TEACHING SPEAKING LESSON BY USING GROUP WORK AND PAIR WORK AT HO TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL

BAC NINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE TEACHING SPEAKING LESSON BY USING GROUP WORK AND PAIR WORK AT HO TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL Writer Nguyen Lan Phuong Class SPTA – K34A Guider Nguyen Thi Thu Vien Departmen.

BAC NINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE TEACHING SPEAKING LESSON BY USING GROUP WORK AND PAIR WORK AT HO TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL Writer: Nguyen Lan Phuong Class: SPTA – K34A Guider: Nguyen Thi Thu Vien Department: Foreign Language Academic year: 2016 - 2017 THE TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION I II III IV V Reasons for choosing topic Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study PART II: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS Chapter 1: Theoretical foundation I II Overview of speaking skill Definition of speaking skill Elements of speaking skill 2.1 Accuracy 2.2 Fluency Teaching speaking skill 3.1 Methods of teaching speaking skill 3.2 Stages of a speaking lesson Overview of group work and pair work Definition of group work and pair work The organization of group work and pair work II.1 The formation II.2 Group size II.3 Procedures for group work and pair work II.4 Some common activities for group and pair work II.5 Some problem in conducting group work and pair work Chapter 2: Finding and discussion I II III The reality of using group work and pair work in speaking lesson of teachers at Lien Bao secondary school Finding Applying “using group work and pair work” in speaking lesson PART III: CONCLUSION I II III Summary of the study Limitations of the study Recommendation for using pair work and group work REFERENCES APPENDIXES Appendixe: Questionaire for teachers PART I: INTRODUCTION I Reasons for choosing topic: Everybody has learned their language since they were children, especially their mother tongue The process occurs naturally and properly with a view to communicate in society environtment Communication is a part of human’s daily activities Through communication by using language, we can share our ideas and thoughts with other people In that way, a smooth interaction between people can take place In line with the more sophisticated world, we are demanded to be able to communicate not only by using our mother tongue but also by using a foreign language, especially English which is obviously more difficult to since we have a limitation of knowledge about foreign language On the other hand as an international language, English is used to communicate information, chiefly in science and technology English has been the first foreign language taught formally in Vietnam for years With regard to the new curriculum, students of primary beginning from the threeth class have an opportunity to learn English at school Thus, English becomes a compulsory subject, taught to the students from primary school to university School as formal instituation not only has a role to expand academic ability, but also other ability such as social skill and emotion Speaking, as one of the linguistic skills, is often perceived to be a task that comes naturally to an individual Culture plays a very significant role in determine how a language is spoken Teaching speaking is not easy, moreover if the students not use English in their daily life as well The students will not have a courage to speak without enough knowledge and bravery Besides, there are many aspects that discourage the students to speak In this case I hope that the students can improve their ability to master English, especially in speaking skill The appropriate method in teaching speaking to the students is really important especially for the students at Ho town secondary school For the reason above, I takes “Teaching speaking lesson by using group work and pair work” as the title of this paper II Aims of the study: This study is aimed at investigating the use of group work and pair work techniques in speaking lesson at Ho town secodary school To be specific, the aims of the study are: - To clarify the frequency of using group work and pair work activities in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school - To prove the hypothesis that the two techniques: group work and pair work will help teachers increase students’ participation and interest in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school III Research questions: How often are group work and pair work techniques applied in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase students’ interest in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase students’ participation in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? IV Scope of the study: There are variety of techniques to encourage students to participate in speaking lesson However, it is not my intention to cover all of them because of the time and the length of the study, only two techniques, group work and pair work are investigated in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school The advantages of two techniques were found out by interviewing, surveying teachers of English at Ho town secondary school V Methods of the study: Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to carry out the study The data were collected by means of questionaires and interviews PART II: FINDING AND DISCUSSION Chapter 1: Theoretical foundation I Overview of speaking skill Definition of speaking skill As far as I am concerned, there has been a myriad of definition of speaking According to the Oxford Dictionary of Curent English (2009), speaking is “the action of conveying information or expressing ones’ thoughts and feeings in spoken language” Chaney (1998), however, considered speaking a process: “speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal or non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts” Sharing the same viewpoint, Florez (1999) added tht speaking is an “interative” process, which consists of three main stages “procuding, receiving and processing information” In language teaching and learning, speaking is considered a skill to practise and master In this light, Nunan (2003) put it that “speaking is the productive oral skill It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning” Also considering speaking as a skill, Bygate (1987) investigated the distintion between knowledge and skill in speaking lesson, which he considered as crucial in the teaching of speaking Indeed, to be a good learner of speaking, studying knorledge of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, etc is not enough but the skill to use this knowledge to communicate successfully is indispensable In brief, there are different concepts of speaking, i.e speaking as an action, a process and a skill In this study, the term “speaking” will be used to refer to a skill related to language teaching and learning Elements of speaking skill 2.1 Accuracy: Recognizably, accuracy is one of the most important criteria to measure one’s linguistic ability and to shelter language users from communication breakdowns According to Richards (1992), accuracy concerns “the ability to produce grammatically correct sentence” In other words, accuracy in language means grammatical accuracy only Nevertheless, in Thornbury (2000), the terms “accuracy” seems to cover more than that Specifically, speaking English accurately means doing without or with errors on not only grammar but vocabulary and pronunciation, as well He also set the clear for assessment of accuracy - Grammar: Students use correct words order, tenses, tense agreement, etc Students not leave out articles, prepositions, or difficult tenses - Vocabulary: Students have a range of vocabulary that corresponds to the syllabus year list and uses words you have taught - Pronunciation: Students speak and most people understand Even broader than that, Lim (1994) difined accuracy as “the ability to use correct forms in which utterances not contain errors affecting phonological, syntatic, semantic and discourse features of the language” 2.2 Fluency: Fluency is also used as a creterion to measure one’s speaking competence Speaking fluently means being able to communicate one’s ideas without having to stop and think too much about what one is saying Richards (1992) defined fluency as “the features which gave speech the qualities of being natural and normal.” More specifically, Thornbuy (2000) pointed out the criteria for assessing fluency: - Lack of hesitation: Students speak smoothly, at a natural speech They not hesitate long and it is easy to follow what they are saying - Length: Students can put ideas together to form a message or an argument They can make not only the simplest of sentence patterns but also complex ones to complete the task - Independence: Students are able to express their ideas in a number of ways, keep talking and ask questions, etc to keep the conversation going Teaching speaking skill 3.1 Methods of teaching speaking skill: So far, teaching foreign language in general and teaching speaking skill in particular has experienced three main methods, i.e grammar-translation, audiolingual and communicative language teaching (CLT), respectively Wheares the two previous methods show a big number of drawbacks resulting in learner’s failure to make achievement in speaking skill, CLT which emphasizes “learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.” (Nuna, 1991) considerably enhances students’ communicative skill In the CLT classrooms, students are supposed work in pairs or groups requiring negotiation and cooperation to not only accuracy-based tasks but also fluency-based ones Besides, they are provided with authentic activities and meaningful tasks, students feel free with real-life communication As a result, they are active in producing their own output and learning new language through doing with mistakes Teacher’s feedback, in this case, appears to be more important than ever 3.2 Stages of a speaking lesson: In Terry (2008) ‘s presentation about “How to speaking in an EFL class”, it was proposed that a speaking lessons consists of three main stages Specifically, in the pre-communicative stage, teachers are supposed to introduce the communicative function, highlight the fixed expression, point out the target structure and provide students with the necessary vocabulary and the language of interaction In the parctice stage, teachers prompt and correct students if necessary In the last stage of communicative interaction, teachers encourage language negotiation among students, take notes of any aspects that may hinder communication such as pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc After this stage, teachers give students feedback on pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary and ask students to repeat the task if necessary II Overview of group work and pair work Definition of group work and pair work: Pair work is a process in which “the teacher devides the whole class in pairs Every student works with his or her partner in pairs, and all the pairs work at the same time (It is sometimes called “simultaneous pair work”) This is not the same aas “public” or “open” pair work, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front of the class” (Doff,1988) There are two main types of pair work: fixed pairs and flexible pairs given by Byrne (1983) In the former, students work with the same partners they like This may make the activity more interesting but the class noiser It can be seen that pair work can get students to practise the target language more and increase students’ talking time in the class Doff (1988) also defines group work as a process that “the teacher devides the class into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group, air in pair work, all the groups work at the same time” Like pair work, group work also gives students more opportunities to practice the target language in the whole class In addition, students can work independently and freely under the teacher’s control without the pressure of the whole class watching what they are doing The organization of pair work and group work 2.1 The formation We have decided how to put individual students into pairs and groups There are a number of factors we might consider when doing this According to Harmer (1999), we can base such decision on any of the following principles: • Friendship: A key consideration when putting students in pairs or groups is to make sure that we put friends with friends rather than risking the possibility of people working with other whom they find difficult or unpleasant However, • • • • • • our observation may not always accurate and friendship can change from time to time We can also ask students to get into pairs or groups with whom they like But letting students choose their partner(s) in this way may exclude less popular students In addition, a sociogram can be used to group students In this way, students are asked to write their name, the students they like best in the class on a piece of paper and the students they don’t like on the other side The teacher can use this information to make sociograms However, sociograms are time consuming and also fail to answer the problem of what to with unpopular students Streaming: Students can be streamed according to their ability The first suggestion is that pairs and groups should have a mixture of weaker and stronger students Therefore, the more able students can help their less able students The second one is that we can create groups in which all the students are at the same level This may give us the opportunity to go to a group of weaker students and give them special help they need However, some of the values of cooperative work may be lost Besides, we can stream students on the basis of participation Students less participating in the lesson may be put together in a group However, the teacher should observe and support them in order to make them concerntrate more on the lesson Chance: Students can be put in pairs and groups by chance This is the easiest way since it demands little pre-planning We can have students sitting next to or near each other work in pairs or groups Also, students can be put in pairs or groups at random based on the order of their birthday, or some similar features such as wearing glasses, wearing black, or green, having the same occupation, etc Changing group: The group may change while an activity continues Students can first work in pairs then in groups of four, then groups of eight, or even sixteen Additionally, teahcers can groups based on following criteria given by Honeyfield (1991) Free grouping: Students make their own decision about who to work with Same proficiency level grouping: students of the same proficiency level are grouped together Mixed proficiency level grouping: students are grouped so that each group has a mix of proficiency levels • Random grouping: students are located to group in some random way on the basic of who is sitting next to whom in the class • Grouping based on other diffirences: in a mxed class, students are grouped so that each group has a mix of some other characteristics, e.g sex, age, nationality, mother tongue or ethnic orgin In short, our parting and grouping decision is made based on a variety of factors We can put students in pairs or in groups diffirently according to our own purpose or the class’s atmosphere or characteristic 2.2 Group size: Froup size is one thing we need to consider when getting studnets to form groups We may consider the question: “Are smaller groups better for learning than larger ones?” According to Honerfield (1991), the smaller group is, the more “talking time” there is for each participant If the time available is ten minutes, each member of pair could talk for five minutes, while each member of a group of four could talk for only two and a half minutes (provided that the participants share the talking time equally) However, Honeyfield (1991) also points out that “the smaller groups are, the more groups there are, so the teacher has more motoring to and the less practical it is to have groups report back to the class.” In addition, group size can be determined by types of tasks Moreover, for realworrld tasks, “it may be necessary to have the same number of learners in a group as would occur in real life” (Honeyfield, 1991) This group size is determined by the nature of the task itself 2.3 Procedures for pair work and group work Harmer (1999) suggess three stages in carying out pải work and group work as follows: Before: we need to give instructions to let students understand what they are going to do, give them ideas of when they will have finished the task they are going to get involved in Sometimes, we may ask them to repeat the instructions or to translate them into their first language so as to check that they understand In some cases, our instructions may involve a demonstration During: while students are working in pairs or groups we have a number of options We could, for instance, stand at the front of the side of the class or anywhere else in the classroom, and keep an eye on what is happening Therefore, (C)Praise and encourage students 40 (D)Do nothing 0 (E)Both B and C 20 Table Things the teachers odten when the students work in pair and group According to the table, the things the tachers usually dis most was going around the class and supporting Doing that would encourage the students to work and control them as well Also, the students would participate in the lesson more Moreover, they said that going around the class they could help the pairs or the groups that had problems None of them sits at the teacher’s desk and observed, As for them, they could control the whole class and found out the pairs and the groups working well or badly, and then gave recommendation 40% of them paising and encouraging students, which might make students more confident In addition, some of them even went around the class, supported their students and encouraged them as well They said doing that the interaction between them and their students would be closer  How many students you prefer to have in each group? Number of students in a group (A)3 (B)4-5 (C)6 (D)More than Number of teachers Table Group size Percent (%) 20 60 20 The data showed that almost all the teachers pointed out that each group usually included or students Besides, out of teachers often grouped students together, wheares only teacher preferred having students in a group None of them would like to put more than students in one group The reason was that having a lot of students in a group would be difficult for students to discuss, and they would have fewer opportunities to practice the target language The way of grouping Number of teachers (A)Students at the same table (B)Students who like to work with each other (C)Students with different proficiency level of English (D)Students with the same level of proficiency Table How to group students Percents (%) 60 20 20 According to table 9, many teachers prefered grouping students at the same table together (60%), only 20% of them grouped students with different proficiency level of English, wheares none of them likes putting students with the same level of proficiency in a group II Finding This section presents the answer to the original research questions proposed at the beginning of the thesis How often are group work and pair work techniques applied in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? It was obvious that the two techniques: pair work and group work were often used in English classes at Ho town secondary school Most of the students liked working in pairs and groups as they could practice the target language more, and learn from their oartners as well Also, all the teachers confirmed that they often asked their students to work in pairs or groups This proved the importance of pair work and group work techniques to teaching and learning process However, some students did not like working in pairs and i groups beacause of their low level of proficiency especilly lacking vocabulary Instead of discussing the problems given, they talked about others in their mother tongue This matter needs considering when pair work and group work activities are taken place in classes Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase students’ interest in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? The research results showed that most of the students found pair work and group work interesting In other words, they were interested in working in pairs and in groups This indicated that the students’ interest was increased when they took part in pair work and group work activities It was not surprising to find out that the majority of the students felt active and free as they were put in pairs and groups to work together They became self-centered in their learning while their teacher worked as a consultant or a supervisor Working in pairs and groups, the students could express their opinions without being afraid of losing their face Thus, they felt comfortable in the class Therefore, their desire to learn the target language would be raised Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase students’ participation in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? As can be seen from the study, pair work and group work activities gave the students more opportunities to practice the tareget language, which was pointed out by most of the teachers and the students In other words, the students would get more involved in the lesson In addition, the students could help each other and learn from each other in pairs and in groups A large number of the students revealed that they prefered working in pairs and groups as they were able to learn a lot from their partners especially the ones who were at higher level of proficiency Therefore, pair work and group work activities could get almost the students in the class to contribute to the lesson However, the teacher should provide the students in the class with necessary vocabulary and clear instruction in order to make pair work and group work activities morw effective Also, the group size should include from to students who were at different level of proficiency Sometimes, the teacher could give students a chance to choose their partners, which might increase their participation and interest in the task given III Applying “using group work and pair work” in speaking lesson UNIT 10: SOURCES OF ENERGY LESSON 2: CLOSER LOOK A Aims: - By the end of the lesson, ss will be able to pronounce stress three-syllable words B Language knowledge: - Vocabulary: Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of different sources of energy available, abundant, exhaustible, enormous, limited >< unlimited - Pronunciation: stress in three-syllable words C Teaching aids: lesson plan, textbook, CD… D Skills: Speaking, Listening, Reading E Procedures: I Warm up: - Greeting - Have some ss repeat the words/phrases indicating types of energy sources in the present lesson: solar, wind, oil, nuclear, gas, coal, water II New lesson Contents I, Pre-Speaking 1, Vocabulary: available (a): có sẵn abundant (a): nhiều, phong phú exhaustible (a): cạn kiệt harmful (a): có hại enormous (a): to lớn limited (a): hạn chế >< unlimited (a): không hạn chế 2, Ex1 – page 40: Put the words below into the table to describe the types of energy *Key: Sources of Advantage(s) Disadvantage( energy s) wind abundant, not available unlimited water/hydro clean and safe expensive, not available solar renewable, expensive plentiful, clean and safe biogas renewable, harmful, polluting plentiful, available, clean and safe nuclear renewable, expensive, clean and safe dangerous coal/oil/nat abundant harmful, ural/gas exhaustible, polluting II, While-Speaking: 1, Ex2 – page 40: Compare your answers with a partner Example: A: I think biogas is renewable B: Me too I also think it is abundant and Teacher’s activities Students’ activities -Elicits answers from ss - Asks ss to read in chorus and individually - Checks and corrects ss’ pronunciation -Give the answers - Read in chorus and individually - Correct pronunciation - Devides class into groups and asks each group to read the words in the box and discuss their meaning - Explains the new or different words if necessary - Ask each group to write on the board words to describe the advantages and disadvantages of energy sources in two columns - Checks and confirms the correct answer as a class -Form two groups - Read the words in the box and discuss their meaning with members in group - Ask T to explain the hard words - Leader of each group write on the board words to describe the advantages and disadvantages of energy sources in two columns - Check the correct answers with T -Asks ss to work in pairs - Asks a pair to read the example in book - Asks ss to look at the table in and share their ideas in -Work in pairs - A pair read the example in book - Share ideas as a class -Correct pronunciation with T cheap 2, Ex3 – page 40: Look at the pictures and complete these sentences, using the words in *Key: Solar, safe non-renewable 3.wind, clean 4.expensive, dangerous 3, Pronunciation: stress in three-syllable words -Verbs: stress on the second syllable - Nouns and adjectives: stress on the first syllable * Notice: - The words end with “ient,ic, cial, ion…” stress on the previous syllable - The words end with “ous, id, ian, ive ” stress on the syllable preceding suffixes - The words end with “y” stress on the third syllable from bottom to the top - The sounds /∂/ and /i/ haven’t stress Ex4 – page 40: Which words are stressed on the first and second syllable? Put them in the appropriate columns *Key: Ooo oOo dangerous expensive easily abundant limited convenient pairs - Checks and correct ss’ pronunciation -Devides class into groups - Asks ss to discuss and elicit answers from ss - Checks the correct answers -Work in groups - Discuss and give answers - Check with T -Give instruction - Provides the syllable words have stress -Observe and copy down -Asks ss to work in pairs - Plays the recording - Asks ss listen and repeat the words - Asks ss to pay attention to the correct stress in the three-syllable words - Asks ss to read aloud in pairs and write them in the correct columns - Elicits answers from each pair - Checks and confirms the correct answers -Work in pairs -Listen to the recording - Pay attention to the correct stress in the three-syllable words - Read aloud with partners and write them in the correct columns -Give the answers - Check the correct answers with T energy plentiful enormous III, Post-Speaking Ex5 – page 40: Read the following sentences and mark (‘) the stressed syllable in the underlined words -Asks ss to work in pairs - Asks each pair read the sentences and mark (‘) the stressed syllable and check each other - Elicits answers from ss -Plays the recording and asks ss listen and review ss’ answers - Checks the correct answers - Asks ss to read the stressed syllable III Homework: - Learn by heart the new words - Practise pronouncing the three-syllable words - Prepare “A closer look 2”: + Revise “The simple future tense” + Passive voice: the future simple PART III: CONCLUSION I Summary of the study -Work in pairs - Read the sentences and mark (‘) the stressed syllable and check each other -Give answers -Listen to the recording and check answers - Check with T -Read the stressed syllable The study was carried out at 12 classes from four grade at Ho town secondary school With the use of instruments such as two questionaires, and interview for both students and teachers at Ho town secondary school, I have found out the answers to my three research questions as mentioned in part I introduction For the first question “How often are group work and pair work techniques applied in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school?” , both the teachers and the students confirmed the frequency of the use of these two techniques in their English classes They also revealed that these two techniques were the most important one because of their great benefits for both them and their students For the second question “Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase students’ interest in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school?” , I found out that the students were more interested in thoes activities To be specific, the studnets felt more confident, comfortable and relaxed in working in pairs and in small groups Therefore, their desire to learn and their interest in the lesson or the task given were really increased For the third question “Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase students’ participation in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school?” , the answer was that most of the students and the teachers agreed that if the class was devided into pairs or groups, almost students could have more opportunities to practice the target language, to contribute to the lesson In other words, students talking time was increased Besides, working in pairs and in groups, the interaction between students were better as they could discuss freely and learn from each othe as well However, there were some factors which needed considering when pair work and group work activities took place First of all, before asking students to work in pairs and in groups, teachers should have given clear instruction, and provided students with necessary vocabulary Moreover, to get the whole class involved in the lesson, the teacher should have moved around the class and helped the students if necessary Also, if the teacher, had praised students properly, they would have worked more effectively In addition, the way of grouping students should be suitable for the task given and might encourage students to work more effectively as well Students liked to worked with the ones who were at higher level of proficiency Therefore, students with different proficiency level should be arranged to sit together Also, the number of students in each group shouldn’t be too large As found from the data collection, the suitable number for a group was or students To sum up, despite these problems, the use of pair work and group work techniques really increased students’ interest and participation in activities II Recommendation for using pair work and group work At this point in my study, I would like offer a suggested procedure for using pair work and group work that I have found to be generally successful: Explain the activity Make sure the learners know exactly what they have to Go over directions carefully, and give them time to ask any questions they may have Arrange the groups Just telling the learners to "get into pairs/groups" is not enough Many times the teacher must actually show learners who they must work with If there is an odd number of students for the groups, incorporate the "odd" learner into another group Desks may have to be moved (if possible), and roles as described above could be assigned at this point Innovative seating arrangements can be experimented with, such as "tango seating" (Samuda and Bruton 1981) Also, learners can be regrouped from activity to activity using techniques such as numbering off, giving out cards categorized into related topics, separating learners according to the color of their eyes or clothing or their sign of the zodiac, giving them pieces of a puzzle to put together, or even pulling strings held by their classmates to find their partner Set time limits Giving a rough time limit gives a sense of urgency to an activity It is also a good idea to stop an activity after most of the groups have finished so that the whole class is not left waiting for the last ones to finish Those who are not allowed to completely finish not lose much since the activity will be spot-checked in some way (see below) Give examples or demonstrations Before the whole class is thrown into pairs or groups, give as many examples as necessary to make sure the class has the idea The teacher can model the activity with a learner or two and then let other learners perform the activity until the whole class can begin work on their own This ensures that the class understands what to and how to it and the teacher does not have to interrupt them in order to give the instructions again Circulate A teacher's work never ends! Some of the things a teacher should be doing while the students are working away include playing "English Police" (see above), making sure all students understand and are participating in the activity, giving assistance when needed, making on-the-spot error corrections when communication among the group members is hampered, and making notes on errors that can be discussed after the activity Follow up Let learners report to the class on either what their group discussed or what their partner told them For example, if the exercise is on likes and dislikes, a few learners could tell the class what they learned about their partner's preferences, instead of repeating what they told their partner about themselves It is not necessary that every student report, but it is important that every learner have the chance to practice with their classmates during the activity REFERENCES Barry K (1993), Beginning Teaching, Social Science Press Berns M (1984), Group Work Management, London Brown H D (1994), Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, London: Prentice Hall Regents Doff A (1988), Teaching English: A Training Course for Teachers, Cambridge University Press Byrne D (1983), Teaching Oral English, London: Longman Harmer J (1991), The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman Honeyfield J (1991), The Formation of Small Group in the Language Classroom, Guidelines – A periodical for Classroom Language Teachers, Vol 13 No June 1991, SEMEO Regional Language Center Hylen K (1991), Mananging Group Work, Guidelines, Vol 14 no 3, 28-29 Ngoh S G (1991), Small Group Work in the Classroom, Guidelines, Vol 14 no 3, 27-28 10 Nunan D (1992), Research Methods in Language Learning, Cambridge University Press APPENDIXE Questionaire for teachers What techniques are often used in English classes? A Pair work and group work B Individual work C Giving lecture D Questioning How often you use group work and pair work activities in your English class? A Very often B Often C Not very often D Never How your students respond to working in pairs and in groups? A Interested in B Bored C Ignored D Normal What you think of pair work and group work activities? A It is noisy and a waste of time B Students have more opportunities to practice English A B C D C Group work and pair work make my teaching more interesting D Group work and pair work make my students lazier What most of your students when they asked to work in groups and pairs? A Work with great interest B Remain silent all the time C Speak Vietnamese D Do other things Do you find it difficult to organize pair work and group work activities? A Unclear instruction B Lack of vocabulary C Partner don’t co-operate D Speak Vietnamese What the teachers often the most when their students work in pairs and in groups? A Sit at the teacher’s desk and observe B Go around the class and support C Praise and encourage students D Do nothing E Both B and C How many students you prefer to have in each group? A B 4-5 C D More than How you group students? Students at the same table Students who like to work with each other Students with different proficiency level of English Students with the same level of proficiency COMMENTS OF THE GUIDER Confirm of the guider The researcher ... participation and interest in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school III Research questions: How often are group work and pair work techniques applied in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? ... secondary school? Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase students’ interest in speaking lesson at Ho town secondary school? Does using group work and pair work teachniques increase... work and pair work Definition of group work and pair work The organization of group work and pair work II.1 The formation II.2 Group size II.3 Procedures for group work and pair work II.4 Some