HOW TO ORGANIZE PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK EFFECTIVELY IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR 10th GRADE STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HI

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE HOW TO ORGANIZE PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE EFFECTIVELY IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR 10th GRADE STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL Người thực hiện: Phạm Thị Ngọc Yến HOW TO ORGANIZE PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK Chức vụ: Giáo viên EFFECTIVELY INthuộc TEACHING ENGLISH FOR 10th SKKN lĩnh vực môn: Tiếng Anh GRADE STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL THANH HOÁ NĂM 2019 Người thực hiện: Phạm Thị Ngọc Yến Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực môn: Tiếng Anh THANH HOÁ NĂM 2019 I INTRODUCTION Reason for choosing the topic As we know, in traditional classroom, the teacher controls the class with authority, there is no active role of students during teaching- learning process Therefore, the introduction of a new English textbook at high school in the last few years has created some difficulties for teacher This innovation demands a move in the direction of a more learner- centered approach to teaching The main objective of teaching English is to have a communicative lesson However, in fact, the teacher- student interaction is very limited in the classroom Many teachers have troubles adapting their teaching and the new textbook to their own students’ learning needs These difficulties include the use of group work and pair work As a teacher of English at high school, I myself always desire to find out and apply the new methods of teaching in order to meet the educational goals I have been a teacher of English at high school for 26 years From my own experiences, I find that using pair work and group work is one of the teaching strategies of collaborative language teaching which provides chances for communication and interaction among students and between students and teacher Language classroom is the place where teacher and learners come together for interaction and can learn in natural settings The effective use of pair work and group work in language class can provide a value experience to students and give them the opportunity to practically experience the ideas presented and strengthen their learning I have applied pair work and group work activities in teaching English at high school, especially for 10th grade students of Ham Rong High School and got satisfactory results I, therefore, in this research, would like to share my own experience in how to use and organize pair work and group work effectively in teaching English procedure Aim of the study - To introduce pair work and group work and show the advantages and disadvantages of working in pairs and groups - To suggest how to organize pair and group work effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise - To show how pair work and group work can be used for various classroom activities - To help teachers be confident in using pair and group work themselves Scope and research methodology - Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English to 10th grade students at Ham Rong high school - Research methodology: making survey, reading reference books, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences II MAIN CONTENT Theoretical background Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing attempt in research on teaching and learning and types and quantities of the relative amount of participation by the teacher and students Group work and pair work started getting attention of educationists in the 1970s During the 1980s and 1990s, the development of communicative language teaching brought an important change in the role of students Working together is worthwhile as “pair work and group work immediately increase the amount of students’ talking time” ( Harmer, 1991) Researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative in learning learn more things and learn better than those who sit and passively wait to be taught They also claim that a teacher’s dominance in class makes it dull and it kills the students’ interests I am myself of the view that students are more motivated to engage in further communication when they have more opportunities to speak Using pair work and group work stimulates the learners’ experience of various types of interaction and helps to generate a more relaxed and cooperative classroom atmosphere It is during group and pair work that a lot of real learning takes place since the students can use language really to communicate with one another Practical background 2.1 Definition of pair work Pair work is learners working together in pairs One of the main motivations to encourage pair work in the English language classroom is to increase the opportunities for learners to use English in the class 2.2 Definition of group work Group work is defined as more than one person working together to complete a task or assignment In the classroom, group work can take many forms, however, the goal remains the same get students to interact with each other and collaborate to complete a unified task By doing so, we are getting students to work with people they may never have chosen to work with This concept teaches diversity, communication, and compromise There is a tendency of teacher- dominated lesson and students usually get bored with teacher- centered presentation Teachers at high schools are in the period of getting used to new English textbook Pair work and group work didn’t use to be organized in class, so a lot of us – teachers of English at high school – get stuck in organizing pair work and group work effectively Some teachers haven’t been clearly aware of the roles of pair work and group work in teaching and learning a foreign language A few teacher reject the possibility of success of pair and group work They give different reasons for their belief, some of the reasons are lack of resources, students use mother tongue during pair and group work , discipline problem due to noise generated during pair and group work activities and so on As a result, despite being an important part of collaborative teaching and learning, pair and group work generally neglected in teaching English at high school Solutions and methods for implementation 3.1 Solutions Teacher should know well about what pair work and group work are, their both advantages and disadvantages as well as solutions to these problems Moreover, they should find the ways to organize pair work and group work activities effectively so that we can make use of their benefits and limit their problems In order to organize pair and group work well, teacher will need to the followings: Select the activity Presentation Prepare any physical materials for group work ahead of time Anticipate the size and the selection of groups Anticipate how students will be organized within the groups (tasks and roles) Control the class well Consider the timing of the group work Give feedback Teachers should give some demonstrations for pair work and group work activities and suggestions for some popular kinds of practice Method for implementation Teacher should know well about what pair work and group work are, their both advantages and disadvantages as well as solutions to their problems 2.1 What are pair work and group work? 2.1.1 Pair work The teacher divides the whole class into pairs Every student works with his or her partner and all the pairs work at the same time The teacher walks around, listens and intervenes little if necessary 2.1.2 Group work Students work in small groups (of four or five) on tasks that entail interaction conveying information, for example, or group decision making All the groups work at the same time The teacher walks around listening, intervenes little if at all Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems For certain types of activity, pair work and group work have a number of advantages over working with the whole class together Teachers should think what the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved in pair work, group work and the solutions for these Here are some main advantages and problems: Advantages Problems - More language practice - More speaking time - Students are more involved - Students feel secure, confident - Students help one another - Give students the sense of achievement when reaching a team goal - Noise arrangements - Students make mistakes - Lose control of the class ………………………… ……………………… ……………………… 3.1 Advantages 3.1.1 More language practice Pair work and group work give students far more chance to speak English For example, students are given an exercise of making sentences (question & answer), working in pair, each student makes as many sentences as they can If the exercise were done ‘round the class’, students would only say one sentence each , and in a large class many students would say nothing at all 3.1.2 More speaking time Learners in a class that is divided into groups of or 22 pairs get six times or fifteen times as many opportunities to talk as in full class organization – 3.1.3 Student are more involved Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students and others would lose interest if they are conducted with the whole class together Working in pairs or groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate on the task 3.1.4 Students feel confident Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when they are on show in front of the whole class Pair work and group work can help shy students who would never say anything in a whole class activity 3.1.5 Students help each other: Pair work and group work encourage students to share ideas and knowledge In a reading activity, students can help each other to explore the meaning of a text; in a discussion activity, students can give each other new ideas 3.2 Disadvantages 3.2.1 Noise arrangements Obviously pair work and group work in a large class will be noisy, and this cannot be helped But usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in the next room The noise created by pair work and group work is usually “good” noise “ Group work , by its nature, is designed to generate noise” ( Nunan and Lamb p.14, 1996) Students use English or engage in a learning task Teacher should stop the activity when most groups or pairs have finished or prepare a “reserve” task to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected 3.2.2 Students make mistakes During a pair or group activity, the teacher cannot control all the language used, and should not try to so When doing controlled language practice in pairs or groups, the number of mistakes can be reduced by giving enough preparation, the activity can be done with the whole class first, and pair work used for final stage Checking afterwards is also important The teacher can ask some pairs or groups what they said , and then correct mistakes if necessary 3.2.3 Difficult to control class The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pair work and group work than in normal class To stop activities getting out control, it is important to give clear instructions about when to start, what to and when to stop Give them clearly defined tasks which not continue for too long Teacher should set up a routine so that students accept the idea of working in pairs or groups, and know exactly what to 3.3 Steps used to organize pair work and group work activities effectively in the classroom: 3.3.1 Select the activity An activity that is best suited for group work may meet the following criteria such as the activity which has multiple tasks that can be shared among group members or a single task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the participation of all individuals within a group The activity involves problem solving and discussion and examples of activities that may be suited for group work are investigations of materials (newspapers, scientific specimens) and development of ideas or arguments 3.3.2 Presentation It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing the class into groups; and a preliminary rehearsal or ‘dry run’ of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things If your students have already done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process, giving only brief guide lines; It is mainly the first time of doing something with a class that such care needs to be invested in instructing Try to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary quick review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary Finally before giving the sign to start tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: If there is a time limit, or a set signal for stopping, say what it is; if the groups simply stop when they have finished, then tell them what they will have to next It is wise to have a reserve task planned to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected 3.3.3 Preparation of materials The teacher will need to personally collect, or organize students to collect, physical specimens for investigation For example, if the teacher anticipates doing a lesson on the role of the media, she or he might ask the students to bring into class examples of newspapers and magazines There should be materials sufficient for each group 3.3.4 Size and selection of group Group size normally ranges between 3-5 students Group size can sometimes go larger, although groups larger than not ensure that everyone will participate Since groups often report their work back to the whole class, teachers also take into account the total number of groups within the class Group membership can be determined in different ways A random selection might be done by "counting off" with students (go around the room systematically having students count 1, 2, 3, etc., with each numbers representing a group) or selecting groups on the basis of birth date In a nonrandom selection, groups will be selected based on the teachers' prior knowledge Usually, groups are selected to maximize diversity within the group, since diversity enhances learning Such groups often have a balance of girls and boys, and students with differing ability levels Teachers can also use their best judgment about personality mixes that would enhance the work of the group Sometimes groups are organized only for one activity Other times, teachers use the same small groups for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with one another If the tables and chairs cannot be moved for group work, then students can form groups by turning around in seats to face the children behind 3.3.5 Organize students within the group A laissez-faire approach to group work would be that the teacher give a general assignment to the group like organize a research project on 'qualities of good leaders' and the students are left to organize themselves A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific role to each group member Depending upon the task, the roles might include 'materials handler', 'scribe', 'reporter to the large group' and so on A semistructured approach might be that the teacher recommend certain roles, but leaves it to the group to assign roles A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a group, is often used with younger children A less structured approach can be used with students with experience in group work or for simple tasks that not require that students take on different roles 3.3.6 Control the class during students’ working time Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful If you decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of providing general approval and support; helping students who are having difficultly; keeping the students using the target language (in many cases your mere presence will ensure this) Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent 3.3.7 Time the group work The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task 10 results, sharing with the whole group, and so on After giving clear instructions to the students, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not interfere with the groups' activities It is common in many classrooms that a small group activity constitutes 20 minutes of a 40 minute-period, with 10 minutes allowed for sharing small group work with the whole class 3.3.8 Give feedback A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction after the end of the group work Feedback on the tasks may take many forms such as giving the right solution, if there is one, listening to and evaluating suggestions, pooling ideas on the board, displaying the materials the groups/ pairs have produced The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results Feedback on language may be integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later Some demonstrations for pair work and group work activities UNIT - PART B: SPEAKING Task and Task Talk about Quan’s activities, using the pictures below and then tell your classmates about your daily routine - Asks students to work in pairs to describe about Quan’s activities( base on the pictures) , then ask and answer about their daily routine at that time T: Look at picture a, what does Quan at 14:00? S: He gets up after taking a short nap T: What you usually at 14:00? 11 S: I usually my homework - Teacher suggests some phrases if necessary: to get up, to read books, to watch TV, to go to school, to play football, to go home, to have a shower, to go to the stadium,… - Teacher asks students to fill the information in the following table (Give each pair a handout) Using the pictures in your textbook, describe Quan’s daily activities and find the same information about your partner At 14:00 14:15 16:30 17:00 17:15 18:30 18:45 19:00 20:00 Quan usually… Your partner usually…… - After minutes, asks some pairs to practise in front of class UNIT –PART B: SPEAKING Task Imagine you are a journalist Use the cues below to interview a classmate about his/ her background or that of a person he/ she knows well Change the roles when you have finished - For weaker students, teacher should give them a handout to make it easier INTERVIEW FORM Order Items Greeting Hello./ Good morning Date of birth When were you born? Place of birth Where were you born? Home Where are you living now ?/ Where you live? Parents Information 12 10 11 Can you tell me about your parents? (name/ age/ occupation,…) Brother(s)/ Sister(s) How many brothers/ sisters have you got? Primary school/ Secondary school What’s the name of your primary school / secondary school? Schoolwork How you work at school? Favourite subject(s) What subject(s) you like best? Experience Were you a member of any clubs? 11/ Thanking Thank you very much UNIT - PART B: SPEAKING Consolidation - To consolidate the lesson, teacher gives a picture of My Tam singer ( Students look at the picture while listening a song sung by My Tam) As a result, students can both consolidate the lesson, know how to ask, answer and complete the sentences and have happy learning atmosphere Name/ Phan Thi My Tam She/ singer She/ be born/ January 16th , 1981 She/ be born/ Da Nang There/ be/ members/ her family She/ be/ famous singer/ Vietnam Here is the result I got after students’ discussing in pairs: Name/ Phan Thi My Tam S1: What is her full name? S2: Her full name is Phan Thi My Tam She/ singer S1: What is her job? S2: She is a singer She/ be born/ January 16th , 1981 13 S1: When was she born? S2: She was born on January 16th, 1981 She/ be born/ Da Nang S1: Where was she born? S2: She was born in Da Nang There/ be/ members/ her family S1: How many members are there in her family? S2: There are members in her family She/ be/ famous singer/ Vietnam S1: Is she a famous singer in Vietnam? UNIT - PART A: READING Warm –up: Jumbled words - Teacher writes some jumbled words about popular programs on TV, asks students to work in groups of to rearrange the words as soon as possible, then practise reading aloud the words milf -> film prosts -> sports sumic -> music coraton -> cartoon cormuteandy -> documentary - After mimutes, call students of the fastest group to write down on the board at the same time and give them marks for their work UNIT - PART D: WRITING - Most of the students are afraid of writing a paragraph because of some reasons such as poor vocabulary source, bad grammartical stuctures…Thus, to make this task easier, teacher can design the task by choosing one of the mass media “The Internet” - Asks students to work in groups of and gives each group a handout: Task 3: Write a paragraph about the advantages and disadvantages of one of the mass media discussed in Task Nobody can deny the benefits/ Internet/ our life today However, the Internet/ own advantages/ disadvantages It/ make/ life easier/ enjoyable It/ broaden/ knowledge/ understanding It/ provide/ quick access/ information/ entertainment 14 It/ be/ good way/ study Besides the advantages above, it/ time/ money It/ harm/ eyes - Asks students to discuss in their groups, then write their answers on the paper, and correct one another themselves - Teacher goes round the class to guide and suggest if necessary - Teacher corrects some typical mistakes in front of the class and gives correct answer Nobody can deny the benefits of the Internet in our life today However, the Internet has its own advantages and disadvantages It makes our life easier and enjoyable It broadens our knowledge and understanding It provides quick access to information and entertainment It is a good way to study Besides the advantages above, it costs our time and money It harms our eyes UNIT 10 – PART B: SPEAKING Task 3: Work in groups Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of zoos of the new kind Use the given words or phrases - To make it easier, teacher can redesign the task by asking students to complete the sentences using the given words and phrases After working in groups of 4, the representatives will read aloud a complete sentence Advantages 1/ I’d like / talk / about / advantages -> I’d like to talk about the advantages 2/ They / be / good conditions -> They are in good conditions 3/ They / have / better food -> They may have better food 4/ They / develop / better / natural environment -> They may develop better in their natural environment Disadvantages 1/ I’d like / talk / about / disadvantages 15 -> I’d like to talk about the disadvantages 2/ We / spend / a lot / money / on / reconstruct / animals’ natural environment -> We may spend a lot of money on reconstructions of the animals’ natural environment 3/ Keepers/ have/ dangers when they take care/ wild animals -> Keepers may have the dangers when they take care of wild animals - Teacher goes round and help if necessary UNIT 11 – PART E: LANGUAGE FOCUS Conditional sentence type - To review the conditional type 3, teacher can organize the game like this: + One student starts with a conditional sentence type For example, I hadn’t gone out, I would have done more homework + After that, the second student makes another conditional sentence type with the if- clause is from the main- clause of the first student’s sentence For example, If I had done more homework, I would have passed my exam + The next students will continue the game by doing similarly - Students can play the game in groups of five Any student can’t make a correct sentence will lose the game d Suggestion for some popular kinds of practice Pairwork and groupwork are not “teaching methods”, but ways of organizing the class They can be used for many different kinds of activity, and are naturally more suitable for some activities than for others Before deciding what kind of activity will be used teacher should answer the following questions: - Could you use pairwork or groupwork for part of the activity? - If so, exactly what would students in pairs or groups? - What would you need to before the pair /group stage? - Is there anything you would after it? - Is there anything you would after it? Here are suggestions for some popular kinds of practice: *Pattern practice: This can be done in pairs when practicing the structures Any controlled oral practice can be done first with the whole class, and then in pairs 16 * Practising short dialogues: Acting out short dialogues can very easily be done in pairs, with little chance of making mistakes It can be done first with pairs of students in front of the class and then with all students working in pairs at the same time * Reading a text and answering questions: Students can discuss questions in pairs or groups and then read the text or they can read the text silently and then ask and answer questions in pairs or groups This is a good way of involving the whole class in answering questions * Short-writing exercises: Student can sit in groups and decide together what to write One student acts as “secretary” This can be difficult to organise but in a large class it has the advantages that students correct each others’mistakes and the teacher only has a few papers to mark at the end Pair work can be used for correcting written work (eg: homework)-students sit in pairs and correct what their partner has written * Discussions: With more advanced class, discussions can be conducted in group It is important to define the discussion clearly and to ask each group to report their conclusions afterwards * Grammar exercises: Student can grammar exercises orally in pairs; the teacher goes throught the answers afterwards with the who class and students write the exercises for homework This is more interesting and productive than students doing exercises alone, in silence III RESULT AFTER APPLYING THE STUDY After a year applying pair work and group work activities in teaching English at Ham Rong high school, I have got some satisfactory results Most of my students have become more interested in learning English and of course their ability to use English in communication has been improved step by step Moreover, their learning results in English subject has got better (as detailed in the following tables) - At the beginning of the school year Students Excellent-good Average Weak (bad) 17 10 A9 10 A11 20% 15% 55% 50% 25% 35% Average 55% 55% Weak (bad) 10% 15% - At the end of the school year: Students 10 A9 10 A11 Excellent-good 35% 30% IV CONCLUSION Obviously, small groups or pairs of students working together is a highly effective and essential strategy for teaching English It can improve motivation and contribute to a feeling of cooperation and warmth on the class However, it is concluded that pair work and group work are best used when they are not the only classroom interaction pattern, but when they are combined with other strategies Besides pair and group work, students can also complete activities individually and as a class Mixing up the structure of the activities will keep classes interesting Therefore, teacher had better plan the lessons to include teacher-centered work, individual work and pair work as well as group work Surely, this study can not avoid having limitations and making mistakes Yet I hope it will be helpful for teaching English at high school and suitable for communicative teaching approach XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 10 tháng năm 2019 Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác (Ký ghi rõ họ tên) Phạm Thi Ngọc Yến 18 REFERENCE English 10 - Education Publishing House- 2006 Hoang Van Van (chief editor) Teaching training materials- Education Publishing House- 2006 Hoang Van Van (chief editor) Preparation for high school graduation and university entrance exam Education Publishing House- 2006 - Nguyen Hai Chau (chief editor) Some types of English tests 10 – Education Publishing House Do Tuan Minh (chief editor) A course in language teaching – Penny Ur 19 DANH MỤC CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Phạm Thị Ngọc Yến Chức vụ đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên Trường THPT Hàm Rồng TT Tên đề tài SKKN “Tiếng Anh hoạt Cấp đánh Kết giá xếp loại đánh giá (Phòng, Sở, xếp loại Tỉnh ) (A, B, C) Sở B Năm học đánh giá xếp loại 2011 – 2012 động ngoại khóa học sinh bậc THPT” “ How to teach Speaking Skill effectively to tenth grade students at Ham Rong High School” “ Some techniques used to Sở B 2014 – 2015 Sở C 2016 – 2017 teach Listening skill to 10th grade students at Ham Rong High School” 20 ... teaching English procedure Aim of the study - To introduce pair work and group work and show the advantages and disadvantages of working in pairs and groups - To suggest how to organize pair and. .. of Ham Rong High School and got satisfactory results I, therefore, in this research, would like to share my own experience in how to use and organize pair work and group work effectively in teaching. .. using pair work and group work is one of the teaching strategies of collaborative language teaching which provides chances for communication and interaction among students and between students and