The effectiveness of using pair work and group work in speaking lessons for the 11TH form students

Besides, teacher with teaching experience of ourselves,observe, talk to friends and colleagues in and outside of schools to choose andorganize students to work in pair and group for suit

I INTRODUCTION

1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Nowadays English has become more and more important part in Vietnamand it is an international language Therefore, it has been taught in Vietnam

from primary schools to high schools as a compulsory subject In English

teaching, the main objective is to prepare students for communication in the realworld and it is very important for a learner to efficiently equip himself with fourskills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, together with relativelysufficient background knowledge Among those skills, speaking is a crucial part

of language learning The mastery of speaking skill in English is a priority formany second or foreign language learners

The goal of education is currently focused on the development ofdynamic, the creative and active of students enable them to identify and solveproblems So the application of traditional methods - centered teachers - are notsuitable for the development of education The innovation of teaching andlearning method is affirming the advantages in the process of receiving lessons

of students In fact, the last aim of learning foreign language is to communicate

So in the period of learning, students don’t speak much, there is no effect in thatperiod Foreign language teachers need to take advantages all chances to suggeststudents practising speaking more than other subjects Therefore, the foreignlanguage period is very different from other subject periods Students are alwayswilling to speak They speak a lot and understand what other people speak, theycan reach the aims of learning foreign language

With many years of experience in teaching English at Nguyen Quan Nhohigh school, I found that most students are lazy in giving ideas and answeringthe questions If the teachers apply traditional teaching methods in the lessons,students will be more and more passive in learning So, through the form pairsand groups can support forms of work or working class individual The trainingactivities in pairs, two - way nature of the group, strengthening the exchange ofinformation over the student or give the activities of communication practiced inclass so students can communicate in confidence English To achieve this goal,teacher should study the content of each lesson in the textbook, study subjectsand suitable students Besides, teacher with teaching experience of ourselves,observe, talk to friends and colleagues in and outside of schools to choose andorganize students to work in pair and group for suitable lessons, with cognitiveabilities of the children and attract their attention, giving the atmosphere morelively lessons, relieved stress to promote the initiative and creativity of students

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The study is aimed at:

- The research firstly aims to introduce pair work and group work and toshow the advantages of working in pairs and groups

- The research secondly aims to show how to organize pair and groupwork effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise

- The research thirdly aims to show how pair and group work can be usedfor various classroom activities

- The research lastly aims to give teachers confidence in using pair andgroup work themselves

3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

With this study, I put focus on investigating and discovering obstacles ordifficulties encountered by students in English speaking lessons at Nguyen QuanNho high school From these findings, the internal and external causes areanalyzed to give some suggestions for tackling them in order to motivatestudents and help improve students’ speaking competence by using pair workand group work

The study was conducted on the students of grade 11 at Nguyen QuanNho high school with the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11”

4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study is carried out to find the answer to the following questions:

1 How often are pair work and group work applied in English speakinglessons?

2 Does using pair work and group work increase students’ interest inEnglish speaking lessons?

3 Does using pair work and group work increase students’ participation

in English speaking lessons?

5 METHODS OF THE STUDY

In order to get the goals of the study, I used some methods such as:

1 Observation method: The subjects performed self-exploration researchproject conducted classroom visits, attended colleagues’ lessons

2 Experimental methods: Teachers teach test conducted on each specificpurpose requires some speaking lessons

3 Investigation method: Teachers ask questions to check understandingcontent assessment of the students’ lessons

Pair work and group work started getting attention of educationist in the1970s In 1970s educationists were concerned about increasing teacher talkingtime in language classes During the 1980s and 1990s the development ofcommunicative language teaching brought an important change in the role ofstudents (Nunan & Lamb 1996) Working together is worthwhile as “pair andgroup work immediately increase the amount of students talking time” (Harmer,1991) Researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative inlearning learn more things and learn better than those who sit at the feet ofteachers passively waiting to be taught (Knowles as cited in Hedge, 2000).Researchers reported that it is a source of intrinsic motivation for students asworking in groups is fun for them It provides the students with the opportunity

to communicate with each other to share “suggestions, insights, feedback aboutsuccesses and failures” Researchers also claim that a teacher’s dominance inclass makes it dull and it kills the students’ interests (Kundo & Tutto, 1989)

1.2 Review of theoretical background

1.2.1 An overview of language teaching and learning

1.2.1.1 Definitions of language teaching and learning

"Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learners tolearn, setting the conditions for learning" Foreign language learning, like othersubjects, is part of the overall development of all students Through learning aforeign language, the students can enrich their experience of life, broaden theirworld vision, and enhance their thinking skills Language learning is mosteffective when students' interest, motivation and attitudes are taken intoconsideration Therefore, evaluation should be summative and formative anddesigned and administered to encourage the learners rather to frustrate them Itshould be carried out in terms of what students can do rather than what theycannot do

1.2.1.2 The goal of teaching speaking

In the book Language Learning Strategies by Rebecca L Oxford, she

writes: "A more practiced eye, a more receptive ear, a more fluent tongue, amore involved heart, a more responsive mind are the characteristics we want to

stimulate in students to enable them to become more proficient languagelearners." In other words, the goal of teaching speaking skills is communicativeefficiency Learners should be able to make themselves understood, using theircurrent proficiency to the fullest They should try to avoid confusion in themessage due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to observethe social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation.

Besides, the nature of the new teaching theory is promoting a positive,creative initiative of students, student is the subject of learning activities, teacherorganizes and guidances to students receiving new knowledge, language trainingthrough a variety of communication forms such as personal activities, pair work,groupwork In the teaching process, to promote actively the activities of thestudent pairs, it is a form of good group learning activities Through this form oflearning conditions they have presented, discussed and expressed their thoughtsabout the information about lessons that they understand The information ofeach student can be right or may be wrong part Through pair and group, theyreturned to their teacher Since then teacher can know their understanding Thisprocess is taking place in accordance with the two-way relations In terms oflearning theory, this is a dialectical relationship Working in pairs and in group

is to practise the students' skills, thoughts and expression when they want topresent their ideas before a class Through this activity, the skills of listening,speaking, reading and writing of students are improved better

as much as reading and writing in our communication

Speaking has usually been compared to writing, both being considered

"productive skills", as opposed to the "receptive skills" of reading and listening.Speaking also is closely related to listening as two interrelated ways ofaccomplishing communication Every speaker is simultaneously a listener andevery listener is at least potentially a speaker (Oprandy, 1994 & EL Menoufy,1997)

Speaking has been classified to monologue and dialogue The formerfocuses on giving an interrupted oral presentation and the latter on interactingwith other speakers (Nunan, 1989) Speaking can also serve one of two mainfunctions: transactional (transfer of information) and interactional (maintenance

of social relationships) (Brown and Yule, 1983)

1.2.2.2 The importance of speaking

Developing speaking skills is of vital importance in English foreignlanguage programs Nunan (1999) and Burkart & Sheppard (2004) argue thatsuccess in learning a language is measured in terms of the ability to carry out aconversation in the language Therefore, speaking is probably a priority for mostlearners of English (Florez, 1999) Speaking instruction is important because ithelps students acquire English foreign language speaking skills thus conversespontaneously and naturally with native speakers Furthermore, if the rightspeaking activities are taught in the classroom, speaking can raise generallearners' motivation and make the English language classroom a fun anddynamic place to be (Nunan, 1999 & Celce-Murcia, 2001) In addition, speakingcan support other language skills Recent research has considered oralinteraction as an important factor in the shaping of the learner's developinglanguage (Gass & Varionis, 1994) For instance, it was proved that leraningspeaking can help the development of reading competence (Hilferty, 2005), the

development of writing (Trachsel & Severino, 2004) as well as the development

of listening skills (Regina, 1997)

1.2.3 An overview of pair work and group work

1.2.3.1 Definition of pair work

Pair work is learners working together in pairs One of the mainmotivations to encourage pair work in the English language classroom is toincrease the opportunities for learners to use English in the class Theteacher devides the whole class into pairs Every student works with his or herpartner and all the pairs work at the same time The teacher walksaround, listens and intervenes little if necessary

Example

The learners are answering comprehension questions in pairs afterreading a text This allows them to compare answers, and clarify problemstogether using English In the classroom, teachers can evaluate the impactand effectiveness of pair work on their learners by using action researchtools such as asking the learners how they feel about working like this or byactually participating in an activity in a pair and evaluating this experienceafterwards

1.2.3.2 Definition of group work

According to Giselle Konopka: Group work as defined as “as a method

of social work which help individual to enchance their social functioningthrough purposeful group experience and to cope more effectively withtheir personal, group and comminity problems”

Group work is a form of voluntary association of members benefiting

from cooperative learning, that enhances the total output of the activitythan when done individually It aims to cater for individual differences,develop skills (e.g communication skills, collaborative skills, critical

thinking skills), generic knowledge and socially acceptable attitudes or togenerate conforming standards of behavior and judgement, a "group mind".

So, students work in small groups (of four or five) on tasks thatentail interaction: conveying information, for example, or group decisionmaking All the groups work at the same time The teacher walks aroundlistening, intervenes little if necessary

1.2.4 The advantages, problems and solution to the problems

For certain types of activity, pairwork and groupwork have number ofadvantages over working with the whole class together Teachers shouldthink what the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved

in pairwork, groupwork and the solutions for these

1.2.4.1 Advantages

- More language practice

- Students are more involved

- Students feel secure, confident

- Students help one another

` - Save time

* More language practice

Pairwork and groupwork give students far more chance to speakEnglish For example, students are give an exercise of making sentences(question & answer), working in pair, each student makes as manysentences as they can If the exercise were done, round the class, studentswould only say one sentence each, and in a large class many students would saynothing at all

* Student are more involved

Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students andothers would lose interest if they are conducted with the whole classtogether Working in pairs and groups encourages students to be moreinvolved and to concentrate on the task

* Students feel secure

Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when theyare on show in front of the whole class Pairwork and groupwork can helpshy students who would never say anything in a whole class activity

* Students help each other

Pairwork and groupwork encourage students to share indeas andknowledge In a reading actictivity, students can help each other to explorethe meaning of a text, in a discussion activity, students can give each othernew ideas

1.2.4.2 Problems and solution to the problem

- Noise

- Students make mistakes

- Difficult to control

* Noise

Obviously pairwork and groupwork in a large class will be noisy, and thiscan not be helped

* Solution to the problem

- Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it

is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in the nextroom

- The noise created by pairwork and groupwork is usualy”good” noise.Students use English or engage in a learning task Teacher should stop theactivity when most groups or pairs have finished or prepare a “reserve” task tooccupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected

* Students make mistakes

During a pair and group activity, the teacher can not control all thelanguage used, and should not try to do so

* Solution to the problem

When doing cotrolled language practice in pairs and groups, the number

of mistakes can be reduced by:

- Giving enough preparation, the activity can be done with the whole classfirst, and pair work used for final stage

- Checking afterwards The teacher can ask some pairs and groups whatthey said, and then correct mistakes if necessary

* Difficult to control class

The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pairwork andgroupwork than in normal class

* Solution to the problem

To stop activities getting out control, it is important to:

- Give clear instructions about when to start, what to do and when to stop

- Give clearly defined tasks which don’t continue for too long

- Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs andgroups, and know exactly what to do

1.2.5 Organizing pair work and group work

1.2.5.1 Pair and group work depends on some extents

The success of pair and group work depends on some extents:

- The surrounding social climate

- How habituated the class is to using it

- The selection of an interesting and stimulating task whose performance iswell within the ability of the pair and group

[

More immediately, it also depends on:

- Effective and careful organization

1.2.5.2 Organization steps

* Presentation

The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial If thestudents do not understand exactly what they have to do, there will betime-wasting, confusion, lack of effective practice, possible loss of control.Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily and in monolingualclasses, you may find it cost - effective to explain some or all in the students

“mother tongue” It is advisable to give the instructions before giving outmaterials of dividing the class into groups and a preliminary rehearsal, dryrun of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things Ifyour students have already done similar activities, you will be able toshorten the process, giving only brief guidelines It is mainly the first time

of doing something with a class that such care needs to be invested ininstructing

* Process

Teacher goes from pair to pair, group to group, monitor, and eithercontribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful Ifyou do decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of:

- Providing general approval and support

- Helping students who are having difficultly

- Keeping the students using the target language (in manycases yourmere presence will ensure this!)

- Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you findsome students are over dominant and others silent

- Giving the right solution, if there is one

- Listening to and evaluating suggestions

- Pooling ideas on the board

- Displaying the meterials the pairs/groups have produced and so on.The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effortthat has been invested and its results Feedback on language may beintegrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separateclass session later

1.2.6 Some activities work in pairs and in groups effectively

* Interview

This is a common activity, a lot of teachers apply to the lessons,especially the section of Reading, Speaking The teacher asks students towork in pairs and in gruops, ask and answer for each topic of each lessonafter giving the sentence patterns Performing this activity requiresteachers to pay attention to the bad pairs, encouraging them to participate

* Arrange the events in order

Arrange the events in order Teachers prepare the content of thelesson but not the order in the post The teacher asks students to work inpairs and groups and rearrangethe story Representatives of the pairs andgroups to tell the story after arrangement

* Free Role play

Role play or real situations in class Students work in pairs andgroups by role or character which they are assigned

Activity 1 Teacher gives out the network and people below and asks students to

work in pair to give the questions used to ask about the information in it todescribe their physical charcteristics

Objectives of activity: Students will be able to work in pair to describe the

physical characteristics of some people in the picture

Describing people’sappearance

Face

(square,oval,

round…)

Hair(long, shott,black…)

Build(slim, thin,plump…)

Eyes

(small, big,

brown…)

Appearance(handsome, beautiful, )

*Suggested answers:

Eg: 1 Can you describe the boy in the picture?

2 What does the boy look like?

3 Does he have short hair?

4 Is he tall or short?

5 What colour are his eyes?

6 Does he have a round face?

7 Is he wearing a pair of glasses?

8 Is he handsome?

Activity 2 Students work in groups Discuss and number the following

personalities in order of importance in friendship

Objectives of activity: Students will be able to understand some adjectives in

the book to order of importance in friendship

Height(tall, short,medium…)

1

4

3 2

8 9

- caring - hospitable - modest

- sincere - generous - honest

- helpful - understanding - pleasant

- Teacher divides the class into 3 groups and asks students to complete thenetwork

Activity 3 Students work in pairs, one student plays the role of a journalist is

going to interview an other student to ask some questions about his/ her friend.Using the network and the information in activity 2

Objectives of activity: Students will be able to ask and answer some questions

to describe the physical characteristics and personalities of their friends

*Suggested answers:

A: What’s your best friend’s name?

B: Her name is Lan

A: When was she born? (How old is she?)

B: She was born in 2004 (She is 17 years old)

A: What does she look like?

B: She is very beautiful She is tall She has big eyes and long black hair

A: What is she like?

B: She is helpful and honest

A: What does she usually do in her free time?

B: She usually reads book in her free time?

A: What are her hobbies?

B: They are reading and swimming

A: What subject does she like best?

B: She likes Maths best

A: How much time does she spend on Maths every day?

B: About an hour a day

UNIT 3: A PARTY Period: 15 Lesson 2: Speaking

Activity 1: Warm up: Brainstorming: Types of parties.

Objectives of activity: Students will be able to talk about some kinds of parties

and revise the vocabulary on the topic party

5 6

7