SOME SUGGESTIONS TO MOTIVATE 10th FORM STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN GROUPWORK ACTIVITIES IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT QUANG XUONG 1 HIGH SCHOOL

Some suggestions to motivate 10th form students to participate in groupwork activities in speaking lessons at Quảng Xương 1 High school... It has been reported by a number of the studies

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION

11 Reason for the study ……3

1.2 Aims of the study 1……… …… 3

1.3 Scope of the study .4

1.4 Methods of the study 4

1.5 New features of the study …… 4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT ……

2.1 Theo retical background

2.1.1 Definitions of speaking 5

2.1.2 Teaching and learning speaking skill 5

2.1.3 Definitions of students' participation 5

2.1.4 Teachers' teaching methods 6

2.1.5 Teachers' personalities and characteristics 6

2.1.6.Students' learning style 6

2.1.7 Students' learning motivation 6

2.1.8 Definitions of group work 7

2.1.9 Types of groupwork 7

2.1.10 Advantages of using group work activities in speaking lesson 8+9 2.2 The factual issues in participating in groupwwork at English speaking lessons at Quảng Xương 1 High school 2.2.1.The students and teachers' attitudes towards learning and teaching speaking skill……… 10

2.2.2 The students and teachers' problems in implementing groupwork activities 11

2.3 Some suggestions to motivate 10th form students to participate in groupwork activities in speaking lessons at Quảng Xương 1 High school 2.3.1 The role of the teacher 12

2.3.2.The role of each student in group work activities 13

2.3.3 Types of speaking tasks carried out in group work activities in textbook English

10……… ……14

2.3.4 Forming students in groups .15

2.3.5 Preparing for students to work in group .16

2.3.6 Ending group work activities 16

2.4.RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……….

2.4.1 RESULTS 2.4.1.2.The students' attitudes towards the current groupwork activities .18

2.4.1.3 The students' preference of kinds of groupwork activities 19

2.4.1.4 The teachers and students' acknowledgements about groupwork activities 19

2.4.2 Recommendations 2.4.2.1 Students should be well- prepared for groupwork activities…….… … 20

2.4.2.2 Students should be always sustained in groupwork activities ………… .21

2.4.2.3 The groups' results should be appropriately evaluated ……….21

PART 3:CONCLUSION 3.1.Summary ……….22

3.2 Suggestions for the further study ……… 22

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT refers to Communicative Language Teaching

EFL refers to English as a First Language

ESL refers to English as a Second Language

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Reason for the study

With the undeniable role of communication, English has proven to be the most effective tool to involveVietnam in the process of globalization and vice versa English has helped open a new integrating chancethose who knows to make use of it Having fully recognized the importance of this, the VietnameseMinistry of Education and Training has made English a compulsory subject at secondary schools all overthe country and it has become one of the three main subjects at high schools As a result, the high schoolcurriculum has laid a great deal of stress on teaching and learning this widely-used language especially in acommunicative way The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has recently put into practice anew series of English textbooks, which focus on the Communicative Language Teaching In order to applythis method effectively, the use of group work activities in teaching speaking skill is emphasized, as isstated in the teacher’s guide books

In the new textbook, English 10, most of the activities in speaking lessons are encouraged to be organized

in group work activities It has been reported by a number of the studies that in speaking lessons, groupwork activities make it possible for the teacher to devote more time to the students' oral production, whichperhaps before had not been a priority in the foreign language classroom Thanks to group work activities,less confident students get the chance to put their knowledge of the new language into practice in a non-threatening environment, away from the critical eye and ear of the teacher Instead of being dependent onthe teacher, students get used to helping and learning from each other Meanwhile, the teacher is left free todiscreetly monitor progress and give help, advice and encouragement where and when it is needed Smallgroups provide greater intensity of involvement, so that the quality of language practice is increased.Despite the enormous benefits of using group work activities in developing the students' speaking ability,both the teachers and the students at Quang Xương 1 high school are generally not much successful inteaching or learning through this type of activity Almost the teachers often complained that their studentsdid not fully participate in group work activities Therefore, they had a lot of difficulties using group workactivities in their class This led me to carry out an investigation into the matter in the hope to work out andexplain how the 10th form students participate into group work activities in speaking lessons will beidentified and better understood Furthermore, based on the study, practical teaching ideas to improve thestudents' participation into the group work activities in speaking lessons will be drawn out

1.2 Aims of the study

The study aims to

- investigate current participation by the 10th form student in group work activities in speakinglessons at Quảng Xương 1 High school

- identify the factors affecting the students' participation in groupwork speaking activities

- discuss and recommend practical teaching ideas to involve the 10th form students in moreeffective groupwork activities in speaking lessons.

1.3 Subjects of the study

The subjects of the study are composed of 135 participants divided into 2 groups:

The first group consists of 135 grade 10 students randomly chosen at Quảng Xương 1 High school

The second group involves 2 teachers They have been teaching at school for at least 10 years They areassigned to teach English 10

1.4 Method of the study

To conduct the study, quantitative and qualitative methods will be used Questionnaires and semi-structuredinterviews will be used to collect information and evidence for the study All the comments,recommendations and conclusions provided in the study will be based on the data analysis

1.5 New features of the study: To help teachers detect the reason why their few students

take part in working in group in big size class and provide them some very useful methods the teachers don’t conduct the steps in order or some of them even are not care about to motivate students to participate in groupwork activities in speaking skill lessons such as; select activities carefully,work out the instructions for an activity carefully,present the activity to the class,monitor the students' performance, provide feedback, keep a record,

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT2.1 Theoretical background

2.1.1 Definitions of speaking

There are various definitions of speaking and the popular acceptance comes from Jones, R (1989:86) who defines speaking as “Speaking is a form of communication, so it is important that whatyou say conveyed in the most effective way.” Speaking is one of the basic skills that must bemastered by students since it is very important for them to communicate in the class or outside theclass They must practice it especially in learning teaching in order to be fluent, without an ability

to speak, it would be impossible to have a natural communication among people Brown and Yule(1989: 14) state in their book “Speaking is to express the needs request, information, service, etc.”The speakers say a word to the listener not only to express what in their mind but also to expresswhat they need Most people might spend their everyday life communicating with others

2.1.2 Teaching and learning speaking skill

People use oral language as their most means of communication- all peoples have developed a form

of oral language Skill and fluency in speaking have dramatic effects upon life in general Therecent emphasis on communication has focused particular attention on ways of promoting speakingskills This is a question of developing not only language competence but also language use.Speaking activities aim, therefore, to develop the confidence, desire, and ability to use the targetlanguage accurately and appropriately and effectively for the purposes of communication as well.Teaching speaking is to prepare students to be able to use language How this preparation is doneand how successful it is depend on how we as teachers understand our aims For students, learning

to speak a foreign language is considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of languagelearning To help students be able to use that foreign language to express themselves intelligibly,reasonably, accurately without too much hesitation, teachers must provide them with anenvironment within in which they can communicate freely, and in which they can work togetherindependently with only the minimum amount of direction from the teachers

2.1.3 Definitions of students' participation

Many linguists pointed out that students' participation plays a crucially important role which helps

to determine the level of proficiency by different students in language learning According toHoward, Short, and Clark (1996) participation is the student’s active engagement in theclassroom to promote effective learning Peacock (1997) defined students' participation in

language learning in term of on task and off task This means that students are on task when they

"engaged in the pedagogic work of the day" and students are off task when they have "a completelack of attention to the task" Sylvelyn, Judith & Paulin (2009) stated that students' participation iswhen students who actively engage in classroom discussions, rather than be passive learnerswho simply take in knowledge

2.1.4.Teacher’s teaching methods

Hammer (1991) claimed that teachers' teaching methods have direct effects on students' learning inboth positive and negative ways especially in speaking lesson It is clear that good and propermethod will attract students in their learning If students find their teacher' method deadly boring,they will certainly become de-motivated and do not want to participate in the speaking activities

On the contrary, if the students are interested in their teacher' method, there is no doubt that theywill be ready to engage in the activities It is necessary that teachers need to apply appropriatemethods for their students' level

2.1.5 Teachers' personalities and characteristics

Teachers' personalities and characteristics are considered to be the key influence on students' liking

of their success in different at school The teacher's prestige will make students feel secure in his orher lecture and thus they are wiling to participate in language learning more Barry and King (1994)pointed out the necessary characteristics of teachers like being nature, being warm, being pleasant,being approachable and being tolerant Besides, a good teacher owns certain qualities such asencouragement to active learning, friendliness, support, ability to create positive and friendlylearning environment He or she gets students involved in his lesson and encourage them take part

in the lesson enthusiastically It may be well worth noting that teachers' personalities andcharacteristics enhance students' participation in learning in speaking lessons

2.1.6 Students' learning style

Students' learning style refers to their general approach towards using particular types of learningactivities It is evidenced in the students' attitudes towards and preferences for particular activities,the particular choice of activities they use for learning, the way in which they approach the use ofparticular types of learning tasks

There are different learning styles identified by educators and psychologists Richard (1994, cited

in Knowles, 1992) classified students' styles into four types as follows: Concrete learning style,analytical learning style, communicative learning style, authority- oriented learning style

2.1.7 Students' learning motivation

Motivation is viewed as a major factor affecting students' participation in language learning Itaffects directly students' failure and success in language learning Motivation is understood asinterest and enthusiasm for the activities used in classes, persistence with learning task It is alsoindicated as by levels of attention and levels of concentration and enjoyment

2.18.Definitions of group work

Group work has been incorporated into language teaching and learning in most parts of the worldsince the emergence of the CLT up work, in a language class, is a co- operative during whichstudents share aims and responsibilities to complete a task assigned by the teacher in groups or inpairs"

According to Sprott (cited in Metcalfe 1959:9), " a group as a number of people who interact withanother one, who are psychological aware of one another and who perceive themselves to be agroup" Doff (1988: 137) defines group work is a process that “the teacher divides the class intosmall groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), as in pair work, all thegroups work at the same time.”

In spite of the different definitions, it can be said that in group work, all the members have chances

to cooperate with others They learn to negotiate to listen to different opinions They participatemore equally and in most cases they feel free to experiment and use the language In group work,the focus is not only on the product but also on the process and the skills which are activated inorder to achieve it

2.1 9.Types of group work

Davis (1993) divides group work into 3 types:

- informal learning groups

- formal learning groups

- study teams

Informal learning groups are temporary clusterings of the students with a single class session.

Informal learning groups can be initiated, for example, by asking students to turn to partners andspend several minutes discussing a question the teacher has raised The teacher can also formgroups of three or five to solve a problem Informal learning groups can be organized at anytime in

a class of any size to check on students' understanding of the material, to give students anopportunity to apply what they are learning, or to provide a change of pace Informal learninggroups have a short lifetime ranging from a few minutes to the class period With informal learninggroups, the tasks are generally created quickly, for example, the teacher may say "discuss thequestions with your partners" and have little explanation

Formal learning groups are teams established to complete a specific task, such as perform a lab

experiment, write a report, or carry out a project These groups may complete their task in a singleclass session or over several weeks Typically, students work together until the task is finished andtheir work is graded Formal learning groups can last several days or several weeks They requiremore planning They also have greater explanation

2.1.10.Advantages of using group work activities in speaking lesson

Many different kinds of speaking activities such as brainstorming, discussion, interview, dialogueect can be performed in groups It can not be denied benefits of group work in these types ofactivities Beebe and Masterson (1982) describe cooperative learning in group work as:

"The glue that binds the organizations The oil that smoothes the organization's function

The thread that ties the system together The force that pervades the organization The binding agent that cements all relationships"

Building on Long and Porter’s (1985) account of the advantages of group/pair work for languagepedagogy, Jacobs (1998) provides a comprehensive list of ten potential advantages (see the table ),comparing the typical characteristics of groupwork with those of teacher-centred instruction

Ten potential advantages of group

activities in language instruction

2 The variety of speech acts can

increase

In teacher-fronted classrooms, studentsare cast in a responsive role, but ingroupwork they can perform a widerange of roles, including those involved

in the negotiation of meaning

3 There can be more individualization

of instruction

In teacher fronted-lessons teachers shapetheir instruction to the needs of theaverage student but in groupwork theneeds of individual students can be

attended to

4 Anxiety can be reduced Students feel less nervous speaking in an

L2 in front of their peers than in front ofthe whole class

5 Motivation can increase Students will be less competitive when

working in groups and are more likely toencourage each other

6 Enjoyment can increase Students are ‘social animals’ and thus

enjoy interacting with others in groups;

in teacher-fronted classrooms student interaction is often proscribed

student-7 Independence can increase Group activities help students to become

independent learners

8 Social integration can increase Group activities enable students to get to

know each other

9 Students can learn how to work

together with others

In typical teacher-fronted classroomsstudents are discouraged from helpingeach other; group work helps students tolearn collaborative skills

10 Learning can increase Learning is enhanced by groupwork

because students are willing to take risksand can scaffold each other’s efforts

According to Harmer (1991) group work provides more opportunities for students' initiation, practice in

negotiation of meaning, extended conversational exchanges, face- to- face give and take andadoption of roles Ur (1996, p.232) also shares the same idea: "In group work, learners perform alearning task through small group interaction It is a form of learner activation that is of particularvalue in the practice of oral fluency; learners in class divided into five groups get 5 times as manyopportunities to talk as in full class organization"

In short, group work can be beneficial for every student in a class Groups make well- informed andbetter quality decisions more often than do individuals because of the varied experiences individualbring to a group Group members also learn about themselves when they work with others becausethey receive feedback Group interaction can enhance both comprehension and satisfactionespecially in developing speaking skill Group work enables students to use the language It also

motivates them more involved and concentrates on the task assigned In a non- threateningperformance environment of collaborative classroom motivation is often improved as students feelless inhibited and more able to explore possibilities for self- expression.

Furthermore, groupwork has advantages not only for the learners but also for the teachers First ofall they save time Instead of asking individual students to practice a structure or answer thequestions, he/she can divide the class into pairs and make them do the exercise at the same time As

a result students are able to practice the language more during the lessons When the time is saved,the teacher can take his/her students through much bigger material and many more activities Thiswill be for sure appreciated by the students who will not have time to get bored because of thevariety of activities and their own participation in the lesson As a result, the lesson will seem to bemore interesting, the teacher will be liked by the students, and he/she will enjoy his/her workbecause it will bring him/her satisfaction, pleasure, and fulfillment Group work may be a good way

to help the teacher to check students' progress in learning The teacher can do it without students'knowledge about the fact that they are observed and checked Walking round the class and listening

to the students, the teacher can not only make notes of the most common mistakes to discuss themlater, but also discover whether they are able to communicate with each other in the foreignlanguage or not Such discovery helps the teacher to decide which parts of material need to berepeated or explained later Another important advantage for the teacher is that group work giveshim/her time to consult the lesson plan and organize materials for the next stage of the lesson.Although the teacher can be prepared for the lesson very well, sometimes it may happen that he/shesimply forgets what he/she must do next Group activities are the best for looking up the lessonplan It is also good for organizing materials for the next activity, for example hanging pictures orpieces of a text on walls, writing something on the blackboard, etc

2 2 The factual issues in participating in groupwwork at English speaking lessons at Quảng Xương 1 High school.

2.2.1 The students' and teachers' attitudes towards learning and teaching speaking skill before applying the new method.

Questions Options A B C D

Question 1 What do you think of learning speaking

skill?

A very important B rather important

C little important D not important

Question 2 How much do you like learning speaking 32.5 15 31.5 21

A very much B rather

C little D not at all

As we look at table,a majority of the students held positive attitude learning speaking skill Theresults showed that most of them answered that learning speaking was important or ratherimportant (30.5%, 50% respectively) whereas only 9.5% of the students said learning speaking wasnot important A small number of them (10%) thought it was little important The population of thestudents who liked learning speaking skill very much or little was nearly the same ((32.5%,31.5%respectively) The number of students responded that they did not like learning speaking skill at allwas not small (21%)

When being interviewed about their opinions on teaching speaking skill to students, all the fourteachers (100%) agreed that it was very important One of them likes teaching speaking skill mostwhile the rest (3 teachers) said that they did not like it as much as the other skills

The results revealed that most of the students found learning speaking skill necessary However, notmany of them are really interested in learning it and not all teachers liked teaching speaking most

2.2.2.The students and teachers' problems in implementing groupwork activities

Question 10: Please tick the problems you have faced when

participating in groupwork activities in speaking lessons

Student'sopinions

You lack vocabulary and ideas to discuss in groups 90

You feel bored with working with the same partners 25

You feel uncomfortable and shy talking in groups 22.5

You and your classmates tend to use Vietnamese more 82

Your classmates make noise when working in groups 87

The amount of time for each groupwork activities is not sufficient 42

Lazy students do not contribute in groupwork activities 68

Responsibilities among members in a group are unevenly distributed 42

2.3 Some suggestions to motivate 10 th form students to participate in groupwork activities in speaking lessons at Quảng Xương 1 High school.

2.3.1 The role of the teacher:

When interviewed to give suggestions to help students participate in groupwork activities more

effectively All of the four teachers said that they should give their students clear instructions,

necessary vocabulary and structures before letting them work in groups and groups of three or fourstudents that have different strong points so that they can help and learn from each other Theteachers also reported that they had to encourage their students and have proper punishment forlazy students One important thing was that they should go around and help their students whennecessary Furthermore, they suggested some solutions in order to improve the students' speakingskill such as: setting up English club would create a good environment for students to practiceEnglish; there should be oral tests so that students would pay more attention to learn speaking, andthe administrators should invest more facilities, for example, radios, special learning room forpracticing English, projectors, extra board

Select activities carefully: Teachers should ensure that the activities can be done reasonably well

with language and students It means that teachers should decide what they are going to pre- teachand let students ask for what they realise they need

Work out the instructions for an activity carefully: Presenting the activity to the class will be a

major factor in its success Teachers must keep instructions simple, and use mother tongue ifnecessary

Present the activity to the class: Teachers can use mother tongue if necessary; however, try to use

English as much as possible because both their explanation and evaluation activities are very realuse of language in a classroom situation Teachers should give plenty of examples and students a

"trial run"

Monitor the students' performance: While students are working in groups, teachers must move

around the class and to listen to them in order to find out how the students are getting on Teacherscan also join groups and work as a member Teachers should not correct mistakes as a rule, butmake a note of them and use them as the basis of feedback

Provide feedback: There is a set of ways of providing feedback For example, teachers may ask

students to give their ideas first before giving their opinion A major kind of feedback is oftenconcerned with language If during monitoring of the activities, teachers have detected mistakes,they may choose to point these out to the class afterwards Alternatively, they may use errors theyhave noted as the basis for remedial or further teaching

Keep a record: It is important to keep a record of the activities teachers have done with the class,

together with any comments on the students' performance Teachers should also note down anyideas for further activities which occur to them or modifications of existing ones

Donn Byrne (1986:77)

2.3.2.The role of each student in group work activities