PART I: INTRODUCTION Identification of the problem “Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated Working with others often increases involvement in learning Sharing one’s own ideas and responding to others’ reactions improves thinking and deepens understanding.” (Whitman, 1988: 117) As mentioned in Whitman’s view, students learn a great deal by explaining their ideas to others and by participating in activities in which they can learn from their peers They develop skills in organizing and planning learning activities, working collaboratively with others, giving and receiving feedback and evaluating their own learning Peer learning is becoming an increasingly important part of many courses, and it is being used in a variety of contexts and disciplines in many countries The potential of peer learning is starting to be realized, but examination of the ways in which it is used in existing courses suggests that practices are often introduced in an ad hoc way, without consideration of their implications When such practices are used unsystematically, students unfamiliar with this approach become confused about what they are supposed to be doing They miss opportunities for learning altogether, and fail to develop the skills expected for them Much peer teaching occurs informally without staff involvement, and students who are already effective learners tend to benefit disproportionately when it is left to chance At a time when university resources are stretched and demands upon staff are increasing, students are offered the opportunity to learn from each other This gives them considerably more practice than traditional teaching and learning methods in taking responsibility for their own learning and, more generally, learning how to learn It is not a substitute for teaching and activities designed and conducted by staff members, but an important addition to the repertoire of teaching and learning activities that can enhance the quality of education As a teacher of ESP at the College of Science for six years I can find that formalized peer teaching can help students learn ESP effectively Aims of the study The idea of whether “peer-teaching” activities can develop ESP teaching and learning quality at the College of Science aroused my interest and drew my attention to the writing “ A study on the use of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College of Science, VNU ” The primary aim of the study is to examine teachers and students’ perceptions of the peer teaching process, their difficulties in peer teaching process and the suggestion of some effective ways for improving this practice in the ESP classes at the College of Science Two questions guide the study: 1) What are the students and teachers’ perceptions and their assessment towards peer teaching practices in ESP classes? 2) What is the teachers and students’ reflection towards their current practice of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College and some suggested ways for improving the peer teaching process in ESP classes? Scopes of the study Due to the limitation of its author’s time and conditions, the thesis does not cover the whole issue ‘peer teaching’ Instead, it is only targeted at working out the effectiveness of peer teaching on ESP teaching and learning quality and giving some suggestions for improving the peer teaching process in ESP classes Methods of the study In order to increase the robustness and trustworthiness of the study, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used Miles and Huberman (1994) attest there are three good reasons for resorting to numbers: “to see rapidly what you have in a large batch of data; to verify a hunch or hyporthesis; and to keep yourself analytically honest, protecting against bias” Used in the manner described, quantification supports and illuminates the study’s qualitative analysis Due to the limited scope of the study, the biggest aim of the research is only to obtain a snapshot of the current practice of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College of Science, and of the survey subjects’ attitudes towards some suggested ways for improving peer teaching process The researcher wishes to make a small contribution to the improvement of ESP teaching and learning methods at the College, where she has been teaching for many years So, the most suitable method for the study is possibly a survey research The study is both quantitative and qualitative The data is collected by means of questionnaires Design of the study The study is divided into three main parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion The very first part, the introduction, covers the background information such as rationale, aims, scope, and design of the study The second part, the main part, of the study is divided into three chapters Chapter deals with the review of the literature relevant to the study Chapter covers the methodological framework for the study, the results and the discussions obtained from the questionnaires Chapter presents some suggested ways for improving peer teaching process The last part of the study is intended to review what has been presented and to make it an ending point of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definitions of key terms It is important to have a look at the following terms before any further ideas are dealt with: • Peer: According to Boud, D., Cohan, R., and Sampson, J (2001: 13), a member of a group of people of the same age, status, ability, etc Peers are other people in a similar situation to each other who not have a role in that situation as teacher or expert practitioner They may have considerable experience and expertise or they may have relatively little They share the status as fellow learners and they are accepted as such Most importantly, they not have power over each other by virtue of their position or responsibilities In this light, peers are students learning in the same class Throughout the study we will be discussing the role of students who are in the same classes as those from whom they are learning • Peer teacher: The term ‘peer teacher’ refers to the student who is more advanced in her understanding of certain subject matter is enlisted to provide learning assistance to less advanced students (Sampson, J., Cohen, R., Boud, D., and Anderson, G, 1999: 7) • Peer teaching: Peer teaching is known as the cooperation and group cohesion, a twoway, reciprocal learning experience (McKeachie et el, 1986: 12) It involves mutual benefits and a sharing of knowledge, ideas and experience among participants It is a way of moving beyond independent to interdependent learning This idea of interdependence is important since the alternative is a more instrumental peer teaching approach which often involves some form of credit or payment for the person acting in a teaching capacity thus losing a sense of mutuality Peer teaching involves students learning from and with each other in both formal and informal ways The emphasis is on the learning process, including emotional support learners offer to each other, as much as the learning task The roles of teacher and learner may either not be defined or shift during the course of the learning experience, unlike peer teaching in which roles are fixed Staff may be actively involved as group facilitators or may simply initiate a mainly student-directed activity such as a workshop or learning partnership Surprisingly, according to Topping's recent review of the literature little research has been done into either dyadic reciprocal peer tutoring or same-year group tutoring (Topping, 1987) He identifies only ten studies to date, all with a very narrow focus This suggests that a teaching model rather than a learning model is still the most common view of how students assist each other While this teaching approach has value, unless we also consider the learning process itself we are unlikely to make the best use of peers as resources for learning According to Boud, Cohen and Sampson’s (2001:103), “Peer teaching involves students learning from and with each other in ways which are mutually beneficial and involve sharing knowledge, ideas and experience between participants The emphasis is on the learning process, including the emotional support that learners offer each other, as much as the learning itself.” 1.2 Theoretical background of peer teaching 1.2.1 Peer teaching David Nunan (1996: 19) agrees with many other methodologists in the point that “Communicative approaches to language teaching have been enthusiastically embraced by applied linguists and practitioners in many different language teaching contexts and environments” From a survey of the literature in resent years, it would be reasonable to conclude that there have been a revolution in the classroom, and that strategies for encouraging communication have largely supplanted more traditional classroom activities These developments have led to a more learner-centered-orientation to syllabus design and methodology Brindley (1984: 131) has suggested that, “The communicative movement in language teaching has received a grat deal of emphasis, since language was seen primarily as a means to an end: effective communication in the learner’s current or future domain of language use” Dealing with communicative approaches, many researchers found that learners were more interactive and exhibited greater variety in their language use in peer-group settings (Long, 1976 et al; Milk, 1981; Malcolm, 1979; and Wilkinson, 1984) Wilkinson (1984) reported that encouraging small group talk about a task promotes academic and social learning Milk (1981:187) in his study on Bilingual classrooms put it “ The small-group setting seemed to provide and reflect a variety of different speech functions and a higher frequency of speech acts than in teacher-centered settings” The interactive value of peergroup settings is also supported by reports on the limitations of teacher-pupil or whole class interactions Watson (1983) revealed in a study on ninety lessons, the limitations of the wholeclass discussion in that, in addition to low pupil involvement, pupil thinking was also not generally stimulated Malcolm (1979), in his study on 115 Aboriginal classroom interactions in Western Australia, outlined the over-whelming communicative constraints in the formal whole class interactions and stressed the need for a move toward structured small group interactions More significantly, both Scharle and Szabo (2000) and Dickinson (1995) agreed that it is essential for the learners to believe that they are capable of monitoring their own learning, being independent from the teachers, and self-evaluating their own work They affirmed the benefits of ‘Peer-teaching’ to autonomous attitude First, it encourages the learners to rely on each other Second, learners can get feed back from peers Finally, they have more time and chances to get involved in a task Thus, learners should be given many more chances to ‘peer-work’ such as pair work or group work as possible 1.2.2 Types of peer teaching activities As far as we are exploring, there is a range of different reciprocal peer teaching activities to suit different course contexts and to foster different learning outcomes The followings are typical types of peer teaching activities introduced by Anderson and Boud (1996: 52) in the writing “Role of peer teaching in university courses” (1996): - Student-led workshops in which the students themselves are responsible for designing and conducting a workshop for their peers, thus learning about working as a member of a team as well as researching the content for the workshop - ‘Learning exchanges’ or formal class presentations in which students learn about a topic directly from their peers whilst also learning from the experience of delivering their own presentations and receiving critical feedback - Seminar presentations in small groups or pairs following a completed shared project or assignment - Work-in-progress reports by individuals or groups working together on a project or assignment, followed by questions and discussion - Debriefing sessions following a field placement, industrial visit or work experience program These can occur in pairs, small groups and finally plenary sessions - Peer feedback, whereby peers comment on each other’s assignments according to agreed criteria and the results discussed - Study groups, with or without staff facilitation, which meet inside or outside class on a regular basis either for specific tasks or as a learning support network - Learning partnerships between two students provide a means of encouraging a more collaborative approach to learning while offering personal support outside the classroom Peer teaching activities necessarily change their character when formalised so care needs to be taken in extraplorating experience from informal to formal settings – other agendas may be brought into play It is therefore important to mornitor any peer teaching activity and be guided by the wishes of the participants if the process seems to be faltering Clear initial directions and ongoing support and encouragement may be necessary if the activity is to be successful Some form of final closure is also necessary, reflecting upon learning from the experience and obtaining feedback to guide future peer work 1.2.3 Considerations in using peer teaching One of the key issues we are examining is what staff should take into account when considering the adoption of formal peer teaching approaches These include the dynamics present in any interpersonal situation For example: differences in knowledge and experience bases; potential for power differentials; gendered activities; potential for oppressive behaviour by dominant group members; tensions between task and process; cultural norms, values and expectations in any given setting; group dynamics, eg the stages of the group's development In addition, there are factors which will vary greatly depending on the type of peer teaching activity being undertaken These include: levels of formality and informality, emphasis on individual or group learning, and learning goals of individuals and the agendas set by others We also need to consider where peer teaching fits into the scheme of teaching and learning within a particular course It should not be seen simply as a reaction to traditional teaching or a substitute for staff teaching Nor is there any suggestion that all learning should occur this way or that the method will work in all contexts for all students A lot will depend upon the conception of teaching and learning which is held For these reasons peer teaching could be located among a number of qualitatively different conceptions as peer teaching is in the repertoire of teaching methods; it is a part of a range of learning strategies; it is an informal activity which could be formalised Further more, peer teaching is considered as a strategy to remedy specific problems Even, it may become the central organising feature of learning And above all, peer teaching is thought to be a part of a holistic conception of teaching and learning Certain conditions are necessary for effective peer teaching, for instance: • there is perceived value in cooperation and the roles involved; • there is a microclimate of trust which already exists or can be established; • there is a minimally agreed process and some initial preparation; • reflection and reflective discussions are accepted and encouraged; • it is acceptable to make mistakes and seek assistance; • any previous negative experiences with similar activities are dealt with Other issues will also need to be addressed, such as: (i) how to introduce students to the notion of learning from each other; (ii) how to build upon experiences to move the group forwards; (iii) how to convince students that different perspectives may be equally valid; (iv) how to encourage sharing in competitive courses 1.2.4 Benefits of peer teaching There is a wealth of evidence that peer teaching is extremely effective for a wide range of goals, content, and students of different levels and personalities (McKeachie et al., 1986) Peer teaching can enhance learning by enabling learners to take responsibility for reviewing, organizing, and consolidating existing knowledge and material; understanding its basic structure; filling in the gaps; finding additional meanings; and reformulating knowledge into new conceptual frameworks (Dueck, 1993) Help from peers increases learning both for the students being helped as well as for those giving the help For the students being helped, the assistance from their peers enables them to move away from dependence on teachers and gain more opportunities to enhance their learning For the students giving the help, the cooperative learning groups serve as opportunities to increase their own performance They have the chance to experience and learn that “teaching is the best teacher” (Farivar and Webb, 1994) The power of peers for promoting student learning is highlighted by the work of McKeachie, Pintric, Lin, & Smith (1986), who reached the following conclusion after completing an extensive review of higher education research on teaching and learning: “The best answer to the question of what is the most effective method of teaching is that it depends on the goal, the student, the content and the teachers But the next best answer is students teaching other students” (p.63) In an extensive review of research on critical thinking, Kurfiss (1988) concluded that use of peers as resources is a powerful strategy for promoting the development of student’s higher- level thinking skills The educational effectiveness of peer tutoring is thought to be due, at least in part, to the fact that (a) it allows the learners to seek academic assistance from a similar-age peer, which is often less threatening to the learner’s self-esteem than seeking help from an authority figure (Gross & McMullen, 1983), and (b) the peer teacher and learner have more similar amounts of prior experience with the concept being learned and are at a more proximal stage of cognitive development, both of which serve to facilitate learning (Vygotsky, 1978) Higher education research on peer teaching indicates that, not only the peer learner, but also the peer teacher experiences significant gains in learning as a result of their collaborative interaction (Whitman, 1988) College students display significantly greater conceptual understanding of the concepts they teach to other college students ( Bargh & Schul, 1980), as well as a greater mastery of course content (Johnson, Sulzer-Azaroff, & Mass, 1977) But it is not simply economics which has led teachers to think about more learnercentred ways of presenting their courses Interest in peer teaching in particular has been increasing in recent years for a number of reasons At least three major factors suggest that approaches such as peer learning will become even more important in future 1.3 Theoretical background of the ESP teaching 1.3.1 What is ESP? ESP has been defined differently by different authors Some regard it as “an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 19) Likewise, Strevens (1988: 1) stated that “ESP is a particular case of the general category of special-purpose language teaching” Most people (Streven, 1980; Robinson, 1980; Widdowson, 1983; Dudley-Evans and St John, 1997; etc.) have agreed that an ESP course would have the following features: • It is purposeful and aimed at the successful performance of occupational or educational roles by an individual or a group • It is based on an analysis of the students’ needs and is tailor-made to meet these needs • It may differ from another general language course in its selection of skills, themes, topics, situations, functions, language and methodology Strevens (1988) produces a definition which covers more detailed characteristics of an ESP course As is stated by Strevens (1988:84), “English for specific purposes is a particular case of the general category of special-purpose language teaching The same principles apply no matter which language is being learnt and taught” From the definition, Strevens goes on to maintain that a definition of ESP needs to distinguish between absolute characteristics and variable characteristics The absolute characteristics of ESP are as follows: * “ESP consists of English language teaching which is: - designed to meet specified needs of the learners; - related to content, to particular disciplines, occupations and activities; - centred on the language appropriate to those activities, in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics, etc; - in contrast with “General English” * “ESP may be, but is not necessary: - restricted as to the language skills to be learned; - taught according to any pre-ordained methodology how to conduct the peer teaching activity in advance For the students, their responses to this question were the same as their teachers’ No students grasped the nature of peer teaching technique and planned when peer teaching process should be taken place Only 2% of this surveyed group said that they created a comfortable environment to establish their trust This may coincide with the findings of the first survey question; that is, the teachers’ preparation before peer teaching was not sufficient enough, which led to an unfavorable fact that students did not trust their peers, did not pay attention to their peers’ work and it was the peer teacher or leader who did not know for sure what peer teaching was and how to conduct it well But, it will be a mistake if the investigator does not inform that to prepare for peer teaching about three fourths of the surveyed teachers had the choice of peer teachers/ leaders and these students did meet and consult their teacher/ supervisor about the content, linguistic strategies, teaching methods, and necessary knowledge of the subject matter Among such things that student teachers wished to consult from their supervisors, the content of the subject matters drew the greatest attention of all the teachers, and teaching methods occupied the second rank with the approval of among 10 surveyed teachers Clearly, the preparation for peer teaching should be a must for both the instructor and the doer This preparation should deal with such factors as knowledge of subject matters, skills, methods; but two more important factors that must not be ignored are the knowledge of peer teaching itself and the environment in which peer teaching will be exercised * In question of both two survey questionnaires, there appears a sad reality in the collected data that a large number of the surveyed students (78%) did sit still under the control of the peer teacher during a peer teaching activity This indicates that they learnt passively with little creation, which seems to be in contrast with the nature of peer teaching As fact has shown, peer teaching is an effective way of teaching and learning which needs the cooperation, the activeness and the creativeness of the participants This way of learning helps to improve students’ communication competence considerably This indicates that many of the teachers did not act as their students expected of them, which would likely discourage the students to join in peer teaching In addition, of the 10 surveyed teachers, responded to question that during the peer teaching process they monitored the student teacher and group progress, intervened by adding some ideas, and encouraged students to raise questions or give comments to the peer teacher Apparently, although most of the teachers did play a lot of roles (organizer, advisor, instructor, and guide) in their ESP classes, they failed in helping their students with peer teaching This may be because the teachers’ organization of peer teaching process is not very effective The data collected from question also revealed that neither the students nor the teachers observed the peer teaching process critically and filled in the Classroom Observation Rating Form If so, this will bear out a question “how can the students and especially the teachers give appropriate comments or feedbacks on a peer teaching activity after it has been conducted?” * The last stage of the peer teaching process is studied via the data collected from question 10 of both surveyed questionnaires The data show that most of the teachers and the students did act well Almost all the teachers got their students to list their comments, gave their own comments on the peer teacher and peer teaching process, namely the strengths and the weaknesses, and corrected the important and frequent errors However, according to these teachers, when students were provided with opportunities for giving their comments to their partners, they themselves refused to raise their voice but sat still and waited for the feedback from their teachers Once more, the passive roles of the learners are revealed clearly 2.2.3 Summary of the findings On the basis of the responses to both research questions the investigator has put forward in this study, a conclusion can be drawn out that the teachers and the students’ perceptions of peer teaching are quite good They learn that peer teaching is student-student interaction which benefits their teaching and learning quality Besides, some disadvantages of peer teaching have also been revealed by this surveyed population These disadvantages may result from the inappropriate ways in organizing and conducting peer teaching, which can be modified and innovated gradually The second finding reached from the survey is that the current use of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College of Science is far from being satisfactory The preparation for peer teaching is not sufficient and ineffective The students learn passively during the peer teaching process And the way the teachers organize and control the peer teaching process is inflexible and unmotivating That is the reason why most of the teachers and students show their great concern about the suggested ways for improving peer teaching process, but it seems that they still find it difficult to realize such suggestions in their classes Hence, the first and foremost thing needed to be done here is to raise the teachers’ awareness and teaching skills in peer teaching so that they can involve more in these activities conducted in ESP classes; and more importantly, some principles before, during, and after peer teaching should be realized appropriately CHAPTER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE PEER TEACHING PROCESS Based on the foregoing findings from the research on the use of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College of Science, some recommendations are offered for the teachers and students so that the peer teaching process will be improved 3.1 Guiding principles for effective peer teaching This recommendation presents guiding principles teachers can utilize in their own planning and student training for effective peer teaching As Jette (2005) illustrates teacher planning and student planning are ongoing processes that must be addressed before, during and after peer teaching, although the majority should be carried out before peer teaching commences The principles are listed chronologically, from before to during and after peer teaching, and for each, concrete and practical suggestions are provided I Guiding principles before peer teaching: Plan when peer teaching should be introduced While peer teaching activities are typically introduced in the revision stages, they can be utilized effectively across all stages of an actual ESP lesson For example, a typical beginning to an ESP lesson is a brainstorming activity to help students generate possiple technical terms or ideas During and after this activity, the teacher can encourage students to make a list of all the terms or ideas they have generated, and then guide them to discuss these with their peers in light of their relevance, importance, and difficulty level, as well as availability of resources This may help students decide which terms or ideas are more appropriate, and also generate more information Decide when to incorporate teacher’s comments It is more beneficial for students if the teacher’s comments are not given on the same step in the process as utilized for peer teaching, since students may pay more attention to the teacher’s comments Additionally, it may minimize the importance of peers’ comments It may be more effective to comment on a step after students have revised their work based on peers’ feedback It is important to note that students should be given the authority to retain certain aspects of their work so that their autonomy will be improved Discuss students’ prior experiences with peer teaching The teacher should invite students to reflect on their own perceptions towards peer teaching work in order to understand their concerns or attitudes towards this teaching and learning technique This can lead on to a discussion of classroom norms and interaction patterns expected from the students in that particular class or cultural setting Create a comfortable environment for students to establish peer trust This can be done via warm-up/ icebreaker activities (e.g interviewing another student and introducing this student to the rest of the class) and having students engage in other group or pair activities in order to encourage peer support This also helps to develop an environment wherein students feel more comfortable to engage in the negotiation of meaning, and to provide each other with linguistic content, and rhetorical expressions and knowledge when necessary Select appropriate types of peer teaching Teachers have several options for types of peer teaching to suit different course contexts and to foster different learning outcomes Trying new types of peer teaching may increase students’ participation and interest levels, and motivate them to spend more time and energy on the task Model the peer teaching process To this effectively: (1) teachers can show students their own work, and how peer commentary has helped them make revisions; (2) with the guidance of the teacher, students can work together; (3) students can work together in groups, and the whole class can discuss different ideas suggested by each group; (4) with the presentation of a peer teacher, the rest of the class sit and learn Give students enough time to become familiar with peer teaching procedures This is especially important Students should be encouraged to ask questions about the process; and allowing them to establish their own rules (e.g time limits), and individual student roles within groups (e.g discussion leader, presenter) may help them be more invested in the process Let students decide on grouping and group rules If appropriate, given the context of language teaching, students can decide how groups should be formed (self- or teacher- selected), how groups should be managed (a rotating group manager may be assigned), what types of communication rules (e.g turn-taking) each group wants to establish, etc Provide students with linguistic strategies As the students are ESP learners, they may not have the necessary expressions to communicate their opinions clearly Additionally, as the ESP class is still a language classroom, these expressions may enable students to extend their linguistic repertoire as well as language competence and ability to engage in negotiation of meaning So, providing students with necessary expressions like “As far as I know, …”, “ It can be sure that …”, etc will help them feel more confident in performing their tasks For example, in the classes of English for Maths, the teacher should supply their students with some linguistic expressions, such as “If and only if …”, “… such that …”, “the necessary and sufficient conditions are that…”, etc Instruct students in how to ask the right questions Students may not have a clear idea of what they should look for, and may have few comments to make unless they are directed to ask specific questions, or look for specific issues that are problematic It is important to train students to ask questions that generate a response from the leader or from the group members Provide the peer teacher with appropriate ways of teaching The biggest hesitation of students in peer teaching is how to teach their peers The teacher should show them the procedures of teaching through presentation, involvement, and questioning (see Appendix 4) In the appendix 4, there are so many suggestions as teaching techniques that the teacher may find it impossible to introduce all of them to their students Hence, the teachers are advised to select the most effective and suitable techniques to certain peer teaching activities These techniques are then instructed to the peer teachers so that they can perform their tasks successfully II Guiding principles during peer teaching: Encourage students to negotiate meaning on the various peer comments Since students have been trained in asking the right questions, to encourage this behavior during the actual task, a group member can be assigned to monitor the phrasing of comments/ questions, and students may be given a list of the types of questions to ask to refer to during the task Monitor student and group progress This can be done in several ways: (1) the teacher can serve as a peer in the activity; (2) the teacher can sit in with each group for part of the session in order to provide support, and to remind students of appropriate linguistic expressions and communication patterns; (3) a group manager can be appointed to monitor group progress and raise issues with the teacher Observe the peer teaching process critically and fill in the Classroom Observation Rating Form (See Appendix 3) This will offer the teacher good comments and appropriate feedback on the peer teacher and the whole peer teaching process after it is conducted III Guiding principles after peer teaching Get students to list all of their comments on a piece of paper, and then indicate whether they will revise based on each comment and why If there is enough time, this can also be done orally with the teacher, which may be effective since the teacher and student can discuss the different comments together This procedure makes students more involved in understanding their peer comments Discuss the peer teaching activity Students can discuss the nature of the procedure, the actual events that took place, how students perceived that they benefited, what worked and did not work, and what they would differently for the next activity Give students praises for their good points, correct large-scale errors, and explicit some confusing matters Suggested ways for improving the peer teaching process In light of the initial findings, the investigator introduces the following recommendations for improving the peer teaching process: • Do not assume peer teaching skills have been acquired, make these explicit • Discuss group processes when groups begin to meet, so that they are aware of the phases of group interaction (Bellanca & Fogarty, 1993; Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994) and the importance of conflict resolution • Stress that self-assessment will occur with peer and teacher moderation Highlight the importance of student views being valued, but seen as part of a complex process of moderation • Introduce topic selection so that it builds on the weekly lecture content • Include some class time for group meetings, as arranging meeting times appears to be a key issue • Keep group size small to facilitate communication among members and a more even distribution of work • Make explicit the connections with the peer teaching process to classroom practice These recommendations are useful to realize the principles before, during, and after peer teaching which have been suggested in the previous section (section 3.1) However, everything has two sides, advantages and disadvantages So, the investigator would like to show both two sides of her recommendations for improving peer teaching practices The disadvantages of each suggested improvement may be sorted out with interesting/ other considerations All of this will be explicit through the table below: Suggested Improvements Advantages Disadvantages Interesting/ other considerations Don't assume peer teaching skills * Identify and address student needs for conflict resolution before they * Time constraints this only adds to pressure of crowded * How can this be done so that students feel ownership over Teach these and enact these explicitly arise (or as they arise) in peer teaching preparation * Students need to enact these skills (workshop some strategies) from early in the process curriculum the issues? * Different students different needs/ abilities/ levels * Conflict resolution and collaborative learning should focus for ongoing learning * More relevant in semester subjects? * Where possible, monitor the progress of group dynamics, through regular reflection with whole group Self-assessment, with peer and teacher moderation * Students learn best about assessment issues when they are actively involved in assessing in authentic context * Student views are valued, but seen as part of a complex process of moderation Again, this constitutes an authentic assessment experience in terms of school processes Peer teaching not formally marked (It would n't "count") * This would generate less stress for students and emphasise the intrinsic value of the learning * Less marking for staff in what is already a labour intensive curriculum * More time to monitor and support students in the process of learning? * This eats into teaching and learning time in class, or requires significant commitment outside of class time * Peer teaching is already perceived by lecturers as 'messy' This would only further complicate the process * The task may not be seen as important by the students, resulting in diminished motivation and less effective teaching 'product' * Students may feel that their PT efforts (involving much time and effort) are not valued if there is no formal assessment * If there are arrangements outside of class, how you attain consistency in approach across different teaching groups * Student teachers need to see the value of 'some 'messiness' in education An authentic teaching and learning experience * Perhaps as Hurdle requirement only with alternative assessed task such as journal? * The issue of 'What is valued' and what is formally assessed will emerge inevitably and prompt vital debate in the classroom? Need for smaller groups and perhaps different peer teaching groups teaching simultaneously (peer teaching smorgasboard?) * Smaller groups reduce potential for serious conflict Less space for an individual to 'hide' in the process * This would ease the pressure on the crowded curriculum * Student learners could choose the peer teaching topics that interest them another instance of negotiating their preferred curriculum * Encourages student autonomy Journal entries as records of participation could form part of the submission (hurdle requirement) * More difficult for lecturer to monitor the teaching and learning being enacted * Students may not want to miss two topics that interest them because they are scheduled together * Need to experiment with different ways of grouping students & different group sizes * Workload issues for students: more work per student in the research and preparation for teaching more * Authentic teaching practice to document the process (in the form of a log / journal) * Increases workload for students * Should the journal be an individual or a group document? * Lecturer may need to provide suggestions for the focus of the log/journal (or a set of guidelines) * Encourages students in on-going critical reflection on issues and skill development * This would provide rich evidence to assist students with evaluation and reflection of the whole process of TP Have outline criteria simpler and * More user-friendly for student (and staff!) assessors * Assessors spend less time thinking about minutiae of assessing and * Lecturers need to set aside planning time to review criteria and descriptors * All students could contribute to, or negotiate the criteria and the descriptors * If there are too few criteria then each * Alternatively, staff could provide more more time engaging with the teaching criterion becomes less focused in terms of a rigorous judgement detailed descriptors for each criterion, so that there is less likelihood of confusion Introduce topic selection early, under generic headings (with rooms for students to generate topics); allow more time for choice * Group topics under generic headings that coincide with the focus of the lecture for designated week This will reduce fragmented nature of the curriculum * Increases pressure on already crowded curriculum * How much time is right for topic choice? Allow class time for group meetings * Time for both students and staff to negotiate details and clarify issues * To what extent staff want to prescribe the curriculum? Are there some topics that are vital to be addressed in peer teaching? * Allow students more time to consider their choices * Allow more time for staff to monitor student progress and assist with some group dynamics * Increases pressure on already crowded curriculum * Some groups not require time in class The amount of time possible would not allow for any depth of research or planning Table 8: Suggestions for improving the peer teaching process * If time is to be given * how much time? * What other content in the course would be omitted if peer teaching were given more time? PART III: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDY Peer teaching has a long tradition in higher education and offers many benefits to participants Yet too often narrow conceptions of this approach have meant, these benefits are not fully realized Learning formally or informally from one’s peers is probably inseparable from the experience of studying at a university Peer teaching occurs as students help each other to make sense of texts, lectures, subject material, assignments and indeed of the whole experience of being a student The great advantage of peer teaching is that it offers the opportunity for students to teach and learn from each other, provides a learning experience that is qualitatively different from the usual teacher-student interactions and offers mutual benefits Peer teaching can help students in ESP classes improve their language skills, raise their awareness of learning strategies, motivate students to learn and ultimate promote cooperation among students, increase students’ independence from teachers and develop the responsible attitude toward their learning However, every thing has two sides Peer teaching is also associated with some challenges for teachers and students: time-consuming and difficult to exercise Hence, it is advised that the teachers should apply this teaching strategy in appropriate ways Teachers should prepare students with enough knowledge in both language and methodology And the biggest aim of the study seems to have been achieved when the investigator has introduced some useful principles before, during, and after peer teaching as well as some suggested ways for improving the peer teaching process This may be a valuable present of the teaching method for both teachers and students, especially the ones in ESP classes, who have a great concern in peer teaching As a matter of fact, this study cannot cover everything about peer teaching Due to the limitation of the study, the investigator has only made a survey on the current practice of peer teaching in ESP classes at Hanoi College of Sciences The findings of this study revealed that: 1) The teachers and students in ESP classes at the College of Science, VNU have a good grasp of peer teaching 2) Peer teaching has a positive impact on the learning and teaching in these ESP classes 3) The current practice of peer teaching in these ESP classes is far from satisfaction 4) Most of the teachers and students show their great concern about the suggested ways for improving peer teaching process, but it seems that they still find it difficult to realize such suggestions in their ESP classes The survey researcher hasn’t “done” anything to the objects or subjects of the research, except offer them some suggested ways for improving peer teaching process But, will these suggestions be useful in practice? This question can be answered after the suggested peer teaching techniques are taken into action in actual ESP classes at the College So, the author of this study hopes to go further with an action research on the practice of the suggested peer teaching techniques in ESP classes so that the current state of affairs within the studied context will be improved The research has been completed with the author’s great efforts However, shortcomings may not be avoided Therefore, the author is looking forward to constructive comments with a sincere gratitude REFERENCES Anderson and Boud (1996), Role of peer teaching in university courses, Longman: London Bennet, C., Foreman-Peck, L., and Higgins, C (1996) Researching into teaching methods in colleges and universities, London, Kogan Page Brindley (1984), Collaborative Learning And College Teaching, pp 128-133 Boud, D., Cohen, R., and Sampson, J (2001) Peer Teaching in higher education: Learning from and with each other, London, Kogan Press Cohen and Manior (1985), Research Methods, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Univ Press Collier, K G (1980), "Peer-Group Learning in Higher Education: The Development of Higher-order Skills." 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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE PEER TEACHING PROCESS Based on the foregoing findings from the research on the use of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College of Science, some recommendations are