MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY
PHAM THI TUYET MAI
APPLYING COOPERATIVE LEARNING TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL
FOR THE 10™ GRADERS AT CUALO HIGH SCHOOLS
Trang 3STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
| here acknowledge that this research is mine The data and findings
discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have
not been published elsewhere
Author
Trang 4ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study would not have been completed without the support of many people, to all of whom | am profoundly indebted
First and foremost, | would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Luu Quy Khuong, PhD, for his scholarly instruction, critical comments, great encouragement and valuable materials, which were decisive factors in the
completion of the study
Also, sincere thanks are due to the teachers and 10th graders of Cua Lo High school for allowing me to administer the test and interview schedule during their invaluable time class Without their patient in participating in doing questionnaires as well as interviews, the study could not have been completed
Trang 5ABSTRACT
Cooperative learning (CL), known as a feature of communicative language teaching, has been encouraged in English teaching at all levels in the Vietnamese context At high schools, the implementation of this method in English speaking classes was reported to face challenges This research is an investigation into teachers’ CL application and their practice of organizing cooperative learning activities (CLAs) in English speaking classes for the 10" graders The participants of the study were 12 EFL teachers and 120 students of the 10° grade from two high schools in Cua Lo Town,
Nghe An province The overall findings from the questionnaires, teacher interviews, pilot teaching and classroom observations showed that most of the teachers fully
understood the key concepts of CL and highly appreciated the benefits of CLAs in English speaking classes However, the frequency of teachers’ implementation of CLAs was comparatively not high, few CLAs were organized frequently in English speaking classes, teachers neglected to structure group work, and students’ participation in CLAs was not enthusiastic The results also showed that teachers did not have interest in the teaching of social or group skills Given that fact, the study managed to pinpoint some problems from the teachers themselves, challenges from the students The study also proposed a
number of implications to facilitate high school teachers in general and teachers in Cua Lo in particular in order to conduct CLAs more effectively in teaching English speaking
classes
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Page
Trang 6Statements of the authorship Acknowledgements Table of contents List of abbrreViafÏO rnS + + + HT HT TH HT nh List Of tables List Of FIQUPES oo [In ốốốốốốốốốốốốốốốốốố Chapter 1.INTRODUCTION 5À SH SH HH HH HH HH hư 1.1 OVOPVIOW nh 1.2 Background to the Study IS ẽa I Nơi ian,- Tồi ào 1.5.Research QuestiO ns + SH HT TH HH HH HH HH nh II; 1 400030i3- ái li 0
1.7 Scope of the ion
1.8 Organization of the StUd\y .- - Ác 2< S3 2 2 1 1 1 g1 ng ng cry Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW - - - nSS HH ngưng, 2.1 OV@FVÏ@W SĂ Sàn HH TH HH TH TH HH HH TH TH HH rư 2.2 Background of Cooperative Learning . - -+sc+s<+sc+sssxzsrs 2.3 Cooperative Learning - - - - ‹ cư 2.3.1 Definition of Cooperative Learning
2.3.2 Cooperative Language Learning vs Group Learning -
2.3.3 Elements of Cooperative Learning - . - -
2.3.4 Principles of Cooperative Language Learning
2.3.5 Cooperative Learning Structures and Techniques -
Trang 72.3.6 Issues in Implementing in the EFL/ESL Classroom -
2.4 Speaking SkiÌÍ - - 5 +5 +2 +31 £*xE*2E*2E£.EEEEExEEESv ng ng ng ng
2.4.1 Definition of Speaking SkiÌÏ - «5+ + 5+ **+*++xtexeeeeesreeerezerrze
2.4.2 Characteristics of Speaking SkiÏÌ - - 5+5 +s+++eeeeeeeeseeserrsrs 2.4.3 Principles for Teaching Speaking Skill
2.4.4 Stages for Teaching Speaking Skill -
2.4.5 Problems With Speaking and Speaking Activities
2.5 SUmmAFV - -Ă SH HH re
Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY + 5S ng ng nh re
3.1.OV€TVÏ@W - Ăn HH ng HH TH TH HH TH TH HH cư E2 ¬ïiooo32 0n 3.3 PaFtÏCÏDA3 IS nọ ni r 3.4 Data Collection IMetho ds 6 +24 xxx ngư 3.4.1 QuestiOnnailr@ - - + ch ky no 3.4.3 ÏTT@TVÏ@W cà HH TT TH HH HH TH HH HH gh 3.5 Data Collection ProC@CUFF@S - 2 + + + xxx nh ng ưng 3.6 C0 0 xố E0 4 Chapter 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS - 75-555 c+csse<rreex 4.1 OV€TVÏ@W - Ăn HH HH HH nh nh TH HT TH HH HH
4.2 Teachers” View on Speaking Skill
4.3 Teachers’ View on the Use of CL in English Speaking Classes
4.3.1 Teachers’ Perceptions of CL in English Speaking Classes
Trang 8Classes
4.3.3 Teachers’ Aims of Applying CL in English Speaking Classes 4.3.4 Teachers’ Views on the Benefits of CL
4.4.Teachers’ Practice in Coducting CL in English Speaking Classes
4.4.1 Teachers’ and Students’ Interest in Conducting CL in English Speaking Classes
4.4.2 Frequency of Organizing CLAs in English Speaking Classes
4.4.3 CLAs Used in English Speaking Classes
4.4.4 Reasons for Teachers’ References of the CLAs
4.4.5 Students’ Participation in the CLAs
4.4.6 Teachers’ Organization of Group Work in English Speaking Classes
4.5 Challenges of Conducting CL in Speaking Classes 4.5.1 Challenges from Teachers
4.5.2 Challenges from Students4.5.3 Challenges from Educational System
4.6 Teachers’ Solutions to the Problems Arising in CL Applying in English Speaking Classes 4.7 Summary 4.8 Pilot Teaching 4.8.1 Activities and Procedures 4.8.2 Students’ Feedback
4.8.3 Teachers’ Evaluation on the Lesson
Trang 9C=“hh ¿0n o 5.3.2 For School AdministrafOrS - ¿+ << Sky 5.4 Limitations of the ResearrCh - ¿+ + xxx SH HH Hưng 5,5 Suggestions for Further StUdi@S - 55-5 + * +2 srereeerserrerrrrsre
b111111) 91211
APPENDICES
J1.) 00890 vJlJ0 im P
Appendix 2 Questionnaire B 5+ 2.1211 1 918181 1 g1 kg rườn P
Appendix 3 Classroom observation sheet . 5-5255 sS<ss<+sszssczx P
Appendix 4 Teachers” interview schedule . - - << ss< ss< <5+ P
Appendix 5a Students’ lesson feedback sheet (English version) P
Trang 10P-CL CLA CLT EFL ESL TESOL LIST OF ABREVIATIONS Cooperative Learning
Cooperative Learning Activity Communicative Language Teaching English as a Foreign Language English as a Second Language
Trang 11LIST OF TABLES
Tables Page
Table 4.1 Teachers’ Perceptions on CLAs in English Reading Classes 40 Table 4.2 Teachers’ Aims of Conducting CLAs in English Reading Classes 43
Table 4.3 Teachers’ views on the Benefits of CL in English Reading Classes 44
Table 4.4.Reasons for Teachers” Preferences of CLAs - ‹-«-<«-s «+ 51
Table 4.5 Number of Students in GrOUP ¿55355 323 Eseererrrerree 54
Table 4.6 oi nc 7 54 Table 4.7.Teachers” Assigning Rolles . + 55+ + *s+sxeEeeeeeeersreerrerree 55
Table 4.8.Teaching Students Skills of Team Worrk . -« «<< s=+<s=<<s 58
Table 4.9.Teachers’ Ways of Evaluating Students Group Work 59
Table 4.10.Teachers’ Ways of Encouraging Students Cooperation 61 Table 4.11.Challenges from Teachers .:.ccccscsscessesseseesseeseeseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeaeees 63 Table 4.12.Challenges from Student .cccscsscescesseseesseeseeseeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeees 65
Table 4.13.Challenges from Educational System - + << sc<<sc<<x 68
Trang 12LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page Figure 4.1.Teachers” opinions on the Usefulness of CLAs in English In Iiii-e 1-1 41 Figure 4.2.Teachers’ and Students’ Interest in Organizing CLAs in English Reading Classes :csccsssssssscesseseessesecescseeeseesesseeeeeseeesesseseeeeeseeeseeaeseeeeeeneeaeeaees 46
Figure 4.3 Frequency of Organizing CLAs in English Reading Classes 48 Figure 4.4 CLAs used in English Reading Classes :ccsccsscessesseesteeeseeeseees 49
Trang 13Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.Overview
The first part of this chapter is the background which serves as the fundamental basis for the study The second one is the rationale that provides the reasons for the researcher to carry out the study Next, the aims of the research, the research questions, the significance and the scope of the research are also presented The structure of the study is then described in the last section of the chapter
1.2 Background to the Study
“Better English, better life” is the most students’ answer when they are asked about their goal of learning English English can help them prepare well for their future Career as it can not only equip them with a useful source of personal, linguistic, social and cultural knowledge but also provide them with access to modern technology, information concerning a variety of issues in modern society Especially, our country’s recent regional and global participation has been increasing the demand for English speaking people who are expected to communicate verbally with the outside world and access modern technology To meet that demand, communicative language teaching (CLT), instead of grammar-based approach, covers the training of four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing And the success of English teaching through communicative approach entirely depends on the practice of these skills To acquire this result, it is now necessary to take into consideration the application of a typical technique of CLT, the cooperative learning (CL), for its usefulness in promoting students of heterogeneous group cooperating and supporting each other as well as helping teachers overcome difficulties in teaching method and organizing classroom
activities
For students at upper secondary level in Viet Nam, a general English course has been implemented which offers them different language skills including reading,
listening, speaking and writing skills Among these skills, both teachers and learners find it hard to use an effective way in teaching and learning speaking skill According to
Trang 14Nunan (1995) “the single important aspect to learn English successfully is by mastering the art of speaking” Gaining communicative competence is the last main goal of teaching and learning English at upper secondary schools However, this aim is not always achieved There is a fact that when students at upper secondary schools are required to talk in English, they seem to get stuck or find it difficult to express
themselves Normally, when the poor speaking competence is reported, students tend to be blamed for having poor ability or making insufficient effort Nevertheless, some other factors should be taken in consideration They could be objective problems such as unsuitable teaching material, insufficient class time allocated to speaking or some subjective reasons such as inappropriate attitude of the teachers and students toward the subject, teachers’ inappropriate teaching method In addition, teachers also find it difficult to teach speaking skill They seem to find it hard to make their student
communicate much in English They do not know how to improve the motivation of students in English speaking
Being a teacher of English at an upper secondary school, | find it very useful to adopt cooperative learning activities to improve speaking skill for students Besides, the reasons that lead teaching to difficulties in speaking teaching will be figured out and discussed as well as to seek for an effective way to enhance the teaching and learning speaking skill In this spirit, developing students’ speaking skills by applying CL becomes a demand
1.3 Rationale
This study was conducted for the following reasons:
First of all, CL is highly appreciated for their usefulness to students’ achievement “CL seems to provide an environment in which students’ needs of love, belongingness, power, freedom and fun can be met in a way that is beneficial for both academic achievement and the development of the learners’ social and
learning skills” (D.W Johnson el al.1990; Slavin 1987; Kagan 1989) It is undeniable that CL is the most flexible and powerful grouping strategies because in CL, learners work together to accomplish a shared goal Therefore, they are motivated to work together for mutual benefit in order to meet their own and each other’ learning Additionally, CL
has a strong foundation on research Hundreds of studies across a wide range of subjects areas and age groups have been conducted (Cohen, 1994b; Johnson, Johnson and Stanne, 2002; Sharan, 1980; Slavin, 1995) and the overall findings of these studies
Trang 15suggested that, when compared to other instructional approaches, group activities structured along CL lines are associated with gains on a hot of key variables:
achievement, higher thinking level, self-esteem, liking for the subject matter and for school and intergroup relations Meanwhile, with regards to the successes of CL implementing programs by thousands of teachers from many countries all over the world, | would like to carry out such a study in my school with a view to experiment a new strategy to structuring groups in teaching speaking with hope of improving my
students’ oral communication skills
Secondly, in the Vietnamese context, although a number of studies have been carried out to find the effects of incorporating CL into English classrooms, little attention has been specifically given to the implementation of this technique in English speaking classes Some Vietnamese researchers had interest in this field such as Le Pham Hoai Huong (2009) who examined what students at Hue College of Foreign Languages learn from group work in English basic skill subjects, Tran Thi Le Ninh (2007) explored the difficulties faced by teachers in implementing CLAs, Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh (2011) investigated how CLAs were used in English writing classes at a high school in Gia Lai province, and so on It is a fact that there have been few studies investigating the current situation of implementing CL in teaching speaking skill to students at high school level
Last but not least, for over ten years of teaching English at Cua Lo 2 High School in Cua Lo town, Nghe An province, the researcher has found that in most of English classes in general and speaking classes in particular, pair work and group work for students were organized but not really successfully Students made noises, discussed off the topic required, worked individually instead of cooperating with one another and even worse, many of low-level students did nothing in their group work Moreover, the students have mixed levels of speaking competence During speaking activities, the strong ones spoke a lot, the average speak some and the weak students seem to keep silent all the time Some strategies have been carried out such as talking to them to find their
problems, choosing interesting topics, monitoring frequently to help and encouraging the weak one to speak and ask the strong one help their friends by assigning the roles for them and keep asking questions to force them to speak This however couldnot help
much They spoke just a little and they kept silent again Thus the need of finding an effective way to implement CL in those English speaking classes is crucial
Trang 16For those reasons, | have chosen “Applying Cooperative Learning to Improving Speaking Skill for the 10" Graders” at Cua Lo High schools to be the topic of my thesis It is hoped that we could gain more insights into the implementation of Cooperative Learning in teaching a specific skill, the speaking skill, in our Vietnamese context
1.4 Objectives of the Study
This thesis aims to consider and analyze teachers’ perceptions and their classroom practice of applying CL in English speaking classes for grade 10 students at Cua Lo High School and Cua Lo 2 High School in Cua Lo Town, Nghe An province Specifically, the study draws the whole picture of the situation of implementing CL in speaking classes at these schools, and examines the challenges that teachers face More importantly, the study endeavours to find out the explanations from teachers for their application and proposes some suggestions for EFL teachers who wish to use CL to enhance their students’ language learning ability in general and students’ speaking skill in particular 1.5 Research Questions In order to reach afore aims, the research attempts to answer the following questions: 1 What is the real situation of using CL in speaking classes at high schools in Cua Lo Town?
2 How to apply CLAs in the English speaking classes effectively to improve speaking skill for the 10° graders?
1.6 Significance of the Study
Although previous studies have shown the usefulness of using CL in English classes in general, few studies have provided insights into the application of this technique in speaking classes Therefore, the present research promises to provide a fundamental basis for more scientific findings relating to the implementation of CL in teaching English speaking skill to high school students In addition, with the data collected via three kinds of instruments namely questionnaire, interview, classroom observation and pilot
teaching, the findings of the study would be reliable and valid for any English teachers who want to improve their practice of applying CL to their English speaking classes The last significance is that the research will raise the awareness of not only teachers, learners of English but also the educational administrators about the role of CL in English speaking classes In other words, it is hoped that CL will receive more attention and enjoy more popularity among EFL teachers at high school level, so that our students
Trang 17can actually be equipped with communicative competence and social skills which are
always essential in their real life 1.7 Scope of the Study
Within the scope of the study, the research will not cover all aspects of CL or teaching CL in all language skill classes to all students As its title declares, the research addresses teachers’ implementation of CL in English speaking classes for the 10° graders at two high schools: Cua Lo High School and Cua Lo 2 High School; 12 teachers who are teaching English at these schools were involved in the research Additionally, 120 students of grade 10 from the above schools were also chosen as the second participant group to reaffirm what the teachers said about the application of CL in their speaking classes
1.8 Organization of the Study The study contains five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction
In this chapter, the rationale, the aims of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the methods of the study and the organization are
presented
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This chapter introduced the theoretical foundations for the whole paper Besides providing the definitions of key terms such as cooperative learning, cooperative learning activities and speaking skill, the chapter presented some of the basic issues in relation to some theoretical questions and related studies on cooperative learning, as well as the role of cooperative activities in improving speaking skill for the 10th graders
Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology
The chapter covered the research design, elaborated the participants, procedure of collecting data and the procedure of processing data from the survey questionnaire, interviews, observation and teaching
Trang 18Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion
In this chapter, the data taken from the survey questionnaire for students and teachers would be analyzed and categorized The findings were used as the cornerstone for the later conclusions
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications
This chapter suggested some cooperative activities applied in the 10th form speaking classes and presented the author’s suggestions on mentioned
problems and after that, summarized all the main points raised in the paper, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further studies
Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview
This chapter presented the previous studies related to the topic and the
theoretical background of the study is In the theoretical background, some definitions and features of speaking and CL are clarified Also, the integration of CL and teaching speaking (e.g CL in speaking classes, some CLAs used in speaking classes), issues in implementing CL in the EFL/ESL classroom and the structure of group work in CL classes were presented Additionally, some benefits of CL would be clearly documented in the chapter
2.2 Previous Studies Related tobThe Research
Slavin (1995) pointed out that the history of cooperative learning could be traced back as the seventeenth century He cited such educational theorist as Comenius in the seventeenth century, Rousseau in the eighteenth century, Pestalozzi in the nineteenth century and Dewey in the early twentieth century, who held some forms of cooperation among students as essential to learning Slavin also refered to Vygotsky’s developmental theory which emphasized the importance of discussion joint problem solving among
peers The history of cooperative learning, according to Jonhson, could be seen in detail
in the table below:
This is a partial timeline on the history of cooperative learning from Johnson, Johnson and Holubec (1998, p 3:2-3:3)
Trang 19Date Event Early 1900s John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky 1960s
1960s Stuart Cook: Research on cooperation
Madsen (Kagan): Research on
cooperation & competition in children Bruner, Suchman: Inquiry (Discovery)
Learning Movement
B F Skinner: Programmed learning, behavior modification
1962 Morton Deutsch (Nebraska
Symposium): Cooperation & trust,
conflict
Robert Blake & Jane Mouton:
Research on intergroup competition
1966
1969
David Johnson, U of MN: Begins training teachers in Cooperative Learning Roger Johnson: Joins David at U of MN 1970s 1970 David Johnson: Social Psychology of Education
1973 David DeVries & Keith Edwards:
Combined instructional games approach with intergroup
competition, teams-games-
Trang 20
tournament
1974-1975 David & Roger Johnson: Research
review on cooperation/competition David & Roger Johnson: Learning Together and Alone
Mid 1970s Annual Symposium at APA (David
DeVries & Keith Edwards, David & Roger Johnson, Stuart Cook, Elliot Aronson, Elizabeth Cohen, others) Robert Slavin: Begins development of cooperative curricula
Spencer Kagan: Continued research on cooperation among children
1976 Shlomo &Yael Sharan: Small Group
Teaching (group investigation)
1978 Elliot Aronson: Jigsaw Classroom,
Journal of Research & Development in Education, (Cooperation Issue)
Jeanne Gibbs: Tribes
1980s
1981, 1983 David & Roger Johnson: Meta-
analyses of research on cooperation
1985 Elizabeth Cohen: Designing
Groupwork
Trang 21
Cooperation & Competition- Theory & Research 1990s Early 1990s Cooperative learning gains popularity among educators
1996 First Annual Cooperative Learning
Leadership Conference, Minneapolis
http://www.skypoint.com/members/soloco/michelle/discovery/Disc-Timeline.htm
In the Asian context, a lot of researches on CL implementing in language classes have been carried out and generated the same results For example, Tsai (1998) conducted a quasi-experiment at two classes of senior high schools in Taiwan to compare students’ improvement in the four language skills between the experimental group learning with CL and the control group learning with traditional whole-class methods After measuring the participants’ listening, reading, speaking and writing skills, the researcher argued that CL was very helpful in improving senior high school students’ four language skills, which was also supported by Norman (2005) In an EFL elementary school classroom in South Korea, Norman applied Student Teams-
Achievement Division method to teaching English skills to grade 5 and 6 students and found effects of this method on students’ achievement, motivation, and attitudes towards English learning Sittilert (1994) also examined the effects of CL on students’
reading ability but he uses another method of CL, the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) To ensure the validity of the results, the researcher was in charge of the experimental group by using the CIRC and the control group is taught through the teachers’ manual method for eight weeks To measure the participants’
reading ability, the researcher used a reading achievement test and a questionnaire to collect students’ opinions towards classroom atmosphere The results indicated that the majority of students from the experimental group achieved higher scores than those from the control group and students’ attitudes towards classroom atmosphere were
much more positive
In Viet Nam, many researchers have had a lot of attention to applying CL to improving English students’ skills Le Pham Hoai Huong (2009) carried out a study on learning English in group in basic skill subjects at the college level and pointed out the fact that group work was used reasonably in reading and writing skill classes The author also claimed that besides fundamental difficulties(e.g ideas conflict, lack of
Trang 22cooperation, the use of Vietnamese during discussion, and ineffective division of group work), college students learnt from their group members a lot of things such as ideas, vocabulary, learning strategies, and confidence when working in group Another
researcher, VoThi Kim Thuy (2004), did a classroom research into students’ preferences and the effects of different grouping arrangements on English speaking skill on 30 upper-intermediate students at a foreign language centre in Ho Chi Minh City What the researcher has found was the excitement and dynamism in the classroom atmosphere, which signified students’ positive attitudes towards the implementing of CL in their speaking classes Tran Thi Le Ninh (2007) explored difficulties faced by teachers of English in implementing CL to students of Hue College of Agriculture and reaching some conclusions about teaching habit, students’ learning styles and background, large-sized classes, all of which effected on the application of CL in the context of Vietnam to some
extent
This study continued to explore the implementation of CL in the Vietnamese context However, since studies on CL in Vietnam have so far focused primarly on some skills in EFL classes at college level, it is essential to investigate the application of CL to improving English speaking skill to high school students in order to gain deep insights into such a technique of CLT
2.3 Cooperative Learning
2.3.1 Definition of Cooperative Learning
Cooperative Learning (CL) is part of more general instructional approach also known as Collaborative Learning (CL) Cooperative Learning is an approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups of learners in the classroom It has been defined as follows: Cooperative learning is group learning activity organized so that learning is dependent on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in groups and in which each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning and motivated to increase the learning of others (Olsen and Kagan, 1992:8)
This definition implies that CL entails what learners learn from each other in pairs or small groups CL in this context emphasizes learner accountability in which each member of the group is responsible for his/her own contribution to activity
It is asserted that CL reveals salient features of students-centered models, which is considered the leading new approach to classroom instruction, as opposed to the
Trang 23teacher-centered models This new model requires students” cooperation and interdependence in its task, goal and reward structures Johnson and Johnson (1993) highlight the importance of how students interact and argue that it can affect learning, liking of school and other students, as well as self-esteem CL, therefore, plays an important role in creating inclusive classroom environment and “achieving three important instructional goals: academic achievement, tolerance and acceptance if diversity, and social skill development” (Arends, 2007, p.345)
Regardless of the definition taken differently or how it is used, the goals are the same Thus, CL is an approach to language teaching that aims to foster cooperation rather than competition, to develop communicative competence through the use of interactive group activities, and to increase opportunities for learners to use the target CL is one teaching method among many that its objectives will derive from the context in which it is used
2.3.2 Cooperative Learning vs Group Learning
At this point, some teachers might complain that they have used CL in their class but the effects are not as positive as the literature demonstrated The secret lies in the distinguishing features between CL and Group Learning Traditionally, high school teachers group students by putting four or five students who sit close to one another in class and asking them to complete a task without further assistance or careful structure In fact, tasks need to be structured to ensure students’ interdependence and individual accountability because students seating together in groups does not mean they will work together cooperatively (Jolliffe, 2007) Group learning without careful structure means most of the time students will work independently and compete with each other What they do is break down their task into less complex parts and assign them
individually to the group members Thus, the distress students feel is whether someone copies their work In contrast, to become cooperative, group members must discuss the assigned task with each other and help each other to accomplish the shared goal According to Arends (2007, p 138), in practice, the differences between cooperative learning and traditional group learning were illustrated in the following table
Trang 24
2 A clear accountability for individual’s share of the group’s work through role assignment and regular rotation of the assigned role
3 Heterogeneous ability grouping 4 Sharing of leadership roles
5 Sharing of the appointed learning task(s) 6 Aiming to maximize each member’s learning
7 Maintaining good working relationship, process-oriented
8 Teaching of collaborative skills 9 Teacher observation of students
interaction
10 Structuring of the procedures and time
for the processing
No accountability for individual share of the group’s work through role
assignment and regular rotation of the assigned role
Homogeneous ability grouping
Few being appointed or put in charge of the group Each learner seldom responsible for others’ learning Focusing on accomplishing the assignments Frequent neglect of good working relationship, product-oriented Assuming that students already have the required skills
Little, if any at all, teacher observation
Rare structuring of procedures and time for the processing
(Adapted from Johnson & Johnson, 1986c) 2.3.3 Elements of Cooperative Learning
According to Johnson and Johnson (1999) there are five basic elements of a successful CL activity which includes (1) positive interdependence, (2) individual accountability, (3) promotive face-to-face interaction, (4) explicit teaching of interpersonal and small group skills, and (5) group processing
2.3.3.1 Positive Interdependence
Among the five elements of CL, positive interdependence and individual
accountability are considered the most important ones Positive interdependence refers
Trang 25to the feeling of “we sink-or-swim together’ (Johnson & Johnson, 1999) of students in group This requires each student to work in a way that one group member cannot work without the contribution of the others It is a sense of working together for a common goal and caring about each other’s learning When positive interdependence is clearly understood, each group member's efforts are required and indispensable to the group success and each of them has a unique contribution because of his or her role and responsibilities
2.3.3.2 Individual Accountability
Together with positive interdependence, this element is the second essential concern among teachers when they organize students to work cooperatively This requires each student in the group to develop a sense of personal responsibility to learn and also to make the rest of the group to learn It is important for the teacher to have a way to determine what each individual has learned as well as what the group has accomplished The ways are various from random selection of students’ papers to see if they are working in the group to random oral quizzes of students, or written quizzes or examination at the culmination of the work (Kagan, 1988)
2.3.3.3 Promotive Face-to-Face Interaction
The third element of CL requires face-to-face interaction among students within which they promote each other’s learning and success Johnson (1999) suggests that it is necessary to maximize the opportunities for them to help, support, encourage, and praise each other In fact, the quality of interaction depends on a number of factors such as the grade and frequency of students cooperating in their academic tasks, in sharing learning experiences, and in supporting and engaging among themselves in their feelings and educational expectations (Johnson & Johnson, 1990; Slavin, 1987)
Moreover, a positive classroom environment is closely associated with the quality of such a face-to-face interaction
2.3.3.4 Interpersonal and Small Group Skills
Simply placing students in groups and asking them to work together does not guarantee that they have the ability to cooperate effectively (Johnson & Johnson, 1999) Students, instead, must learn the social skills that help to maintain the group activities to run smoothly According to Arends (2007), social skills are those behaviors that “promote successful social relationships and enable individuals to work effectively with others” (p.367) Schultz (1999) suggests that those skills such as leadership, trust-
Trang 26building, decision-making, communication and conflict resolution skills should be explicitly taught to the students so that they could work among themselves cooperatively
2.3.3.5 Group Processing
Group processing refers to the assessment and remarking of the capabilities and actions of each group Group members should think about how well they have
cooperated as ateam and how to enhance their future cooperation Some of the keys to successful processing are allowing sufficient time for an activity to take place,
emphasizing positive feedback, maintaining students’ involvement in processing (Johnson & Roger, 1994) These five essential components must be present for small group learning to be truly cooperative Furthermore, there needs to be an accepted common goal on which the group will be rewarded for their efforts (Johnson & Johnson, 1990)
2.3.4 Principles of Cooperative Learning 2.3.4.1 Heterogeneous Grouping
This principle means that the groups in which students do CL tasks are mixed on one or more of a number of variables including sex, ethnicity, social class, religion, personality, age, language proficiency and diligence Heterogeneous grouping is
believed to have a number of benefits in comparison with homogeneous grouping, such as encouraging peer tutoring, providing a variety of perspectives, helping students come to know and like others different from themselves and fostering appreciation of the value of diversity
In CL, groups often stay together for five weeks or more To achieve
heterogeneous groups for speaking activities, teachers might want to look at their class and make conscious decisions about which students should work together, rather than leaving the matter to chance or to students’ choice The latter option often results in groups with low levels of heterogeneity Furthermore, when we opt for heterogeneous groups, we may want to spend some time on ice breaking (also known as teambuilding) activities, because as Slavin (1995) notes, the combination of students that results from teacher-selected groups is likely to be one that would never have been created had it
not been for our intervention
2.3.4.2 Collaborative Skills
Trang 27Collaborative skills are those needed to work with others Students may lack these skills, the language involved in using the skills or the inclination to apply the skills during a reading aloud session Most books and websites on cooperative learning urge that collaborative skills be explicitly taught one at a time Which collaborative skill to teach will depend on the particular students and the particular task they are undertaking? Just a few of the many skills important to successful collaboration are: checking that others understand, asking for and giving reasons; disagreeing politely and responding politely to disagreement and encouraging others to participate and responding to
encouragement to participate Collaborative skills often overlap with thinking skills, e.g., asking for and giving reasons pushes students to think more deeply, and disagreement when handled properly encourages students to explain what they have said
2.3.4.3 Group Autonomy:
This principle encourages students to look to themselves for resources rather than relying solely on the teacher When student groups are having difficulty, it is very tempting for teachers to intervene either in a particular group or with the entire class
We may sometimes want to resist this temptation, because as Roger Johnson writes,
“Teachers must trust the peer interaction to do many of the things they have felt responsible for themselves” Yes, teachers will sometimes intervene, but perhaps intervention should not always be the first option
2.3.4.4 Simultaneous Interaction
In classrooms in which group activities are not used, including in the typical reading aloud by teacher session, the normal interaction pattern is that of sequential interaction, in which one person at a time (usually the teacher) speaks For example, the teacher stops at some point while reading aloud, asks a question to check students’ comprehension, calls on a student to answer the question and evaluates that student’s response In contrast, when group activities are used, one student per group is,
hopefully, speaking A class of 40 divided into groups of four, ten students are speaking at the same time
Thus, this CL principal is called simultaneous interaction If the same class is working in groups of two (pairs are also groups), we may have 20 students speaking simultaneously Even when teachers use groups, it is common at the end of a group activity for each group, one at atime, to report to the class and the teacher When this takes place, we are back to sequential interaction In order to maintain the
Trang 28simultaneous interaction that existed during the group activity, many alternatives exist to this one-at-a-time reporting For instance, one person from each group can go to another group These representatives explain (not just show or tell) their group’s ideas Of course, simultaneous and sequential interaction may be usefully
combined
2.3.4.5 Equal Participation
A frequent problem in groups is that one or two group members dominate the group and, for whatever reason, impede the participation of others CL offers many ways of promoting equal participation in groups Two of these are the use of rotating roles in a group, such as facilitator, checker (who checks to see that everyone
understands what the group is doing/has done), questioner, praiser, encourager and paraphraser, and the use of multiple ability tasks (Cohen, 1994; Gardner, 1999), i.e., tasks that require a range of abilities, such as drawing, singing, acting and categorizing,
rather than only language abilities 2.3.4.6 Individual Accountability
Individual accountability is, in some ways, the flip side of equal participation When we encourage equal participation in groups, we want everyone to feel they have
opportunities to take part in the group When we try to encourage individual accountability in groups, we hope that no one will attempt to avoid using those opportunities Techniques for encouraging individual accountability seek to avoid the problem of groups known variously as social loafing, sleeping partners or free riding These techniques, not surprisingly, overlap with those for encouraging equal
participation They include giving each group member a designated turn to participate, keeping group size small, calling on students at random to share their group’s ideas and
having a task to be done individually after the group activity is finished
2.3.4.7 Positive Interdependence:
This principle lies at the heart of CL When positive interdependence exists among members of a group, they feel that what helps one member of the group helps the other members and that what hurts one member of the group hurts the other
members It is the “All for one, one for all” feeling that leads group members to want to help each other, to see that they share a common goal
Johnson & Johnson (1999) describe nine ways to promote positive interdependence Six of these are discussed below
Trang 29a Goal positive interdependence: The group has a common goal that they work
together to achieve
b Environmental positive interdependence: Group members sit close together so that they can easily see each other’s work and hear each other without using loud voices This may seem trivial, but it can be important
c Role positive interdependence: In addition to the roles mentioned above, there are also housekeeping types of roles, such as timekeeper who reminds the group of time limits and ‘sound hound’ who tells the group if they are being too loud in their deliberations
d Resource positive interdependence: Each group member has unique resources These resources can be information or equipment, such as paper or a particular color
marker
e External Challenge positive interdependence: When the same group stays together over a period of time — this is recommended by most books and websites on cooperative learning partly as a means of allowing groups to work to improve their group dynamics — students can aim to improve on past performance
f Reward positive interdependence: If groups meet a pre-set goal, they receive some kind of reward Rewards can take many forms: grades, sweets, certificates, praise, and the choice of a future activity the class does, the chance to do their team cheer or handshake or just a feeling of satisfaction If extrinsic rewards are used, Lynda Baloche (personal communication, May 14, 2001) recommends that teachers never begin an extrinsic reward program without having a plan for how to end it
2.3.4.8 Cooperation as a Value
This principle means that rather than cooperation being only a way to learn, i.e., the how of learning, cooperation also becomes part of the content to be learned, i.e., the what of learning This flows naturally from the most crucial CL principle, positive
interdependence Cooperation as a value involves taking the feeling of “All for one, one for all” and expanding it beyond the small classroom group to encompass the whole class, the whole school, on and on, bringing in increasingly greater numbers of people and other beings into students’ circle of ones with whom
to cooperate
2.3.5 Cooperative Learning Structures and Techniques
Trang 30Structures are very specific cooperative learning strategies that teachers can use to organize interaction between students Most structures can be used with almost any academic content, but some structures are better than others for certain tasks Some structures regulate interaction between pairs, some are better for group work, and others involve the entire class The key is learning structures is best-suited for a particular instructional purpose Following are some of the structures developed by Kagan most commonly used in language class
a Round robin
Students in teams take turns orally responding to a question or prompt You can have questions on slips of paper in the middle of the team, or you can call the question aloud For example, you could have team members Round robin their predictions for a science experiment before you do the activity
b Roundtable
Students in teams take turns passing a paper around and writing on it or completing another task This structure can also be used with sorting activities For example, you could have the names of various organs of the body on slips of paper, and the kids could take turns sorting them into categories according to body system
c Rallytable
This is like Roundtable, but the kids work in pairs instead of in teams of 4 They pass a worksheet back and forth as they write answers or complete a task Very simple and very effective! If you haven't used this one, you need to do so!
d Think-Pair-Share
Students are divided into pairs The teacher calls out a discussion topic and students THINK of their own answer Then students PAIR to discuss their ideas Finally, the teacher calls on one student to SHARE their ideas with the class Works especially well for me in science, health, and social studies Also works well in math when explaining how to solve a problem In reading, you can use it for discussing a story or making predictions and inferences
e Mix-Freeze-Pair
Similar to Think-Pair-Share, but students are up and moving about the class Ask students to MIX and then FREEZE Ask a question, and have students PAIR with a partner
to discuss it Then call on a few kids to share their ideas with the class
f Team Interview
Trang 31Students take turns standing and being interviewed by their team They can be interviewed about a favorite book or about a current event article they have read They can be interviewed about a topic they have researched or a section of the textbook they were assigned to read Students can even assume roles, like famous scientists and historical figures
g Showdown
One student on each team turns over a task card and reads the question aloud Everyone writes the answer on their chalkboard Next, the leader asks students to show their answers to the team Team members discuss the correct answer and the leader
records the answer for the team
h Line Ups Students line up in order according to a topic named by the teacher For example, you could have students line up by their birthdays or first names You can also give students task cards with numbers or words and have them line up in order
i Teammates Consult
Students all have the same worksheet They place their pencils in a cup while discussing each question Then they take their pencils out to silently write the answer
j Numbered Heads Together
The teacher calls out a question and students put their heads together in teams to discuss the answer Then a number is called, and one person from each team responds (without help from the team.)
k Jigsaw
Students are on "base teams" of four Each student is assigned a different role as an "expert." All experts with the same topic meet in a corner of the classroom to learn about their topic Then they prepare a brief presentation on the material and return to their base teams They teach their base team members the new material they learned
| Corners
The teacher calls out a question or a prompt and names 4 possible answers or responses The teacher designates a corner of the room for each response Students write down their personal answer and move to the corner of the room that represents their choice They pair up with another student to discuss why they chose that answer
or response
m Mix-N-Match
Trang 32A great classroom review structure that also serves as a classbuilder Each student is given a problem or answer card, and they move around the room searching for their "match." This structure is a great activity for those times when students are restless after a long period of an activity
n Three-step Interview
Three-step interviews can be used as an ice breaker for team members to get to know one another or can be used to get to know concepts in depth, by assigning roles to students
© Teacher assigns roles or students can "play" themselves teacher may also give interview questions or information that should be "found."
¢ A interviews B for the specified number of minutes, listening attentively and
asking probing questions
¢ At asignal, students reverse roles and B interviews A for the same number of minutes At another signal, each pair turns to another pair, forming a group of four Each member of the group introduces his or her partner, highlighting the most
interesting points
These are the main CL activities that the teacchers can apply in their lesson To get the best result, the teachers must also take into consideration the issues in
implementing CL in each classroom as discussed below 2.3.6 Issues in Implementing CL in the EFL/ESL Classroom
Although the potential of effective CL for improving students’ achievement is undeniable, there are some issues about implementing this method in EFL classes that need to be addressed These include the issues related to students’ limited English proficiency, students’ motivation to work together and those related to classroom
management
2.3.6.1 Students’ Limited English Ability
Such a limitation is considered a big problem in English classes when CL is applied In a traditionally teacher-fronted classroom, the teacher dominates the instructional
time and the students have the teacher as their model and accurate feedback On the
contrary, with CL method, students are given much more time to hear each other’s English and to “provide each other with authentic communication practice” (\lola, 1989) As a result, students find difficulties in learning because of their lack of a correct model of the target form of English, inaccurate modeling from peers and insufficient or fault
Trang 33feedback However, as llola, Power and Jacobs (1989) argue, “the lack oƒ target-level modeling and feedback may be considered to be an acceptable trade-off for increased student participant and productivity” (p.6) What the teacher should do is carefully structure CL activities and pay much attention in assigning students roles during group
work to reduce the possible effects of students’ limited ability
2.3.6.2 Motivation
Another important aspect in CL is that of motivation When the students get into some tasks, motivation is a great necessity in order for them to proceed successfully If they are motivated, they get new ideas which they are eager to share with their group
member In general, motivation is enhanced as tasks are made more interesting and relevant Thus, if students are not motivated, the first place teachers look is at the task they are asking their students to perform Some researchers (Slavin, 1989; Kagan, 1995)
propose that to build up students’ motivation in CL activities, the teachers should provide tasks that can be finished much more quickly and accurately in groups Additionally, teachers should teach students to use some encouraging gambits for teammates such as “We could really use your help” or “We really appreciate your contribution” to provide the talking participants with the feeling of being listened to and their contribution is being appreciated
2.3.6.3 Classroom Management Issues
Classroom management in this case concerns teacher’s maintaining group work, group formation, students’ use of their native language at inappropriate time,
evaluation, and suitability for students’ varied cultural and learning styles (\lola, Power & Jacobs, 1989)
In the class where CLAs are used, the first important task of the teacher is to remain an integral part in students’ CL By doing so, the teacher must first structure the group activities, then teach students efficient rules for communicating in group, and finally work as a facilitator to help students or as a manager to make sure students stay on their task
Group formation is another important task for the teacher because he or she has to decide who to put into which group as well as how many students are suitable for a certain group activity It is fact that if this formation is not suitable, the group activity will not be expected to be successful since students feel asleep or burst out into noise easily
Trang 34Another aspect of classroom management that discourages teachers when they try to implement CL in classroom is that students may use their mother tongue during peer
interaction However, to some extent, this should be acceptable if students are trying to understand a difficult instruction or an activity procedure Experts suggest that one way to deal with this problem is assigning the role of language-use monitor to one student in each group This ‘monitor’ has the responsibility to control the target-language use of all students in that group
Evaluating students during their group work is also a big concern of many teachers What these teachers wonder is how to measure exactly what students have done and learned during cooperative learning activities Arends (2007) claims that “it is important to use evaluating strategies that are consistent with the goals and objectives of a
particular lesson and with the model’s overall theoretical framework” (p.369) To solve the problem, researchers propose that teachers can use individual assessment by calling on students randomly to answer questions about the task or offer time for students to take turn to be representatives of their groups Furthermore, since CL is only one part among many of the teaching methods that each teacher owns, teachers may evaluate their students during other activities
The last consideration that must be taken into account is the existing of students’ variety in cultural background, learning styles as well as learning expectations Brown (2007) stated that “Every learner is unique Every teacher is unique Every learner- teacher relationship is unique, and every context is unique Your task as a teacher is to understand the properties of these relationships and context” (p.57) Therefore, it is important that the teachers should embrace the diversity in learning in order to set suitable goals and objectives for their students As for CL, the teachers should be aware of implementing it creatively into different situations and different classes
In conclusion, CL method is proposed as one type of classroom activity Therefore, how the method is implemented and integrated into the existing context is best judged by teachers, who know their students best Moreover, if the teacher intends to use CL effectively in teaching a speaking class, it is worth for him/her considering not only all the matters related to CL but also those concerned with speaking in the current context
2.4 Speaking Skill
2.4.1 Definition of Speaking
Trang 35In linguistics, speaking skill refers to communication It is supposed to be one of the most important practical skills Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode It, like the other skills, is more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than
just pronouncing words Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that
involves producing, receiving and processing information
(Brown,1994;Burn&Joyce,1997) It is often spontaneous, open-ended and evolving, but it is not completely unpredictable
According to Brown and Yule’s opinions (1983), spoken language consists of short, fragmentary utterances in a range of pronunciation However, speaking is a skill, which deserves attention as much as literacy skills in both first and second language because our learners often need to speak with confidence in order to carry out a lot of their most basic transactions (Bygate, 1991) Furthermore, speaking is known with two
main types of conversation called dialogue and monologue
A comprehensive discussion of the nature of speaking is provided by Bygate (1987), who shows that in order to be able to speak a foreign language, it is obviously
necessary to have micro-linguistic skills, that is, to understand some grammar,
vocabulary and the rules governing how words are put together to form sentences However, these motor perceptive skills, as Bygate calls them, are not sufficient since while producing sentences, we often have to adapt them to the circumstances He then presents the second set of speaking skills: the interaction skills, which involve using knowledge and basic motor-perception skills in deciding what to say and how to say it, while maintaining the intended relation with others
2.4.2 Principles for Teaching Speaking Skill
The goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency However, teacher should have a consideration to the students’ level to apply or combine appropriate activities in teaching According to Forseth et al (1995: 35-38), some principles should be taken in teaching speaking skill as follows
a For the beginning level
- Limit the objectives to avoid overwhelming the learners Provide the students with enough structured practice so they can begin interacting at a basic level This will reduce students’ fear and encourage more speaking More free production can come after structured practice
Trang 36- Mix the speaking activities with comprehension work; have students listen to the teacher or each other before they speak Comprehension work fosters an interaction
between speaking and listening
- Provide activities which involve dialogues and functional use of the language Focus on language use rather than knowledge about language Functions involve a focus on meaning
- Do not emphasize the significance of mistakes This encourages students to speak without fear of correction This increases focus on meaning and communication rather than grammatical correctness Corrections should especially focus on problems affecting clear communication or language already taught to the students
- State the purpose / goal of the activities to the students This provides a context or
focuses to help comprehension and allows the learners to concentrate on the task and understand why they are doing it
b For the intermediate and advanced levels - Focus on and work toward real, spontaneous speech
- Design activities which encourage natural interaction between speakers
- Place students in pairs, triads or small groups Smaller groups and pairs are students- centered This increases the quantity of speech spoken by the students and lowers their anxiety
- Provide topics of interest to the students Interesting topics increase students’ motivation This fosters a focus on meaning
At the advanced level, especially in free production, allow only speech in the target language For students at upper secondary school, they are normally at
intermediate level Therefore, teachers should create appropriate activities which involve students in speaking naturally
2.3.4 Stages for Teaching Speaking Skill
In “Methodology course 1-Teaching the skills” (2002: 42-43) it is suggested that a speaking lesson should have three stages: pre-speaking, while-speaking, and post- speaking
a The Pre-speaking Stage
This stage can be seen as the preparation for the students With some activities such as brainstorming, discussion tasks, vocabulary tasks or pre-speaking questions, students
Trang 37will find it familiar to the topics they are going to speak Moreover, this is the step which teachers motivate students and raise the interest in the lesson In addition, before delivering the activities for this stage, the teacher needs to identify the objective of the lesson, the situation of teaching and learning, and the students’ need as well
b The While-speaking Stage:
This stage is often called controlled speaking Teachers can design the activities basing on the tasks in the textbook or adapt some more activities to increase the communicative factor at this stage Students are supposed to do the tasks in pair or group work This stage aims to develop students’ speaking skill by doing the controlled tasks and activities themselves The tasks and activities also supply opportunity for students to practice the accuracy and fluency Teacher needs to monitor the activities and provide help for the weak students who have difficulty completing the task at this
stage
c The Post-speaking Stage:
This is the freer speaking stage Students are required to use the target language which they have learnt and practiced, and their language knowledge to produce their speaking communicatively What they produce reflects the result of their practice stage, their interests or views At this stage, the teacher plays the role as observer, assessor who provides appropriate feedback to students
Basically, a speaking lesson should follow these stages orderly Nevertheless, the procedure of aspeaking lesson may flexible due to each lesson, time constraint,
objectives of the lesson, types of students and materials in use However, teacher needs to have an overview of the lesson to assess how far their students achieve after the
lesson
2.4.5 Problems with Speaking and Speaking Activities 2.4.5.1 Problems with Speaking
Brown (1994:256) points out the characteristics of spoken language that can make oral performance difficult as follows:
© Clustering: In order to speak fluently, speakers have to select from their store of language clustering, that is groups of words, not word by word
Trang 38© Reduced forms: Contractions, elisions, reduced vowels, etc create difficulties in teaching and learning spoken English If learners do not learn colloquial contractions, they can develop the kind of speaking that is stilted, bookish
* Colloquial language : Colloquialism appears both in monologues and dialogues If learners are only exposed to standard English and/or "textbook" language, they
sometimes find it difficult to understand and produce words, idioms and phrases of colloquial language
¢ Stress, rhythm and intonation: Learners of English often find it difficult to
pronounce English words, to stress the right syllables, to follow the stress-timed rhythm and intonation patterns of spoken English
¢ Affective factors: Learners learning to speak often encounter the risk of saying out things that may be wrong, stupid and incomprehensible At those times, they tend to be anxious because they do not want to be judged by other learners
¢ Interaction : The greatest difficulty that learners face in learning to speak originates from the interactive nature of most communication Engaged in process of negotiation of meaning with many discourse constraints, learners have to do the complex task of choosing what to say, how to say, when to speak, etc Learners are also affected by their interlocutors' performance
2.4.5.2 Problems with speaking activities
Classroom activities that develop learners’ ability to express themselves through speech are an important component of a language course where CL is applied However, it is more difficult to design and administer such activities than to do so for listening, reading or writing Teachers often come across the problems that Ur (1996:121) lists
out:
¢ Inhibition : Unlike reading, writing and listening activities, speaking requires some degree of real-time exposure to an audience Learners are often inhibited about trying to say something in a foreign language in the classroom because they are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts
© Nothing to say : Teachers often hear learners complain that they can not think of anything to say They may have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking
Trang 39® Uneven or low participation: Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is
to be heard In a large group, this means that each one has only very little time for talking This problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate the group, while others speak very little or not at all
© Mother-tongue use: When all, or a number of the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it This happens because it is easier, because it feels unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language and because learners feel
less "exposed" if they are speaking their mother tongue If they are talking in a small
group, it can be quite difficult to get some classes, particularly the less disciplined or
motivated ones, to keep to the target language
Overcoming the above-mentioned problems to create a successful speaking activity where learners talk a lot, participation is even, motivation is high certainly requires a lot of teachers’ efforts in designing and carrying out speaking activities
Generally, there are many approaches to CL, but all have common characteristics of a learning activity suitable for groupwork, small group based tasks which encourage cooperative behaviours, students’ positive interdependence, individual accountability and responsibility for task completion Under the CL conditions, students’ cooperative efforts are expected to be more productive than competitive and individual efforts Moreover, working in CL environment with the group-goal structures and self-esteem building strategies, the students are not only well- structured to participate equally and trained collaborative skills which are very helpful in learning but also are encouraged and motivated to strive to strengthen themselves and friends Thus, it can be said that CL and CLL are very likely to be effective in solving the problems of speaking activities
2.6 Summary
In summary, the chapter has so far presented the issues and aspects concerning the topic of the study It has discussed the theory of cooperative learning in general and
in language teaching in particular The most important issues including the definitions, the principles, the structures, the interface between CL and language learning and cooperative language learning as well as the teaching and learning of the skill focused, speaking have all been discussed Basing on this review and realization of CL and CL advantages, we will be carrying out an action research on implementing CL structures to teaching speaking to the 10" graders at Cua Lo High schools The thorough research will
be presented in the next chapter
Trang 40Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Overview
This chapter presented the methodology on which the researcher based to carry out the study Specifically, the research methods, the recruitment of participants, and the selection of data collection instruments were included Furthermore, the
procedures of collecting and analyzing data were described in detail 3.2 Research Methodology
Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were chosen for this study The qualitative approach was mainly employed for the following reasons First of all, “qualitative research designs typically investigated behavior as it occurred naturally in non-contrived situations, and there was no manipulation of conditions or experience” (Borg & Gall, 1989, p 84) Additionally, Weinberg (2002) stated that qualitative method was effective in identifying intangible factors and helped to interpret and better
understand the complex reality of a given situation Furthermore, the data emerging from a qualitative study were descriptive, i.e data were reported and analysed in words
rather than in number The last but most important reason was that the qualitative method gave the researcher the flexibility to probe initial participants’ responses - that was to ask why and how For the above reasons, the qualitative approach must be the most appropriate to answer the research questions in this study
However, since the qualitative approach might be criticized for its subjectivity, the researcher collected data through questionnaires and processed information