SKKN Applying Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) to improve students’ reading skills in high school

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENT Part A Introduction Page I Reasons for the study II Aims of the study III Methods of the study IV Scope of the study Part B Content I Theoretical and practical background Theoretical background 1.1 Cooperative learning (CL) 1.2 Reading and the traditional way of teaching reading skills 1.3 Cooperative learning activities (CLAs) in teaching and learning reading skills Practical background 2.1 Overview of reading lessons in New English textbook 2.2 Students’ attitude towards reading lessons 2.3 Teacher’s application of CLAs in teaching reading skills 10 II The solutions 10 Common types of CLAs in reading classes 10 Samples of the application of CLAs in teaching reading lessons 14 Findings and evaluation 20 Part C Suggestions and implications 31 I Issues of employing CLAs to teach reading skills 31 II Implications for teachers to conduct CLAs effectively in reading lessons 33 Part D Conclusion 36 Part E Reference 38 PART A: INTRODUCTION I Reasons for the study Currently, English has become the most popular language all over the world and it is considered as the officially international language Although English is not the largest number of native or first language speakers, it is widely used by many people as their second language to communicate with others from different cultures In addition, English is an important language for all kinds of professional and personal goals Its importance in the global market place cannot be understated Learning English really can change your life Although learning English can be challenging and time consuming, we can see that it is also very valuable to learn and can create many opportunities, especially for the young Because of its essential role, English has not only been gradually taught in every school from primary level to higher education but also become the core and compulsory subject in the National Examinations in Viet Nam and many different countries in the world With such a trend of development, learning English is important than ever before Among four language skills, reading is considered the most crucial of the primary abilities required for a student to be an effective English communicator However, many Vietnamese high school students regard reading as the most boring and difficult one The reason behind this is that, in Vietnamese classrooms, teaching English reading skills to high school students is still controlled by the teacher-centered approach Specifically, in a typical English reading lesson, the reading process occurs repeatedly as the teacher asks students to read the entire passage, answer a few questions, or complete some reading comprehension exercises available in the textbook The main task for the students is to read over and over again until they understand the passage thoroughly and complete all the textbook tasks This method of teaching and learning easily makes students find reading lessons monotonous and depressing, especially for weak students They often feel stressed while learning and neglect the lessons As a result, the majority of students find it difficult and challenging to make good progress in this skill To make reading more dynamic, engaged, and productive process, more emphasis should now be placed on communication and interaction in reading classrooms to compensate for this issue In this spirit, developing students’ cooperative and supportive skills to work together in reading classes becomes a demand Unlike grammar-based approach, communicative language teaching (CLT) method covers the training of all four core skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing And the success of communicative English instruction through this approach hinges entirely on the practice of these skills To achieve this, it is now necessary to take into consideration the application of a typical technique of CLT, the cooperative learning (CL), for its utility in encouraging students from diverse groups to cooperate and support one another, as well as assist teachers in overcoming the difficulties in teaching method and organizing classroom activities CL is described as a broad category of instructional practices in which students collaborate in order to achieve a common goal Its effectiveness has been well documented and now widely recognized as one of the most promising practices in educational field CL proves to be a successful teaching technique at all levels, from pre-school to post-secondary education, and as a peer-centered pedagogy that can promote academic achievements and build positive social relationships As a result, it is reasonable to believe that CL provides a supportive atmosphere for both the best and the least capable students to practice English, as well as a tool to help Vietnamese students reach their goal of becoming competent English communicators Having applied cooperative learning activities (CLAs) in reading lessons for 11 graders, I find that my students have studied more actively and effectively They are more excited to access the reading lessons They no longer feel stressful and bored during classes Majority of students after involving in these activities admit that CLAs have positive effect on their language competence in general and reading skills in particular, especially in terms of broadening their vocabulary and helping them use appropriate strategies to access the reading text Therefore, the effectiveness of the lessons are much higher In addition to this, these activities also develop necessary soft skills for students such as interaction, collaboration, sense of responsibility and autonomy in learning As an English teacher, I truly believe that this study would be a great contribution to my current teaching th I would like to recommend some CLAs in teaching English so that my colleagues can apply them to improve their students’ learning process The topic is “Applying Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) to improve students’ reading skills in high school” To be honest, there are inevitable shortcomings and mistakes in my study in such limited time I am glad to have more constructive opinions and helpful supports from my colleagues so that it will be more perfect and applicable II Aims of the study The aims of this study are: - To give a brief overview on CLAs and introduce samples of helping improve students’ reading skills through these activities in reading lessons - To increase students’ creativity and autonomy in learning language - To help students learn in free and flexible ways - To boost students’ confidence and help develop a learner-centered dynamic - To create a friendly and supportive learning environment - To examine the effects of CLAs activities on 11th graders’ reading skill - To suggest some solutions for teachers’ application to utilize CLAs to enhance their students’ language learning abilities in general and students’ reading skill in particular - To raise students’ awareness of cooperating and supporting each others during the lessons III Methods of the study - Base on my personal teaching experience - Study a variety of documents and share experience with my colleagues - Design two reading test (pre-test and post-test) before and after applying the method to confirm the result - Carry out surveys among students of the two experimental classes after applying the method about the effectiveness of the application - Conduct an interview with students from the two experimental classes after applying the method to get a deeper insight of the benefits and also the challenges of the method - Apply and adapt some essential knowledge from the workshops and classes I have participated in before IV Scope of the study Students at Quynh Luu High school PART B: CONTENT I THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BACKGROUND Theoretical background 1.1 Cooperative Learning 1.1.1 Definition of Cooperative Learning Slavin (1992), one of the founders of CL, states that CL refers to instructional methods involving small heterogeneous group working together, usually toward a common goal Kagan (1988) describes cooperative work as a task that is accomplished by dividing it among participants, where each person is responsible for a portion of the problem solving 1.1.2 Cooperative Learning vs Group Learning Traditionally, high school teachers group students by putting four or five students in a row in class and asking them to complete a task without further assistance or careful organization In fact, tasks need to be planned to ensure students’ interdependence and individual accountability because students are seated together in groups does not mean they will work cooperatively together Without a careful structure for group learning, students will most likely work independently and compete with one another They this by splitting down their task into smaller chunks and assigning each piece to each group member To become cooperative, however, group members must discuss the assigned task with one another and assist one another in achieving the common goal According to Arends (2007, p 138), CL lessons are characterized by four features as follows:  Students work in teams to master learning goals  Teams are made up of high-, average-, and low- achieving students  Whenever possible, teams include a racial, cultural, and gender mix  Reward systems are oriented to the group as well as the individual 1.1.3 Elements of Cooperative Learning According to Johnson and Johnson (1999) there are five basic elements of a successful CL activity which includes (1) positive interdependence, (2) individual accountability, (3) promotive face-to-face interaction, (4) explicit teaching of interpersonal and small group skills, and (5) group processing 1.1.3.1 Positive Interdependence Among the five elements of CL, positive interdependence and individual accountability are considered the most important ones This requires each student to work in a way that one group member cannot work without the contribution of the others It is a sense of working together for a common goal and caring about each other’s learning When positive interdependence is clearly understood, each group member’s efforts are required and indispensable to the group success and each of them has a unique contribution because of his or her role and responsibilities 1.1.3.2 Individual Accountability Together with positive interdependence, this element is the second essential concern among teachers when they organize students to work cooperatively This requires each students in the group to develop a sense of personal responsibility to learn and also to make the rest of the group to learn It is important for the teacher to have a way to determine what each individual has learned as well as what the group has accomplished The ways are various from random selection of students’ papers to see if they are working in the group to random oral quizzes of students, or written quizzes or examination at the culmination of the work 1.1.3.3 Promotive Face-to-Face Interaction The third element of CL requires face-to-face interaction among students within which they promote each other’s learning and success Johnson (1999) suggests that it is necessary to maximize the opportunities for them to help, support, encourage, and praise each other In fact, the quality of interaction depends on a number of factors such as the grade and frequency of students cooperating in their academic tasks, in sharing learning experiences, and in supporting and engaging among themselves in their feelings and educational expectations Moreover, a positive classroom environment is closely associated with the quality of such a face-to-face interaction 1.1.3.4 Interpersonal and Small Group Skills Simply placing students in groups and asking them to work together does not guarantee that they have the ability to cooperate Students, instead, must learn the social skills that help to maintain the group activities to run smoothly According to Arends (2007), social skills are those behaviors that “promote successful social relationships and enable individuals to work effectively with others” In addition, other skills such as leadership, trust-building, decision-making, communication and conflict resolution skills should be explicitly taught to the students so that they could work among themselves cooperatively 1.1.3.5 Group Processing Group processing refers to the assessment and remarking of the capabilities and actions of each group Group members should think about how well they have cooperated as a team and how to enhance their future cooperation Some of the keys to successful processing are allowing sufficient time for an activity to take place, emphasizing positive feedback, maintaining students’ involvement in processing These five essential components must be present for small group learning to be truly cooperative Furthermore, there needs to be an accepted common goal on which the group will be rewarded for their efforts 1.1.4 Structuring Cooperative Learning Classes Johnson and Johnson (1999) suggested a basic model that focuses on a set of decisions a teacher must make before the class, how to set the cooperative goal structure, and the instructor's role throughout the period when students are working The following is a description of this model: - Step 1: Decide on the most appropriate group size for the lesson The size of the group will depend on the nature of the task, the length of time available, the students’ skills, and the resources required to accomplish the assignment - Step 2: Assign students to groups Researchers state that heterogeneous groups tend to be more powerful than homogeneous ones The reason is that in mixed groups, good students can assist their less capable peers In that way, the less able students have an opportunity to practice language skills in a learning environment where their more capable partners can function as supervisors - Step 3: Arrange the classroom so that group members are close enough to each other and able to see the materials, converse with each other easily and exchange materials and ideas - Step 4: Explain the task and cooperative goal structure to the students It is important to give a clear and specific description of the task as well as an explanation of the group goal Establishing rules for group work and criteria for success is also necessary for a CLA to happen Students must have a clear definition of what cooperation is, why they have to work cooperatively and what they benefit from such cooperation so that they build good motivation in working in group - Step 5: Monitor the groups as they work The teacher needs to monitor carefully how the groups are functioning; determine what skills are lacking, both related to the subject matter and to the interaction; set up a way for the groups to process how well they functioned and discuss how to even better; and intervene where problems are serious to help groups work out their own problems It is probable that some specific instruction will need to be focused on interpersonal skills as students will not have necessarily learned how to work with others effectively 1.2 Reading and the Traditional Way of Teaching Reading Skill 1.2.1 Reading and its importance According to Nunan (2003), “reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning” Reading is perceived as a complex act of communication in which a number of textual, contextual, and reader-based variables interact to produce comprehension Of the four language skills, reading is a very important skill It helps students improve all parts of the English language – vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and writing In a second language classroom, reading plays a significant role in building both linguistic and background knowledge for other language skills It is even considered as the most effective means of improving students’ language competence Particularly, when there is a lack of language environment, reading is even more significant since it helps enlarge students’ background knowledge and vocabulary as well as supports other skills 1.2.2 Teacher-centered Methods and the Traditional Ways of Teaching Reading Skill Teacher-centered methods were popular in the last centuries, which rooted from the three theories: Social Learning, Behavior, and Information-Processing Theories Lessons organized around Teacher-centered models are generally characterized by task-structures and aim at predetermined standards and goals (Arends, 2007) These goals and reward structures are most often based on individual competition and effort Another characteristic is teacher’s dominance of the class and students’ passive role in listening to teachers or reading, even practicing teacher-specified skills The traditional way of teaching reading underwent the same method In accordance with the teacher-centered models, the individualized reading method was developed and became popular in reading classes at the time Following it, students were expected to work independently and to compete for good grades Students have no chance to hear, read, share and respond to what they read Besides this, a majority of reading tasks are answering questions, deciding on true/false statements or finding Vietnamese meaning of words or phrases, so “students have less chance to interact or exchange ideas” (Hoang Xuan Quy, 2010) 1.3 Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) in Teaching and Learning Reading 1.3.1 Benefits of CLAs in Teaching and Learning Reading skills While the aims of CL are to increase students’ interest thanks to the quick pace of cooperative tasks, to improve critical thinking ability, and the opportunity to practice both the productive and receptive skills in a natural context, CLAs - in which students work in teams or groups - is “an ideal environment that gives students opportunities to work with each other in collaborative work” (Peregoy & Boyle, 1993) Nelson (2003, as cited in Nunan, 2003) claims that in reading comprehension classes, learners must monitor their comprehension processes and be able to discuss with the teacher and their fellow readers what strategies they use to comprehend Among the six classroom techniques and tasks Nelson proposed, including activating prior knowledge, cultivating vocabulary, increasing reading rate, verifying strategies, and evaluating progress, teaching for comprehension is an important one With this technique, the teacher can model with the class how comprehension is related instead of simply asking students comprehension questions after they read a passage And instead of waiting to be tested the comprehension by answering the questions after reading, the class can read together and discuss how they understand what is written A large body of study supports the positive effects of CL on student achievement When summarizing the results of studies on the benefits of students working cooperatively, Slavin (1987) states that “when CL methods provide group goals based on the learning of all members, the effect on student achievement are remarkably consistent” Collaborative tasks prove successful in improving students’ motivation for learning (Ning & Hornby, 2014) Accordingly, integrating CL into English language teaching can help students, especially those at an advanced level of proficiency who are supposed to be less motivated than low-level students, to be more motivated from positive interdependence in collaborative tasks To put it another way, working together with peers generates an assistive learning environment in which social interactions take place As a result, learning is facilitated To ensure the learning outcomes, individual responsibility may be the first to be concerned about Finally, CL may make students more active and engaged in the learning process In particular, CL encourages students’ involvement in group work, and their meaningful engagement improves students’ dynamics and reasoning ability In addition, CL not only brings benefits to students, teachers can benefit from CL as well Adams and Hamm (2005) note that the teachers who begin using CL “become more cooperative in their own professional interactions and more willing to collaborate with their peer” Furthermore, teachers who use CL may feel that their time is spent more effectively with a reasonable contribution between less time for lecture but more time moving in the class and interacting with their students Besides, paper to evaluate is less, so stress will be reduced Finally, researchers propose that teachers may feel teaching and classroom management become easier because most of activities are initially designed at home In short, the great advantages of CL are undeniable for it creates a supportive and cooperative learning environment to better students’ language learning as well provides teachers with a useful technique to effectively organize communicative activities in class 1.3.2 Challenges of implementing CLAs in Teaching and Learning Reading skills For the learning process, Strom and Strom (2002) uncovered two main weaknesses of CL Specifically, it is difficult to assure a fair assessment and evaluation of students’ work The accomplishment of a group work is the result of the group members’ contributions and principles which all the group members are committed to The recognition of individuals’ contributions may be difficult to integrate into the assessment and evaluation of the whole group’s work Secondly, students with different backgrounds may demonstrate diversity in culture, ethics, perceptions, and experiences This is the source of potential conflict among group members in close contact Ghufron and Ermawati (2018) concluded from their study that CL is time-consuming Teachers, in particular, need time to prepare, and students need time to interact and assist each other in the same group Group members who are not good at time management may not complete the assigned task on schedule Also, it is hard for the teacher to group students when they belong to different backgrounds as they may hesitate to get involved in group discussions Reading limitation is another factor keeping Vietnamese students away from independent learning Materials are generally in short supply at all Vietnamese education institutions Almost all Vietnamese universities have so far used text books as the unique information resource Therefore, students perceive that the required text for a particular subject by the lecturer is the definitive written resource for that subject, and they not need to consult any other information resource Material limitations create two chances for students to become rote and surface learners As the readings are very limited (one or two textbooks for a subject), teachers usually tell students exactly what to read and what needs more attention, if not memorized carefully, as these sections are likely to be questioned in the exams Practical background 2.1 Overview of reading lessons in New English textbook in high school The reading materials used in the study consist of selected texts from new English Textbook 10 and 11 published by Vietnam Education Publishing House This is the first school year that students access to New English text book In each textbook, there are 10 units with diverse topics related to themes: Our lives, Our society, Our environment, Our future Eight lessons are included in one unit namely: Getting started, Language, Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, Communication and Culture, Looking back and Project Of the four skills, reading is the first one to be taught In general, New English textbook is interesting, but the lessons in it, especially reading ones, are quite difficult for students in rural areas The texts are long with a variety of new and academic vocabulary Therefore, it is challenging for students to complete themselves without support In this cases, CLAs are necessary to help deal with the situation 2.2 Students’ attitude towards reading lessons Reading is considered as basic skill to develop others Moreover, reading comprehension is main and compulsory part in General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and international certification exams such as IELTS, FCE, TOFEL…as well Despite of the fact that reading skill is one of the most crucial in learning language, many students tend to ignore this skill in class It is partly because of long and difficult texts in new English textbook as mentioned above Another reason is that they find reading lessons boring and stressful due to lack of Pre-test and post-test result of class 10A6 (not applying the method) Pre-test and post-test result of class 11D4 (not applying the method) 29 Pre-test and post-test result of class 10A4 (applying the method) Pre-test and post-test result of class 11D2 (applying the method) 30 3.3 Discussion 3.3.1 Students’ perceptions of applying CLAs to English reading classes First of all, according to results from students’ perceptions through survey method, it is recorded that the vast majority of participants showed their support of using CLAs in their reading lessons and believed that CLAs had effects on their reading competence Most of students perceived that CLAs made reading lessons less boring and stressful and provided them with high motivation to read Therefore, students participating in the survey suggested using CLAs more frequently in reading class Although the survey was only small in scope and small in number, it can be confirmed that if it is widely disseminated and trained on the use CLAs with a view to help students get used to these activities, it will certainly be of great help for both teachers and students in teaching and learning reading skills in schools Moreover, although all the five interviewees reported that CLAs were helpful and worth using, it had some drawbacks in terms of time and difficulty in conducting effectively for those who were not used to these activities Finally, with the support of CLAs in classroom, students were trained and developed a number of social skills such as group interaction, cooperation, improving communication capacity, sense of responsibility etc, which were believed to be beneficial to them in the long term 3.3.2 The effects of CLAs on students’ reading skills It is worth discussing that a great number of participants responding to questionnaire items and all the interviewees believed that CLAs had the most positive effects in broadening their vocabulary and enhancing their reading strategies These findings are compatible with the quantitative results from pre-test and post-test The improvement recorded in post-test in both groups was justifiable This is because the control group also completed the course with similar syllabus and time progress to the experimental group The key point is that, in comparison with the results of post-test, the mean scores for experimental group were much higher This means that students performed better through the intervention of CLAs CLAs proved to have positive effects on participants’ reading competence This was evidenced by the better performances of experimental group in the posttest Through the test, the remarkable improvements were seen in terms of vocabulary, reading strategies and time management to fulfill the reading tasks PART C: SUGGESTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 31 I Issues of employing CLAs to teach reading skill Although the potential of effective CL for improving students’ achievement is undeniable, there are some issues of implementing this method in EFL classes that need to be addressed These include the issues related to students’ limited English proficiency, students’ motivation to work together and those related to classroom management Students’ Limited English Ability Such a limitation is considered a big problem in English classes when CL is applied In a traditionally teacher-fronted classroom, the teacher dominates the instructional time and the students have the teacher as their model and accurate feedback On the contrary, with CL method, students are given much more time to hear each other’s English and to provide each other with authentic communication practice As a result, students find difficulties in learning because of their lack of a correct model of the target form of English, inaccurate modeling from peers and insufficient or fault feedback What the teacher should is carefully structure CL activities and pay much attention in assigning students roles during group work to reduce the possible effects of students’ limited ability Motivation Another important aspect in CL is that of motivation When the students get into some tasks, motivation is a great necessity in order for them to proceed successfully If they are motivated, they get new ideas which they are eager to share with their group members In general, motivation is enhanced as tasks are made more interesting and relevant Thus, if students are not motivated, the first place teachers look is at the task they are asking their students to perform To build up students’ motivation in CL activities, the teachers should provide tasks that can be finished much more quickly and accurately in groups Additionally, teachers should teach students to use some encouraging gambits for teammates such as “We could really use your help” or “We really appreciate your contribution” to provide the talking participants with the feeling of being listened to and their contribution is being appreciated Classroom Management Classroom management in this case concerns teacher’s maintaining group work, group formation, students’ use of their native language at inappropriate time, evaluation, and suitability for students’ varied cultural and learning styles In the class where CLAs are used, the first important task of the teacher is to remain an integral part in students’ CL By doing so, the teacher must first structure the group activities, then teach students efficient rules for communicating in group, and finally work as a facilitator to help students or as a manager to make sure students stay on their task 32 Group formation is another important task for the teacher because he or she has to decide who to put into which group as well as how many students are suitable for a certain group activity It is fact that if this formation is not suitable, the group activity will not be expected to be successful since students feel asleep or burst out into noise easily Another aspect of classroom management that discourages teachers when they try to implement CL in classroom is that students may use their mother tongue during peer interaction However, to some extent, this should be acceptable if students are trying to understand a difficult instruction or an activity procedure Experts suggest that one way to deal with this problem is assigning the role of language-use monitor to one student in each group This ‘monitor’ has the responsibility to control the target-language use of all students in that group Evaluating students during their group work is also a big concern of many teachers What these teachers wonder is how to measure exactly what students have done and learned during cooperative learning activities It is important to use evaluating strategies that are consistent with the goals and objectives of a particular lesson and with the model’s overall theoretical framework To solve the problem, researchers propose that teachers can use individual assessment by calling on students randomly to answer questions about the task or offer time for students to take turn to be representatives of their groups Furthermore, since CL is only one part among many of the teaching methods that each teacher owns, teachers may evaluate their students during other activities The last consideration that must be taken into account is the existing of students’ variety in cultural background, learning styles as well as learning expectations Every learner is unique Every teacher is unique Every learnerteacher relationship is unique, and every context is unique Our task as a teacher is to understand the properties of these relationships and context Therefore, it is important that the teachers should embrace the diversity in learning in order to set suitable goals and objectives for their students As for CL, the teachers should be aware of implementing it creatively into different situations and different classes In conclusion, CL method is proposed as one type of classroom activity Therefore, how the method is implemented and integrated into the existing context is best judged by teachers, who know their students best Moreover, if the teacher intends to use CL effectively in teaching a reading class, it is worth for him/her considering not only all the matters related to CL but also those concerned with reading in the current context II Implications for teachers to conduct CLAs effectively in reading lessons in high school Based on the findings of the study, this part is the suggestions for what teachers should to implement CL in teaching the four English major skills in 33 general and reading skill in particular to high school students Implications for teachers which were described in detail and divided into three phases can be considered as a structure for a cooperative reading class After deciding to use CL in English classes in general or reading classes in particular, the teachers should plan carefully for implementing CL from the beginning of the term or the school year It means that if the process of implementing CL is divided into three phases, i.e before-, during-, and afterimplementation, the followings are several tasks that the teachers should taken into consideration Phase 1: Before Implementation The biggest tasks for the teachers in this phase is planning and having the classrooms, the students as well as the teachers themselves get ready for CL Therefore, to have good preparation for this very first stage, the teachers should follow these steps: First, spare time reading on CL, learning the way of transferring it into classroom practice, getting familiar with CLAs which are typical for teaching each specific language skill, for example, Think Aloud, Paired Reading, Jigsaw Reading, and so on It is asserted that only if the teachers understand thoroughly and are ready to use a new technique they use it creatively and appropriately and gain success Second, recognize the diversity of students in each class This helps the teachers take control of the situation and prepares them for what is going to happen in their classes Especially, classes in a rural area like Quynh Luu district are often characterized by a majority of low-level students in English proficiency, students’ unfamiliarity with CLAs and students’ motivation to communicate in English in reading class is not high enough Therefore, it is only the teacher who knows this fact to find the best way for adapting this new technique to their classrooms Third, prepare students for CL This includes explaining to them why to use CL, what benefits they can get, and what results they can find from this technique This is an important task since students need to know the “whats” and the “whys” of learning together in order that they can set goals for learning and have high motivation to participate in the activities Additionally, it is essential to teach students some basic skills of team work (group and social skills) For the fact that the teacher-fronted classes not train students to work in a cooperative environment, the group skills such as sharing ideas, supporting each other, trustbuilding, conflict-management, etc are essential for the group work to go smoothly Fourth, plan materials and redesign textbook tasks suitable for CL The quality of the task is central to the success of CL Therefore, if high school teachers are required to follow the textbook strictly, it is better that they should redesign 34 some tasks to make them interesting, challenging, motivating, and most importantly, relevant for CL Moreover, teaching students English reading skill does not mean merely helping them to fulfill a Question-and-Answer exercise or deciding on True/False statements in textbook It is recommended that teachers could provide supplementary tasks/activities suitable for students or integrate the textbook tasks into CLAs so that their students would be exposed into a communicative and cooperative environment to develop not only language skills but also social skills and communicative competence Fifth, begin with a simple CLA first, and use it several times to let students become accustomed to working together It is also important that the certain activity must be in accordance with certain classroom, students and lesson Also, the teachers must give clear instructions and carefully structure the activity Sixth, determine group size, assign students to groups, and assign group roles Depending on the number of students in the class and the CL tasks, group size can range from two to four students Experts advise that teachers should begin their CL implementation by using only pairs for group work Then two pairs may join to form a bigger group Heterogeneous groups (groups of mixability) should be in favor since the better students can help the weaker ones Teachers should choose or assist students in choosing roles that use their strengths and improve their areas of weakness Phase 2: During Implementation After all of the preparation, it is time to begin working During this phase, the roles of students to fulfill the CL tasks are the most important Nevertheless, the teachers should activate their roles in controlling and processing students’ group work Followings are some essential tasks they must take into consideration First, take control of the class time and use time appropriately for CL Make sure that students have enough time to be exposed to pair or group reading Furthermore, although CL is documented to be very beneficial in developing students’ language and social skills, it is not advisable to use CLAs all the time in all reading classes Second, take control of students’ discussion in pairs or groups Make sure that students are working in heterogeneous groups, group members share different roles according to their strengths, and students are aware of helping each other, sharing reading strategies or reading techniques Third, create a cooperative reading environment, ask the class to read together and discuss how they understand what is written instead of simply asking them to answer all the comprehension questions in the textbook Fourth, be helpful when students encounter difficulties Teachers’ roles as facilitators, participants, controllers, and so on should be flexible according to different situations and different groups 35 Fifth, be creative and flexible in conducting CLAs There is no need to obey an original CLA passively Integrate textbook tasks into a CLA if possible or make some changes of the original activity so that it becomes suitable for each classroom Phase 3: After Implementation After completing the group work, it is time for the teachers to give feedback, evaluate students’ product and their group performance as well as provide students with a chance to reflect on what they have or have not done during their cooperation First, check groups’ answer before giving feedback to the whole class Have students look at a chart which displays the group’s achievement in terms of points or smiling faces Then the name of the winning group is announced Second, let students choose their group’s representative to present the group’s outcomes As each group often assigns roles to group members, the representative is often the student who takes his/her role as the speaker of the group Teachers’ random appointment may cause difficulties to students Last, spare some time for students to assess how well the group functioned, what things have been done well, and what things should be improved The students can be asked to fill in a feedback form, expressing their feelings, thoughts and opinions about the time spent together as a team, the work done and what they feel they have achieved This self-evaluation is essential for students because it highlights the positive aspects of CL Furthermore, it is important for teachers because it brings problems to the teachers’ attention PART D: CONCLUSION In conclusion, students who participated in this study had positive perceptions of using CLAs in learning reading skills It is worth noting that the majority of the respondents showed their agreements on interesting reading lessons and exciting learning atmosphere that CLAs brought in reading classes There were also high proportions on students’ approval of the fact that CLAs encouraged students to give effective support to each other while learning reading skills and increased student – student interaction during reading lessons However, there are some challenges that need considering A number of participants admitted that they faced challenges while employing CLAs in reading Some found it difficult to organize CLAs effectively within forty-five minutes of a period because these activities took much time More important, some were not very confident when working better students in the same group In these cases, teacher should pay attention to class management and take measures to encourage weak students to be more confident and active 36 With regard to the impact on students’ reading skills, CLAs proved to have positive effects on participants’ reading competence This was evidenced by the better performances of experimental group in the post-test Additionally, most of the participants admitted CLAs’ benefits in terms of enhancing students’ reading strategies and broading students’ vocabulary CLAs also created high motivation in learning reading skills, especially for weak students because they were ale to deal with easier tasks compared to working individually and doing the whole tasks, which was considered rather daunting to them As far as I am concerned, CLAs not only provide students with high motivation to read and improve their reading skills but also create an exciting learning atmosphere in class and develop many necessary soft skills for students I have carried out this method of teaching in my classes and gain successful results Hopefully, my research can be useful reference materials for language teachers and help them teach English in general and reading skills in particular more effectively at school I’m looking forward to having your comments so that my study will become more perfect and applicable Quynh Luu, April, 10th, 2022 37 REFERENCES Tiếng Anh 10- Student’s book - Education Publishing House and Pearson Tiếng Anh 10- Teacher’s book - Education Publishing House and Pearson Adams, D & Hamm, M 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California 11 Kagan, S (1992), Cooperative Learning, CA: Kagan Cooperative learning 12 Larson, S & Dansereau, G (1986), Paired-Reading, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 13 Opitz, M.F (1992), Flexible Grouping in Reading: Practical Ways to Help all Students Become Better Readers, NY: Scholastic, Inc 14 Slavin, R (1997), “Comprehensive Approaches to Cooperative Learning”, THEORY INTO PRACTICE 38(2), Spring 1999, The Ohio State University 15 Slavin, R.E & Madden, N A, (2001), Success for All: Research and Reform in Elementary Education, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 16 Tsai, S (1998), The effects of Cooperative Learning on Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Senior High School Students, MA thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University 17 Wood, K.D & Harmon, J.M (1987), Strategies for Integrating Reading and Writing in Middle and High School Classrooms, National Middle School Association 18 https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-grouping-homogeneous-heterogeneous-benjohnson 38 APPENDIX APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE hiếu kh o s t kiến) Effect of Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) on high school students’ reading skills nh h ng c a c c ho t ng h c h p t c ến k n ng c c a h c sinh T T) c A) Section A: General information: (Thông tin chung) Full name (H v t n):………………….…………Class (L p):………………… Male Female ( (Nam) ) How long have you been learning English? (Em h c Tiếng Anh c bao l u?) - years (3 – năm) – 10 years (7 – 10 năm) years (hơn 10 năm) Section B: c ) Tick the box that apply to you in the following opinion about CLAs in reading classes nh d u v o ph h p v i kiến c a em v nh ng quan i m sau ng h c h p t c gi h c k Reading) Strongly agree: Ho n to n ng ndecided: Ch a x c ng kiến) agree Statements Strongly No ng Agree Strongly disagree: Ho n to n kh ng Undecided Disagree: Kh ng nh Disagree Agree: y v c c ho t ng Strongly disagree ( CLAs make reading lessons less monotonous (C c ho t Reading ng h c h p t c l m tiết nh m ch n hơn) 39 CLAs encourage students to give effective support to each other while learning reading skills (C c ho t ng h c h p t c khuyến kh ch h c sinh h tr qu tr nh h c c) CLAs increase student – student interaction during reading lessons (C c ho t ng h c h p t c l m tăng s t ơng t c gi a h c sinh gi h c) CLAs establish a friendly learning environment in reading classes (C c ho t ng h c h p t c t o m i tr ng h c th n thi n l p h c) CLAs in reading classes are timeconsuming (C c ho t gian) ng h c h p t c t n th i Students find it difficult to conduct CLAs effectively in reading classes (H c sinh th y kh t ch c c c ho t ng h c h p t c hi u qu gi h c c) Students are not confident when working in the same group with better students (H c sinh c m th y kh ng t tin l m vi c c ng nh m v i nh ng b n gi i hơn) CLAs help enhance students’ vocabulary in reading lessons (C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p l m tăng v n t v ng c a h c sinh) 40 CLAs create opportunities for students to learn useful strategies from their peers or their group members when reading in English (C c ho t ng h c h p t c t o h i cho h c sinh h c h i c c chiến thu t c hi u qu t b n c ng c p/nh m v i m nh) 10 CLAs make reading tasks easier for weak students to deal with (C c ho t ng h c h p t cl m cho c c b i t p d d ng v i c c h c sinh yếu) 11 CLAs create high motivation in learning reading skills (C c ho t ng h c h p t c t o ng l c l n cho h c sinh h c k c) 12 CLAs help develop self-study of students (C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p ph t tri n kh t h c c a h c sinh) 13 CLAs help students get information from reading texts more effectively (C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p h c sinh biết c ch l y th ng tin t b i c hi u qu hơn) 14 CLAs help improve high school students’ reading competence (C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p c i thi n k c c a h c sinh THPT) Thank you for your participation and cooperation! 41 Appendix B: Semi-Structured Interview Main questions What you think about the use of CLAs in your reading lessons? Follow-up questions a In your opinion, is it appropriate if the teacher applies frequent CLAs in reading classes? (Em ngh nh n o v vi c p d ng c c ho t ng h c h p t c c c tiết (Theo em, c ph h p kh ng nh h c Reading?) GV p d ng c c ho t ng h c h p t c th ng xuy n c c tiết Reading?) b How CLAs help you and your classmates in learning reading skills? (C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p em v c c b n l p qu tr nh h c c nh n o?) c What you think is the most challenging when learning the reading skills with CLAs? (Em ngh i u g l tr ng i l n nh t h c tiết Reading v i vi c p d ng c c ho t ng h c h p t c?) How CLAs affect your reading skills? a Do you think that you have learned useful reading strategies from your (C c ho t ng h c h p t c c nh h ng classmates in CLAs? If yes, what are ến k c c a em nh n o?) they? (Em c cho r ng em h c cc c chiến thu t c h u ch t b n c a m nh nh v o c c ho t ng h c h p t c hay kh ng? ếu c , em h y cho v d ) b In what ways CLAs help you to improve your reading skills? Please give examples (C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p em c i thi n k c b ng c ch n o? Em h y cho v d ) c What types of CLAs you find the most useful? Why? (Em th y ho t ng h c h p t c n o hi u qu nh t? V sao?) 42 ... 1.3 Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) in Teaching and Learning Reading 1.3.1 Benefits of CLAs in Teaching and Learning Reading skills While the aims of CL are to increase students’ interest... samples of helping improve students’ reading skills through these activities in reading lessons - To increase students’ creativity and autonomy in learning language - To help students learn in free... Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) to improve students’ reading skills in high school? ?? To be honest, there are inevitable shortcomings and mistakes in my study in such limited time I am glad to have