Bài viết trình bày phương pháp áp dụng hoạt động học theo cặp, nhóm nhằm tạo được những giờ học môn Văn học Anh-Mỹ hứng thú và lôi cuốn người học. Qua đó giúp người học vừa nâng cao khả năng ngôn ngữ vừa mở mang tri thức, tri nhận, giúp đa dạng hóa cái nhìn của bản thân về con người, văn hóa, đất nước mà mình đang học tiếng.
PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY v ÁP DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG CẶP, NHĨM TRONG GIẢNG DẠY MƠN VĂN HỌC ANH-MỸ CHO NGƯỜI HỌC TIẾNG ANH TẠI HỌC VIỆN KHOA HỌC QUÂN SỰ PHẠM THỊ THÚY*, TRẦN TUẤN ANH* * Học viện Khoa học Quân sự, ✉ thuybinbong8@gmail.com Ngày nhận: 30/3/2017; Ngày hoàn thiện: 26/4/2017; Ngày duyệt đăng: 10/5/2017 TÓM TẮT Từ xưa đến có nhiều quan điểm xu hướng khác dạy môn văn học Một xu hướng tiến thích ứng đặt trọng tâm vào góc độ tiếp nhận người học Theo xu hướng này, văn học khơng dạy theo lối truyền đạt kiến thức chân lý chiều người học người tiếp nhận đơn mà chủ thể tích cực tham gia vào trình học tập tương tác với chủ kiến cảm quan riêng Tuy nhiên, nói đến mơn Văn học Anh-Mỹ, nhiều học viên, sinh viên Khoa tiếng Anh, Học viện Khoa học Qn coi mơn học khó, có tính học thuật cao khơng thực tế Do đó, người học thường tiếp cận mơn học với thói quen thụ động, nghe, chép, ghi nhớ máy móc tái giáo viên giảng người tham gia chủ động tương tác tích cực Điều thực trăn trở thách thức giáo viên dạy môn học Trong phạm vi báo, chúng tơi trình bày phương pháp áp dụng hoạt động học theo cặp, nhóm nhằm tạo học môn Văn học Anh-Mỹ hứng thú lôi người học Qua giúp người học vừa nâng cao khả ngôn ngữ vừa mở mang tri thức, tri nhận, giúp đa dạng hóa nhìn thân người, văn hóa, đất nước mà học tiếng Từ khóa: hoạt động cặp - nhóm, Văn học Anh-Mỹ INTRODUCTION According to Moody (1983), literature can be defined as “constructions or artifacts, in language, which may be designed for any of the whole range of human communication need, private or public, oral or written, for which language is used” Sharing the same point, Widdowson (1984) claims that studying literature can be considered as “the study of communicative potential of the language concerned and the manner in which this is realized in literary and conventional discourse” On talking about teaching literature to EFL students, there have been different models suggested and how the teacher will use a literary text depends on the model they choose Carter and Long (1991) propose main models: the cultural model views a literary text as a product, the language model aims to be more learner-centered, and KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 35 v PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY the personal growth model is a process-based approach which encourages learners to draw on their own viewpoints, feelings and personal experiences However, there are still opinions regarding literature as a written form, very much far from everyday communication and too closely tied to the Grammar-Translation method Accordingly, many students tend to consider literature as a more content-based course; an academic subject; even not practical for their English studies and their future jobs This inadequate perception leads to students’ lack of interest and motivation in learning this subject How to help students overcome this problem has long been a major concern and a challenge to teachers of the English Department’s Division of Literature and Culture, Military Science Academy (MSA) The article, therefore, aims at promoting pair and group work - a combination of the language approach and the personal growth approach - as a means to create an interesting and motivating atmosphere in EFL literature classes With the teachers’ thought, effort and laborious preparation of tasks, it can be legitimately hoped that the learners will experience instructive, enjoyable and memorable journeys through literature lessons THE BENEFITS OF USING PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK IN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND IN EFL LITERATURE CLASSES It is widely known among EFL teachers that pair and group work offer a variety of advantages in teaching English in general and teaching English and American literature in particular The benefits of using pair and group work in language teaching Group work and pair work started getting attention of educationists in the 70s It is strongly argued that students working together is 36 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 worthwhile as “pair and group work immediately increase the amount of students talking time” and that group and pair work allows students to work in a conducing and facilitating environment (Harmer, 1991) Many researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative in learning learn more things and learn better than those who sit at the feet of teachers passively waiting to be taught (Knowles as cited in Tiberius, 1995) In addition, Brown (1994) claims that “it is a source of intrinsic motivation for students as working in groups is fun for them” Sharing the same view, Krashen (1981) is of the view that students are more motivated to engage in further communication when they have more opportunities to speak He also adds that pair and group work provides the students with the opportunity to communicate with each other to share “suggestions, insights, feedback about successes, and failures” Moreover, group activities develop higher levels of thinking than the traditional lecture approach; help to retain knowledge; and may even help to inspire active learning (Tiberius, 1995) In short, pair and group work claims a number of advantages as it stimulates the learners’ experience of various types of interaction and helps to generate a more relaxed and cooperative classroom atmosphere Actually, 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 Reasons for using pair and group work in literature classes Literature, with its special features, when used with pair and group work stands out a number of advantages One of the striking characteristics of literature that make it a highly communicative subject is its ambiguity (Maley, 2000) The ambiguity in literary texts means a statement, a problem, or a PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY v text can be interpreted, understood and perceived in more than one way Therefore, each student approaches each literary work from different angles, depending on his/her own background knowledge, life experience, and world views This is also affirmed by Collie and Slater (1987) that “Group work and pair work are now well established as a means both of increasing learners’ confidence within the foreign language and also of personalizing their contact with it.” Furthermore, since there is no single perfect answer or solution to a problem raised from a literary work, a group discussion about it will be genuine communication In Lazar’s evaluation (1993), literature aims for interaction among readers and between the text and the reader in English, helping make the language more memorable Some questions of this kind can be listed below: - What you think of Charles Strickland’s action of leaving his family for Art? (The Moon and Sixpence by W.S.Maugham) - The ending of “The Last Leaf” was meant to surprise Think about a different surprising ending for the story (Do you think it would end differently? How you think it would end? Why you think it would end this way? If you knew it would end as it did, explain how you knew.) (The Last Leaf by O.Henry) - Which quality or qualities of Robinson Crusoe you admire the most? (Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe) Such questions or problems seem so real that students don’t need to pretend to play roles but they just simply put themselves in the situations to express their views as long as they can give adequate justifications for their opinions By nature, literary texts are often rich in multiple layers of meaning, and can be effectively mined for discussions and sharing feelings or opinions Thus, students are eager to work with their pairs/groups to express their own viewpoints, partly they expect to convince their partners into their world views and at the same time they wish to understand their partners’ insights as human being This view is supported by Ibsen (1995) as he believes that literature can be considered as a forum for exchange views and that: “Literature, when published, is the ‘property’of the readers and the EFL learners, and they should become involved as co-writers of the text in their imagination, in speech, and on paper.” The last but by no mean the least, using pair and group work in EFL literature classes is of great benefit for boosting students’ feeling of self-esteem and cooperation, which can function as a great source of encouragement for language learning (Krashen, 1981) When students work in pairs or groups to discuss or exchange ideas, they gain a team spirit, solidarity and a sense of belonging to a place Simultaneously, it reduces the element of teacher domination and teacher talking time (TTT) as often seen in a contentbased subject of literature and that learning literature encompasses a variety of cooperative and communicative activities, not just attending a conventional lecture To sum up, the use of pair and group work in teaching English and American literature in EFL classes not only creates students’ interest and motivation, which play a key role in second language learning but also fits well with many theoretical assumptions of second language acquisition: openness, communication, classroom interaction, even mutual understanding and compassion among learners However, in the process of conducting pair or group work, teachers should bear in mind that some difficulties or problems are inevitable and be ready to deal with them KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 37 v PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY DIFFICULTIES CONDUCTING PAIR AND GROUP WORK IN EFL LITERATURE CLASSES In the scientific research entitles: “Suggested solutions to improving the self-study quality of English and American literature subject for English majors at MSA”, Pham Thi Thuy (2016) points out that at MSA, students of English have to face a number of difficulties in learning EFL literature as listed here below Firstly, the theory taught alongside literature gives you the power to sense and perceive the truth, the good, and the beauty It is, therefore, strongly argued that the best way ever to test learners’ ability to appreciate a literary work is by written form or creative writing rather than spoken form (Ibsen, 1995) Obviously, most students are concerned with passing the exams, which not test for their communicative competence Hence, it is not hard to understand why students are not fully motivated, unwilling to communicate, and hesitant to class participation in literature classes (Pham, 2016) In addition, rather than learning how to use the language creatively, students come to literature classes with the mindset that teachers are the only information providers - about the historical background; the author: life and writing career; the work: setting, plot, characters, themes, and even moral lessons (Pham, 2016) In other words, students simply expect to have the ability to take all this in, make it their own and accept almost everything without questions, which is a really constraint in using pair and group work in literature lessons Large classes can be a source of difficulty EFL literature classes at MSA are often too crowded, on the average of up to 100 students in size A literature class is often divided in smaller classes (about 20 - 30 students) for such subjects as Listening, Speaking or Writing Obviously, teaching and managing a class of over 100 38 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 students will never be as easy as teaching one with 20 or 30 students With such a big number, it is difficult for teachers to have efficient control over what students are doing in pairs or groups Once students plunge themselves into pair or group work, teachers are struggling only to control the class, let alone to maintain a positive, relaxed atmosphere or to judge individual’s true ability How can teachers make content class like literature more communicative in such a challenging situation? To make the problem worse, large classes usually have students with differing English proficiency levels Most likely, a group is dominated by stronger students, whereas weaker students remain reticent due to their insecure or inferior feelings, along with lack of confidence to put themselves forward (Pham, 2016) An other category that causes difficulties for teachers is the lack of conductive facilities for pair and group work activities As is traditional, students’ desks are arranged with rows after rows facing the teacher, the teacher’s desk is in the corner, and there is a blackboard at the front Students’ desks and chairs, for some reason, are unmovable In short, teachers of literature, from time to time, can hardly avoid some of these difficulties when conducting pair or group work activities Obviously, they themselves must play a vital role in overcoming these difficulties and in helping to create an engaging, motivating atmosphere for their students ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN EFL LITERATURE CLASSES Based on the above theoretical background and my own experiences as an EFL teacher of English and American literature, I now propose to analyze the role of the teacher and potential solutions for using pair and group work in literature classes PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY v Varying students’ assessment First, right at the very beginning of the course, teachers should provide students with criteria of marking scales and evaluation based not only on the end-of-course written exam (summative assessment) but also on students’ participation and interaction in the class (formative assessment) Then, teachers, step by step, familiarize students with pair and group work by helping them perform easy, short, simple tasks that not require a great deal of knowledge or language skill The teacher, for instance, cuts the plot summary of A Farewell to Arms into separate sentences, each sentence written on a piece of paper and asks students to work in pairs/group to rearrange the sentences into the correct orders of the work Once students get used to it, teachers can extend the range of activities to include more complicated tasks such as role-plays, simulations, debates, persuasion, or problem-solving which come as close to authentic communicative situations as possible (Kindly look at Sample Activities) When pair and group work become a norm in literature classes, students will automatically accept this way of learning Creating supportive and relaxing learning atmosphere The term “supportive and relaxing atmosphere” here is referred to students’ safe feelings; students’ level of anxiety; and teachers’ compliment and encouragement To help students feel excited in pair/group work, teachers might vary where individual students are sitting for pair or group work so that on different days they work with different partners By doing so, students will be stimulated and eager to interact with their new partners Sometime, it is better still for students of the same level to form a pair/group, or even for students to be allowed to choose their own partners With the partners of their choice, they feel at ease and secure and that positive feeling helps them become more confident and in turn stimulates their creativity As teachers of foreign languages, we need to be aware of students’ anxiety levels and take steps to help them overcome this problem A study shows that problems often attributed to students’ anxiety and hesitation to communicate are actually caused by students’ low English proficiency (Maley, 2000) In odder to lower students’ anxiety, teachers should give students plenty of time to well-prepare before starting pair or group since preparation will partly help them, even the lower-level students, to respond well and gain a sense of self-confidence Besides, teachers need to constantly give students support, encouragement, and compliment, which is of great source of motivation for any EFL learners It is agreed that there is no correct solution or answer for experiencing literary texts, therefore, teachers should accept, listen, and appreciate every opinion, even the “abnormal” ones as long as the communicative purposes are fulfilled In this way, even the shy or weak students are also stimulated to get engaged in the communicative process so as to express themselves and to show their unique traits of personality Applying appropriate pair and group work techniques Along with other roles, applying appropriate techniques and designing various tasks (activities and exercises) are very important work for teachers First, the tasks should provide opportunities for plenty of use of the target language and cover a satisfactory range of language items and skills Next, teachers need to decide which types of tasks are most appropriate, and then diversify the repertoire of classroom procedures On the one hand, this enables the teachers to employ different techniques for different learning purposes to suit KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 39 v PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY different learners’ English levels On the other hand, the students will be more involved and get engaged if they are provided with a variety of activities and exercises rather than the fixed already-known ones The tasks should include game-like features or imaginative elements such as: Rearranging pictures in the orders that the story happens Sample Activity: Put the following pictures in the correct orders of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and in your pair/group descibe what happen in each picture (picture 1) Role-play (Note: select an interesting and not very complicated scene in a literary work) Sample Activity: Teacher asks students to improvise a role play between two characters, Della and Jim, in The Gift of the Magi and act out a part of a selected scene in groups Problem-solving (What would you if you were in the situation or in somebody’s shoes?) Sample Activity: Della in The Gift of the Magi has little money and desperately wants to find a Christmas gift for her husband What would you if you were Della? Positive competition Sample Activity: Teacher provides class with some key words from a work, preferably a short story Next, teacher divides class into or groups to make up their own story Then, each group or one representative from each group takes turn to read out their group’s story and teacher works as the judge to decide which story is the best Discussion, debate, or persuasion (Note: assign tasks which give students freedom to express and explore themselves) Sample Activity: Which character in Hamlet by William Shakespeare you feel sorry for the most? (Teacher gives students time to choose the character, then teacher puts those who share the same idea in one group, gives them more time to discuss in their group, then they go to other groups to talk about their group’s opinion) Picture 40 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY v Lessons learned in literary works References: Sample Activity: What moral lessons can you learn in The Pardoner’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer? (students are put into small to discuss and exchange views After a brief discussion, one representative from each group is called on to talk about their group’s opinion) Brown, H.D (1994), Teaching by Principles – An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Whatever kinds of tasks, teachers should create a positive communication atmosphere in which students are given opportunities to acquire confidence to develop, express, value their own responses and assess other perspectives Collie, J and Slater, S (1987), Literature in the Language Classroom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press CONCLUSION This article has considered the use of pair/ group work within the context of EFL literature classes at MSA Using pair and group work, with its repertoire of communication strategies, in EFL literature classes is one way to make a positive contribution to students’ language competence and their personal developments Some areas of difficulty have been pointed out including lack of conductive facilities; large classes; students’ differing language proficiency; and students’ lack of motivation and interest The recommendations for teacher’s role, which are mainly based on the theoretical background and the researcher’s experiences, attempt to contribute to better learning and teaching EFL English and American literature at MSA In a final word, to stimulate students’ desire to communicate and share their views, EFL teachers of English and American literature need to be highly elaborate in applying appropriate techniques and designing a variety of tasks to ensure both effectiveness and learners’ interest Besides, teachers should be ready to move beyond the basics to be flexible and adaptive Changes of some sort are inevitable if we wish to bring about effective and fruitful teaching and learning Clearly, the job involves a lot of hard work and it does take time, thought, and effort of the teachers but the results are well worth it./ Carter, R & Long, M (1991), Teaching Literature, London: Longman Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language London: Longman Ibsen, E.B (1995), The Double Role of Fiction in Foreign Language Learning, Oxford: Oxford University Press Krashen, S.D (1981), Effective Second Language Acquisition: Insights from Research, Oxford: Oxford University Press Lazar, G (1993), Literature and Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Maley, A (2000), Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press Moody, H.L (1983), Approaches to the Study of Literature: A Practical View, Oxford: Pergamum Press 10 Pham, T.T (2016), “Suggested Solutions to Improving the Self-study Quality of English – American Literature for English Majors at Military Science Academy” The Scientific Research, Military Science Academy 11 Tiberius, R G (1995) Small Group Teaching, Toronto: DISE Press 12 Widdowson, H.D (1975), Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature, London: Longman KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 41 v PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY USING PAIR AND GROUP WORK IN TEACHING ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE FOR EFL LEARNERS PHAM THI THUY Abstract: Teaching, especially teaching literature is never an easy job as it is a continuously creative and a problem-solving art or craft For many scholars, literature is considered as a highly effective tool for language teaching and learning and also a forum for exchange views Those who advocate this view look at the role of literature in language learning from the perspective of the communicative approach However, there are still opinions regarding literature as a written form, very much far from everyday communication and too closely tied to the grammar-translation method Accordingly, many students tend to consider literature as a content-based course; an academic subject; even not practical for their English studies and their future jobs This inadequate perception leads to students’ lack of interest and motivation in learning this subject How to help students overcome this problem has long been a major concern and a challenge to teachers of the English Department’s Division of Literature and Culture at MSA The article, therefore, aims at promoting pair and group work as a means to create an interesting and motivating atmosphere in EFL literature classes With the teachers’ thought, effort and laborious preparation of tasks, it can be legitimately hoped that the learners will experience enjoyable, instructive journeys through literature lessons Keywords: EFL learners, English and American literature, pair and group work. 42 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 ... difficulties or problems are inevitable and be ready to deal with them KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 37 v PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY DIFFICULTIES CONDUCTING PAIR AND GROUP WORK IN EFL LITERATURE... employ different techniques for different learning purposes to suit KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 39 v PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY different learners’ English levels On the other hand, the students... go to other groups to talk about their group’s opinion) Picture 40 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰ Số 07 - 5/2017 PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY v Lessons learned in literary works References: Sample Activity: