INTRODUCTION 1
Aims of the study 2
The study is aimed at investigating to clarify how group work is used in the speaking class of the 1 st year students at CMM To be specific, the objectives of the study are :
- To clarify students’ opinions of the use of group work activities in the speaking class
- To find the factors that influence the teachers in their application of group work in the speaking class of the 1 st year students at CMM
- To suggest practical recommendations for the possibility of group work in the speaking class of the 1 st year students at CMM.
Scope of the study 2
To improve speaking skill of the 1 st year students at CMM, the researcher intends to investigate the current situation of using group work in the speaking class of the 1 st year students at CMM and then making some suggestions for improvement it The study was carried out with the participation of 70 first-year students and 8 teachers of English.
Research questions 2
This study is implemented to find answers to the following research questions:
1 What do the students think of the use of group work activities in the speaking class of the first year students at CMM?
2 What facilitates and hinders the teachers from using group work in the speaking class at CMM ?
3 What suggestions for improvement should be used to make group work activities successful in speaking class of the first year students at CMM?
Methods of the study 3
In order to examine the situation of the study, this research used questionnaires The data collected from the questionnaires (both for students and teachers), will be analyzed and generalized.
Design of the study 3
The study has three main parts as follows:
This part introduces the rationale, the aims, the scope and the design of the study
This part consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature review Chapter 2: Research methodology Chapter 3: Findings and recommendations
This part summaries all the major findings and suggestions The limitations of the study and recommendations for the further studies are also include in this part.
Literature Review 4
Speaking skill and teaching speaking skill 4
There are various definitions of speaking and the popular acceptance comes from Jones, R (1989:86) who defines speaking as “Speaking is a form of communication, so it is important that what you say conveyed in the most effective way.” Speaking is one of the basic skills that must be mastered by students since it is very important for them to communicate in the class or outside the class They must practice it especially in learning teaching in order to be fluent, without an ability to speak, it would be impossible to have a natural communication among people Brown and Yule (1989:14) state in their book “Speaking is to express the needs request, information, service, etc.” The speakers say a word to the listener not only to express what in their mind but also to express what they need Most people might spend their everyday life communicating with others Bygate (1987) claims that
"speaking is a skill which deserves attention as much as the literary skills in both native and foreign languages" When students speak in a confident and comfortable way, they can interact better in real daily situations Because of this, it is necessary to encourage the development of the students' ability of fluency in spoken English
Developing fluency implies taking risks by using language in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere-an atmosphere of trust and support Speaking fluently, of course, involves speaking easily and appropriately with others
1.1.2 Teaching and learning speaking skill
People use oral language as their most means of communication-all people have developed a form of oral language Skill and fluency in speaking have dramatic effects upon life in general The recent emphasis on communication has focused particular attention on ways of promoting speaking skills This is a question of developing not only language competence but also language use Speaking activities aim, therefore, to develop the confidence, desire, and ability to use the target language accurately and appropriately and effectively for the purposes of communication as well Teaching speaking is to prepare students to be able to use language How this preparation is done and how successful it is depend on how we as teachers understand our aims For students, learning to speak a foreign language is considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of language learning To help students be able to use that foreign language to express themselves intelligibly, reasonably, accurately without too much hesitation, teachers must provide them with an environment within in which they can communicate freely, and in which they can work together independently with only the minimum amount of direction from the teachers In the light of what is known about the nature of language learning process and given many demands while speaking activities can make learners, it is important to set attainable objectives and to have realistic expectation about learners' achievements This requires a certain attitude on the part of the teachers towards the learners' performance, particularly with regard to the class organization as group work and the use of communicative strategies to teach simultaneously
1.2 Group work in a speaking lesson 1.2.1 Definitions of group work
Group work has been incorporated into language teaching and learning in most parts of the world since the emergence of the CLT up work, in a language class, is a co-operative during which students share aims and responsibilities to complete a task assigned by the teacher in groups or in pairs
According to Sprott (cited in Metcalfe 1959:9), " a group as a number of people who interact with another one, who are psychological aware of one another and who perceive themselves to be a group" Doff (1988:137) defines group work is a process that “the teacher divides the class into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), as in pair work, all the groups work at the same time.”
In spite of the different definitions, it can be said that in group work, all the members have chances to cooperate with others They learn to negotiate to listen to different opinions They participate more equally and in most cases they feel free to experiment and use the language In group work, the focus is not only on the product but also on the process and the skills which are activated in order to achieve it
Davis (1993) divides group work into 3 types:
Informal learning groups are temporary clusterings of the students with a single class session Informal learning groups can be initiated, for example, by asking students to turn to partners and spend several minutes discussing a question the teacher has raised The teacher can also form groups of three or five to solve a problem Informal learning groups can be organized at anytime in a class of any size to check on students' understanding of the material, to give students an opportunity to apply what they are learning, or to provide a change of pace Informal learning groups have a short lifetime ranging from a few minutes to the class period With informal learning groups, the tasks are generally created quickly, for example, the teacher may say "discuss the questions with your partners" and have little explanation
Formal learning groups are teams established to complete a specific task, such as perform a lab experiment, write a report, or carry out a project These groups may complete their task in a single class session or over several weeks Typically, students work together until the task is finished and their work is graded Formal learning groups can last several days or several weeks They require more planning
They also have greater explanation
Study teams are long-term groups (usually existing during the course of a semester) with stable membership whose primary responsibility is to provide members with support, encouragement, and assistance in completing course requirements and assignments Study teams also inform their members about lectures and assignments when someone has missed a session The larger the class the more complex the subject matter, the more valuable study teams can be
1.2.3 The advantages and disadvantages of using group work 1.2.3.1 Advantages
Clearly, group work can increase the student talking time, which increases the speaking skill In other word, group work helps improved communication The students who have little chance to talk to each other now can share ideas, become close in the short time and above all solve the common problem assigned by the teacher
Besides, working in groups helps students to produce greater output Simply because of the number of people involved, each with different experience, knowledge, points of view and values, a larger number and variety of ideas can be given Moreover, the exchange of the ideas in the group can act as a stimulus which will encourage individuals to give more ideas, more opinions and therefore contribute more to group work activities
In addition to this, group work helps to reduce bias The shared responsibility in a group in coming to decisions can encourage individuals to explore seemingly realistic ideas and to challenge accepted ways of doing things Individual biases and prejudices can be challenged by the group, forcing the individual to recognize them
Group pressure can also encourage individuals to accept that change is need
Finally, students’ group work frees the teacher from the usual role of “an expert who always lectures” and allows him/her to walk to each group, to guide, to answer questions from students or to encourage students to work actively
One obvious disadvantage is the noise made by the group who have a big argument on the problem or by the group who are so excited about working with one another
It is hard for the teacher to control these kinds of groups This can distract the other groups
The very bad effect of working in groups is that many passive students or lazy students let their friends do everything provided that they still have their names in the group’s result