Using group work activities to enhance english speaking skill for grade 5 students at a primary school in nam dinh

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** VŨ THỊ THANH HUYỀN USING GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL FOR GRADE-5 STUDENTS AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN NAM DINH Sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để n ng o n ng nói Tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp trường tiểu học tỉnh N m Định M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2018 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** VŨ THỊ THANH HUYỀN USING GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL FOR GRADE-5 STUDENTS AT A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN NAM DINH Sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để n ng o n ng nói Tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp trường tiểu học tỉnh N m Định M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền Hanoi – 2018 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Using group work activities to enhance English speaking skill for grade-5 students at a primary school in Nam Dinh” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees Hanoi, May 2018 Vũ Thị Thanh Huyền i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like primarily to thank Dr Tran Thị Thu Hien for helping me complete this study This paper would not have been possible without her constant support and encouragement Her patience and helpful criticism helped me confidently express my ideas into this paper I regard myself extremely fortunate in having her as my dissertation supervisor I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures which have helped me a great deal in gaining a lot of theoretical as well as practical knowledge My special thanks go to the manager and teachers at Xuan Chau Primary School, Xuan Truong District, Nam Dinh Province in general and 50 grade-5 students in particular who have helped me enthusiastically in speaking lessons by applying GW activities to enhance students‟ speaking skills Finally, I would also like to express my deep gratitude and love to my devoted parents, my brother, my husband and my friends who gave me time and encouraged me to complete this study ii ABSTRACT Speaking is undoubtedly one of the most essential and important skills which language learners need to master However, for the students participated in this study, speaking in English lessons is a big challenge They are afraid of speaking in front of the class, many of them either keep silent or exchange ideas by their mother tongue While the students are more confident with written tests, they always feel reluctant when being asked to speak English and try to give answers as short as possible Additionally, they are fed up with speaking lessons As a result, speaking is the weakest one among the four language skills Obviously, it is necessary to find out an effective way to enhance the students‟ oral skill and attitudes towards speaking lessons This study is aimed at describing whether or not and to what extent GW activities improve speaking skill of the grade-fifth students at a primary school in Nam Dinh as well as propose some suggestions to increase the effectiveness of using GW activities to enhance English speaking skill for grade-5 students at a primary school in Nam Dinh The participants included one English teacher and 50 grade-5 students at a primary school in Nam Dinh The data were collected through the students‟ pre-test and post-test and the teacher‟s interview The results showed that GW activities applied created a joyful and exciting classroom atmosphere which provided the students with more opportunities to obtain knowledge with pleasure and helped the students enjoy speaking lessons more In addition, the study also indicated that most of the students had positive attitudes toward this new technique Some pedagogical implications, limitations and suggestions for further studies were included in this study iii LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English Second Language L2: Second language GR: Group work CL: Cooperation learning Q1: Question Q2: Question Q3: Question Q4: Question Q5: Question Q6: Question Q7: Question Q8: Question LISTS OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS Figure 1: Action research cycle…………………………………………… Figure 2: Result of the Pre-test …………………………………………… Figure 3: Result of the Posttest …………………………………………… Flow-chart 1: Steps in data collection procedure………………………… TABLE OF CONTENTS iv DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS iv LISTS OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS iiv PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Methods of the study Scope of the study Significance of the study Design of the study PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Cooperative Learning 1.1.1 Definition 1.1.2 Goals of cooperative learning 1.2 Speaking skills 1.2.1 Definition 1.2.2 The role of speaking in language teaching and learning 1.2.3 Approaches to teach speaking 1.2.4 Elements of speaking 10 1.2.4.1 Language features 11 1.2.4.2 Speaking processing skills 11 1.3 Group work 12 1.3.1 Definition 12 1.3.2.Types of group work activities 13 1.3.2.1 Game 13 1.3.2.2 Role play and simulations 13 1.3.2.3 Drama 14 v 1.3.2.4 Interview 14 1.3.2.5 Brain storming 14 1.3.2.6 Information gap 14 1.3.2.7 Projects 15 1.3.2.8 Problem solving abd decision making 15 1.3.2.9 Opinion exchange 15 1.3.3 Benefits of using group work activities in speaking lesson 15 1.3.4 Group work planning 17 1.3.5 Techniques for seating arrangement 19 1.3.6 The teacher‟s role in group work 20 1.3.7 Characteristics of effective group work 20 1.4 Young learners 21 1.4.1 Characteristics of young learners 21 1.4.2 Teaching strategies to young learners 23 1.5 Previous studies 25 1.6 Summary 26 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 27 2.1 The research setting 27 2.1.1 Research site 27 2.1.2 English textbooks 27 2.1.3 The facilities 28 2.2 Participants 28 2.2.1 Teacher 28 2.2.2 Students 28 2.3 Cambridge English Young learner Tests 27 2.4 Methods of the study 31 2.4.1 Action research 32 2.4.2 Action plan 34 2.5 Datacollection instruments 37 2.5.1 Pre-test and post-test 37 2.5.2 Pre-interview and post-interview 38 vi 2.5.3 Observation 39 2.6 Data collection procedure 40 2.7 Data analysis procedure 41 2.8 Summary 41 CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 42 3.1 Pre-test and post-test Analysis 42 3.1.1 Pre-test 42 3.1.2 Post-test 43 3.2 Interview Analysis 43 3.2.1 Pre-interview 43 3.2.2 Post-interivew 40 3.3 Class Observation Analysis 48 3.4 Summary 48 PART THREE: CONCLUSION 49 Recapitulation 50 Implications 50 Limitations of the study 52 Suggestions for further study 52 REFERENCES 53 APPENDICES I vii PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Rationale Being born and growing up from studious hometown in Nam Dinh province, the researcher always feel proud of myself as well as my hometown As we know, Nam Dinh‟s educational system is always on the first top all over our country However, the result of English has not still kept pace with other main subjects such as Math, Literature or Physics Accompanying with other English teachers in Nam Dinh province, the author of this paper always think about how to improve the quality of English for my students because English is one of the most important subjects now The goal of learning English is that the learners can use it to communicate with foreigners who also use English all over the world either by speech or written, so the use of English for the students is compulsory, because mastering English is a priority for many second or foreign language learners Richard (1990) says that “The mastery of speaking skills in English is a priority for many second or foreign language learners Learners consequently often evaluate their success in language learning as well as the effectiveness of English course on the basis of how well they feel they have improved in their spoken language proficiency” As a teacher of English at a primary school in Nam Dinh province, from her own observation and experience, the researcher herself has noticed that my students often experience foreign language anxiety especially in speaking skill When my English students take part in any speaking contests, they have never gotten high prizes Usually, they are afraid of speaking in front of the class, many of them keep silent or have discussion in Vietnamese While the students are more confident with written tests, they always feel reluctant when being asked to speak English and try to give answers as short as possible The fact that, the teachers still teach the students with routine activities without realizing that it would make the students bored and lost their attention to the teaching and learning process This is stated by Douglas, “Routine activities in learning can make the students bored As the result, their motivation and participation in learning will decrease” (1987:48) The most necessary duty is that the teachers should try best to find out the effective way which makes students go in for discussing the materials actively, so that they will Doff, A.1988 Teach English; A training course for Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Flanagan, J (2009) Sensory processing disorder Pediatric News Retrieved from http://www.kennedykrieger.org/sites/kki2.com/files/08-09.pdf Ginsburg, K (2013) The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds Retrieved June 21, 2014, from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182.short Goh, Ch.C.M & Burns, A (2012) Teaching Speaking: A Holistic Approach New York: Cambridge University Press Hague, S.A (1987) Vocabulary Instruction: What L2 can learn from L1 Foreign Language Annals Vo.20, No Hamzah, M H., & Ting, L Y (2010) Teaching speaking skills through GW activities (A case study at form 2ES1 SMK Damai Jaya Johor) Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/files/392/11785638.pdf Harmer Harmer, J (2001) The practice of English language teaching 3rd Edition Harlow, Essex, England: Longman Harmer, J (2002) How to Teach Vocabulary Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.0 Harmer, J (2002) The Practice of English Language Teaching Longman, London pp 344 Harmer, J (2007) The practice of English language teaching London: Pearson Education limited Hudelson, Sarah 1991 EFL Teaching and Children: A Topic-Based Approach (The English Teaching Forum) Arizona State University, USA Hybels, S and Weaver II, R L (2009) Communicating Effectively thed Boston, Massachusetts: McGraw Hill 54 Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R T and Smith, K.A (1991) Cooperative learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity ASHE - 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Needham Heights, MS: Allyn and Bacon Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., and Griffin, P (1998) Preventing reading difficulties in young children Washington, DC: National Academy Press Thornbury, S (2005).How to Teach Education/Longman 56 Speaking Harlow: Pearson Tsui, A.B (1993) Helping Teachers to Conduct Action Research in Their Classrooms In D Freeman & S Cornwell (Eds), New Ways in Teacher Education Alexandria VA: TESOL Ur, P (1996) A course in language teaching Cambridge University Press Zyoud, M ( ) Using DramaActivities and Techniques to Foster Teaching English as a foreign Language: a Theoretical Perspective Retreived September 213 from www.qou.edu/english/conferences/ /pdfFiles/muntherZyoud.pdf 57 APPENDICES Appendix Syllabus for implementing GR activities for the 8-week course No Topic Unit What‟s the matter with you? Unit Don‟t ride your bike too fast! Unit What you in your free time? Unit What happene d in the story? Unit What would you like to be in the future? Unit What would you like to eat? II Appendix Pre-interview and Post-interview for English teacher PRE-INTERVIEW Hello This interview serves as a data collection tool for a research work that aims to propose using GW activities to enhance English speaking skill for grade-5 students in our school I would very much appreciate if you could take the time and the energy to share your experience by answering the following questions Your answers are very important and will be of much help for the completion of this work May I thank you in advance for your collaboration How long have you taught English? What you think about the level of your students‟ speaking proficiency? What techniques you use to enhance speaking skill for your students? How often you use GW activities in teaching speaking? What types of group activities have you ever used? And how to use them? Do you have any problems in applying GW to develop your students‟ speaking proficiency? III Appendix POST-INTERVIEW Hello After implementing GW activities in enhancing our students’ speaking skill, I would like you to share your feeling and experience as a direct teacher who took part in the process I would very much appreciate if you could take the time and the energy to share your experience by answering the following questions Your answers are very important and will be of much help for the completion of this work May I thank you in advance for your collaboration How is your students' level of speaking proficiency in English after using GW activities in learning speaking English? Do you have any difficulties in implementing GW activities to improve your students‟ speaking skills? How you rate the effectiveness and suitability of the GW activities you have applied? Do you have any suggestions or notes for teachers who want to use GW to improve their students‟ speaking skills? IV School : Xuan Chau primary school Subject : English Class : 5… Topic: ………………………………………… GR activity: …………………………………… Amount of students involves during the lesson A all of them The atmosphere during the lesson is: A stressful A Amount of students is in each group: Pairs Classroom seating arrangement is: A Pairs D face to face Technique for dividing students into groups: A hobby D pronunciation The teacher carries out ten basic steps in implementing GR activity: A Yes Difficulties in implementing GR activities: A students make so much noise C time-consuming The percentage of the use of L2 during the lesson: A 100 % D > 40% V Appendix 5: Pre-test and post-test Pre-test PartExaminer does this: Usher brings candidate in Points to Scene picture Points to the women in Scene picture Points to Object cards Removes Object cards and points to an apple in Scene picture Puts Scene picture away and picks out three Object cards VI Shows table tennis 4.1 card 4.2 Shows chips card 4.3 Shows giraffe card VII POST-TEST Part Examiner does this: Usher brings candidate in Points to Scene picture Points to the table in Scene picture Points to Object cards Removes Object cards and points to pencil in Scene picture Points to the man Puts Scene picture away and picks out three Object cords 4.1 Shows grapes card 4.2 Shows radio card 4.3 Shows tennis card IX ... improvespeaking skill of the grade- fifth students at a primary school in Nam Dinh with a focus on what GW activities are the most suitable to enhance speaking skill for grade- 5 students in my school. In. .. investigating how cooperative GW technique presented via cooperative language learning can be employed in enhancing speaking skill for grade- 5 students at a primary school in Nam Dinh and how to best... research questions:  Can and to what extent GW activities improve grade- 5 students? ?? speaking skill at a primary school in Nam Dinh?  What should be done to best improve grade- 5 students? ?? speaking