Students' attitudes towards cooperative learning at Nghe An teachers' College and Implications for teacher Education programs Thái độ của sinh viên trường CĐSP

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES HỒNG THỊ BÍCH THỦY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS COOPERATIVE LEARNING AT NGHE AN TEACHERS’ COLLEGE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS (Thái độ sinh viên trường CĐSP Nghệ An hoạt động học mang tính hợp tác hàm ý cho việc đào tạo giáo viên) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI - 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -HỒNG THỊ BÍCH THỦY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS COOPERATIVE LEARNING AT NGHE AN TEACHERS’ COLLEGE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS (Thái độ sinh viên trường CĐSP Nghệ An hoạt động học mang tính hợp tác hàm ý cho việc đào tạo giáo viên) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Lê Văn Canh, M.A HANOI - 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Candidate’s statement i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of Tables vi List of Abbreviations vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Research methodology Organization of the study PART C: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Attitudes 1.2 Cooperative Learning 1.2.1 Definitions of Cooperative Learning 1.2.2 Benefits of Cooperative Learning in foreign language learning 1.2.3 Review of previous studies related to Cooperative Learning 10 1.2.4 Cooperative Learning and Vietnamese Learning Culture 11 CHAPTER II: THE STUDY 13 2.1 Research questions 13 2.2 Participants 13 2.3 Instruments 13 2.3.1 The Questionnaire 14 2.3.2 Follow-up interviews 14 2.4 Data analysis 14 2.5 Results and Discussion 15 2.5.1 Students‟ preferred habits and learning styles 15 2.5.2 Students‟ attitudes and perceptions towards CL 16 2.5.3 Teachers‟ use of CL 19 2.5.4 Students‟ engagement and preferences in CL 24 2.5.5 Students‟ suggestions to improve CL 28 CHAPTER III: IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 30 3.1 Challenges of Cooperative Learning in foreign language learning 30 3.2 Teaching implications 31 3.3 Suggestions 35 PART C: CONCLUSION 38 Conclusions 38 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies 39 REFERENCES 40 APPENDIXES APPENDIX APPENDIX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CL : Cooperative Learning EFL: English as a foreign language ESL: English as a second language LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Students‟ preferred learning styles of learning English Table 2.2: Students‟ attitudes towards CL Table 2.3: Students‟ perceived benefits of CL Table 2.4 : Students‟ difficulties in CL Table 2.5: The frequency of using of CL in and outside classroom Table 2.6: Teachers‟ ways of assigning students to groups Table 2.7: The number of students teachers assign to a group Table 2.8: Students‟ evaluation of teachers‟ way of assigning to a group Table 2.9: Teachers‟ ways of rewarding groups of students Table 2.10: Students‟ evaluation of teachers‟ way of rewarding groups of students Table 2.11: Group size preferred by students Table 2.12: Students‟ working in groups Table 2.13: Students‟ interest in some activities 10 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Co-operative learning has attracted a great attention in the last few decades for its value as one of the startegies which help to provide students with more opportunities to learn from each other By cooperating with each other in solving learning tasks in the classroom, the students at the same time create a favourable and active learning atmosphere, thereby making use of each other‟s resources Over the last few decades, Cooperative Learning (CL) has become a popular practice in both mainstream education and in second/ foreign language education There has been empirical evidence to justify the effectiveness of CL in promoting mastery of knowledge and skills among students of various abilities and ages Regarding second/foreign language learning, students, through cooperation, become more actively involved in their lessons and thus, they have more chance to use the target language than they are in the whole class arrangement Despite its documented benefits, CL has not been adequately researched in Vietnamese educational settings So, one of the unresolved questions is to what extent the contextual variables such as students‟ social background and learning culture affects the success of CL For instance, it is not clear whether CL can bring about similar success in the context where students come from remote rural areas and are taught largely with traditional methods as it does in other, especially in Western, contexts This question motivates me to undertake this study, which aims to explore the possibility of applying the principles and techniques of CL in a Junior Teachers‟ Training College in one central province of Vietnam The focus of my study is to find out the college students‟s attitudes toward CL in the classroom Aims of the study This study sets out to achieve the following aims: 11 ● to know the degree to which teachers use CL in their classroom through students‟ self-reports ● to investigate into college students‟ attitudes and perceptions toward CL It is hoped that the result of the study will inform teachers, first of all those working in the college, of the possibilities for using cooperative techniques in their teaching I believe that any innovative teaching strategy or technique the teacher is trying to use is likely to fail if the students not have a positive attitude toward it Therefore, it is critical to understand the students‟ attitudes before implementing innovation Another dimension of the study is to gain insights into how teachers in the College have used CL through students‟ verbal reports Research questions To achieve the aims of the thesis, the following research questions were proposed: What are the English language students‟ preferred learning habits and learning styles? How teachers use CL both inside and outside the classroom according to students‟ self-reports? What are their attitudes towards, and perceptions of, CL as well as their suggestions for the use of CL? Scope of the study As it has been stated above, the study is carried out to investigate college students‟ attitudes toward CL, and therefore, it is a survey by nature It is not intended to examine the impact of CL on students‟ learning outcomes Neither is it intended to explore teachers‟ attitudes toward, and perceptions of, CL The study was carried out within one Junior Teachers‟ Training College only This means that no generalisation of the findings is intended Research methodology 12 Due to the aim and scope of the study, two research methods are used in the present study: ● A questionnaire to investigate students‟ attitudes and perceptions towards CL as well as their preferences The questionnaire is designed, primarily, to find out what students think of CL And how they prefer to have CL activities in their foreign language classes Data were analyzed mainly by means of descriptive statistics ● Follow-up interviews were conducted to get better insights into students‟ attitudes, perceptions, and preferences Organization of the thesis The thesis is structured into parts: Part A: Introduction, which introduces the rationale, the aims, the scope, the research methods and the organization of the study Part B: Development which consists of chapters: Chapter I is a Literature Review In this chapter, a basic theoretical background for the study is created by reviewing the relevant literature with a focus on Attitudes, and CL techniques Chapter II, The Study, presents the methods and procedures used in the study, which consists of a survey questionnaire and follow-up interviews This chapter also includes Result and Discussion which presents the method of data analysis as well as the results derived from the data analysis Results are presented under themes as coded from the data analysis Chapter III, Implications and Suggestions, presents some suggestions on how to apply CL techniques in the classroom to achieve better impact Part C: Conclusion, summarises the main remarks of the study and suggest some ideas for further study Limitations of the study will also be acknowledged in this chapter 13 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter reviews the literature on CL In the first place, a definition of „attitude‟ is provided This will be followed by a discussion of the nature of CL as well as its advantages in foreign language learning Finally, previous studies on CL will be reviewed to identify a research niche for the present study 1.1 Attitudes In general understanding, attitudes are defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain thing such as an idea, object, person or situation This is often referred to as attitude object, but in the scale of my study, attitude is understood as „learning attitude‟ The construct of „Attitude‟ has long been considered as one of the affective variables beside motivation in the realm of language learning as well, (e.g., Gardner and Lambert 1972) According to Oxford and Shearin (1994), attitude is one of the factors impacting motivation in language learning Gardner (1985) states that positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning Holmes (1992) believes that people develop attitudes towards languages, which reflect their views about those who speak the languages, and the contexts and functions with which they are associated He claims that attitudes in the context of language learning are defined as the way people look at the language, the class and the people, and the culture of language Lambert (1967, cited in Macnamara, 1973: 37) mentions two types of attitudes: „integrative‟ and „instrumental‟ attitude to language learning He claims that an integrative attitude (desire to know and become friendly with speakers of a language) is more likely to lead to success in learning a second language than an instrumental attitude (desire to better oneself materially by means of the language) ... LEARNING AT NGHE AN TEACHERS’ COLLEGE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS (Thái độ sinh viên trường CĐSP Nghệ An hoạt động học mang tính hợp tác hàm ý cho việc đào tạo giáo viên) M.A MINOR... NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -HỒNG THỊ BÍCH THỦY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS COOPERATIVE LEARNING AT NGHE. .. Gardner (1985) states that positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning Holmes (1992) believes that people develop attitudes towards languages, which reflect