Teachers perceptions of collaborative learning in english language teaching

Trang 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION Trang 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES EDUCATION VU THI LANH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNI

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES EDUCATION

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES EDUCATION

VU THI LANH

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS

OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Major: English teaching theories & methodologies

Code: 8140111

MASTER THESIS

Thai Nguyen, June 2023

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that I wrote the current thesis on my own, that it has not been submitted in whole or in part as graded academic work, and that I used just the methods listed

Thai Nguyen, June 2023

Vu Thi Lanh

ABSTRACT

Understanding teachers' perceptions about collaborative learning would be an important step toward the implementation of collaborative learning in English lessons The current study aimed at investigating teachers' perceptions of the collaborative learning, particularly (i) teachers’ perceptions of collaborative learning, (ii) teachers’ perceptions of their roles in collaborative learning, as well as (iii) the challenges of collaborative learning A mixed method approach with the use of both questionnaires and interviews were used to gain insights into the problem Findings from the study showed that teachers generally had insufficient understanding of the concept of collaborative learning The most limited area of perception was that of teacher’s role In terms of challenges, teachers appeared to have more difficulty with (i) evaluating students fairly, (ii) balancing the teams of mixed-ability students, and (iii) determining tasks for cooperative learning Based on the findings from the current study, schools, provincial Departments of Education, as well as teacher training institutions might have appropriate plans to support teachers and encourage their use

of collaborative learning in teaching English

Keywords: collaborative learning, teacher’s perceptions, English teaching

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

Chapter One: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY 1

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 3

1.2.1 Aims of the study 3

1.2.2 Objective of the study 3

1.3 RESEACH QUESTIONS 3

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 3

1.5 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 3

1.6 THE STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY 4

Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 THE CONCEPT OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING 5

2.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES 10

2.2.1 Key principles of collaborative learning 10

2.2.2 Managing groups in collaborative learning 12

2.2.3 Stages in designing instruction for collaborative learning 14

2.2.4 Teachers’ roles of collaborative learning 16

2.2.5 Benefits of collaborative learning 19

2.2.6 Challenges of collaborative learning 20

2.3 PREVIOUS STUDY ON TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING 22

Chapter Three: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24

3.1 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 24

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 24

3.3 RESEARCH POPULATION AND RESEARCH SAMPLE 25

3.4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT 25

3.4.1 Questionnaire 25

3.4.2 Interview 29

3.5 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES 30

3.6 DATA ANALYSIS 31

Chapter Four: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 32

4.1 DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION OF THE PARTICIPANTS 32

4.2 CHECKING OF SCALE RELIABILITIES 32

4.3 RQ1 WHAT ARE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING? 37

4.4 RQ2 WHAT ARE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR ROLES IN COLLABORATIVE LEARNING? 40

4.5 RQ3 WHAT ARE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHALLENGES OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING? 42

Chapter Five: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 47

5.1 SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS 47

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 47

5.3 LIMITATIONS 50

Reference 51

Appendix A: QUESTIONNAIRE 65

Appendix B: INTERVIEWS 70

Appendix C: SUGGESTED COLLABORATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES 72

Appendix D: SUGGESTED GROUPING TECHNIQUES 73

Appendix E: SIX STRUCTURES FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM 78

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 The classification of the questionnaire items 27

Table 4.1 The demographic information of the participants 33 Table 4.2 Interpretations of Cronbach’s alpha value (George &

Mallery, 2003)

34

Table 4.3 The scale reliability of the questionnaire items 34 Table 4.4 Mean scores of teacher’s perceptions 39 Table 4.5 Item statistics for Interdependence 39 Table 4.6 Item statistics for face-to-face promotive interaction 40 Table 4.7 Item statistics for teacher’s perceptions of teacher’s

Figure 4.1 The collaborative learning strategies used by teacher 47

Disabilities

Std deviation Standard deviation

Chapter One: INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

In Vietnam, English has become increasingly important since the government launched the reform policies known as Doi Moi (Renewal) in 1986 (Ngo, 2018a; Nguyen, 2016) However, for a long time, the country's English-teaching sector has consistently underperformed (Ngo, 2018a; Ngo, 2018b; Nguyen, 2016; Nguyen, 2019) One of the recent studies on the communicative competence

of Vietnamese learners has shown that after seven years of learning English in schools, most high school leavers in Vietnam still cannot use the language in communication (Le, 2015) Such poor English proficiency has been seen by the Vietnamese government as a threat to the country's successful integration into neighboring and international markets (Ngo, 2018a; Nguyen, 2015)

A number of issues have been identified as contributing to students’ currently low English language proficiency First of all, in most schools, classes are often very large, with the average number of students about 38 (Hien et al., 2020) This number is significantly higher in large cities, with 45–50 students in a single class (Parandekar, 2016) When it comes to delivering lessons and running educational activities, teachers face numerous obstacles when working with large class sizes Currently, students do not have enough opportunities to actively use the language even in English lessons The current testing system, with extensive focus on grammar and reading, should also be responsible for students’ poor English proficiency (Vu, 2017) Therefore, it is necessary to find ways to overcome the problem

Collaborative/ cooperative learning, which typically involves groups of learners working together to complete certain learning tasks, has been advocated as

a pedagogical solution that would help maximize students’ learning (Eskay et al., 2012) Collaborative learning differs from other forms of group learning in that it has five components including positive interdependence, individual accountability,

promotive interaction, social skills, and group processing The small group elements

of an active collaborative learning strategy are intended to promote interdependence among group members so that each member of the small group is held accountable, not just for learning information about the content but also helps and facilitates the learning of the other members of their group (Curry, De Amicis, & Gilligan, 2011) Collaborative learning has consistently been found to be positively correlated with students’ learning motivation and achievement (Adkins- Coleman, 2010; Diego, 2013; Honigsfeld & Dove, 2012; Slavin, 2015)

During collaborative learning, the teacher plays an important role in promoting positive student interaction (Kaendler et al., 2015), evaluating the group progress, and deciding when to intervene (Van de Pol et al., 2010) Without proper guidance from the teacher, collaborative learning may fail (Van de Pol et al., 2010) Research shows that guiding groups of collaborating students is a demanding task that requires teachers to master multiple advanced competencies (Hei et al., 2016; Van Leeuwen et al., 2015) Thus, to successfully implement collaborative learning, teachers need to have thorough understanding of it and know how to create favorable learning environments for the students However, not all teachers are aware of collaborative learning as well as their roles during collaborative activities; and such limited experience with collaborative learning of teachers was preventing the widespread use of such strategies in the classroom (Rana & Rana, 2022)

Attempts have been made to include collaborative learning in English language teaching In Vietnam, collaborative learning has also been well advocated and studied (Caodangfpt, 2015) However, most of the studies were conducted at higher education institutions The application of collaborative learning at high school level is limited Given the important roles that teachers have to play in the implementation of collaborative learning, it is necessary that we have better understanding of teachers’ perception about it as well as the challenges that they face when using collaborative learning in the lessons

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.2.1 Aims of the study

The current study was conducted with the aim of gaining a better understanding of teachers' perceptions of the collaborative learning process, the roles that they had to take, as well as the challenges that they faced

1.2.2 Objective of the study

The following objectives were set to achieve the above aim:

- To identify the teachers' perceptions of collaborative learning

- To investigate the teachers’ perceptions of their roles in collaborative learning

- To determine the teachers’ perceptions of the challenges of collaborative learning

1.3 RESEACH QUESTIONS

In order to achieve the previously stated aims and objectives, the following research questions were put forward:

1 What are teachers' perceptions of collaborative learning?

2 What are the teachers’ perceptions of their roles in collaborative learning?

3 What are teachers’ perceptions of the challenges of collaborative learning?

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In this study, only teachers' perceptions of collaborative learning were studied Students' perceptions and perceptions from other stakeholders were not considered Moreover, the research only looked at English teachers' perceptions of collaborative learning The perceptions of teachers who teach other school subjects were not the focus of this study, either

1.5 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is significant because understanding teachers' perceptions about collaborative learning would be an important step toward the implementation of collaborative learning in English lessons Based on the findings from the current study, schools, provincial Departments of Education, as well as teacher training institutions might have appropriate plans to support teachers and encourage their use of collaborative learning in teaching English In addition, other educational

institutions can refer to the study to outline necessary things to consider before implementing collaborative learning The study results can also be a helpful source

of reference for other researchers who also hold interests in the field

1.6 THE STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY

The research consists of five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Explains the reason why the topic of the thesis is chosen, the significance of the thesis, the main objectives, some major research questions, and the scope of the research

Chapter 2: Provides an overview of the theoretical background of collaborative learning in English language teaching

Chapter 3: Highlights the research methodology This chapter also describes the research method for the collection and analysis of data

Chapter 4: Presents findings from questionnaires and interviews Quantitative and qualitative findings are compared and contrasted to gain insights into teachers’ perceptions

Chapter 5: Summarizes key findings and accordingly proposes recommendations for different stakeholders This chapter also identifies the limitations and gives suggestions for further study

Finally, references and appendices are listed sufficiently at the end of the research

Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides the theoretical background to the study Specifically,

it reviews key contents related to collaborative learning such as: (i) the concept of collaborative learning (and its key elements), (ii) key phases in the implementation

of collaborative learning strategies, (iii) teacher’s roles in collaborative learning; (iv) benefits of collaborative learning; and (v) challenges of collaborative learning Studies that have investigated teachers’ perceptions of collaborative learning are also reviewed

2.1 THE CONCEPT OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

In its most general sense, collaborative learning could be defined as the instructional use of small groups that enables students to collaborate to maximize each other's learning (Eskay, Onu, Obiyo, & Obidoa, 2012; Johnson & Johnson, 1989; Slavin, 1989) When it comes to groups of students working together, another term—cooperative learning— is often confused Although there are some key differences between the two concepts, in this research particularly, the two terms are to be used interchangeably to refer to activities that involve positive interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction, individual accountability, interpersonal and small groups, and group processing (Eskay et al., 2012; Slavin, 1989) In the section that follows, these key elements will be elaborated (Johnson et al., 1990):

1 Positive interdependence: To accomplish the goal, the team must rely on

one another Each team member faces consequences if they don't fulfill their responsibilities Members must feel connected to one another in a way that guarantees their success as a group Positive interdependence is the conviction held

by each individual that cooperating with other team members has value and will improve both individual learning and work products

To further understand how beneficial interdependence affects performance, researchers conducted several investigations One must first show that the benefits

of positive interdependence go beyond those of simple group membership or

interpersonal contact According to research by Hwong et al (1993), good interdependence among group members is necessary but not sufficient to increase success and productivity The realization that one's actions have an impact on the outcomes for others in the group apears to generate responsibility factors that motivate people to do better There is also evidence that positive interdependence is necessary to boost productivity (Mesch et al., 1986, 1988), in addition to interpersonal connection Positive goal interdependence led to greater individual success than did individual effort combined with peer interaction When people have

a strong sense of positive interdependence, they know that their participation is crucial to the group's success and that they cannot "free-ride" on the work of others (Kerr, 1983) while also understanding that they bring something special to the table Members of a group are less likely to put up 100% effort when they believe their contributions are not crucial to the team's success (Kerr, 1983), and they are more likely to do so when they believe their contributions will be unique (Harkins, & Petty, 1982)

Since positive interdependence has effects beyond those of group membership and interpersonal connection, several comparative studies have been done to determine the most effective methods for producing it According to research by Gillies et al (2007), positive goal interdependence often leads to increased achievement and productivity than does resource interdependence This

is consistent with what Frank (1984) previously suggested

In addition to spurring people to greater efforts, positive interdependence also promotes the emergence of novel ideas and discoveries through collaborative effort (Gabbert et al., 1986) When compared to individuals working alone or in competition, members of cooperative groups are more likely to employ higher-order thinking processes

However, it should be noted that it normally take a team longer to reach peak performance when its members must work together to complete tasks (Ortiz et al., 1996) The more complicated the cooperation procedures, the less time each

member has to focus on their particular tasks; nevertheless, once these procedures have been understood, team members can focus on their tasks and produce better results than individuals working alone

2 Face-to-face promotive interaction: Collaborative learning also requires

group members to work together to give and receive feedback, challenge each others’ arguments and conclusions, and most importantly, mentor, support and motivate one another They accomplish this by making use of what they know and

by learning from others To successfully interact with each other, group members need to share certain traits Those that are most commonly listed in the literature include:

- Helping each other out in a timely and productive manner (Johnson & Johnson, 1984)

- Facilitating more effective and efficient information processing through the sharing of resources such as data and materials (Crawford & Haaland, 1972)

- Providing constructive criticism to help one another do a better job in the future (Ryan, 1982)

- Promoting hard work toward shared objectives (Wicklund & Brehm, 1976)

- Motivating one another to work toward the group's objectives (Johnson

et al., 1985)

- Behaving dependably and reliably (Johnson, 1974)

- Being driven by a desire to help one another out (Johnson & Johnson, 2005)

- Characterized by modest levels of worry and stress, and a moderate

arousal level (Haines & McKeachie, 1967)

- Having a more nuanced understanding of the experiences of others than people who focus on competition or self-interest (Johnson & Johnson, 1989)

3 Individual accountability and personal responsibility: Another

important element of collaborative leaning is that everyone in a group need to be responsible for completing their part of the work and understand the contents that need to be studied According to research by Archer-Kathe et al (1994), increasing members' sense of reliance on one another can benefit the group as a whole There may be less of a desire to take responsibility if people do not feel they can hold anyone accountable When working on tasks where it is difficult to identify members' contributions, where there is an increased likelihood of redundant efforts, where there is a lack of group cohesiveness, and where there is less responsibility for the outcome, members may reduce their contributions to goal achievement (Harkins & Petty 1981) However, the social loafing effect disappears if there is strong individual accountability and it is evident how much effort each member is contributing if redundant efforts are avoided, if every member is responsible for the ultimate output and if the group is cohesive As a group grows in size, its members become less convinced that their contributions are crucial to the collective's success (Kerr, 1989) Furthermore, Messick and Brewer (1983) found that the smaller the group, the higher the level of personal responsibility everyone takes on In a study

of five-person teams, Morgan et al (1970) discovered that when one member was absent, the remaining four members performed better than usual

4 Social skills: Members' interpersonal and small group abilities may have a

significant impact on the group's success and productivity (Gillies et al., 2007) In other words, if people are to work together effectively, they need to have at least some interpersonal and small-group abilities High-quality group work requires individuals who either naturally possess or can be taught the interpersonal and small-group skills necessary for such collaboration (Gillies et al., 2007) The

required skills may include trust-building, decision-making, communication, and conflict-management skills (Gillies et al., 2007) Johnson (2006) suggests that group members need to:

- get to know each other and build confidence;

- communicate properly and explicitly;

- accept and support each other; and

- handle problems in a constructive way and put their efforts together to achieve shared goals

5 Group self-evaluating: As a team, members are required to establish

shared objectives, evaluate their collective performance on a regular basis, and decide on adjustments that will help the team work more efficiently in the future

When comparing different forms of cooperation including, cooperation without any processing, with the instructor processing (the instructor specified cooperative skills to use, observed, and gave whole class feedback as to how well participants were using the skills), and with instructor and participant processing (the instructor specified cooperative skills to use, observed, and had groups dispersed for processing), Johnson et al (1990) found that the individualistic format had the lowest results; the other three formats all performed better while working together Significant improvement in problem-solving performance could also be observed when instructor and participant processing was combined Finally, Archer-Kath et al (1994) discovered that compared to group processing with whole group feedback, group processing with individual feedback was more effective in increasing different aspects of participants' performance including: motivation; overall task achievement; uniformity of achievement among group members; relationships among group members and between participants and the teacher; as well as self-esteem and attitudes

2.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES 2.2.1 Key principles of collaborative learning

Any collaborative learning strategy must adhere to the following principles (Ngeow, 1998):

1 A cooperative learning activity is created using agreed-upon learning objectives:

In an ideal cooperative learning setting, students collaborate on properly prepared and arranged projects with minimum guidance from the teacher so that both the individuals and the groups as a whole can achieve their learning objectives (Curry

et al., 2011, Cziprok & Popescu, 2015) Students are required to share their knowledge about a given task as part of a successful cooperative learning team, which then enables them to discuss their knowledge among themselves, correct any incorrect information, and reach an agreement on the conclusion or solutions discovered (Hsiung, Luo, Lin, & Wang, 2014) Students' conversations with one another will result in fresh knowledge and perspectives Depending on the level of student interactions, a student's learning or takeaways from a small-group discussion will vary The more they converse, the more at ease they get with their group members, which makes the activity more engaging and effective (Boardman et al., 2015)

2 Learning in small groups of three to five students occur:

Over the past 50 years, collaborative learning strategies have changed how students are grouped (Johnson et al., 2000) Before the 1960s, grouping students was not as common as stylistic individualistic learning (Johnson et al., 2000) As a result of the widespread acceptance of Darwinism at the time, there was societal oposition to collaborative learning The researcher claims that learning has cultivated abrasive individualism The advantages of grouping students in a classroom started to emerge as time went on and educational values changed At all learning levels, collaborative learning strategies are now the acknowledged and favored teaching approach (Johnson et al., 2000) Cooperative learning groups' main strategy is to support one another The idea of students cooperating with one another

enables teachers to provide students with more help Planning for small groups becomes essential because peer support is recommended to aid in student learning (Andre, Louvet, & Deneuve, 2013; Calderon et al., 2011) The way cooperative learning groups are structured takes into account the possibility of stronger and weaker students in a classroom; as a result, teachers must be very careful about the students they put in each group (Claper, 2015) Randomly chosen groups are not encouraged because they might contain students with similar academic backgrounds Knowing one's classroom is crucial to cooperative instruction because

a student who is weak in one area may simultaneously be strong in another Cooperative learning groups—not to be confused with group work—are purposefully formed groups that concentrate on strategic conversation topics and activities where students work together to accomplish shared learning goals According to Altun (2015), Calderon et al (2011), and Curry, De Amicis, and Gilligan (2011), cooperative learning strategies actively seek to promote interdependence among group members so that each member of the group is responsible for not only learning content information but also for supporting and facilitating their teammates' learning

3 Cooperative behavior entails shared planning, activities that foster trust, and knowledge of appropriate conduct for a team;

When using collaborative strategies, learners can educate other group members in a reciprocal manner There are more than 150 Kagan structures, also referred to as collaborative learning structures (Davoudi & Mahinpo, 2012) The scholars also stated that these frameworks serve a range of purposes, including some that are intended to produce highly agreeable content, others to foster and develop thinking abilities, and still others to foster and improve communication skills Jigsaw puzzles, group-game-solution combat, complex instruction, group-assisted individualism, group-accelerated instruction, group inquiry, collaborative and comprehension-integrated reading, and small group talks and activities are just a few examples of specific collaborative learning strategies (Basak & Yidiz, 2014; Chen & Goswami, 2011; Curry et al., 2011)

4 By establishing shared objectives, positive interdependence can be fostered: According to Jacobs and Cook (2014), the collaborative learning concept that most strongly promotes student sharing is positive interdependence Students who feel a sense of positive interdependence with their group members perceive a positive correlation between their results, meaning they believe that what benefits one benefits all and that what disadvantages one harms all In other words, organizations adopt the philosophy expressed by the Three Musketeers' catchphrase,

"all for one; one for all" Positive interdependence gives support, whereas individual accountability places pressure on group members to contribute to the group; if students are having problems, their groupmates are available to aid them Since students are learning not only for their own advantage but also for the benefit of their groups, positive interdependence can also increase students' drive to learn (Jacobs & Cook, 2014)

5 Students are required to complete their roles and commit to their tasks on their own:

According to Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning, an excellent method to get students actively involved in their own learning is through collaborative learning exercises They support students in sharing ownership and responsibility for their learning while also fostering community and eliminating any feelings of isolation or detachment

2.2.2 Managing groups in collaborative learning

Collaborative learning strategies cannot be effective without careful planning Teachers must choose carefully which students to put together to effectively use collaborative learning practices Teachers should not place friends in the same group as according to Theatrefolk (accessed in June 2023), students who may not know many of their classmates will have the option to work with and get

to know them better through group projects A new friendship might blossom from this encounter In addition, students learn to work together, communicate effectively, solve problems, and manage the unique learning styles of their peers by

completing assignments in small groups Moreover, perception of justice is achieved through the use of designated groups Students will be able to verify that the grouping procedure was fair and unbiased if it is done in class using a random method (such as picking names out of a hat)

Researchers have also suggested grouping low, medium, and high-level students together to support the development of lower-level students (Eskay et al., 2012; Horton, 1990) When students of different ability levels work together, more able students can strengthen their understanding by helping less able peers; and lower-level students can get extra support from higher achieving peers (Eskay et al., 2012; Kunsch, Jitendra, & Stood, 2007) To encourage sociability in the classroom,

it has been suggested that groups be switched every two to three weeks (Eskay et al., 2012; Horton, 1990) According to Bradford, Hickson, and Evaniew (2014) and Eskay et al (2012), grouping students with a purpose and switching them around frequently may enable the leveling of each team, help increase the effectiveness of learning, and promote socializing in the classroom

Ngeow (1998) suggested that the following key points should be taken into consideration when managing groups in collaborative classes:

1 Grouping techniques: In a collaborative class, depending on students’ skills, levels, or interests, teachers may need to construct homogenous or heterogeneous groups Teachers should also assign roles for different groups members, as well as assign short- or long-term tasks for the groups;

2 Group management techniques: to make sure group work runs smoothly, teacher may need to give instructions that are clear and direct Frequent use of small-group team-building activities may also help improve small-group team-building activities, or encouragement of group dynamics reflection;

3 Establishing interdependent structures such as task division, resources, and incentives for goal achievement;

4 Evaluation techniques: Evaluation techniques may include self-reflection, peer evaluation, or individual, peer, or group grading;

5 The complicated and variable description of the teacher's role throughout the group learning activity: For instance, the instructor can preserve cooperative norms at various stages of a student's learning by acting in a supervisory, evaluative,

or encouraging manner

(Ngeow, 1998)

2.2.3 Stages in designing instruction for collaborative learning

Reid et al (1989) describes five phases for designing instruction for collaborative learning: engagement, exploration, transformation, presentation, and reflection

Engagement:

At this stage, the teacher assigns a cooperative activity to the class It is crucial that this assignment be created in a way that gives the students a sense of ownership and the groundwork for the subsequent, essential group activities Examining the persuasive language used in authentic sales materials such as brochures, adverts, and labels, is an illustration of an actual collaborative exercise for a reading classroom Students can then be asked to examine the various techniques used by advertisements to persuade potential customers

Exploration:

At exploration stage, students engage in the preliminary investigation of concepts and data Teachers must choose how much guidance to provide for the learning activity and how much should be left for students to discover Teachers might ask teams of students to demonstrate their understanding using various response types in order to foster group interdependence at this stage K-W-H-L-S is one of several techniques that may be utilized with students of different age groups and academic levels to ensure that throughout the learning activity each student pursues goals that are both personally useful to them and consistent with the group's overall objective The following are the key elements of the K-W-H-L-S strategy:

 K: Knowledge (e.g., details about what I already know about advertisements)

 W: What I want to learn, such as details about advertising tactics

 H: How I will study it and collaborate with others to achieve shared objectives (e.g., by bringing in information, exchanging ideas, and contrasting viewpoints)

 L: What I learned (e.g., assessing what I have learned and considering how I might aply it)

 S: How I shared or will share what I have learned from others (e.g., by producing a joint report or opinion piece for magazine publication)

Transformation:

In their learning groups, students take part in exercises that "reshape" the knowledge by organizing, outlining, elaborating, or synthesizing conceptual learning Tasks at this stage of learning must necessitate group discussion and participation from all participants In order to involve as many group members as feasible, the learning activity should be complex enough to provide several oportunities for knowledge transformation at various levels or in distinct sub-tasks Students might alternately categorize material, look for examples to back up their claims, and talk about how an advertising campaign might affect their own and their families’ purchasing habits

Presentation:

Groups can present their research to an attentive and discerning audience It

is feasible to design the primary activity so that many student groups contribute their findings to a larger learning outcome (for example, various portions of a proposal) Ensuring that the presentation's audience is genuine and capable of offering insightful input on the data produced by the groups' work is a crucial issue at this point This can be done with expert groups that are genuinely interested in the presentation's conclusions or with critical peer groups The reading group in the aforementioned example, which examines sales literature and evaluates advertising methods, is now in a position to produce an article for a consumer awareness magazine on what they have collectively discovered regarding the impact of advertising on consumer behavior

Reflection:

Students evaluate what they have learned, point out the positive and negative aspects of the learning processes they through, and provide helpful suggestions for how their learning might be strengthened Students should reflect both independently and in groups, and they should examine both their own and their classmates' learning processes Teachers may create group and individual rules for that reason Consider the following questions for reflection:

- I believe that my preparation for this activity improved the group's work quality

- Something that could make things run more smoothly the next time is

- One item that didn't help with our collaborative project was

- Some areas where the group's thinking may have been improved are

2.2.4 Teachers’ roles of collaborative learning

The success of collaborative learning depends largely on the teacher's involvement in the process (Reusser & Pauli, 2015)

Teachers are beginning to define their responsibilities as mediators of student learning through open discussion and teamwork There are several definitions of mediation, but Tinzmann et al (1990) use the terms facilitating, modeling, and coaching to describe the role of the mediator The vast majority of educators are occasionally guilty of such behaviors These actions serve vital functions in collaborative classrooms and drive instruction

According to Tinzmann et al (1990), when a facilitator does their job well, they help students make connections between what they've learned and what they already know, they provide them chances to work together on projects and solve problems, and they give them a wide variety of real-world assignments to complete This may necessitate paying close consideration to the surroundings initially Teachers may rearrange desks so that everyone in the class can see one another, creating an atmosphere conducive to open dialogue The classroom instructor may also desire to relocate his or her desk from its current location at the front of the

room to a more discreet location Teachers can also arrange classroom materials to include a wide range of genres and points of view, incorporate and expand upon students' personal cultural artifacts, and foster a wide range of instructional approaches So, in a collaborative classroom, there can be several different projects

or activity centers where students can work together to represent and experiment with real-world numerical data and challenges Magazines, journals, newspapers, audiotapes, and films abound in these classrooms, giving students exposure to and practice with a wide range of media types and formats for expressing themselves Tinzmann et al (1990)

Students will be more likely to succeed if they believe they possess the mental potential to do well Teachers may foster this way of thinking through proper management of the discussion The teacher's role in the discussion is to encourage intellectual conversations while promoting student growth by interacting actively with the students, monitoring the group, and communicating their expectations clearly (Eskay et al., 2012) The correct environment for collaborative learning groups helps students stay on track while also improving communication between them and their teachers These connections constitute a crucial part of successful collaborative learning environments When teachers build good relationships with their students, they can use their influence on student learning more effectively (Fergusun-Patrick, 2012; Horton, 1990) Finally, teachers promote collaborative learning by designing learning activities that celebrate students' differences while yet demanding rigorous performance from all participants Students need to use higher-order thinking skills, like deliberation and problem solving, to complete these assignments Students are able to draw on their unique viewpoints and life experiences as they complete these activities, which are grounded in the real world Students' self-assurance is bolstered by learning activities that are also suitably challenging (Tinzmann et al., 1990) In a collaborative classroom, teachers take on

a major role in facilitating effective learning because their hands-on activities connect with the students

In order to successfully implement collaborative learning strategies that they may not be familiar with, teachers who do not participate in student-centered activities must recognize the need to change their teaching strategies and acquire the necessary knowledge and training (Mitastudentou & Tamoutseli, 2011; Nodding, 1992) Teachers are able to concentrate on altering the culture of their classrooms

by implementing collaborative learning practices In order to create a more orderly and focused classroom, collaborative learning practices enable instructors and students to build positive relationships and handle conflict (Ferguson-Patrick, 2012; Foss et al., 2013)

In reality, teachers in general and English teachers in particular struggle to engage students in classroom activities, especially when it comes to encouraging them to share their views Given that Arthur et al (1987) emphasized the value of collaboration in learning and claimed that learning is enhanced when it is more like

a team effort than a solo race, collaborative learning might likely be successful in Vietnamese schools Therefore, there is no question that teachers will only be successful in putting collaborative learning into practice when they are fully aware

of it

In addition to the teacher’s role as a facilitator, many state and local guidelines highlight modeling as an opportunity to communicate ideas and provide concrete examples (Tinzmann et al., 1990) According to the researchers, in a collaborative classroom, however, modeling serves to communicate not only one's thoughts on the subject matter to be learned but also the process of communicating with one's peers and learning from them Both thinking aloud and exhibiting (showing students how to do something step by step) can be considered forms of modeling In terms of subject matter, educators may articulate the mental processes they employ when attempting to predict the outcome of a scientific experiment, synthesize the main points of a text, decipher the meaning of a foreign word, represent and solve a problem, structure a large body of knowledge, and so on They would also voice their uncertainties and doubts aloud When things aren't going as

planned, students need to practice metacognitive strategies like thinking aloud and reflecting on their learning Teachers may discuss their ideas regarding the group's process, including the norms and relationships that govern it Think about effective leadership A teacher could use his or her views on time management and group agreement as examples Equally as essential as demonstrating how to design an approach to an academic topic, evaluate its progress, and assess what was learned is showing students how to think through challenging group settings and challenges of communication (Tinzmann et al., 1990)

2.2.5 Benefits of collaborative learning

First and foremost, collaborative learning has consistently been shown to be

a successful strategy for fostering an atmosphere in which students can improve

their academic performance The opinions of English teachers from around the

world on the topic of whether or not collaborative learning practices have an impact

on the academic performance of English Learners in secondary school are expressed

by many scholars (Adkins- Coleman, 2010; Diego, 2013; Honigsfeld & Dove, 2012; Slavin, 2015) According to Boardman, Moore, and Scornavacco (2015), using collaborative learning practices in the classroom may boost students' motivation and achievement According to several studies (Claper, 2015; Ferguson-Patrick, 2012), classrooms that encourage student interaction raise accomplishment levels A student's engagement and academic performance will both rise as a result of a stimulating learning environment in the classroom The survey's findings highlighted improved student accomplishment in the targeted subjects as well as reading and vocabulary test scores Several other studies (e.g., Chen & Goswami, 2011; Curry et al., 2011; Han, 2015; Hosseni, 2012; Ferguson-Patrick, 2012) have also reported improved student accomplishment in both academic subjects and reading and vocabulary test scores In addition, according to research, among other

advantages, it helps children develop analytical thinking, as well as communication

and socializing skills, and it helps teachers teach young children more effectively

(Carter, et al., 2015; Mitastudentou & Tamoutseli, 2011) Finding ways to put these

ideas into practice is crucial since the learning environment values techniques that encourage socializing and communication skills

According to numerous studies (Boardman et al., 2015; Calderon et al., 2011; Honigsfeld & Dove, 2012), collaborative learning strategies are effective ways to

raise student engagement levels The success of implementing these strategies in the

teaching of English as a second language depends greatly on how well teachers are aware of collaborative learning Additionally, collaborative learning promotes dynamic and positive student behaviors as well as improved interpersonal skills by shifting the emphasis from a competitive environment—where students compete with one another—to an environment that values unity and collaboration

Group efforts and teamwork take precedence over rivalry or solitary pursuits

in collaborative learning (Stevens & Slavin, 1995; Yuretich & Kanner, 2015) In addition to valuing their own learning, students who engage in group activities also promote their teammates' learning by exchanging information, ideas, and learning resources (Hsiung et al., 2014; Wenzel, 2000)

Last but not least, students may also improve their social skills by taking part

in collaborative learning activities Students gain skills like the capacity to handle interpersonal conflicts, make coworkers feel welcome, pay attention to what others are saying, and recognize efficient ways to give knowledge They are also skilled at encouraging others, criticizing ideas collectively, and clearly articulating ideas (Eskay et al., 2012)

2.2.6 Challenges of collaborative learning

Our review of the literature suggested the following main challenges when implementing collaborative learning:

* Difficulty in properly implementing collaborative learning principles

As previously indicated, cooperative learning is made up of fundamental collaboration structuring concepts that both organize student interactions in the task (positive interdependence and individual accountability) and serve to prepare them

to collaborate (climate, cooperative skills, group processing) The implementation

of these concepts is said to be difficult for teachers in some cases (Antil et al., 1998; Koutselini, 2008–2009; Sharan, 2010)

* Locus of responsibility and authority

Collaborative learning implies transferring greater responsibility from the teacher to the student and delegating authority to the students in the creation of learner-centered environments (Brody, 1998; Cohen, 1994) This implies that teachers have to believe and trust that students are likely to learn together This is not easy for some teachers who doubt that their students can work effectively in groups (Baines, Rubie-Davies, and Blatchford, 2009; Blatchford et al., 2003)

* The teacher’s role as facilitator

The teacher's position significantly changes in cooperative learning They take on the role of facilitators who keep an eye on the activities of groups (Brody 1998; Johnson et al., 2008; Sharan 2010; Toping et al., 2017) Teachers monitor the teams and have the option to step in to control student behavior and cognitive exercises as needed However, cooperative learning makes it more difficult for teachers to maintain control over the learning environment (Baines, Rubie-Davies, and Blatchford, 2009; Cohen, 1994), and teachers frequently express concern about potential behavior issues (Baines, et al., 2003; Blatchford et al., 2003; Cohen 1994; Koutselini, 2008)

* Alignment with curriculum

Collaborative learning activities are thought to be difficult to use (Abrami, Poulsen, & Chambers 2004), so teachers may find it challenging to integrate them into a curriculum that is already jam-packed with content (Gillies, 2008) This is especially true when the content found in textbooks and other didactic sources does not encourage teachers to structure cooperative activities Due to the pressure to finish the course material, some teachers may view collaborative learning as a barrier in these circumstances (Koutselini, 2008–2009)

* Class and preparation time

Collaborative learning is thought to be time-consuming to adopt (Abrami, Poulsen, & Chambers 2004; Koutselini 2008–2009) Cooperative learning is

extremely time-consuming for teachers, according to Blatchford et al (2003), and they have trouble efficiently managing their time, according to Gillies & Boyle (2010) A lot of time is needed for teachers to prepare and plan, in addition to the time spent in the classroom (creating a supportive environment, preparing students, and conducting cooperative group work)

*Assessment in Collaborative learning

Kagan and Kagan (1998) and Cohen (1994) both call attention to potential issues with cooperative learning's use of evaluation The evaluation may be viewed

as difficult for two reasons (Toping et al., 2017): teachers must decide how to handle the interdependence issue in the evaluation as well as how to assess two objectives (academic and cooperative) This may help to explain why teachers find it challenging to evaluate students who work in groups (Blatchford et al., 2003)

To sum up, it may be easier to forecast how cooperative learning would work

if teachers are aware of key features of collaborative learning and the challenges that they may face

2.3 PREVIOUS STUDY ON TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

George (2017), in a study with seven English teachers, investigates how teachers’ perceptions of cooperative learning strategies affect students’ engagement and academic performance levels Findings from questionnaires, interviews, and

observations showed that there was a positive impact of cooperative learning on

English language learners

In a study with 25 teachers, Alias et al (2018) used mixed methods, with questionnaires and interviews as data collection instruments to examine teachers’

perceptions of collaborative learning The results of the study revealed that teachers

were ready and confident to put cooperative learning into reality, and they had a positive attitude toward it

Naveed and Ahmed (2022) analyzed teachers’ perceptions of the collaborative learning approach in a study with 513 teachers at the University of Okara The study

employed descriptive research design and used a 10-item questionnaire as a data collection instrument The findings showed positive perceptions of teachers regarding the effectiveness of the collaborative learning approach in developing communication skills and academic achievement of students

Researchers have already highlighted a variety of challenges that teachers have while implementing collaborative learning in the classroom (Chiriac & Granström, 2012) They address two topics that have an effect on how effective collaborative learning is: the planning of collaborative learning activities and the assessment of learning Teachers initially struggle with organizing group activities, such as monitoring students' on-task behavior, managing group work time, offering pertinent resources, assigning individual tasks, and fostering collaboration ideals and behaviors (Gillies & Boyle, 2010) Additionally, Teachers frequently find it difficult to assess students' progress and accomplishments when using collaborative learning in classrooms at all educational levels (Strijbos, 2011) For instance, teachers at several elementary and high schools acknowledged uncertainty and confusion about what to measure and how to analyze it (Frykedal & Chiriac, 2011) Furthermore, the appraisal standards or rules lacked specificity, according to Chiriac and Granström (2012) Student unhappiness with the assessment's transparency and fairness may result from the lack of instruments to evaluate each group member's collaborative performance (Strom & Strom, 2011)

Thanh (2011) looked into how collaborative learning (CL) was used in Vietnamese classrooms, how local instructors and students felt about this method of instruction, and what local obstacles stood in the way of its use Participants of the study were forty teachers and forty students from twenty Vietnamese colleges The results from the questionnaire and interviews showed that in Vietnam, CL was becoming a popular and preferred technique of instruction However, the functions

of CL appeared to have been misunderstood Teachers and students insisted that CL's major purpose was to help students recall information rather than gain a thorough grasp of the literature they were studying Additionally, responses indicated that CL was restricted by a number of regional institutional and cultural obstacles, including class size, curriculum coverage, and task distribution

Chapter Three: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter introduces the context of the study, the research design, population and sample, the instruments employed in this research study as well as the method of data collection and analysis

3.1 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

Thirty teachers from high schools in Thai Binh province voluntarily took part

in the current study In general, the teacher participants have taken part in some professional development activities and have had some understanding of collaborative learning strategies The teachers all have to teach large-class sizes, ranging from 45 to 50 students in a class and their students have mixed-abilities in learning English

Every year, Thai Binh Bureau of Education and training offer English teachers some opportunities to enroll on teacher training programs Therefore, teachers have been trained in collaborative learning through some workshops In addition, since this academic year, Thai Binh has launched English learning promotion and encouraged all the schools to develop English environment to facilitate students’ learning English Therefore, collaborative learning is supposed

to gain its popularity in English learning environments in all schools in Thai Binh province

Mondal and Mondal (2018) suggests that the problem can be solved more effectively by combining qualitative and quantitative data than by using either strategy alone It is not sufficient to only gather and analyze quantitative and

qualitative data; they must be apropriately "mixed" so that when taken as a whole, they paint a more accurate picture of the issue than they do alone For example, one

of the drawbacks of quantitative research is that contributors' voices are not directly heard Qualitative research compensates for this by allowing the researcher to have direct contact with the participants and listen to their individual stories Conversely, due to the small number of participants questioned in qualitative research, it would

be difficult to generalize findings to a wider group This problem is not present in quantitative research In short, research using a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques can assist answer questions that cannot be resolved by either qualitative or quantitative alone (Mondal & Mondal, 2018)

The current study aimed at gaining a better understanding of teachers' perceptions of the collaborative learning process, as well as its benefits and challenges Therefore, mixed method research design was considered the most appropriate choice

3.3 RESEARCH POPULATION AND RESEARCH SAMPLE

The participants were 30 English teachers at different schools in Thai Binh province Teachers’ ages range from 30 to 50 Their teaching experiences range from 8 to 28 years These teachers have taken part in some professional development activities organized by the school and Department of Education and have had some understanding of collaborative learning strategies

Voluntary teachers selected as the participants of the study have already participated in professional development courses over the past five years

3.4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

3.4.1 Questionnaire

A questionnaire survey was used in the current study to evaluate teachers' understanding of collaborative learning strategies as well as their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of the strategies

The questionnaire items were developed based on the Ingleton’s (2000) Cooperative Learning Implementation Questionnaire (The CLIQ) Items were

designed on four-point Likert scale (4 = “Strongly Agree”, 3 = “Agree”, 2=

“Disagree”, and 1 = Strongly Disagree”)

There are 40 items in the survey The questions were designed based on the five basic elements of collaborative learning (Johnson et al., 1990) There were also items to collect information on the teachers’ perceptions of their roles and the perceived challenges in cooperative learning Details of the questionnaire items were presented in table 3.1 below

Table 3.1 The classification of the questionnaire items

Interdependence Q1 Students’ progress may be disrupted by a group

member being absent

Q3 My students are resistant to working in cooperative groups

Q4 The Cooperative learning method promotes esteem among students

self-Q5 Students develop positive attitudes towards group members

Q12 Cooperative learning allows students to work

in a group of mixed ability

Q21 Peer interaction helps students obtain a deeper understanding of the material

Q39 Students know clearly what they are responsible for

Social skills Q9 Competition best prepares students for the real

world

Q16 Students know how to persuade and negotiate with each other

Q26 Cooperative learning helps students know how

to appoint tasks to each other

Teacher's roles Q15 Students who learn cooperative should be

evaluated based on stated criteria

Q32 Teachers should select and organize material that would encourage students to work in a cooperative group

Q33 Teacher should clearly specify the objective of the lesson and explain the task to students in cooperative learning

Q34 Teacher should place students in a mixed ability group

Q35 Teachers should select and explain the social skills that students need to learn

Q36 The criteria for evaluation should be selected and explained to students clearly

Perceived

challenges

Q14 When students are assigned to a cooperative learning group, it is difficult to balance the team composed

of mixed ability students

Q17 The evaluation process is difficult for cooperative learning activities

Q18 Teachers find it difficult to determine tasks that demand cooperative learning groups

Q19 The costs involved in implementing cooperative learning are great

Q20 Cooperative learning holds bright students back

Q24 It is impossible to evaluate students fairly when using cooperative learning

Q25 There are too many students in my class to implement cooperative learning effectively

Q27 Cooperative learning would not work with my students

Q28 If I use cooperative learning, my classroom is too noisy

Q29 Implementing cooperative learning takes too much preparation time

Q30 Implementing cooperative learning takes too much class time

Q31 The physical set-up of my classroom is an obstacle to using cooperative learning

3.4.2 Interview

In order to get an in-depth understanding of teachers’ perceptions of different aspects of collaborative learning as well as how they actually used collaborative learning in their classrooms, the researcher selected four teachers to participate in the interviews Of the four interviewees, two teachers had the highest level of understanding of cooperative learning strategies and two had the lowest level of understanding The purpose of the selection was to have a more diverse view of collaborative learning Table 3.2 below summarizes the information of the interviewees

Table 3.2 Interviewees’ information

ID Age Experience Mean score (conceptions

Each interview consisted of five open questions, asking for further information about the teachers’ use of collaborative strategies, their perceived benefits and challenges of collaborative learning Key issues that emerged from quantitative data analysis (i.e., problems with grouping, assigning tasks to the group, and assessing students) were also covered Details of the interview questions could

be found in Appendix B The interviewees’ responses were recorded, then transcribed for later data analysis

3.5 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

Questionnaire

The questionnaire was conducted by the researcher in October 2022 during the staff meetings Each teacher filled out an online questionnaire, which makes it much easier for the researcher to process the data Aims and purposes of the research were well explained to the participating teachers prior to their filling of the questionnaires on google forms Instructions on how to fill out the questionnaires were also provided The researcher was available to answer any questions that participating teachers had The questionnaires took approximately 40 minutes for the participants to complete

Interview

After potential interviewees were identified, the researcher contacted the participants individually and invited them to participate in the interviews Luckily, all four teachers were willing to participate Appointments for interviews were made at the participants’ convenience Before the interviews, the researcher carefully explained the aims of the research and the purpose of the interviews to the participants It was also made clear to the participants that they could refuse to answer any questions that they felt uncomfortable with during the interviews With the interviewees’ permission, all interviews were audio recorded for further analysis