language proficiency were the decisivefactors of success of pairwork in language classes The other factors affected littleabout the success of pairwork

Option A Option B Option C Option D

Option E Option F

Option G Option H

Chart 5: The factors effected about the success of pairwork

In conclussion, both teachers and students at Pho Yen High School said thatpairwork was suitable and appropriate in their school, and they thought thatstudents‟ hardship, cooperation and language proficiency were the decisive factors

of success of pairwork in language classes

2.2.4.1.3 Teachers’ and students’ desires to learn English via pairwork

activities

22

enough and about only 3,3% wanted to have more than 15 minutes for a lesson Thefollowing chart which described their answers:

Teachers' Students'

opinion opinion

Chart 6: Students’ and teachers’ opinion about the appropriate time for pairwork.

In question 2, all teachers used pairwork for teaching speaking in every lesson.Some of them used pairwork for other skills depending on the features of eachlesson In results‟ students, all four language skills were chosen, but the percentagesfor each were not the same Most of the students (88,3%) chose reading skills for inpair activities, next was speaking skills (66,7%) and then listening skills (48,3%).Writing skills stood at the end of the list, only 34,2% It showed that four languageskills in every class pair work was quite frequently applied

Chart 7: Students’ frequently used activities of pairwork

Question 3 mentioned the way to organize pairwork Half of teachers (50%)chose students sitting next to each other (students sitting at the same tables, at thetables next to each other) The teachers seemed not to notice grouping studentsdepending on abilities, hobbies They only focused on seats.

With students who answered that they were often make pairs with their peers atthe same table (56,7%) They rarely worked with partners from different tables(0,8%), because of difficulty in physical movement Or with more able students andweaker ones (6,7%)

Chart 8: How are teachers and students often create pairwork?

In the next question, 100% of the teachers said that in order to make pairworksuccessful, the materials as well as learning activities must be carefully prepared, lessimportant was the teaches‟ awareness of the work, clear instruction with examples andcontrolling the work They paid little attention to create the competitive sense

Option A Option B Option C Option D Option E Option F Option G

Chart 9: Teachers’ responsibilities for successful pairworks

To prepare for pairwork, all of the teachers (100%) used the information given

in the textbook There were 4 teachers (66,7%) used the same topics as in the

textbook but with different activities Some of them took an extract or information from some other commercial books, shared with colleagues for professional

development

The answers of the students coincided with the answers of the teachers Theyliked using the information in the textbook (36,7%) and collaborating with theirpeers or getting their opinions ( 34,2%) 17,5% of students used the same topics as

in the textbook but not the exact copies Some students designed the work bythemselves and used information from other reference books

Option A

0 50 100

Chart 10: Teachers’ and students’ opinion about preparing materials for pairwork

In conclusion, both students and teachers said that the most suitable time for eachlesson was from 10 minutes to 15 minutes Most of the students (88,3%) chosereading skills for in pair activities while all teachers used pairwork for teachingspeaking in every lesson When practising, both taechers and students chosestudents sitting next to each other to practise

After answering all the questions about the time, the benefits, the usefulness…

of pairwork, teachers saw that pairwork activities are neither easy nor difficult to beapplied in language classes The cooperation of the students, the hardship of thestudents and the language proficiency of the students were main factors affectingthe success of pairwork Other factors had little influence on it

2.2.4.2 Data analysis from class observation

Basing on the results from classroom observation sheets (see Appendix 5 and 6),

it can be concluded that pairwork activities took place in language classes at Phổ

26

but not all the teachers used them effectively Moreover, the different teachers spentthe various time on pairwork activities, the total time for these activities were about50% of the total time of each lesson, and on average, pairwork activities took 10minutes each period The maximum time for pairwork activities in a class was 20minutes and the minimum time was 5 minutes And the average time amount forpairwork in a class with in this school was 10 minutes This number was also shown

in the result from questionnaire for teachers, in which they chose 10 minutes andmore for the appropriate time amount

The table 4 described the use of pairwork at Phổ Yên High School in details.The table revealed that the teachers at Phổ Yên High School prefered pairwork togroupwork There were only 4 times of groupwork activities among 30 observed.And most of pairwork and groupwork they organized were for teaching speaking(13/30), and the rest 17 were for teaching grammar, reading, writing, vocabularyand listening ; 5 for teaching grammar, 5 for teaching reading, 4 for teachingwriting, and only 1 for teaching vocabulary, and 2 for teaching listening Each pairand groupwork organized took at least 5 minutes and at most 15 minutes Theteachers grouped students at the same table in pairwork and groupwork (25/30).And the information the teachers used in organizing pair and groupwork was mainlytaken from the textbook (23/30)

In conclusion, after analyzing data from survey questionnaires and observation,the author has a brief overview of organizing pairwork at Pho Yen upper secondaryschool The author wants to give examples of pairwork in order to make readersknow clearly about how pairwork work were organized in this school

2.2.4.3 Examples of pairwork

The example below shows how to organize pairwork at Pho Yen High School Itwill be described in detail in order to show the way the teachers in this school oftenorganize pairwork

This pairwork was organized for Task 1 in lesson 12 « The Asian Games »- 11thform, seven-year course textbook

In the first half of the lesson, the teacher asked students to close the book andgive some information about the Asian Games Then teacher asked students to openthe book and look at the situation in Task 1 : There is a lot of information about theAsian Games Look at this, ask and answer questions with a partner, using theinformation from the table below The teacher explained some possible new words,pronunciation first Then the teacher asked the students to do this task in pairs Thepurpose of this pair work was to practise speaking and remind students about theAsian Games by using the simple past tense and passive voice

Here is the copy of the exercise for this activity from the textbook

B SPEAKING

Task 1 Ask and answer questions about the Asian Games, using theinformation from the table below

Example :

A : When and where were the 1st Asian Games held?

B : ( They were held) in 1951 I India

A : How many countries took park in the Games?

1234567

After forming pairs, the teacher gave some explanation of the exercise : inthis exercise students have to make the questions and answer the questions basing

on the given information

The students worked in pairs in 10 minutes, one asked – one answered, thenthey changed their roles While the students were working in pairs, the teacher wentround and helped students if necessary

After 10 minutes, the teacher asked some pairs to practise in class The otherstudents in the class listened to them, gave comments and correct the mistakes ifneeded In some cases, the teacher gave the correct word(s) or some furtherexplanation

As an observer the writer of this study found that the pairwork had followedall the steps needed ; presentation, process, ending and feedback At the first step-presentation- the teacher had given clear instruction before the work and that madestudents understand what they had to do with the exercise And the way of formingpairs was sufficient, it was suitable and convenient for students to work together.Then at process step, the role of both the teacher and the students was suitable Thestudents worked together smoothly and it was not too difficult for them to do thisexercise The teacher went round and offered some help only when it was needed

10 minutes was a suitable time for this exercise and all the students seemed to finishtheir task on time At the last step, the whole class got involved in evaluating thework The exercise was clearly corrected The teacher corrected not only themistakes in using grammar structures, but the mistakes in pronunciation and thetone as well

In short, the second chapter has presented the research setting and themethodology of the study In the next chapter, we will focus on major findings,discussion and recommendations for organizing pairwork in the English lessons atPho Yen High School 11th grade, Thai Nguyen Province