Improving interaction in practice sessions, new headway pre intermediate an action research

Besides, student-student interaction can also foster the use o f m ore exploratory language and encourage informal learning styles and strategies am ong students, enhance students’ abili

M I N I S T R Y OF E D U C A T IO N A N D T R A I N IN G

HANOI UNIVERSITY

IMPROVING INTERACTION IN PRACTICE SESSIONS,

NEW HEADWAY PRE - INTERMEDIATE:

AN ACTION RESEARCH

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS

OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL

TRUNG M M

T H Ở N 8ĨIN T H Ư V l|NNN-VH NƯỚC HG0Ằ1

T4TV H25W

S U P E R V I S O R : N G U Y E N N G U Y E T M IN H , M A

Hanoi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S I

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S IV

A B S T R A C T V

L I S T O F A B B R E V I A T I O N S VI

L I S T O F T A B L E S , F I G U R E S A N D C H A R T S VII

C H A P T E R 1: I N T R O D U C T I O N 1

1.1 B a c k g r o u n d t o t h e s t u d y l l 2 S c o p e a n d s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e s t u d y 3

1.3 AIMS OF THE STUDY 4

i 4 O u t l i n e o f t h e t h e s i s 4

C H A P T E R 2: L I T E R A T U R E R E V I E W 6

2.1 INTERACTION IN COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING 6

2.1.1 Definition and types o f interaction 6

2.1.2 Roles o f interaction in L2 learning 7

2.1.3 Factors affecting student interaction 10

2 2 GROUPWORK IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING 16

2.2.1 Definition and types o f groupwork 16

2.2.2 Groupwork and student interaction 17

2.2.3 Principles to apply groupwork activities 20

2.2.4 Procedure fo r groupwork activities 23

C H A P T E R 3: T H E M E T H O D O L O G Y 29

3.1 a c t i o n R e s e a r c h ( A R ) 29

3.2 R e s e a r c h P r o c e d u r e 30

3.2.1 Identifying problem (from week 1 to week 2) 31

3.2.2 Collecting initial data (from week 3 to week 5 ) 31

3.2.3 Analyzing data and generating hypothesis (from week 6 to week 7 ) 32

3.2.4 Planning action (from week 8 to week 10) 32

3.2.5 Implementing the action plan (from week 8 to week 1 0 ) 32

3.2.6 Collecting data to monitor change (from week 8 to week 1 0 ) 32

3.2.7 Analyzing and evaluating data (week 11 to week 12) 32

3.3 D a t a c o l l e c t i o n t o o l s 33

3.3.1 Document analysis 33

3.3.2 Classroom observation 34

3.3.3 Questionnaire 36

3 4 P a r t i c i p a n t s 3 7 3.4.1 The researcher - the teacher 37

3.4.2 The observers 37

3.4.3 The students 38

3 5 S u m m a r y 38

C H A P T E R 4: T H E R E S U L T S 3 9 4 1 INITIAL D A T A 3 9 4.1.1 Level o f interaction 39

4.1.2 Causes o f problem s 40

4.2 THE ACTION PLAN 48

4.2.1 Organizing the practice activities 49

4.2.2 Procedure 50

4.2.3 Feedback 51

4.3 D a t a c o l l e c t e d in t h e a c t i o n s t a g e 52

4.3.1 Overall level o f student interaction 52

4.3.2 Students' self-reported level o f interaction 54

4 4 ACTION RESEARCH EVALUATION 55

4.4.1 The level o f student interaction before and after the intervention o f the Action Plan 5 5 4.4.2 Students’ s e l f reported level o f interaction before and after the intervention o f the Action Plan 56

4.4.3 Discussion 57

C H A P T E R 5: R E C O M M E N D A T I O N A N D C O N C L U S I O N 61

5.1 R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s 61

5 2 C O N C LU S IO N 6 3 5.3 L i m i t a t i o n s a n d s u g g e s t i o n s f or f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h 64

R E F E R E N C E S 6 5 A P P E N D I X E 1: O B S E R V A T I O N S H E E T 1 70

A P P E N D I X E 2: O B S E R V A T I O N S H E E T 2 72

A P P E N D I X E 3: L E A R N E R ’ S Q U E S T I O N N A I R E 1 ( E N G L I S H V E R S I O N ) 74

A P P E N D I X E 4: L E A R N E R ’S Q U E S T I O N N A I R E 1 ( V I E T N A M E S E V E R S I O N ) 75

A P P E N D I X E 5: L E R N E R S ’ Q U E S T I O N N A I R E 2 ( E N G L I S H V E R S I O N ) 76

A P P E N D I X 6: L E A R N E R S ’ Q U E S T I O N N A I R E 2 ( V I E T N A M E S E V E R S I O N ) 78

A P P E N D I X 7: L E S S O N P L A N F O R O R A L P R A C T I C E S E S S I O N 80

A P P E N D I X 8: P R A C T I C E S E C T I O N U N I T 7 89

My special thanks go to Mrs Nguyen Thai Ha, M.A - Vice Dean o f the Departm ent o f Post Graduate Studies, Hanoi University for her valuable ideas, suggestions and com m ents on the research approaches.

1 would also acknowledge my great gratitude to all the lecturers and to the organizers for this M aster course at Hanoi University

My special thanks are also expressed to my friends, my colleagues and thirty students taking part in my research for their great help with data collection and analysis

Last, I am deeply grateful to my husband and m y children for their support, encouragem ent and love, which were extremely important for the completion o f this thesis

t

In an attempt to improve the level o f student interaction in Practice sessions New

H eadw ay P re-interm ediate, at the University o f Economic and Technical Industries

(UNETI), the research examined (1) w hat w ere the causes o f low student interaction

and (2) how the interaction changed once the action plan had been implemented

The subject o f the study was 30 second-year students o f class Q T I5A 1 - Business Administration section, UNETI They were observed in practice sessions and invited to com plete survey questionnaires The data collected at the initial stage revealed that the interactive activities, the teacher’s ways to organize the practice and give feedback were

not appropriate The findings initiated the hypothesis that org a n izin g the p ractice appropriately fo llo w in g the right procedure w ith adequate fe e d b a c k w o u ld increase the level o f verbal interaction betw een students in p ra ctic e sessions.

An action plan with the strategies to improve the way to organize practice activities and

to give feedback was implemented The post stage results found a positive answ er to the hypothesis The evaluation o f the action research showed that the level o f learner interaction increased when the action plan was implemented

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

UNETI University o fT e c h n ic a l and Economic Industries

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND CHARTS

Table I : General goals o f GE course at UNETI

Table 2: The level o f student interaction at pre-action stage

Table 3: Practice tasks in N ew Headway Pre-Intermediate

Table 4: T e a c h e r's performance in Practice sessions

Table 5: Students' opinions on Practice activities, activity organization mode, teacher’s instruction and feedback

Table 6: Overall student-student verbal interaction after the intervention o f the action plan

Table 7: Students' self-reported level o f interaction after the intervention o f the action plan

Figure I : Action research cycle

Chart I: I'he level o f student-student interaction before and after the intervention o f the action plan

Chart 2: L earners’ self-level o f interaction before and after the intervention o f the action plan

At UNETI, all o f the students have finished senior high schools and joined the course after passing the compulsory entrance examination in mathematics, physics and chemistry to the university Their age range is between about 18 and 22 years old They may have studied General English (GE) for either three or seven years before starting the university depending on the English programs adopted at their schools At the university, English is a compulsory subject The total time allotted for English is 270 periods, o f which 225 hours is for General English (GE) and 45 hours is for English for specific purpose (ESP) The requirements o f the GE course for students at UNETI are illustrated in Table 1 below.

Table 1: General requirem ents o f G E course at U N E T I

S e m e s t e r C r e d i t s P e r i o d s R e q u i r e m e n t s

elementary level

speaking and listening to obtain pre-intermediate level

reading to obtain high pre-intermediate level and ready for the English for Special Purposes course

As can be seen ¡11 Table I, speaking skill and gram m ar are the focal points in the GE

curriculum at UNETI There, multi-level N ew H eadw ay series (Soars J and Soars, L 2000) have been chosen as the main coursebooks for students, o f which New H eadw ay

E lem entary is taught in the first term and New H eadw ay P re-Interm ediate is used in the second term In the third term, the students work with N ew H eadw ay In term ed ia te Each New H eadw ay coursebook (Soars, J and Soars, L 2000) consists o f 14 units (Except N ew H eadw ay Interm ediate consists o f 12 units) Each unit is based around a

theme, which is o f general interest and has a main structural focus, which is recycled and developed throughout the unit

Each unit o f N ew H eadw ay is subdivided into sections The first section, Introduction,

introduces language related to the them e o f the unit T he second section, G ram m ar,

introduces the main gram m ar points o f the unit In addition, at the back o f the book,

there is the G ra m m a r reference section, that sum m arizes g ram m ar in each unit, which assists students in rem em bering new gram m ar items The third section Practice, provides students with chances to orally practice the gram m ar aspects in the G ram m ar

section, m ost often in contexts that continue the them e o f the unit Key functional

language is usually introduced in a situation and students are prompted to practise and personalize what they have been familiarized with Alm ost all the practice entries in

the Practice Section o f each unit are speaking and advised to be organized in pair or group, which is intended to create a great deal of interaction The next section is Skills

developm ent, where students are given opportunities to develop all the language skills

such as listening and speaking, reading and speaking In this section, the theme o f each unit with a subject relevant to students’ real lives is extended

As mentioned above, almost all o f the practice tasks in Practice Section o f New

H eadw ay are suggested to be completed orally in pairs or groups However, the biggest

problem that the author o f the study as well as other teachers in the English department

o f UNETI had when teaching these sections was the low level o f oral interaction

am ong students The fact was that during the practice sessions, the teacher was the person w ho led the class and spoke the most as students were passive and uninvolved in class The students rarely asked questions or shared ideas and opinions with each other They were often reluctant to use the target language, unhappy with the noise generated from group activities and afraid o f learning “errors” from their group members Furthermore, having got used to “ lockstep” organization, which was dom inant at high

school, students kept looking at the course books, com pleting practice activities written

or w a iting for their turn to answer teacher's question according to the "list" or “ row" principle (students were asked to answer teacher's questions according to the student list or order o f rows in the classroom)

So as to improve the level o f verbal interaction betw-een students in practice sessions, it

is necessary for the teachers to get to know the reasons why students were reluctant to participate in interaction with their group m em bers and then find out the ways to deal with those problems

Som e researchers such as Tsui (1995), Brown (1994) have reported that the level o f verbal interaction between students are closely associated to cultural, linguistic, personality, classroom setting and teacher’s technique Those could be the students’ passive learning style; their limitation in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, background knowledge and cultural norms (Byrne, 1999; Davies, 2000; Nunan, 1989)

T hey could also be the teachers’ techniques to perform the teaching task e.g teacher’s

m ethods to organize practice activities and give feedback (Moss, 2005; Brown, 1994;

Ur, 1996) A m ong these factors, hurdles in organizing practice activities appropriately and giving relevant and adequate feedback are usually identified as the major ones

In brief, the low level o f student interactions in the EFL lessons has been problems o f great concern for all teachers at the English departm ent at UNET1 They have initiated

the study entitled “Im proving interaction in practice sessions o f New H eadw ay Pre-

Interm ediate: An Action R esearch” with the hope to find the causes o f low level o f

interaction and solutions to improve the current learning situation at UNETI as well as benefit U N E T I 's teachers and those who are interested in this field o f language teaching

1.2 S c o p e a n d s ig n if ic a n c e o f th e s t u d y

T he low level o f verbal interaction between students in practice sessions is a com plex phenom enon and has attracted a great many researchers So far, factors such as stu d e n ts’ linguistic competence, learners’ personality, classroom physical setting, and tea c h e rs’ technique to perform the teaching jo b have been exam ined This small-scaled study, however, limits itself to an examination o f interaction between Business

Adm inistration students o f UNETI in the Practice Sessions o f N ew H eadw ay

Pre-In term ediate (Soars, J and Soars, L 2000) Due to the limit o f time, this thesis does not

cover all these factors In fact, it only focuses on the material, the teacher's technique to organize the practice activities and the way to give feedback Furthermore, the study was carried out in the auth o r's class only

It w as hoped that the study would identify the causes o f low level o f interaction between students in practice sessions and appropriate suggestions based on the findings could be

m ade to solve the problem

1.3 A i m s o f t h e s t u d y

The study was aimed at improving the level o f student verbal interaction in oral practice sessions o f New H eadway Pre-Intermediate (Soars, J and Soars, L 2000) for the students at UNETI To achieve this aim, the answers to the following research questions were sought:

1 W h a t are the causes o f low verbal interaction between students in practice

2 H o w will the interaction change once the action plan has been implemented?

1.4 O u t l i n e o f t h e th e sis

C h a p te r 1, Introduction, provides information about the background to the study, the

aim s as well as the scope o f the study, the research questions and the outline o f the thesis

C h a p ter 2, Literature Review, reviews literature related to the study: Definition o f

interaction, the types and roles o f interaction in language learning and teaching; factors affecting verbal students-student interaction; groupw ork in com m unicative language teaching and the principles and procedure to apply groupw ork activity in com m unicative language teaching

collection instruments as well as the subjects o f the study

C h a p ter 4, Results, first analyses and discusses the initial data as well as presents the

hypothesis; then an action plan is worked out and implemented; next, the data to

monitor changes is collected and analyzed to make an evaluation o f the action research The chapter concludes with m ajor findings o f the study and discussion about the results.

Ch apter 5, Conclusion, sum m arizes the action research which is hoped to be o f some

help to the im provem ent o f students' interaction in Practice sessions at the University o f Economic and Technical Industries Limitations o f the study and suggestions for further research are also given in this chapter

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter, Literature Review, will discuss two main issues: interaction in language learning, and groupwork in teaching and learning a foreign language In the first section, different authors' definition o f interaction, interaction types, the role o f interaction in L2 learning and the factors affecting interaction in L2 learning will be reviewed In the second section, answers to the question why groupw'ork should be used to increase interaction and the principles and procedure to use groupw ork to increase student- student interaction in the foreign language classroom will be presented

2.1 I n t e r a c t io n in c o m m u n i c a t i v e l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g

2 1 1 D efinition a n d types o f interaction

In the era o f com m unicative language teaching (CLT), students learn to com m unicate through interaction in the target language Interaction is the heart o f com m unication and

it is what com m unication is all about (Brown, 1994) So far, it has been defined in a num ber o f different ways

Interaction, first o f all, is the process o f collaborative exchange o f thoughts, feelings, or ideas between two or more people resulting in a reciprocal effect on each other It is the process o f “ getting one idea out o f your head and into the head o f another person and vice versa” (Brown, 1994, p 159) It is reciprocal events that require at least two objects and tw o actions (Sutton, 1999) In other words, interaction is a collaborative activity involving the establishment o f a triangular relationship betw een the sender, the receiver and the context o f situation (Wells, 1981 )

Studying classroom activities in more details, Rivers (1987) proposes a more comprehensive view o f interaction that it is the process in w hich students use language

to convey and receive authentic massages that contain information o f interest to speaker and listener in a situation o f importance to both Sharing the same view, Hudson (1980) believes that interaction is the process o f “ face to face comm unication when one person talks to another whom he can see and w ho is near enough to hear him and vice versa” (p 106) Furthermore, Ellis (1994) claim s that interaction is the process

in which opportunities are created for learners to practice the L2 to produce output

C onsidering the types o f interaction, Moore (1989) reports that interaction com es in many shapes and tactions They include learner-learner interaction, learner-content interaction and learner-instructor interaction While learner-learner interaction is defined as interaction between one learner and other learners alone or in groups with or

w ithout the real time presence o f an instructor, learner-content interaction is referred to

as interaction between the learner and the content o f the subject o f the study Learner- instructor interaction is defined as the interaction between the learner and the teacher Looking at interaction from another perspective, T hom as (1987) believes that there are two kinds o f interaction: verbal interaction and pedagogic interaction Verbal interaction

is a continuous, shifting process in which the context is its constituent factors changing from second to second It is the process o f speech act, social action performed through language by addresser, and intended to have some sort o f effect upon the addressee Pedagogic interaction parallels verbal interaction but the difference is that pedagogic interaction is the interaction between teaching and learning

Com bining all the above ideas, it can be concluded that these interactionists to some extent have the same ideas about interaction In this study, interaction is understood

as a process in which students use target language to exchange thoughts, feelings or ideas orally to convey and receive authentic massages that contain information o f interest to both speaker and listener. The study is planned to carry out in the

classroom and the focus is the verbal interaction between students in the classroom In

other words, the interaction studied in this project is learner-learner oral interaction

or student-student verbal interaction shortened as student interaction In this

paper, all the three term s will be used interchangeably

During interaction process, the learners usually carry out different interactive behaviors such as saying something to another student; asking and answering question(s) or listening to other(s) These activities, theoretically, m ay be performed through different collaborative activities such as information gap, role play, conversation grid, problem-solving, discussions, which in turn foster interaction

2.1.2 R oles o f interaction in L2 learning

Interaction is the key to L2 learning and it is very necessary for second language acquisition (Ellis, 1994) The interactionists’ view o f language learning is that language

acquisition is the result o f an interaction between the learner's mental abilities and the linguistic environment To acquire a second or a foreign language, it does not require extensive use o f conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill, but

m eaningful interaction (Krashen, 1988) lie (ibid.) believed that acquisition requires

m eaningful interaction in the target language - natural com m unication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form o f their utterances but with the massages they are conveying and understanding (1988)

There have been a num ber o f other studies about the role o f interaction in L2, Brown(1994) finds that interaction is an important word for language teachers; it is the heart o f language teaching and learning Through interaction, learners can understand each

o th e r 's thoughts, feelings and ideas Sharing the same viewpoint, Rivers (1987) insisted the importance o f interaction as follows

Through interaction, students can increase their language store as they listen to or read authentic linguistic material or even the output of their fellow students in discussions, skits, joint problem-solving tasks, or dialogue journals In interaction students can use all they possess of the language - all they have learnt or casually absorbed - in real life exchanges Even at an elementary stage, they learn in this way to exploit the elasticity of language (pp 4-5)

Studying the role o f interaction in L2 learning in more detail, C onsolo (2006), believed that interaction contributes to learners’ language developm ent and interaction plays a very im portant role in learners’ L2 learning He (ibid.) stresses that it is in the interaction with each other that the students work together to create the intellectual and practical activities that shape both the form and the content o f the target language as well as the processes and outcom es o f the individual developm ent

A nother role o f interaction in L2 learning has also been admitted by Johnson (1995) when he reported that student-student interaction influences students’ educational aspirations and achievement, develops social com petencies and encourages talking on the perspectives o f others Besides, student-student interaction can also foster the use o f

m ore exploratory language and encourage informal learning styles and strategies am ong students, enhance students’ abilities to work collaboratively, foster positive attitude tow ard school Furthermore, discussing the role o f interaction in L2 acquisition, he (ibid.) believes that student-student interaction in the language classroom can create

opportunities for students to participate in language use, negotiate meaning, self-select

w hen to participate, control the topic o f discussion Interaction with other students provides learners opportunities to learn from others, which enlightens students to differences in and similarities among individuals in an informal atmosphere, the opportunities to practice learnt materials (McNeill et al 1996) Through interaction by discussing, elaborating, questioning, listening and responding to each other, learners can improve not only their language skills but also language knowledge

W hat is more, interaction is believed to be essential for language learning which occurs

in and through participation in speech events that is, talking to others, or making conversations (Lier, 1988) Besides, when studying the relationship between interaction and L2 acquisition, Ellis (1985, p 160) found that classroom interaction affects the rate

o f L2 learning Students will learn most successfully when they are given ample opportunities to interact in conversation So in this sense, it m ay be understood that how

a lesson progresses and whether it is successful largely depend on the interaction between the students

O ne more important role o f interaction in L2 learning is that interaction can widen learners’ knowledge o f L2 by providing learners with an opportunity for vertical construction o f utterance, that is utterance made possible through the process o f building discourse and that interaction with different interlocutors was beneficial because it expanded the range o f input made available to learners (Hatch et al, 1979)

Interaction specifically concerns the dynam ic and integrated verbal or non-verbal actions and reactions o f all participants in a com m unicative event (Thom as 1987) It is interaction that forms the basis o f an effective pedagogy for L2 instruction Interaction itself fosters the acquisition o f com m unicative linguistic skills - the m ajor objective in the L2 curriculum He (ibid.) stresses that interaction in language classroom will lead the learners to better learning and will activate their com petence; an increase in the

am ount o f classroom interaction will help foreign language learners learn the target language easily and quickly

Ellis (1999) within the fram ew ork o f the Interactive Hypothesis, states that conversational interaction "facilitates language acquisition because it connects input [what learners hear and read]; internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention;

and output [what learners produce] in productive ways" He (ibid.) believes that interaction provides learners with opportunities to receive com prehensible input and feedback as well as to make changes in their own linguistic output This allows learners

to "notice the gap" (Schmidt & Frota, 1986, p 311) between their com m and o f the language and correct, or target-like, use o f the language

C om bining all different view about roles o f interaction in L2 learning presented above,

it could be concluded that student-student interaction plays an important role not only in shaping the patterns o f com m unication in L2 classroom but also in creating opportunities for students to use language for classroom learning and second language acquisition

2.1.3 F actors affecting studen t interaction

T here is generally no single reason why some students are uninterested and unwilling to participate in the classroom interaction In fact, there are m any factors affecting student- student classroom interaction They include linguistic factor, personality factor, physical setting factor and teaching technique-related factor

2.1.3.1 Linguistic factor

Linguistic factor refers to the students’ linguistic competence The level o f interaction between students in the language classroom through groupw ork activities will reduce due to the students’ poor linguistic com petence in vocabulary or pronunciation and the lack o f appropriate ideas and vice versa M entioning students' linguistic problem, Byrne (1992) and Davies (2000) confirm that students do not participate in the classroom interaction because they do not know enough o f the language to express them selves that

m eans they have a lack o f necessary structures or vocabulary to speak In m y class, students with high linguistic proficiency usually initiate m ore interactions than the low ones They actively and confidently participate in classroom interaction They share ideas, exchange feelings freely not only with their friends but also with their teacher On the other hand, the students with low linguistic proficiency are often very passive, they are reluctant to participate or initiate the interaction because they feel embarrassed, are afraid o f being wrong, uncertain o f the answer or lack o f knowledge Byrne (ibid.) points out that teachers could help students overcom e this problem by giving them

opportunities “to try out language for themselves and to make the best use o f what they know in a variety o f situations” and also by choosing activities carefully.

2.1.3.2 Personality factor

The second factor relates to the learners' characteristics is learners' personality factors Students' personality factors such as preference learning style, psychological state, and shyness m ay stimulate or discourage the level o f classroom student-student interaction

N unan (1989) and Howarth (2005) asserted that observable classroom interaction could

be affected by individual learning styles, learners’ psychological state and other personal factors Individual learning styles should be considered carefully because some may learn better by actively participating while others may learn better by listening and internalizing the input At the UNETI where the researcher works, some learners do not like working in group because they believe they might learn mistakes from their partners w hereas some learners like learning through participating in groupwork and pairwork because they are usually more confident when they speak with their friends and they could learn some new words or something new from their partners Besides, som e learners find it difficult to take part in the oral discussions because they are very nervous and embarrassed when asked to speak They are afraid o f “ losing face” when they make mistakes Furthermore, some students do not w ant to be paired or grouped with the partners w ho are different from them in term s o f language ability and proficiency In this case, the support from classmates and from teachers is o f great importance W hen students find it easy to share experiences in learning English, to com pare the answ er or ju s t ask the m eaning o f the new words, interaction could be fostered

2.1.3.3 Physical setting factor

The third factor affecting the level o f classroom student-student interaction is the physical factor under which the learning process is performed Classroom physical settings can influence the way learners com m unicate or interact with one another (Killen, 1995) Classroom setting, according to Moss (2005), could ruin or motivate classroom student-student interaction Classroom s with desks in neat row where every one is facing the chalk board and the teacher are more suitable with teacher-fronted approach U nder this setting, learner to learner interactions are more difficult to initiate

and this can lead to a reduction in student-student verbal interaction On the other hand, round tables, desks arranged in small groups or even a semicircle o f desk help make interactive tasks easier Learners in a class that is divided into five groups get five times

as m any opportunities to participate in oral interaction as in full class organization (Harm er, 1996) It could be said that classroom arrangem ent can have a big impact on the level o f verbal interaction between learners so it is important to understand how to arrange the class in accordance with its task to foster interaction

2.1.3.4 T eaching technique-related factors.

The next factor affecting the level o f interaction between learners in the language class particularly in practice sessions is the teacher's technique to perform the teaching job

This aspect evolves around te a c h e r s ’ w ay (i) to organize a n d m anage the class, (ii) to select a n d organize pra ctice activities to com plete p ra c tic e tasks and (iii) to give feed b a ck.

(i) T e a c h e r ’s w ay to organize a n d m anage the class, according to Moss (2005), is

closely related to students-student interaction because m anagem ent can shape student- student interaction in the classroom To make interaction meaningful and effective, teacher needs to be ready to facilitate and provide resources for learners, listen to learners’ talking about their interests and discover their problem s Besides, teachers need to know their students well, understand their goals, interests, expectations, and who work well with whom Sharing the same viewpoint, Howarth (2006) reports that large class m anagem ent could affect the level o f interaction between students Theoretically, the m ore students there are in a class, the m ore possibilities for interaction there should be, but this is not the case in practice He (ibid.) believes that the more learners there are, the more difficult developing interaction can be since there are more people to monitor and, therefore, more chances o f problems In addition there

is, o f course, a greater likelihood o f excessive noise, which can m ask bad behavior and use o f L I On the other hand, the teacher’s technique to organize and m anage the classroom , as Brown (1994) and Ur (1996) reported, can directly affect the level o f student-student interaction in the classroom In the interactive language classroom where class is divided into five groups, according to Ur (1996), students will get five tim es as m any opportunities to talk as in full class organization On the contrary, in the

class where teaching is based on the teacher-fronted principles, learners rarely have the opportunities to com m unicate, interact with their friends.

(W )T eacher’s w ay to select a m i organize p ra c tic e activities to com plete the p ractice

ta sks is considered one o f the factors affecting the level o f interaction between students

in practice sessions (Tsui, 1995; Brown, 1994)

Practice tasks, according to Pearse and Davies (2000), may em phasize formal accuracy

or c om m unicative fluency depending on the goals o f the unit as well as the practice

tasks A ccu ra cy p ractice is intended to establish some correctness in the production o f new items immediately after they are presented, or to correct later on F luency p ractice

is intended to get the learners to use new items in more natural communication Naturally, fluency practice is more interactive than accuracy practice but accuracy practice can be made attractive and meaningful by organizing it within an appropriate context or situation

To help learners do the practice tasks successfully and interactionally, according to Brown (19940, Moss (2005), Tsui (1995), various types o f collaborative activities or

groupw ork activities such as inform ation gap, jig s a w s , co n versa tio n grid, p ro b le m ­ solving, role-play, g a m es a n d interview could be employed Each kind o f interactive

activities or groupwork activities has its own characteristics The way to select and organize the activities in practice sessions affects both the quality and quantity o f negotiated interaction and learners' language output (Tsui, 1995), (Ellis, 1999), (Moss,

2005, pi 1)

T s u i's (1995) study on the factors relating to the tea c h e rs’ way to organize practice

activities that affect learners’ interaction reports that tw o-w ay activities which required

information exchange in both directions for task com pletion involved more negotiation

than one way activities with unidirectional information flow T w o-w ay inform ation g ap

activities facilitate more interaction than one-way information gap activities (Ellis,1999) W hereas in one-w ay information gap activities, one person has all the information (e.g., one learner gives directions to a location and the other plots the route out on a map), in tw o-w ay gap activities, both learners have information to share to com plete the activity For example, to complete exercise 3 in practice section o f Unit

three, N ew H eadw ay P re-Interm ediate, (Soars, J and Soars, L, 2000), one way

information activities should be chosen, in which one student has information about Mike and Lucy, another student has information about Nicole and Jeff They should use the information to ask and answ er questions about the people from the chart Similarly,

“closed” tasks led to more negotiation o f meaning, more conversational adjustment and more learner speech modifications toward the target language than “ open” tasks in which information exchange was less restrictive Jigsaws are considered to foster interaction between learners because the “ highly interactive activities" (Moss, 2005,

p l l ) require learners to pool their information to com plete a task by questioning, explaining, requesting for clarification

Conversation grid activities provide learners with opportunities to practice gathering and giving the same information over and over again and a chance to negotiate m eaning (Moss, 2005) For exam ple, to review asking and answ ering personal identification questions in a family literacy class, learners can speak to classmates to gather information

Besides, H arm er (1999) points out that problem solving is the kind o f group activities that encourages learners to talk or even negotiate together to find a solution to a problem or a task Carrying out these activities, the learners’ pow er o f language and intelligence are challenged and they are highly motivated to think and speak

On the other hand, Widdoson (1990) states that role-play is one of the communicative techniques w hich develop students’ language fluency, which in turn promotes interaction in the classroom and which increase motivation Gam e-based activities are considered to foster learner-learner interaction in com m on language classroom because they involve practice o f oral strategies such as describing, predicting, simplifying, asking for feedback, filling in questionnaires or guessing unknown information (Harmer, 1999) A game, according to Brown (1994) could be any activity that formalizes a technique into units that can be scored in some way G uessing gam es are

com m on language classroom activities Tw enty questions for example, could be adapted

to a small group in which one m em ber secretly decides to choose a famous person, the rest o f the group will have to find out w ho within 20 yes/no questions; each m em ber o f the group taking turns asking questions

Lastly, interview can be used to promote learner-learner interaction The goal o f interview is to use requesting functions, learning vocabulary to express personal data, facts, opinions, ideas and feelings, etc, produce questions and to give appropriate responses which are considered to sustain students' interaction.

In brief, each o f the above kinds o f activities has its own characteristics and strengths in interactive classrooms In order to increase the positive impact o f these activities in classroom interaction, it is teacher's role to select and organize them appropriately in accordance with lesson’s goal and objectives, learners’ level o f interest and proficiency

as well as the learning environment

( \\\)T e a c h e r ’s w ay to g ive fe e d b a c k is the last factor related to teacher technique

affecting the level o f interaction between students in the language Feedback helps students to find how they are doing in the course and w hether they understand the material Generally speaking, the more frequent the feedback, the better students are Giving positive feedback also helps to encourage and relax students to speak more Feedback can be effective, encouraging learners' attempts to comm unicate, use language, and build confidence (Beckman et al, 2006)

In conclusion, student interaction plays a significant role in learners' L2 acquisition but there are still m any factors resulting in poor interaction between students in the language classroom T o make interaction meaningful and effective, it is teacher’s responsibility to provide opportunities for interaction in which learners control the topics and discourse (Brown 1994) Linguistic theorists (W heeler (2000), Johnson(1995), Howarth (2006) state that solutions to the above m entioned problems could be found In the context o f the study, attention is paid to the technique to organize and

m anage the classroom activities, which can directly impact the level o f learner-learner interaction Interactive theorists show that teacher can increase the level if they can provide activities that can facilitate learners' participation, m axim ize their practice time, encourage them to voice their ideas and feelings, increase their motivation and are collaborative

Theoretically, pairwork and groupwork activities can meet all the requirements

m entioned above because “ interaction become more conductive for language learning if

it is conducted in a collaborative m anner” and “w orking in pair or a group, the learners have no choice but to negotiate and m anage their behavior so as to co-operate with each

other to get the task accom plished" (Shima, 2008, p i 26) Besides, pairwork and ggroupwork can help create a pleasance, safe and non-threatening atm osphere for students to interact Further discussion o f groupwork will be presented in 2.2

2 2 G r o u p w o r k in f o r e ig n l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g

2 2 I D efinition a n d types o f groupw ork

G roupw ork, according to Brown (1994), is the central factor maintaining linguistic interaction in the classroom Johnson and Smith (1991, p i 5) defines: ‘G roupw ork is a cooperative activity, during which students share aim s and responsibilities to com plete a task assigned by the teacher in groups or in pairs’ Brown (1994) found that groupwork

is a generic term covering a multiplicity o f techniques in which tw o or more students are assigned a task that involves collaboration and self-initiated language Groupwork and pairwork are som etim es distinguished However, the difference between them is believed to be m inor because pairwork is simply groupw ork performed by two That is why, in this thesis, groupw ork refers to both groupwork and pairwork

G roupw ork can be o f different types According to Davis (1993), there are three general types o f groupwork They include informal learning groups, formal learning groups and base groups

In fo rm a l lea rn in g gro u p s are tem porary clusterings o f students within a single class

session Informal learning groups can be initiated, for example, by asking students to turn to a neighbor and spend two m inutes or so discussing a question the teacher has posed The teacher can also form groups o f three or five to solve a problem Informal groups can be organized at any time in a class o f any size to check on students’ understanding o f the material, to give students an opportunity to apply what they are learning, or to provide a change o f pace In general, informal learning group have a short lifetime ranging from a few minutes to the class period

F o rm al lea rn in g groups are teams established to com plete a specific task, such as

perform a lab experiment, write a report or carry out a project These groups may com plete their work in a single class session or over several weeks Typically, students work together until the task is finished, and their project is graded Formal learning

groups last several days to several weeks They require more planning as to the size and composition o f the groups They also have greater structure and a specific purpose.

Base gro u p s are long-term group (usually existing over the course o f a semester) with

stable m em bership whose primary responsibility is to provide m em bers with support, encouragem ent, and assistance in completing course requirement and assignment Base groups serve a broader purpose They last the entire semester (or even several semesters)

Based on the above definition o f groupwork type, the term “groupw ork” used in this study is true to the first type o f groupwork It m eans that students are often required to work in groups o f tw o to five to complete a specific task set in the Practice section o f

the course book N ew H eadw ay Pre - Interm ediate (Soars, J and Soars, L 2000) This

type o f work is often conducted in small groups and lasts for about ten minutes or more depending on the type o f task

2.2.2 G roupw ork a n d stu den t interaction

G roupw ork can be an effective method to make student interaction meaningful and effective (Ellis, 1999) G roupw ork is necessary to help learners interact with each other

to fulfill tasks successfully Many different kinds o f interactive activities such as dialogue, discussion, interview, role play, information gap, jigsaw , etc can be performed

in pairs or groups Through groupwork, students can increase their participation, talking time and oral fluency practice There have been a num ber o f studies reporting the potential benefits o f groupwork in language class such as Nguyen Thi Thu Dung (2004); Trinh Thi A nh Hang (2004); Nguyen Thi Hoang Mai (2004) Following is the sum m ary o f the m ost com m only heard benefits o f using groupw ork to motivate interaction

2.2.2.1 Providing opportunities to learn from others in inform al interaction

G roupw ork is believed to provide students the opportunities to learn from others in informal interaction In language learning, students interact by discussing, questioning, listening, elaborating and responding to each other T he social learning experiences provided by groupw ork enlighten students to the differences in and similarities between

individuals in an informal, “ let’s arrive at a resolution” atm osphere (Brown 1994) The result is applicable learning acquired in an informal, noncritical environment.

2.2.2.2 G enerating interactive language

The variety and quality o f interactive language is closely related to the sheer quantity o f output made possible through groupwork (Brown, 1994) Interactive language is generated when learners work in groups to discuss, question, listen and respond to each other (McNeil and Payne, 2003) This allows them to obtain good experiences and help each other eliminate mistakes Besides, groupwork provides students opportunities to practice using a collaborative team model G roupw ork also provides interaction in

w hich critical thinking skills are used to com e to necessary solutions Last, it allows students to cognitively incorporate theoretical concepts through practical applications

2.2.2.3 M axim izing lea rn ers’ practice time

Now adays, with the purpose o f learning focusing on com m unication, teachers are trying

to create and provide students with as many opportunities to com m unicate and practice

w hat they have learnt as possible Groupwork activities enable teachers to do so If in whole class work, only some students have chances to practice, in groupwork, almost every student has to carry out the tasks at the same time i.e all students in the same class have more chances to practice Besides, groupwork provides more opportunities for students’ initiation, practice in negotiation o f meaning, extended conversational exchanges, face-to-face give and take and adoption o f roles (Harmer, 1991), (Brown, 1994) By that means, groupwork can increase learners’ practice time Brown (1994) in one o f his estimate states that if that h a lf o f your class tim e were sent in groupwork, you could increase individual practice time five-fold over whole-class traditional

m ethodology Ur (1996, p 232) shares the same idea:

In groupwork, learners perform a learning task through group interaction,

It is a form of learner activation that is of particular value in the practice

o f oral fluency; learners in a class that is divided into five groups gets five

times as many opportunities to talk as in full class organization

2.2.2.4 Facilitating learners’ participation

Another benefit o f groupwork is that groupwork can be seen as one o f the ways to create environm ent where students can interact (Andrews, 2003) First, thanks to

groupwork, less confident students get the chance to put their knowledge o f their new language into practice in a non-threatening environment, aw ay from the critical eye and ear o f the teacher Second, instead o f being dependent on the teacher, students get used

to helping and learning from each other Third, the teacher is meanwhile free to discreetly m onitor progress and give help, advice and encouragem ent where and when it

is needed

2.2.2.5 P rom oting individuals’ motivation

Motivation is a fundamental aspect o f successful learning G roupw ork enables students

to use the language and also motivates them to be more involved and concentrate on the tasks assigned Richards and Lockhart (1994) believe that through working in groups, students play more active roles in the learning process and therefore, they have the benefit o f sharing ideas with other group members Because the com prehension o f the subject under discussion is often increased in groupwork, students certainly become

m ore motivated W orking in group is working in a non-threatening performance environm ent where motivation is often increased as students feel less inhibited and

m ore able to explore possibilities for self-expression (Droff, 1988)

2.2.2.6 E nhancing collaboration am ong group m em bers

W orking in groups, all the m em bers links with each other in a way that one can not succeed unless the other m em bers o f the group succeed and vice versa All the m em bers work together to get the j o b done In other words, they are in a position o f sinking or

sw im m ing together Therefore, they are required to be collaborative and responsible for group tasks G roupw ork also fosters the positive interdependence am o n g group m em ber (Jacobs et al, 2000) All the m em bers are responsible for their own and each other’s learning The focus o f groupwork is on jo in t performance, not on individual perform ance as in traditional classes

2.2.2.7 H elping learners to gain learning goals

Students learnt best when they are actively involved in the process Chickering and

G am son, (1991), Beckm an (1990) report that, regardless o f the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more o f what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats Students w ho work in

collaborative groups also appear more satisfied with their classes Furthermore, according to Brown (1994) through groupwork, reticent students becom e vocal participants in the process The small group becom es a com m unity o f learners cooperating with each other in pursuit o f com m on goal.

To sum lip, groupwork has been proved to have rem arkable advantages in motivating interaction between learners in the classroom However, the advantages cannot be gained if principles and procedure o f applying groupwork are not adhered to

2.2.3 P rinciples to apply grou pw ork activities

As discussed earlier in 2.2, in order to gain the benefits o f groupwork in language learning, it is necessary to apply the groupwork principles and procedure properly The general principles were presented in Trinh Thi Anh H a n g ’s (2004), Davis’ (1993) Following is the sum m ary o f the main points from the principles which helps to apply groupwork in the language lessons

Carefully explain to the class how the groups will operate Teachers should explain the objectives o f the groups’ task and define any relevant concepts w hen they m ake any assignment In addition to a well-designed task, every group needs a way o f getting started, a w ay o f knowing when the task is done, and some guidance about the participation o f members

The second preparation principle is to give students the skills they need to succeed in groups M any students have never worked in collaborative learning groups and may need practice in such skills as active and tolerant listening, helping one another in mastering content, giving and receiving constructive criticism, and managing disagreem ents Therefore, teachers should discuss the skills with their students and model and reinforce them during class They can use various exercises that help students gain skills in working in groups (Fienchner and Davis, 1992)

2.2.3.2 G ro u p w o r k activities designing principles

One o f the advantages o f groupwork is the positive atm osphere where students can learn from and help one another However, such atm osphere will not be created if the teacher can not design a good group task So what is a good group task? A good group task, according to A ndrew s (2003), is a task that was built up interdependently am ong

m em bers o f the group, relevant to the course objective Besides, it must fit students’ levels and be achievable to students Hereafter are some principles in designing such a good group task

The first principle is to create group tasks that require interdependence During the groupwork process, all students in a group must perceive that they “ sink or sw im ” together, that each m em ber is responsible to and dependent on all the others, and that one cannot succeed unless all in the group succeed Know ing that peers are relying on

the teacher is a powerful motivator for groupwork (Kohn, 1986) Strategies for

prom oting interdependence include specifying com m on reward for the group, encouraging students to divide up the labor, and formulating tasks that compel students

to read a consensus (Johnson, et al, 1991)

The second principle in designing groupwork is to m ake the groupwork activities relevant Students m ust perceive the group tasks as integrate to the course objectives, not ju s t busy work

A nother principle in designing groupwork is to create tasks that fit the student’s skills and abilities T eacher should assign relatively easy tasks at the beginning o f the term

As students become more knowledgeable, they need to increase the difficulty level

The last principle is to create achievable tasks This is an important factor to help learners to be m ore motivated Appropriate group task can realistically be achieved by students within the specified time frame Whilst the task may be meaningful and challenging, it can become too tim e-consum ing and overw helm ing for students To help design a realistically achievable task, it may therefore be worth “ standing back” and view the groupwork from the student’s perspective.

2.2.3.3 G ro u p form ing principles

Group forming principles deals with the way to form the groups and the num ber o f students in each group

How learning groups are formed has been the subject o f m any studies In fact, groups can be formed in different ways Some faculties prefer random ly assigning students to groups to m axim ize their heterogeneity: a mix o f male and female, verbal and quiet students, the pessimistic and the optimistic (Fiechtner and Davis, 1992) Some faculties let students choose with w hom they want to work, although this runs the risk that groups will socialize too much and that students will self-segregate (Cooper, 1990) Self-selected groups seem to work best in small classes, for classes o f majors who already know one another, or in small residential colleges (W alvoord, 1986) Still other instructors prefer to form the groups themselves, taking into account students’ prior achievement, level of preparation, work habits, ethnicity, and gender (Connery, 1988)

T hey argue for m aking sure that m em bers o f each group are exclusively graded students

or exclusively pass/not pass students and that well-prepared students be placed in groups with a nother well-prepared students O ther faculty, however, try to sparkle the more able students evenly am ong the groups (W alvoord, 1986) A middle ground, proposed by W alvoord (1986), is to ask students to express a preference, i f they wish, and to m ake the assignm ents the teachers themselves T he teachers could, for example, ask students to write down the nam es o f three students with w hom they would most like

to work

For m any students, being in the “right” group is extremely important To most, the

“ right” group is determined by the people they will be working with Most hope to be placed with com patible m em bers (primarily people they get along with) All too often, this does not happen The result is a very long and frustrating sem ester for everyone

involved (the lecturer included) As the opening quotations highlight, students soon realize that a key determinant o f groupwork will be their fellow members.

Despite having different tasks, most group activities subscribe to the same basic model- groups are formed, they perform a task and then disband Unfortunately, m any believe that the forming stage is a simple process that “ has to be done” This belief all too often sets weak foundations For strong foundations to occur, two important issues should be

considered These are the size o f the groups a n d the allocation o f m em bers into groups

After forming the learning groups, the second factor but not less important the teacher has to think about is group size Theory showed that groups o f Five m em bers work best Larger groups decrease each m em b e r's opportunity to participate actively The less skilful the group m em bers, the smaller the group should be (Cooper, 1990; Johnson et

al, 1991) In fact, the size o f each group also depends on the g ro u p 's task and the resources available for each group However, as a general rule, groups o f around four

m em bers tend to work well because students find it easier to organize meeting as there are fewer clashes with timetables W orking in group o f four, students will be able to get

a larger piece o f the work to do and they can make a meaningful contribution to group assignment They are more visible and accountable to each other This often reduces the problem s associated with the withdrawal o f effort On the other hand, groups larger than six have several drawbacks: it is too easy for students to becom e passive observers rather than active participants; students may not get the opportunity to speak frequently since there are so many people; students’ sense o f com m unity and responsibility may be less intense in larger group

In brief, the principles to apply groupwork in language teaching helps the researcher o f the study understand how to prepare group activities, how to design tasks and how to form groups to com plete activities in the language classroom in accordance with her own teaching context

2.2.4 P rocedu re f o r g rou pw ork activities

As m entioned above, the type o f groupwork used in this study is informal learning group It is referred to as small groups which last for about ten m inutes to complete a specific speaking task To keep informal groupwork from going wrong, the groupwork activities m ust be planned carefully, executed well, monitored throughout and followed

up in certain ways on the basis o f the above principles Also based on the principles,

W heeler (2000), Brown (1994) suggested a procedure for groupw ork that they had experim ented successfully and could be the best solution to increase leaner-learner interaction This procedure involves selecting and organizing groupwork activities, planning groupwork monitoring and debriefing

2.2.4.1 Selecting and organizing gro u p w o rk activities

Sellecting groupwork activities appropriately is very important because it is the first step in prom oting successful groupwork which in turn leads to an increase o f interaction (Brown, 1994)

As presented in 2.1.3, there are many types o f activities for groupwork such as role play, game, information gap, jigsaw , conversation grid activities, problem-solving, discussion, interview which can be used to foster the level o f verbal interaction between learners in the language lessons But when to select them, how to organize and in which procedure largely depend on the characteristics and goal o f the practice tasks Following are sum m aries o f com m on ways to select and organize groupwork activities

First o f all, according to Brown (1994), for short, linguistically simple and quite controlled in term o f the structure o f the tasks, pairwork with different activities such as practicing dialogues with a partner, simple question and answer, performing certain meaningful substitution drills should be used To foster students to exchange ideas, feelings or information, both pairwork and groupw ork can be used with different activities such as games, role-play and simulations, interview, information gap, jigsaw, discussion

Secondly, each task is based on specific content and functions so in organizing activities

appropriately to com plete the practice tasks, it is very important to take Function, Content, and S ituation into consideration (Hadley, 1993) F unction indicates the kinds

o f duties students have to perforin using the target language such as describing, asking

questions, or m aking suggestions while C ontent shows the topics students rely on using target language Furthermore, Situation expresses the setting in which the task occurs.

Thirdly, with easy practice tasks which are familiar with students, it is simple for them

to complete But with long or repeated ones, the teachers should modify the kinds o f

tasks so that it is interesting and relevant to students' level o f proficiency With short and easy tasks, to keep student from being bored, first, changes should be taken; then handouts, visual aids should be aided to make them interesting, which in turn foster student-student interaction

2.2.4.2 Planning grou p w ork activities

A presented earlier, carefully preparation is one o f the principles to make groupwork effectively According to Brown (1994, pp 183-184), once appropriate type o f activity has been selected, the planning phase should include seven stages as follows

1 Introduce the activity The introduction may sim ply be a b r ie f explanation For

example, an introduction m ay start with “Now, in group o f four, you are going to

d is c u s s ” It should include a statement o f the ultimate purpose so that students can apply all other directions to the objective

2 Ju stify the use o f sm a ll gro u p s f o r the activity This is not alw ays necessary to do

unless students have any doubts about the significance o f the upcom ing activity, then tell them explicitly why the small group is important for accom plishing the practice task Rem ind them that they will get an opportunity to practice certain language forms and functions, and that i f they are reluctant to speak up in front o f the whole class, now

is their chance to do so in security o f a small group

3 M o d el the activity Before the whole class is thrown into pairs or groups, the teacher

m ust give as many exam ples as necessary to m ake sure the class has the idea The teacher can model the activity with a learner or two and then let other learners perform until the whole class can begin work on their own This ensures that the class understands what to do and how to do it and the teacher does not have to interrupt them

in order to give the instructions again Note that with simple task especially that students have done before modeling may not be necessary But for a new and potentially com plex task, it should be explicit in m aking sure students know what they are supposed to do

4 G ive explicit d e ta ile d instructions' T o help students perform the groupwork activities

properly, specific instructions on what they are to do should be given The instructions include a restatement o f the purpose, the rule they are to follow, roles assigned to

students and time limits Giving a rough time limit gives a sense o f urgency to an activity It is also a good idea to stop an activity after most o f the groups have finished

so that the whole class is not left waiting for the last ones to finish

5 D ivide the class into g r o u p s: If the teacher ju st tells the learners to “ get into

pair/group", it is not enough Many tim es the teacher must actually show learners who they m ust work with If there are an odd number o f students for the groups, incorporate the " o d d ” learner into another group Desks may have to be moved, and roles could be assigned Also, learners can be regrouped from activity to activity using techniques such

as num bering off, giving out cards categorized into related topics, separating learners according to the color o f their eyes or clothing, giving them piece o f puzzle to put together, or even pulling strings held by their classmates to find their partner The choice o f arrangem ents for groupwork according to Kilien (2003) depends on five factors They include the purpose o f the task, the maturity o f the students, the physical facilities, the issues to be discussed and the am ount o f control the teacher wishes to have over the groups

6 C heck f o r cla rification: Before students start moving into their groups, check to make

sure they all understand their task by asking question like “ Please, restate the purpose o f this activity” or “ What are you going to do now ”

get started right away on the task Some facilitation may be necessary to ensure smooth logistics

In short, after selecting appropriate techniques for groupwork activities, it is clear that the teachers are advised to plan the activities for groupwork carefully To keep groupwork from breaking down, each stage o f the plan should be detailed especially the introduction and the lead-in to the task itself

2.2.4.3 M o nitoring the activities

At this stage, the role o f the teacher is both the Facilitator and Resource Som e o f the thing the teacher should be doing while the students are working aw ay include making sure all students understand and are participating in the activity, giving assistance when needed, m aking on-the-sport error corrections when com m unication am ong the group

m em bers is hampered, and making notes on errors that can be discussed after the activity The teacher should circulate so that he/she can listen to students and get a sense

o f the g ro u p s ’ progress and individuals' language production To make the group activity go smoothly, the teacher should not sit at the desk and grade paper, leave the room and take a break, spend too much time on one group, correct students’ errors unless asked to do so

o f repeating w hat they told their partner about themselves It is not necessary that every student report, but it is important that reporters or representatives have the chance to practice with their classm ates during the activity This activity gives each group a chance to perceive differences and similarities in their work

The second layer is to establish affective support A debriefing phase also serves the purpose o f exploring the group process itself and o f bringing the class back together as whole com m unity o f learners If some students have problem s or questions, now it is an excellent tim e to encourage some whole class feedback The w hole class feedback or discussion rem inds students that everyone in the room is a m em ber o f a team o f learners and that the groups, especially if any inter-group competition arose, are but temporary artifacts o f classroom learning Follow up and discussion o f an activity are necessary so that learners feel that they are working purposefully

Briefly, understanding the principles and procedure to perform groupw ork is very important for language teachers Depending on the task type, the goal and the objective

o f the lesson as well as learners’ interest, each stage should be prepared carefully Besides, the teacher should know thoroughly which stage should be paid more attention

so that success o f groupwork activities would be attained

In this chapter, the researcher has reviewed the theoretical background o f interaction in L2 learning including interaction definition and its roles in L2 learning Kinds o f interaction and factors affecting student interaction in L2 classroom have also taken in consideration Furthermore, types o f groupwork, the relationship between group activities and student interaction in L2 classroom and the principles how to apply the groupw ork in the language classroom have also been presented The review is hoped to guide the action plan once the problem has been identified and the causes have been exploited

CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists o f four parts The first part is about the research method o f the study: Action research The second part will be about the research procedure The third part will describe the data collection tools and the last part will be about the participants

em ancipatory research, action learning, and contextual research and has been defined in

a num ber o f different ways In the first chapter o f the book nam ed A c tio n R esearch f o r Language Teachers, AR, defined by Wallace (1998), is a process which collects data on

everyday practice and analyses them in order to m ake a decision about what the future practice should be Sharing the same point o f view, C ohen and M arion (1994) agree that

AR is the first and foremost situational, being concerned with identification and solution

of problem in a specific context They also identify collaboration as an important feature

o f this type o f research, and consider the aim o f A R as to improve the current state o f affairs within the educational context in which the research is being carried out Yet, no matter how m any definitions there are to describe the AR, the key feature is that classroom A R occurs when teachers reflect critically about the teaching situation, identify learning or instructional problems, and institute m ethods to solve them As emphasized by N unan (1992, p 17), “ it allows educators to systematically and empirically address topics and issues that affect teaching and learning in the classroom ”

A R was selected as the main m ethod for this study, for its ow n features met the need o f the researcher In the first place, AR, a way o f questioning tea c h e rs’ own practice, allowed the researcher to look critically at w hat was going on in her room and the impact that very small changes could make in students’ (and tea c h e rs') success In other words, AR is very problem -focused in its approach and very practical in its intended

outcom es (Wallace, 1998, p 15) As a result, it helped to improve the current teaching situation In the second place, AR is teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase the teacher's understanding o f classroom teaching and learning and to bring about im provem ent in classroom practices (Richards et al., 1992) AR also provides teacher with the research perspectives as well as the methodological tools needed to transform practice and to set their own agenda for better change By this way, it could boost teachers' professional developm ent and could present the evidence o f the need for change.

To sum up, A R could be the very effective method for the study It not only created a chance for the researcher to justify teaching and learning choices and then, to tailor the teaching and learning to her students and her settings, but it also helped to increase the teacher’s knowledge o f teaching and learning

(2) collecting data

(3) Analyzing data generating hypothesis (1) ldentafing a focus o f

interest or a problem

Social situation

(4) planning action steps

(7) analysis and evaluation (5) implementing

action steps

(6) collecting d ata to monitor change

Figure 1: Action Research Cycle

The AR o f this study w as carried out step by step in 12 weeks Thirty second-year students from Faculty o f Business Administration were chosen as the subjects o f the study Based on the principles and procedures o f AR dem onstrated in Figure I the following stages were done one after another

3.2.1 Iden tifyin g pro b lem (from week I to week 2)

As reviewed in C hapter I, my own teaching experience using N ew H eadw ay Pre- Interm ediate (Soars, J and Soars, L 2000) and my colleagues show the concern that the

level o f student-student verbal interaction in practice sessions was low Therefore, this has been selected to be the research focus o f the study and the first research question

formed was w h at are the causes o f low verbal interaction between students in

3.2.2 C ollecting in itial data (from week 3 to week 5)

Initial data about teaching material, students’ interest, students’ learning style, teacher’s teaching style and teaching methods, which are likely to be the main factors affecting student-student verbal interaction in the classroom were collected to identify the causes

o f the problems

To confirm the problem stated in stage 1 and to m easure the level o f interaction between

students, three practice sessions o f three Units 2, 3, 4 from the course book N ew

H eadw ay P re-Interm ediate (Soars, J and Soars, L 2000) were observed with

Observation Sheet 1 (A ppendix 1) to assess student-student interaction generated by groupwork activities Besides, Questionnaire 1 for students was also used to assess the interaction level (Appendix 3)

Attem pts to identify causes o f poor student interaction were m ade by observing oral practice sessions o f Units 2, 3, 4 using Observation Sheet 2 (Appendix 2) and Questionnaire 2 (Appendix 5) The initial data about the causes o f the problem was also

collected by analyzing N ew H eadw ay P re-interm ediate (Soars, J and Soars, L 2000).