Efl pre service teachers attitude towards collaborative learning in virtual learning environment

UNIVERSITY OF DANANG THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES STUDIES FACULTY OF TEACHER EDUCATION ------ STUDENT’S SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Topic: EFL pre-service teachers' attitude tow

UNIVERSITY OF DANANG THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES STUDIES FACULTY OF

TEACHER EDUCATION

- -

STUDENT’S SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Topic: EFL pre-service teachers' attitude towards

Collaborative Learning in Virtual Learning Environment

1 Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung - 17SPATH01 - Faculty of Teacher Education

2 Đặng Phúc Gia Linh - 17SPATH01 - Faculty of Teacher Education

3 Hoàng Dũng - 17SPATH01 - Faculty of Teacher Education

Da Nang, April, 2021

UNIVERSITY OF DANANG THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES STUDIES

STUDENT’S SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

ACADEMIC YEAR 2021 - 2022

EFL pre-service teachers' attitude towards Collaborative Learning in

Virtual Learning Environment

Subject area: Technology in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Students:

1 Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung - 17SPATH01 - Faculty of Teacher Education

2 Đặng Phúc Gia Linh - 17SPATH01 - Faculty of Teacher Education

3 Hoàng Dũng - 17SPATH01 - Faculty of Teacher Education

Da Nang, April, 2021

ABSTRACT

The current study aims to investigate EFL pre-service teachers’ perception of Collaborative Learning (CL) in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) 72 pre-service teachers took part in this study by doing questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect quantitative and qualitative data It can be drawn from the results that pre-service teachers have a positive attitude toward CL, even in VLE and that they are aware of the benefits of this method in their study However, besides those difficulties related to the Internet and technology, time management, the commitment of members, and activities assigned by teachers during the discussion are three most challenging factors when applying CL online Some coping strategies were also presented in the study The findings of the current study support the need for the integration of courses aiming at training pre-service teachers how to apply CL effectively, not only in physical classes but also in VLE

as we are living in a Industrial Revolution 4.0, in the current teacher training program at UFLS

Nghiên cứu này nhằm điều ra quan điểm của sinh viên ngành Sư phạm tiếng Anh về Phương pháp học hợp tác (CL) trong môi trường học tập ảo (VLE) 72 sinh viên Sư phạm tiếng Anh đã tham gia vào bài nghiên cứu thông qua việc thực hiện bài khảo sát và các bài phỏng vấn bán cấu trúc để thu thập dữ liệu định lượng và định tính Kết quả của bài nghiên cứu cho thấy hầu hết các sinh viên Sư phạm tiếng Anh có thái độ tích cực với Phương pháp học hợp tác, ngay cả trong môi trường học tập trực tuyến và họ cũng nhận thức được rằng nhiều lợi ích của phương pháp này Tuy nhiên, ngoài các khó khăn về Internet và công nghệ, việc quản lý thời gian, cam kết trách nhiệm của các thành viên trong nhóm và các hoạt động được tổ chức bởi giáo viên khi thảo luận là 3 yếu tố thách thức nhất khi thực hiện trực tuyến phương pháp học này Một số chiến lược để đối phó với 3 vấn đề trên cũng được trình bày trong bài nghiên cứu Các phát hiện của nghiên cứu này khuyến khích tích hợp các khóa học đào tạo giáo viên Sư phạm cách áp dụng hiệu quả Phương pháp học trực tuyến không chỉ trong các lớp học truyền thống mà còn trong môi trường học tập trực tuyến trong chương trình đào tạo giáo viên hiện nay tại trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ, đặc biệt là khi chúng ta đang sống trong môi trường Cách mạng Công nghiệp 4.0

ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

THÔNG TIN KẾT QUẢ NGHIÊN CỨU CỦA ĐỀ TÀI

1 Thông tin chung:

- Tên đề tài: EFL pre-service teachers' attitude towards Collaborative Learning in

Virtual Learning Environment

- Sinh viên thực hiện:

4 Kết quả nghiên cứu:

Nghiên cứu đã chỉ ra rằng đa số các sinh viên Sư phạm tiếng Anh có cái nhìn tích cực về Phương pháp học tập Hợp tác khi được ứng dụng trong môi trường học

tập ảo cũng như nhận thức được lợi ích mà phương pháp này mang lại Tuy nhiên, trong quá trình ứng dụng trực tuyến, ba khó khăn thường gặp nhất là vấn đề quản lý thời gian, sự thiếu trách nhiệm của các thành viên và các hoạt động trong buổi thảo luận không thú vị

5 Đóng góp về mặt kinh tế - xã hội, giáo dục và đào tạo, an ninh, quốc phòng

và khả năng áp dụng của đề tài:

Nghiên cứu đã phần nào đóng góp vào công tác giáo dục và đào tạo sinh viên ngành Sư phạm nói chung và Sư phạm tiếng Anh nói riêng thông qua việc đề ra những chiến lược nhằm giải quyết hai vấn đề thường gặp nêu trên, giúp cho các hoạt động nhóm được thực hiện hiệu quả hơn, kể cả trong môi trường học tập ảo

6 Công bố khoa học của sinh viên từ kết quả nghiên cứu của đề tài (ghi rõ tên

tạp chí nếu có) hoặc nhận xét, đánh giá của cơ sở đã áp dụng các kết quả nghiên

cứu (nếu có): Không có

Đà Nẵng, ngày 27 tháng 4 năm 2021

Sinh viên chịu trách nhiệm chính

thực hiện đề tài

(ký, họ và tên)

ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

THÔNG TIN VỀ SINH VIÊN CHỊU TRÁCH NHIỆM CHÍNH THỰC HIỆN ĐỀ TÀI

I SƠ LƯỢC VỀ SINH VIÊN:

Họ và tên: Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung

Sinh ngày: 29 tháng 6 năm 1999

Nơi sinh: Đà Nẵng

Lớp: 17SPATH01 Khóa: 2017

Khoa: Sư phạm Ngoại Ngữ

Địa chỉ liên hệ: 16 Lê Thị Hồng Gấm, phường Hoà Cường Nam, quận Hải Châu,

Sơ lược thành tích: Học lực Giỏi

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT 3

I INTRODUCTION 10

1 Rationale 10

2 Aims and objectives 11

2.1 Aims 11

2.2 Objectives 11

3 Research question 11

4 Scope of the study 12

5 Significance of the study 12

6 Definitions of terms 12

6.1 Collaborative Learning versus Cooperative Learning 12

6.2 Virtual learning environment 13

II LITERATURE REVIEW 15

1 Social constructivism 15

2 Crucial elements for an effective CL in VLE 16

3 Benefits of CL 19

4 EFL CL Implementation in Asian countries 20

5 EFL CL Implementation in Vietnam 21

III RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 23

1 Research design 23

2 Data collection 23

3 Data analysis 24

V RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 25

1 Quantitative results: EFL Pre-service Teachers’ perception of CL on VLE 25

2 Qualitative results: Factors affecting the efficiency of CL on VLE and coping strategies: 27

2.1 Difficult factors when engaging in CL in a VLE 29

2.2 Suggestions for effective CL in a VLE 30

VI CONCLUSION 32

1 A summary of the development of the study 32

2 A brief restatement of the findings 32

VII SUGGESTIONS 34

REFERENCES 35

APPENDICES 41

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for EFL pre-service teachers: 41

Appendix 2: Interview questions 47

List of Tables and Figures:

1 Categories to evaluate the effects of online CL on EFL pre-service

teachers’ study

27 - 28

Abbreviations

1 EFL : English as a foreign language

2 CL: Collaborative Learning

3 VLE: Virtual Learning Environment

4 UFLS : University of Foreign Language studies

5 ZDP: Zone of proximal development

I INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

These days, the world is suffering from a great crisis caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic An overwhelming majority of the world’s enrolled students have been forced to leave school temporarily and become virtual-school learners in

an attempt to curb the transmission of the virus (Viner et al., 2020) Consequently, the term Virtual learning environment (VLE) has arisen to describe web-based communications platforms which allows students to access multiple learning tools regardless of time and place (Martins & Kellermanns, 2004) Besides, the need for innovative solutions to optimize educational endeavors has accelerated in the COVID-19 era, necessitating the use of many programs to effectively improvise distance learning

Turning to language learning, the universal use of English is growing due to the need for communication among non-native speakers, including Vietnamese, which thus emphasizes the importance of English teaching Being able to use this language efficiently means that language learners are able to manipulate their linguistic knowledge and produce frequent grammatically and contextually accurate sentences (Brown, 2007) Therefore, Collaborative Learning (CL), which involves groups of learners working together to solve a problem and reach their planned objective (Brown, 2008), is considered as an advantageous approach in language learning Since there was a shift to a more student-oriented approach (Richards and Rogers, 2001), CL has attracted a lot of attention and become prevalent in not only EFL face-to-face classes but also virtual ones Additionally, Lyman and Davidson (2004) has drawn our attention to the importance of pre-service teachers’ experience about

CL activities as learners, as “to have a chance of future implementation, cooperative learning must be modeled for the pre-service teachers and experienced by them as learners” Needless to say, how pre-service teachers perceive CL is very significant

as the effectiveness of the approach depends on those perceptions Consequently, the researcher found it crucial to shed light on pre-service teachers' perception of

CL in EFL virtual classes to ascertain whether they are substantially and

productively using EFL CL and the difficulties they are facing that make CL less appealing and effective

2 Aims and objectives

2.1 Aims

This study was an investigation of the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards the use of EFL CL in virtual learning environments and its implementation in EFL classrooms in UFLS The findings of the study may pose some implications for the current teacher training courses in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) program at UFLS The students of this particular department then may raise awareness about their perceptions and the mismatches between their expectations and the current situation of pair/ group work on VLE They may realize that some

of the disadvantages of CL may result from their lack of knowledge or guidance about how to make full use of this pedagogic approach Training for the pre-service teachers and the instructors about CL to eliminate the problems resulting from the lack of information about its essential characteristics may be considered

2.2 Objectives

● To identify how EFL pre-service teachers’ perceive CL usage in VLE

● To find out the main difficulties experienced by pre-service teachers while engaging in EFL CL activities in VLE

● To suggest strategies to overcome those difficulties and take full advantage

of EFL CL

3 Research question

1 To what extent do EFL pre-service teachers' perceive the use of CL in VLE?

2 What are the difficulties experienced by pre-service teachers while engaging

in EFL CL activities in VLE?

3 What are some suggestions for effective CL in VLE?

4 Scope of the study

The study investigates the attitudes of pre-service teachers towards the use of CL usage in virtual classrooms at the University of Foreign language studies (UFLS) – University of Da Nang

5 Significance of the study

This research is expected to make a remarkable contribution to the development of Vietnam education in general and the development of EFL teaching and learning in Vietnam in particular It is essential for teachers to know what students think about their ways of teaching, why they prefer or resent this method By understanding that, pre-service teachers are able to determine effective strategies and help students adopt more productive learning procedures so this research could provide a profound insight to the perspective of both learners and lecturers at UFLS on the use of CL in the EFL classes in VLE

Most previous studies, articles, books, and research studies have focused the use of

CL in language education and their benefits and contributions to language and EFL teaching (Marjan & Seyed, 2011; Ning, 2011; Pham, Gillies & Renshaw, 2008) yet there has been a paucity of research that explores pre-service teachers' attitudes towards CL, not to mention this area of research in Vietnam Some studies have been carried out on this topic area of CL (or of pair/group - work) but they have been very narrow in scope, and most of them are conducted in face-to-face contexts The current study will address the limitations of previous studies of EFL CL and will attempt to fill the gaps left by previous research Therefore, in the present study, CL implementation in VLE is focused to clarify whether this approach is acknowledged by EFL pre-service teachers Further, their perceptions of the effectiveness of CL are also examined

6 Definitions of terms

6.1 Collaborative Learning versus Cooperative Learning

According to Marjan and Mozhgan (2011), CL refers to teaching methods in which students work together in groups to complete assignments or find solutions to a

problem On the other hand, Cooperative learning puts students in small groups to assist each other in mastering their knowledge or skills (Slavin, 1995) Generally, while implementing either of these methods, students are working together with other classmates who have different levels of knowledge and performance to achieve a common goal (Yuan & Wang, 2006) Thus, although these two terms might be different at some points, the approach is similar and can be overlapped In

this study, Cooperative Learning is considered to belong to CL and both of them

can be used in parallel with no major difference in meaning as they all serve the same objective as mentioned previously

As mentioned by Johnson (2005), collaboration is not assigning a job to a group of students where one student does all the work and the others put their names on the paper On the contrary, with CL method, each member of a team, with various performance levels and abilities is expected to share information, helping their teammates to improve their understanding of a subject Students work through the assignment until all group members fully understand and complete it

6.2 Virtual learning environment

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are widely utilized in different sections of education, with the aim to convey instructional materials and facilitate communication A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) refers to a system of web based software which is designed to promote learning and teaching with the use of different tools and activities (JISC, 2009a) VLE includes a wide range of areas, including web-based platforms, Learning Management System, Learning Content Management System, and three dimensional learning environments However, an important factor in the use of VLE is the social interaction occurring when students participate in tasks and activities (Tick, 2013) VLE is believed to be an ‘anytime and anywhere’ alternative to learning and delivery of content (Saykili, 2019; Shahabadi & Uplane, 2014), as long as students have access to the Internet (Saykili, 2019)

Previous studies suggest that the use of a VLE encourages students' achievement, independent learning, motivation to learn as well as transferable skills such as creativity, problem solving, communication and collaboration skills For instance, in

their research, Pellas and Kazanidis (2015) found that higher education learners gained more positive learning outcomes and showed greater engagement when the Second Life program in blended and online courses is implemented when compared

to 2D technology For this study, VLEs is defined as an online platform used for educational purposes, specifically Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is described as a hub for teamwork, which brings together everything a team needs: chat and threaded conversations, meetings and video conferencing, content collaboration with the power of Microsoft 365 applications, and the ability to create and integrate apps and workflows Microsoft Teams is chosen to be the reference online learning platform in this research due to the following reasons First of all, all personnel (faculty and staff) and students have experienced this application through the first COVID-19 quarantine period so pre-service teachers are familiar with learning on this platform Moreover, in case of any type of service-related issues instant support is available from the IT infrastructure team of the university Secondly, Microsoft Teams provides an elegant solution for distance-learning due to physical closure of the university as it can be used as a learning management system by the instructors As an illustration, just like a physical classroom has got a specific schedule, it is also possible to take live online classes for multiple students at a pre-scheduled time in this application

If the course instructors want, they can even record their videos and upload those to the Teams for the students to view Finally, just like other conventional e-learning systems, Microsoft Teams has the option of file sharing The course instructors can use this feature to upload any type of files (power-points, word or pdf documents, and video lectures) that they want the students to refer to Needless to say, social networking features are also built into the Teams software by allowing personalized

as well as group chat facilities Therefore, this application is not only a multiparty video conferencing facility, but also a real-classroom-like VLE having a variety of features and available both in the mobile and web formats

II LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Social constructivism

CL is grounded in social constructivist learning theory, which emphasises that learning and knowledge development is facilitated by interaction and collaboration (Dillenbourg et al., 2009) Long time ago, a Russian psychologist - Lev Vygotsky developed a term called Social constructivism This is a social learning theory positing that individuals are active participants in the creation of their own knowledge (Schreiber & Valle, 2013) Vygotsky’s theory also states that infants are born with various kinds of affective, cognitive, and thinking abilities which are shaped by the individual’s social and educational context (McInerney & McInerney, 2010) In other words, the intellectual development of one is not only related to their individual’s mental capacities improvement, but also to the development of the individual’s cultural context It needs to be mentioned that language, inventions and tools created by one culture may be distinct from those that belong to another culture, hence education must contextualise the learning process considering cultural and social factors (McInerney & McInerney, 2010) In addition to that, Roth and Lee (2007) deduced that working with others collaboratively is a part of the learning process through which an individual becomes a piece of the collective picture

One of the main constructs of Vygotsky’s theory is the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which subjects the role of the instructor to an individual’s learning The ZPD is the distance between two development levels, when students solve problems independently and under adult guidance or collaboration with others (Vygotsky, 1978) According to Chaiklin (2003), the ZPD could be conceived as the result when two individuals interact with each other, one more competent than the other, to tackle one specific problem together As a result of this collaboration, the less skilled one gradually becomes able to do the tasks autonomously that at first seems impossible to do without the assistance of a more knowledgeable peer (Chaiklin, 2003) In his research, Chaiklin (2003) claims that this general conception results in three central aspects of the ZPD which are generality assumption, assistance assumption, and potential assumption Firstly, generality

assumption is grounded on the concept that an individual can perform a larger number of tasks in the company of others than in isolation Secondly, assistance assumption emphasises the fact that learning outcomes depend on the interaction with a more expert person, generally a teacher Finally, potential assumption means that learning is determined by how prepared and ready the learner is to confront the learning process with unexpected obstacles (Chaiklin, 2003) According to the author, these three aspects constitute a perfect type known as the common interpretation of the ZPD and as the teacher take them into consideration through the learning process, they would contribute to their students’ cognitive development and their knowledge construction (Chaiklin, 2003)

In conclusion, social constructivism emphasizes the need for CL Learning is stimulated through collaboration among learners, and between learners and instructors From a social constructivist’s point of view, when students share background knowledge and engage in the give and take of collaborative activities, they are actually negotiating meaning and accumulate knowledge, not as individuals, but as a group Based on this theory, this research explored UFLS pre-service English teachers’ perceptions of collaborative group work and how individuals learn through this method

2 Crucial elements for an effective CL in VLE

In order for CL to be successful, teachers are required to incorporate its five elemental components, namely: positive interdependence, individual account individual accountability, promotive interaction, appropriate use of social skills and group processing (Johnson, 1999; Johnson & Johnson, 1989; Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998a) In fact, these five elements play a pivotal role in distinguishing CL from simply putting students in groups to learn (Johnson et al., 2006)

· Positive interdependence

Positive interdependence is the notion of that anyone in the group that should rely

on others and the interplay of their outcomes leads to success (Marjan, 2013) To put it simply, there is value in working together and that each person's efforts benefit not only him - or herself, but all group members as well Positive interdependence encourages students' effort to succeed as they perceive that each

member is a unique contributor and they are all vital for the whole group to accomplish the goals (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1990)

· Individual accountability

Another key component for an efficient CL is Individual accountability which emerges when each member's performance is evaluated and the result is eventually given back to the group (Johnson & Johnson, 2009) The essence of individual accountability in CL is ensuring that everyone is responsible for the group's objectives and they must contribute to reach them (Gillies, 2007) When there is a commitment to personal contribution, when individual accountability rises, when members feel accountable for the final result, social loafing disappears (Johnson & Johnson, 2009) Also, group size should be taken into consideration because the larger the group is, the less likely its members are to be aware of their roles and efforts, hence having an impact on the group's potential to succeed (Kerr, 2001)

· Promotive interaction

Promotive interaction occurs only when students promote each other's learning and analyse the group task through oral explanation (Gillies, 2007) Johnson and Johnson (2009) have further proposed that promotive interaction is implemented when students share resources and materials, assist their peers, remain persistent to the group's benefits, believe in one another, and make sure that everyone's effort is helpful to achieve the objectives His study also shows that students giving feedback

to their peers and challenging their ways of thinking result not only in better decision making but also enhance promotive interaction In order to incorporate this element or in other words, build up personal connections, students have to work closely with others, understand both verbal and nonverbal hints as well as their body language (Gillies, 2007)

· Appropriate use of social skills

In CL groups, students learn not only academic subject matter (task work) but also social skills (teamwork) Students must be taught and prompted to use such skills as they are other essential factors for high quality collaborative work to happen (Johnson & Johnson, 2009) Unless members take care and welcome everyone into the group, find plausible remedies to tackle common issues, trust other group members and communicate effectively, the group cannot achieve their objectives

(Johnson & Johnson, 2009) In addition, it is necessary that students learn to respect others' turns, make impartial decisions and fairly share materials However, these skills are not easy to grasp, especially in big classes where students rarely have a chance to interact with their mates and are supposed to be passive recipients of the teaching (Gillies, 2007)

· Group processing

Last but not least, group processing, the last piece of a fruitful CL picture Members engaging in group processing need to agree on which actions are to be changed or maintained and think about constructive or flawed performance with an aim to improve the next project (Johnson & Johnson, 2009) It has also been asserted that group processing increases respect among members and their self-efficacy as every single contribution and effort for the group is perceived as a worthwhile part to reach the final result, especially when group leaders express their appreciation towards members (Smith et al., 1998)

CL is considered organised when groups evidently present these five basis elements whereas, when those elements are not visible, the groups are referred to as unstructured In addition, a study by Fiedler (2009) suggested that collaboration levels were also promoted when distance among participants was reduced thanks to the abundance of technical information When comparing learners engaging in CL

in a face-to-face and online environment, those in VLE had more chances to interact with the teacher, more time for preparation and participate more in the class than those working face-to-face (Kupczynski et al., 2012b) In another study on the use

in VLE for language learning, Berns, Gonzalez-Pardo and Camacho (2013) observed that this environment leads to positive educational outcomes when accompanied with appropriate CL guidelines for group work In particular, students showed improvements in vocabulary, motivation and listening comprehension (Berns et al., 2013) They also indicated that it is essential for the teacher to make sure that students have received all the guidance needed for learning to be effective Besides, when conducting research on the use of VLE to build up CL in formal education, Blas and Paolini (2014) noticed that participants were able to improve both technical and language skills On top of that, teachers served as the facilitator during these collaborative sessions as they were in charge of managing groups and

ensuring that the process is smooth throughout, according to Blas and Paolini (2014) However, positive outcomes of the foregoing studies do not correlate with the fact that the validation of CL as an effective learning technique in online classes has been thoroughly examined (Kupczynski et al., 2012b) Kupczynski, along with Mundy and Maxwell (2012a), has also perceived that further research is needed in order to find out about students' perceptions of CL in online and virtual contexts The literature review has allowed the researchers to identify research gaps on which the research questions of this study were based The recommendation that the application of CL in an online context has not been fully analysed (Kupczynski et al., 2012b) enables this study to continue the work Further, the importance of raising student’s awareness of technology and how it supports the development of collaboration (Kupczynski et al., 2012a; Venkatesh et al., 2014) led this study to delve into pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward CL in VLE Finally, considering that there is little preparation for teachers to work and establish collaboration in VLE (Guzzetti & Stokrocki, 2013), this study wishes to emphasize the need for a training course about CL, even in VLE for EFL pre-service teachers

3 Benefits of CL

Collaborative language learning is gaining broad acceptance in language learning classrooms, principally because of its contributions to productivity improvement and achievement and the provision of more opportunities for communication in regard to students' learning First of all, CL develops social interaction skills (Cohen, B.P., Cohen, E.G., 1991) as learners are obligated to cooperate, interact with their friends so as to solve the problem together In relation to EFL learning, Long & Porter (1985) stated that small groups provide a more intimate and supportive environment compared to public atmosphere, so learners are willing to make an attempt to contribute to the group discussion using the second language In the study of Michael Long and his colleagues (1976), as cited in How Languages are Learned (Lightbown & Spada, 1999), students produced not only a greater amount but also a greater variety of discourse in group work than in teacher-centered activities Recent studies have shown that teachers could also derive substantial benefits when implementing CL Teachers have more opportunities to

observe students interacting with their teammates, how they explain and defend their reasons, ask questions and discuss their ideas and concepts (Cooper, et al., 1984) That is to say, teachers are provided with an overview of their students' learning process which may be more objective than written exams only

CL or group work activity is a good approach to apply in an EFL classroom It is believed to make students cooperate with their friends, interact and solve the problem together Kessler (1992) proposed the definition of CL particularly in language learning context as “a within-class grouping of students usually of differing levels of second language proficiency, who learn to work together on specific tasks or projects in such a way that all students in the group benefit from the interactive experience.” Li and Lam (2013) has stated that CL is the activity that locates the students as the center Then, the teacher provides an instructional strategy in which a small group of students can achieve the goal Work in groups makes students feel more pleasant and confident because they can talk and discuss with their friends Thus, students are able to enhance their confidence and their language proficiency Also, learners are capable of learning independently when they are given freedom to work together in groups, which is a primary contributory factor to foster their autonomy in learning It not only lessens the burden on teachers but also enables learners to study autonomously, with additional help from their peers (Parupalli, 2019)

Numerous plus points of CL in more contexts other than EFL but few studies were able to find out whether or not CL provides similar benefits to EFL learning and teaching in VLE as it does in other contexts Thus, this current research aims specifically to investigate if EFL CL in the online setting proves to be as beneficial

as identified by previous researchers Also, this study also tries to address the EFL pre-service teachers’ satisfaction with CL and their willingness to implement this method in any EFL context It is also expected further that new benefits of CL will

be identified

4 EFL CL Implementation in Asian countries

Although literature reviews suggest that CL is able to equip students with vital aptitudes for their future occupations (Adams & Hamm, 1990; Johnson et al., 1994),

while experimenting CL in Asian classes, a number of studies found that the desired outcomes of CL implementation have not been achieved As an illustration, Tan et

al (2007) found that the failure of their group investigation experiment was related

to the learning methods of the students They were accustomed to passive ways of learning which means that they listen to teachers, take notes, and prepare for tests and examinations in accordance with what the teachers have taught Investigating a topic, acquiring information by themselves or from their peers, or learning in groups seems to be unfamiliar Therefore, they expect to be given the academic materials instead of being asked to search for information A case study in Singapore (Lee,

Ng and Phang, 1999) reported that student group work did not work effectively because participants are strongly competitive, which is perhaps attributable to their culture Even during teamwork sessions, team members spent the majority of their time engaging in their own competitive and individualistic ways of learning That is

to say, one of the five essential elements of CL - interdependent component, can barely be implemented properly in the Asian context This inspires the researcher to focus on the topic of EFL CL implementation in higher education in Vietnam, with the hope of making a contribution towards the perspectives of CL in Vietnam and other EFL countries, and to education in general

5 EFL CL Implementation in Vietnam

First and foremost, it is challenging to introduce CL in a class where students are not adept at English (V C Le & Barnard, 2009) If they are not able to use the language, they cannot interact with their mates or even explain their ideas Do (1996) point out that in Vietnam, the number of female students in a class is usually higher than the number of male students and those female ones seem to be more passive and shier than their male counterparts while taking part in collaborative work Students in general are also unwilling to discuss or negotiate with their teacher primarily due to their fear of inadvertently showing their flaws or making mistakes in front of the class (Do, 1996)

Another limitation worth mentioning is that just like most Asian learners, they are

so used to traditional teaching methods which emphasize on teacher-centered approaches Being over-reliant on teachers’ guide and assistance thus leads to

learners’ tendency to be quiet and passive in the classroom (Nguyen, 2003; Pham, 2011) Last but not least, in the Vietnam EFL context, learners are not given sufficient exposure to the language outside of the class (Do, 1996; V.C Le, 1999) so skills and benefits that they acquire from joining CL activities are rarely used and maintained In conclusion, it is of great importance to scrutinize such limitations and problems in order for the integration of CL to be successful in the Vietnamese EFL context It is also the aim of this study to investigate difficulties in organizing and participating in CL activities that teachers and students are facing

Another concern of the researcher is that although teachers and students in Vietnam may be familiar with the term pair/group-work (Pham, 2011), CL may be unsubstantiated in Vietnam and in Asia (Pham, 2012) A study conducted by Pham (2007) shows that teachers seem to recognize the benefits of CL in their contexts and believe that there could be some ways to use EFL CL effectively They even wish to learn this method from others As a teacher in Pham's study (2007), she wants to see how group work could be implemented successfully with large classes

or low motivated students as she believes that these hindrances could be tackled anyways In other words, teachers do not seem to refute the use of EFL CL They just need to be trained and oriented, or supported and well-prepared for EFL CL Taking these points, the idea of helping EFL pre-service teachers to become familiar with CL and the use of CL through training or orientation needs to be taken into consideration

Furthermore, as discussed by Brown (2009) “it is important for the improvement of teaching and student learning and achievement to have a firm understanding of students‘ beliefs and perceptions” Therefore, regarding the fact that pre-service teachers may possess the perspective of not only a student but also a teacher, the researcher aim to identify their attitude towards EFL CL to help raise the awareness and beliefs among pre-service teachers about appropriate ways for EFL learners to achieve their optimal learning as well as to improve their communicative abilities

III RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

1 Research design

This study aims at finding the attitude of pre-service teachers at UFLS towards EFL

CL, so both quantitative and qualitative research approach was employed as a research design While quantitative research can provide evidence of patterns amongst large populations, qualitative interview data often gather more in-depth insights on participant attitudes, thoughts, and actions (Kendall, 2008) Therefore, a questionnaire and a follow-up semi-structured interview will be conducted in succession

For the first research question, a quantitative approach is obtained by questionnaire surveys to gain datas about pre-service teachers‘ perceptions and experiences with EFL CL, how and to what extent EFL CL is used, and its benefits or limitations in VLE A semi-structured interview which consolidates the questionnaire is used to collect information for the second and third research questions about some difficulties that pre-service teachers may confront when CL is implemented online and strategies for successful CL in VLE

Case study approach

The present study adopts a descriptive case study approach because it enables a deeper understanding and description of the case which can be clearly identifiable and has boundaries (Creswell, 2013) In this study, it is the perceptions of EFL pre-service teachers of CL in their educational setting Kalof et al (2008) described this approach as “an in depth study of a single person, event, community or group”

Case study assumes that the social reality is formulated through social interaction, which relates to the theoretical framework of social constructivism One advantage

of the case study approach is that it focuses on a specific activity and attempts to explore it with the use of multiple methods and data sources in order to reach an in-depth description of the case (Stark and Torrance, 2005)

2 Data collection

The data will be collected from an online questionnaire designed by the researcher based on the review of the literature After that, semi-structured interviews might be