The implementation of cooperative learning activities in the fifth grade english speaking classes primary school teachers perceptions and practices

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “The Implementation of Cooperative Learning Activities in the Fifth Grade EFL Speaking Classrooms: Primary School Teachers’ Perceptions and Classroom Practices” is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018 TRAN LUU THI HUYEN, MRS Tai Lieu Chat Luong i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Master of Arts in TESOL thesis is the result of a fruitful collaboration of all the people who have kindly contributed with an enormous commitment and enthusiasm in my research Without the help of those who supported me at all times and in all possible ways, it would not have been feasible for me to complete my M.A thesis First of all, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Pham Vu Phi Ho, from Van Hien University of Ho Chi Minh City, whose compassion, encouragement and guidance throughout the research have helped in the completion of this thesis I have truly learned from the excellence of his skills and from his wide experience in research; no words are adequate to describe the extent of my gratitude I am also sincerely grateful to all lecturers of the Open University in Ho Chi Minh City for providing me with invaluable sources of intellectual knowledge during my study there This knowledge was very useful when I conducted this research Besides, a big thank you goes to my friend TESOL M.A Truong Minh Hoa for his valued friendship and for his assistance, comments, proofreading, and encouragement throughout the study I owe a great debt of gratitude to the anonymous participants who contributed data to this thesis Without them the data collection for this study could not properly been carried out ii iii ABSTRACT One of many factors that cause difficulty in developing primary students’ speaking skill is their low or uneven participation Indeed, children need both to participate in communication and to build up knowledge and skills for participation in order to learn speaking skills Accordingly, Cooperative Learning activities have been proved to be an effective teaching strategy to the primary students By the nature of an exploratory study, this current study aimed at investigating the primary English teachers’ perceptions and classroom practices of implementing these activities to develop the fifth graders’ English oral productions To achieve this purpose, a body of literature on Cooperative Learning activities including definitions, types, principles, benefits and challenges were reviewed in the theory chapter to shape the theoretical framework of the study Based on this conceptual framework, the study was conducted at the eight public primary schools in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City with the sample of 35 teachers Data were collected through the two instruments of a 34-item questionnaire and a semi-structured interview Quantitative results from the questionnaire were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 while qualitative results from the interview were thematically analyzed The findings of the study indicated that although the participants believed in the effects of Cooperative Learning activities in the development of their students’ EFL speaking skills apropos of two aspects including learning psychology and oral performance, they were reluctant to implement these activities, which was ultimately found by the extent, the principles and the types of Cooperative Learning activities which they employed in reality Based on the research findings, the paper concluded with some pedagogical implications and a recommendation for further study in the line of research on Cooperative Learning activities iv TABLE OF CONTENT Page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv viii LIST OF TABLES LIST OF CHARTS, FIGURES ix Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study 1.2 Statement of the Problem 1.3 Aims of the Study 1.4 Research Questions 1.5 Significance of the Study 1.6 An Overview of the Study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8 2.1 Teaching Speaking 2.1.1 Definitions of Speaking Skill 2.1.2 Importance of Speaking Skill 2.1.3 Principles of Teaching Speaking 12 2.2 Background of Cooperative Learning 2.2.1 Definitions 12 2.2.2 Typical Activities 12 2.2.2.1 Discussion 13 2.2.2.2 Role-Play 14 2.2.2.3 Storytelling 14 2.2.2.4 Jigsaw Activities 14 2.2.2.5 Three Steps Interview 15 2.2.2.6 Think Pair Share 15 2.2.3 Teachers’ and Learners’ Roles in Cooperative Learning 16 2.2.3.1 Teachers’ Roles 16 2.2.3.2 Students’ Roles 16 v 2.2.4 Benefits and Challenges of Cooperative Learning Implementation 17 2.2.4.1 Benefits 17 2.2.4.2 Challenges 19 2.2.5 Principles for the Implementation of Cooperative Learning 20 2.2.5.1 Positive Interdependence 20 2.2.5.2 Individual Accountability 21 2.2.5.3 Group Formation 21 2.2.5.4 Simultaneous Interaction 22 2.2.5.5 Appropriate Use of Social Skills 22 22 2.3 Background of Young Learners 2.3.1 Definitions 22 2.3.2 Characteristics 23 2.4 Previous Studies 25 2.5 Research Gaps 29 2.6 Conceptual Framework 29 2.7 Chapter Summary 32 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 33 33 3.1 Overall Research Approach 3.1.1 Research Design 33 3.1.2 Research Procedure 34 3.1.3 Sampling Technique 36 37 3.2 Research Settings and Participants 3.2.1 Research Settings 37 3.2.2 Research Participants 39 3.3 Research Instruments 40 3.3.1 Questionnaire 41 3.3.1.1 Rationale for Questionnaire 41 3.3.1.2 Description of the Questionnaire (see Appendix A) 41 3.3.1.3 Administrating the Questionnaire 44 3.3.2 Interview 46 3.3.2.1 Rationale for Interview 46 3.3.2.2 Description of the Interview (see Appendix B) 46 3.3.2.3 Conducting Interviews 47 48 3.4 Data Analysis Framework vi 3.4.1 Quantitative Analysis for the Questionnaire 48 3.4.2 Qualitative Analysis for the Interview 49 49 3.5 Methodological Issues 3.5.1 Validity 50 3.5.2 Reliability 50 3.5.3 Ethical Considerations 51 3.5.3.1 Consent Form 51 3.5.3.2 Anonymity and Confidentiality 51 3.6 Chapter Summary 52 Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS 53 4.1 Questionnaire Reliability Analysis 53 4.2 Theme Analysis 54 4.2.1 Teachers’ Perceptions about Teaching Speaking Skills at Primary Level 54 4.2.2 Teachers’ Perceptions about Effects of Cooperative Learning Activities on Primary 58 Students’ Affective States 4.2.3 Teachers’ Perceptions about Effects of Cooperative Learning Activities on Primary 62 Students’ Oral Performance 4.2.4 Teachers’ Perceptions about Challenges of Implementing Cooperative Learning 66 Activities at Primary Schools 4.2.5 Frequency Rate of Actually Implementing Cooperative Learning Activities 70 4.2.6 The Types of the Actually Implemented Cooperative Learning Activities 72 4.2.7 The Principles for Implementing Cooperative Learning Activities in Actuality 76 81 4.3 Chapter Summary 82 Chapter 5: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 5.1 Teachers’ Perceptions on the Implementation of Cooperative Learning Activities in 82 Fifth Grade EFL Speaking Classes 5.2 Teachers’ Classroom Practices on the Implementation of Cooperative Learning 90 Activities in Fifth Grade EFL Speaking Classes 95 5.3 Chapter Summary Chapter 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 96 96 6.1 Summary of Key Findings 6.1.1 Research Question 96 6.1.2 Research Question 97 98 6.2 Evaluation of Methodology vii 6.2.1 Strengths 99 6.2.2 Limitations 99 99 6.3 Recommendations for the Teachers 6.4 Recommendations for Further Research 101 6.5 Chapter Summary 101 RFERENCES 102 APPENDIX A.1: TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 108 APPENDIX A.2: TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 112 APPENDIX B.1: TEACHER INTERVIEW PROMPTS (ENGLISH VERSION) 116 APPENDIX B.2: TEACHER INTERVIEW PROMPTS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 117 APPENDIX C: TEACHER PARTICIPANT CONSENT LETTER (ENGLISH VERSION) 118 APPENDIX D.1: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) 119 APPENDIX D.2: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) 121 APPENDIX D.3: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) 123 APPENDIX D.4: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) 125 APPENDIX D.5: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) 127 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.1 The Results of the Preliminary Interviews 35 Table 3.2 Description of the Research Settings 37 Table 3.3 Description of Speaking Section of Family and Friends Special Edition Grade 38 Table 3.4 Description of the Research Participants 39 Table 3.5 The Link between Research Questions and Instruments 40 Table 3.6a Description of Questionnaire (Section 2) 42 Table 3.6b Description of Questionnaire (Section 3) 43 Table 3.7 Delivery and Collection Procedure of Questionnaires 45 Table 3.8 Demographic Information of Interviewees 47 Table 4.1a Reliability of the Teacher Questionnaire for Total Items (Items 1-34) 53 Table 4.1b Reliability of the Teacher Questionnaire for Perception Group (Items 1-22) 54 Table 4.1c Reliability of the Teacher Questionnaire for Practice Group (Items 23-34) 54 Table 4.2 Teachers’ Perceptions on Teaching English Speaking Skill at Primary Schools 55 Table 4.3 Teachers’ Perceptions about the Effects of Cooperative Learning Activities on 59 Students’ Affective States Table 4.4 Teachers’ Perceptions about the Effects of Cooperative Learning Activities on 62 Students’ Oral Performance Table 4.5 Teachers’ Perceptions about Challenges of Implementing Cooperative Learning 66 Activities at Primary Schools Table 4.6 Teachers’ Implementation Frequency of Cooperative Learning Activities 70 Table 4.7 The Types of the Actually Implemented Cooperative Learning Activities 73 Table 4.8 The Principles for Implementing Cooperative Learning Activities in Actuality 77 ix LIST OF CHARTS, FIGURES Page Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework 30 Figure 3.1 Research Procedure 34 Chart 4.1 The Teachers’ Implementation Frequency of Cooperative Learning Activities 71 x 26 Tôi dựa trình độ học sinh tạo nhóm phù hợp 5 Tôi quan sát đảm bảo thành viên tham gia làm việc 27 nhóm Tơi học sinh tạo nhóm với (cặp, nhóm người, 28 nhóm người…) B Các hoạt động: Tôi áp dụng hoạt động Học Hợp Tác sau lớp học nói Tiếng Anh lớp 29 Discussion 30 Role-play 31 Storytelling 32 Jigsaw activities 33 Think pair share 34 Three steps interview 115 APPENDIX B.1 TEACHER INTERVIEW PROMPTS (ENGLISH VERSION) A Principles for teaching English speaking to fifth graders Q1 Should primary teachers focus linguistic accuracy or oral fluency when teaching speaking to students? Specify your answer Q2 Is it important to reduce the students‟ anxiety when they speak English? Why (not)? B Effects of implementing Cooperative Learning in teaching speaking skill to fifth graders Q3 Can Cooperative Learning activities increase the students‟ confidence, level of engagement and participation? Why (not)? Q4 Do you agree that Cooperative Learning activities can improve the students‟ fluency and accuracy aspects of oral language? Why (not)? Q5 Is it true to say that Cooperative Learning activities help the student complete the tasks easier? Why (not)? C Challenges of implementing Cooperative Learning in teaching speaking skill to the fifth graders Q6 Can you name some possible difficulties that the primary teachers confront when implementing Cooperative Learning activities? D Actual practices of implementing Cooperative Learning in teaching speaking skill to the fifth graders Q7 How often you implement Cooperative Learning activities in speaking classroom? Q8 What types of Cooperative Learning activities the teachers frequently employ when teaching speaking lessons in the fifth grade class? Q9 How you implement these activities before, during and after speaking class? 116 APPENDIX B.2 TEACHER INTERVIEW PROMPTS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) A Nguyên tắc dạy kỹ nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp C1 Giáo viên tiểu học nên trọng đến tính xác mặt ngơn ngữ hay tính trơi chảy dạy kỹ nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 5? Vui lòng làm rõ câu trả lời C2 Giảm lo lắng học sinh họ nói tiếng Anh có quan trọng không? Tại sao? B Hiệu việc thực Học Hợp Tác dạy kỹ nói cho học sinh lớp C3 Các hoạt động Học Hợp Tác có tăng tự tin, mức độ tập trung tham gia học sinh hay không? Tại sao? C4 Thầy (Cơ) có đồng ý hoạt động Học Hợp Tác cải thiện khía cạnh lưu loạt xác ngơn ngữ nói? Tại sao? C5 Các hoạt động Học Hợp Tác có giúp học sinh hồn thành tập nói dễ khơng? Tại sao? C Thách thức việc thực Học Hợp Tác dạy kỹ nói cho học sinh lớp C6 Thầy (Cơ) nêu số khó khăn mà giáo viên tiểu học gặp thực hoạt động Học Hợp Tác không? D Thực tế thực Học Hợp Tác dạy kỹ nói cho học sinh lớp giáo viên C7 Bạn thực hoạt động Học Hợp Tác lớp học nói tiếng Anh mức độ nào? C8 Loại hoạt động Học Hợp Tác mà giáo viên thường sử dụng dạy kỹ nói tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 5? C9 Thầy (Cô) thực hoạt động giai đoạn trước, sau nói tiếng Anh nào? 117 APPENDIX C TEACHER PARTICIPANT CONSENT LETTER (ENGLISH VERSION) Research Title: The Implementation of Cooperative Learning Activities in the Fifth Grade EFL Speaking Classrooms: Primary Teachers’ Perceptions and Classroom Practices Researcher: Tran Luu Thi Huyen Email: huyentran82us@gmail.com Supervisor: Ho Pham Vu Phi (Associate Professor, Doctor of Philosophy in English Language Studies) Email: Phamvuphiho@gmail.com Level of Education: Master of Arts in TESOL (Institution: Ho Chi Minh City Open University) I, …… …………………………, have read and understood the information provided by the researcher concerning this study, and any questions I have asked have been answered to my satisfaction a I agree to answer the questionnaires b I agree to interviews being audio-recorded c I agree that the research data collected for the study may be published or provided to other researchers on the condition that my name is confidential d I agree to participate in the study, realizing that I may physically withdraw from the study at any time during the data collection period and may request that no data arising from my participation are used e A copy of the information sheet for this research and this form has been provided to me to keep Signature: ………………………………………………………………………………………… 118 APPENDIX D.1 INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) Q1 Should primary teachers focus linguistic accuracy or oral fluency when teaching speaking to students? Specify your answer F1: I think that we should take both linguistic accuracy and oral fluency aspects into account when teaching speaking skill to the fifth graders I believe that both of them contribute to the young learner‟ speaking performance equally Q2 Is it important to reduce the students’ anxiety when they speak English? Why (not)? F1: It is sure that young learners usually experience their language learning anxiety This is a negative feeling which hampers these students to speak English confidently Therefore, we need to reduce this apprehension in speaking classrooms Q3 Can Cooperative Learning activities increase the students’ confidence, level of engagement and participation? Why (not)? F1: Cooperative Learning activities are so interesting and vivid, even competitive that young learners engage much in such speaking activities Besides, as what I observe, when they work together, they feel more confident than when they are required to work independently Q4 Do you agree that Cooperative Learning activities can improve the students’ fluency and accuracy aspects of oral language? Why (not)? F1: It is unquestionable that at primary schooling level, such these activities can create opportunities for students to practice different chunks of vocabulary within different functions such as agreeing, summarizing, etc Consequently, the young learners can speak English better Q5 Is it true to say that Cooperative Learning activities help the student complete the tasks easier? Why (not)? 119 F1: When the tasks are assigned, the duties are given to each member, it is certain that these tasks can be quickly and successfully completed Q6 Can you name some possible difficulties that the primary teachers confront when implementing Cooperative Learning activities? F1: It surely occurs in a primary class that some students will get silent, some students want to be dominant, and others are inattentive to the speaking activities We are hard to control what is happening in the groups Therefore, our assessment and scoring is inexact Q7 How often you implement Cooperative Learning activities in your speaking classroom? F1: I sometimes use Cooperative Learning activities in my English speaking teaching for the fifth graders Q8 What types of Cooperative Learning activities the teachers frequently employ when teaching speaking lessons in the fifth grade class? F1: I often conduct some activities such as storytelling or jigsaw activities since they are easily prepared and operated In contrast, I seldom exploit discussion or think pair share because they are beyond the young learners‟ grasp and they cost too much time Q9 How you implement these activities before, during and after speaking class? F1: Since the time fund for each period is roughly limited, and that many different interactions among the young students need to be built up Therefore, I usually plan the lessons within such activities carefully so that the speaking activities for them are punctually ended During these activities, I go around the class to support my students After the speaking activities end, I will score the whole team‟s outcomes 120 APPENDIX D.2 INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) Q1 Should primary teachers focus linguistic accuracy or oral fluency when teaching speaking to students? Specify your answer F2: No matter what grades the students are in, the students must speak English accurately and fluently Accordingly, the teachers must focus both aspects Q2 Is it important to reduce the students’ anxiety when they speak English? Why (not)? F2: It is imperative for language teachers to relieve their young learners‟ embarrassment when speaking English, since the fact that it can hinder these students‟ willingness to make their speech Q3 Can Cooperative Learning activities increase the students’ confidence, level of engagement and participation? Why (not)? F2: I totally agree that Cooperative Learning leads to the personal development of young students by promoting their self-confidence, and positive learning attitude amongst them, while working collectively in a group in order to solve a given task It means that these students eagerly participate in such activities Q4 Do you agree that Cooperative Learning activities can improve the students’ fluency and accuracy aspects of oral language? Why (not)? F2: When working with their classmates, they have more chances to recycle their newly learnt vocabulary and grammar At the same time, they get exposed to several interactions in speaking class As a result, the young learners can speak English more fluently and accurately 121 Q5 Is it true to say that Cooperative Learning activities help the student complete the tasks easier? Why (not)? F2: According to my personal view, academic speaking tasks cannot be successfully accomplished in the case that some students are unwilling to participate and take their shared roles, and even some students only chat or wanton; whereas, the teacher are incapable of controlling all of them This is a common dilemma at almost primary schools in Vietnam Consequently, the outcome of the given tasks is impossible to be achieved Q6 Can you name some possible difficulties that the primary teachers confront when implementing Cooperative Learning activities? F2: In order to relieve the negative results due to the objective issues such as big size of the class, fixed physical setting of classrooms, lack of class time, etc we teachers must comply with principles of this approach carefully If not, we are doing with the cooperative work will become retrogressive Q7 How often you implement Cooperative Learning activities in your speaking classroom? F2: Occasionally pursuant to the textbook content, and the resource availability Q8 What types of Cooperative Learning activities the teachers frequently employ when teaching speaking lessons in the fifth grade class? F2: I frequently use role-play or jigsaw activities or storytelling because these activities are suitable to the young learners‟ current language knowledge Besides, they are prepared with ease and not take up too much class time if the teachers plan carefully Yet, I only occasionally utilize discussion or think pair share since the reality that these activities requires the primary students‟ topical knowledge Q9 How you implement these activities before, during and after speaking class? F2: I regularly produce lesson plans before taking such a class to make sure that everything is done smoothly and is in my hands in the actual classrooms like selecting Cooperative Learning techniques, allotting time for each stage of these activities, etc While my students 122 are working collaboratively, I move around to assist them After the class, I evaluate and score the completed tasks for the whole group in lieu of each member APPENDIX D.3 INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) Q1 Should primary teachers focus linguistic accuracy or oral fluency when teaching speaking to students? Specify your answer F3: At the very first stage as primary level, students should be chiefly concentrated on their smooth level of utterances during their practice of English speaking If teachers are ignorant of it, the students can incrementally speak English unnaturally and choppily Q2 Is it important to reduce the students’ anxiety when they speak English? Why (not)? F3: It is easily observed in a speaking classroom at a primary school that many students feel nervous and apprehensive when producing language orally It can negatively impact these students‟ speaking performance Q3 Can Cooperative Learning activities increase the students’ confidence, level of engagement and participation? Why (not)? F3: In my personal viewpoint, I totally believe that Cooperative Learning activities can build up a comfortable learning environment for my young students to practice English speaking skill As a result, they will become more confident and overcome their anxiety when talking to their group mates Q4 Do you agree that Cooperative Learning activities can improve the students’ fluency and accuracy aspects of oral language? Why (not)? 123 F3: You know, when it comes to say the big benefits of constant Cooperative Learning activities, we cannot forget that students will be upgraded their fluency of English speaking skills To put it simply, they are granted much more opportunities to talk Q5 Is it true to say that Cooperative Learning activities help the student complete the tasks easier? Why (not)? F3: In some cases, speaking tasks can be finished easily and fast since the fact that each part of these tasks is equally divided to each member During tasks, the good students can support the weaker ones Q6 Can you name some possible difficulties that the primary teachers confront when implementing Cooperative Learning activities? F3: When applying Cooperative Learning for teaching speaking skill to young students, we cannot avoid some challenges like big class size, fixed physical setting of classrooms, time shortage At that time, our mission is to find out ways to solve them And, we primary teachers, although facing these problems, if taking Cooperative Learning theories into consideration, we believe that the success of this implementation can be gotten easily Q7 How often you implement Cooperative Learning activities in your speaking classroom? F3: Only sometimes In fact, I only mostly exploit speaking tasks in the current textbook Q8 What types of Cooperative Learning activities the teachers frequently employ when teaching speaking lessons in the fifth grade class? F3: Actually, I often exert role-play or storytelling in my speaking class since they are easily managed as I know Discussion is seldom practiced in my class since it is over almost all my fifth graders‟ language and background knowledge capacity To be honest, I have never had my concept of three step interview or think pair share before Q9 How you implement these activities before, during and after speaking class? 124 F3: Pursuant to the unit theme, the time allocation, and the learning objectives, I will select and design them [Cooperative Learning activities] Before asking my students to work collectively, I will instruct them how to complete the given activities in a simple way In the time of my students working, I observe and move around the class to facilitate their ongoing work After the class, I use praise or gifts or bonus to encourage them APPENDIX D.4 INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) Q1 Should primary teachers focus linguistic accuracy or oral fluency when teaching speaking to students? Specify your answer M4: According to my viewpoint, both language correctness and oral smoothness equalize their importance in teaching and learning English speaking skill However, I think that, for primary students, fluency is still prioritized Q2 Is it important to reduce the students’ anxiety when they speak English? Why (not)? M4: I found it important to reduce language anxiety experienced by the fifth graders since linguistic difficulties they face when speaking Thus, primary teachers need to help them be free of worry and apprehension so that they can speak better Q3 Can Cooperative Learning activities increase the students’ confidence, level of engagement and participation? Why (not)? M4: When working on speaking activities with their classmates in groups, there can be no doubt that they may involve much in their learning process I mean level of participation will be upgraded so much Q4 Do you agree that Cooperative Learning activities can improve the students’ fluency and accuracy aspects of oral language? Why (not)? 125 M4: The more they work together on speaking activities, the more they can improve their smooth oral stream of ideas Like a Vietnamese proverb, “hundreds of times of hearing is not as good as one time of seeing; hundreds of times of seeing is not as good as one time of doing” Q5 Is it true to say that Cooperative Learning activities help the student complete the tasks easier? Why (not)? M4: I not think that by working together on speaking tasks, these tasks are finished effectively because there are some passive students and some inattentive ones in the speaking class Q6 Can you name some possible difficulties that the primary teachers confront when implementing Cooperative Learning activities? M4: Teachers can be tired of controlling the class because the primary students are active, turbulent and chaotic Also, teachers also not have sufficient time for planning speaking lessons underlying Cooperative Learning, which need to be invested thoroughly Q7 How often you implement Cooperative Learning activities in your speaking classroom? M4: Only occasionally Q8 What types of Cooperative Learning activities the teachers frequently employ when teaching speaking lessons in the fifth grade class? M4: I only often have my students to experience role-play or jigsaw activities since they are manageable and more effective in teaching speaking skill in connection to the textbook content Whereas, think pair share or three step interview only are used in warming-up phase or as an ice-breaker Q9 How you implement these activities before, during and after speaking class? M4: Prior to implementing Cooperative Learning activities in my speaking class, I seek, select and adapt them such as storytelling or role-play to suit my students‟ proficiency levels in terms of language structures, vocabulary and background knowledge To help my students 126 rightly as what I require, I often instruct them carefully and check their comprehension on the tasks Through the time of my students collaboratively working, keep our eyes carefully on the students to ensure that all members of a group are working equally and appear on time to comfort them However, the completed deed is marked for the whole group and I regularly encourage my students by compliments, or small gifts APPENDIX D.5 INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (ENGLISH VERSION) Q1 Should primary teachers focus linguistic accuracy or oral fluency when teaching speaking to students? Specify your answer F5: Under my perspectives, a good speaking performance is made when speakers utter correctly in terms of vocabulary and grammar, and smoothly without hesitation Thus, both aspects need focusing by primary teachers Q2 Is it important to reduce the students’ anxiety when they speak English? Why (not)? F5: An affective state can be found in primary speaking class is language anxiety among young learners Therefore, this state should be minimized to enhance students‟ confidence in oral productions Q3 Can Cooperative Learning activities increase the students’ confidence, level of engagement and participation? Why (not)? F5: Imagine that how your students react when you ask them to work alone and invite them to come front of class to present You know, at that time, they can be embarrassed or ashamed On contrary, when you let them work within their classmates, they can respond your request more confidently Q4 Do you agree that Cooperative Learning activities can improve the students’ fluency and accuracy aspects of oral language? Why (not)? 127 F5: I believe that Cooperative Learning activities can improve young learners‟ speaking fluency It is understood that until the students interact with their classmates much more, they open their mouth to say something and they incrementally enhance their volubility Q5 Is it true to say that Cooperative Learning activities help the student complete the tasks easier? Why (not)? F5: I consider that many speaking tasks are successfully accomplished in case that all participants of each group join their hands to achieve the speaking outcomes as required Q6 Can you name some possible difficulties that the primary teachers confront when implementing Cooperative Learning activities? F5: The primary students are active but shortly attentive Therefore, it is required to select and design Cooperative Learning activities vividly and creatively Furthermore, most of these students are deficient in language input, so such activities are unable to be successful Besides, the ELT curriculum is fixed and restricted in terms of time and materials Thus, we have to arrange all things very carefully at the outset Q7 How often you implement Cooperative Learning activities in your speaking classroom? F5: Not often, only sometimes based on the textbook content suitability, and reference source availability Q8 What types of Cooperative Learning activities the teachers frequently employ when teaching speaking lessons in the fifth grade class? F5: I use jigsaw and storytelling most frequently because as for me, they are uncomplicated and manageably prepared and enacted in my speaking class Besides, these activities are beneficial to my students‟ learning speaking functions Conversely, I consider that the other activity types like three step interview or think pair share only make the class atmosphere more comfortable but less effective Especially, if carrying out these activities, it is certainly inefficient because they are incompatible with most of the young students‟ existing levels Q9 How you implement these activities before, during and after speaking class? 128 F5: For pre-speaking phase, I let my student know how to carry out the given Cooperative Learning tasks within my clear-cut instructions For while-speaking phase, I observe the class alertly to check all things run smoothly and lend a helping hand to my students For afterspeaking phase, I only provide my students with positive feedback and compliments for what they have done so far 129