The use of cooperative learning to motivate student grade 10 in speaking classes at tinh gia 4 high school

DEPARTMENT OF THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING TINH GIA HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE THEME: THE USE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING TO MOTIVATE STUDENT GRADE 10 IN SPEAKING CLASSES AT TINH GIA HIGH SCHOOL Written by :Phùng Thị Hậu Position: Teacher Subject:English THANH 2019 TABLE OF HOA CONTENTS 1.INTRODUCTION PAGE 02 1.1 Rationale of the study 02 1.2 Aims of the study 02 1.2.1 Research questions 02 1.2.2 Definition of specific terms 03 1.3 Scope of the study 03 1.4.Methodology and research schedule 03 1.4.1 Independent and dependent variables 03 1.4.2 Research design 03 1.4.3 Data collection procedures 04 2.CONTENTS 04 2.1 Literature review 04 2.2 Selection of the subjects 05 2.3 Methods 06 2.3.1 Interviews 06 2.3.2 Lesson plans 06 2.3.3 Classroom observation 14 2.3.4.Teacher’s diaries 14 2.3.5 Student questionnaire 14 2.4 Data analysis 14 2.4.1 Research schedule 15 2.4.2 Results of experimental group’s participation 15 2.4.3.Expected findings 16 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 16 3.1.Conclusion 16 3.2 Suggestion 17 REFERENCES 18 APPENDIX 19 1.INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study Nowadays, English is very important because it is the only language that truly links the whole world together.Innovitiating teaching method is considered as a vital part in the whole process of teaching development strategies There is no doubt that motivation is at the heart of successful language learning, but how to motivate a learner to learn a language effectively seems to be a difficult question for all teachers of English A common problem for EFL teachers is to deal with a passive class, where students are unresponsive and avoid interaction with the teacher and even among themselves During my working time as a teacher of English at Tinh Gia High School, I realized that my students have met difficulty in oral communication classes This is, as recognized, due to their little motivation in the English oral classes Many of my students usually find no interest in speaking English even they are asked to and some, in other cases, feel less confident when they use English to interact among class members because of their limited language ability Therefore, I have tried lots of possible teaching methods in oral class so as to probably change the current situation Among many teaching techniques for speaking skill I found out that cooperative learning strategy, as group-work learning, has lots of interesting activities from which my students can benefit in English oral classes, for they will get more confidence and chances as well to express their ideas and opinions among group members My students will feel more motivated when they have chances to engage in a variety of speaking activities such as round robin, three-step-interview [Spencer Kagan], team jigsaw [Sikes and Snap 1978] or group investigation, etc By using teaching method of this kind, I hope that my students’ attitude towards English oral class will make a lot of positive changes They, to large extent, become more activated and ready to work hard to master their speaking skill in all oral communication classes Therefore, I decided to apply“The use of cooperative learning to motivate students grade 10 in speaking classes at Tinh Gia High School” as the topic of my research 1.2.Aims of the study The research was carried out with 10 th graders at Tinh Gia High School The main objective of the research was to establish strategies to help students to improve their oral ability in English Instruments used to collect the data were: lesson plans, student questionnaire, teacher’s notes , diary and interviews Considering the data gathered, this research prompted a more cooperative environment among students in the oral process Furthermore ,it was a way to motivate other teachers in the school to apply these kinds of strategies in speaking lesson 1.2.1 Research questions This study is carried out to find the answer to the following questions: Why our students become unmotivated in oral communication classroom? What benefits of cooperative learning can our students get? What can we to improve their motivation in speaking classes? 1.2.2 Definition of specific terms + Cooperative Learning: The instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning [Johnson & Johnson, 1993-1] + Motivation: Motivation is defined as the impetus to create and sustain intensions and goal seeking acts [Ames & Ames, 1989-2] 1.3 Scope of the study Within this study, I concentrated on investigating and discovering obstacles or difficulties encountered with students in English speaking lessons at Tinh Gia high school From these findings, the internal and external causes are analysed to give some suggestions for tackling them in order to motivate students and help improve students’ speaking skill The study was conducted on the students of grade 10 at Tinh Gia high school with the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” 1.4.Methodology and research schedule 1.4.1 Independent and dependent variables To motivate students in speaking classes The use of cooperative learning Operational definition: Teacher uses the cooperative learning approach to help motivate students to speak English in the class Operational definition: Students get motivated and more confident in English speaking classes 1.4.2 Research design Research Questions Why our students become unmotivated in oral communication Research Instruments - interviews - Teacher’s lesson Subjects - Grade 10 - Age: 16 - Level: Pre- Tools for analysis - Frequency count classroom ? What benefits of cooperative learning can our students get ? What can we to improve their motivation in speaking classes ? plans intermediate - class observations - School name: Tinh Gia high - teacher’s diaries school - Student questionnaires - Sample size: 90 students - Percentage - Critical discourse analysis of classroom observation 1.4.3 Data collection procedures The Data collection procedure is indicated in the following chart Pre-intermediate 10 graders Interviews Classroom observation The use of cooperative learning Classroom observation Analysis of classroom observation notes Students’ Questionnaires 2.CONTENTS 2.1 Literature review According to Cohen 1994 and Weidner 2003[3- page 33], Cooperative learning can be characterized as a social process in which knowledge is acquired through the successful interaction between the group members Also, Slavin 1995[4 - page 2] said cooperative learning refers to variety of teaching methods in which students work in small groups to help one another learn academic content In cooperative classrooms, students are expected to help each other, to discuss and argue with each other, to access each other’s current knowledge and fill in gaps in each other’s understanding Learners, on the one hand, can gain such great achievements, social benefits and economic benefits through cooperative learning, which is seen as key changes in societies Weidner 2003[5 - page 18-25] Obviously, more learners can probably become the winners by joining in cooperative learning and sharing the success of achievements among them, [Slavin -1984] Cooperative learning produces greater student achievement than traditional learning methodologies [Slavin 1984] Low achieving students when grouped with higher achieving students tend to be more hard-working, for there is a competition among groups in cooperative learning Likewise, one of the essential elements of cooperative learning is the development of social skills Besides academic benefits, learners can retrieve social benefits, which can be understood in a way that those who collaboratively work can know how to cooperate with others Much has been learnt from others’ viewpoints other than from their own Social interaction improves communication skills that become a necessity to functioning in society Last but not least, cooperative learning requires fewer materials as learners can share among other group members Less equipment is necessary so learners can save money without sacrificing the quality of education Teachers, as a role of a coach, a facilitator, and sometimes a spectator in this approach, are also the beneficiaries from the cooperative learning By applying cooperative teaching method, teachers can probably save their time for their target lessons This is due to the fact that when the classrooms are well organized students will work more effectively rather than one that is clutter With traditional teaching methodologies, students sit in pre-arranged rows Class members may be of oversize Cooperative learning works best when group size is of smaller clusters of about or students Furthermore, teachers become more interactive with each cluster during the class time He/ she can easily manage group work or monitor group actions and behaviors, for all activities are well prepared in advance Finally, teachers can no longer be under increasing pressure to work with each individual, which possibly put them into stress in some way In summary, cooperative learning approach has far and away proved itself as an effective way to motivate learners in EFL classroom in comparison with other teaching techniques or approaches Thus, it is the teachers that should know when and how to use it in their classrooms in order that the lessons are better taught and the learners will benefit more from the teacher’s teaching 2.2 Selection of the subjects The research is carried out to see how effectively my students interact in English speaking classes and how well they speak English when the cooperative learning approach is applied in the teaching of speaking Our subjects are 10 th graders who are studying in Tinh Gia High School Our teaching is conducted with 90 students from classes 10C1, 10C4, who are 15-16 years of age Although those students are best selected from the Entrance Examination, they seem not to be good at speaking English It is due to the fact that the annual exams are designed to focus on only English grammar, reading and writing but not listening and speaking skills As a consequence, they are in the state of being timid in oral classes For this reason, I decided to use cooperative learning approach as a method to motivate my students to learn how to speak English effectively in the classrooms 2.3.Methods 2.3.1 Interviews (See APPENDIX) Interviews are carried out to see how my students feel about the English oral classes and to find out what difficulties they are coping with I interviewed my colleagues and other 85 students to see their viewpoints from which I probably choose a suitable method for my teaching Factors that prevent students from taking part in speaking activities What factors prevents you from participating in speaking activities Numbers % (90 Ss) Factors a Speaking activities are difficult because I don’t have enough words to speak b Be shy and fear of mistakes and derision c Speaking activities are not interesting, the topics are boring d The teacher doesn’t encourage speaking 50 55% 20 22% 15 17% 6% 2.3.2 Lesson plans Lesson plans play a crucial role in language teaching approach They helps teacher know what and how to teach his or her students Hence, it is essential that I collect lesson plans as a data source for my Action Research Basing on the textbook “Tieng Anh 10” , we choose some of the speaking periods to design my target lesson plans in a way that the cooperative learning can probably be applied and easily observed Below are some cooperative learning techniques to be applied in my teaching of English speaking UNIT 4: SPECIAL EDUCATION Period 22: Lesson B.Speaking Activity 1:Network - Brainstorming - T gives out the network below and asks Ss to think of the questions used to ask about the information in it THE THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE THE THINGS YOU LIKE NAME OF SCHOOL THE HOMEWORK SCHOOL LIFE TESTS & EXAMINATIONS TIMETABLE SUBJECTS - T calls on some students to give their answers Eg: Which lower –secondary school did you go to? What is the name of the secondary school you went to? What were your subjects then? Can you name the subjects then? What was your timetable? Did you go to school in the morning or in the afternoon? What about your homework? Did you have to a lot of homework? Can you tell me about the tests and examinations at your school then? What kinds of tests and examinations did you have then? What did you like best about your school then? What made you like best about your school then? What part of the school life didn’t you like then? What didn’t you like about your school? Activity 2: Role playing - Students work in pairs, - One student plays the role of an interviewer to ask the other the questions about his/ her school life, using the information in the network - The interviewer will take notes the information for later reporting Activity 3: Reporting -Using the network and the information in activity 2, the student who plays the role of the interviewer will report what he/she has interviewed his/her friend Eg: I’ve talked to Nam He went to Hai An lower-secondary school At school, he had to learnt 10 subjects such as: Maths, Literature, History, English, Geography,… Among these subjects, he like English best because ………… UNIT 5: TECHNOLOGY AND YOU Period 27: Lesson B Speaking Activity 1: Brainstorming - T gives out a real object (A CELL PHONE) and asks student the question about its use Can/ Could you tell me what a cell phone is used for? - Well, it is used to talk to people when you are away from home  Can/ Could you tell me what a …… is used for? - It is used to V(inf) - On the screen, T shows the pictures of some modern inventions and then asks students to work in pairs, asking and answering about their uses Activity 2:Reporting This is a free activity and aims to develop fluency in speaking The procedure may be: -Divide students into groups of four or five 10 -Read through the instructions and make sure that each group understands what to Choose one “secretary” in each group to write the list but emphasis that everyone in the groups should agree on what to write -While the activity is going on, move from groups, but not interrupt more than is necessary -When some groups have finished their discussion, stop the activity, ask one person from each group to report on what they decided Give feedback: - Content - Popular mistakes UNIT 6: AN EXCURSION Lesson B.Speaking Period 33: Activity 1: Role playing -Teacher sets the scene: Imagine our class is going to have a boat trip on West Lake in Hanoi Please think of the seat you want to take on the boat Give the reason why you choose to sit on that place USEFUL LANGUAGES: - on the sundeck - In the sun - On a boat - Get sunburn - take photographs - travel sickness - have a good view - In turn, students talk about their favorite seat on the boat Other students listen and take note for later reporting Eg; S1: I don’t want to sit on the sundeck because I don’t want to get sunburn S2: I often offer from travel sickness, so I’d like the seat where I can get a lot of fresh air S3: I want to have a good view on the board, so that I can take photograph S4: I’d like to be by myself S5:…………… S6:………… Teacher: ……………… Activity 2: Presenting -Students work in groups of two tables, studying the seat plan and decide the best seat for each person (Each groups has a copy of the seat plan to fill in the names of the students) -After the groups have finished, T asks one or two groups to present their discussion in front of the class After that the whole class to have a discussion to make the final decision Activity 3: Presenting T asks students to work in groups of the same table to talk about the best seat for the six students mentioned in activity 11 Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE Period 46 : Lesson B.Speaking Activity: Role-play and discussion Procedure: Teacher’s activities Students’ activities I Pre-speaking: - Shows a picture of Ha Xuyen village - Students in groups of three or fours - Each member in the group is asked to play a role as a village planner They are going to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of reconstruction plan of their village - Asks students to look at the pictures and suggestion to talk about Ha Xuyen village - Each group is given some suggestions for their talks - Students are required to present in front of the class after their practicing in the groups Road/ narrow - Others look at the screen and correct School/ small and poor + There/ no bridge/ in Ha Xuyen village + There/ no medical centre/ in Ha Xuyen village + There/ no football ground/ in Ha Xuyen village - Raises the question: 12 What should we to improve the life in the village? - Leads in new lesson: Let’s practice talking about the plans to improve the life in Ha Xuyen village and their possible results II While-speaking Task 1: The villagers of Ha Xuyen are discussing plans to improve the life in the village Look at the pictures and say what they should - Ask sts to practise in pairs before presenting in front of the class - Discuss in pairs - Take turns to talk about Ha Xuyen village The road is narrow The school is small and poor There is no bridge in Ha Xuyen village There is no medical centre in Ha Xuyen village There is no football ground in Ha Xuyen village Now - Practise speaking in pairs - Take turns to talk In the future They should widen the road Now They should build a new 13 school In the future Now They should build a new bridge In the future 14 In the future They should build a medical centre In the future - Supposes students are Ha Xuyen villagers, give a model: A: What should we to improve the life in the village? B: I think we should widen the road - Gives more suggestion and asks students to produce the similar conversations + Widen the road + Build a new school + Build a bridge + Build a medical centre + Build a football ground They should build a football ground - Read the model in chorus - Practice in pair 15 Unit 12: MUSIC Period 76: Lesson B.Speaking Activity:Information gap Procedures: - The class is divided into groups of - Each student is delivered a paper in which teacher designs a table (See appendix) - Students have to interview their partners to get information as indicated in the given table - After that, students are asked to report what they have got from partners in front of the class Unit 16: HISTORICAL PLACES Period 96: Lesson B.Speaking Activity : Group investigation Procedure: - The class is divided into groups of - Students are required to prepare a presentation on a historical place they wish to talk about They are allowed to have one week for their preparations - Groups present their work in front of the class 2.3.3 Classroom observation I had our colleagues observe my speaking lessons and give us observation notes as well as their feedback to see how our teaching of speaking activities motivates our students so that we can get objective ideas for our lessons and their reflection on the students’ motivation Also, I asked our colleagues for observing their teaching speaking lessons 2.3 4.Teacher’s diaries Diaries are used to write down special notes and comments after each speaking lesson to see what has been done effectively and what has not By doing this, I can know how well my teaching approach benefits our students so that I may apply suitable strategies for my teaching methods 2.3.5 Student questionnaire (See APPENDIX) Through students’ questionnaire, I want to confirm the effectiveness of my teaching approach Students’ feedback is of great value from which I can choose the most suitable methods to apply in my teaching and to help my students learn better in all speaking classes 2.4 Data analysis Both quantitative and qualitative data are collected to support my research For the qualitative method, I did critical discourse analysis of teacher’s classroom observation notes, lesson plans and diaries Also, the quantitative method is used to deal with students’ questionnaires which are analysed and reported in a table as frequencies and percentages 16 4.1 Research schedule Below is the timetable showing the exact time and stages when this study is put into practice: No Activities Date to carry out Keeping the traditional teaching method September, 2018 - week for oral classes without using cooperative learning approach Prepare major focuses to interview colleagues and students October, 2018 - week 1-2 Interviewing October, 2018 – week -4 Observing my colleagues’ classes and asking colleagues to observe my classes November , 2018 – week 1-2 Using cooperative learning approach in teaching speaking Continuing the class observation to see the students’ motivation in speaking classes with cooperative learning strategy Data analysis November, 2018- week 3, December,2018 - week 1, 2, 3, January, 2019- week 3, March, 2019 - week 1, 2, 3, April, 2019 - week 1, April, 2019 - week 10 Designing and running a questionnaire to April, 2019- Week see students’ attitudes towards cooperative learning strategy in oral classes Writing a report on how cooperative May, 2019 - Week learning can motivate students in oral communication classrooms 2.4.2 Results of experimental group’s participation + Group 1: Control group + Group 2: Experimental group 2.4.2.1 Teacher’s talking time and students’ talking time in control and experimental group before the experiment Time of speaking lesson Experimental (45’) Control group group (10C1 + 10C4) (10C1 + 10C4) (90 students) (90 students) Teacher’s talking time 44,4% 55,6% Students’ talking time 22,2% 22,2% Silence 33,4% 22,2% 17 From given table ,we can see that the students’ participation in classroom speaking activities was very poor When talking with my students, I realized that only about 10% of them were always willing to speaking in the class and they are always shy when speaking English They said that some speaking topics in the textbook are too difficult and not communicative to them They want to take part in speaking activities with easier and more interesting topics 2.4.2.2 Teacher’s talking time and students’ talking time in control and experimental group after the experiment Time of speaking lesson (45’) Teacher’s talking time Students’ talking time Silence Control group (10C1 + 10C4) (90 students) 40% 33,4% 26,6% Experimental group (10C1 + 10C4) (90 students) 22,2% 66,7% 11,1% The data from the table shows that students’ talking time in experimental group considerably increased compared to that figure of control group and teacher’s talking time in trial group was reduced in comparison with that number of the control group The observation also reveals that the way I applied in speaking lesson attracted a large number of students They are not shy when participating in speaking activities and interested in the games, pictures that teacher gave them The students are able to speak English in a real competitive and friendly atmosphere They are encouraged to speak English They were excited in some speaking activities such as role play, interview….From these activities they can speak and understand English better 2.4.3.Expected findings Through the study,I hope that the teaching strategy of using cooperative learning in speaking classes will much benefit my students as they have more chances to engage in speaking activities Students who are timid, shy and feel less motivated when joining in speaking classes of this kind will feel more confident More importantly, Competition among the groups was an important factor to motivate students to work as a group, because it is important for them to be the best and to be recognized Students will be aware of their responsibility in the speaking process They should understand that one way to improve speaking is practicing with others, interacting with others, and learning from others CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 3.1.Conclusion In this proposal, I have identified the problem and reviewed literature related to my research field Also, I have conducted data collection procedures from different sources to support my study we have planned out the timetable to 18 carry out my work in sequence Having analyzed and worked through this research project, we have concluded that cooperative learning strategies helped students to improve oral production and interaction, but it was a gradual process I confirmed that speaking is a productive skill and it involves many components Although this research work has successfully been conducted and has helped to deal with the problems mentioned well, there are some drawbacks The first limitation is the scale of the study This research work is only carried out in my school In fact, it could be conducted in a large scale with the same knowledge and researching procedure The next one is concerned with the scale of survey questionnaires and observation with the enrollment of nearly a half of the 10th form students and only teachers of English at my school Moreover, in terms of data collection instruments, only two set of survey questionnaires and observations are used Without interview, I will not have chance to listen directly to both the teachers and student’s ideas, so some problems related to group work as perceived by them have been exploited To sum up, I hope that my research work will contribute a small part to the teaching and learning English at school in general, especially the approach I hope it will help the teachers of English at school to teach and promote student’s speaking competence 3.2 Suggestion What is presented on my personal opinions about additional practice English speaking skills for students To achieve high results in teaching combined with having to meet the requirements and purposes of education at upper- secondary school, I would strongly suggest some comments later: Classroom layout should not exceed 30 students Invest more references, English books, enabling them to borrow books, materials to self- study at home Sessions organize extracurricular activities, English exams or discuss the topics in English to the students questioned, knowledge and hone their skills to communicate their languages English people have an idiom; “Practice makes Perfect” The Headmaster’s identification Thanh Hoa, 27th May, 2019 I ensure that this study has been written by me, not coppied from someone else The writer Phùng Thị Hậu 19 REFERENCES Artz, A F., & Newman, C M (1990) Cooperative Learning Mathematics Teacher, 83, 448-449 Gardner, R, Moorcroft, M and Evers, F 1987 Second language-attrition: the role of motivation and use Journal of Language and Social Psychology Johnson, D W (1991) Circles of learning Cooperation in the classroom M.N Interaction Book Company Johnson, D W (1988) Cooperation in the classroom Edina: Interaction Book Company Johnson, D., & Johnson, R “Cooperative Learning.” (Online) from http://www.clcrc.com/pages/cl.html Kagan, S (1986) Cooperative learning and socio-cultural factors in schooling California: California State University Nunan, D (1989) Understanding language classrooms New Jersey: Prentice Hall Slavin, R E (1990) Cooperative learning: Theory, research and practice New Jersey: Prentice Hall The text book and of English 10 EXTRACTING FROM REFERENCES [1] Johnson & Johnson, 1993 [2] Ames & Ames, 1989 [3] Cohen 1994 and Weidner 2003 [4] Slavin 1995 [5] Weidner 2003 [6] Some other metarial sources from my colleages and on the internet https://www.teachervision.com/professional-development/cooperative -learning 20 APPENDIX Factors that prevent students from taking part in speaking activities What factors prevents you from participating in speaking activities Numbers % Factors (90 Ss) a Speaking activities are difficult because I don’t have 50 55% enough words to speak b Be shy and fear of mistakes and derision 20 22% c Speaking activities are not interesting, the topics are 15 17% boring d The teacher doesn’t encourage speaking 6% Speaking skill assesment form: Assessor group: Performance group: Relevant to situation? Accuracy (grammar, pronunciation, word choice): Fluency (hesitation, pauses, repetition): Strong points: Weak points: Comments: Total score: Interview Ask your partners questions to get information to complete the table below: Names Things to ask Partner 1: Partner 2: Partner 3: Partner 4: Kind of music Reasons for listening to music Favorite band/ musician Favorite songs When music listen to 21 Các SKKN đạt giải cấp ngành STT Tên đề tài The use of pairwork and groupwork to improve speaking skill for student at Tinh Gia high school Xếp loại C Cấp Tỉnh Năm 2016 22 ... use of cooperative learning to motivate students grade 10 in speaking classes at Tinh Gia High School as the topic of my research 1.2.Aims of the study The research was carried out with 10 th graders... analysed to give some suggestions for tackling them in order to motivate students and help improve students’ speaking skill The study was conducted on the students of grade 10 at Tinh Gia high school. .. graders at Tinh Gia High School The main objective of the research was to establish strategies to help students to improve their oral ability in English Instruments used to collect the data were: