luận văn thạc sĩ áp dụng các cấu trúc học hợp tác của kagan nhằm cải thiện kĩ năng nói cho học sinh lớp 11 tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở thái bình​ 1

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHAM THI NHUNG APPLYING KAGAN COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRUCTURES TO IMPROVE 11 TH GRADE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN THAI BINH (Áp dụng cấu trúc học hợp tác Kagan nhằm cải thiện kĩ nói cho học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thơng Thái Bình) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHAM THI NHUNG APPLYING KAGAN COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRUCTURES TO IMPROVE 11TH GRADE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN THAI BINH (Áp dụng cấu trúc học hợp tác Kagan nhằm cải thiện kĩ nói cho học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thông Thái Bình) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English teaching methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Ph.D Hanoi – 2020 DECLARATION I, Pham Thi Nhung, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Applying Kagan th cooperative learning structures to improve 11 grade students’ speaking skills at a high school in Thai Binh” is submitted for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi I also declare that this thesis is my own research and efforts and it has not been submitted for any other purposes Ha Noi, 2020 Pham Thi Nhung i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study would not been completed without the invaluable assistance and encouragement of many people for whom I am grateful I especially would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Dr Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, whose useful instructions and advice, as well as detail critical comments and encouragement have helped me a great deal from the beginning to the end of the thesis writing process I also would like to thank to the teachers and the staff of the Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies who have given me useful advice and favorable conditions for the completion of the thesis My sincere thanks go to all teachers of English and students in Me Linh high school who have wholeheartedly helped me much with enthusiastic contribution and cooperation I am really in debt to my beloved family, my friends who always support me and show great patience all the time in my life They all are my precious persons who make me keep moving forward At last, I realize that although I made my best effort, this thesis is still far from perfection Therefore, any constructive criticism and suggestions for the improvement of this thesis are highly appreciated Then, I really hope that this thesis is able to give contribution to the readers and useful for the teaching and learning process ii ABSTRACT The main objective of learning English is using English as a means of communication To achieve that objective, teachers can use appropriate techniques which match with the learners’ characteristics in teaching speaking Kagan cooperative learning structures (KCLS), a student-centered instructional approach, is believed to have the potential to encourage more interactions among students and maximize the improvement of each student’s learning process, thus have good effect on teaching in classroom That is the reason why in this action research project, KCLS was applied in the speaking lessons of a grade 11 class at a high school in Thai Binh with a view to improving the students’ speaking skills The findings from the data collected via questionnaire, teacher’ journals and speaking test scores showed great improvement in students’ speaking skills both in linguistic and paralinguistic features The students also have positive attitudes toward the use of KCLS in class This project provides recommendations to English teachers for implementing a cooperative learning approach when teaching of English speaking skills in the context of high school in Vietnam iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS KCLS: Kagan cooperative learning structures CL: Cooperative learning MLHS: Me Linh high school T: Teacher Ss: Students iv LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Table 1: Kagan Structure Functions 10 Table 2: The results of the pre-questionnaire 28 Table 3: The application of KCLS in speaking lessons 32 Chart 1: The Comparison between the Average Scores of Students’ Pre-test and Post-test in Terms of Fluency, Accuracy, Pronunciation, and Vocabulary .37 Table 4: The results of the post questionnaire 38 v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research 1.2 Research objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the research 1.5 Significance of the research 1.6 Structure of the research CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking 2.2 Teaching speaking 2.3 Kagan cooperative learning structures 2.4 Principles of Kagan cooperative learning structures 13 2.5 Advantages of Kagan cooperative learning structures .14 2.6 Role of the teacher in cooperative learning 15 2.7 Roles of students in cooperative learning 16 2.8 How is cooperative learning applied in Vietnam? 17 2.9 Summary 19 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 The context of the study 20 th 3.1.1 The 11 grade English program 20 3.1.2 The students at MLHS 21 3.1.3 The teachers at MLHS 21 3.2 Research method: Action research 22 3.3 Participants 24 3.4 Data collection techniques and instruments 25 3.4.1 Teacher’s journal 25 3.4.2 Questionnaire 25 vi 3.4.3 Tests 26 3.5 Data analysis 27 3.6 Research procedure 27 3.6.1 Planning 28 3.6.2 Action 32 3.6.3 Observation 33 3.6.4 Reflection 33 3.7 Summary 34 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .35 4.1 Data analysis 35 4.1.1 Analysis of the teacher’s journal 35 4.1.2 Analysis of speaking tests 36 4.1.3 Analysis of students’ post- questionnaire 38 4.2 Discussion of the findings 40 4.2.1 How can the use of Kagan cooperative learning structures in teaching th English speaking enhance Me Linh 11 grade students’ speaking skills? 41 4.2.2 What are the students’ opinions of Kagan cooperative learning structures? 41 4.3 Difficulties in KCLS application in speaking classes 42 4.4 Some cautions concerning KCLS application in speaking classes 45 4.5 Summary 47 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 48 5.1 Summary of the major findings 48 5.2 Implications 49 5.3 Limitations 50 5.4 Suggestions 51 REFERENCES 52 ANNEXES 56 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the research In order to be able to use any language, learners have to master language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing Although all four skills are equally important, the speaking skill could be seen as the leading skill during the language learning process As Nunan argues, to most people, mastering the art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second language, and success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the language (Nunan, 1991: 39) Therefore, developing learners’ speaking skill is of vital importance in language programs in general, and EFL/ESL programs in particular As a matter of fact, learning to speak a foreign language is often considered one of the most difficult for students to learn (Brown and Lee, 2015) When learning speaking, learners are expected to master several important elements, such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension These elements are very important in the communication because if they not master all the elements of speaking, the communication will not run very smoothly In addition, there are many factors that may affect students’ performance, for instance, the lack of opportunities for purposeful communication in meaningful situation Besides, class size and mixed ability class also reduce general learners’ motivation in acquiring EFL speaking skills Drawing on my experience as a teacher of English at a high school in Thai Binh for seven years, teaching and learning English still focus on grammar and vocabulary Therefore, both teachers and students not pay much attention to practicing speaking Consequently, there is a gap between the goals of the speaking lessons and what happens in the classroom The students still find it difficult to pronounce certain English words, and have limited English vocabulary Sometimes, they did not even understand the teacher’s instructions and were unconfident if they were asked to speak English Thus, dealing with the students’ problem of pronunciation is very necessary and urgent This is the responsibility of the students PART 3: Simulated situation (making and responding to suggestions, agreeing and disagreeing; making choices) Say slowly to both candidates: I’m going to describe a situation to you You are planning to go out with your classmates for a meal Decide together where you go to eat Explain why and discuss your opinions Here is a picture with some ideas to help you Hand over the picture sheet to the candidates Just think for a few seconds Pause I’ll say that again You are planning to go out with your classmates for a meal Decide together where you go to eat Explain why and discuss your opinions All right? Talk together Allow the candidates enough time to complete the task without intervention Prompt only if necessary Thank you That’s the end of the test XC XCI ANNEX C TEACHER’S JOURNAL Meeting 1: This was the first meeting to apply Round Robin, the students could not get used to the new method, so they got bored Moreover, the students lacked team work skills and their speaking skills were still poor, so they could not concentrate in the lesson and discuss their opinion with other members in the groups They sometimes did not pay attention to the lessons Sometime the students, especially the male ones teased and had jokes with friends because the learning atmosphere and activities did not motivate their eagerness to learn speaking English I felt that time needed to be taken out to deal with discipline issues, and if I didn't it right away I would be dealing with it continuously A strategy I used to deal with the behaviors was to stop the lesson and wait This usually got the students to stop and listen After the second or third incident, I simply stopped once more and discussed the fact that if we have to continue doing this we would be using up our activity time This was very frustrating to me, because I felt that having to spend time managing the students was taking time away from the real lesson at hand The use of media in the English teaching learning process was like the fresh air for the students The students were enthusiastic when I used computer and presented the materials using power points I became aware that the materials media were really needed in the process of teaching and learning Meeting 2: I used classroom English language and English routines during the teachinglearning process in order to motivate the students to speak English The students began familiar with some classroom English Some of the students were willing to listen and give response to the simple routines classroom English The students were still shy when showing up their expression but their chance to practice speaking improved as they had partner to practice with Since they worked in a group which meant they had more opportunity to get feedback from their friends, they felt more confident in answering the teacher’s questions There were some weaknesses in the activity Some students were playing during the sharing time They didn’t listen to their friends’ sharing I found difficulties to control these students since they sat in different groups to tell jokes instead of asking and giving the information In addition, the time management had to be XCII improved so that the main activity was longer I felt that I tried to speak above the students' voices during the first part of the lesson, and that I may have given them too much information to handle I was frustrated at the beginning of the lesson, but I slowly realized that I had to remain calm and instinctually deal with student reactions to the lesson I also had to be able to modify the lesson on the fly because of time constraints After going through today's lesson I felt a little better as to my ability to apply cooperative learning structured activities, and to attain adequate classroom management For the next lesson I planned to teach less and encourage the students to take an active role in the lesson itself I hope that this will sustain their interest Meeting 3: The classroom English was used in some ways such as in opening the lesson and greeting the students, explaining the materials, giving the instructions, giving feedback, and closing the meeting The regulation that the students had to use English when they want to ask permission to go to the toilet or borrow their friends’ kit also was effective The students had thus to use English or they would not get the permission Lack of time management occurred during the implementation of Corner It was the third meeting for me so that I felt a little bit clumsy and surprised at the class atmosphere especially when the students made a noise during the group work I got difficulty in controlling and observing them When I collected the students’ answers from each Corner and gave feedback to them, I discovered that only one group out of six had achieved a good sharing I had apparently put a little too much emphasis on the students’ performance This heightened my expectations of the students to a level they are not quite ready for yet I was aware of the pace I needed to maintain, and I knew that I needed to be a little more conscious of the students, and their experiences in regards to the activities I presented to them I had been focused on the lesson itself at times and had overlooked the real life student experiences that were occurring before me After three lessons, I have begun to see changes in myself, and in the way I approach various situations The greatest lesson I learned today is how NOT to take a lesson so personally This is much easier said than done For the next lesson I plan to review, repeat, and reflect! Meeting 4: XCIII Today's lesson flowed smoothly The students seemed a little more at ease and followed directions The difference with the previous meetings was that most of the students understood the expressions that were usually said by the teacher during the meeting without translation such as expressions for giving instructions and greeting the students The students were enthusiastic about joining a two stay two stray activity Besides, they easily understood the materials given and it also improved their confidence and ability in speaking The activity was quite noisy but the students enjoyed it very much However, during the lesson, most students asked meanings of some unfamiliar words The students faced the trouble when the teacher asked them to write down the works to help people in the group paper When they were required to the tasks, some weak students waited for their friends who completed the tasks to copy the answers The unplanned action, giving a quiz, successfully motivated the students to learn the materials They enjoyed competing with other groups It encouraged them to their best When working with friends, the students are able to learn from each other The students were more enthusiastic and interested in speaking They did not feel bored anymore Meeting 5: The finding of meeting signals that the students were enthusiastic in competing with other and becoming the winner I planned to give rewards in the hope that they would be more excited to give the best performance at class It was expected that rewards could encourage everybody to be active at the class The students’ participation in using English at class improved Most of them answered teacher’s questions in English Their participation was not only in answering greeting but also in stating their answer related to the materials Sometimes they did not pay attention to the lessons Sometime the students, especially the male ones kept teasing and joking with friends Some students still had problems in cooperating with their partners They could their section well individually, but when it came to working in the group, only the girls worked on well together to complete the task while most boys did not finish the whole task Only some boys completed the whole part, but they did them on their own without XCIV discussing with their team members This issue repeated each lesson; therefore, the teacher decided to turn the show up part into a competing game It meant the groups had the most correct details about Vietnamese TV contests within the time, they would be the winner and the loser team had to be punished This discipline turned out to have quite positive impact on the students Most students worked hard together, but there were or students doing nothing The reasons why that happened might be the group diffusion or the lack of teamwork skills In this lesson, both weak and good students remembered the lessons quite well They even could compare the information of each TV contest with their background knowledge Meeting 6: The biggest challenge of this lesson was the preparation The activity of the lesson was Inside-Outside circle To prepare for this, I had to divide students into three big groups which was time consuming This was one aspect of teaching that I always thought to account for The students enjoyed the activity as they could practice their speaking in relaxed atmosphere The class was crowded because everybody spoke to ask questions Most students spoke English except in a certain occasion when they spoke Vietnamese to clarify the meaning of the questions they did not understand This meeting’s topic was quite familiar to student’s life, so the students got interested The teacher assumed the vocab was easy for the students In fact, students found it a bit hard when they answer their friend’s question The teacher also had clear instructions for inside-outside circle activity to enable them to complete it Although students had problems in cooperating with their partners, the situation was improved more than that of the previous meetings This outcome was achieved partly because the teacher had known how to make the tasks easy enough for students, how to give the suitable discipline, how to make the activity fun and how to choose the appropriate activity and adapt it reasonably XCV ANNEX D Table 1: Scores of pre-test, post-test SS Fluency Pretest 3.5 6.5 4.5 3.5 6.5 6.5 5.5 4.5 6.5 5.5 6.5 5.5 5.5 5 7.5 4.5 3.5 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 XCVI 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Mean 4.5 6.5 6.5 7.5 4.5 6.5 3.5 5.45 score XCVII ANNEX E SPEAKING RUBRICS BY GALL, BORG AND GALL (2003, p 571) Range Fluency 10 The speakers speak very fluently in communication to perform the expected competence The speaker speaks fluently in communication to perform the expected competence, but there are natural hesitations The speaker speaks quite XCVIII fluently although there are hesitations which are not quite natural hesitations XCIX The speaker speaks quite fluently although there are often hesitations which are not quite natural C The speaker speaks does not quite fluently; sometimes he/she is impeded by language problems so that he/ she speaks rather slowly and hesitantly; sometimes those problems disrupt performance The speaker does not speak quite fluently; speak slowly and hesitantly; those problems disrupt the performance CI The speaker does not speak quite fluently; like repeating and searching for words so that he/she speaks hesitantly and sometimes pauses quite long; those problems strongly disrupt the performance The speaker speaks very slowly and discontinuously (like speaking per word with simple patterns) Even pauses very long in communication to perform the expected competency CII The speaker speaks very slowly and often discontinuously ( like speaking per word with simple patterns) Even suddenly stops The speaker communicates very difficultly; he/she speaks very slowly and always discontinuously even stops ANNEX G STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRES Pre- questionnaire This questionnaire is conducted with a view to finding out students’ difficulties when learning English speaking skills at Me Linh high school Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appropriated, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Below is a list of statements about difficulties when learning English speaking skills To what extent you agree or disagree with each statement Please put a tick (√) in the appropriate space provided Disagree Neutral Agree I don’t have enough vocabulary and grammar to express my ideas I lack motivation in speaking English with classmates I have limited chances to involve speaking activities I feel afraid of making mistakes and being criticized by classmates My teacher did not usually give clear instruction My teacher did not usually give English speaking communicative and interactive activities My teacher focuses on teaching grammar and vocabulary Some of better students dominate speaking English in class The topics for speaking in the textbook are not interesting 10 The class time for English speaking is limited 11 The assessment of speaking practice was not regularly applied CIII Post- questionnaire This questionnaire is conducted with a view to finding out students’ opinions to Kagan cooperative learning structures (KCLS) in English speaking classes at Me Linh high school Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appropriated, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Below is a list of statements about opinions to KCLS To what extent you agree or disagree with each statement Please put a tick (√) in the appropriate space provided Disagree I really enjoy learning English speaking through cooperative learning I think my English speaking class is interesting I feel free to speak English in my group I always try to finish my English speaking tasks on time I want to improve my English after watching my friend’ performance I would like to spend my time on English speaking as much as possible I am relaxed when I hard, challenging English speaking tasks in groups I make a point of trying not to speak to much in Vietnamese in speaking lessons I wish I could speak English like a native speaker CIV ... APPLYING KAGAN COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRUCTURES TO IMPROVE 11 TH GRADE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN THAI BINH (Áp dụng cấu trúc học hợp tác Kagan nhằm cải thiện kĩ nói cho học sinh lớp. .. nhằm cải thiện kĩ nói cho học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thơng Thái Bình) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English teaching methodology Code: 814 02 31. 01 Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Ph.D... to 11 grade students at Me Linh high school during ten weeks of the first term of the school-year of 2 018 -2 019 The speaking activities are selected and adapted from the text book “Tiếng Anh 11 ? ??