AN INVESTIAGTION INTO THE USE OF PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

DECLARATION To the best of my knowledge and belief, this minor thesis contains no material which has previously been submitted and accepted for any other degree in any university The thesis is my own work and based on my own research It involves no material previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference is acknowledged in the paper Signature: _ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge and thank my supervisor, Ms Tran Hien Lan for her valuable guidance, critical feedback and enormous encouragement, without which my thesis would be far from completion I am also grateful to all the lecturers of the Post-graduate Department, Vietnam national University, Hanoi, University of Languages and International Studies for their guidance and enthusiasm during my course My sincere thanks go to all my colleagues and my students at Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University Finally, I would like to express my thanks to my friends who were willing to help me during the course In particular, I find myself indebted to my family especially my husband and my son for their love, care and tolerance when I was in the process of writing this thesis ii ABSTRACT This thesis was carried out to investigate the use of pair work and group work activities to develop speaking skills for the first year English major students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University It sought the answers to the following questions: How pair work and group work activities are used to teach the st year English major students at FFL, TNU? What difficulties the teachers cope with in using pair work and group work activities in the speaking class of the 1st year English major students at FFL, TNU? What suggestions are needed to make pair work and group work activities effective and successful in developing speaking skill for the st year English major students at FFL, TNU? Survey questionnaires for teachers and students were employed to find answers to these three questions The findings of the research revealed that pair work and group work were frequently applied in English speaking class with two main activities that students have to master are discussion and role-play The use of pair work and group work activities are also beneficial for both teachers and learners However, there were some problems such as students low proficiency and their passive way of learning styles, which prevent them from taking part in pair work and group work activities Teachers lack time and have to deal with large and multi-level classes in unqualified conditions hindering them a lot in implementing pair work and group work activities to teach English speaking It is hoped that this thesis will help other teachers of English be aware of the benefits of pair work and group work activities and apply them in their teaching English speaking successfully and effectively iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv Abbreviations .viii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study Scope of the study .2 Research questions .3 Methods of the study Design of the study .3 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Communicative Language Teaching .4 1.1.1 Traditional methods of second language teaching 1.1.2 Communicative language teaching method 1.2 The communicative learning process 1.3 Pair work and group work .10 1.3.1 Definition and description 10 iv 1.3.2 Common pair work and group work oral activities 12 1.3.2.1 Role-play 12 1.3.2.2 Information gap activity 13 1.3.2.3 Problem solving .13 1.3.2.4 Communication games 14 1.3.2.5 Discussion 14 1.3.3 Advantages and disadvantages of using pair work and group work activities 15 1.3.3.1 Advantages of using pair work and group work activities 15 1.3.3.2 Disadvantages of using pair work and group work activities 16 CHAPTER 2: DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY 19 2.1 Design and methodology .19 2.1.1 The setting of the study .19 2.1.2 Data collection instrument 20 2.1.3 The Participants 21 2.1.3.1 The students .21 2.1.3.2 The teachers .21 2.2 Presentation and discussion of the results 22 2.2.1 Students’ survey 22 2.2.1.1 Students’ opinions about speaking skills 22 2.2.1.2 Students’ judgments about the use of pair work and group work activities in English speaking class at FFL - TNU .23 2.2.1.3 Students’ difficulties when working in pairs/ groups 27 v 2.2.1.4 Students’ desires to learn English speaking skills via pair work and group work 28 2.2.2 Teachers’ survey 31 2.2.2.1 Teachers’ opinions on teaching speaking skills 31 2.2.2.2 Teachers’ opinions about the use of pair work and group work activities to teach English speaking skills 32 2.2.2.3 Teachers’ current teaching methods of using pair work and group work activities in English speaking class 34 2.2.2.4 Teachers’ difficulties in using pair work and group work activities to teach English speaking skills .37 2.2.2.5 Teachers’ solutions to overcome difficulties in using pair work and group work activities .39 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION 40 3.1 Findings 40 3.1.1 How pair work and group work activities are used at FFL – TNU 40 3.1.2 Difficulties in applying pair work and group work activities .42 3.1.2.1 Students’ difficulties 42 3.1.2.2 Teachers’ difficulties 43 3.1.2.3 Classroom conditions’ difficulties 44 3.2 Recommendations 44 PART 3: CONCLUSION 47 Summary of the study .47 Limitations of the study 48 Recommendations for further research 48 vi REFERENCE 49 APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………………… I SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS IV vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FFL, TNU: Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University CLT: Communicative Language Teaching TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages TEFL: Teaching English as Foreign Language TESL: Teaching English as a Second Language LIST OF TABLES Table 1:Students’opinions about speaking skills Table 2: Students’ judgments about how they like to practise speaking in English speaking class at FFL – TNU Table 3: Students’ judgments about the frequency of their teachers to organize pair work and group work activities in an English speaking class Table 4: Students’ judgments about their participation in pair and group work activities in an English speaking class Table 5: Students’ judgments about the benefits of pair work and group work activities to their speaking skills Table 6: Students’ difficulties when working in pairs/ groups Table 7: Students’ desires to learn English speaking skills via pair work and group work Table 8: Teachers’ opinions about English speaking skills Table 9: Teachers’ opinions about the use of pair work and group work activities to teach English speaking skills Table 10: Teachers’ current teaching methods of using pair work and group work activities in English speaking class Table 11: Teachers’ difficulties in using pair work and group work activities to teach English speaking skills Table 12: Teachers’ solutions to overcome difficulties in using pair work and group work activities viii PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study “Better English, more opportunities” has become a target of most university students in recent years English is a useful means they need for their future career since it equips them with linguistic, social and cultural knowledge and provides them with access to the modern world in the era of informatics and technology It is used as the official language in many powerful and developed countries Additionally, it is also considered as the means of communication in a number of aspects such as business, education, science, and so on Therefore, English teaching and learning play an important role in social developing policies in a large number of countries throughout the world In Vietnam, English has been used widely, and becomes the most popular language in the country Because of our country’s regional and global participation in every aspect, the demand for English speaking people has increased English is also a compulsory subject to be taught and learned at schools and universities With a strategic view to the future, teaching and learning English in recent years are changing There have been several international organizations and projects and teachers who attended TESOL, TEFL, or TESL courses with efforts to introduce and apply new approaches, methodology and techniques to their teaching of English nationwide Methodologically, the methods of English teaching have shifted from traditional grammar translation approach to communicative approach New syllabi, new textbooks which focus on communicative-oriented and learner-centered have been designed Therefore, according to the National Foreign Language Project 2020, teachers of English have to improve their capability of communicating successfully in English Not to be the exception to the trend, teaching English at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University (FFL, TNU) is also the strategic duty of all teachers and students Although communicative language teaching is the aim to approach, the process to achieve is quite difficult As a teacher of English at the FFL, TNU, I would like to help my students to master the language and have an ability to communicate confidently in English However, there still remain some questions that how can we cooperate new approaches with the previous one and how to implement them in class One of the effective ways that I often work with students in our speaking class is pair work and group work From what I have experienced, this kind of activities has created chances for students to talk and communicate with each other in English naturally For the above reasons, the researcher chose the topic “An investigation into the use of pair work and group work activities to develop speaking skill of the st year English major students at FFL, TNU.” Aims of the study This study aims to: - Investigate the current situation of using pair work and group work activities in teaching and learning speaking skill at FFL, TNU - Identify the difficulties for the teachers to apply pair work and group work in the speaking class of 1st year English major students at FFL, TNU - Give practical recommendations for the use of pair and group work to develop speaking skill for 1st year English major students at FFL, TNU Scope of the study Teachers can employ a variety of techniques and methods to improve speaking skill of 1st year students at FFL, TNU However, the researcher only intends to examine the current situation of using pair work and group work in speaking class of 1st year students at FFL, TNU and making some suggestions for improvement Additionally, the study is only limited to the st year students at FFL, TNU, therefore, their opinions about pair work and group work may not be representative of all students at FFL, TNU in particular and all students learning English throughout the country in common ... 1.3.3 Advantages and disadvantages of using pair work and group work activities 15 1.3.3.1 Advantages of using pair work and group work activities 15 1.3.3.2 Disadvantages... also improves when they discuss in small group 1.3.3 Advantages and disadvantages of using pair work and group work activities 1.3.3.1 Advantages of using pair work and group work activities Brumfit... with some common pair work and group work oral activities The chapter also mentions advantages and disadvantages of using pair work and group work - Chapter 2: Design and analysis of the research