The use of group work activities for improving speaking skills of the first year students at thai nguyen college of mechanics and metallurgy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ĐOÀN THỊ MINH THÚY THE USE OF GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF MECHANICS AND METALLURGY Việc sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để cải thiện kỹ nói sinh viên năm thứ Trường Cao đẳng Cơ khí - Luyện Kim, Thái Nguyên M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HA NOI – 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ĐOÀN THỊ MINH THÚY THE USE OF GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF MECHANICS AND METALLURGY Việc sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để cải thiện kỹ nói sinh viên năm thứ Trường Cao đẳng Cơ khí - Luyện Kim, Thái Nguyên M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR : VĂN THỊ THANH BÌNH, M.Ed HA NOI – 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration Acknowledgements Abstract List of abbreviations List of figures and tables Table of contents PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 Speaking skill and teaching speaking skill 1.1.1 Definitions of speaking 1.1.2 Teaching and learning speaking skill 1.2 Group work in a speaking lesson 1.2.1 Definitions of group work 1.2.2 Types of group work 1.2.3 The advantages and disadvantages of using group work 1.2.3.1 Advantages 1.2.3.2 Disadvantages 1.2.4 Group size 1.2.5 The role of the teacher and the role of each student in group work activities iv 1.2.5.1 The role of the teacher 1.2.5.2 The role of each student in group work activities 1.2.6 Some common activities for group work 1.2.7 How to design group work activities effectively 1.2.7.1 Forming students in groups 1.2.7.2 Preparing for students to work in group 1.2.7.3 Monitoring group work activities 1.2.7.4 Ending group work activities 1.3 Summary Chapter 2: Research methodology 2.1 Design and methodology 2.1.1 The setting of the study 2.1.2 Data collection instrument 2.1.3 The participants 2.1.3.1 The teachers 2.1.3.2 The students 2.2 Preliminary results 2.2.1 Student survey 2.2.1.1 Students’ opinions on speaking skill 2.2.1.2 Students’ opinions on learning speaking skills in group work 2.2.1.3 Students’ appreciation of the use of group work in the speaking class 2.2.1.4 Difficulties the students have had when working in group work 2.2.1.5 Students’ desire for the better group work 2.2.2 Teacher survey 2.2.2.1 Teachers’ opinions on teaching speaking skill 2.2.2.2 Teachers’ opinions on the use of group work to teaching speaking skill 2.2.2.3 How the teachers use group work in their current speaking class v 2.2.2.4 Difficulties faced by the teachers when applying group work in the speaking class 2.2.2.5 Teachers’ solutions to overcome their difficulties Chapter 3: Findings and recommendations 3.1 Findings 3.1.1 How much group work was used 3.1.2 Problems in applying group work 3.1.2.1 Students’ problems 3.1.2.2 Teachers’ problems 3.1.2.3 Problems concerning classroom conditions 3.2 Recommendations 3.2.1 Concerning the students 3.2.2 Concerning the teachers 3.2.3 For the administrator PART 3: CONCLUSION Conclusions Limitations of the study Suggestions for futher study REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students Appendix 2: Questionnaire for teachers vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CMM: College of Mechanics and Metallurgy ESP: English for Special Purposes ESL: English Foreign Language CLT: Communicative Language Teaching M.A : Master Degree LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Charts Chart 1: Students’ assessment for the teachers’ frequent use of group work Chart 2: Student’ appreciation of their participation in group work Chart 3: The frequency of difficulties Chart 4: Factors causing difficulties Chart : Ways students wanted teachers to put them in group Chart 6: Activities students wished teachers to select for group work Chart 7: Steps students expect teacher to follow in organizing group work Chart 8: Ways teacher often used to group students Chart 9: Activities teachers often selected for group work Chart 10: Steps teacher followed in organizing group work Chart 11: Things the teachers often when the students work in groups Chart 12: Teachers’ solutions to overcome their obstacles Tables Table 1: Students’ opinions on the importance of speaking skill Table 2: Students’ opinions on learning speaking skills in group work Table 3: Students’ appreciation of group work for the benefit of speaking skill Table 4: Teachers’ opinion on teaching speaking skill Table 5: Teachers’ opinions on the use of group work to teaching speaking skill Table 6: The ways teachers prepared and the stages teachers used for group work Table 7: Difficulties faced by the teachers when applying group work in the speaking class PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study Today, English has become an international language It is spoken as a second language and an official language in many countries, and millions of people speak English as a foreign language Besides, English is considered the medium of communication in many fields such as science, technology, aviation, internet, commerce, and so on Therefore learning and teaching English are getting more and more important to non-native nations of English, Vietnam is not an exception In Vietnam, English has been used more and more widely, and it has become the most popular foreign language in the country Thus, people have a great concern about learning English As a result, English is a compulsory subject at schools and colleges, and the number of ordinary people learning English nowadays is also on the rise To keep pace with the demand of English usage in our society, learners' communicative competence as well as learner-centered learning are the prefered of approaches to foreign language teaching today However, for a long time, the teaching of English at The College of Mechanics and Mettalurgy (CMM) was performed with traditional teaching methods Much attention is paid to grammatical competence whereas other aspects of language learning such as communicative competence not receive enough attention As a result, though their goal of learning a foreign language is to communicate in that language, many Vietnamese students still find it challenging when talking to, not to mention communicating successfully with English speaking people As a teacher of English at CMM, I am aware of the importance of helping students become communicators of English, and one of the most effective ways that I have to used to enhance my students' speaking ability is to use group work activities in teaching It is my observation that these activities created more chances for students to communicate with one another in the medium of English Morever, students often appeared less anxious when they worked in groups For the above reason, the topic of the use of group work activities for improving speaking skills of the first year students at CMM was chosen for this thesis in the hope to study whether group work really help students improve their spoken English Aims of the study The study is aimed at investigating to clarify how group work is used in the speaking class of the 1st year students at CMM To be specific, the objectives of the study are : To clarify students’ opinions of the use of group work activities in the speaking class - To find the factors that influence the teachers in their application of group work in the speaking class of the 1st year students at CMM - To suggest practical recommendations for the possibility of group work in the speaking class of the 1st year students at CMM Scope of the study To improve speaking skill of the 1st year students at CMM, the researcher intends to investigate the current situation of using group work in the speaking class of the st year students at CMM and then making some suggestions for improvement it The study was carried out with the participation of 70 first-year students and teachers of English Research questions This study is implemented to find answers to the following research questions: What the students think of the use of group work activities in the speaking class of the first year students at CMM? What facilitates and hinders the teachers from using group work in the speaking class at CMM ? What suggestions for improvement should be used to make group work activities successful in speaking class of the first year students at CMM? Methods of the study In order to examine the situation of the study, this research used questionnaires The data collected from the questionnaires (both for students and teachers), will be analyzed and generalized Design of the study The study has three main parts as follows: Part 1: Introduction This part introduces the rationale, the aims, the scope and the design of the study Part 2: Development This part consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: Literature review Chapter 2: Research methodology Chapter 3: Findings and recommendations Part 3: Conclusion This part summaries all the major findings and suggestions The limitations of the study and recommendations for the further studies are also include in this part PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Speaking skill and teaching speaking skill 1.1.1 Definitions of speaking There are various definitions of speaking and the popular acceptance comes from Jones, R (1989:86) who defines speaking as “Speaking is a form of communication, so it is important that what you say conveyed in the most effective way.” Speaking is one of the basic skills that must be mastered by students since it is very important for them to communicate in the class or outside the class They must practice it especially in learning teaching in order to be fluent, without an ability to speak, it would be impossible to have a natural communication among people Brown and Yule (1989:14) state in their book “Speaking is to express the needs request, information, service, etc.” The speakers say a word to the listener not only to express what in their mind but also to express what they need Most people might spend their everyday life communicating with others Bygate (1987) claims that "speaking is a skill which deserves attention as much as the literary skills in both native and foreign languages" When students speak in a confident and comfortable way, they can interact better in real daily situations Because of this, it is necessary to encourage the development of the students' ability of fluency in spoken English Developing fluency implies taking risks by using language in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere-an atmosphere of trust and support Speaking fluently, of course, involves speaking easily and appropriately with others 1.1.2 Teaching and learning speaking skill People use oral language as their most means of communication-all people have developed a form of oral language Skill and fluency in speaking have dramatic effects upon life in general The recent emphasis on communication has focused particular attention on ways of promoting speaking skills This is a question of developing not only language competence but also language use Speaking activities them kept silent or spoke Vietnamese and even talked about the other topics with other groups They did not actively take part in the group work and some even refused to group work at home and were ready to receive zero if they did not have to The second problem is students' low English proficiency level In fact, there were students who had serious problems of low English proficiency 3.1.2.2 Teachers’ problems For the teachers, there were also two main obstacles which prevented them from applying the group work The first thing was that, the teachers in this college were too overloaded with their teaching hours As said above, every week, one teacher had to teach many hours (20 to 24 hours a week) so they had little time for the group work preparation The second difficulty caused by the teachers was teachers' lack of training in group work methodology Some teachers, especially the young ones, complained about their knowledge and experiences of teaching speaking methodology using group work activities When they had any problems in using group work activities, they had to solve themselves or sometimes they listened to colleagues' experience They wished to be trained more extensively on group work methodology They said that if they were trained more this method, they could teach better 3.1.2.3 Problems concerning classroom conditions The problem of big class sizes was a major problem Most class sizes of students at CMM about 60 or 70 students In large classes, students seemed to get out of control easily They made a lot of noise In addition, the students got fewer opportunities to work, to learn and to benefit from teachers' help Some teacher felt that they lose control over the whole class so the task of teaching speaking skills in large classes can sometimes be boring The problem of multi-level classes was also an important obstacle in using group work in the speaking class Students of better English proficiency felt reluctant to 40 work with students of worse English proficiency so it was difficult for teachers to design the suitable lesson to meet the communicative needs of every student Last but not least, a lack of necessary facilities for group work appliance was consider the other big problem No overhead projectors, no language labs and low quality cassette player etc made teachers use group work activities not effectively 3.2 Recommendations To make the group work more effective, there must be a lot of changes among the students, the teachers as well as the administrators 3.2.1 Concerning the students To limit the negative influence of the students’ difficulties, we need to pay attention to their English proficiency and their learning habits For the students’ English proficiency, firstly, they can register to take part in the English speaking club or other activities to improve their speaking skill These activities not only help them to practice to be more fluent in their speaking skill but more confident as well Secondly, the students should form a habit of speaking only English in the speaking lessons Thirdly but more importantly, the students should turn to the teachers for advice about their problems so that their teacher can help to overcome their difficulties This is one of the best ways to be successful For the learning habits, students must know they are the centre of the learning process and the result of their learning only depends on them They must try hard to overcome the difficulty of the oral test and take actively part in the activities set by the teachers in class activities Despite the heavy load of the subject, the students should find themselves the suitable way to learn and set the goal to achieve or else they will fail and be kept behind It has the same meaning with the students having to adapt to the current situation of the college 3.2.2 Concerning the teachers We need to pay attention to their heavy loads and lack of training in group work methodology 41 For the heavy workload, most of the teachers at CMM had to teach from 20 to 24 hours a week so some teachers admitted that they rarely planned their group work activities before their classes because they had too little time In order to solve this problem, the Administrators of the Faculty should provide enough teachers of English to reduce the teachers' heavy workload For the lack of training in group work techniques, the teachers themselves need to make more effort to learn by themselves There should be more chances for teachers to participate in professional dialogue with their colleagues to share the common difficulties, they could give useful and valuable advice In addition, teachers should take part in: workshop, seminars, conferences to improve their teaching method 3.2.3 For the administrator To solve the problems of both the students and the teacher, there must be intensive cooperation of the administrator The administrator should improve conditions for teaching and learning This improvement will help enhancing the quality of education by reducing class size, improving the teaching and learning facilities Last but not least, the administrator should organize workshops about the methods with participating of experts 42 PART 3: CONCLUSION Conclusions It is important for English teachers to know that improving English speaking skills of the first year students is necessary Therefore, using different activities to encourage them to be interested English in general and help them to have confidence to communicate in English in particular With this above aim, this study focuses on using group work activities in the speaking class of the first year students The results of the study of using group work activities in the speaking class of the first year students can be extracted briefly as follows: Concerning the students, the advantages of group work activities are to maximize the opportunities for the students to engage in oral practice and communication, to help them to realize that they can work independently of the teachers, to help them a lot in reducing their anxiety, increasing their confidence in speaking English and to increase their participation and interest in the speaking class Concerning the teachers, the advantages of the group work activities are to free himself/ herself from being “an expert who always lectures", to provide them more opportunities to work with groups who may need extra attention and to help them make speaking lessons varied in forms of group work activities Although the use of the group work activities is very often in the speaking lesson of the first year students at CMM, the effectiveness of that is not very high There are still some problems in teachers, students and classroom conditions Students are low level of English proficiency and passive learning habit and they often use Vietnamese during group work While, teachers have heavy teaching load and they lack of training in group work methodology Classroom conditions are poor As a result, there may be some recommendations for these above problems: For students, they should know that they are self-centered in their learning while their teacher works as a consultant or a supervisor in the classroom Besides, they also should change their passive learning habit Changes need derive in their 43 attitudes and motivation toward English In the classroom, they should take opportunities to speak English, not use mother tongue If they have any problems, the teacher will help them For the teachers, to reduce the use of mother tongue, the teachers may encourage students to speak in English as much as possible by giving them good marks if they can express their own ideas in English or fining anyone who speaks Vietnamese With timid students, the teachers should encourage them and praise them when they have good ideas or correct answers to motivate them in study As regard the heavy load, the teachers should ask the administrator at CMM to reduce their heavy workloads When applying group work activities, the teachers should share their experiences with each other, especially the young teachers In this way, they can have a lot of valuable advices and better They also should take part in specific courses to improve their teaching methods For the administrator, they need to invest much more money in improving the quality of education, such as reducing class sizes and improving the teaching and learning facilities Limitations of the study Although the study was carried out to the best of the researcher’s effort, limitations are unavoiable In this study, the researcher only intended to investigate the current situation of using group work in the speaking class of the first year students at CMM and then to make some suggestions for improvement However, they are only subjective suggestions, and were not tested The students participating in the research doing the first year rather than students of all years in all faculties so their opinions about using the group work in the speaking class might not be representatives of all the students at CMM Suggestions for further study As no single research design is all-inclusive and complete, this study can not cover everything in its field of study Many untouched issues will be interesting topics for further research such as strategies for managing group work activities in large 44 classes, strategies for involving students in group work activities or how to help all the students at CMM and Vietnamese students as well group work effectively 45 REFERENCES Brown, G & Yule, G (1989) Teaching the Spoken Language Cambridge University Press Byrne, D (1896) Teaching Oral English Oxford: Longman Byrne, D & Rixson, S (1979) Communicative Games NFER Nelson Press Cohen, E ( 1986) Designing Group; Strategies for the Cooperative Classroom Teachers College Press Davis, B.G.(1993) Tools for Teaching Jossey Bass Publishers Doff, A.(1988), Teach English- A training course for Teachers, Cambridge University Press Duong, L.( 2006), An investigation into the use of pair and group work in the speaking class of 1st year students at Hanoi Open University, Faculty of Tourism, Unpublished M.A Thesis Gillham, B (2000), Developing a Questionnaire, London and New York, Continuum Gillham, B (2000), The research Interview, London and New York, Continuum 10 Harmer, J (1999), The Practice of ELT, Longman 11 Honeyfield, J (1991), The formation of Small groups in the Language Classroom, Guidelines- A periodical for Classroom language teacher, Vol.13 No.1, June 1991, SEMEO Regional language center 12 Hurd, S (2000) Using Student Team in the Classroom; A Faculty Guide Anker Boston Publishing 13 I- Jung, C (2004, April), Utilizing group work effectively in the English language classroom, TESL reporter, 37(1), 1-7 14 Jaques, F (1984) Learning in Groups Gulf Publishing Huston 15 Jones, R (1989) Planning an Oral Language Programme Melbourne Press 16 Linh, L (2008), A study on improving speaking skill of the first year students of pre intermediate level at FPT university through group work, Unpublished M.A Thesis 17 Metcalfe, S (1959) Building A Speech The Harcourt Press 18 Ngoh, S (1991) Groupwork, Small groupwork in the classroom, Guidelines- A periodical for Classroom language teachers, Vol.13, No.1 June 1991, SEMEO Regional Language Center 19 Ruben, B.D (1998) Communication and Human Behavior New York Mark Milan 46 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey questionnaire is designed for study purposes only Your faithful answers to the questions are very important to the success of the study Thank you very much for your cooperation! Please circle the most appropriate answers for you! Why you learn speaking skill? You can tick more than one answer: a English speaking is compulsory at your college b You just want to pass the oral exam c Speaking is necessary for your future job d You are interested in the speaking skill How important is speaking skill to you? a very important b rather important c little important d not at all important What the following types of speaking practice you like? (Please tick the appropriate column where the numbers indicate how much you like the way the speaking activity is orgnized: not at all, little, rather, very much) Individually In a small group With the whole class How often does your English teacher use group work in your speaking class? a Always b Often c Sometimes d Never How you work when working in a small group? a work with great interest b remain silent all the time I c chat with other group members about another topics d speak Vietnamese during discussion How much the group activities organized by the teachers in the speaking class help you in the following activities? (Please tick the appropriate column where the numbers indicate how much the group activities help you : (1: not at all, 2: little, 3: rather, 4: very) a speak more in English b feel more confident c give you more opportunities for exchanging ideas d learn from each other Do you have any difficulties when working in groups? a Yes, often b Yes, sometimes c Yes, but rarely d No, never What are the factors that cause the difficulties? a Teacher’s low proficiency and experience in English and methodology b The student’s low proficiency in English c The student’s passive learning style d Topics are not interesting e Others (please specify): ………………………………… Who you like to work with for group work? a The students of the same English proficiency b The students of the mixed English proficiency c The students of the same interest d Students sitting next to or near you e The students of the same age f The students of the same sex II g The students of opposite sex h Others (please specify): ………………………………… 10 What kind of activities you want to in groups? Put a tick next to the activities a Games f Projects b Role playing g Problem solving c Interviewing h Discussing d Information gap i Opinion exchange e Drama j Other 11 What you like your teacher to to facilitate group work activities? Please put a tick a To provide a promoting lead-in b To give clear instructions c To provide necessary vocabulary and functional language, and suggest the ideas d To minimize his/her talking time e Not to interrupt to corect when you are speaking f To create a competitive atmosphere g To give feedback, praise and encouragement h Others (please specify): ………………………………………………… III APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS This survey is designed for my research into the reality of using group work in the speaking class of the 1st year students at CMM Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated You can be confident that the data collected are only for the study purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation How much you like teaching speaking skill? a Very b Rather c Little d Not at all How often you use group work activities in your speaking class? a Always b Often c Sometimes d Never How would you rate your success with? a Very b Rather c Little d Not at all What is your opinion on the importance of group work? a Very important b Quite good c Both advantages and disadvantages d Not useful Please tick the benefits below of group work: a It increases the students’ speaking time b It promotes students’ independence and cooperation c It improves students’ motivation d Shy and passive students have more chance of expessing themselves e It creates exciting atmosphere as it lends itself to game activities f Students can learn from each other g It frees the teacher from his/her hard role of “an expert who always lectures” h It decreases the teacher speaking time i The teacher can relax or anything he/she wants j It kills time IV k Other (please specify): ………………………………………………… How you prepare for group work? a Totally follow the task in the textbook b Design the task in your own ways c Collaborate with other colleagues to outline a common teaching plan d Other (please specify): ………………………………………………… Which stages you often use for class management of group work? a Setting up (Organizing the group work and giving instructions) b Monitoring (Listening to the group work during activity and guiding/giving support Making notes) c Winding down (Bringing the activity to a close and providing feedback) d Other (please specify): ………………………………………………… How you often group your students? a Students of the same English proficiency level b Students of the mixed English proficiency level c Students of the same interests d Students sitting next to or near each other e Students of the same age f Students of the same sex g Students of the opposite sex h Let the students group themselves i Other (please specify): ………………………………………………… What kind of activities you often use for group work? Please circle: a Games f Projects b Role playing g Problem solving c Interviewing h Discussing d Information gap i Opinion exchange e Drama j Other V 10 What you often to make your speaking class with group work activities successful ? a Select the task carefully b Let the students choose the topics c Provide the language the students need for the task d Group the students cleverly e Give clear instructions f State the focus and objectives of the activity g Set a time limit h Go around monitoring students’ performance i Always provide feedback, praise and encourage the students j Do nothing i Other (please specify): ………………… 11 What you often when the students are working in group work? a Sit at the teachers's desk and observe b Go around the class and support c Praise and encourage students d Do nothing e Other (please specify): ………………… 12 How often you face difficulties in using group work in speaking class ? a Always b Often c Sometimes d Never 13 Please tick the difficulties you have experienced: a Too little time to prepare for group work b Lack of academic training in group work c Overload work d Lack of teaching experience e Few people with expertise to turn for advice f Feeling deficient to facilitate a communicative class g Multi-level classes VI h.Low student’s proficiency i Students resistance to class participation j Immovable seating arrangements k Lack of money for material and teaching aid development l Students use Vietnamese during group work m Students make so much noise n Other (please specify): ………………… 14 What solutions did you have to overcome these difficulties? a Tried to use different ways of impementing group work b Made the speaking tasks suitable to the student c Punished lazy students d Asked the administrator to facilitate classroom conditions e Others (please specify): ………………… VII ... when they worked in groups For the above reason, the topic of the use of group work activities for improving speaking skills of the first year students at CMM was chosen for this thesis in the. .. answers to the following research questions: What the students think of the use of group work activities in the speaking class of the first year students at CMM? What facilitates and hinders the teachers... influence the teachers in their application of group work in the speaking class of the 1st year students at CMM - To suggest practical recommendations for the possibility of group work in the speaking