(SKKN 2022) how to organize pair work and group work effectively in teaching english for high school students

SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN ĐỊNH SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM HOW TO ORGANIZE PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK EFFECTIVELY IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Người thực hiện: Đỗ Thị Thu Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực (môn): Tiếng Anh THANH HÓA NĂM 2022 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1.1.Reasons for choosing the topic …………………… 1.2 Aims of the study ………………………………… 1.3 Objects of the study ………………………………… 1.4 Research methods ………………… …………… 1.5 New points of the experience initiative…………… CONTENTS OF THE STUDY 2.1 Rationale of the study …………………………… 2.2 Current status of the problem before applying the study… 2.3 Solutions and methods for implementation … …… 2.3.1 Solutions ………………………………………… 2.3.2 Methods for implementation ….………………… 2.4 Effectiveness of the study for educational activities, with myself, the colleagues and the school……………………… CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 Conclusion …………………… …………………… 3.2 Recommendations …………………………………… REFERENCE BOOKS………………………………… PAGE 1 2 3 4 19 20 20 20 21 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasons for choosing the topic: English has become a really important tool in order to succeed professionally in our society; it is the language for business, research, public relations and the Internet For this reason, teachers are looking for better strategies to teach this subject For language educators and practitioners, how to effectively motivate students to learn has long been a crucial concern issue Among all the factors that affect learning motivations, teaching styles and teaching materials might be regarded as the most essential elements to be taken into consideration for achieving a more successful teaching and learning As we know, in tradditional classroom, the teacher controls the class with authority, there is no active role of students during teaching- learning process Therefore, the introduction of a new English textbook at high school in the last few years has created some difficulties for teacher This innovation demands a move in the direction of a more learner- centered approach to teaching The main objective of teaching English is to have communicative lesson However, in fact, the teacher- student interaction is very limited in the classroom Many teachers have troubles adapting their teaching and the new textbook to their own students’ learning needs These difficulties include the use of group and pair work As a teacher of English at high school, I myself always desire to find out and apply the new methods of teaching in order to meet the educational goals I have been a teacher of English at high school for years From my own experiences, I find that using pair work and group work is one of the teaching strategies of collaborative language teaching which provides chances for communication and interaction among students and between students and teacher Language classroom is the place where teacher and learners come together for interaction and can learn in natural settings The effective use of pair work and group work in language class can provide a value experience to students and give them the opportunity to practically experience the ideas presented and strengthen their learning I have applied pair work and group work activities in teaching English at Yen Dinh high school got satisfactory results I, therefore, in this research, would like to share my own experience in “ how to organize pair work and group work effectively in teaching English for high school students” 1.2 Aims of the study To introduce pair work and group work and show the advantages and disadvantages of working in pairs and groups To suggest how to organize pair and group work effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise To show how pair work and group work can be used for various classroom activities To help teachers be confident in using pair and group work themselves 1.3 Objects of the study: - This study was conducted among the 90 students of classes 11A3,11A12 at Yen Dinh high school during the school year 2021 -2022 1.4 Research methods: - Methods to build the theoretical basis: Learn the reality of the problem then find out the solutions to solve the problem - Methods actual survey, gathering information:Distributing questionnaires learning attitude of students towards subjects in English before performing the subject Then gather information to grasp the spirit of their learning - Statistical methods, data processing: After applying the theme will be the result statistics about the level of student progress to evaluate the success of my project 1.5 New points of the experience initiative In this experience initiative, I have developed appropriate practice activities that are superior to existing textbook activities to help students easily understand the content of the lesson through specific practice in each lesson 2 CONTENTS OF THE STUDY 2.1 Rationale of the study Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing attempt in research on teaching and learning and types and quantities of the relative amount of participation by the teacher and students Group work and pair work started getting attention of educationists in the 70s During the 1980s and 1990s, the development of communicative language teaching brought an important change in the role of students Working together is worthwhile as “ pair and group work immediately increase the amount of students’ talking time” ( Harmer, 1991) Researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative in learning learn more things and learn better than those who sit and passively wait to be taught They also claim that a teacher’s dominance in class makes it dull and it kills the students’ interests I am myself of the view that students are more motivated to engage in further communication when they have more opportunities to speak Using pair work and group work stimulates the learners’ experience of various types of interaction and helps to generate a more relaxed and cooperative classroom atmosphere It is during group and pair work that a lot of real learning takes place since the students can use language really to communicate with one another 2.2 Current status of the problem before applying the study 2.2.1 For students: -Most students are not interested in learning English and they think that English is a difficult subject, most of them are afraid to learn this subject The number of students with knowledge and skills is very small They also think that pair work and group work lessons are just for fun because their ability to practice language is not noticed as soon as they begin to approach English They also think that, in fact, this course is not an exam, so they don't need to pay much attention Besides, the types of practice activities of textbooks are not only very difficult but also poor, boring and monotonous These lessons are often boring, very few students participate Because of the above reasons, they are very passive in lessons, uninterested and ineffective - Besides, the high school that I am teaching is a school located in a rural area, with many economic difficulties and a sparsely populated area The main income of the people is based on agriculture, so the investment in children's education has not been paid much attention by parents Therefore, students face many difficulties in learning, even they not have enough materials for learning 2.2.2 For teachers: - There is a tendency of teacher- dominated lesson and students usually get bored with teacher- centered presentation - Teachers at high schools are in the period of getting used to new English textbook Pair work and group work didn’t use to be organized in class, so a lot of us – teachers of English at high school – get stuck in organizing pair work and group work effectively - Some teachers haven’t been clearly aware of the roles of pair work and group work in teaching and learning a foreign language - A few teacher reject the possibility of success of pair and group work They give different reasons for their belief, some of the reasons are lack of resources, students use mother tongue during pair and group work , discipline problem due to noise generated during pair and group work activities and so on As a result, despite being an important part of collaborative teaching and learning, pair and group work generally neglected in teaching English at high school 2.3 Solutions and methods for implementation 2.3.1 Solutions a Teacher should know well about what pair work and group work are, their both advantages and disadvantages as well as solutions to their problems b The ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively so that we can make use of their benefits and limit their problems In order to organize pair and group work well, teacher will need to the followings: Select the activity Presentation Prepare any physical materials for group work ahead of time Anticipate the size and the selection of groups Anticipate how students will be organized within the groups (tasks and roles) Control the class well Consider the timing of the group work Give feedback c Some demonstrations for pair work and group work activities d Suggestion for some popular kinds of practice 2.3.2 Methods for implementation a Teacher should know well about what pair work and group work are, their both advantages and disadvantages as well as solutions to their problems  What are pair work and group work? - Pair work: The teacher divides the whole class into pairs Every student works with his or her parner and all the pairs work at the same time The teacher walks around, listens and intervenes little if necessary - Group work : Students work in small groups ( four or five) on tasks that entail interaction: conveying information, for example, or group decision making All the groups work at the same time The teacher walks around listening, intervenes little if at all Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems For certain types of activity, pairwork and groupwork have a number of advantages over working with the whole class together Teachers should think what the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved in pairwork, groupwork and the solutions for these  Here are some main advantages and problems: Advantages Problems - More language practice - Noise arrangements - More speaking time - Students make mistakes - Students are more involved - Lose control of the class - Students feel secure, confident ………………… - Students help one another - Give students the sense of achievement when reaching a team goal Now, we will discuss each heading in more detail First, let’s start with the advantages - More language practice: Pairwork and groupwork give students far more chance to speak English For example, students are given an exercise of making sentences (question & answer), working in pair, each student makes as many sentences as they can If the exercise were done ‘round the class’, students would only say one sentence each , and in a large class many students would say nothing at all - More speaking time: Learners in a class that is divided into groups of or 22 pairs get six times or fifteen times as many opportunities to talk as in full class organization - Student are more involved: Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students and others would lose interest if they are conducted with the whole class together Working in pairs or groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate on the task - Students feel confident: Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when they are on show in front of the whole class Pairwork and groupwork can help shy students who would never say anything in a whole class activity - Students help each other: Pair work and group work encourage students to share ideas and knowledge In a reading actictivity, students can help each other to explore the meaning of a text; in a discussion activity, students can give each other new ideas Now talk about the problems, and discuss the ways of recovering them: - Noise arrangements: Obviously pair work and group work in a large class will be noisy, and this can not be helped But: + Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in the next room + The noise created by pair work and group work is usually “good” noise “ Group work , by its nature, is designed to generate noise” ( Nunan and Lamb p.14, 1996) Students use English or engage in a learning task Teacher should stop the activity when most groups or pairs have finished or prepare a “reserve” task to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected - Students make mistakes: During a pair or group activity, the teacher can not control all the language used, and should not try to so When doing cotrolled language practice in pairs or groups, the number of mistakes can be reduced by: + Giving enough preparation, the activity can be done with the whole class first, and pair work used for final stage + Checking afterwards The teacher can ask some pairs or groups what they said , and then correct mistakes if necessary - Difficult to control class: The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pair work and group work than in normal class To stop activities getting out control, it is important to: + Give clear instructions about when to start, what to and when to stop + Give clearly defined tasks which don’t continue for too long + Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs or groups, and know exactly what to b The ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively  Steps in the classroom: Step :Select the activity An activity that is best suited for group work may meet the following criteria: + The activity has multiple tasks that can be shared among group members or a single task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the participation of all individuals within a group + The activity involves problem solving and discussion Examples of activities that may be suited for group work are investigations of materials (newspapers, scientific specimens) and development of ideas or arguments Step2: Presentation It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing the class into groups; and a preliminary rehearsal or ‘dry run’ of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things If your students have already done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process,giving only brief guidelines;It is mainly the first time of doing something with a class that such care needs to be invested in instructing Try to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary quick review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary Finally before giving the sign to start tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: If there is a time limit, or a set signal for stopping, say what it is; if the groups simply stop when they have finished, then tell them what they will have to next It is wise to have a reserve task planned to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected Step3: Preparation of materials The teacher will need to personally collect, or organize students to collect, physical specimens for investigation For example, if the teacher anticipates doing a lesson on the role of the media, she or he might ask the students to bring into class examples of newspapers and magazines There should be materials sufficient for each group Step 4: Size and selection of group Group size normally ranges between 3-5 students Group size can sometimes go larger, although groups larger than not ensure that everyone will participate Since groups often report their work back to the whole class, teachers also take into account the total number of groups within the class Group membership can be determined in different ways A random selection might be done by "counting off" with students (go around the room systematically having students count 1, 2, 3, etc., with each numbers representing a group) or selecting groups on the basis of birth date In a nonrandom selection, groups will be selected based on the teachers' prior knowledge Usually, groups are selected to maximize diversity within the group, since diversity enhances learning Such groups often have a balance of girls and boys, and students with differing ability levels Teachers can also use their best judgment about personality mixes that would enhance the work of the group Sometimes groups are organized only for one activity Other times, teachers use the same small groups for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with one another If the tables and chairs cannot be moved for group work, then students can form groups by turning around in seats to face the children behind Step 5: Organize students within the group A laissez-faire approach to group work would be that the teacher give a general assignment to the group like organize a research project on 'qualities of good leaders' and the students are left to organize themselves A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific role to each group member Depending upon the task, the roles might include 'materials handler', 'scribe', 'reporter to the large group' and so on A semistructured approach might be that the teacher recommend certain roles, but leaves it to the group to assign roles A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a group, is often used with younger children A less structured approach can be used with students with experience in group work or for simple tasks that not require that students take on different roles Step 6: Control the class during students’ working time Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful If you decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of : - Providing general approval and support; - Helping students who are having difficultly; - Keeping the students using the target language(in many cases your mere presence will ensure this!) - Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent Step 7:Time the group work The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task results, sharing with the whole group, and so on After giving clear instructions to the students, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not interfere with the groups' activities It is common in many classrooms that a small group activity constitutes 20 minutes of a 40 minute-period, with 10 minutes allowed for sharing small group work with the whole class Step 8:Give feedback A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction after the end of the group work Feedback on the tasks may take many forms: - Giving the right solution, if there is one - Listening to and evaluating suggestions - Pooling ideas on the board - Displaying the meterials the groups/ pairs have produced The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results Feedback on language may be integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later Here are suggestions for some popular kinds of practice: *Pattern practice: This can be done in pairs when practicing the structures Any controlled oral practice can be done first with the whole class, and then in pairs * Practising short dialogues: Acting out short dialogues can very easily be done in pairs, with little chance of making mistakes It can be done first with pairs of students in front of the class and then with all students working in pairs at the same time * Reading a text and answering questions: Students can disscuss questions in pairs or groups and then read the text or they can read the text silently and then ask and answer questions in pairs or groups This is a good way of involving the whole class in answering questions * Short-writing exercises: 10 Student can sit in groups and decide together what to write One student acts as “secretary” This can be difficult to organise but in a large class it has the advantages that students correct each others’mistakes and the teacher only has a few papers to mark at the end Pair work can be used for correcting written work (eg: homework)students sit in pairs and correct what their partner has written * Discussions: With more advanced class, discussions can be conducted in group It is important to define the discussion clearly and to ask each group to report their conclusions afterwards * Grammar exercises: Student can grammar exercises orally in pairs; the teacher goes throught the answers afterwards with the who class and students write the exercises for homework This is more interesting and productive than students doing exercises alone, in silence c Some demonstrations for pair work and group work activities UNIT 12: THE ASIAN GAMES LESSON 1: READING STAGE 1: DESIRED OBJECTIVES/ OUTCOMES A OBJECTIVES By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: Identify words and phrases related to the topic Recognize the meaning of the words based on the context Use the information they have read to discuss the topic and summarise the content of the text Show the understanding of the history of the Asin Games B LANGUAGE FOCUS Key terms/ Vocabulary : Take place, solidarity, promote, participant, sport facilities, athlete, compete, enthusiasm, appreciate, medal, aquatic sports, squash, hockey, fencing, wrestling … Key grammatical structure(s) : Relative clause, omission of relative pronouns,… C INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES - Pictures of sport events - Audio file, handouts - Computer, smart TV, speaker 11 STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE Performance Tasks Identify the meanings of the words from the context Use words to complete the sentences.(task 1) Scan the text and complete the table (task 2) Read the text and answer the questions (task 3) Talk about sport events Vietnam won gold medals at the Games Performance products Assessment tools Student’s answers Observation Answer keys Student’s answers Observation Answer keys Observation aswer keys Observation/Peer observation, reflection, report Students’ answers Students’ talks STAGE – LEARNING PLAN/ LEARNING EXPERIENCES Activity 1: Warm-up: Aims: To introduce the topic of the lesson and to raise students' interest Shows some pictures about asian games and ask students to work in pairs (one asks and the other answers): What sports you see in the photos? Which one you like to play?why? In which sporting events are these sports competed? 12 Possible answers: They are football, table tennis, high jumping, and bodybuilding I like to play…because it makes me healthy In Sea Games and Asian Games Lead in the lesson Activity 2: Answer the questions (before you read) - Asks Ss to open the book and look at the pictures in it and speak out what sport game it is Possible answers: P1: Tennis, P2: Wushu, P3: Fencing, P4: Football (individual work) - Asks Ss to work in pairs to discus the questions Possible answers: every four years 44 wrestling, karatedo, billiards, Activity 3: Vocabulary pre- teach - Asks Students to look at the context or listen to the definition or examples - Elicits the meanings of the words or phrases in the context + Aquatic sports (n) [ə'kwỉtik]: mơn thể thao nước 13 + Wrestling(n) ['resliη]: môn vật 14 + Squash(n) [skwɔ∫]: bóng quần + Fencing(n): đấu kiếm 15 + Billiards(n) ['biljədz]: bi-a 16 + Intercultural knowledge (np) : Kiến thức liên văn hóa +Multi-sport event: +Facilities(n) [fə'siliti] ( sớ nhiều) những tiện nghi +Appreciate(v): coi trọng, đánh giá cao +Enthusiasm(n) [in'θju:ziỉzm]: hăng hái, nhiệt tình - Lets the whole class read the new words twice or three times - Calls 2-3 students to read new words again - Asks students to give more examples with these words to make sure they understand all of them - Checks students’ understanding by asking them to make sentences with these given words Activity 4: Task solving (while reading) Task 1: ( work in pairs ) fill each blank with a suitable answer - Asks Students to read the task - Has Students discuss the answers in pairs - Asks all pairs to share their answers with the class - Calls out some students to give the answers - Checks students’ answers, asking to give clues from the reading text Keys: facilities aquatic enthusiam effort advancing apprecited Task 2: ( work in pairs ) Scan the pasage and complete the table - Asks students to scan the text and quickly find out the information for the table - Asks students to share their answers with their partner in pairs - Gives students ot more minutes to compare their answers with other pairs - Calls out some students to answer and give feedback Keys: 1951 the second Asian Games in Manila, the Philippines 1958 Squash, rugby, fencing, and mountain biking 2002 Task 3: Answer the questions - Asks Ss to work in pairs to practice asking and answering the questions - Calls on students to write their answers on the board - Gives feedback Keys The purpose of the Asian Games is to develop intercultural knowledge and friendship within Asia 9,919 participants took part in the 14th Asian Games 17 They won the gold medals in body building, billiard and women’s kararedo Activity 5: Discussion - Asks Ss to work in groups to discuss about sport events that Vietnamese athletes won gold medals - Observes students’work and give help if necessary - Attends some groups to check their work +Suggestions Ly Duc – gold medal – body building – 2002 Thuy Vi – gold medal – Wushu - 2013 18 Bui Thu Thao – gold medal- long jump –ASEAD 2018 Women’s rowing – gold medal – ASEAD 2018 19 Activity 6: Application - Gives out handouts for each group - Asks students in groups to summarize the pasage in about minutes - Collects the handouts from all groups and give feedback Suggested key: The Asian Games, which take place every four years, are held for the purpose of developing intercultural knowledge and friendship within Asia The first Games was held in 1951 in New Delhi, India with only 489 athletes from 11 nations to compete in sports events More Games were added at the second and third Asian Games The 14th Games were held in Busan, Korea in 2020 attracted 9919 participants from 44 countries to compete in 38 different sports The Vietnamese athletes won gold medals in bodybuilding and billiards and others in women’s karatedo Activity 7: Wrap up & Assignment - Asks students to answer the following questions : What did you learn from the lesson today? (The history of the Asian Games and the achievement of Vietnamese athletes in the Games) What’re the core values of the lesson? (Raise people awareess of the solidarity among countries in Asia through sports) - Reminds students to study the lesson again and prepare for the next lesson 2.4 Effectiveness of the study for educational activities, with myself, the colleagues and the school After a year applying pair work and group work in teaching English at Yen Dinh high school, I have got some satisfactory results Most of my students have become more interested in learning English and of course their ability to use English in communication has been improved step by step Moreover, their learning results in English subject has got better ( as detailed in the following tables) Academic results: (Before applying the topic) Total Excellent Good Fair Bad sl % Sl % Sl % sl % 90 students (11A3,11A12) 3.3 15 16.7 30 33.3 42 46.7 Academic results for the academic year 2021-2022: (After applying the topic) Total Excellent Good Fair Bad sl % sl % sl % sl % 90 students (11A3,11A12 ) 10 11.1 30 33.3 40 44.5 10 11.1 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 20 3.1 Conclusion Obviously, small groups or pairs of students working together is a highly effective and essential strategy for teaching English It can improve motivation and contribute to promote cooperation and warmth in the class However, it is concluded that pair work and group work are best used when they are not the only classroom interaction pattern, but when they are combined with other strategies Besides pair and group work, students can also complete activities individually and as a class Mixing up the structure of the activities will keep classes interesting Therefore, teacher had better plan the lessons to include teacher-centered work, individual work and pair work as well as group work Surely, this study can not avoid having limitations and making mistakes Yet I hope it will be helpful for teaching English at high school and suitable for communicative teaching approach 3.2 Recommendations On the basis of the findings and the limitations of the study, several suggestions for further research are made Because speaking skill in pair work and group work involves a lot of pronunciation aspects, many other researches should be carried out such as common mistakes in pronunciation, outdoor activities to motivate students to speak English or activities outside classroom to help students speak English confidently Schools should organize some English speaking contests in order to attract students to learning English better Teachers should pay much attention to searching for suitable teaching methods so that the quality and effectiveness of the subject will be really as good as expected XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 20 tháng năm 2022 Tơi xin cam đoan skkn viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác Đỗ Thị Thu REFERENCE BOOKS 21 English 10,11,12 (Hoàng Văn Vân, Hoàng Thi Xuân Hoa, Đỗ Tuấn Minh, Nguyễn Thu Phương, Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn)-Nhà xuất giáo dục English 10,11,12-Teacher book (Hoàng Văn Vân, Hoàng Thi Xuân Hoa, Đỗ Tuấn Minh, Nguyễn Thu Phương, Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn)-Nhà xuất giáo dục English language teaching methodology ( Teacher 's work book) Methods of teaching English at high schools (Nguyen Manh Dung Education Publisher - 2001) Practical handbook of language teaching (David Cross) 6.Đổi phương pháp dạy Tiếng Anh THPT Việt Nam( Tác giả Hoàng Văn Vân- Nguyễn Thị Chi- Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa- Nhà xuất Giáo Dục) Giáo trình giáo học pháp (Tổ ngoại ngữ –Khoa ngơn ngữ văn hóa Anh - Mi - Úc – Trường đại học quốc gia Hà Nội) DANH MỤC SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ TỪNG ĐẠT GIẢI 22 T T Tên đề tài SKKN Sử dụng hình vẽ phác họa việc giảng dạy môn Anh văn lớp 10 Hướng dẫn học sinh học từ môn Tiếng Anh trường THPT Integrating the teaching of English with other subjects Cấp đánh Kết giá xếp loại xếp loại Năm học đánh giá xếp loại 2003 -2004 Ghi Sở GD – ĐT Thanh Hóa C Vào sổ số 132/ QĐSGD&ĐT ngày 19 tháng 04 năm 2005 Sở GD – ĐT Thanh Hóa C 2011 -2012 Quyết định số : 871/QĐ-SGD & ĐT ngày 18 tháng 12 năm 2012 Sở GD – ĐT Thanh Hóa C 20202021 Quyết định số : 1362/QĐ-SGD & ĐT ngày 18 tháng 12 năm 2021 23 ... To introduce pair work and group work and show the advantages and disadvantages of working in pairs and groups To suggest how to organize pair and group work effectively and how to deal with initial... therefore, in this research, would like to share my own experience in “ how to organize pair work and group work effectively in teaching English for high school students? ?? 1.2 Aims of the study To. .. continue for too long + Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs or groups, and know exactly what to b The ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively