VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES -o0o VƯƠNG THI ̣ THU HUYỀN AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK AT LUU NHAN CHU HIGH SCHOOL ( NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ THAM GIA HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM CỦA HỌC SINH TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT LƯU NHÂN CHÚ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.10 HaNoi, 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES -o0o VƯƠNG THỊ THU HUYỀN AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK AT LUU NHAN CHU HIGH SCHOOL ( NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ THAM GIA HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM CỦA HỌC SINH TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT LƯU NHÂN CHÚ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.10 Supervisor: ĐÀO THU TRANG, M.A Ha Noi, 2012 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND CHARTS Abbreviations: - CLT: Communicative Language Teaching Charts: - Chart 1: The frequency of teachers organizing group work in an English class - Chart 2: The usual time group work often takes up over the total time of an English lesson - Chart 3: The benefits of group work - Chart 4: Skills teachers often use with group work - Chart 5: The ways teachers often prepare for group work classes - Chart 6: Skill most suitable with group work - Chart 7: Do students like taking part in group work in an English lesson? - Chart 8: Students’ opinion about appropriate time for group work - Chart 9: Students’ opinion about group work’s benefits - Chart 10: The frequency of students taking part in group work - Chart 11: Students’ opinions about difficulties when taking part in group work - Chart 12: Students’ opinions about what their teachers should to make group work successful Tables: - Table 1:Ways teachers often use to group students - Table 2: Problems group work can cause - Table 3: Factors affecting the success of group work most - Table 4: What the teacher should to make group work successful in an English lesson - Table 5: Characteristics of the students participating in the language learning survey - Table 6: Students’ opinions about suitable skills for group work - Table 7: The ways students grouped by their teachers - Table 8: Students’s preparation for group work - Table 9: Students’ opinions about factors affecting the success of group work most iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND CHARTS iv Part A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study 3.Scope of the study Research questions of the study Methods of the study Design of the study Part B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 1.1.1.Definitions of CLT 1.1.2 Characteristics of CLT 1.2 Group work in teaching and learning English 1.2.1 Definition of group work 1.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of group work 1.2.2.1 The advantages of group work 1.2.2.2 The disadvantages of group work 1.2.3 How to organize group work 1.2.3.1 Preparation for group work 1.2.3.2 Steps in classroom 1.2.3.3 Steps of organizing group work 11 1.2.4 Difficulties in organizing group work and suggested solutions 12 1.2.4.1.Difficulties : 13 1.2.4.2 Solutions : 13 v 1.3 Concepts of students’ participation in group work 14 1.4 Summary 15 Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 16 2.1 Context of the study 16 2.1.1 Description of English syllabus at Luu Nhan Chu High school 16 2.1.2 Description of the students at Luu Nhan Chu high school 16 2.1.3 Description of the teachers at Luu Nhan Chu school 17 2.2 Methodology and design of the study 17 2.2.1 The participants 17 2.2.2 Research questions 18 2.2.3 Research methods 18 2.2.4 Research instruments 18 2.2.4.1 Survey questionnaire 18 2.2.4.2 Classroom observation 19 2.3 Presentation of statisical results 19 2.3.1 Questionnaires 19 2.3.2 Classroom observation 33 Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 35 3.1 Findings 35 3.1.1 What are the difficulties in organizing group work at Luu Nhan Chu high school? 35 3.1.1.1 Difficulties from teachers 35 3.1.1.2 Difficulties from students 35 3.1.1.3 Other difficulties 36 3.1.2 How is group work organized in an English class at Luu Nhan Chu high school? How the students participate in group work? 37 3.1.3 What are attitudes of the students at Luu Nhan Chu high school towards the application of group work in teaching and learning English? 38 vi 3.1.4 How to organize group work in English class more effectively for improve fours skills to students at Luu Nhan Chu high school? 38 3.2 Suggestions 39 3.2.1 To teachers: 39 3.2.2 To students: 40 Part C: CONCLUSION 41 Summary of the study 41 Limitations of the study 41 Suggestions for further study 42 REFERENCES: 43 APPENDIXES I vii Part A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays, English has become one of the most popular languages in the world Because of its popularity, teaching and learning English is paid more attention everywhere, especially Viet Nam One of the reasons is that English is widely used in many fields such as politics, business, international conference, education or just everyday communication However, the results of the English learning are not very good Vietnamese teachers of English may not have applied the teaching method in effective ways For many years, we taught English in a traditional way in which teacher played the role of the knowledge provider and the students were the passive knowledge receivers However, with the help of the communicative approach in language teaching, we are now paying more attention to the role of students in the class We begin to realize the importance of students‟ interaction We begin to teach English in a more natural way by putting it in real communicative situations The teachers are now trying to organize communicative activities in English classes, among them, group work, key features of learner- centered orientation- has received more emphasis because of a number of advantages it brings about Group work creates more opportunities for students to work with each other by exchanging their ideas and, therefore, learning so many things from their partners Participating in group work makes students confident and creative in learning English It also helps students overcome shyness Group work brings advantages not only for the learners but also for the teachers First of all, it saves time Instead of asking individual student to practice a structure or answer the questions, the teacher can divide the class into groups and make them the exercise at the same time Being a teacher of English at Luu Nhan Chu High School, the researcher is well aware of the importance of using group work in English classes However, like many school teacher in Viet Nam, we still face with common problems coming from teachers, students, classroom condition when organizing and using group work This led me to the choice of the study: “ An investigation into students’ participation in group work at Luu Nhan Chu High school.” with the hope of investigating the ways teachers organize group work and the students‟ participation into group work to find out an effective way to improve four English skills for students at Luu Nhan Chu High School It is also hoped that this study may offer the teachers of English at Luu Nhan Chu High School ways on how to use group work in teaching four English skills more effectively Aims of the study The aims of the study are: - to investigate students‟ participation in group work and why they participated in group work, the ways they did - to explore some strategies to increase students‟ participation in group work 3.Scope of the study As mentioned above, the study focuses on ways to organize and use group work as well as the students‟ participation in group work at Luu Nhan Chu High school The researcher intends to draw a brief overview of group work in classes at Luu Nhan Chu High School and to find out the ways to organize group work more effectively Research questions of the study This study was aimed to answer the following research questions: What are attitudes of the students at Luu Nhan Chu high school towards group work in teaching and learning English? How the students participate in group work? How is group work organized in an English class at Luu Nhan Chu High school? How to organize group work in English class more effectively for students at Luu Nhan Chu high school? Methods of the study To realize the aims of the study, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used - By means of qualitative method: the author has to refer to different materials, lectures, former researchers and relevant issues related to group work and teaching and learning English to gain more knowledge of the subject matter and to come to the final conclusion - By means of quantitative method: all comments, remarks, recommendation assumption and conclusion provided in the study based on the analysis of the statistics from the survey questionnaires conducted with students and teachers of Luu Nhan Chu High School In addition, the researcher also used class observations with the hope that two methodologies supplemented each other so that the data could be more reliable Design of the study This study consists of three parts: Part A: Introduction: presents rationale, aims, scope, research questions, methods and design of the study Part B: Developments: consists of three chapters Chapter 1: Theoretical background: reviews the theory of CLT, group work and students‟ participation in group work Chapter 2: Methodology: provides an analysis on the current situation of using group work in teaching and learning English at Luu Nhan Chu High school Data collection and analysis are also presented in this chapter Chapter 3: Findings and suggestions: focuses on how the teachers at Luu Nhan Chu High School organized group work, difficulties faced by them and their students in using these activities and some suggestions for the teachers to organize group work and for the students to learn more effectively Part C: Conclusion: summarizes all the key issues as well as the limitations of the study and makes suggestions for further research APPENDIX 1: TEACHERS’ QUESTIONNAIRES Tôi Vương Thị Thu Huyền, học viên cao học lớp Cao Học Anh Thái Nguyên k19, trường Đại Học Ngoại Ngữ Quốc Gia Hà Nội Hiện thực đề tài nghiên cứu tham gia học sinh vào hoạt động nhóm trường THPT Lưu Nhân Chú, Đại Từ Để hồn thành tốt đề tài, chúng tơi mong nhận ý kiến đóng góp bạn vấn đề Tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn! I Thông tin chung Giới tính: □ Nam □ Nữ Kinh nghiệm giảng dạy: (Chọn vào năm bạn giảng dạy): □ 1- năm □ 6-10 năm □ 11-15 năm II Hoạt động nhóm giảng dạy Tiếng Anh Bạn thường xuyên tổ chức hoạt động nhóm học Tiếng Anh nào? □ Luôn □ Thỉnh thoảng □ Thường xuyên □ Hiếm Hoạt động nhóm thường chiếm thời gian tổng thời gian học Tiếng Anh? □ phút tiết □ 10 phút tiết □ 15 phút tiết □ Hơn 15 phút tiết □ Lựa chọn khác: từ đến 15 phút tiết Theo bạn, hoạt động nhóm có lợi ích gì? □ Cải thiện độ trơi chảy việc nói Tiếng Anh học sinh □ Tạo môi trường học tập thoải mái I □ Giết thời gian □ Tạo cho học sinh hội trao đổi ý kiến với □ Lựa chọn khác Bạn thường phân chia nhóm nào? □ Học sinh ngồi bàn □ Học sinh yếu với học sinh yếu □ Học sinh ngồi khác bàn □ Học sinh giỏi với học sinh giỏi □ Lựa chọn khác □ Học sinh giỏi với học sinh yếu Hoạt động nhóm thường sử dụng với kỹ đây? □ Đọc □ Viết □ Nói □ Lựa chọn khác □ Nghe Theo bạn, yếu tố rắc rối hoạt động nhóm đem lại? □ Tiếng ồn □ Giáo viên kiếm sốt lớp □ Các thành viên nhóm làm việc khơng đồng □ Lựa chọn khác Bạn thường chuẩn bị cho hoạt động nhóm nào? □ Sử dụng thông tin sách giáo khoa □ Sử dụng chủ đề sách giáo khoa có thay đổi □ Lấy thông tin từ số sách tham khảo □ Tự thiết kế □ Trao đổi với đồng nghiệp lấy ý kiến họ □ Lựa chọn khác Yếu tố nào, theo bạn, yếu tố giúp hoạt động nhóm thành cơng? □ Kinh nghiệm giảng dạy □ Độ tuổi giáo viên □ Khả giảng dạy giáo viên II □ Khả tổ chức hoạt động nhóm giáo viên □ Độ chăm học sinh □ Sự hợp tác học sinh □ Khả học ngoại ngữ học sinh □ Lựa chọn khác Theo bạn, kỹ phù hợp với hoạt động nhóm ? □ Đọc □ Writing □ Nói □ Lựa chọn khác □ Nghe 10 Bạn làm để hoạt động nhóm thành cơng ? □ Yêu cầu học sinh xếp lại bàn ghế trước học bắt đầu □ Thành lập nhóm học sinh với trình độ khác để họ học hỏi lẫn □ Cố gắng kiểm soát lớp học □ Đưa hướng dẫn cụ thể với ví dụ minh họa □ Lựa chọn khác BẢNG KHẢO SÁT TRÊN ĐÂY LÀ HẾT XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN SỰ CỘNG TÁC CỦA CÁC BẠN! III APPENDIX 2: STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRES Tôi Vương Thị Thu Huyền, học viên cao học lớp Cao Học Anh Thái Nguyên k19, trường Đại Học Ngoại Ngữ Quốc Gia Hà Nội Hiện thực đề tài nghiên cứu tham gia học sinh vào hoạt động nhóm trường THPT Lưu Nhân Chú, Đại Từ Để hồn thành tốt đề tài, chúng tơi mong nhận ý kiến đóng góp bạn vấn đề Tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn! Bạn học sinh lớp:……………………………………………………… Năm sinh:……………………………………………………………… Giới tính: □ Nam □ Nữ Câu 1: Bạn có thích tham gia vào hoạt động nhóm học Tiếng Anh khơng? □ Rất thích □ Thích □ Khơng thích □ Ghét Câu 2: Theo bạn thời gian phù hợp cho hoạt động nhóm? □ phút tiết học □ 10 phút tiết học □ 15 phút tiết học □ Nhiều 15 phút tiết học □ Lựa chọn khác Câu 3: Theo bạn lợi ích mà bạn đạt tham gia hoạt động nhóm gì? □ Được giao tiếp với bạn bè □ Cảm thấy thoải mái sử dụng Tiếng Anh với bạn bè □ Học nhiều điều từ bạn bè □ Cải thiện khả nói Tiếng Anh bạn IV Câu 4: Bạn thường xuyên tham gia vào hoạt động nhóm học Tiếng Anh nào? □ Luôn □ Thường xuyên □ Thỉnh thoảng □ Hiếm □ Không Câu 5: Theo bạn, hoạt động nhóm sử dụng phù hợp với lĩnh vực sau đây? □ Đọc □ Nói □ Nghe □ Viết □ Ngữ pháp □ Từ vựng □ Phát âm □ Dịch □ Lựa chọn khác Câu 6: Bạn thường thành lập nhóm giáo viên nào? □ Các học sinh ngồi bàn □ Các học sinh ngồi khác bàn □ Học sinh giỏi với học sinh giỏi □ Học sinh yếu với học sinh yếu □ Học sinh giỏi với học sinh yếu □ Trường hợp khác Câu 7: Bạn thường xuyên chuẩn bị cho hoạt động nhóm học Tiếng Anh nào? V □ Sử dụng thông tin sách giáo khoa □ Lấy thông tin từ sách tham khảo □ Hợp tác với bạn lấy ý kiến từ bạn □ Lựa chọn khác Câu 8: Theo bạn có khó khăn bạn tham gia hoạt động nhóm? □ Ồn □ Vốn từ vựng thiếu □ Giáo viên không giúp đỡ tất học sinh lớp □ Nhiệm vụ giao không đồng học sinh □ Lựa chọn khác Câu 9: Theo bạn giáo viên cần làm để hoạt động nhóm thành cơng? □ Chuẩn bị từ trước □ Tạo nhiệm vụ phù hợp với học sinh □ Hướng dẫn rõ ràng có ví dụ □ Bao quát công việc □ Tạo cạnh tranh □ Lựa chọn khác Câu 10: Nhân tố nào, theo bạn, ảnh hưởng đến thành công hoạt động nhóm? □ Kinh nghiệm giảng dạy □ Độ tuổi giáo viên □ Khả ngôn ngữ giáo viên □ Cách giáo viên tổ chức □ Sự chăm học sinh □ Sự hợp tác học sinh □ Khả ngôn ngữ học sinh □ Lựa chọn khác BẢNG KHẢO SÁT TRÊN ĐÂY LÀ HẾT XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN SỰ CỘNG TÁC CỦA CÁC BẠN! VI APPENDIX 3: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET Date of teaching:……………………………………………………… Teacher:……………………………………………………………… Number of year of teaching experience:……………………………… Grade: ………………………………………………………………… Number of students: ………… Girls: ……… Boys: …… Unit:…………………………………………………………………… Lesson: ……………………………………………………………… Period: ………………………………………………………………… Objectives of the lesson: ……………………………………………… 10 Learning aids: ………………………………………………………… 11 Teaching aids: ……………………………………………………… 12 Procedure: TIME TEACHER’S STUDENTS’ ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES VII Observation sheet: NO ACTIVITY TIME AIM GROUPING EVALUATION How group work is carried out: It is organized naturally: -Yes -No Teacher provides clear instruction before the work: - Yes Teacher‟s preparation: VIII -No ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………… Students‟ preparation: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………… Teacher‟s participation: - as a partner - as a guide - as a facilitator - as an observer Students participate: - actively - forcedly Students‟ attitude:…………………………………………………… Students speak Vietnamese during participating in group work - Yes - No Teacher gives feedback after the work: - Yes - No 10 The things the teacher does to find out how successful the work is: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… IX APPENDIX 4: The description of the classroom observation sheets NO ACTIVITY TIME GROUPING The class is Vocabulary 10 minutes divided into four equal parts Listening 15 minutes Writing 15 minutes Words are selected and prepared by the teacher The class is Three worksheets divided into are designed by three equal parts the teacher The class is PREPARATION divided into four equal parts A copy from the textbook with adaptation and extension Students sit next Speaking minutes to each other Designed by the and students teacher with teacher Speaking Reading Listening minutes 15 minutes 10 minutes The class is A copy from the divided into six textbook with equal parts some extension Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with some extension Students at the Designed by the same table teacher X Two tables are Designed by the on a group teacher 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook minutes Class is divided into four equal parts A copy from the textbook but changed some things Writing 15 minutes Grammar 10 Speaking XI Appendix 5: Class: 10A2 Teacher: Tran Hong Le UNIT : Period 13: B - SPEAKING I Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to talk about their own background and know how to ask for other people‟s background II Skills: Talk about people‟s background III Teaching aids: Textbook, photos of some famous persons or some real information about someone to speak IV Procedure: Teacher's activities Students' activities Warm-up: (3') - Close the books - Ask students to close the book - Working pairs and write the full sentences - Give some words and let students - Each student speaks out the sentence complete the full sentences: they‟ve done Marie Curie/ born/ 7th/ November/ Marie Curie was born in Warsaw on Warsaw/ 1867 November 7the 1867 Marie Curie/ harbour/ dream/ scientific Marie Curie harboured the dream of a career/ impossible/ woman/ time scientific career, which was impossible for a woman at that time Pre-speaking: (8') - Work in pairs - Ask students to practise speaking about A: What is your father‟s job? their parents, brothers, sisters… B: He‟s a doctor - Go around and listen to them A: How old is he? B: He‟s 40 years old XII While-speaking: (22') A: What does he like doing in his free time? Task B: He likes playing badminton - Let students open the books and observe - Look at the picture and answer the questions the picture and describe what they are They are interviewing doing 2.They‟re in the classroom What are they doing? One speaks and one writes down in the Where are they? notebook How you know they are conducting - They‟re holding the pens and notebooks an interview? - Read these words and work in groups - What are three students holding in their - Some students can show off these words: hands? family; dislike; hobby; education - Ask students to read some words given - Observe the picture and then let them choose which words - Work in groups with some cues given below used for someone‟s back ground (Greeting, date of birth, home, parents…) - Listen and correct A: Hi! When were you born? Task B: I was born on August 18th 1991 - Ask students to look at the pictures again A: Where you live? - Let students imagine they are journalists B: I live in and interview each other in groups and - Other groups go on practising speaking pairs - Practise interviewing as a dialogue - Ask one group to the task as a model A: Hello! I‟m Huong - Go around listening to some groups and B: Hello! I‟m Lan Nice to meet you help them if needed A: Could you tell me something about yourself and your parents? B: Oh, yes! Please - Others listen and write down some XIII - Let some groups play in role as information they get journalists and other answer the questions - Work in groups A: Can you tell me something about Nam? B: Yes, please A: Where is he from? B: He‟s from A: What does he do? B: He‟s a student - Ask some pairs to stand in front of the A: What does he like doing? class and practise speaking B: He likes playing football Task - Work and discuss in groups and one of this - Ask students to tell about others they‟ve group asks and one of other answers heard by interviewing their friends A: Where was he born? - Some groups go on speaking each other B: He was born in Missouri in 1835 A: Which name did he adopted? B: It was “Mark Twain” A: When did he die? Post-speaking: (10') B: He died in 1910 - Give some information about Mark Twain: He/ born/ Missouri/ 1835 - Listen and write down in their notebooks He/ adopt/ pen name/ “Mark Twain” He/ write/ his famous novels/ “Tom sawyer, Huckleberry”… XIV He/ died/ 1910 - Listen to each group and correct or give mark if they it well Homework: (2') - Let students write about someone they admire or look forward to meeting XV ... students at Luu Nhan Chu high school towards group work in teaching and learning English? How the students participate in group work? How is group work organized in an English class at Luu Nhan Chu High. .. How is group work organized in an English class at Luu Nhan Chu High school? What are attitudes of the students at Luu Nhan Chu high school towards the application of group work in teaching and... is group work organized in an English class at Luu Nhan Chu high school? How the students participate in group work? 37 3.1.3 What are attitudes of the students at Luu Nhan Chu high school