EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERACTIVE PEER SCAFFOLDING (IPS) IN ENHANCING SPEAKING SKILL out

TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration……… i Acknowledgements .ii Abstract iii Contents v List of tables .viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE .5 1.2 RESEARCH AIMS 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.4 HYPOTHESES 1.5 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 DEFINITION OF SCAFFOLDING .9 2.2 ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT .10 2.2.1 Sociocultural Theory 10 2.2.2 Zone of Proximal Development 11 2.2.3 ZPD Assessment 13 2.2.4 ZPD and Scaffolding 14 2.3 FEATURES AND DISCIPLINES OF SCAFFOLDING 16 2.3.1 Features of scaffolding 16 2.3.2 Disciplines of scaffolding 18 2.4 PEER SCAFFOLDING IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING RESEARCH .19 2.5 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERACTIVE SCAFFOLDING AMONG PEERS 21 2.5.1 Scaffolding and achievement 22 2.5.2 Scaffolding, task effort and appreciation of support 24 2.5.3 Support contingency and independent working time in scaffolding small-group work 26 2.5.4 Addressing the challenges of problem-based learning 27 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 SIGNIFICANCES OF RESEARCH 29 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN .29 3.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 30 3.4 PROCEDURES 31 3.4.1 Pilot study 31 3.4.2 Data collection 32 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 34 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 41 5.1 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY 41 5.2 DISCUSSION 41 5.3 IMPLICATIONS 43 5.4 LIMITATIONS 43 5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 44 REFERENCE……………………………………………………………….30 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Statistics questionnaire survey results on using IPS in speaking class Table 3.2 Statistics questionnaire survey results on the effectiveness of using IPS in speaking class EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERACTIVE PEER SCAFFOLDING (IPS) IN ENHANCING SPEAKING SKILL CHAPTER INTRODUCTION In this chapter, I describe main reasons why interactive scaffolding is worth being researched in the context of acquiring English proficiency among EFL learners Research aims, research questions, hypotheses and organization of the study are also given 1.1 RATIONALE The process of learning a language in general and English in particular requires a number of strategies and methods which may serve as effective tools to boost a learner’s linguistic proficiency and to help them achieve their goals Interactive scaffolding, therefore, is one of those instructional boosters providing language pursuers opportunities to experience different interactionbased situations as well as to deal with problems which may emerge in the process of learning a language English acquirement has a close connection with continued interactions among individuals However, due to the differences in every learner’s capabilities, the interactive process might be hindered Thus, Scaffolding, in this case, is required to support those who with poorer English performances Despite being trained for many years, the majority of students in Vietnam mainly expose to English grammar delivered on papers rather than communication skills which are the key to language acquisition Given that case, it is concluded that they possibly fail to perform any speaking tasks in a natural way Hence, interactive scaffolding would assist English learners in coping with a host of difficulties, occurring in daily communicative situations, such as a lack of vocabulary, ideas, incomplete non paper-based grammar, or incorrect pronunciation When those hinderances are overcome, speaking skills will be mastered, making language learning process easier, faster and transferable Interactive scaffolding may also help both competent and incompetent learners to combat psychological problems during the course of learning English, specifically, speaking skills In fact, a classroom setting may hold culturallydivergent students who are probably inexperienced in interactive skills and unfamiliar with classroom social discourse That might trigger hesitancy preventing learners from mastering verbal skills With the interference of interactive scaffolding, every individual will grasp a chance of being intellectually and emotionally supported, as a result, their performances in English acquisition would be enhanced In addition, reticence is a common problem in the context of Asian classrooms where students are too shy to ask questions, so this technique is also significant to reticent students who might overcome their shyness, reticence and attain their goals This way of teaching has been being applied on global educational system but it is still new to Vietnamese one, especially at Cantho University The term “Scaffolding” is still ambiguous to a number of teachers and English learners Therefore, it is worth conducting this research to measure how popular this teaching approach is employed and what effects it may bring about to English learners 1.2 RESEARCH AIMS This study was designed to investigate how popularly interactive scaffolding is used among English-majored classes and what effects learners may have from it 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Based on the research aims, this study attempts to find out the answers to the following questions: To what extent interactive scaffolding is applied in English-specialized classes? What are positive outcomes English-majored learners might have by applying interactive scaffolding? 1.4 HYPOTHESES Interactive scaffolding is only used in English-based classes when students are asked Interactive scaffolding has some positive impacts on English-driven learners:  Enhance their confidence  Improve their range of vocabulary  Grammar and pronunciation mistakes can be corrected  Become more fluent and interactive  Boost their general verbal abilities 1.5 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY This thesis is organized into five following chapters including (1) Introduction, (2) Literature Review, (3) Methodology, (4) Results(5) Discussion, Conclusion, Limitations and Suggestions In chapter 1, all the rationale, aims, research questions, research hypotheses and the organization of the research are presented Chapter concentrates on a general view of the relevant studies to this thesis and gives definitions of key terms used in the study Chapter focuses on the significances of research, research design, participants, instruments and procedures Chapter reports the findings from the questionnaire responses After data is collected from the participants, it will be analyzed by the software SPSS (Statistics Package for the Social Sciences) Chapter gives a summary of the main findings of the study along with the discussion Some limitations are mentioned after that and some suggestions for further studies in this chapter are also presented CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 DEFINITION OF SCAFFOLDING The term “scaffolding” was conceptualized by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976), regarding a kind of assistance provided by a more capable person to a less capable one Capable people include not only teachers, experts but also include more knowledgeable peers who will help the learner to achieve language skills Also, according to (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976, cited in Lantolf, &Appel, 1994, p 40), scaffolding is a discursive mechanism which occurs in “the social interaction that a knowledgeable participant can create, by means of speech, supportive conditions in which the novice can participate in, and extend current skills and knowledge to higher levels of competence” In the process of scaffolding, the teacher helps the student to understand a notion or a concept and complete the task that the student has difficulty figuring it out individually in the beginning With the teacher’s assistance, the student’s capabilities and skills can be exceeded The most important feature of scaffolding is that the student is permitted to participate in different activities and then that one enables to unassisted tasks by his/herself The student can’t help making mistakes which are within the teacher’s expectation but he or she is able to complete the task or attain his or her goals thanks to the teacher’s continual assessment and constructive feedback The student is mainly responsible for mastering the task and will work independently from the teacher as long as he or she gets understood what the teacher conveys to him or her This process is call “fading” or the gradual removal of scaffolding Scaffolding which acts as a knowledge-like bridge enables students to reach what they not now based on what they have known before If scaffolding is appropriately executed, it will play a role as an enabler rather than a disabler (Benson, 1997) Since its birth, the term scaffolding has experienced various interpretation and operation in different contexts such as formal classrooms, parent-child interaction, adult education, mainstream education as well as L2 education The significance of scaffolding has been broadened to the extent that who provides scaffolding is no longer a question, as “expertise” rather than “experts” is becoming the focus (Carmichael-Wong & Vine, 2004) Its use is no longer restricted to face-to-face interaction between an adult/expert and a child/novice For example, many researchers have now considered peer collaboration (e.g Barnard, 2002; De Guerrero& Villamil, 2000; Riazi & Rezaii, 2011; Shehadeh, 2011; Storch, 2007; Van Lier, 2004; Walqui, 2006) and interaction between a teacher and a classroom full of students as scaffolding (e.g Davis & Miyake, 2004; Many, Dewberry, Taylor, & Coady, 2009) 2.2 ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT 2.2.1 Sociocultural Theory Sociocultural Theory (SCT) is an approach to human sciences with the purpose of explaining and developing a connection between mental functioning and the cultural, institutional and historical conditions in which mental functioning happens (Van Lier, 2004 as cited in Pishghadam & Ghadiri, 2011) It directly emphasizes the link between social context and individuals’ psychological development (Bruffee, 1993, 1996; Gere, 1987 as cited in Tsai, 2006) Vygotsky (1978, 1981 &1987) is fundamentally concerned with the thesis that the development of human cognitive functions proceeds from the social or interpsychological plane to the individual or intrapsychological plane, with the use of symbolic, socioculturally developed tools the most important of which is language In other words, SCT regards human mental functioning as necessarily a mediated process which is organized by artifacts, activities and concepts (Lantolf, 2000) In addition, as Lantolf & Thorne (2007) point out, although Vygotsky does not reject the neurobiological factors for the development of higher order thinking ability he mainly focuses on the significance of interaction occurring within social contexts for developing human cognitive ability Generally, in SCT learners are treated as active meaning-makers and problem-solvers in their process of learning with the great emphasis on the learning which stems from interaction and negotiations of meaning among individuals The notion of ZPD is considered significant in SCT since it is the region in which the transition from interpsychological functions turns into intrapsychological functions It is believed that a variety of internal developmental functions will be activated by learning and this process only happens provided that the child interacts with the peers or adults in a social environment (Fahim & Haghani, 2012) However, it should be mentioned that the current view of the ZPD has been expanded beyond the interaction between an expert and a novice Recent research seeks to gain a better understanding on how L2 learning is mediated in the ZPD by looking more closely at peer interactions in the ZPD In other words, ZPD is considered as providing an opportunity to learn with and from others (Anton, 1999; Lantolf, 2000; Wells, 1998) 2.2.2 Zone of Proximal Development The concept of zone of proximal development (ZPD) was developed by Lev Semenovich Vygotsky during the late 1920s and elaborated progressively until his death in 1934 In Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Vygotsky defined the ZPD as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peer” (p 86) That is, the ZPD was understood by Vygotsky to describe the current or actual level of development of the learner and the next level attainable through the use of mediating semiotic and environmental tools and capable adult or peer facilitation The idea is that individuals learn best when working together with others during joint collaboration, and it is through such collaborative endeavors with more skilled persons that learners learn and internalize new 10 At the same time, in the second stage, in the learning process, almost all students listen to and pay attention to the teacher's explanation and important information about learning goals, materials to learn, Videos and images are displayed When the results of a group discussion require a conversation between students, most students can present it to class without needing or reading the text Compared to the first cycle, English speaking ability will become better or better During discussions, 75% of students are able to share ideas with their partners about chats assigned to students During the second cycle, all students from the second and fourth meetings come to class on time, so that during learning, students listen more carefully and pay attention to important information provided by the teacher and watch videos related to your research topic When playing a role, almost all students can speak English in front of class without carrying and reading the text, so they are more confident sharing ideas or ideas with their friends Students' English skills have been greatly improved compared to previous courses Second, in the first cycle, from a student's learning motivation perspective, less than 25% of students enthusiastically participate in learning activities during the learning process Some students cannot listen to good videos When playing the role, most students not want to appear in front of the class During the second cycle, more than 75% of students feel motivated to keep track of learning activities Students listen to the displayed video carefully, and some students ask the teacher about teaching materials and videos Then, in the second cycle, third and fourth meetings, all students were more enthusiastic about learning activities Almost all students share their thoughts and ideas with group members about the conversation to be presented to the class Students are also willing to play a role with their partners in front of the classroom without having to be pre-assigned by the teacher Third, in the first cycle, judging from the positive response given by the students, no students tried to express their opinion Only 37% of students eagerly answered the teacher's questions during the learning process Then, 38 during the course of study, students questioned the difficulties students could understand the materials being taught and the videos being displayed Discussion Activity During the first cycle, almost all the students are ready to come up with ideas and ideas, but there are also some students who have difficulty respecting and accepting the ideas of their friends about the materials they are studying and group dialogue However, in the second cycle, students responded very positively and more than 75% of students tried their opinion When the teacher asks some questions and explains the material, it changes more in the second cycle than in the first cycle Unlike the first and second cycle, during the second cycle almost all students ask questions regarding the material and video presented, although these questions are often more personal When the teacher supervises students discussing with friends in the group All students can explain their ideas and their friends' ideas so they can have a good conversation In the second cycle, all four students responded, which is very good Students can answer the teacher's questions well The whole group can have a good conversation with what they have learned During each cycle, students participate well in learning activities All students are ready to the homework and homework assigned by the teacher 39 CHAPTER DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 5.1 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY The study project “Effectiveness of interactive peer scaffolding in enhancing speaking skill” was conducted to determine the effectiveness of peer-to-peer scaffolding interactions in improving English communication skills The study was conducted based on primary data collected through questionnaires for 96 students majoring in English at Can Tho University and observed speaking hours of an English-major class The results of the study have shown that at Can Tho University, applying the IPS method in speaking classes is still only at an average level, not really often Peer-to-peer interaction has brought many positive changes in improving students' speaking skills In addition, by observing the two cycles of a speaking class of English major students at Can Tho University, there was a clear improvement in students' speaking skills when applying the IPS method, it helps students listen more attentively to the lecture, the class takes place more seriously, students are more confident in sharing their own ideas and actively participate in learning activities in class From the research results, the author gives the implications to help teachers and students majoring in English to have solutions to increase peer interaction in the speaking classroom to improve their speaking skills 5.2 DISCUSSION Through the survey results presented in Chapter of this study, it has partly clarified and found answers to two research questions posed in chapter At Can Tho University, applying the method IPS in the classroom speaking is still only average, not really often The survey results of 20 questions on the degree of applying the IPS method in the speaking classroom show that the majority of questions have an average score ranging from 2.47 to 3.74, this is a fairly 40 low average Therefore, the educational managers at Can Tho University need measures to make the use of IPS method in speaking lessons of British students more popular and regular For the second research question about the positive effects of using IPS in a speaking classroom on English majors, the two research methods, survey and observational, are given Seeing that applying the IPS method in speaking lessons brings many positive effects for learners Results of 10 survey questions about the effectiveness of the IPS method all have an average score of 3.64 or more, the highest score is 4.09 for the question about IPS they were more likely to develop ideas for a new topic In addition, by observing the two cycles of a speaking class by English major students at Can Tho University, there was a clear improvement in students' speaking skills when using the IPS method, it helps students listen more attentively to the lecture, the class takes place more seriously, students are more confident in sharing their own opinions and actively participate in learning activities in class The research has also initially verified the validity of the hypotheses set out in Chapter of this study as follows The research hypothesis is that IPS works to help English learners improve their confidence This hypothesis can be accepted, but the level of impact is not much, the survey results show that the average score for this question has the lowest average score among 10 survey questions (3.64 scale) The next hypothesis is that IPS helps learners improve their vocabulary, which is completely consistent with the survey results The majority of survey participants agree with this opinion (the average score is 4.04) For the hypotheses that the IPS can correct their grammar and pronunciation errors and enhance their general ability, this positive effect exists, but the impact levels are all moderate 41 With the hypothesis that IPS helps English learners speak English more fluently, the survey results show that IPS has not really had a strong impact on students' English speaking fluency, but only average (the average score of this question is the 2nd lowest out of 10 surveyed questions at 3.79) 5.3 IMPLICATIONS Speaking teaching requires careful preparation in each lesson to create meaningful and interesting activities and tasks that attract participant responses Based on the results of this study, it has been shown that peer-topeer scaffolding has a positive effect on improving learners' speaking skills, from which this activity can be classified as a teaching method speak English effectively Peer-to-peer scaffolding interactive activities help learners be more interested in learning to speak English, memorize vocabulary better, not only improve their English speaking skills, it also contributes to help learners perfect soft skills such as communication skills The use of games and teamwork will be beneficial in improving speaking when peer scaffolding is better integrated with other technologies Practice has proven that it is an effective way to improve students' speech Students are able to create grammatically correct sentences, have more vocabulary in spoken language, speak more fluently, and gain ideas in conversation more easily Hence, peer scaffolding through group games and activities is implied to be able to be used as an effective English teaching strategy 5.4 LIMITATIONS Because the study scope of the topic focuses only on students majoring in English language at Can Tho University, the study results cannot represent all English learners in general Besides, the study only used two research methods, namely survey method and observation method Therefore, the research results cannot adequately 42 cover all aspects of the effectiveness of peer interaction in improving speaking skills Although the research still has limitations as mentioned above, the researcher hopes that the research results will contribute to help teachers and students in general and teachers and students at Can Tho University You can find out effective English speaking teaching and learning methods 5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH It is extremely important to study the effectiveness of peer-to-peer scaffolding interactions on improving English speaking skills Being aware of the magnitude of the problem, the author conducted this study, but due to the limited time of the study, despite great efforts, this study still has certain limitations Therefore, the author has some recommendations for future studies as follows: (1) Future studies related to this issue needs to broaden the scope of research across universities that have specialized English language training in order for the study results to be greater generalization and reliability (2) Future studies should supplement data collection methods through pretest and post-test and verify the effectiveness by T-Test analysis to get the most accurate assessment of level of progress of learners when performing peer scaffolding interaction (3) Future studies may expand research subjects on the effectiveness of peer scaffolding in improving English reading comprehension, writing or listening skills 43 REFERENCE McCracken, M and Wallace, M (2000), "Towards a redefinition of strategic HRD", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol 24 No 5, pp 281-290 44 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE Effectiveness of interactive peer scaffolding (IPS) in enhancing speaking skill Dear Students, My name is Trần Thị Mỹ Linh (Student’s ID: M1616068) and I am a Master student in Principles and Methods in English Language Education at Can Tho University I am working on my MA thesis on the effectiveness of interactive peer scaffolding (IPS) in speaking I would like to invite you to participate in my study by answering this questionnaire which asks about the positive effects of IPS on EFL learners’ speaking skill Your responses are important to my thesis Therefore, please kindly read the situations carefully and give your answers honestly There are three parts in the questionnaire and it should take you about 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire All your information will be kept confidential and used for this research only Should you have any questions, please contact me at mylinh210694@gmail.com or my supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Thị Phương Hồng at ntphong@ctu.edu.vn PART 1: PARTICIPANT’S INFORMATION Please answer these questions 1) What is your major? Please tick the answer  English Studies  English Translation and Interpretation  English Language Education 2) What is your cohort? Please tick the answer  K41  K42 45  K43  K44 3) How old are you? ……………………………………………… 4) Are you male or female?  Male  Female 5) What is your email address? ……………………………………………… Please read the definition of scaffolding carefully and give your answers to the questions below by putting a tick in the appropriate squares “Scaffolding is a kind of assistance provided by more capable people such as peers, teachers, experts in the process of learning a language, specifically English In this method, less capable people are helped to a certain task which they fail to master in the beginning After being helped, those individuals can work independently without depending on peers, teachers or expert any longer.” 6) Have you scaffolded your peers when you work together in the speaking class?  Yes  No 7) Have you ever been scaffolded by your peers when you work together in the speaking class? 46  Yes  No PART II: THE USE OF IPS IN SPEAKING CLASS In this part, you are invited to tell how often you gave and received interactive scaffolding among peers in your English speaking class Please put a tick in the appropriate box that indicates your answers Level of frequency Scaffolding-based situations among peers Neve r Rarel y Sometime s Often Alway s I explained to my friends the meaning of a word they did not know I was given the meaning of a word I did not know I provided my friends with vocabulary to answer questions from teachers I was provided with vocabulary to answer questions from teachers 5.I supported my friend with vocabulary to discuss a topic in class 6.I was supported with vocabulary to discuss a topic in class 7.I supported my friend with ideas discuss a topic in class 8.I was supported with ideas to discuss a topic in class 9.I supported my friend with grammatical structures to discuss a topic in class 10.I was supported with grammatical structures to discuss a topic in class 11.I helped my friends give a presentation 47 12.I was helped to give a presentation 13.I helped my friends to pronounce a word 14.I was corrected how to pronounce a word 15.I helped my friends how to make a sentence with a difficult structure 16.I was helped to make a sentence with a difficult structure 17 I assisted with friends in communicating with foreign teachers 18.I was assisted to communicate with foreign teachers 19.I helped my friends practice given topics before exams 20.I was helped to practice given topics before exams PART III THE EFFECTS OF INTERACTIVE PEERS SCAFFOLDING In this part, there are ten statements about the effectiveness of IPS Please put a tick in the appropriate box that indicates your agreement The effects of interactive scaffolding among peers Level of agreement strongly disagree disagree neutral agree strongl y agree IPS helps me expand my range of vocabulary IPS helps me develop more ideas when dealing with new topics IPS helps me learn more new grammatical structures IPS improves my grammar (I can use those grammatical structures that I have learnt previously.) IPS helps me be able to correct my grammatical mistakes by myself 48 IPS improves my pronunciation skills IPS helps me be able to speak English without preparation and hesitation IPS helps me become more fluent IPS helps me speak English with confidence 10 IPS helps me be able to express my thoughts more easily APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET I/ General information Observation class:………………………………………………………………… Observation time:……………………………………………………………………… Observed content Result Class size Discipline in the classroom Student activities in the learning process Students' learning dynamics Student responses to classroom activities Classroom atmosphere Student progress 49 50 ... study project ? ?Effectiveness of interactive peer scaffolding in enhancing speaking skill? ?? was conducted to determine the effectiveness of peer- to -peer scaffolding interactions in improving English... class EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERACTIVE PEER SCAFFOLDING (IPS) IN ENHANCING SPEAKING SKILL CHAPTER INTRODUCTION In this chapter, I describe main reasons why interactive scaffolding is worth being researched... strategic HRD", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol 24 No 5, pp 281-290 44 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE Effectiveness of interactive peer scaffolding (IPS) in enhancing speaking skill Dear Students,