Students’ participation in group work activities in english language classes at a high school in phu tho province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -oOo - TRẦN THỊ THANH HOA STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ THAM GIA CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ở PHÚ THỌ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -oOo - TRẦN THỊ THANH HOA STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ THAM GIA CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ở PHÚ THỌ) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Assoc Prof Lê Văn Canh, PhD Hanoi - 2019 DECLARATION Title: “ STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE” I certify that no part of the thesis has been copied or reproduced by me from any other works without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 2019 Student‟s signature Trần Thị Thanh Hoa i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to send my sincere and special gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr.Lê Văn Canh, who has given valuable assistance, guidance, precious suggestions, advice, and reference materials to me so that I can complete this thesis The success of my paper would have been almost impossible without his tireless support My thanks and gratitude also go to all professors and lecturers at Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures Last but not least, I would like to send my gratitude to my parents, all members in my family and my friends for their support and encouragement during the process of writing this thesis ii ABSTRACT Group work activities play an important role in all stages of second language acquisition Using group work activities has been considered an effective tool for enhancing English teaching and learning process The paper aims to find out the th participation in group-work activities of the 11 students at a high school in Phu Tho and the reasons that make them participate the way From that finding, the researcher could find ways to stimulate active involvement from students and make using groupwork in teaching language effectively A mix-method approach (quantitative and qualitative methods) was used to collect the required data for the study Questionnaires were collected from 58 students in two classes at this high school From this sample, 12 students were interviewed in more detail in face-toface interviews The findings show that learners in this school were very excited about the lessons when group-work activities were used It also means that groupwork activities can support the teachers in attracting the learners to the lesson In other words, using group-work activities brought many benefits for not only learners but also teachers in the school For example, students could improve learning skills, such as English skills, presentation skills and groupwork skills Additionally, not only students but also teachers could have chance to learn something new from other students However, some learners identified difficulties, mostly related to students‟ knowledge and skills, which can lead to ineffective teamwork Hopefully, the study can be a useful source of reference for those teaching English to young learners iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign language T: Teacher SCT : Sociocultural theory Ss:Students ZPD: The zone of proximal development iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Aims of the study The research questions Methods of the study The scope of the study The significance of the study Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The Sociocultural perspectives on language learning: the role interaction 2.2 Group work 2.2.1 Definition of group activities 2.2.2 The role of group work activities in language teaching 2.2.3 Challenges in Group work 2.3 Participation as learning 2.4 Students‟ attitudes towards group work 2.5 Overview of the research projects related to the thesis topic CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction v 3.2 The case study methodology 15 3.2.1 Definitions of case study 15 3.2.2 Why choosing case study 16 3.2.3 Descriptive case study 17 3.3 Research procedures 18 3.3.1 The context of the study 18 3.3.2 The course book 18 3.3.3 The teachers 19 3.3.4 The students 19 3.4 Data collection 20 3.4 Data collection instruments 20 3.4.2 Data collection procedures 23 3.5 Summary 24 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25 4.1 Data analysis 25 4.1.1 Data from questionnaires 25 4.2 Findings and Discussion 39 4.3 Chapter summary 41 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 42 Conclusion 42 Limitations of the study 42 Suggestions for further research 42 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW III APPENDIX 3: LESSON PLAN IN THE CLASSROOM IV APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SUMMARY XIII vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Description to Questionnaire 21 Table 4.1: Summarizing the results of questionnaires in five weeks .34 vii APPENDIX 3: LESSON PLAN IN THE CLASSROOM Wee Activities k UNIT 11: Natural resources Part: Listening Activity 1: Work in groups Compare the similarities and diffe between renewable and non-rene resource Activity 2: Problem- solving The environment is being polluted by activities Discuss and suggest some m to protect the environment For instance: reduce using cars/ moto that cause noise and air pollution IV UNIT 12: READING Activity: Discussion a topic After you read Work in groups: Talk about the history of the Asian Gam V Unit 12: THE ASIAN GAMES Part: WRITING Activity 1:WARM-UP Game: Hangman Game KEY: FACILITIES Time: minutes Activity 2: Matching the noun phras the verbs given Using the verbs in “warm up” VERBS Build VI Upgrade Widen Equip Promote and Advertise Recruit Hold T gives some word cards with noun One more National Stadium, som buildings and car parks National Sports C Training areas an Hotels, guesthou Preparations for radio and TV Volunteers to ser Competition to c Activity 3: Brainstorming Students discuss in groups and give useful structures and languages which be used in the writing VII verbs on the board - T checks Teacher asks students to think about the structures and languages used in the writing Each group has minutes to think After the limited time, groups will take turns to give the answer Who can give the answer after all will be winner For example: Useful language - structures: Need to be + Vpp VIII Need + V-ing Sequence adverbs: First of all, In addition, then, next, after… Unit 13: Hobbies Part: Reading Activity Brainstorming List all the things people often in their free time Time: minutes Collecting stamps, reading books, listening to music, going shopping, … Activity 2: After you read Discussion Time: 10 minutes Discussing the hobbies IX Students speaking - work in the skills same group as Students activity and learn activity - Teacher asks students close books practice discussing their hobbies: small and to their hobbies - Teacher lets students give opinions front of in the class Students - comment and add more ideas - Teacher give feedback - Students take X Unit 13: Hobbies Activity 1: Warm-up GAME: CROSSWORD Time: minutes I often chat with friends on _ I am not an avid stamp _ He likes reading _ I bought these books from the _ n house I also love _ computer games P Activity 2: Ordering and sorting Time: minutes Teacher gives and asks students work in groups and a them into correct order of a dialogue Then with other member in groups Activity 3: Work in groups: Enactin Suppose you are making an interview XI hobby of some famous people Based on the dialogue in the speaking part in textbook, students were required to make a similar dialogue about their hobbies In each group, students were given roles such as the interviewer, famous people, audiences Work groups make dialogue XII in and a APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SUMMARY STT Does your level of participation in group work activities change? Why ? Yes Because: - - Yes Because: - XIII - Yes Because: - Know how to work - Feel free to give Yes Because: - Yes Because XIV - Yes Because - Be nervous at the - Yes Because: - Feel free to share Yes Because: - - Yes Because - 10 Yes Because: - 11 Yes ( but very little) Because: - 12 Yes ( but very little) Because: - Do not like to work - XVI ... investigates “students‟ participation in group work activities in English language classes at a high school in Phu Tho. ” This study hoped to fill the gap in understanding of students‟ level of involvement... of qualitative and quantitative evidence for triangulating such experiential data in an all-encompassing manner (Yin, 2003) Yin (2003) also suggests that the case study method is appropriate “when...VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -oOo - TRẦN THỊ THANH HOA STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN