Motivating and enhancing students at lang chanh high school to learn english by groupworks

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING LANG CHANH UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE motivating and enhancing students at Lang Chanh High School to learn English by groupworks The writer: Pham Thi Nghi Position: Teacher of English Experience initiative: English THANH HOA 2017 OUTLINE I Introduction II Development III Conclusion CONTENTS Reason for choosing the topic Aims of the study Scope of the study Theoretical background Practical background The solutions The discussion PAGE 3 4- 7 7- 13 14- 15 General summary Suggested approaches to solve 15 - 16 similar problems IV References Websites V Appendices Surveys Observations 16 DETAILED OUTLINE Title: Motivating and enhancing students at Lang Chanh High School to learn English by groupworks I Introduction Reason for choosing the topic - Social development and national renewal is urgently required to improve the quality of education and training - The roles of English: playing a vital role in the development of our society - The current curriculum of English - Problems students face - What I have done to solve the problems - effective solutions Aims of the study - To introduce how to groupwork and to show the advantages of working in groups - To show how to organise pair and groupwork effectively and how to deal withinitial problems that may occur - To show how groupwork can be used for various classroom activities - To give teachers confidence in using groupworks themselves Scope of the study - The qualitative and quantitave approach II Content / Development Theoretical background : The benefits of groupworks Practical background : The reality of quality of English at Lang Chanh High School The solutions The discussion III Conclusion General summary: Suggested approaches to solve similar problems IV References - Websites V Appendices - Surveys - Observations THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING LANG CHANH UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL THANH HOA, 2017 EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE Motivating and enhancing students at Lang Chanh High School to learn English by groupworks The writer: Pham Thi Nghi Position: Teacher of English Experience initiative: English I Introduction Reason for choosing the topic English, which is the common language in the world, is an important subject in schools Being thoroungly awared of the importance of this language in international communication as well as in the development of international integration, Vietnamese educators should use English as the key subject English is essential for not only the tourism industry, foreign trade, foreign companies, computer users but also the high school graduates Therefore, each student attending high school must have a certain level of English to prepare for exams and after graduating at least they are able to communicate, read and write some normal texts To this, we are constantly innovating teaching methods and curriculum to achieve substantive results for general English courses and forging some basic skills for students During English teaching and learning process, finding the way to obtain English knowledge is the most important Groupwork is one of the most useful one to help students obviously.One of the most important reasons is unsuitable methods in teaching and learning The teachers of English often meet difficulties in approaching new methods of teaching foreign languages communicatively How to organise groupwork or pairwork effectively is also the problem which they often meet Recognizing the importance of groupwork and pairwork, I’ve chosen this topic in the hope of finding out some useful measures in organising groupwork activities in the class Aims of the study In this study, my main interests are: - To introduce how to groupwork and to show the advantages of working in groups - To show how to organise a groupwork effectively and how to deal withinitial problems that may occur - To show how groupworks can be used for various classroom activities - To offer teachers confidence in using groupworks during their lecture by themselves * Scope of the study This study is only concerned with ways of organising activities in the class rather than with teaching techniques II Contents Theoretical background: The benifits of groupworks In pairwork , the teacher devides the whole class into pairs Every student works with his or her partner, and all the pairs work at the same time ( it is sometimes called “simultaneous pairwork” ) Point out that this is not the same as public or open pairwork, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front the class In groupwork, the teacher divides he class into small groups to work together ( usually four or five students in each group ) As in pair group, all te groups work at the same time Pointed out that pairwork and groupwork are not reaching methods but ways of organnising the class They can be used far many different kinds of activities, and are naturally more suitable for some activities than for others One of the successful ways, if the teacher is resourceful and skilful enough, to motivate his/her students to participate in the lesson is to use “pair work” or “Group work” appropriately.Language is best learned through the close collaboration and communication among students This type of collaboration results in benefits for all or both learners In fact, learners can help each other while working on different types of tasks such as writing dialogues, interviews, drawing pictures and making comments about them, play roles, etc… The first advantage groupworks offers is that there is more language practice Groupworks give students far more chance to speak English Refer to the request : working in groups, each student makes seven sentences ( either a question or an answer) If the excercise were done “round the class”, students would only say one sentence each, and in a large class many students would say nothing at all The second advantage is that students are more involved : Working in groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate on the tasks Refer to the above request : if this discussion were conducted with the whole class together, it would be dominated by a few students and the others would lose the interest An vital profit is that students feel secure Students feel less anxious when they are working “privately” when they are “on show” in front of the whole class Obviously, groupworks can help shy students who would never say anything in a whole-class activity to convey their ideas easily The last but not least is that groupworks bring students a chance to help each other Groupworks encourages students to share ideas and knowledge In a reading activity students can help each other to explore the meaning of the text; in a discussion activity students can give each other new ideas In language focus lessons, better students can explain the main points to those who are not good enough Moreover, groupwork benefits for students in some other ways: Students talk: What is more important in the process of language learning than speaking? Not much Putting ESL students in groups gets them speaking up and practicing the language that they are trying to learn Speaking is an important skill, and producing out loud language can be intimidating for nonnative speakers at any point in their journey You can minimize the intimidation by including group work from the very start of your classes When your students start speaking in their first ESL classes, it becomes a natural part of who they are and how they learn, and it fails to be an intimidating feat to delay until later in their studies Students help each other: When group work happens, whether it is in the work place or the classroom, collaboration is part of the process Your ESL students are no exception When they work in groups you will see that students help each other learn Students can answer language specific questions or clarify confusing points of English in ways that ESL students can understand and you may not be able to explain When they help each other, it benefits both of the students involved The student with the question will have it answered, and the student with the answer will remember it better because they have taught it to another Students challenge each other: Students will be intentional about helping each other when they work in groups, but they may not realize that they will challenge each other as well Studies show that speakers modify their speech to be more like the people to whom they are talking That means less accomplished students will become better speakers just by talking to others more advanced than them, without help and without pressure Students encourage each other: Encouragement between language learners can happen in many ways One way encouragement comes is when lower level students see the accomplishments of higher level students I have found this to be true particularly in mixed level classes When a first year student from Korea sees a Korean who is nearly fluent in English, he feels good about it When students share their experiences as well, one student’s story becomes a blueprint for success for the other! Students grow closer to each other: By working together, your students will also develop relationships with each other They will share personal opinions and life goals They will talk about what they have experienced and what they want most out of life all in the name of learning a language When they do, they become friends These relationships are important for international students For students who travel overseas to study English, having a network of friends is extremely important Daily cultural struggles can become overwhelming, and individuals submerged in a second language need support Most often, your students not have family nearby, so their classmates become their family and offer support and encouragement on a daily basis Students use language creatively: Communicative classrooms focus on getting students to use the language they know to get their meaning across This is when creative language happens Creative use of language makes communication possible even when speakers may not know the perfect grammar for what they are trying to say, and nothing is more true to life than that When students work in groups, they have to work together to accomplish a goal Even when grammar takes a backseat in these collaborations, communication happens, and that will give your students a dry run for when they have to face communication in the English speaking world Students develop cultural sensitivity: When teaching a class of international students, I will see just how much culture affects a person’s beliefs, values and expectations Some ESL students have never known a person from another culture, and your class will be an opportunity to know people from all over the world That means encountering individuals with different values, expectations and beliefs When your students can accept and appreciate their classmates, they will be on their way to doing the same for people all over the world In particular, groupwork benefits for teachers as well: Groupwork activates different learning styles: Part of teaching is reaching as many different learning styles as possible One of those learning styles is social, also known as interpersonal Students who learn this way work well with others and benefit from working things out with groups When you assign group work and give students goals to accomplish during their time together, these students flourish Getting authentic performance for assessments: It can be hard for ESL teachers to assess speaking performance in their students Putting students in groups and unobtrusively listening to them is a perfect way to see how much they are really putting to use You can hear pronunciation, spoken grammar, and ability to communicate just by listening in on some classroom group work Knowing what students are getting and what I need to clarify: When you are teaching grammar in isolation, it’s easy for students to follow a pattern and fill in the blanks When you have your students working together, talking together, using the right grammar isn’t as predictable as it is in isolated exercises When you listen to your students’ performance during group work, you can see what concepts they aren’t getting and that you may need to explain again If you are unsure whether they have really understood a particular language strategy, assign a group task that will elicit it and listen closely Practical background: The reality of quality of English at Lang Chanh High School There are more than 1,000 students coming from various villages in Lang Chanh district Most of them are ethnic minority students, whose background is not good enough, and they have shy characteristics That requires teachers to be enthusiastic and patient in order to find out the most suitable and effective teaching methods In recent years, the implementation of innovation of teaching method in lang Chanh High school in general, in Foreign Language group particularly has initially gained encouraging results The majority of teaching lessons are taught using active appropriate teaching methods for each skill lessons and different units, such as: Pair-work, Group work, role-play, centered Learner- Choosing teaching methods depends on the topic of the lesson and students From what I have done, I found the practical methods of using teamwork (Group- work) during the hours of English at high schools Lang Chanh so practical The quality of school have been gradually raised Furthermore, English lessons have attracted more and more students English lessons are no longer a burden to the students those are always sitting and listening to the teacher.During the class, students can discuss with their partners about the content of the lessons In general; however, sometimes organizing group activities is not practical and appropriate enough it Therefore, I want to talk about how to organiza groupworks in English lessons effectively, with the aim of contributing to improving the effectiveness of teaching and learning English Solutions a Definition of groupwork A technique within the field of social work wherein various groups (as educational and recreational) are guided by an agency leader to more effective personal adjustment and community participation Based Learning is a form of teaching method putting students in a positive learning environment in which students are appropriately divided into groups Cooperation is to help students train and develop working skills, communication skills, and to encourage them to learn from each other Moreover, working in groups promotes the role and responsibilities, social activities on the basis of work co-operation Through group activities, students can work together with the work that they can not it themselves in a certain time In the method of learning language, group learning is one of the most effective ways to enhance and maximize the ability to expressm their ideas For a long time, Ther has been a tend to have a fear of failure that is a major obstacle in the communication process of the students With this program, students can help each other in terms of learning process, students are under no pressure when they join groups or participate in forums Teachers can also encompass abilities abilities of each student, understand the obstacles which helps students overcome difficulties in the communication process Although the accuracy of the language in the process of group discussion is not high, in return the students have the confidence to express their opinions more b Steps for teaching using groupworks Step Setting clear expectations for group work Since group work requires students to draw on a broad range of skills, they benefit from being given time to consider practicalities, and to plan (Gibbs, 1995) Students should be introduced to practices such as developing ground rules (relating to personal and professional conduct), which outline the expectations for participation of group members and consider mechanisms / roles that underpin effective project management In doing so they could be encouraged to reflect on what they bring to the group (academically and practically), or on past experiences of group work and how they could learn from these Practical pointer: In a taught session introduce students to the different stages of group work, and get them to develop strategies for working through these: familiarisation (with one another / the task), planning and preparation (identify expertise / tasks / build an action plan), implementation (management of the activity / keeping in touch) and completion (working toward the product / deadlines / editing) Step Thinking carefully about group size and composition Careful consideration should be given to group size, particularly in relation to the purpose of the work and the task assigned Group size influences student engagement and getting this right engenders desired behaviours to minimise issues such as freeloading (Seethamraju & Borman, 2009) The optimal group size is cited as been between four and six people, as this allows students to develop a sense of identity and ownership (Kerr & Bruun, 1983) Determining whether group membership is allocated by a tutor, randomly allocated or selfselected depends on the purpose of the group work Although research is unclear on the benefit of each approach (Huxham & Land, 2000; Seethamraju & Borman, 2009) with regards to student learning, tutors need to dedicate time for the preparation stages even if group members are known to one another Practical pointer: Using a range of approaches to group allocation on different occasions can be beneficial Membership could be allocated based on: academic achievement / skill set – however, this requires tutors to have prior knowledge of the students; criteria such as age, discipline, or name In determining the approach taken to allocating group membership consideration should be given to the purpose of the task and the academic stage Step Helping manage the logistics of group work Students have increasingly busy lives and it is common for them to be balancing a range of commitments alongside their studies, therefore finding time and space to work in can be perceived as challenging This can lead students to complain about logistical issues that threaten to undermine group work (Hillyard et al., 2010) Tutors should consider how they can mitigate issues relating to communication, meeting up and accessing resources as they plan group work and introduce management strategies to students Practical pointer: Tutors could timetable classroom space for students to use; encourage students to set up email distribution lists, schedule a timetable of meeting dates, recommend technology which can be used for communication and conducting their work e.g google.docs, dropbox, institutional wiki or discussion boards If appropriate this may feed into the assessment of the group work Step Encouraging intercultural group work International students embrace group work as an opportunity to interact directly with home students, yet the mixed responses of home students to intercultural groups can be a source of disappointment (Cotton et al., 2013; Volet & Ang, 1998) Students from many countries prefer to work in homogenous groups, but over the longer term intercultural group working has been recognised as more beneficial (Gibbs, 2010) Students may need to be prepared to mitigate some of the complexities of intercultural group settings e.g perceived value of student contributions, respectful communication and the risk that non-native English speakers are disadvantaged When introducing group work tutors should explain the importance of cross-cultural collaboration (Wisker, 2000) Practical pointer: Design the group work to address a theme, topic or activity that is unfamiliar to all participants so that no individual is perceived as having the advantage or as Montgomery (2008) describes make all students ‘equally unsure’; Encourage a structured approach to discussion to give all group members a chance to speak Step Designing innovative group work activities Most group work involves students working toward a task or end-product that has been designed as a group activity However, a common frustration with group work is that these tasks can be poorly conceived, in that they no challenge or require the collective effort of all group members, or are poorly articulated to students (Hillyard et al., 2010) Group work activities should be sufficient in size and complexity to require the collective knowledge and effort of all group members (Gibbs, 1995) Equally they should be authentic in relation to the intended learning outcomes and beneficial to student learning 10 Practical pointer: Group work activities should address a complex problem or issue that requires them to work collaboratively and employ a range of skills (e.g negotiation, project management, effective organisation) as well as draw on the breadth of academic knowledge the group possesses Build terminology in the assessment brief / learning outcomes that encourage collaboration and group work (e.g compile, collate, compare, discuss) External parties, e.g employers, could be invited in to set ‘real world’ questions or projects Step Monitoring the groups’ activities For the students and the tutor it can be beneficial to integrate mechanisms of monitoring group work This can make students aware of whose responsibility managing group work is and encourage them to consider explicitly how to manage group work, and for the tutor it can provide evidence of the group’s activities This evidence could subsequently be drawn upon in cases where a group has become dysfunctional or as part of the evidence used to assess group work Mechanisms could include students creating a diary or schedule of meetings, recording minutes and action points that capture progress Practical pointer: Introduce and explore with students common roles taken on in meeting situations e.g meeting chair / facilitator, record or note keeper, time-keeper and task manager, and how these are used to manage group projects If appropriate these records may feed into the assessment of the group work Include details in the module handbook that informs students of what to if the group is not working well Step Managing assessed group work The assessment of group work is a contentious issue that shapes the level of student engagement and determines the quality of that learning that takes place (Gibbs, 2010 (Lejk, Wyvill, & Farrow, 1997) This reflects the complexity of assessing group work; tutors need to consider whether they are assessing the product of group work, the process that has led to this product or both the product and the process (Gibbs, 2010) There is the potential to assess students’ individual and / or collective contributions to the group work Equally group work lends itself to a range of assessment mechanisms e.g tutor, peer or selfassessment The approach taken to assessing group work needs to be determined in relation to module learning outcomes and the tutors’ rationale for using group work For a detailed discussion of assessing group work, please see the Plymouth University Guidelines for Assessing Group Work Practical pointer: Introduce the format for assessment at the beginning of the module, outlining clearly the rationale for group work with respect to the mode of assessment Ensure students know how marks will be allocated, and if a novel assessment methodology (e.g posters / viva) is to be used give students the opportunity to rehearse through a formative feedback stage 11 c Some activities used in groupworks The table below provides some information on a variety of teaching methods that are suitable for small group work because they adopt a studentcentred approach There is no reason why these activities cannot be use in the online context Activity Description Ice-breakers See Section Team building Examples See handout ‘Activities and resources for group work’ Introductory Go round room and have Name, course, reason why rounds students introduce themselves doing this unit of study Pre-class quiz Rounds Prepare a brief quiz in order to assess prior learning, skills and abilities Ask 10 questions related to the unit of study (share with partner/group, maybe collect?) Go round group using unit of How you best learn? study content or outcomes to Share a high and a low from stimulate discussion your last practicum? (can add an item to pass on or use a pen and write up response) As for rounds but provide several items related to the content for students to talk Choose an about Alternatively use item unrelated items in order to encourage conceptual thinking A poem, bone, organ, piece of equipment, book, can of food Use de Bono’s cards to form concepts between items Provide a cue, concept, Brainstorm question or idea in order to ing generate a list of responses, options and suggestions Brainstorm ‘masculinity’ 12 Activity Description Start with a brainstorm but Mind, broaden the map by seeking concept or links between concepts or topic maps expanding them Examples Read the book Princess Smarty Pants and develop a mind map of the issues the book explores Conduct a SWOT analysis of the issues facing your group in your upcoming project SWOT analysis Use a grid with the headings STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES and THREATS to generate (brainstorm or map) ideas about a topic, question or issue Used to identify and address aspects of the issue Buzz group Students join small groups to discuss ideas, comments, What are five things you got from today’s lecture? d Some images and results I show what I've done through some pictures below 13 - Results Group 10A2 : The total number of students is 38 The first mid-term The second midterm Very good 02 (5%) 10 (27%) Good Average 10 (27%) 20 (52%) 15 (39%) (21%) Below average 11 (29%) Group 10A5 : The total number of students is 41 The first midterm The second midterm Very good Good Average 01 (2%) 05 (12%) 05 (12%) 12 (29%) 15 (37%) 21 (51%) Below average 20 (49%) 03 (8%) 14 The discussion During the teaching process, I have coped with some challenges Therefore, some strategies mentioned below are how to deal with a Students only speak in Vietnamese Strategies: - Teacher very strict about English- only in the classroom - Close monitoring of pair work & group work - Providing incentives for students/groups who only use English in class - candy, extra homework b Students make too much noise Sometimes they are out of control Strategies: - Use a “quiet signal” to maintain control It can be raised hand, a clap, light turn off/on - Set strong and clear guidelines about classroom behavior from the beginning - Assign a student monitor(s) to keep control c Students don’t complete activity; they are bored Strategies: - Know your learners! Always search for choose and design group work activities with their motivation in mind - Each student given a “job” in the group - ex Secretary, spokesperson, task control, etc - Follow-up reports, summaries to be d Some students don’t participate Strategies: - Give students who generally don’t participate the job of “spokensperson” in the group - Use “toothpicks” as a tool to control participation Each student receives and must use toothpick every time they speak - Pair up two “quiet” students together e Students don’t understand directions Strategies: - Prepare and practice giving simple, clear instructions Repeat many times - If students really don’t understand, it’s okay to use Portuguese, but try to avoid it 15 - Have one student who understands, f One group finishes before the others Strategies: - Prepare a back-up activity for groups who finish early - Use members of fast group as “teacher helpers” for the groups with difficulties - Carefully check over group’s completed work and correct or have them expand on ideas In conclusion, Group work is an effective way of learning and cooperation with others, and the aim is to learn through group cooperation and encourage all students to participate in the learning process This approach is defined in the classroom as a group (Usually 2-6 people) The members obtain useful information from each other to extend their knowledge and abilities through the cooperation Also this method can be helped by transferring implicit knowledge to explicit knowledge, and gain some satisfaction by self improvement and competence through the sharing This essay is going to explain some benefits held from the group work experience, and also introduce two important tips of being successful in group work • Group work requires students to ask questions and explain their points of view to others This not only assists students to increase the opportunities to apply their knowledge, but also enhances their interest and ability of learning Moreover, it enables them to accept different opinions, extends their insights, and promotes the sustainability and development of thinking • Group work helps to improve learning efficiency That would refer to every member of the group to actively participate in the learning process and activities, each member should have great enthusiasm, and learn from tasks shared by everyone Also, it is encouraged that each member should brainstorm, and to express their point of views Everyone is also encouraged to share their efforts and their best with the energy created, so the problem can be solved • Group work can enhance the cooperative feelings among students, and develop students' interpersonal skills Group work is a process of exchanging information and knowledge between students, which refers to the progress of directing the emotion and senses by communicating and helping others, and especially understanding the culture differences which refers to different backgrounds It should be learned that to take care and help each other by recognizing their merits and also be tolerant of their shortcomings Moreover, it is encouraged to listen with an open mind to learn from others and listen to their points of view This will allow each member to integrate themselves into a collective team, and enhance their collective consciousness 16 • Group work assists students to develop their self-learning ability Group work involves students to participate rather than be bystanders It encourages the student who has mastered a certain knowledge and skills to transfer and teach others who not have themselves Students who seek for an outstanding performance in group work must carefully learn the class material, and read through the text book analysing its content Some contents may not be available in current text books, so it encourages students to find information by searching on the internet, and also makes some notes These initiatives improve student learning, so that it promotes their self-learning abilities • Group work broadens the learning space for students It is a process that transfers the individual competition to a collaborative group effort REFERENCES  76 Ideas for Group Work in English, from Simon Midgely, Raising Achievement in Schools http://www.simonmidgley.co.uk/talklearn/groupwork.htm  Group Work Lesson Plans, from Lesson Planet http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=group+work&rating=3  Jigsaw Group Work, from LeMill, Teemu Leiononen and Hans Põldoja http://lemill.net/methods/jigsaw-group-work/view https://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/groupwork/docs/SuitableMethods pdf https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/2/2398 https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/groupp rojects/benefits.html https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teachingtips/developing-assignments/group-work/group-work-classroom-types-smallgroups https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teachingtips/alternatives-lecturing/group-work/implementing-group-work-classroom http://busyteacher.org/15791-group-work-6-fresh-activities.html 17 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The date and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere Thanh Hoa, 5th June , 2017 The confirmation of the Head –Master The writer PHAM THI NGHI 18 ... Observations THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING LANG CHANH UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL THANH HOA, 2017 EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE Motivating and enhancing students at Lang Chanh High School to learn. .. Surveys Observations 16 DETAILED OUTLINE Title: Motivating and enhancing students at Lang Chanh High School to learn English by groupworks I Introduction Reason for choosing the topic - Social... level of English to prepare for exams and after graduating at least they are able to communicate, read and write some normal texts To this, we are constantly innovating teaching methods and curriculum