Exploring teachers and students perceptions of pairwork and groupwork in secondary school english classrooms

In communicative language teaching, students have more chances practicing in the target language through different classroom activities; among them pair work and group work appear to be

-o0o -

TRAN THI HONG YEN

EXPLORING TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASSROOMS

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

August 2017

- o0o -

TRAN THI HONG YEN

EXPLORING TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASSROOMS

Major: Teaching English to speakers of Other Lnguages ( TESOL)

Code: 60.14.111

MATER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: NGUYEN GIA VIET, PhD

August 2017

-***** -

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled

Exploring teacher’s and student’s perceptions of pairwork and groupwork in

secondary school English classrooms

The result of my own research for the Degree of Master at Vinh University, and that

this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other secondary schools

Signature:

Date: 19/8/2017

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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

sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mr NGUYEN GIA VIET 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 of Post Graduate Studies at College of Foreign Language for their useful materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course of study

I really wish to thank all my colleagues and my students at my school –Long Thạnh

secondary school- for their kind cooperation in giving valuable information

Finally, I deep thanks to my dear family, and my friends who always stand for me with their consideration and encouragement

Tran Thi Hong Yen

personal characteristics, the structure of the native and target languages, opportunities for communicating with other people and with native speakers For students at schools, these factors can only work well with the help of the teachers using different techniques, and approaches in language teaching

In communicative language teaching, students have more chances practicing in the target language through different classroom activities; among them pair work and group work appear to be the most appropriate application

In my school, secondary school in Thu Thua district, Long An province, pairwork

and group work are used widely in foreign language classes However, it seems that the using of these activities in the school is not very effective This research focuses on pointing out how to explore pair work and groupwork more effectively after investigating how these activities are used in our school by collecting data through class observation, and analyzing the questionanaire data The collection of student feedback is a central strategy to minitor of effectivenness of teaching and learning at educationalinstitutions (Meyer 2010) This thesis analyses the feedback and findings from a paper questionnaire survey of student’s and teacher’s experience Some evaluation will be drawn and some suggestions for the future use

of these activities will be made

ii

Acknowledgement……… ……… ii

Abstract……… ……….………… iii

Table of contents ……… ……… iv

Appendix ……… ……… v

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of study 1

1.3 Scope of the study 1

1.4 Research questions of the study 1

1.5 Methods of study 2

1.6 Design of study 2

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1 Communicative approach to language teaching 3

2.1.1 Communicative Language Teaching 3

2.1.2 Nature of Communicative Language Teaching 3

2.1.3 The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching 4

2.2 Definition of pair and group work 5

2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of pair and group work 6

2.3.1 The advantages of pairwork and groupwork 6

2.3.1.1 To increase the amount of student practice ……… 6

2.3.1.2 To increase the learner’s confidence 6

2.3.1.3 To develop students’ fluency 6

2.3.1.4 To increase students’ motivation 6

2.3.2 The disadvantages of pairwork and groupwork 6

2.3.2.1 To speak native language: 6

2.3.2.2 To make mistakes: .6

2.3.2.3 To eliminate shy and weak students from the practice: .6

2.3.2.4 To make noise and indiscipline: 6

2.4 How to organize pair and group work: 7

2.4.1 Preparation for group work: 7

2.4.2 Steps in the classroom: 7

2.4.2.1 Select the activity 7

2.4.2.4 Organize students with in the group 8

2.4.2.5 Time the group work 8

2.4.2.6 Share small group work with the whole class 8

2.4.2.7 Steps of organizing pair and group work 9

2.5 Difficulties in organizing pair and group work and suggested solutions 9

2.5.1 Difficulties 11

2.6 Solution 12

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 13

3.1 Background of the study 12

3.1.1 Description of the English syllabus in secondary school 12

3.1.2 Description of the students at the secondary school 13

3.1.3 Description of the teachers at the secondary school 14

3.1.4 Description of physical setting 14

3.2 Design and methodology 14

3.2.1 The participants 14

3.2.1.1 Teaching staff 14

3.2.1.2 The students 15

3.2.2 English teaching and learning at secondary school 15

3.2.3 Research instruments 16

3.2.3.1 Rationale behind the use of survey questionnaire .16

3.2.3.2 Purpose of the survey questionnaire .16

3.3 Analysis of data 17

3.3.1 Technique of data analysis 17

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 18

4.1 Employment of pairwork and groupwork in English classrooms 19

4.2 Teachers beliefs about pariwork and groupwork 20

Table 4.2.1 The options of pairwork and groupwork 20

Table 4.2.2 The benefits of pairwork and groupwork 20

Table 4.2.3 How to use pairwork and groupwork 21

Table 4.2.4 The factors effect most on the success of a pair work and group work 22

Table 4.2.5 Pairwork and groupwork are most useful for teaching 22

4.3 Students’ views about effectiveness of pairwork and groupwork 22

4.4 Classroom observation 27

4.5 Results of the study .28

4.6 Discursion Error! Bookmark not defined

5.2 Techniques using group work to teach skills for English major students in secondary

school .32

5.2.1 Ways to arrange group work 32

5.2.2 Techniques to succeed with group work activities 33

5.2.2.1 Implementing group work in the classroom .34

5.2.2.2 Designing the small group activity .34

5.3 Introducing the group task .36

5.3.1 Monitoring the group task 35

5.3.2 Ending the group task 36

5.4 Conclusion of the study 37

5.5 Implication of the study 37

5.6 Limitations of the study 38

5.7 Suggestions for further study 39

APPENDIXES:……… 56 APPENDIX 1: LANGUAGE TEACHING SURVEY

APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS

APPENDIX 3: CLASSROM OBSERVATION SHEET

APPENDIX 4: THE DESCRIPTON OF THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEETS

Table 4.1 Length of pairwork and groupwork activities

Table 4.2 Skills lessons that used pariwork and groupwork

Table 4.3 Preparation for pairwork and groupwork

Table 4.4 Teacher group students for pairwork and groupwork

Table 4.5 The important factor makes pairwork and groupwork successful

Table 4.2.1 The options of pairwork and groupwork

Table 4.2.2 The benefits of pairwork and groupwork

Table 4.2.3 How to use pairwork and groupwork

Table 4.2.4 The factors effect most on the success of a pair work and group work

Table 4.2.5 Pairwork and groupwork are most useful for teaching

Table 4.3.1 will show the percentages of different number of students mentioned about their feelings

Table 4.3.2 will show the percentage of students who prefer group work for different

purpose

Table 4.3.3 will show the percentages of students who think group work helps to learn language and who thinks it is not helpful at all

Table 4.3.4 shows the rate

Table 4.3.5 shows the information about the students who like to work with friends and others

Table 4.3.6 outcome of group study

Table 4.3.7 will show the information that I have gather from the students

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

English, nowadays, is widely taught from primary school to university, even at English centers through out the country People learn English for their work or for their higher study However, the results of the English courses are not always satisfactory Vietnamese teachers of English have not known how to apply the teaching method in effective ways They are lack of knowledge, teaching aid, time, and money to teach four language skills: listening skill, speaking skill, reading skill and writing skill Like many teachers in the schools of Vietnam, teachers of English at secondary school are faced with a common problem: students’ poor participation in activities in the classroom In fact, there are

a variety of reasons for this poor participation, and therefore finding appropriate techniques and methods for teaching English effectively to students at secondary school requires a long serious research This led me the choice of the study “perceptions of pair work and groupwork in high school classrooms at secondary school” with the hope of investigating into ways to organize pairwork and groupwork more effectively in English classes My study only focuses on how to organize pairwork and groupwork more effectively for students and teachers at secondary school in Thu Thua

1.2 Aims of study

The study is aimed at to help teachers and students at secondary school to find out effective technique to organize pairwork and groupwork with the hope of helping them in teaching English Moreover, investigating the attitudes of students towards using the pair work and groupwork and their perception

1.3 Scope of the study

To improve four skills for students at secondary school, the teachers can make use of various techniques and a number of things should be done However, the researcher only intends to draw a brief overview of pairwork and groupwork in classes at secondary school and to find out the ways to perceptce pairwork and groupwork more effectively in teaching and learning English

1.4 Research questions of the study

This study was aimed to answer the following research questions:

1 How often are group work and pair work employed in the secondary English classroom?

2 What beliefs do the teachers hold about using groupwork and pairwork?

3 What views do students have about the effectiveness of pairwork and groupwork for English learning?

1.5 Methods of study

To realize the aims of the study, a case study was used.The theoretical background of the study comes from many published books written by different authors on language teaching and language acquisition The data collected for the study came from two sources: the students and the English teachers at secondary school (8 English teachers and 120 students) by making 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 the analysis of the statistics from the survey questionnaires conducted with students and teachers of LT secondary school

1.6 Design of study

This study consists of 5 parts:

Chapter One: Introduction which presents the rationale, the aims, scope, the method and

design of the study The research questions are also mentioned in this part

Chapter Two: Literature Review - reviews the theory about CLT, and pairwork and

groupwork

Chapter Three: Methodology – provides an analysis on the current situation of using

pairwork and groupwork in teaching and learning English at secondary school classrooms

Data collection and analysis are also presented in this chapter

Chapter Four: Findings and Discussion - focuses on how the teachers at secondary school

organized pairwork and groupwork and difficulties facing them and their students in carrying out these activities and some suggestions for the teachers to organize pair work and groupwork more effectively

Chapter Five: Conclusion- focuses concentrate on some suggested techniques using groupwork and pairwork to help the secondary students have more pleasure and effectiveness in learning English

Conclusion summarizes all the key issues as well as the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further study

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter briefly covers the theories related to the study: Communicative approach

to language teaching, and perception’s of students and teacher about pairwork and groupwork in language teaching and learning

The benefits to students of group work have been demonstrated both in general (Johnson et al., 1991) and in specific contexts For example, Mello (1993,p105) identifies major benefits

of group work: (1) 'students can gain an insight into group dynamics'; (2) 'they can tackle a more comprehensive assignments'; (3) 'interpersonal skills can be developed'; (4) 'students are more exposed to others' points of view'; and (5) 'be more prepared for the commercial world'

A comprehensive review on the implementation of small group learning within individual discipline areas also shows very positive impacts on student performance, marks, attitudes towards learning and persistence or retention (Gibbs, 2009) For example, Springer et al (1999) reviewed 383 studies and found evidence of 'widespread implementation of small-group learning' at undergraduate level in the three disciplines studied Problem based learning (PBL) also uses learning in groups and meta-analyses of studies comparing PBL with other pedagogies show consistent benefits to student learning processes and outcomes from PBL (Dochy et al., 2003).JISC (2008) recognises the benefit for academics/tutors in setting group work tasks in that these can significantly reduce [staff] workload However, JISC also reports work by Kennedy (2006): '…there is evidence to suggest that students undertaking such projects express concern about the way in which marks are awarded for outcomes produced by the group collaboratively'.Some of the findings from analysis of literature on key factors affecting group assignment (Meyer, 2010; Kennedy, 2006; Barfield, 2003) can be summarised as follows:

a) Group structure – Ensuring that group members recognise the mixed talents within the group, and hence scope for assigning different roles to different members to perform specific tasks

b) The issue of individual domination – Emphasising the need to respect different points

of view, and not have one or a few individuals dominate the group

c) Fair contribution – 'Ensuring equal and active participation of each group member' d) Evaluation of individual contribution – This is difficult, but can be assisted by 'anonymous 'peer review', 'individual reflective report'; and/or 'tutor involvement'

A review of relevant literature shows that there are studies on the general topics of group work and group assessment as discussed above For example, there are case studies that

were designed to address problems with the assessment of groups However, there have been limited publications that have empirical evidence to inform the design decision of group assignments (Gibbs, 2009) It is hoped that the outcomes of this study can contribute to this

2.1 Communicative approach to language teaching

2.1.1 Communicative Language Teaching

2.1.1.1 Nature of Communicative Language Teaching

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

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

2.1.1.2 The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching

The techniques of Communicative Language Teaching are described by features 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 in to 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 Jack C Richards and Theodore S Rodgers (1986: 170), because communicative principles can be applied to the teaching of any skill, at any level, and because of the wide variety of classroom activities and exercise types discussed in the literature on Communicative Language Teaching, description of typical classroom procedures used in a lesson based on CLT principle is not feasible Savignon (1983) discusses techniques and class management procedures associated with a number of CLT

classroom procedure (e.g., group activities, language games, role plays), but neither these activities nor the ways in which they are used are exclusive to CLT classrooms

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

Appropriateness: Language use reflects the situations of its use and must be appropriate to that situation depending on the setting, the roles of the participants and the purpose of the communication, for example Thus learners may need to be able 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 of cognitive and other processes that are important factors in second language acquisition

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 a variety of communication strategies

Free practice: CLT encourages the use of “holistic practice” involving the 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 approach rather 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 to support a wide variety of classroom procedures

2.2 Definition of pair and group work

There are many definitions of pairwork and group work:

Students may be organized to do work in pairs or small groups in the classroom The advantage of small group work is that it promotes maximum participation from all students

In a small group situation, ideally all students are involved in both "thinking and doing."Small group work also promotes cooperative skills, such as listening and communication skills, problem solving and sharing of tasks

Research has shown that group work enhances the learning of all group members, regardless of how skilled or unskilled individual members are

The small group approach is most commonly used with children through the ages of

12, although it has shown to be beneficial for older children as well

(Felisa Tibbitts)

According to Adrian Doff (1988: 137), the whole class is divided in to pairs by the teacher Every students 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 In fact, A pairwork consists of two students working together at the same time

Groupwork is a group of students working together A class can be divided in to small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), as in pairwork, all the groups work at the same time

2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of pair and group work

According to Hubert Skrzynski, pair work and group work have both advantages and disadvantages These are mentioned below:

2.3.1 The advantages of pairwork and groupwork

2.3.1.1 To increase the amount of student practice: When students work in pairs or

groups they have more chance to practise Working in pair and group, students often feel more willing to talk among themselves in a small group than with a teacher in a large group,

so that it dramatically increases the amount of talking for individual students

2.3.1.2 To increase the learner’s confidence: The students feel much more

comfortable to speak foreign language with one or two other students rather than with the whole class and the teacher Especially shy students, or ones who are not good at speaking language yet feel more relaxed and self- confident trying to put their language abilities to a test during the activity and seeing how they use them.This encourages students to cooperate with one another

2.3.1.3 To develop students’ fluency: while working in pair or group abilities, the

students can use the language freely and express their opinions and thoughts without any restrictions It is difficult not to get the impression that fluency can be improved only during constant speaking practice in the atmosphere of independence and in the state of relaxation

2.3.1.4 To increase students’ motivation: While working in pairs and groups the

activities are available As you know a huge variety of activities influences the course of a lesson and its success The more different the activities the teacher uses in the lessons, the bigger their motivation is In fact, students’ motivation increases because they are active and feel important during these activities In keeping with this, the teacher is going to experience success in his/ her work because motivated students are usually good languages learners and they always make progress

2.3.2 The disadvantages of pairwork and groupwork

2.3.2.1 To speak native language: One of the disadvantages is that students often

speak in their native language If the class is really big with too many students, it is very difficult for the teacher to listen to all pairs or groups at the same time However, the teacher can still do something to change situation The teacher should establish certain rules at the beginning of the school year and be very strict about them After sometime the good habit of speaking only English may be established

2.3.2.2 To make mistakes: Another problem is incorrectness While students work in

pairs and groups, the teacher usually do not disturb them, even if he/she notices some mistakes they have made, but we should not forget that errors or mistakes are an indissoluble element of the process of learning.Besides, students try to correct each other rather than learn the mistakes One of the main points of having learners speak to each other is to help them increase their confidence and reduce the anxiety that is often found in a purely teacher- centered classroom Pair work and group work activities are usually geared to fluency enhancement rather than accuracy practice

2.3.2.3 To eliminate shy and weak students from the practice: Some shy or weak

students can be eliminated from the practice, because of individuals who always tend to dominate It is not a problem when they work in pairs, but as far as the groups are concerned, the teacher should assign roles to avoid one or two learners taking over the activity and others becoming passive observers

2.3.2.4 To make noise and indiscipline: Working in pairs and groups in a large class

makes noise and indiscipline, the teachers have more troublesome than the learners have Participants in a pair work or group work activity are normally unaware of the noise and of what other pairs or groups are doing The only possible problem here could be if the classroom had particularly thin walls

It seems that there are as many disadvantages as advantages of these classroom arrangements and one can not unanimously state which one is better, since each teacher has his/her own likes and dislikes It is his/her individual choice which one should be used during the process of teaching a language

2.4 How to organize pair and group work:

2.4.1 Preparation for group work:

In order to prepare for group work, according to Felisa Tibbits, the teacher will need to do the following:

- Select the activity

- Prepare any physical materials for group work ahead of time

- Anticipate the size and the selection of groups

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

- Consider the timing of the group work

- Consider how the small group work will be shared with the entire class and linked with the overall curriculum

2.4.2 Steps in the classroom:

2.4.2.1 Select the activity

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

The activity has multiple tasks that can be shared among group members or a single task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the articipation of all individuals within a group The activity involves problem solving and discussion

Examples of activities that may be suited for group work are investigations of materials (newspapers, scientific specimens) and development of ideas or arguments

2.4.2.3 Size and selection of group

Group size normally ranges between 3-5 students Group size can some times go larger although groups larger than 8 do not ensure that everyone will participate

Since groups often report their work back to the whole class, teachers also take in

to account the total number of groups within the class

Group membership can be determined in different ways A random selection might

be done by “counting off” with students (go around the room systematically having students count 1, 2, 3, etc…, with each numbers representing a group) or selecting groups on the basis

of birth date

In a non random selection, groups will be selected based on the teachers’ prior knowledge Usually, groups are selected to maximine diversity within the group, since diversity enhances learning Such groups often have a balance of girls and boys, and students with differing ability levels Teachers can also use their best judgement about personality mixes that would enhance the work of the group

Sometimes groups are organized only for one activity Other times, teachers use the same small groups for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with one another

If the tables and chairs can not be moved for group work, then students can form groups by turning around in seats to face the children behind

2.4.2.4 Organize students with in the group

A laissez- faire approach to group work would be that the teacher gives a general assignment to the group- like organize a research project on ‘qualities of good leaders’- and the students are left to organize themselves

A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific role to each group member Depending upon the task, the roles might include ‘materials handler’,

‘scribe’, ‘reporter to the large group’ and so on A semi- structured approach might be that the teacher recommend certain roles, but leaves it to the group to assign roles

A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a group, is often used with younger children A less structured approach can be used with students with experience

in group work or for simple tasks that do not require that students take on different role

2.4.2.5 Time the group work

The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task results, sharing with the whole group, and so on After giving clear instructions to the students, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not interfere with the groups’ activities

It is common in many classrooms that a small group activity constitutes 20 minutes of a 40 minute- period, with 10 minutes allowed for sharing small group work with the whole class

2.4.2.6 Share small group work with the whole class

Usually the results of the small group work are shared with the class This sharing can be oral (reporting out), visual (written or graphic representation), or both

It is highly interesting to contrast the results of group work

2.4.2.7 Steps of organizing pair and group work:

Harmer, J devides it in to 3 steps: before activities, during activities and after activities

Before: The teacher makes students feel enthusiastic about what they are going to do They

need to understand what they are going to do, and they need to be given an idea of when they will have finished the task they are going to get involved in

Sometimes our instructions will involve a demonstration- when, for example, students are going to use a new information- gap activity or when we want them to use card On other occasions, where an activity is familiar, we may simplely give them an instruction to practise language they are to study in pairs, or to use their dictionaries to find specific bits of information

The important thing about instructions is that the students should understand and agree on what the task is To check that they do we may ask them to repeat the instructions, or, in monolingual classes, to translate them in to their first language

During: While students are working in pairs or groups 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 or anywhere else in the room) and keep an eye on what is happening, noting who appears to be stuck or disengaged, or about to finish In this position we can ‘tune in’ to a particular pair or group from some distance away The teachers can then decide whether to go over and help that pair

or group

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

When students are working in pairs or groups the teachers have an ideal opportunity to work with individual students whom they feel would benefit from our attention They also have a great chance to act as observer, picking up information about students’ progress

After: When pairs and groups stop working together the teacher need to organise feedback

The teachers want to let them discuss what occurred during the group session and, where necessary, add their own assessments and make corrections

Where pairwork or groupwork has formed part of a practice session, our feedback may take the form of having a few pairs or groups quickly demonstrate the language they have been using The teachers can then correct it, if and when necessary, and this procedure will give both those students and the rest of the class good information for future learning and action

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

2.5 Difficulties in organizing pair and group work and suggested solutions

When teachers organize pairwork and groupwork, they encounter some difficulties

2.5.1 Difficulties:

According to Andy Hoodith- Saitama University, there are three main difficulties while working in pair and group

Space: The furniture in the class is fixed, the teachers and students can not change or have

no time to do it Sometimes the class is too crowded (with more than 50 students in a small room), there is no space for them to move if they are asked to change their partner in a pair work For group work it sometimes appears more serious when the teachers want to have groups of students with different abilities The arrangement of classroom furniture can mitigate against pair and group

Instruction: It is neccesary for students to know what the teacher wants them to do This sounds obvious and easy, but in some case, some students hadn’t known exactly what they had to do Some teachers try to give instructions in students’ target language, and, so funny it sometimes appears that understanding the instructions in target language is much more difficult than doing the exercise

Activity types: Pair and group work are fine in theory, but what type of activity to do with them is a problem Some group members may sit doing nothing if teacher asks a group of four or five to work with a small dialogue And problem solving activities seem to be difficult for pairs when one of them or none of them has no idea about the problem

Drawing a plan of the room and visualizing the arrangements will help to achieve this For difficulties in giving instructions, Andy Hoodith considers that students should give instructions in the students’ mother tongue It’s better to be strict, then ease up, than to allow students too much leeway to use their mother tongue in the first few lessons and then try to stop them overusing it One method is to explain briefly in English, then if necessary supply written instructions in their mother tongue If students are still not clear, 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 instructions for each other in mother tongue, and one example can be made to make students completely understand the instructions

Andy Hoodith advised to choose more simple types of activities for pair work These types must be less controversial than the ones for group work, but dialogues and speaking activities are more suitable to pair work than group work

CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 Background of the study

3.1.1 Description of the English syllabus in secondary school

At secondary school, English is taught nearly 40 years ago.There are four levels of English In the past, the textbook used here is the fours - year -course textbook, the nice- year- course books have been used here for two years English is now a compulsory subject

in secondary school Students here have English lessons during the first term and second term of the school year

The textbooks chosen are English 8, 9 Each consists of 16 lessons which have been covered through out the school year with mid- term and term tests in between Each lesson is devided into 5 periods with the aim of giving the students basic knowledge of English and practice four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing skill This is a new textbook with many pictures and suitable for applying Communicative Language Teaching By using this textbook, we can develop our students’ communicative competence and our students can learn the real things from daily life Students are required to work in pairs, in group to practise English in common situations Additionally, students also have chances to listen to both native and non-native speakers from the tapes used with the textbook The textbook also develope students’reading skill and writing skill At the end of each term, students have an exam for four skills

The objectives of the English course are clear At the end of the course (after 110 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, ect

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

3.1.2 Description of the students at the secondary school

Like students of other schools, in order to be 9th form students of secondary school, they have to pass a national examination All the students of secondary school come from the countryside New students here have the same level of English language proficiency They have learnt English for 4 years at secondary school However, they have a basic knowledge

of English grammar but their language skills are not quite good Comparing to students in the past now the students are more aware of the important of learning English, they are more intelligent, more active and more motivative in learning English Students have to spend 2 last years at secondary school in order to get general certificate of education Besides many other subjects, they have 3 periods of English one a week, they have 15 munites tests every two weeks and 45 munites tests every four weeks In class, they are given chances to practise mainly four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing skill

3.1.3 Description of the teachers at the secondary school

If students are the most important factor in the learning process, teachers are the most important factor in the teaching process In secondary school, there are 8 teachers of English language aged from 25 to 59 but none of them have ever been to any English speaking countries Of the eight teachers, only 5 have been trained at VNU - CFL, two have been trained from Hue University of Foreign Studies and one has been trained from Hue teachers’ training University In the past, most of these teachers mainly used 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 and in to English Now, the textbook is designed for Communicative Language Teaching in which the use of procedures that develop the four language skills through working in pairs or groups is problem- solving tasks Only half of the teachers who have graduated from VNU- CFL are familiar with CLT But their teaching experience with the students is still limited

3.1.4 Description of physical setting

The term ‘physical setting’ refers to the place where the lessons take place, the number of students in an English class, the equipments and different types of materials available for teachers and students in teaching and learning English

In school, English teaching and learning activities are mostly carried out inside the classrooms which are designed for lecture lessons with the only classroom equipment – a blackboard, tables and desks The only type of teaching aid that the English group has is some cassette recorders and projectors In term of class size, the number of students in an English class is quite large, from 40 to 60 This large number causes a great deal of difficulties for the teaching and learning

The materials for reference and self- study are not available for teachers and students at school In the school library, there are only some English books but they are not really helpful for teachers and students The problem is not very bad for the teachers since they can

go out to find their own references but it is very difficult for the students to do so themselves

3.2 Design and methodology

3.2.1 The participants

3.2.1.1 Teaching staff

Long Thanh has large teaching staff with lots of experience and enthusiasm All

of them are graduated form university They are interested in teaching profession and always define clearly the importance of education for human development and get to know student’s

expectations Therefore, they are all enthusiastic, responsible in their work and try their best

to give the most effective lectures to students

There are two old teachers aged 45 to 59 and six young teachers, aged 25 to 35

A survey is conducted among teachers and students at secondary school to find out the information about the current situation of classroom activities pairwork and groupwork The survey questionnaire includes information about pairwork and groupwork at school (see Appendixes 1 and 2) The results of the survey are illustrated in Table and chart The researcher should give questionnaires to the teachers and students before observing the classes.The researcher observed 2 classes and then analyze the data collected from the questionnaires and classroom observation sheets to find information to answer the research questions After analyzing the data, some conclusion must be drawn and some suggestions for further research must be made

3.2.1.2 The students

In total, 50 students at secondary secondary school and eight English teachers participated in this study The students are choosen randomly from 8th form, and 9th form and consist of 35 female and 15 male students at the age from 14 to 15 They may be from the classes observed or may not, but the researcher intends to take 20 from each class of the teachers in the English group They come from different districts All of them come from the countryside They started to learn English from six form, it means they have learnt English for at least 4 years

3.2.2 English teaching and learning at secondary school

At Long Thanh, each classroom of the second year English major students is equipped

a radio in English lesson Additionally, the teachers sometimes use projector to make English lessons more interesting and effective Teachers often organize English contests encourage students to express their abilities Moreover, there are many useful activities such as organizing some small festivals such as: Christmas, Valentine’s…to play together, exchange knowledge and relax Sometimes, they have many chances to talk and study with foreigners This is an outstanding advantage and a good condition to help them improve their English skill It can be said that, the study conditions are quite enough and convenient for students to study English effectively These factors have great influence on the results of the students in general and the second year English major students in particular In fact, they have just graduated form high school to study in a brand newcondition, it is at secondary school Certainly, their English is very common They do not have much knowledge about any specific fields, especially the skill with the textbook interact with some funny activities, they

are taught according to specific topics in order to practice and improve the skill Therefore, they have more opportunities to widen and improve English skill

3.2.3 Research instruments

The objective of the current part is to outline the research methodology used and demonstrate that the researcher has followed recognized procedures in this study It will explain why the method was chosen and provide a detailed explanation of how the research was conducted

3.2.3.1 Rationale behind the use of survey questionnaire

Survey questionnaire is chosen for this study because of four main reasons First of all, it is believed that survey questionnaire is an inexpensive way to gather data form a potentially large number of respondents Secondly, it can reach a large number of people in a very short time As commented by Richards (1994,p.10), it is useful in “gathering information about affective dimensions of teaching and learning such as beliefs, attitudes, motivation, preferences…and enables a teacher to collect a large amount of information relatively quickly” Another advantage of this tool is that the collected data are relatively easy to summarize and report as all the informants answer the same questions Last but not least, one of the most important reasons to choose this tool is that the survey questionnaire gives the students an opportunity to express their opinions and needs without fear either to be embarrassed or to be punished Students are not required to write their names when answering questions because traditionally Vietnamese students are afraid of making their names known

3.2.3.2 Purpose of the survey questionnaire

In order to get the needed information the researchers use two following research methods: questionnaires and observation There are two types of questionnaires: one for teachers and the other for students Each of them has ten questions.The questionnaires are mainly used for exploiting teacher’s and students’ knowledge , their experience, and their attitude toward pair and group work Observation is done in classes of different aims and purposes : teaching speaking, teaching reading, teaching listening, teaching grammar and teaching writing, the researcher has to design the Classroom Observation Sheet before observing classes.The classes observed must be from grade 8 to 9 and with all eight teachers

of English in secondary school The classes observed must not be prepared especially for being obseved

A questionnaire survey was used for data collection for this research The areas covered in the questionnaire were fairly broad, including student preferred type of

assignment; degree of peer support; working styles; strategies for fair contribution; communication tools; skills needed for group assignments; and the perceived benefits and drawbacks of group assignments The survey also obtained additional comments from respondents about specific problems encountered, as well as suggestions for assignment improvement

3.3 Data and analysis

Data analysis is not simply a single description of the collected data In fact, it is the process by which the researcher interprets the data collected from the survey questionnaires The scheme and coding catergories in this research emerged from an examination of data rather than being pre- determined and imposed on the data

3.3.1 Technique of data analysis

The collecting data that is the researcher get the data from the students especially for English major students at school The researcher attends to the data, which are the result

of applying teaching speaking using group work

In the following section, the researcher explains about procedure of teaching using group work and pairwork The produces is diving into four stages They are socializing the group work Individually or grouping, distributing the group work to students, each students gets one unfinished group and the punch lines sheet Here reading becomes the preliminary activity before students do oral activities After giving the treatment, give the some questionnaires then made calculation of result from survey questionnaire

CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the ways the teachers in school organized pairwork and groupwork, the major problems that teachers and students at encounter during the process of organizing pairwork and groupwork These difficulties have been drawn from the results of

the two survey questionnaires and observation.The author’s suggestion which help improve the quality of the organizing pairwork and groupwork are also presented in this chapter

4.1 Employment of pairwork and groupwork in English classrooms

The data from the questionnaire show that, in general, teachers hold a positive attitude toward pairwork and groupwork in language classrooms It is also noted that these

activities are used quuite often in teaching

Table 4.1 Length of pairwork and groupwork activities

Length of time used

for pairwork and/or

groupwork in one

lesson

Duration No Percent (%)

a 5 minutes per period 0 0

b 10 minutes per period 2 25

c 15 minutes per period 2 25

d More than 15 minutes per period 3 37,5

e Other Options : from 5 to 15 minutes per period

1 11,3

Table 4.1 indicates that teachers generally spent more than 10 minutes in each lesson in English language classes This information shows that a great deal of these activities are being used by the teachers under study in the school

When asked in which skills teaching pairwork and groupwork are popular, it can be seen that all teachers used pairwork and groupwork in almost every skills lesson, which all the speaking lessons used them (100%), half of the teachers used them in writing, while almost half of them made use of them in other skills lessons

Table 4.2 Skills lessons that used pairwork and groupwork

Skills lessons in which

The question of how pairwork and groupwork were effectively used in classrooms were also raised to the teachers In response to this, the teachers had a tendency of

exploiting materials from the textbook to oraganise pariwork and groupwork in the class Forexample, 87% of the teachers said they used the activities and materials from the

textbook, followed by using the same topics as in the textbook but different activities Not many teachers consulted other sources for pairwork and groupwork

Table 4.3 Preparation for pairwork and groupwork

Actions No Percent (%)

a Use the information given in the textbook 7 87,5

b Use the same topics as in the textbook but not the same copies 4 50%

c Take an extract or information from another reference books 1 11,3

e Collaborate with your coleagues or get their opinions 2 25

The table 4.4 mentions about the way to organize pair work and group work Most teachers (75%) choose students sitting next to each others (students sitting at the same tables,

at the tables next to each others) The teachers seem not to notice grouping students depending on abilities, hobies They only focus on seats

Table 4.4 Teacher group students for pairwork and groupwork

Create pairwork and groupwork No Percent (%)

a Students at the same tables 2 25

b Students from different tables 1 11,3

c Students sitting next to each other 4 50

d Students sitting far from each other 0 0

e Students in different rows 1 11,3

f Good students with good ones Weak students with

the weak ones

g Good students with the weak ones 0 0

In the last table (75%) of the teachers say that in order to make pair work and group work successful, the teachers’ preparation is the most important factor (62,5%) of the teachers consider making the work suitable to the students important and the next, less important is the teacher’s awareness of the work, clear instruction with examples and

controlling the work They paid little attention to create the competitive sense Teachers should make the work suitbale to the level of student

Table4.5 The important factor makes pairwork and groupwork successful

a Have awareness of the work 3 37,5

c.Make the work suitable to the students 5 62,5

d Give clear instruction with examples 4 50

f Create the competitive sense 1 11,3

4.2 Teachers beliefs about pariwork and groupwork

The questionaires results help the author know the perception of knowledge and the understanding of pairwork and groupwork of the teachers in secondary school For the Table 4.2.1 is about the benefit of pair work and group work in language classes 50% of them saw the benefits of these activities in making class more interesting and 50% consider pairwork and groupwork helping in motivating students and learning process The teachers seemed not

to find the benefits of pair work and group work in teaching process

Table 4.2.1 The options of pairwork and groupwork

a To make students more motivative 2 25

b To make the class more interesting 4 50

c To help the learning process 2 25

d To help the teaching process 0 0

Table 4.2.2 most of the teachers considered pair work and group work as one of the most important and useful activities in language classes Some of them think it as a vital activity in language teaching

Table 4.2.2 The benefits of pairwork and groupwork

a It is a vital activity in language teaching 2 25

b It is one of the important and useful activities

in language teaching

5 62,5

c It is a good activity to be applied 2 25

d It is neither good nor bad 0 0

e Its usefulness is not clear 0 0

In this table, 62,5% of the teachers say that it is not very easy to use pair work and group work successful, the teachers’ preparation is the most important factor.The teacher started to experiment with pair and group work, but as any novice in field Besides the students often spoken in their native language And, students might learn each othors mistakes by practicing English together Moreover the class became very noisy with so many people speaking at once

Table 4.2.3 How to use pairwork and groupwork

The student can be used various activity and interaction between students like small discussions and sharing ideas

The use of groupwork improves learning outcomes: it fosters learner responsibility and independence, can improve motivation and contribute to a feeling of cooperation and warmth

in the class However this may bring disadvantages, as follow:

Teacher has to make preparation, he or she must spend much time to select some suitable groupwork activities and design them

Not every student would take

After answering questions about the time, the benefits, the usefulness, ect… of pair work and group work, all teachers see that pair work and group work are neither easy nor difficult to be applied in language classes The cooperation of the students, the hardship of the students and the language proficiency of the students are main factors affecting the success of pair work and group work The other factors have little influence on it

Table 4.2.4 The factors effect most on the success of a pair work and group work

b The age of the teacher 1 11,3

c The language proficiency of the teacher 1 11,3

d The teacher’s ability of organizing 1 11,3

e The hardship of the students 4 21,1

This last table with the same view as in option above, the teachers in this school thought that pairwork and groupwork is the most useful for teaching grammar and speaking (100%), and then reading, writing, listening Speaking is an important skill and producing out loud language can be intimidating for nonnative speakers at any point in their journey You can minimize the intimidation by including groupwork from very from the very start of your classes

Table 4.2.5 Pairwork and groupwork are most useful for teaching

The questionnaire was designed for 50 students in secondary school In an attempt to assure the objectiveness, faithfulness and effectiveness, the students were not required to write their names as well as other personal information when answering the questions Besides, the students were provided with clear and detailed guidance and instructions before completing the questionnaire The given time for them to complete each question was three

to five minutes In the process of the survey, 50 survey papers were handed out and all of them were collected The number of papers meeting the primary demand of the researcher was 50 (100%)

After the survey was implemented, the statistic were totaled up and indicated through out the following charts Each chart shows us the number of students who choose the most suitable answer for them in each question This number is counted in percentage unit and the kind of chart are bar, pie, table, ect The data can be easily seem in the chart and in the right

of chart are the explanations

In this section, I will talk about the result of student‟s questionnaire I made separate and bit different questions for them The questions are included both open and closed ended questions I made this question to get their feeling about group work, whether they think it is effective or not After my research, I found that most of the students had replied for the questions and gave their opinion The first question was about their feeling of group work Majority of the students gave positive answer for this question They said it is very effective and helpful It gives them opportunity to work and discuss with their partners They Running head: Importance of group work said while discussing in a group and a pair, they feel comfortable and get to learn the topic easily One student had found it challenging whereas other mentioned that it is fun to work in groups and pairs Few students replied in both positive and negative way They said it is sometimes effective if the students are cooperative and sometimes it is not good at all, whereas other student said groupwork and pairwork are not helpful The following table will show the percentages of different number of students

mentioned about their feelings

The following table 4.3.1 will show the percentages of different number of students mentioned about their feelings