A STUDY ON THE USE OF PEER TEACHING IN ESP CLASSES AT THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI

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

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 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

2 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?

3 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

4 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

5 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 1 deals with the review of the literature relevant to the study Chapter 2 covers the methodological framework for the study, the results and the discussions obtained from the questionnaires Chapter 3 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 do 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 do 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 way, 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

two-a tetwo-aching ctwo-aptwo-acity thus losing two-a sense of mututwo-ality Peer tetwo-aching 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 peer-group 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 whole-class 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 centred 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

learner-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

With specific purposes in mind, the learners know clearly what they need to learn, and they will learn with high motivation what they find useful for their work later or at present For this reason, an ESP teacher should be aware of the learners’ needs so as not to introduce irrelevant materials to the course

1.3.2 The challenges of ESP

ESP is presented as a challenge to all these audiences:

- a challenge to learners facing the pressure to acquire English for their jobs or for study purposes

- a challenge to cource designers, program planners and administrators to build ESP principles and practices into programs for adult learners

- a challenge to teacher educators to gear practices of teacher training and development programs to the specifiable needs of adult learners in the region

1.3.3 Major issues in ESP teaching in light of the learner-centred approach

As mentioned earlier, ESP is an approach to language teaching, which is “directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning” Thus, whether it is labeled as ‘learner-centered’ or

‘learning-centered’, the focus of ESP teaching, in light of the global Communicative Language Teaching, is both on the learner and the process of learning in the context it takes place

Since emphasis is laid on the learner and the learning process, in discussing ESP teaching, a number of factors must be taken into consideration such as motivation, learning strategies, theories of learning, etc Also, sufficient attention should be paid to issues closely related to any language course such as syllabus design, material development, methodology, assessment and evaluation As the focus of the study is on peer teaching as an effective technique for ESP teaching, only aspects which contribute to the expected argument will be touched upon For this reason, an attempt is made to bring about a glimpse of a prominent issue in ESP teaching: The role(s) of ESP teacher and students in light of peer teaching technique

1.3.4 Role(s) of ESP teachers and students in peer teaching process

What should be the role of the teacher before, during and after a peer teaching activity?

A teacher wishing to support learning throughout the various phases of a task would need to

be able to play an extended set of roles:

explorer of how the learners view the task, how they get ready for it, handle it and how

their outcomes satisfy the demands of the task, indicate progress, highlight problems still to be addressed, ect In fact, the ESP teacher is supposed to play the role as an explorer throughout the phases of a task, from warming-up the students to the task, instructing them how to handle it, monitoring their work,

…, to giving feedback The more the ESP teacher can explore about the students as well as the task itself, the more succesful the task will be

organizer of the choice of one peer teaching activity over another, the relationship

between today’s task and the rest of the programme, the choice of doing the task in groups or individually, in the classroom or in the self-study centre; the arrangement of furniture in the classroom, the use of time, the overall planning and management of the teaching-learning encounter As to have been discussed

in the earlier section, there are many types of peer teaching activities So, the ESP teacher has to choose and organize the most appropriate one to each task For example, peer feedback should be applied to a translation task/ or a writing task where the students will check and give their comments on their peer’s translation version

advisor to the learners (at whatever “level of training”) to become better learners, better

peer teaching strategy users, more autonomous users of other sources expertise than the teacher (i.e themselves, peers, reference materials); providing opportunities for learners to discuss how they handle a peer teaching task, to encourage them to provide evaluation feedback on the quality of the task, etc

As to the ESP teacher, this role is really important, because their students are adult learners who can understand and realize their teacher’s consultation They can prepare for the task by discussing with their peers, or seek for more

information on the given subject matter from various sources If the teacher is a good advisor, the students’ autonomy will be improved a lot

instructor of the learners in the carrying out of peer teaching activities which require

direct teacher-instruction, explanation, feedback, modelling, etc Although peer teaching is of the student-student interaction, it still needs the instruction of the teacher throughout all the phases of the task For example, before a pairwork is carried out, the ESP teacher has to explain the demands of the task, do the task with a random student as a model; and after the task, the feedback from the teacher is a must so that the students can acquire their strengths and weaknesses

guide in English to carry out the various roles of explorer, organizer, adviser,

instructor as required over the course of a peer teaching activity, lesson and course

Parrallel to the expansion of teacher roles, a corresponding range of learner roles could

be explored in the peer teaching process The basic roles we could suggest for the learner might be:

explorer - in this role, the learner investigates his/ her overall definition of peer teaching

strategy, aspects of knowledge demands for the strategy, how the learner feels about the strategy and the progress he/ she is making, etc

organizer - in this role, the learner plans, manages and gradually assumes a greater degree

of responsibility for organizing and evaluating his/ her learning arrangements, opportunities and conditions Fact has shown that many ESP students are good organizers of their own learning tasks

strategist - in this role, the learner acquires greater self-knowledge of his/ her personal

learning strategies which can facilitate the handling of peer teaching activities (metacognitive, cognitive and socio-affective strategies)

performer - in this role, the learner participates in teacher-instructed, rather structured,

monitored learning activities The ESP students can perform the whole task such as pairwork, groupwork, or even formal presentations In some cases the

ESP teachers can share the teaching responsibility to a/ or a group of students whose knowledge of the subject matter and language skills are good

guide - in this role, the learner participates in classroom learning activities either

self-referenced, or in interaction with other learners; these may be “communicative” activities in which the learner is called upon to simulate or deploy knowledge

in relatively unmornitored circumstances

The idea that teacher and learners play several roles is not particularly controversial (Wright 1987) Such roles reflect the view that learners will become more effective if they are helped to become self-aware of their own learning strategies and preferences as applied to various peer teaching activities It is important to realize that the roles suggested here do not

“just happen” The roles which learners will be expected to play will need to be carefully explained

How, in fact, would learner role-expansion take place? Essentially, it would take place through the peer teaching process Note that each of the teacher roles – except for trainer and instructor – has a parallel learner role, so we could imagine teachers and learners playing co-explorers, co-organizers, and co-communicators:

Co-explorers could dialogue about the process of the teaching and other matters The

dialogue could be oral (individual or group discussion in English), or written (diaries, questionnaires, comment sheets, etc.)

Co-organizers would talk about how the peer teaching activities could be organized to

promote optimum learning, and would negotiate such arrangements Co-communicators would talk in English in order to get and give input which would

advance task completion and language learning in general

In short, research over many years in several countries has demonstrated the value of peer teaching Students do benefit through participating in activities in which they learn from and with their peers and freely acknowledge this in course evaluations Especially, teachers and students in ESP classes usually share their roles with each other so that they can fulfill their tasks more effectively; and in doing that, they always take peer teaching into their serious considerations

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY – A SURVEY RESEARCH

2.1 Methodology

2.1.1 Setting of the study

The study was conducted at the College of Science, VNU, where English has been a non-professional, but compulsory subject for a long time Attention is paid much more to the teaching of English for General Purposes (EGP) rather than to English for Special Purposes (ESP) The English program is divided into 2 stages:

* Stage 1: EGP with the integration of four skills: Litsening, Speaking, Reading, and

Writing

* Stage 2: ESP with priority to teaching reading comprehension and translation

At the College of Science, VNU, ESP has been taught for many years at the 2nd stage with the duration of around 120 classes, each of which lasts 45 minutes The aim of this ESP course is to help students read and translate the materials in their specific fields written in English The biggest difficulty for the teachers of ESP here is that they do not have enough knowledge of the specific field that they are dealing with; consequently, they sometimes find

it hard to cope with the questions put out by some students But, at the time, such questions may be sorted out by some other students who have acquired a very good knowledge of the specific field So, as a teacher of ESP, I have wondered why we do not create good chances so that the students can discuss, help and even teach each other

2.1.2 A survey research

Surveys are widely used for collecting data in most areas of social inquiry, from education to linguistics According to Cohen and Manion (1985), surveys are the most commonly used descriptive method in educational research, and may vary in scope from large-scale investigations through to small-scale studies carried out by a single researcher The purpose of a survey is generally to obtain a snapshot of conditions, attitudes, and/ or events at

a single poit in time

In survey research, the researcher doesn’t “do” anything to the objects or subjects of research, except observe them or ask them to provide data The research consists of collecting data on things or people as they are, without trying to alter anything

In carrying out a survey research, one works through a series of steps Nunan (1997: 141) introduced 8 steps as follows:

* Step 1: Define objectives

(What do we want to find out?)

* Step 2: Identify target population

(Who do we want to know about?)

* Step 3: Literature review

(What have others said/ discovered about the issue?)

* Step 4: Determine sample

(How many subjects should we survey; how will we identify this?)

* Step 5: Identify survey instruments

(How will the data be collected: questionnaire/ interview?)

* Step 6: Design survey procedures

(How will the data collection actually be carried out?)

* Step 7: Identify analytical procedures

(How will the data be assembled and analysed?)

* Step 8: Determine reporting procedure

(How will results be written up and presented?)

In carrying out this study, I adopted this series of steps

2.1.3 The research questions

In order to achieve the aim of this study, the researcher has asked 2 questions:

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 use of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College and some suggested ways for improving the peer teaching process in ESP classes?

2.1.4 Informants

The informants of the study are students from four ESP classes at The College of Science, VNU They are between 19 and 21 years old, both male and female Thus the majority of student participants in the study would be considered mature age They all have similar background, that is, they have completed pre-intermediate level of English; and they have been taking the ESP course for the first time The number of students in four classes is listed in table 1

Class English for Maths 1 English for Maths 2 English for Chemistry English for Physics

Table 1: The number of students in the four sample classes

Also, 10 lecturers who are teaching ESP at the Department of Foreign Languages were invited to give responses to the questionnaire All of them have at least three years’ experience

of teaching ESP classes They all have had or are going to have, in the near future, M.A Degree in Education or Linguistics

2.1.5 Data collection Instruments

The study is both quantitative and qualitative The data is collected by means of questionnaires The questionnaires were designed for both two groups of informants: the students and the teachers:

Questionnaire 1 was delivered to 110 students in the four sample ESP classes to find out their perceptions, attitudes, and assessment in deploying peer-teaching techniques

Questionnaire 2 was designed for 10 teachers of ESP

in the Department of Foreign Languages at the College of Science, VNU to determine their attitudes, knowledge and teaching skills in applying peer-teaching into their ESP lectures

In an attempt to find out the answers for the two research questions, each question of both types of the survey questionnaires is intended to make a clear facet of the research questions Therefore, the survey questionnaire for the teachers and the one for the students seem rather similar Both the survey questionnaires are included in the Appendices:

* Questions 1, 2, 3, 4 in both the survey questionnaires focus on finding out the answer

to the first research question, that is, they will show the students’ and the teachers’ conceptions of peer teaching, and the related assessment impact upon their learning and teaching

* Questions 5,6,7,8,9,10 are designed to get the answer for the second research question, which investigate the teachers’ and students’ reflection towards their current use of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College and some suggested ways for improving the peer teaching process in ESP classes?

2.1.6 Implementation

To conduct the survey, I made 110 copies of questionnaire 1 and 10 copies of questionnaire 2 to distribute to two groups of ESP teachers and students at the College of Science, VNU To make sure that the students understood what was written or what was asked

in the questionnaire, the investigator decided to translate the questionnaire for the students into Vietnamese In the end, 100 copies of the questionnaires for the students were returned

2.1.7 Scheme for data interpretation

As the research’s aim is to examine the impact of ‘Peer-teaching’ on ESP teaching and learning quality, the collected data of the study was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively according to two facets: (1) the teachers and students’ perceptions of peer-teaching; advantages and disadvantages of peer-teaching; and (2) the current use of peer-teaching in ESP classes at the college, and teachers and students’ reflection of suggested ways for improving the peer-teaching process Data is reported at the cohort level because responses were similar statistically

2.2 Data Analysis and Interpretation

The data is presented in the two tables below For convenient interpretation, the result

of the survey questionnaires for both the teachers and the students is shown in both numbers

and percentages Items 1, 2, 3, 4 indicated the informants’ responses to research question 1 Items 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 gave answers to research question 2

Option

Item

a

No %

b No %

c No %

d No %

e No %

f No %

g No %

h No %

1 1 10 0 0 8 80 1 10

2 9 90 1 10 8 80 10 100 9 90

3 6 60 9 90 10 100 6 60 8 80 0 0

4 4 40 10 100 9 90 8 80 0 0

5 7 70 2 20 1 10 0 0

6 8 80 1 10 10 100 2 20

7 10 100 7 70 10 100 9 90 8 80

8 1 10 0 0 3 30 8 80 3 30 7 70 5 50 10 100 9 8 80 7 70 5 50 8 80 0 0 2 20

10 8 80 10 100 9 90 0 0 0 0

Table 2: Result from the survey questionnaire for the teachers Option Item a No %

b No %

c No %

d No %

e No %

f No %

1 3 3 91 91 0 0

2 92 92 3 3 83 83 100 100 76 76

3 76 76 2 2 22 22

4 72 72 89 89 92 92 97 97 92 92

5 42 42 23 23 23 23 12 12

6 82 82 0 0 87 87 18 18

7 97 97 92 92 97 97 62 62 82 82

8 0 0 2 2 0 0 75 75 13 13 26 26

9 78 78 5 5 16 16 3 3 3 3 0 0

10 16 16 3 3 92 92 3 3

Table 3: Result from the survey questionnaire for the students

As can be seen from table 2 and table 3 above, the data provided by 10 teachers and

100 students are described respectively To make the data analysis easier, the author would like to go deeply into each divided part of the two tables, according to the order of the two research questions

2.2.1 Research question 1: What are the students and teachers’ perceptions and their assessment towards peer teaching practices in ESP classes?

In a hope of working out the answer to this question, items 1, 2, 3, 4, of both types of the survey questionnaires have been designed The answer will be explicit through the data collected from such items So, the tables below should be taken into consideration:

Option

Item

a

No %

b No %

c No %

d No %

e No %

f No %

1 1 10 0 0 8 80 1 10

2 9 90 1 10 8 80 10 100 9 90

3 6 60 9 90 10 100 6 60 8 80 0 0

4 4 40 10 100 9 90 8 80 0 0

Table 4: Teachers’ perceptions of peer teaching Option Item a No %

b No %

c No %

d No %

e No %

1 3 3 91 91 0 0

2 92 92 3 3 83 83 100 100 76 76

3 76 76 2 2 22 22

4 72 72 89 89 92 92 97 97 92 92 Table 5: Students’ perceptions of peer teaching

* As the data shown in item 1, most of the surveyed teachers (8/10) put a check in option (c), which indicates their good perceptions of peer teaching They understand that peer teaching is a pattern of student-student interaction Similarly, 91% surveyed students found