Microsoft Word 175 Vu Thi Anh Phuong doc Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN 978 604 82 2981 8 673 IMPLEMENTATION OF JIGSAW II IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS WITH ‘PREPARE’ TEXTBOOK Vu[.]
Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 IMPLEMENTATION OF JIGSAW II IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS WITH ‘PREPARE’ TEXTBOOK Vu Thi Anh Phuong Thuyloi University, email: phuongvta@tlu.edu.vn INTRODUCTION RESEARCH METHODS Speaking is one of the productive language skills which is emphasized in foreign language learning The mastery of the speaking skills is crucial in not only in-class evaluation but also in students’ future work Developing students’ speaking ability is also an important component in the objective that the Dean and Department of English in Thuyloi University focused Cooperative learning is one of the approaches for teaching which show a positive result in boosting the students’ academic achievement, including speaking skills Several studies and researches have conducted to prove Cooperative learning’s positive influences in teaching EFL tertiary learners Throughout the development of this approach, several models and methods have been built and among them, Jigsaw II (Slavin, 1986) has gained its reputation and has been widely used Besides, in the circumstance of the initial utilization of the textbook Prepare for English and the conditions of large class size, there is a need for teachers to adopt and adapt various methods in the language classrooms to create more chance for students to practice speaking along with other language skills With all of these premises, in this paper, the author conducts the reviews the core features of cooperative learning strategy named Jigsaw II, the benefits of this application and some sample activities carried with Jigsaw II in the course of English This paper is conducted with in-class observation, questionnaires, and synthesis of previous researches and related theories TEACHING ENGLISH USING JIGSAW II 3.1 Principles of Jigsaw II Jigsaw II is a model developed from the theory of Cooperative Learning, and therefore it brings the characteristics of a Cooperative Learning strategy, as “ the instructional use of small group so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning” (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1993) This educational approach aims to increase students’ performance and learning by doing work or tasks together For an effective Cooperative Learning experience, Johnson, Johnson & Holubec (1993) suggested five major premises: (1) Positive interdependence: learners work together to attain the group common goals (2) Individual and group accountability: each team member is considered responsible for his or her own understanding of the work, which in turn contributes to the objective of the team (3) Interpersonal skills: team members argue, solve problems, and work together (4) Face to face interaction: when team members work on common tasks, the environment to encourage members to interact with each other is organized (5) Group Processing: learners assess and reflect on their teamwork ability and skills 673 Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 3.2 Benefits of using Jigsaw II 3.2 Model of Jigsaw II Jigsaw II is the cooperative learning strategy that requires the participants to cooperatively join in the task to complete the group work in which each member of a group has a piece of information needed to complete a group task” (Richards, J C., Schmidt, R., (2002) This, still, follows the basic steps of a Cooperative Learning lesson as the following: Clarify goals and motivate students Present Information or materials Organize students into learning teams Assist with teamwork and study Presentation of group work or test over materials Recognition of individual and group effort and achievements Figure Phases of CL lessons In this technique, each student, like a jigsaw puzzle, is responsible for a piece or a part of the whole task The steps can be demonstrated as following Figure Basic Jigsaw model - Students are given different parts of a topic - After reading, they meet the ‘expert group’ to discuss thoroughly what they have received - Students return to their old group and teach others - The whole class takes quizzes at the end to have team score and individual scores Successful implementation of Jigsaw II can be fruitful in various senses Regarding learners, it can improve students’ attitude towards learning (George M, et al., 2002) in terms of their sense of responsibility, active involvement, selfesteem, teamwork skills and students’ speaking performance Since throughout the process of doing the assigned task, the contribution or the piece of work of each student is equally essential and important and each individual is in charge of studying a part of the assignment, they may own higher sense of responsibility and voluntarily involve more actively Besides, it seems less threatening for many students when they have the chance to exchange ideas with peers instead of standing up front and perform alone Another chief advantage lies on the increase in the students’ participation in the classroom, which also ‘reduces the teacher’s dominance in the classroom” (Richards, J C., Schmidt, R., (2002) More chances to practice language skills provided may familiarize students with speaking, lessen the reluctance they often have when performing tasks As a result, this can improve students’ achievements, including speaking’s Considering teachers, this technique may work as a tool to teach integrated skills With this sole task, teachers can deliver both reading tasks in the topic, speaking and listening practice in the stage of exchanging information, and speaking in the output Furthermore, it also creates greater opportunities for teachers to observe and assess students’ learning (George M, et al., 2002) 3.3 Some activities using Jigsaw II with textbook ‘Prepare’ in English Based on the materials in terms of its topic, length, level of difficulty, it is visible that Jigsaw II is applicable to various tasks in the textbook of ‘Prepare’ for English in Thuyloi University 674 Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 For example, for the text about sports and games on page 16, unit 1, Prepare level 2, the procedure can be conducted as follow: The text is divided into three segments (1.Octopush, 2.Futsal, 3.Croquet) Students are counted from to to form groups Teachers provide students questions about the name, types of sport, the place to play, and rules Students answer questions in groups Teachers clarify the answers if needed Students return to their home group to talk about the sport they are in charge Teachers ask some questions and the whole group/ some individuals answer Chances to speak out about each sport serve students’ speaking practice and prepare them to the later speaking activities Similar patterns can be made for reading texts on page 14, 20 and 22 STUDENTS’ FEEDBACK TOWARDS ACTIVITIES USING JIGSAW II After participating and experiencing activities designed with Jigsaw II during the course, students were asked to answer questions regarding the activities 38 students’ responses were gathered with the use of Surveymonkey.com The figure collected shows a positive result which can be briefly illustrated as follows Table Students’ feedback Activities using Jigsaw… Yes No Are interesting 79% 21% Provide more chances to practice speaking 84% 16% Help students be more confident 71% when speaking 29% It is visible that almost four out of five like the activities and the majority of them believe that these tasks help create more chances to talk and make them more confident CONCLUSION All things considered, it can be seen that the application of Jigsaw II technique on teaching speaking along with other skills can be beneficial to both students and teachers in the language classroom This technique improves students’ attitude towards English learning, making them more responsible, active and confident in class and enhance their speaking performance thanks to the speaking opportunities it creates It can also be considered a chance for teachers to evaluate students’ ability Therefore, with the aforementioned analysis and figures, this tool, with the suggested use for the course of English 1, can be implemented more widely to encourage students to speak and thus, enhance their speaking ability REFERENCES [1] George, M J., Michael, A P., Loh, W I., (2002) The Teacher's Sourcebook for Cooperative Learning: Practical Techniques, Basic Principles, and Frequently Asked Questions Corwin Press [2] Johnson, D W., Johnson, R T., & Holubec, E J (1993) Cooperation in the Classroom (6th ed.) Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company [3] Richards, J C., Schmidt, R (2002) Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Pearson Education [4] Slavin, R E (1986) Using Student_Team Learning Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University 675 ... teach integrated skills With this sole task, teachers can deliver both reading tasks in the topic, speaking and listening practice in the stage of exchanging information, and speaking in the... Benefits of using Jigsaw II 3.2 Model of Jigsaw II Jigsaw II is the cooperative learning strategy that requires the participants to cooperatively join in the task to complete the group work in which... students’ learning (George M, et al., 2002) 3.3 Some activities using Jigsaw II with textbook ‘Prepare’ in English Based on the materials in terms of its topic, length, level of difficulty, it