STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSON IN CLASS 10A4 AT CHAN MONG HIGH SCHOOL= Thái độ của học sinh đối với các hoạt động nhóm trong giờ học Nói tiếng Anh lớp 10A4 Trường THPT Chân Mộng

It is undeniable that nowadays languages play a significant role in the society. In the new phase of the country, since regional and international integration became one of the primary goals of education in Vietnam, foreign languages have become extremely important. Among hundreds of languages, English has attained the prestige of a global language. English is the third most widely spoken language in terms of native speakers, of which it has at least 330 million. In addition, English has gone far beyond the border of English speaking countries to reach the nations whose citizens speak other languages. It is essential to communicate across national borders and maintain correspondence with oversea business parties and professionals. There is no doubt to say that to keep pace with the process of globalization, we need to learn English. In context of globalization and integration, Vietnamese education has continued to grow stronger and stronger, from public policies to specific actions, from teachers to students, from schools to the society, at every level, especially higher education in general and foreign language education in particular. After joining in World Trade Organization (WTO), English is considered as the golden key helping us access to the world’s civilization. As we all know that English has been becoming the international language and communication tool, most fields use English. Learning and using English requires a creative process of learning and teaching. One of the most indispensable skills toward every English learner is speaking. Because it is considered as the tool of communication. Thanks to the speaking skill, the learner can express their feeling. Moreover, speaking skill help learners to improve and communicate in English more confidently. Thus, speaking skill gradually becomes the foundation of the second language learning process.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a great pleasure to thank everyone who helped me write this graduation paper successfully First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Ms Dao Thi Thuy Huong for her dedication, professional support and guidance as well as valuable comments during the research Having granted her advices, I could successfully overcome all the difficulties encountered when doing the research Without her assistance and dedicated involvement in every step throughout the process, this graduation paper would have never been accomplished In addition, I am grateful to all the lecturers who have been teaching in Foreign Language Department, Hung Vuong University, contributed to the success of the course I also would like to thank all the teachers at Chan Mong high school, who willingly guided and provided me with basic knowledge as well as specialized knowledge Therefore, I could carry out this research with great confidence Besides, I want to use this opportunity to express my deepest thanks to all 45 members of class 10A4 at Chan Mong High School for having cooperated in providing valuable information in completing the questionnaires, answering the questions and sharing their classrooms with me If it had not been for their help, I would not have finished my graduation paper with great success Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my love ones and my friends for their support and encouragement during the completion of this paper ABSTRACT Using group work activities has been approved as one of the most effective ways in teaching and learning English speaking by many researchers However, these activities have not been implemented and effectively for class 10A4 students at Chan Mong high school, and it is still an open question for many teachers there This study was carried out to investigate students’ attitudes towards group work activities in English speaking lesson In addition, the study also gives some recommendations to improve the group work activities in English speaking class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school Thus, one set of survey questionnaires and class observation are used to find out the students’ attitudes, perspectives toward speaking skills and group work activities adapted during speaking lesson The study is composed of three main parts: introduction, contents and conclusion Part deals with the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the significance of the study, the scope as well as the design of the study Part consists of three chapters Chapter reviews the theoretical background of speaking skill and group work activities in speaking lesson Chapter presents the methodology which gives detail description about the setting, the subject, the collection and data analysis Chapter focuses on analyzing the results of questionnaires and classroom observation Chapter presents some major findings drawn from the data analysis and some suggestions on using group work activities effectively Part summarizes the major findings of the study It is hoped that the thesis will make a small contribution to the improvement of learning and teaching speaking skill STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Students' attitudes towards group work activities in English Speaking Lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school” submitted in partial fullfillment of the requirements for the graduation paper is the result of my own work, except otherwise acknowledge and this minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted for higher degree to any other university or institution LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English Foreign Language CLT: Communicative Language Teaching CA: Communicative Approach ELT: English Language Teaching TNU- CT: Thai Nguyen University- College Technology WTO: World Trade Organization ELLs: English language learners CEFR: Common European Framework of References ESL: English as a Second Language L2: Level two LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS TABLES PAGES TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.1 PART 1: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem It is undeniable that nowadays languages play a significant role in the society In the new phase of the country, since regional and international integration became one of the primary goals of education in Vietnam, foreign languages have become extremely important Among hundreds of languages, English has attained the prestige of a global language English is the third most widely spoken language in terms of native speakers, of which it has at least 330 million In addition, English has gone far beyond the border of English speaking countries to reach the nations whose citizens speak other languages It is essential to communicate across national borders and maintain correspondence with oversea business parties and professionals There is no doubt to say that to keep pace with the process of globalization, we need to learn English In context of globalization and integration, Vietnamese education has continued to grow stronger and stronger, from public policies to specific actions, from teachers to students, from schools to the society, at every level, especially higher education in general and foreign language education in particular After joining in World Trade Organization (WTO), English is considered as the golden key helping us access to the world’s civilization As we all know that English has been becoming the international language and communication tool, most fields use English Learning and using English requires a creative process of learning and teaching One of the most indispensable skills toward every English learner is speaking Because it is considered as the tool of communication Thanks to the speaking skill, the learner can express their feeling Moreover, speaking skill help learners to improve and communicate in English more confidently Thus, speaking skill gradually becomes the foundation of the second language learning process Attitudes which play an important role in learning foreign languages determine the success of the learners Hiriyappa (2008, p.32) argues that "Attitudes that affect behavior." Indeed, when learners have a positive attitude toward learning English, they will be willing to communicate in English with passion and interest in the subject It creates confidence and learning English skills will be easy and effective Conversely, if the learner does not have a positive attitude toward learning English, the learning will be difficult and the quality of education will not be high There was a fact that teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English in particular were fulfilled in a traditional teaching way in Vietnam Speaking was less paid attention in a number of classrooms than other skills, such as listening, reading and writing Recently, English speaking classes are introduced more frequently than previous to improve students’ English speaking skill However, it is undeniable that there are too many students in a class and it also lacks the interaction among learners in speaking lesson Despite English classes, students learn the language regularly with variety of methods, their learning efficiency is not met the requirements of teachers and educators Classroom activity is also a major part of language course to develop learners' ability by expressing themselves through speech In speaking lesson, teachers need to use variety of activities to help their students apply the language that they have learned, and group work is one of the most effective activities Group discussion “increases the sheer amount of learners talk going on a limited period of time and also lowers the inhibitions of learners who are unwilling to speak in front of the full class" (Ur, 2000, p 121) Although group work activities are commonly used in English speaking lesson, but it has also been a matter of great concern because not all teachers use it correctly and successfully Therefore, applying group discussion activities to teach speaking for the students at high school is a difficult problem with some teachers Based on the observation, the researcher realizes that most students at Chan Mong High School are not familiar with learning all English skills And there is no exception for the case of class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school They are not eager to involve in the activities given by teachers in the lesson especially speaking ones Teachers have tried to find ways to motivate students, the result is not as high as expected Although group work is a familiar method at higher level at most schools in this area, it is considerably difficult for the majority of students who are unable or unwilling to this activity in English speaking lesson Consequently, it has inevitably posed huge challenges for both teachers and students at this site Thus, the study entitled “Students' attitudes towards group work activities in English speaking lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school” was conducted as an attempt to examine the class 10A4 students’ attitudes and pinpoint teachers’ monitoring strategies to motivate students to participate in group work 1.2 Aims of the study The research is aimed at:  Investigating the attitude of students towards group work activities in English speaking lessons in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school  Proposing some suggestions to improve group work activities in English speaking lessons for class 10A4 students Research questions 1.3 In order to achieve the above - mentioned aims, the following research questions are going to be answered: 1.4 What are students’ attitude towards group work activities in English speaking lessons? What are the recommendations to improve the group work activities in English speaking class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school? The significance of the study Although the study was conducted on a small scale with a particular group of class 10A4 students at Chan Mong high school, the researcher hopes that findings will be of great significance This study is a contribution to understanding of the students’ attitude towards group work activities, the applicability of group work to the teaching English in general and the teaching speaking in particular in the context of Vietnamese high schools Besides, the findings of the study will make a small contribution to the improvement in using group work activities in English speaking lesson of teachers and students of Chan Mong high school Specifically, the study will help the teachers who teach foreign languages, especially oral skills use group work activities more effectively in teaching speaking skill Moreover, the research also helps to make students more interested in their speaking lesson on teaching 1.5 The scope of the study Because of time constraints, instead of studying the students’ attitude towards group work activities and the current situation of using group work activities in a larger context, this study only focuses on students’ attitudes and proposing some suggestions to improve group work activities for 45 students of class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school 10 REFERENCES In Vietnam Tong, N.T.T (2010) Investigating oral participation in in-class group work by first-year EFL students at English Department, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University Tuan, B.C (2007) Investing group planning in preparation for oral presentation: Hanoi University of foreign studies Tuan, N.T (2012) The Factors Affecting Learners’ Motivation in English Language Education: Hanoi University Vo, T.N.M (2004) An action research on the application of cooperative learning to teaching speaking to the second year students at the department of English, Gia Lai teachers’ training college The graduation paper Vietnam National University Ha Noi Yen, P.T.T (2003) Teachers’ and in- service adult learners’ attitudes towards the use of pair work and group work in developing speaking skills at Hanoi university of foreign studies (Unpublished MA Dissertation), Hanoi University of foreign studies In the world Abu Sharbain, I (2009) "Difficulties Encountering UNRWA Ninth-Grade Teachers in Performing their Roles in Light of the Communicative Approach to Teaching Speaking in the Gaza Strip" MA Thesis, Faculty of Education: The Islamic University Gaza: Palestine Al-Twairish, B.(2009) "The Effect of the Communicative Approach on the Listening and Speaking Skills of Saudi Secondary School Students: An Experimental Study" MA thesis in Applied Linguistics Department of English Language and Literature King Saud University: Saudia Brown, A (2001) Group work London: Heinemann Byrne, D (2003) Teaching Oral English Longman Group Limited London Chaney, A.L & Burk T.L (1998) Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8: Pearson Davis, B.G (1999) Cooperative learning Students working in small group Speaking of Teaching 10 Dewi, P A (2010) Teaching Speaking by Using Retelling Story to the Second Year Students of SMP Negeri 1Banyudono Retrieved May 21.2010 from http: //etd.eprints.ums.ac.id/eprints/ Doff (2001) Implementing Group work in the classroom London: Longman Frans, S (1989) Criteria for learning attitudes Doctoral Thesis University of Southampton: Faculty of Humanities 10 Gardner, W.E (1972) Attitudes and motivation in second- language learning (6th ed): Newbury House Publishers 11 Harmer, J (2007) How to teach English Longman London 12 Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and learning in the language classroom New York Oxford University Press 13 Hiriyappa, J (2008) Managing Individual Differences & Behavior Essay J Hiriyappa Publications 14 Howarth, P (2001) Process Speaking Preparing to Repeat Yourself MET Pp: 39-44 15 Kayi, H (2006) Teaching speaking Activities to promote speaking in a second language The Internet TESL Journal XII 16 Luoma, S (2004) Assessing Speaking Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 17 Ngoh S G (2003) Small Group Work in the Classroom Guidelines Vol.14 no.3, 22-27 18 Nunan, D (1991), Language Teaching Methodology: a textbook for Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 19 Nunan, David.(2003), Practical English Language Teaching Singapore McGraw-Hill 20 Porter, P (2000) Group Work, International language Talk and Second Language Acquisition TESOL Quarterly 19 207-212 21 Raja (2012) The effectiveness of group work and pair work for students of English at undergraduate level in public and private sector colleges A Preliminary Survey 22 Richards, J.C (2008) Group work discussion activity New York Macquarie University 23 Skrzynski, H (2001) Advantages and Disadvantages of Pair Work and Group work in the class 24 Spolsky, B (2002) Language motivation revisited: Anniversary article, Applied linguistics, 20(2) 157- 169 25 Thornbury, B (2005) Instructed second language acquisition: A literature review Ministry of Education New Zealand 26 Thornbury, B (2006), How speaking is taught- an overview of approaching to teaching speaking Ministry of Education New Zealand 27 Tieng Anh 10 textbook (2010), Ministry of Education and Training 28 Ur, Penny (2000) A course in language: Practice and theory (6th ed) Cambridge University press 29 Valette, R.M (2003) Modern language testing Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 30 Visser, M (2008) Learning under conditions of hierarchy and discipline: The case of the German army 1930-1940 Learning Inquiry 127-137 31 Walker, A, Shafer, J and Iiams, M (2004) “Not in my classroom” Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom Journal of Research and Practices 32 Wenden, A (2006) Learner strategies for learner autonomy London: Prentice Hall APPENDICES ( Adapted from Kouros and Abrani (2006)) Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students This questionnaire is a part of a graduation paper conducted by Duong Thi Nhung, a student at the Hung Vuong University, Phu Tho It is designed for the study entitled “Students’ attitudes towards group work activities English Speaking Lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school.” Please give your answer by circling A, B, C or D or specify it if you have different idea Your answers and the information you provide in the questionnaire will sever the research purpose only Your responses contribute to the success of the study Thank you very much for your cooperation! Section 1: Demographic information Gender: Female  How long have you been learning English? Male  A: Under year B: 1-3 years C: 3-5 years D: Over years E: Others (Please specify): ………………………………………………… Section 2: Survey questionnaires How necessary is speaking skill in the school courses? A: Very necessary B: Necessary C: Normal D: Unnecessary How you find speaking topics and activities introduced in “English 10” text book? A: Very interesting C: Normal B: Interesting D: Boring Which way you like to work in speaking lesson? A: Individually B: With a partner in pairs C: In a small group (more than two) D: With the whole class Reasons why you like using group work activities in speaking lesson Reasons Strongly Agree agree a Communicating with friends b More time speaking c Learning from friends to Disagree Strongly disagree practice d Being more comfortable when expressing ideas to your friends in English e Classroom atmosphere is more dynamic and relaxing Other: ……………… (Please state) 5.Reasons why you not like using group work activities in English speaking lesson Reasons a Be used to working individually b Discussing in group causes a lot of noise c Moving the seats d The teacher cannot reach Strongly Agree agree Strongly Disagree disagree and help everyone e Some members not know to express their ideas Other: ……………………………… (Please state) What factor can cause the difficulties for students when working in groups? A: The number of members in a group B: Lack of the help from the teacher C: Students’ inequality of splitting the responsibilities D: Others…………… How you feel when you work in groups in English speaking lesson? A: Very interested B: Interested C: Not very interested D: Bored How often you join in group work activities in English speaking lesson? A: Very often B: Often C: Not very often D: Never In what activities you want to work in a group in English speaking lesson? A: Game B: Role-play C: Interview D: Brainstorming E: Others (Please specify): ……………………………… 10 What are your expectations for using group speaking more effectively? A: To provide clear instructions for group work B: To design group activities suitable to students C: To organize groups suitably D: To create a competitive atmosphere E: Others………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! Appendix 2: Observation sheet (Adapted from Gardner (1972)) Class: …………………………… Teacher: …………………… Date: …………………………… Lesson: …………… Part/ Section: …………………… Time: ………………………… Number of students: …………………… Observation focus: Levels of students' attitudes; is average mark for any one item Instructions: a This sheet is for observing the class as a whole, not individual student b Complete this sheet when the lesson is drawing to a close c Circle ONE number of each statement below d Add final comments after the lesson at the bottom of the sheet if you wish The frequency of joining group work activities in the English speaking lesson Not usually Very usually Time for group work activities in English speaking lesson minutes 6minutes 7minutes 8minutes Others Mark how involved in the group work activities the students are Not very involved 4 very involved Mark the levels of students’ concentration on group work activities in English speaking lessons Low high The students are enjoying the group work activities in English speaking lessons Not really very much The students are paying persistent attention to group work activities in the English speaking lessons Not really very much Mark the students’ group work activities level (effort/ intensity of application) Low high Mark how teacher organizes group work activities in each speaking lesson Not really very much very much Mark the cooperation’s level of the partner Not really 11 Mark the levels of students’ self-confidence when expressing ideas Not really 10 1 very much The atmosphere in each lesson are active Not really very much 12 The learning content and speaking tasks are appropriate and suitable Not really very much Comments: …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! Appendix 3: Checklist of speaking tasks in Textbook “English 10” Units Required task A day in the life of… Talking about daily activities School talks Making questions and responses in small talks People’s background Asking and answering questions about people’s background Special education Making an interview giving Making an interview and reporting on results Technology and you Talking about the uses of modern inventions An excursion Expressing disagreements agreements and Giving opinion The mass media Talking about different types of media The story of my village Talking about plans and their possible results Undersea world Talking about consequences 10 Conservation Talking about the new kind of zoos 11 National park Talking about an excursion 12 Music Talking about favorite kinds of music 13 Films and cinema Talking about a film 14 The world cup Talking about the World cup winners 15 Cities Comparing two cities causes and Stating reasons 16 Historical places preferences and giving Talking about historical places from given information ... activities in English speaking lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school” was conducted as an attempt to examine the class 10A4 students’ attitudes and pinpoint teachers’ monitoring strategies... subject to study In this study, the researcher is going to find out the reality of students’ attitudes toward group work activities in English speaking lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school... to investigate the attitudes of students towards group work activities in English speaking lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school Thus, the researcher decided to choose 45 students of class