Examining the impact of student teams achievement divisions technique on efl students reading comprehension in a vietnamese higher education institution nguyen thi thu hien ; nguyen vu phuong supervisor

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY - NGUYEN THI THU HIEN EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF STUDENT TEAMS ACHIEVEMENT DIVISIONS TECHNIQUE ON EFL STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION IN A VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION Tai Lieu Chat Luong A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THU HIEN EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF STUDENT TEAMS ACHIEVEMENT DIVISIONS TECHNIQUE ON EFL STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION IN A VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION Major: TESOL Major number: 140 111 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Vu Phuong Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 Md CQNG HdA XA HOI CHIT NGIIiA VI1TT NAM THANH PH6 Hd CHi MINE DOc IAp - Tu - Hanh phfc TRUONG DAI HQC KHOA DAoIAq r4qDAr HQC GIAY XAC NHAN *^ 0tuin ,{i{i {'l',r, Zfih Ngdy sinh: *o f I a 4.9 J Noi sinh: L9ng A* , rdi rdo Ia: Nr.u chuydn ngdrrh: ?.? ^l LL,,.G.D -!ir;q.*t{ Ma hsc vion: 4at|.LA h 1.r:APA :t4 Tdi ddng ! cung cAp todrr vdn th6ng tin luan 6nl luan vtu t6t nghiCp hAp lC vA ban quydn cho Thu viQn hudl1g dai hqc Md Them phii Hd Chi Minh Thu viQn tnrong dai hqc Md Thdnh ph6 Hd Chi t6t nghiop vAo ph6 H6 hC Minl sd kar n6i todn van th6ng tin lu6n rin-/ luin vdn th6ng th6ng tin khoa h9c cira Sd Khoa hgc vd C6ng nghQ Thdnh chi Minn Kj' t6n (Ghi rd ho td tAn) -') l,/ LLL Cln @h*WN.,; "'0 "0 " CQNG HdA XA HQI CHU NGHIA VIPT NAM DOc lip - T u do-H! nh uhfc f TIEN CHO PHEP BAO VE LUAN VAN THAC Si C TA GIANG VITN HU6NG DAN j Y ki6n cua gilio viCn huong din vd vi€c cho ph6p hoc vidn dugc bao vQ luin vin truric HQi ili)ng: lta k spnt,& { b' lkl n t!] /.1&- ,u.xlac:/zrl CPI sr,k[ .r.-8 d*t tfu.|/,ear Sq 1r*;s;',vrzfv: Thdnh phri Hi Chi Minh, -a*rt ngiry/:lkfitlng lx1 ndm 2a 24 Nguoi tthdu x6t Wql\/lffiev i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify my authorship of this thesis entitled: “Examining the impact of Student Teams-Achievement Division Technique on EFL students’ reading comprehension in a Vietnamese Higher Education Institution” for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL), is the result of my own research This thesis has not been submitted for any certificates at other institutions To the best of my knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by other people except where the reference is made in the thesis itself Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 Nguyen Thi Thu Hien ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was made possible by the contribution of a lot of people Firstly, I would like to express my grateful appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Vu Phuong for his strong motivation, assistance and support throughout the stages of this thesis journey His ideas, suggestions, and advice have been truly invaluable and have given me great encouragement for my thesis work My genuine thanks go especially to all the lectures and staff at Graduate school- Ho Chi Minh City Open University giving me valuable knowledge and necessary assistance during my master study period I am especially indebted to CLC- Creative Language Center at Ton Duc Thang University for agreeing and providing me with a chance to conduct my research at the center I feel deeply grateful to all my research participants- 16 students in class English who willingly took part in my research Thank you so much for their participation during the process of implementing the intervention The data collection would not have been completed without their great contribution My gratitude is due to all of my colleagues, friends and students for their support and sharing of the experiences, joys and sorrows during my teaching and learning process Finally, I offer my deepest thanks to my family and relatives for their support and encouragement that inspired me towards the successful completion of this thesis I am profoundly grateful to my parents and my twin sister who always love, support, believe in me throughout the years iii ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of Student TeamsAchievement Divisions (STAD) – one of the strategies in cooperative learning on EFL students’ reading performance in a Vietnamese Higher Education Institution A qualitative case study design was chosen to capture the impact of the implementation of STAD on improving students’ reading comprehension as well as their perceptions and the challenges under this practice Data was collected through multiple data collection methods, including tests and test reports, observation, semistructured interview and student diaries Findings were explored through thematic analysis of the data The findings indicated that STAD strategy as cooperative learning model could improve the students’ reading achievement The findings also indicated the promoted reflection on students’ learning, the positive engagement in class activities, the increase of students’ confidence, the enhancement of students’ friendship, interaction and motivation in learning Moreover, it was clearly reflected from the improvement of students’ score of reading test in groups and individuals as well during the implementation of the intervention However, there were several challenges to the implementation of STAD, including the domination, conflicts, arguments, unequal division of tasks in group discussion, the lack of cooperative actvities and difficulty with controlling the class The findings suggest that cooperative activities should be promoted together with ensuring the safe, trusting and well-organized learning environment and raising the awareness and knowledge of using CL in the classroom It is recommended that a revised framework should be used for applying CL productively in academic setting Further research should focus on developing effective and beneficial CL strategies for the improvement of language learning and communicative competence of EFL students iv TĨM TẮT NGHIÊN CỨU Mục đích nghiên cứu để khảo sát tác động Student TeamsAchievement Divisions (STAD) - chiến lược phương pháp học tập cộng tác hiệu đọc hiểu sinh viên trường Đại học Việt Nam Phương pháp nghiên cứu định tính áp dụng để tìm hiểu tác động STAD việc cải thiện khả đọc hiểu nhận thức học sinh thách thức trình thực nghiên cứu Dữ liệu thu thập nhiều phương pháp thông qua kiểm tra báo cáo kiểm tra, quan sát, vấn nhật ký sinh viên Các liệu nghiên cứu sau phân tích theo chủ đề Kết nghiên cứu cho thấy chiến lược học cộng tác STAD cải thiện khả đọc sinh viên Nghiên cứu cho thấy thúc đẩy trình phản ánh trình học tập sinh viên, tham gia tích cực vào hoạt động lớp, tăng tự tin, nâng cao tình bạn, tương tác động lực học tập cho sinh viên Hơn nữa, điều phản ánh rõ qua cải thiện điểm số học sinh kiểm tra đọc theo nhóm cá nhân trình áp dụng chiến lược STAD Tuy nhiên, nghiên cứu gặp phải số thách thức việc thực STAD, có chi phối, thống trị vài sinh viên với mâu thuẫn, tranh luận nảy sinh q trình thảo luận nhóm, việc phân chia nhiệm vụ không đồng thành viên, bên cạnh cịn thiếu hoạt động cộng tác nhóm tổ chức lớp học khó khăn trình kiểm sốt lớp học giáo viên Các kết nghiên cứu cho thấy việc tổ chức hoạt động học cộng tác lớp cần thúc đẩy với việc đảm bảo môi trường học tập an toàn, tin cậy, tổ chức tốt nâng cao nhận thức, kiến thức việc sử dụng phương pháp học cộng tác lớp học Việc sửa đổi xây dựng mơ hình lí thuyết đề xuất để áp dụng phương pháp học cộng tác cách hiệu môi trường học thuật Các nghiên cứu xa nên tập trung vào việc phát triển chiến lược học cộng tác hiệu để cải thiện khả học ngôn ngữ giao tiếp sinh viên v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii ABBREVIATIONS viii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Rationale for the study 1.3 The aim of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Overview Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions 2.1.1 Reading and Reading Comprehension 2.1.2 Cooperative Learning 12 2.1.2.1 Definitions 12 2.1.2.2 Cooperative Learning Methods .15 2.1.2.2.1 Structured Team Learning Methods 16 2.1.2.2.2 Informal Group Learning Methods 17 2.1.3 Student Teams - Achievement Divisions 19 2.1.3.1 Definitions 19 2.1.3.2.Stages of Student Teams - Achievement Divisions Implementation 20 vi 2.1.3.3 Benefits and Challenges 21 2.1.3.4 Conditions of applying STAD in the classroom .24 2.2 The theoretical framework of the study 26 2.3 Summary 31 Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 32 3.1 Research objectives and questions 32 3.2 Choice of approach 32 3.3 Research Context and Participants 33 3.4 Data Collection 33 3.4.1 Data Collection Method 33 3.4.2 Data Collection Procedure 37 3.5 Data Analysis 42 3.6 Ethics 43 3.7 Trustworthiness 43 Chapter 4: FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 46 4.1 Positive changes under STAD practice 46 4.1.1 Promoted reflection on learning 46 4.1.2 Improved reading comprehension 48 4.1.3 Greater engagement in class activities 52 4.1.4 Enhanced confidence in learning 54 4.1.5 Enhanced friendship and motivation for CL 55 4.2 Challenges to the implementation of STAD 56 4.2.1 The domination in group discussion 57 4.2.2 The lack of willingness to work in groups 58 4.2.3 The happen of students’ arguments or conflicts 58 121 122 123 C Observation Form 124 D Samples of Observation 125 E Student Diary Form Student Diary (Copyright 2012 by Chad Mani, adapted from Laura Candler) Name _Team _Date _ Topic or Title: Decide which answer best suits the way your team worked together Then, complete the remaining sentences We finished our tasks on time, and we did a good job! Explain your answer: We encouraged each other and we cooperated with each other Explain your answer: YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO We used quiet voices in our communications Explain your answer: We each shared our ideas, then listened and valued each other’s ideas Explain your answer: List all of the features/aspects of STAD that help you learn _ Briefly describe your contribution to the cooperative learning project List all the challenges of using STAD in the classroom _ What improvement should be made so that STAD will be conductive to learning? 126 F Sample of Student Diary Form 127 G Interview Questions Interview questions (based on Blanka Klimova, 2015) Did you enjoy the group activity? Yes or No Explain Did you learn anything from the group activity? If yes explain what you learned If no, explain why you didn’t learn anything Did you contribute to the group discussion? Yes or No Did everyone in the group contribute to the discussion? If no, explain the situation Would you like to this activity again? What problems do/did you have in group or class when cooperating in learning reading? How did you deal with these problems? How well did these solutions work for you? If you were doing this project with group again, what would you differently to improve your work? How could your team work together more effectively next time? Is there anything you would recommend to change for next time? H Sample of Interview Scripts Interview questions (ST12) Did you enjoy the group activity? Yes or No Explain I really like working in group because I not like such an atmosphere like lessons before I not like just sitting and listening to the teacher and then doing the exercise, it was so boring I like to talk, discuss and share ideas with my friends Before we rarely worked in groups in reading lessons, so I hope the teacher will organize more the group activities like this course Did you learn anything from the group activity? If yes explain what you learned If no, explain why you didn’t learn anything 128 Before the course, I always read the whole reading passages first, then looked at the questions and chose the answers; however, it was not really effective since it would be difficult in the case that there were some words I did not know the meaning Thanks to the guide of other members in group, I realized the way to each kind of questions The process of analyzing the reading passages helped us to gain the better insight into the content, enhance our comprehension and understanding Did you contribute to the group discussion? Yes or No Yes, I expressed my opinions about the questions to find the answer Did everyone in the group contribute to the discussion? If no, explain the situation At the very first weeks, some members did not talk about the question and listened to us But later, they contributed to discussion Would you like to this activity again? Yes, of course I like them What problems do/did you have in group or class when cooperating in learning reading? How did you deal with these problems? How well did these solutions work for you? Some of my teammates, they did not talk much and kept silent in group discussion I feel that they did not want to cooperate with others or maybe they were shy But I saw some were not willing to work and likely left matters in our hands If you were doing this project with group again, what would you differently to improve your work? During discussion, I want to share my ideas with teammates and would like to listen theirs in turn, then it could help reflect on my learning and gain new understanding of the materials How could your team work together more effectively next time? Is there anything you would recommend to change for next time? I think we have done well 129 I Thematic Analysis Theme: Perceived Impact of the Intervention Source Quote Concept/ Category ST 5, “After weeks, I could figure out my weaknesses and found the skill to Promoted INT effectively complete the reading tasks I learned a lot from my teammates, reflection in especially from ST and ST who helped other members to choose good learning learning skills, then we could use them to our individual tests later.” ST 7, “I benefited from group discussion, I thought working in group was a great INT idea for us to give assistance to other students and get support from them as well to complete the tasks effectively.” ST 1, “We experienced and learned reading techniques, especially skimming and INT scanning from friends we did not use before.” ST8, “For example, I learned how to some reading exercises relating to INT understanding main ideas for which I had to apply skimming skill Firstly, I looked through the title, headings, subheadings and then the first paragraph, last paragraph to find the gist of the passages That was what I learned from my team during working in groups.” ST 11, “I showed my group mates how to apply skimming and scanning in doing DIA2 reading exercises From that, my friends could know how to recognize the appropriate skill and where they could find the answer Also, it was a great experience to work in group through weeks and the work was shared for members and they all had to be aware that they were responsible for the success of the group, hence they needed to concentrate on the group discussion.” ST 15, “Before the course, I always read the whole reading passages first, then looked INT at the questions and chose the answers; however, it was not really effective since it would be difficult in the case that there were some words whose meaning I did not know Thanks to the guide of other members in group, I realized the way to each kind of questions The process of analyzing the 130 reading passages helped us to gain insight into the content, enhance our comprehension and understanding.” ST 2, “I can value the effectiveness of cooperative learning in order to see whether I INT should make changes or improve my existing learning ways.” OBS “During the discussion of session 3, students actively participated in their groupwork” OBS “During the discussion of session 4, students shared and discussed more in group and actively listened to their friends’ ideas to cooperatively contribute to complete the common tasks ” ST4- “I think my reading comprehension has improved When I read the text, I can INT gain better understanding of the content and get more correct answers in doing exercises” Improved ST10- “Before the implementation, I did not understand the whole reading passages reading INT because there were some difficult words, so I could not translate and comprehension comprehend them After working with others, I now know some skills to find the main ideas of the paragraph or reading texts learned from another highachieved friend Also, I could sometimes guess the meaning of the new words based on the situation and other words around Therefore, I found it easier to understand the passages” ST8- “After the intervention, I think my understanding for some reading passages INT has improved with my teammates’ help Now, I know how to find out the main ideas of the reading passages by reading the titles, headings, subheadings and first or last paragraphs I also find it easier to understand details in the texts.” ST5, “Today, we were assigned a reading text entitled “Music and the brain”, my DAI4 group read the questions and discussed to find the answer During that process, ST7 explained the way to get the main ideas of the text, so I found it easier to finish that exercise than before.” ST2- “Today, I started to work with my team without talking to them a lot but we DIA1 still worked together following teacher’s instruction” 131 ST2, “Through STAD, I had more opportunities to discuss the tasks with my group DIA and found the answers after indicating the clues I am now willing to join my group to discuss and finish the exercise” ST – “My team was quite quiet, I think they were quite passive because they did not DIA1 share their ideas enthusiastically ” ST4, “After weeks working with my teammates, we were less shy and gradually Greater DIA5 became more involved in task discussion I was more eager to share my engagement in thoughts of the answers and ask for responses from my teams.” class activities ST9- “I enjoyed the lessons using STAD during this time I like the active INT atmosphere where the class discussed and shared the ideas In groups, we talked and interacted more than in traditional class.” ST11, “I and my group did like and actively participate in cooperative learning We INT discussed thoroughly and helped each other to understand the reading passages and the ways to find the answer.” ST 6, “The discussion and ideas from teammates helped me facilitate the process of Enhanced INT understanding the materials through interacting and guiding each other the confidence in way to find the answers for the reading questions” learning ST 9, “At the beginning of the course, when being assigned to group, I did know INT anyone well and I was not willing to discuss and talk to them because I was afraid that I might provide the wrong answers After working in my group for weeks, I gradually got closer to my team mates and did not feel afraid much when sharing in group By listening to my team analyzing the materials, I learned how to apply reading skills to exercises from them; from then on, I felt more confident about my answer than before and more confident to share my thoughts.” ST10, “I feel more confident than before when working in group, because I know my INT friends and not feel shy like the time of beginning.” ST 13, “I had found the answers for questions by reading the whole passages and INT usually faced difficulties owing to unknown words By then, I found myself shy about involving in group contribution A few weeks later, I learned good ways to find the indicators for using the correct skills to the tasks That 132 meant I was more interested in listening to, sharing with and supporting the efforts of others.” ST 3, “I enjoyed the time we worked in group, discussed and shared our ideas to Enhanced INT find the best answers Thanks to that, we gradually gained mutual friendship and understanding and were more comfortable with cooperative work.” motivation ST 6, “In the beginning, I thought we did not know each other, how could we INT cooperate effectively? However, I got closer to them day by day and made every effort to contribute together to the common exercises Certainly, our relationship in the team improved as well.” ST12, “During discussion, I wanted to share my ideas with teammates and would INT like to listen to theirs in turn, then it could help my learning and gain new understanding of the materials I found it effective and interesting to cooperate with others in learning” ST 9, “I learn skimming and scanning skills from ST11 and ST12 in my team They INT explained the indicator words in the questions to identify which skill to use for those questions, then the way to find out the answer quickly in the texts I highly appreciate their sharing We interacted in our group comfortably as friends.” ST 5, “We were aware that we all had to understand the passages and that meant we INT encouraged each other to concentrate on the discussion and were open to share our own ideas to reach a concensus.” ST13, “One of the advantages working in group was increasing our closeness DIA4 because we had much time to talk, discuss, share and support each other We did not feel shy anymore, so we comfortably expressed our opinions and responded to others This motivated us to cooperate effectively in order to gain better results.” ST11, “We shared knowledge and learning strategies, helped each other to figure out DIA3 the meaning to the text, which resulted in our closer relationship That motivated us to actively and happily cooperate to have the better performance as regards individual’s and group’s enhancement.” 133 ST10, “I had few chances to talk in group discussion, most of the time other The domination DIA2 members shared their ideas and showed the answer to the group members in group Although they explained the answer but I needed more time to read and find discussion the answer.” ST8, “I was not very satisfied with the way ST7 did in group discussion, he liked to INT give the answer during the time and wanted other to follow him I saw that the other two friends were sometimes annoyed by his domination.” ST4, “I think the group can become very frustrated when one or two members are INT dominating our discussion.” ST 16, “I like to study in my own rather than to work in group” DIA1 The lack of willingness to ST1, “it will be difficult to share ideas and discuss the issue with the people you INT don’t know or you don’t like” ST8, “I not really like working in group” work in groups INT ST10, “Working with the people I don’t know is uncomfortable and makes me shy.” DIA1 ST13, “Today, I felt that my group did not work effectively because there was an The happen of DIA2 argument between ST14 and ST16 in choosing the answer for the question students’ They did not want to listen to another Then ST16 stopped discussing the arguments or remaining tasks.” conflicts ST6, “I want to stop discussing when they not agree with my points.” DIA3 ST2, “Some members withdrew from discussion because we sometimes did not get DIA3 agreement.” ST15, “Each member had different ideas, we need to keep calm to find the best INT solution if we want to avoid conflicts among members.” ST10, “In my group, there was disagreement during discussion because each member DIA4 had different ideas and it was hard to reach the agreement.” ST6, “Some members did use inappropriate words to comment on others’ work so DIA2 they became angry with each other and this caused some arguments in group.” 134 ST 2, “In my group, just one or two members were completing the tasks while the Unequal INT others were sitting back watching.” assignment of ST12, “Some of my teammates did not talk much and kept silent in group discussion tasks among INT “I feel that they did not want to cooperate with others or maybe they were shy group members But I saw some were not willing to work and likely left matters in our hands.” ST3, “I think I a lot in group but some members not.” DIA2 ST7, “We should divide the task equally to all members to make sure that all DIA1 members contribute to the group.“ ST6, “Some of my group still chatted not relating to the tasks, it was time- Trouble with DIA3 consuming” controlling the ST16, “The class was too noisy sometimes because some groups were talking out” class DIA2 ST15, “We talked and discussed a lot when our teacher came close to us but then DIA2 were quiet when she went to other groups.” ST12, “In some previous courses, I did not have many opportunities to participate in The lack of the INT such these group activities I did sit at the table and listened to the teacher and practice of then did the exercise, it was so boring I like to talk, discuss and share ideas cooperative with my friends so I hope the teacher will organize more the group activities learning in the like this course.” classroom ST 15, “In the lessons before, we sometimes discussed in groups, hopefully, in the INT future, we will have more chances to work with other friends to complete the tasks It will be surely interesting and helpful for some “less capable” students like me.” ST9, “I think the teacher should carry out more group discussion like this in the INT classroom.” 135