(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) the use of teamwork activities in the english speaking lessons at international standard program, vietnam national university, hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *********************** NGUYỄN THỊ PHÚC THE USE OF TEAMWORK ACTIVITIES IN THE ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS AT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD PROGRAM, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI (SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN NHIỆM VỤ CHIẾN LƯỢC, ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Hanoi, 2013 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *********************** NGUYỄN THỊ PHÚC THE USE OF TEAMWORK ACTIVITIES IN THE ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS AT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD PROGRAM, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI (SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN NHIỆM VỤ CHIẾN LƯỢC, ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Tô Thị Thu Hương, Ph.D Hanoi, 2013 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby state that I: Nguyễn Thị Phúc, being a candidate for the Master of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Thesis deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper I hereby declare that all the information in this paper was obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct As required in the rules, I fully cited all the sources of the results that were not original to this work Signature Nguyen Thi Phuc i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not be completed without the help, full support and encouragement of all the people who deserve my deepest gratitude First and foremost, I would like to send my special thanks to my supervisor, Dr To Thi Thu Huong, a senior lecturer at HULIS for giving me precious comments and suggestions right from the beginning of my research Second, I would like to thank my former lecturer, Ms Nguyen Thanh Ha, who has provided me with the useful references for my study Third, my sincere thanks also go to the students and teachers of English at International Standard Program (ISP), Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their full support in completing the questionnaires for my survey Last but not least, I wish to thank my friends who have encouraged me to carry out this thesis and shared with me their materials, ideas as well as useful comments on my research ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the currently used teamwork activities in the English speaking lessons at ISP, HULIS, VNU It also aimed at identifying the organization of these activities and the ways which the teacher used to group his/her students in a team Moreover, the researcher wished to find out the problems in using teamwork during the English speaking classes This research was carried out with the participation of 75 ISP students and teachers of English at this division The instruments used in this study included questionnaires for the students, interviews with teachers, and class observations The findings of this research revealed that teamwork activities were frequently used in the English speaking classes at ISP The common activities were games, problem-solving, role plays, and discussion among which games and role plays were the students’ favorite activities However, most of them lost interest in discussions In addition, most of ISP teachers grouped the students sitting next to each other into pairs or small groups of 3-4 or by random groupings, they rarely gathered the students with mixed levels Another finding of this study was that the ways to motivate the learners involved using authentic materials, visual aids, and giving compliments, or gifts The teachers also controlled the troublesome noise during the students’ teamwork by punishment From the main findings of the study, some recommendations were given to the ISP students and teachers for using teamwork activities more effectively in the English speaking lessons iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching ELT: English Language Teaching T(s): Teacher(s) Ss: Students ISP: International Standard Program HULIS: Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies VNU: Vietnam National University iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Abbreviations iv Chapter Introduction 1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Significance of the stdudy Chapter Literature Review Teaching English speaking for communication 1.1 Activities in English speaking lessons 1.2 Requirements of a good English speaking lesson Teamwork in English learning and teaching 11 2.1 Definition of teamwork 11 2.2 Organization of a team 15 2.3 An overview of teamwork using 18 2.3.1 Benefits of using teamwork activities 18 2.3.2 Challenges in using teamwork activities 20 2.3.3 Teachers' and students' roles in teamwork activities 22 Chapter Methodology 25 Participants 25 Data collecting instruments 25 Data analysis 27 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Chapter Results and discussions 28 The use of teamwork activities in speaking lessons at ISP 28 1.1 The frequency 28 1.2 The students' attitude towards different teamwork activities 29 Working in teams 32 2.1 Grouping students 34 2.2 The problems in using teamwork activities 36 2.3 Ways to motivate and control the class 39 Conclusion 39 Chapter Recommendations 40 For the ISP teachers 40 1.1 Choosing appropriate teamwork activities 40 1.2 Grouping students to form a team 44 1.3 Solving the problems in using teamwork 44 1.4 Motivating students 45 For the students 47 2.1 Improving English speaking skill 47 2.2 Cooperating in a team 48 Summary 50 Chapter Conclusion 51 Summary of the study 51 Contributions and limitations of the study 52 Suggestions for further studies 52 References 55 Appendices I vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER INTRODUCTION This chapter focuses on five main parts namely the problem statement and the rationale for the study, the aims and objectives with three research questions, the scope of the study; and the significance of the study Statements of the problems and rationale for the study There is no doubt that English has played an important role in such fields as aviation, commerce, diplomacy, science and technology, etc This language is considered to be a means of communication which people use to exchange information as well as to broaden their mind In fact, nowadays more and more learners have attempted to achieve English levels to hunt for a better job Being aware of this tendency, Vietnam’s Ministry of education and training has adopted English as an official subject at secondary schools, colleges and even in some primary schools since the early 1990s (Thi Nguyen Anh, English teaching in the new world, 2008) Although English has been widely taught at colleges for long, the goal of acquiring it for communication has not been emphasized As a matter of fact, the traditional teaching method Grammar Translation Method has been in wide use at colleges, which discourages students from achieving their communicative competence Consequently, a large number of students are really good at doing exercises of grammar, however, they feel confused when communicating in the target language To avoid the situation above, it is high time that a new approach – Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) should be applied in order to promote students’ ability of using English in real communications One of the techniques used in CLT is group work or teamwork which is regarded as an effective way to enhance students’ communicative competence TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com As can be observed, at ISP division of VNU, the students’ communicative competence has been considered to be the core of learning and teaching in this environment and it can be best revealed through their speaking ability In this division, one of the common techniques being used to foster students’ speaking ability is organizing teamwork activities in class In fact, the frequency, organization and effectiveness of these activities have not been clarified Hence, this study focuses on investigating the current situation of using teamwork activities in teaching English speaking at ISP Aims of the study This study was carried out with three aims Firstly, it was expected to find out different teamwork activities currently being used in English speaking lessons at ISP Secondly, the frequency of these activities and the teachers’ ways to use them were also identified Next, this study aimed to identify students’ attitudes towards each kind of activities in their lessons Last but not least, the problems of using these activities for both the teachers and students in carrying out this technique were carefully analyzed to reveal the findings In a nutshell, all the objectives of this study could be summarized into these three following research questions: What kinds of teamwork activities are currently used in English speaking lessons at ISP? What are the students’ attitudes towards these activities? What are the problems in using these teamwork activities? Scope of the study As mentioned in the title, this study focused on the use of teamwork activities as a means to improve the students’ oral skill in their English speaking lessons The researcher spent time and effort investigating how they TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Suggestions for further studies Although the use of teamwork has been investigated in numerous previous studies, there is still a big gap that needs to be filled For example, the research can be carried out with a larger number of participants from various colleges in Vietnam In other words, the later researchers can expand the scope of their studies to a larger scale For example, they might investigate teamwork activities in English classes of all four skills What is more, later researchers should manage their time better so that they can enhance the reliability and validity of the researches by carrying out more observations as well as experimental teaching lessons 54 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com REFERENCES Clive, O., & Christina, L (2011) New English File - Pre-Intermediate Oxford Elizabeth, G., & Neil, O (2000) Practice Test for the Key English Test Epxress Publishing Felisa, T (2012) Education for global citizenship Doha, Qatar Hamm, M., & D Adams (1992) The collaborative dimensions of learning Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Company Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching UK: Longman Jacobs, G.M., M.A Power, & W.I Hall (1994) The teacher’s sourcebook for cooperative learning: Practical Techniques, basic principles, and frequently asked questions Thousand Oaks, CA: CorwinPress Jaques, D (2000) Learning in Groups: a handbook for improving group work Kogan Page: London Johnson, D.W., R.T Johnson, & M.B Stanne (2001) Cooperative Learning methods: A meta-analysis Kagan, S (1992) Cooperative learning San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publications Leo, J (2011) Let's Talk 2, second edition Cambridge Press Liz, S., & John, S (2000) New Headway - Pre-intermediate Oxford University Thi, N (2008) English Teaching in the New World William, M K Trochim (2006) Research Methods Knowledge Base posted on http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ William, B.R (1996) Modifying Pairwork Activities to Encourage the Use of English and Communication Vol II 55 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX - QUESTIONNAIRE Researcher: Nguyen Thi Phuc Organization: Hanoi University of Languages & International Studies This survey questionnaire is designed with the aim of getting necessary information for my study “The use of teamwork activities in English speaking lessons at International Standard Program (ISP), Vietnam National University, Hanoi” It is certain that there are no right or wrong answers, so please answer these questions in your own opinion I also assure that you will not be identified in the discussion of any data Thank you for your cooperation Part 1: Personal information Please fill in the blanks or put a tick (V) next to your choice Your group: ISP _ Your sex: Male Female Your age: Your years of learning English: _years Part 2: Multiple choices Please circle the choice for each question You can circle more than one Please write your answer in the provided space for other choices and question 15 How often are teamwork activities used in your English speaking lessons? A Never B Hardly ever C Sometimes D Frequently E Always Which teamwork activities are often used in your speaking lessons? A Games B Discussions C Role-plays D F Problem solving G Others _ Interviews E Storytelling In your opinion, which activities are interesting? A Games B Discussions C Role-plays D F Problem solving G Others Interviews E Storytelling Which materials does your teacher use for the speaking lessons? I TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com A Textbook B Newspapers & Magazines C Visual aids D Others _ Which materials are interesting and useful? A Textbook B Newspapers & Magazines C Visual aids D Others _ How you get the ideas and vocabulary for your speaking activities? A Use the information in the textbook B Use the background knowledge C Brainstorm ideas in teams D Others _ How is a team formed in your class? A Students sitting next to each other B Students with the same interests C Students with different ability D Random groupings In speaking lessons, you often work in _ A teams of members B teams of 3-4 C teams of 5-6 D the whole class How much time is spent on each teamwork activity? A 2-5 minutes B 5-10 minutes C More than minutes 10 What are the problems of working in a team? A The other members not cooperate B There is not enough time C The activities are not interesting D The tasks are difficult II TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 10 E Not good English F.Others 11 What are the good things of using teamwork activities in speaking lessons? A Students are motivated B Good students can help the others C Students’ speaking skill is much improved D Others _ 12 What you often in speaking lessons? A Talking to friends B Sleeping C Cooperating with partners D Reading storybooks E Others 13 What does your teacher to encourage you to work in a team? A Using interesting games B Giving you gifts C Giving you high marks D Organizing competitions E Using visual aids (pictures, videos, …) F Others 14 What does your teacher to control the class’s noise? A Assigning teams leaders to control others B Giving punishment C Giving low marks D Others 15 What should we to make teamwork activities better in a speaking lesson? THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS! III TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX OBSERVATION SCHEME Observer’s name: Nguyễn Thị Phúc Group: ISP _ Number of students: Teacher’s name: Date: _/ /2010 Name of the lesson: _ Time duration: Criteria Names and details Comments and Notes Objectives Activity types Use of - Tasks - T's of teamwork activities teamwork activities organization - Ss’ spoken English Students' attitudes towards IV TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Teachers' problems teamwork activities Students’ participation Students' use of target language Detailed comments: APPENDIX Interview with teacher R: Good morning T: Good morning R: I am postgradate from Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies Would you mind if I asked you some questions? T: You are welcome R: Thank you How long have you been teaching at this school? T: …er nearly five years At first I taught at the division of engineering and technology for two years and for the last three years, I've been teaching at ISP division and I really love my job here The students are placed into two different groups namely higher level and lower level V TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com R: Well, I'm conducting a research on the use of teamwork activities in the English speaking lessons for lower level students Can you tell me exactly which level are they? T: Well, most of them can communicate in basic English because their vocabulary is not rich And so, they are of the pre-intermediate level R: So, they seldom use English in the speaking lesson, right? T: Not really They still use English because they are provided with the necessary vocabulary in the coursebook But they cannot communicate with their partners totally in English as they can’t find the suitable words to express their ideas R: Uh huh Ah, you often use teamwork activities in the speaking lessons? T: Of course, it is required in any lesson, not only speaking R: And what activities you often use for speaking? T: …er games, storytelling, problem-solving, discussions, role-plays, gap fillings R: Which one interests the students most? T: Of course games, role play and storytelling And they don’t seem to concentrate on discussions Perhaps they are too boring R: How you organize role-plays for the students? T: The students work in pairs or in groups of three to practice the dialogue provided in the book R: Oh, so you don’t ask them to design their own conversations to act? T: Ah, yes but this takes so much time for preparations So, normally we assign them to be done at home with the given topics R: I see Can you tell me how you group your students? T: The students sitting next to each other will work with each other They can work in pairs or small groups of 3-4 R: Is there any problem during the group work? T: (laughing) Of course yes The students make troublesome noise and other things without concentrating on their task R: How you control this noise? VI TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com T: Well, teachers must be strict during the lesson The troublesome students will be criticized or even punished In some case, I ask them to stay after school for private talks R: Uh huh What about motivations? What you to motivate them to speak English and cooperate with their partners? T: The students like good marks and of course, they are scared of bad ones But unfortunately, their participation in class is not a criteria of overall assessment So, I often give them gifts and design competitions for them R: Quite interesting And the last question Which materials you use in the speaking lesson? T: As for speaking, pictures must be prepared in advance and other kinds of visual aids like PowerPoint I also use references like newspapers or magazines to motivate them R: Thanks so much for your help Good luck to you T: Not at all Bye R: Goodbye APPENDIX Interview with teacher R: Good morning T: Good morning R: I am a postgraduate at Hanoi University of Languages & International Studies I’m carrying out my research on teamwork activities Would you mind if I asked you some questions? T: Ok Go ahead R: Thanks How long have been teaching here at ISP division? T: Three years but I've been teaching in VNU for four years I spent my first year teaching at the division of Social Sciences and Humanity VII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com R: Can you tell me what teamwork activities you often use in the English speaking lesson? T: Well, games, role-play, discussions, storytelling, and problem-solving R: Which activities are your students interested in most? T: Oh, games and role-play are their favorite activities R: Can you tell me more about these activities? T: As for games, I often use visual aids such as pictures or PowerPoint, so they are quite interested R: And what about role-play? Do you motivate them to act their role? T: Yes But there is not much time for s speaking lesson, so I often ask them to act a short conversation to practice pronunciation R: Uh huh Have you ever asked them to create their own long conversations and then perform them in class? T: Yes, once, ah twice exactly R: What they think about that? T: They are quite excited because they can get more fun and no one feels stressed R: Uh huh How about groups of students? How you group them? T: I often group the ones sitting next to each other or sometimes group them with mixed abilities so that they can assist each other R: Do you students concentrate on their task? T: Not really They often chat, read magazines or even sleep in class, especially boys Of course there are some of them working seriously R: Oh, really? And they use English to communicate in your lesson? T: Not all of them They can use only basic English, you know So, communicating totally in English is impossible R: So what you to motivate them to speak English as well as cooperate with their partners? T: (Laughing) Just give them compliments and special gifts at the end of the semester VIII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com R: Uh huh And the last question What you to control the troublesome noise during their group work? T: Of course, criticizing them or giving them hard punishment R: Thanks so much for your help T: Not at all APPENDIX Interview with teacher R: Good afternoon T: Good afternoon R: I’m a senior student from HULIS I’m carrying out my research May I ask you some questions? T: Ok Fine R: Thanks How long have you been teaching here? T: …er seven years R: Uh huh Do you often use teamwork activities in the speaking lesson? T: Of course yes It is required in here R: Ah hah So can you tell me what activities you often use in these lessons? IX TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com T: Games, discussions, storytelling, and problem solving R: can you tell me more about these activities? Which ones are the students interested in? T: I often use games in the lead-in part of the lesson to lead them to the topic Games are their favorite activities Storytelling also interests them a lot You know, they are interested in the pictures I provide and the stories they invent are quite interesting But they not concentrate on discussions or problem solving R: What you to motivate them? T: I often give them compliments, high marks or gifts R: Ah hah Do the students use English when working in groups? T: They often use Vietnamese and then translate into English because it is hard for them to communicate totally in English R: Oh, the break time is nearly over May I ask you one more question? T: Ok, go ahead R: What you to control the troublesome makers, for example the noise makers in the speaking lesson? T: Ah, Just give them low marks Sometimes I ask to meet them or even their parents after school R: So many thanks for your help Goodbye T: Goodbye APPENDIX Interview with teacher R: Good afternoon T: Good afternoon R: I’m a postgraduate at HULIS I’m carrying out my research on teamwork activities May I ask you some questions? T: Of course You are welcome R: Do you often use teamwork activities in the speaking lessons? X TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com T: Yes, of course R: Can you tell me what they are? T: Games, problem solving, discussions and role-plays R: Which ones interest the student most? T: Games and role-plays Discussions and problem-solving seem so boring to them R: How you organize games and role-plays? T: Games are used at the beginning of the lesson for about to 10 minutes Roleplay is quite simple The students act the conversation provided in the book to improve pronunciation Sometimes I ask them to work with their partners at home to invent a situation and perform in class R: Oh, quite interesting What they think about it? T: They are quite excited because they can get more fun R: How you group your students? T: Well, by random groupings That’s fair among them R: Uh huh What you to motivate your students to speak English and work with their peers? T: Almost every teacher gives them high marks and compliments I also give them gifts for their achievements R: What about the noise? Is your speaking class too noisy with private talks in Vietnamese? T: Of course yes I often point out group leaders and ask them to control their own group R: So many thanks for your great help Goodbye T: You are welcome Bye APPENDIX Interview with teacher R: Good morning XI TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com T: Good morning R: I’m a postgraduate from HULIS, VNU I’m carrying out a research on teamwork activities Is that ok if I ask you some questions? T: Ok Go ahead R: How long have you been teaching in here? T: er, nine years But I've been teaching at ISP for only three years R: Oh, quite long What teamwork activities you use for speaking lessons? T: Games, discussions, role-plays and problem solving R: Can you tell me more about these? Are they interesting to the students? T: Yes, except for discussions They seem to be so boring R: Uh huh What about the others? How you organize them? T: I use a lot of games in my lesson to motivate the students Problem solving is rarely used as it makes them distracted when it is too challenging R: Oh really? And role-plays? T: It is simple The students are asked to act short conversations given in the book just for improving their pronunciation R: Uh huh And how you group your students? T: The ones sitting next to each other will be a pair or small groups They can easily exchange information R: Yeah And how much English they use in your lesson? T: They use both English and Vietnamese and Vietnamese is quite often They cannot express their ideas in English R: Right What you to motivate them? T: You see, I give them good marks, gifts and compliments R: Ah hah And the last question What you to control the class during their group work? T: I threaten to give them low marks in participation or even report their misbehaviors to their form teachers (laughing) R: Oh really? Thanks so much for your help Good luck! XII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com T: You are always welcome Bye XIII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ... effectiveness of these activities have not been clarified Hence, this study focuses on investigating the current situation of using teamwork activities in teaching English speaking at ISP Aims of the study... included five interviews with teachers being in charge of the speaking lessons as they helped provide detailed information about the use of teamwork in the chosen ISP groups Data collecting instruments... observations These data revealed the facts of using teamwork activities in English speaking lessons at ISP, VNU via the pie and bar charts exploited to present the results The use of teamwork activities