A STUDY ON IMRPOVING SPEAKING SKILL OF THE 1ST YEAR STUDENTS OF PRE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL AT FPT UNIVESITY THROUGH GROUP WORK

For example, group work can dramaticallyincrease the amount of talking for individual students, encourage border skills ofparticipation, cooperation and negotiation, promote learner auto

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study:

Until now, English has been considered very important in every field of each society suchas: diplomacy, business, aviation, education and science and technology Because of itsglobalization, English has become the crucial medium in communication

In Vietnam, since 1986, English has become very popular because there have beenEnglish-speaking people coming to, visit or work in Viet Nam They come to Vietnam notonly because they want to do business with the Vietnamese but also they want to get toknow about the people, the cultures and explore the beauty of Vietnam Specially, with theopen-door policy, many foreigners have been attracted by Vietnam Thus, English has beenthe key to Vietnam’s regional and global integration English is used not only between theVietnamese and foreigners but also between the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese All thisburns the desire of learning English in Vietnam The demand for English training ispromoted by an increasing influx of foreign investments from both English-speakingcountries and non-English-speaking countries which needs English as a means ofcommunication Vietnamese people need to be able to communicate in Englishsuccessfully and effectively The lack of communicative ability in oral and other languageskills in using English can put Vietnamese regionally and internationally in an inferiorposition both in politics and economics

In FPT University, English is a compulsory subject and certainly, every student knows that

it will be important for their future job They will use English at work The students hereopt for English due to their realization that a high proficiency in English will give themmore opportunities for employment, let alone the possibility of going abroad for theirfurther study in the exchange training program of FPT University and some Universities inGermany, Japan etc Among the four languages skills, most students think that speaking isthe most important in the first year of studying in FPT University During the time ofstudying in FPT University, they will have to learn English for 3 semesters (each of which

in university lasts for 13 weeks) include most English lessons After the second year, theywill learn the subjects almost with the English–speaking teachers and they will have topresent their topic of study in English Furthermore, after graduation the students will have

to do business, negotiate with the partners in English to sell their products to them To

make these successfully, they must have a good ability of English especiallycommunicating orally in it

For a long time, the language teaching and learning was based on the out of date methodswhich could not help the students speak fluently and communicatively For over the pastfew years, Communicative Language Teaching method has been widely applied As aresult, the students’ speaking skill has been improved remarkably This marked thebeginning of the major change in the language teaching and learning at all levels fromschool to university

FPT University is a newly founded university (more than two years old) who also wouldlike to innovate their teaching and learning With this implied ambition, we expect thatthere will be many changes in the teaching as well as learning in FPT University Here, theteaching of speaking skill is always emphasized All the teachers here have been tryingtheir best to help their students in learning English speaking skill well However, the resulthas not met their expectation Many failed their speaking test When discussing in group,many students still use Vietnamese while others keep silent etc

In the speaking class, the 1st –year students have to do many speaking activities Amongthem, group work-one of the key features of learner-centered orientation- have receivedmore emphasis -because at the end of each semester, the students from the level of pre-intermediate on have to sit for speaking test which includes two parts: panel discussion andindividual response Much time has been devoted to group work activities because of anumber of advantages they bring about For example, group work can dramaticallyincrease the amount of talking for individual students, encourage border skills ofparticipation, cooperation and negotiation, promote learner autonomy by allowing students

to make their own decisions in the group without being told what to do by the teacher, andfree the teacher from her usual role of instructor-corrector-controller

Working as a teacher at FPT University for more than two years, the researcher is wellaware of the importance of using group work to help improve the speaking class of the 1st

year students However, like many other teachers of English here, the researcher has alsofaced many challenges in organizing and managing group work during speaking lessons.Are the students getting out of the control? Aren’t they lapsing into their mother tongue?Isn’t the organization into group work good for some lazy and passive students? Are theyparticipating in group work? Being aware of these challenges, the researcher and hercolleagues at FPT University have decided to help the students to learn speaking skill andthis is also the reason why the author of this study chose this area to do her research which

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is intended to make a modest contribution making speaking class of the 1st year students atFPT University effective and successful.

2 Aims of the study:

This study is aimed at investigating the reality of the use of group work in the speakingclass of the 1st year students at FPT University To be specific, the aims of the study are:

- To clarify how group work is used in the speaking class of the 1st year students atFPT University

- To find the factors that causes the difficulties for the teachers in their application ofgroup work in the speaking class of the 1st year students at FPT University

- To recommend practical suggestions for the possibility of group work in thespeaking class of 1st year students at FPT University

3 Scope of study

To improve speaking skill of 1st year students at FPT University, the researcher intends toinvestigate the current situation of using group work in the speaking class of 1st yearstudents at FPT University an then making some suggestion for improving it

4 Research questions:

This study is implemented to find answer to the following research questions:

1 How group-work is used in the speaking class of 1st year students at FPT University?

2 What facilitates and prevents the teachers from using group work in the speaking class

6 Design of the study

The Minor Thesis is divided into three parts

The first part is the Introduction

The second part consists of Literature Review, Research Methodology and Findings andRecommendations

The last part is the conclusion

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Speaking skills and its related concept;

1.1.1 The importance of speaking skill in the classroom

Among the four skills in learning English, speaking and writing are the productive skills.However, speaking is regarded as very important for language teaching and learning.Speaking is a bridge to reach other skills Speaking helps learners to read better, to listenmore effectively and write more accurately Speaking is surely the most effective means ofcommunication (Ur, 1996)

There are two most important reasons why speaking should be taught in the classroom.The first reason is speaking is a good source of motivation for students Nunan (1991)points out, “success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the(target) language” For the students who have ability to speak English eligibly, they want

to speak English; they know to express themselves in English Thus, they always speakwhen possible But for those who can not speak English well, they do not want to speak ingroup As a result, they may soon get de-motivated and lose interest in learning English

In addition to this, in the English speaking class, if the speaking activities are organized inthe suitable way, speaking can have a lot `of fun and therefore can raise motivation in thelearners If the speaking is practiced successfully, the other skills can also be improvedthrough speaking

For the second reason, nowadays, the demand for communication among people is reallyimportant Without it, the life does not exist For this, speaking always plays an importantrole in people’s lives Speaking is considered as survival skill in real life (Ur, 1996; p 134) For the ideas above, speaking skill also plays the key role in foreign language learning andteaching

1.1.2 Types of classroom speaking performance

According to Brown (1994), there are six categories relating of oral production:

- Imitative: which accounts for very small portion of speaking time in the speakingtime when learners are practicing an intonation contour trying to pinpoint a certainvowel sound, etc

- Intensive: includes any speaking performance that is designed to practice somephonological or grammar aspect of language

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- Responsive: is short replies to teacher or student initiated questions or comments.These replies are usually sufficient and do not extend into dialogue

- Transactional (dialogue): is carried out for the purpose of conveying or exchangingspecific information Conversations, for example, may have more of a negativenature to them than merely responsive speech Such conversation could readily bethe part of group work activity as well

- Interpersonal (dialogue): carries out more for the purpose of maintaining socialrelationship than the transmission of facts and information These conversations are

a little trickier for learners because they can involve some or all the followingfactors: a casual register, colloquial language, emotionally changed language, andslang etc

- Extensive (monologue): Finally, students at intermediate or advanced levels arecalled on to give extended monologues in the form of oral report, summaries, orperhaps short speeches Here the register is more formal and deliberative

1.2 Group-work in a speaking lesson

1.2.1 Definition and description of group- work

Student-based group work (also known as team work) has become an integral part ofstudying at FPT University This mode of teaching has primarily arisen in an attempt tocapture many of the benefits associated with collaborative activities (namely peer learningand graduate attribute development) What is really group work?

According to Adrian Doff (1988: 137), group work is a process that “the teacher dividesthe class into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group),

as in pair work, all the groups work at the same time.”

When working in small groups, the students can be assigned with many kinds of tasks such

as discussion, role-play, and presentations which help the speaking activities successful,varied and motivated

It can be clearly seen that group work is a cooperative activity in which the students work

at the same time, sharing ideas and responsibility and independently have their own ideaswhich contribute to the group work’s success without every minute observation from theteacher and other students

1.2.2 The advantages and disadvantages of using group work in the classroom.

1.2.2.1 Advantage

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Clearly, group work can increase the student talking time, which increases the speakingskill In other word, group work helps improved communication The students who havelittle chance to talk to each other now can share ideas, become close in the short time andabove all solve the common problem assigned by the teacher

Besides, working in groups helps students to produce greater output Simply because of thenumber of people involved, each with different experience, knowledge, points of view andvalues, a larger number and variety of ideas can be given Moreover, the exchange of theideas in the group can act as a stimulus which will encourage individuals to give moreideas, more opinions and therefore contribute more to group work activities

In addition to this, group work helps to reduce bias The shared responsibility in a group incoming to decisions can encourage individuals to explore seemingly realistic ideas and tochallenge accepted ways of doing things Individual biases and prejudices can bechallenged by the group, forcing the individual to recognize them Group pressure can alsoencourage individuals to accept that change is need

Finally, students’ group work frees the teacher from the usual role of “an expert whoalways lectures” and allows him/her to walk to each group, to guide, to answer questionsfrom students or to encourage students to work actively

(Harmer, 1999:116)

1.2.2.2 Disadvantages:

One obvious disadvantage is the noise made by the group who have a big argument on theproblem or by the group who are so excited about working with one another It is hard forthe teacher to control these kinds of groups This can distract the other groups

The very bad effect of working in groups is that many passive students or lazy students lettheir friends do everything provided that they still have their names in the group’s result

Working in group can cause competitions Most students working in a group

unconsciously perceive the situations as a competition This generates a destructivebehavior and drains the creative energy of the group For example, we often perceivedisagreement with our ideas as a put-down The natural reaction is to regain our self-esteem, often by trying to sabotage the ideas of those who disagreed with us Instead oflooking for ways to improve their ideas we chose to destroy them Eager to express our

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own ideas, we may totally ignore what others suggest Power-seekers may use ploys such

as highlighting flaws in others' arguments, barbed questions and displays of expertise toshow their supremacy These types of behavior create an atmosphere which isincompatible with effective problem solving

Another disadvantage is that working in group is a relatively slow process compared withworking alone It requires individuals to come together at an assigned time, usually forabout a long time, and this can cause organizational problems It is really time-consuming

It is not only time-consuming for the students in group but also for the teacher The teacherneeds more time to organize the group work and control all the members in the group letalone the unsuitable students in groups which makes the class in disorder

To conclude, although there are some disadvantages of group work, the advantages stilloutweighs Learning from each other in small groups is much more effective than from theteacher alone

(Harmer, 1999:116)

1.2.3 Group formation

Small groups or learning teams can be formed in three ways: randomly (counting off or byseat proximity), teacher-selected, or student-selected Random group assignments avoidcliques and ensure that students interact with different students throughout the semester.Once you know your students fairly well, teacher-selected groups can be useful for pairingweak and strong students, students with common interests or shared learning styles, etc.According to I- Jung (2004), frequently employed grouping methods include random,student-selected and teacher-selected groupings

grouping

Random grouping is often used for in-class activities because of its convenience andreadiness that is random grouping is a way including collecting and gathering studentsignoring any differences among students in terms of their language level, learning style,interests etc

With the seating arrangement, fixing the numbers, using playing cards, or distributing thecard of different categories, random grouping is established

For the class of different levels, random group can be used to narrow down the gapbetween the students of different levels

1.2.3.2 Student-selected grouping:

Compared to random grouping and teacher-selected grouping, student-selected ispreferred Knowing well one another or getting on well with each other can help thestudents take part in the activities assigned well They can have more talking, making moreperformances and making the group work activities very interesting However, student-selected grouping can result in making so much noise because of too much socializing.This can distract the group activities

1.2.3.3 Teacher-selected grouping

Compared to random grouping and student-selected grouping, teacher-selected grouping is

a more time-consuming one The reason is that the teacher has to take students’preferences into consideration, also the learning style, the activeness etc to help thestudents who are at the lower levels to keep up with the better students This kind ofgrouping can help peer tutoring which is really the most effective way of learning from oneanother

1.2.4 Group –size

Group size is very flexible depending on many aspects such as task type, the timeavailable, the class and how skillful the group members are? How big the group should be? The smaller the group is, the more chance each member has The fewer skills of managingthe teacher need to have However, when the group is small, there will be a lot of smallgroups in the class This also leads to the lack of time for them to give report to the class

So how many members in each group is enough?

Many authors have suggested that three to five in one group can be the best number member group is suggested by Honeyfield (1991), I-Jung (2004), Ngoh (1991) Fourmembers in a group might lead to more interesting and challenging tasks, with a widerange of opinions being expressed, and more negotiation required for the group members

Four-to reach an agreement Six members in a group should be the maximum number.(Honeyfield, 1991; I-Jung, 2004) It can clearly be seen that four is the optimum size tomanage students learning It allows a good range of experiences and individualcontributions

1.2.5 Teacher role in group work

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In Communicative Language Teaching, the teacher has the roles of a guide, an instructor,

an organizer, an assessor, a prompter and a participant (Hammer, 1991) When carryingout group work, even though the students are more independent, the teacher still plays animportant role in conducting( designing) the tasks, analyzing the need The teacher will be

of great help for the students as the group members interacting with each other as well ashelping them with the difficulties

According to Cross (1992:54), the teacher is the manager of an activity who must plant it,organize it, start it, monitor it, time it and in the end conclude it The teacher in the groupwork activities is not the free one but the one who is active with assisting, supervising andmonitoring…the group The teacher is not only at the beginning or the end of the learningprocess but from beginning to the end of it The teacher is:

- activity selector: This is very important because the teacher has to create activities that

fit the students' skills and abilities, assign group tasks that allow a fair division of energy aswell as set up "competitions" among groups

- instructor so that the students will be not misleading

- performance controller While the students are working in group, this is the time for the

teacher to help, to assist them with the knowledge and may be tackling the difficulties theyhave with the group

- group evaluator In the group work, the teacher not only evaluates the whole group work

but also each member of the group If the teacher has good comments on each group’sperformance, this helps a lot because it is both good for the students and the teacherhimself It is the ideas for the following activities

Whether group work is successful or not, it depends much on how and where the teacherapplies these roles

1.2.6 Common oral activities for group work

There are many activities that can be applied for group work but which one is suitable forthe each class type?

For the most common activities, I have quoted three ones which are being used mainlyamong the students in my class They are: group discussion, debating and cross grouping.The reason why I made a choice among many other activities is that: the students in myclass and some other classes of the same level have to perform these in the final termexamination which includes two main parts: group discussion and individual response The

first part takes fifty percent of the total speaking mark, which shows the importance ofitself

discussion

Discussion sections create great opportunity for students to use active learning strategies tomake your classroom a more interactive environment In this kind of activity, the studentshave a chance to share their ideas with their friends Moreover, their individuals’ opinionsare also clearly seen and highly appreciated In this part, the students have used a lot ofdiscussion language to show their ideas to their partners According to Ur, ( 1992: 2),discussion is the “most natural and effective way for learners to practice talking freely inEnglish is by thinking out some problem or situation together through verbal interchange

of ideas; or in simpler terms, to discuss” He also adds some factors to the good (orsuccessful) discussion, that is, topic, group work and role play

Sometimes in the group discussion, the group has also to find a solution to a problem ofdifferent kind In groups, students can summarize main points; review problems such as forexams, compare and contrast knowledge, ideas, or theories; solve problems; or generatecomments for you on class progress or on their levels of skill and understanding

In the book, “Discussion that works”, (1992:105) even though Penny Ur lists some

limitations in debating, he also shows his regret if debating is completely excluded fromgroup work because there are many students enjoying this kind of discussion and he alsoemphasized the importance of debating when he affirms the things learned in this activitymuch better than any other ones It is much more interesting when he clearly presents somevery useful steps in designing the debating activity including the number of people in eachgroup, the quantity of group, the debating topics, group selection, and time limit as well asmotivation creation

This is also called “For and against” (Ur, 1996, p134, box 9.6) that is the whole is divided

into two big group that One group is for and the other is against This kind of group workincludes 2 stages The first is preparation, the second is debating In the first stage, theteacher thinks of the arguments world be for or against In the second stage, the teacherdivides the class into 2 groups One has to think of the reasons which agree with the topicsset by the teacher and the other group also thinks of the reason but disagrees with that

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Then, one or two main speakers present the case for each group, and after that thediscussion is then thrown open for free participation Very importantly, at the end of thediscussion, the teacher has to put the issue to the vote At this point the teacher mayabandon the view of the group he/she does not accept and vote according to his/her owninclination

grouping

Cross grouping is a new kind of activity that can make a lot of improvement in speaking

It is not only the involvement of the member in each group but also the exchange ofmember in each group for the new and maybe more attractive environment for speakingactivity It can be also called “Jigsaw” First, the students in a class are divided into somesmall groups After discussing with the partners in the experts groups, the students aremixed and they will share the opinion with other partners in other cooperative group Forthis, the ideas are exchanged and students can learn form one another

1.2.7 Problems and solutions in making the group work in class effective

According to Jacobs and Hall, 1994, there are many problems associated with group workswhich can be solved with careful preparation, clear instructions and appropriatefacilitations

1.2.7.1 Some students talk too much or dominate the group

a Talk to the students privately Explain that while you are pleased that they have alot to contribute, you would like other learners to have more opportunities to thinkfor themselves Sometimes, the students just need to be made aware of thesituation

b Even if you have not planned to assign roles to group members, do so at anappropriate point during the group task, either for all groups or for only the one(s)with a dominant students Ensure that some roles require significant periods ofsilence (e.g summarizer, detective, recorder, observer, timekeeper, a liaison among

the groups.) Alternately, speak privately to the dominant students and give him orher one of these roles

c Ask the entire group to reflect on how it is functioning with questions such as: Howwell did you complete the task as a group? Did someone take the lead, and if so,how did this come about? Whose ideas are most strongly presented in the solution

to the task? Was there anything you thought but didn’t actually say?

d During long period of group work, call for regulation periods of reflectivesilence( e.g., after every fifteen to twenty minutes) in which students think (andwrite ) about the points that have been made, contradictions that have surfaced,omissions that should be added, and where the discussion should go next Whensignaling for the discussion to resume, invite students who have said little to readout what they have written

1.2.7.2 Some students speak too little or are “freeloading”

a Speak to the students privately to determine the reason for lack of participation,e.g., introversion, fear of looking stupid, feeling unprepared, fearing a trap, feelingunwelcome, past experiences, trying to be cool, lack of reward

b Consider using even smaller groups Quiet students may feel more comfortableparticipating in this situation, and “freeloading” students will be less able to coast

on the other’s efforts

c Ask students occasionally to hand in their group notes or their preparation notes

d As when handling dominating students, assign ones to one or all of the groupmembers Some roles that require active vocal participation are spokesperson,skeptic, organizer, facilitator, liaison to other group

e Suggest go round (or Circle of voices), so that each group member has tocontribute

f Offer a general reminder, either to the whole class or to a group in particular, thatevery student has valuable input and that there is no poor question Be sure torespond appropriately, then, when students have comments or questions

g Recognize that quantity is not quality There is a place for silence in discussion

h If the students are shy, consider incorporating an electric discussion into the course.Students may find it easier to contribute on a class bulletin board, chat room

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i Remind students that the content of the group work will be tested on a quiz or test.You could design a test question in which students must summarize their group’sresult

1.2.7.3 Students are not listening to fellow group members

a Comment on the issue in the general class setting

b Tell the students that in the plenary session, you will call on one member of eachgroup (your choice) to summarize the group’s discussion or answers

c Call a time-out, and restructure the activity so that all students must connect whatthey say to what the previous person just said

1.2.7.4 Students lack the social skills needed to work with others

a Encourage students who prefer to work alone to stay in group work and at the sametime assist the group by assigning them a task that would give them some sort ofisolation

b Explain and ask students to get familiar with active and tolerant listening

c Show students the way to give and receive constructive criticism

d Tell the students how to negotiate, manage disagreements

e Preteach students the way to refuse, disagree, argue……… politely in English

f Use pair work and group work frequently so that students will become moreskillful

1.2.7.5 Students overuse mother-tongue

a at the beginning of the activity, teachers should emphasize that students must usethe target language in group work

b During the group work, teachers move around the classroom to remind learners ofthis rule and provide them with language assistance

c Make the work task oriented

d Join the group briefly to encourage and facilitate the learner’s participation

e Set rules, agreed to by the class, for disciplining frequent offenders ‘

f Limit the time available It is better to have a shorter time than is strictly necessaryfor full practice of the language because students tend to use mother tongue ofspare time at the end of the group

g Preteach some words or phrase necessary for group work

h Give someone in the group the role of language monitor

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 Design and methodology

2.1.1 The setting of the study

My university – FPT University is located at 15B Pham Hung street, Cau Giay District,Hanoi This is a new university but rather wanted because we have received four Batcheswithin two year’s time For this reason, our university has been opened to meet the demand

of the society when the economy is in need of software engineers In the 1st year thestudents are equipped with theoretical and practical skills of general English, that is inalmost every conservation of everyday life

In our university, English is a compulsory subject and students show their great interest inlearning English It is really a must that students have to get 450 marks in Toefl at the end

of the first year To become the second –year student, they have to make great efforts inlearning English and overcome this exam However, if they fail it, they can still go up tothe second year but are not allowed to do on-job training after the second year

For Batch 3, the least quantity compared with Batch 1, 2, and 4, there are nearly about 200students Their ages and English level are not the same After the placement test, they aresorted into 6 classes of the same level Each English class has about 30 students (This isconsidered the best number for a class at Universities learning English) The teachers ofEnglish are also various including three full-time ones Many other visiting teachers fromother Vietnamese universities, colleges and foreign countries are also invited to theuniversities to teach here

For all the students in FPT University, there are 10 semesters in four years In the first andsecond year, each has 3 semesters For the third and fourth year, each school year has 2semesters Only in the first and second year do the students learn English In the first year,they just learn General English in the book “TOP NOTCH” (from Top Notch Fundamental

to Top Notch 3) including 4 books and “Summit” (volume 1 and 2) For the second year,they just learn “Intelligent Business” with 4 periods a week Beside Top Notch andSummit book as core books, there are a lot of other reference books in the library whichhelp the students a lot in learning English Each unit in Top Notch and Summit contains:Topic Review, Sound bites, Conversation Snapshot, Grammar focus, Pronunciation,Listening, Reading, Writing , Activities for pair and group( collaborative) work, and

Checkpoint Obviously, these text books cover the four skills of listening, speaking,reading and writing as well as pronunciation and vocabulary Especially, from Top Notch 3

to Summit 1 and 2, there are a lot of controversial topics and activities planned for groupdiscussion, debating and presentation Speaking skill is not separately taught in this bookbut with listening skill Primary goal is to enable the students to acquire communicativecompetence, that is, the ability to communicate in English in a like -real situations

The activities in these books are pair work, discussion (mostly appear in any small lesson

of each unit) and whole class activities involving information sharing and role-play toencourage real communication

Speaking skill at our university is considered to be so important that any student has to take

an oral exam at the end of each semester which includes 2 parts (individual response anddiscussion) Discussion part is more emphasized (60% of the total speaking mark) In thisway, students have the opportunities to personalize the English language they have learnt,making full use of their own knowledge and experiences to express their own ideas andopinions

2.1.2 Data collection instrument

The survey questionnaire is one of the most effective instruments for collecting data insocial science Advantages of using questionnaire which Gillham (2000) highlights are:less pressure on respondents, not under pressure of interview bias and analysis of answer isstraightforward The researcher used the survey questionnaire as the main sources to fulfillits aims Two sets of questionnaires were designed to investigate the teachers’ and thestudents’ opinion about the use of group work in the speaking classes of the 1st yearstudents at FPT University Clear instructions were given when the questionnaire wasadministered

The first is the questionnaire for students which includes 14 questions written only inEnglish, was administered to 60 students (2 classes of the same level in the first year).Thequestionnaire was divided into 5 main parts:

Part 1: Students’ opinions on speaking skill (Question 1, 2, 3)

Part 2: Students’ opinions on learning in group work (4, 5, 6, 7, and 8)

Part 3: The difficulties of the students when working in groups (9, 10, and 11)

Part 4: The students’ wishes in working in groups (12, 13, 14)

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The second is the questionnaire for the teachers including 14 questions written only inEnglish, was administered to 6 teachers (both full time and part time) This is divided into

5 parts:

Part 1: Teachers’ opinions on speaking skill (question 1)

Part 2: Teachers’ opinions on the use of group work in a speaking lesson.( question 2, 3 , 4 and5)

Part 3: Teachers’ current teaching methods in using group work in the speaking class.(questions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11)

Part 4: Obstacles teachers has experienced when applying group work in the speakingclass.( question 12, 13)

Part 5: The teachers’ solutions to overcome their obstacles (question 14)

For the questions with others (to specify), the researcher came to each teacher and askedhim/her to explain clearly to understand their opinions

2.1.3 The informants

2.1.3.1 The teachers

The teachers asked are all teaching in FPT University and all teaching the 1st year students.There are four female teachers, the rest are male Their ages are from 24 to 34 years oldwith at least two years’ experience in teaching English They were mostly trained inVietnam, at Hanoi National University, College of Foreign Languages Among them, twohave MA from Sydney, Australia One of them have MA from National University,College of Foreign languages They are all professionally experienced with EFL

2.1.3.2 The students

The 60 1st year students at FPT University were from 2 classes They are aged from 18 to

24 and come from different provinces in Vietnam (from the North to the South) A largenumber of them have learnt English since primary and secondary schools Their Englishare considered the same because before entering these two classes, they had taken aplacement test to be sorted into these two classes However, the two class teachers (Englishteachers: My friend and I) are not satisfied with the level they are at because some of them

at the right level, but some are not (maybe higher or lower) This is expressed in thewritten work as well as spoken one

2.2 Preliminary results

Before giving the concrete result of the survey, the researcher will show the preliminaryresult.

2.2.1 Student Survey

2.2.1.1 Students’ opinions on speaking skill

Table 1: Students’ opinions on speaking skill

b You just want to pass the oral exam

c Speaking is necessary for your future job

d You are interested in the speaking skill

2.2.1.2 Students’ opinions on learning speaking skills in group work

Table 2: Students’opinions on learning speaking skills in group work

Not at all Little Rather Very

3 With the whole class 60

In the table 2, all of the students asked (100%) said that they had very little favor forworking individually, 38 % of them rather like working in a small group, and 60 % ( morethan half of the students asked) really like working in group in the speaking skill And nostudent reported that they did not like working on their own From this, it can beunderstood that most of the students see the importance of working in group for the better

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speaking skill In addition to that, the group work is very suitable for the speaking skillespecially in their book: TOP NOTCH to SUMMIT with many controversial issues raisedand written in it This also means that group work is surely the most suitable activity forthe speaking skill.

2.2.1.3 Students’ appreciation of the use of group work in the speaking class at FPT University

Table 3: Students’ assessment for the teachers’ frequent use of group work

Table 4: Student’ appreciation of their participation in group work

6 a Work with great interest

b Remain silent all the time

c Chat with other group members about othertopics

d Speak in Vietnamese to discuss with otherswhile others discuss in English

21 3 17 19

From these number in the table 4, just only 35 % of the students asked (21 out of 60)reported that they had taken part in the group work activities enthusiastically and thenumber of the students who did not participate in group work by chatting with other groups

or speaking Vietnamese is so big (29 % and 32 % irrespectively) that it must be lookedinto consideration about the group work among these students in these two classes Inaddition to that, the number in the table also implies that the students in these two classesmay have very low proficiency of speaking skill or not enough English background

knowledge to communicate with their partners or may be the topic is no interest to themetc

When being asked why some of them kept silent in the speaking lesson, they said they didnot know what to speak and how to speak The teacher asked them to speak English ingroup means making them quiet But when the teacher asked them to contribute their ideas

in Vietnamese, they said that they could not think of anything Another reason why theykept silent is that many students could not understand the English–speaking teachers’instructions The researcher in this study thought that may be they were the worst students

in these two classes There would be very little chance for them to pass any oral tests.Table 5: Students’ appreciation of group work for the benefit of speaking skill (question 7)

Not at all Little Rather Very

c Give you more opportunities for exchanging ideas 60

It can be surely said from the table that almost all the students (97 %: 58 out of 60) foundthat group was so beneficial for their speaking skill that they can speak more in English,they can be much more confident and they also have chance to exchange their ideas withtheir friends Regarding the benefit of learning from each other of group work, 68% (41out of 60) the students stated that it was rather beneficial but only 30 %( 18 out of 60)think it is a little beneficial

2.2.1.4 The best group size and difficulties the students had when working in group work Table 6: The best group size and difficulties students had when working in group work

8 a from three to five

b more than five

c the more the merrier

d it depends on the kind of activities

15 3 12 30

9 a Yes, often c Yes, but rarely

b Yes, sometimes d No, never

10 a The teacher’s low proficiency and

experience in English and methodology

b The students’ low proficiency in English

20 45 56 620