Organizing pairwork in the english lessons at pho yen high school 11th grade, thai nguyen province m a thesis linguistics 60 140 111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES   - o0o VŨ THỊ KHÁNH VÂN ORGANIZING PAIRWORK IN THE ENGLISH LESSONS AT PHO YEN HIGH SCHOOL 11th GRADE, THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE Tổ chức hoạt động cặp học Tiếng Anh khối lớp 11 trường THPT Phổ Yên, tỉnh Thái Nguyên M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES   - o0o VŨ THỊ KHÁNH VÂN ORGANIZING PAIRWORK IN THE ENGLISH LESSONS AT PHO YEN HIGH SCHOOL 11th GRADE, THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE Tổ chức hoạt động cặp học Tiếng Anh khối lớp 11 trường THPT Phổ Yên, tỉnh Thái Nguyên M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111 SUPERVISOR : Assoc Prof Dr LÊ HÙNG TIẾN Hanoi, 2014 CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT -***** - I hereby certify that the thesis entitled th Organizing pairwork in the English lessons at Pho Yen High School 11 grade, Thai Nguyen Province In the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at College of Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution wholly or partly Hanoi, August 2014 Vũ Thị Khánh Vân i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In completion of my thesis, I have received generous advice and help from many lecturers whose lectures are very practical and useful Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mr Lê Hùng Tiến Ph.D from Vietnam National University, Hanoi College of Foreign Language, for his close guidance, criticism, and his generous help in the process of completing my thesis My special thanks also go to all lecturers and the staff of the Department of Post Graduate Studies at Hanoi College of Foreign Language for their useful materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course of study I really wish to thank all my colleagues and my students at Pho Yen High School- for their kind cooperation in giving valuable information Finally, I owe my deep thanks to my dear family, especially my husband, my sons who always stand by me with their consideration and encouragement Vũ Thị Khánh Vân ii ABSTRACT Learning language well depends on many factors such as personal characteristics, the structure of the native and target languages, opportunities to communicate with other people and with native speakers, etc For students at schools, these factors can only work well with the help of the teachers‟ using different techniques, and approaches in language teaching In communicative language teaching, students have more chances to practise in the target language through different classroom activities, among them pairwork and groupwork appear to be the most appropriate application This thesis was carried out to investigate the use of pairwork activities to develop speaking skills for the first year English students at Pho Yen High School Survey questionnaires for teachers and students were employed to find answers to these two questions The use of paiwork activities are also beneficial for both teachers and learners However, there were some problems such as student low proficiency and their passive way of learning styles, which prevent them from taking part in pairwork activities Teachers‟ lack of time and have to deal with large and multi-level classes in unqualified conditions hinder them a lot in implementing pairwork activities to teach four language skills By analyzing and comparing the results of students‟ and teachers‟ responses to questionnaire about pairwork activities, the author attempts to shed light on the effectiveness of these activities and how to best implement them In Pho Yen Upper Secondary School in Pho Yen district, Thai Nguyen province, pairwork is widely used in foreign language classes However, it seems that the use of these implemetation activities at Pho yen High School is not effective enough, therefore, focuses on pointing out how to organize pairwork in a more effective way so that it helps students find learning English a great fun and less demanding iii LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Students‟ and teachers‟ opinion about the main benefits of pairwork .19 Chart 2: Students‟ opinion about the useful for pairwork 20 Chart 3: Teachers‟ and students‟ opinions about the useful of pairwork 21 Chart 4: The important role when using pairwork 22 Chart 5: The factors effected about the success of pairwork 22 Chart 6: Students‟ and teachers‟ opinion about the appropriate time for PW 23 Chart 7: Students‟ frequently used activities of pairwork 23 Chart 8: How are teachers and students often create pairwork? 24 Chart 9: Teachers‟ responsibilities for successful pairworks 25 Chart 10: Teachers‟and students‟opinion about preparing materials for PW 26 iv TABLE OF CONTENT CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF CHARTS iv TABLE OF CONTENT v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study 2 Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Communicative approach to Language Teaching 1.1.1 What is meant by communication? 1.1.2 Communicative language teaching 1.1.2.1 Nature of Communicative Language Teaching 1.1.2.2 The techniques of Communicative Language Teaching 1.2 Definition of pairwork 1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of pairwork 1.3.1 Advantages of using pairwork activities 1.3.2 Disadvantages of using pairwork activities 1.4 How to organize pairwork 1.4.1 Preparation for pairwork 1.4.2 Steps in the classroom 10 1.4.2.1 Select the activity 10 1.4.2.2 prepare of materials 10 1.4.2.3 Size and selection of pair 10 1.4.2.4 Organize students within the pair 10 v 1.4.2.5 Time of pairwork activity 11 1.4.2.6 Share pairwork with the whole class 11 1.4.3 Steps of organizing pairwork 11 1.4.3.1 Pre activities 11 1.4.3.2 While activities 12 1.4.3.3 Post activities 12 1.5 Difficulties in organizing pairwork and suggested solutions 13 1.5.1 Difficulties 13 1.5.1.1 Space 13 1.5.1.2 Instruction 13 1.5.2 Solutions 13 1.6 Previous studies related to organizing pairwork 14 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 Research setting 15 2.1.1 An overview of Pho Yen High School 15 2.1.2 The students 16 2.1.3 The teachers 16 2.2 Methodology 17 2.2.1 The participants 17 2.2.2 Data collection instruments 17 2.2.2.1 Questionnaires 17 2.2.2.2 Class observations 17 2.2.3 Data collection procedures 18 2.2.4 Data analysis 18 2.2.4.1 Results from questionnaires 19 2.2.4.1.1 Teachers’ and students’ opinions about benefits of pairwork 19 2.2.4.1.2 Teachers’ and students’ judgements about the use of pairwork activities in English classes 21 2.2.4.1.3 Teachers’ and students’ desires to learn English via pairwork Activities 22 2.2.4.2 Data analysis from class observations 26 2.2.4.3 Examples of pairwork 27 vi CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 30 3.1 Major findings 30 3.1.1 The way the teachers at Pho Yen High School use pairwork 30 3.1.1.1 Steps of organizing pairwork 30 3.1.1.2 The materials used in organizing pairwork 31 3.1.1.3 Teachers’ difficulties 32 3.1.1.3.1 Lack of knowledge of pairwork 32 3.1.1.3.2 Habits of old teaching methods 32 3.1.1.3.3 Unefficient preparation 32 3.1.1.4 Students’ difficulties 32 3.1.1.4.1 Passive learning style 32 3.1.1.4.2 Low level of English language proficiency 33 3.1.1.4.3 Learners’ fear of making mistakes 33 3.1.1.5 Object factors 33 3.1.1.5.1 Large-sized lasses 33 3.1.1.5.2 Lack of reference and teaching aids 33 3.2 Recommendations 33 PART C: CONCLUSION 35 Summary of the findings 35 Concluding remarks 36 Limitations of the study 37 Suggestions for further study 38 REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX I APPENDIX V APPENDIX X APPENDIX XIV APPENDIX XVIII APPENDIX XX vii PART A: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the rationale, aims, scope, research questions, research methods and design of the study Rationale “Better English, more opportunities” has become a target for lots of students in recent years English is a useful means they need for their future career since it equips them with linguistic, social and cultural knowledge and provides them with access to the modern world in the era of informatics and technology It is used as the official language in many powerful and developed countries Additionally, it is also considered as the means of communication in a number of aspects such as business, education, science, and so on Therefore, English teaching and learning play an important role in social developing policies in a large number of countries throughout the world English, nowadays, is widely taught in Vietnam, from primary school to university, including English centers throughout the country People learn English for their work or for their higher study However, the results of the English courses are not very good Vietnamese teachers of English have not known how to apply the teaching method in effective ways They are lack of knowledge, teaching aid, time, and money to teach four language skills: listening skills, speaking skills, reading skills and writing skills Like many teachers in the schools of Vietnam, teachers of English at Pho Yen upper secondary school face the same problem: students‟ inactive participation in learning activities in the classroom In fact, there are a variety of reasons for this poor participation, and therefore using appropriate techniques and methods for teaching English effectively to students at Pho Yen upper secondary school requires a teachers‟ enthusiasm and commitment This led me the choice of the study “Organizing pair work in the English lessons at Pho Yen High School 11 th grade, Thai Nguyen Province” with the hope of contributing to improve the teaching and learning English in Yen High School XIV Students’ judgements about the use of pairwork activities in English classes How appropriate you think work school ? Which you think can most effect the success of a pair work Students’ desires to learn English via pairwork activities What you think it is time for pair work ? an XV Which activities you often pairs ? How are grouped work ? According to you, in order to use work successfully in a secondary school, the teacher has to XVI How prepare work classes ? XVII Classroom observation sheet Date : Teacher : Number of years of teaching experience : Grade : Number of students : Lesson : Period : Purpose of the lesson : Learning aids : Teaching aids : Steps of the lesson : Time XVIII Observation sheet : No How pair and groupwork are carried out: They are organized naturally Teacher provides clear instruction before the work Teacher‟s preparation …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… XIX Students‟ preparation: …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… The participation of the teacher: - as a partner - as a guider - as a facilitator - as an observer Students participate: -Actively -Forcedly 7.Students speak Vietnamese during the work 8.The teacher gives the feedback after the work 9.The thing(s) the teacher does to find out how successful the work is: …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………… XX APPENDIX 6: The description of the classroom observation sheets No Kind Pairwork Pairwork Groupwork Groupwork Pairwork Pairwork Pairwork XXI Pairwork Pairwork 10 Pairwork 11 Groupwork 12 Pairwork XXII XXIII 13 Pairwork 14 Pairwork 15 Groupwork 16 Pairwork 17 Pairwork 18 Pairwork 19 Pairwork XXIV 20 Pairwork 21 Pairwork 22 Pairwork 23 Pairwork 24 Pairwork 25 Pairwork 26 Pairwork XXV 27 Groupwork 28 Groupwork 29 Groupwork 30 Groupwork ... at Pho Yen High School in Thai Nguyen Aims of study The study is aimed at:  Investigating the use of pairwork at Pho Yen High School- a school located in Pho Yen district, Thai Nguyen province. .. achieve a scope and range of communication unimaginable even 20 years ago” 1.1.2 Communicative Language Teaching 1.1.2.1 Nature of Communicative Language Teaching Communicative Language Teaching means... some information about the Asian Games Then teacher asked students to open the book and look at the situation in Task : There is a lot of information about the Asian Games Look at this, ask and