The effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in 2nd year speaking classes in honours program

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER THE EFFECTS OF GROUP WORK ORGANIZATION ON ENHANCING STUDENT INTERACTION IN 2ND YEAR SPEAKING CLASSES IN HONOURS PROGRAM Supervisor: Lục Đình Quang, M.A Student: Nguyễn Mai Quỳnh Trang Course: QH2013.F1.E2 HÀ NỘI – 2017 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VIỆC TỔ CHỨC NHÓM LÊN SỰ TƯƠNG TÁC GIỮA SINH VIÊN TRONG LỚP HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI NĂM HAI HỆ CHẤT LƯỢNG CAO Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Lục Đình Quang, M.A Sinh viên: Nguyễn Mai Quỳnh Trang Khóa: QH2013.F1.E2 HÀ NỘI – 2017 ACCEPTANCE I hereby state that I: Nguyen Mai Quynh Trang, QH2013.E2, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (programme) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mr Luc Dinh Quang for his uncountable support, guidance, and patience Without your help and knowledge, it would be extremely difficult for me to come this far I would like to express special thanks to fifty-two students and three teachers who participated in this research Without them, this study cannot be completed I would like to express many thanks to my family and friends You always support and encourage me to continue until the end i ABSTRACT Communicative language teaching and cooperative learning have been widely applied for better teaching and learning results Group work, in the framework of CLT and cooperative learning, provides numerous benefits Therefore, it is important for teachers to perform a well-organized group work activity Group work organization is undeniably a crucial part in every group activity It affects the application of group activities, group interaction, student engagement as well as speaking performances Acknowledging its impact, this study aims to investigate both teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards group work organization on enhancing student interaction as well as teachers’ perceptions of its difficulties and effectiveness Fifty-two students and three teachers in three speaking classes from Honors Program in ULIS participated in the research They were asked to complete questionnaires and participate in short interviews Also, observations were later employed to guarantee for better interpretation of the results Through the application of the study, the researcher found out that teachers and students all acknowledged the importance of group work organization on student interaction in speaking classes Most students appeared to participate vigorously in speaking activities thanks to the use of group work in general Nevertheless, when being asked about the effects on student speaking performance, mixed answers were received as students felt confused judging their own performance Teachers, with years of experience, found it easier to evaluate students speaking performance ii TABLE OF CONTENT Page Acknowledgements i Abstract ii List of figures vi List of tables vii List of abbreviations .viii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study .1 1.2 Aims and objectives of the research .2 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Organization Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking skill 2.1.1 The importance of speaking skill 2.1.2 Communicative language teaching method 2.2 Student interaction in speaking English 2.2.1 Definition of interaction 2.2.2 Definition of student interaction 2.2.3 Relation between group work and student interaction in speaking 2.3 Group work organization in cooperative learning 2.3.1 Group work in cooperative learning .9 2.3.1.1 Advantages of group work .9 2.3.1.2 Problems of group work .10 2.3.2 Group work organization 11 2.3.2.1 Grouping method 12 iii 2.3.2.2 Seating arrangements 13 2.3.2.3 Types of tasks .16 2.3.2.4 Roles .14 2.3.2.4.1 Teachers’ roles 14 2.3.2.4.2 Students’ roles 14 2.4 The effects of group work organization on student interaction in speaking 15 2.4.1 Effects on student encouragement 15 2.4.2 Effects on students achievements .15 2.5 Related studies 16 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY .17 3.1 Selection of participants .17 3.2 Data collection instruments 17 3.2.1 Questionnaires 17 3.2.2 Interviews 19 3.2.3 Observations .19 3.3 Data collection procedures 20 3.4 Data analysis 21 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .23 4.1 Research question 23 4.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards the effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking class 23 4.1.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards the effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking class 31 4.1.3 Discussion 40 4.2 Research question 43 4.3 Research question 44 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 45 5.1 Summary of the findings 45 5.2 Implication 46 iv 5.3 Limitations 47 5.4 Suggestions 47 References .49 Appendix 1: Students’ questionnaires 54 Appendix 2: Teachers’ questionnaires 57 Appendix 3: Interview questions 60 Appendix 4: Interview transcription .61 Appendix 5: Observation .64 Appendix 6: Observation .66 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Long’s model of the relationship between type of conversational tasks and language acquisition Figure 2: Students rearrange their tables Figure 3: A and B turn to face C and D Figure 4: Students’ opinions about the role of classroom speaking practices Figure 5: Problems students face in speaking classes Figure 6: Students’ opinions about the role of student interaction in speaking classes Figure 7: Students’ talking time with their classmates in speaking classes Figure 8: Students’ opinions about the role of group work activities in speaking classes Figure 9: Students’ opinions about the role of group work organization in enhancing student interaction in speaking classes Figure 10: Teachers’ opinions about the role of student interaction in speaking classes Figure 11: Time spent on student interaction by teachers in speaking classes Figure 12: Teachers’ opinions about the role of group work in speaking classes Figure 13: Teachers’ opinions about the role of group work organization in enhancing student interaction in speaking classes Figure 14: Teachers’ grouping method in speaking classes Figure 15: Teachers’ opinions about the most appropriate number of member for an effective group in speaking classes Figure 16: Teachers’ opinions about the role of seating arrangements in speaking classes Figure 17: Teachers’ changing students’ seats frequency in speaking classes Figure 18: Teachers’ choice of tasks Figure 19: Teachers’ opinions about their responsibilities in group work activities vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students’ opinions about group work organization in speaking classes Table 2: Students’ opinions about the effects of group work organization in enhancing student interaction in speaking classes Table 3: Teachers’ opinions about the advantages of group work organization on promoting student interaction in speaking classes Table 4: Reasons for a group activity’s success in teachers’ point of views Table 5: Reasons for a group activity’s failure in teachers’ point of views vii McGreal, R (1989) Coping with large classes English Teaching Fortan, 27(2): 1719 Meteetham, P (2001) Case study of cooperative learning by using jigsaw technique with second-year English major students at Naresuan University (M.A Thesis, Mahidol University) Mishra, S., & Oliver, R (1998) Secondary school ESL learners’ perceptions of pair work in Australian classrooms TESOL in Context, 8(2), 19–23 Naegle, P (2002) The New Teacher’s Complete Sourcebook USA: Scholastic Professional Book Nguyen, D N H (2007) Teaching English through songs to children from to 10 years of age at Han Thuyen primary school Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies: unpublished Nunan, D (2004) An Introduction to Task Based Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (2004) Task-Based Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Pica, T (1994) Research on negotiation: What does it reveal about second-language learning conditions, processes, and outcomes? Language Learning, 44, 493– 527 Pica, T., & Doughty, C (1985b) The role of group work in classroom second language acquisition Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7(2), 233-248 Pinter, A (2006) Teaching young Language Learners Oxford: Oxford University Press Polley, E.K (2007) Learner perceptions of small group and pair work in the ESL classroom: Implications for conditions in second language acquisition (Unpublished master’s thesis) University of Texas, Arlington Reigel, D (2008) Positive feedback in pair work and its association with ESL course level promotion TESOL Quarterly, 42(1), 79-98 Soo, K S., & Bonk, C J (1998) Interaction: What does it mean in online distance education? Paper presented at the Ed-Media & Ed-Telecom 98 52 Standford Medicine Interactive Learning Initiatives Interactive learning Retrieved December 18, 2016 from http://smili.stanford.edu/interactivelearning/index.html Steinberg, S (2007) An introduction to communicate studies South Africa: Juta & Co, Ltd Retrieved January 20, 2017 from http://books.google.com Swain, M (2000) The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue In Lantolf (Ed.) Socio cultural Theory and Second Language Learning (pp 98-113) Oxford University Press Taous, B (2013) The role of classroom interaction in improving students’ speaking skill (Masteral dissertation, Mohammed Kheider University of Biskra, 2013) Retrieved from http://dspace.univbiskra.dz:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/4807/1/memoire.pdf Tuan, N.H., & Mai, T.N (2015) Factors Affecting Students’ Speaking Performance at LE Thanh High School Asian Journal of Educational Research Vol No.2, 2015 Tuan, T A., & Neomy, S (2007) Investigating group planning in preparation for oral presentations in an EFL class in Vietnam Regional Language Centre Journal, 38(1), 104-124 53 APPENDIX 1: STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRES I am Nguyen Mai Quynh Trang from class 13E2, FELTE, ULIS, VNU I am conducting a research for my graduation paper on “The effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in 2nd year speaking classes at FELTE, ULIS, VNU” This survey will help me have more in-depth information on the research as well as its reliability I am extremely grateful for your cooperation It is confirmed that your information will be strictly kept confidential Your name: Class: Part I: Speaking skill in English as Foreign Language Classes In your opinion, the role of classroom speaking practice is A Very important B Important C Quite important D Unimportant What problems you often have in speaking classes? For this question, you can choose more than option A Little time for practicing speaking in classes B Unfamiliar topics and activities C Shyness when speaking in front of classes or with teachers D Others (please specify): Part II: Student interaction in speaking classes In your classes, you spend time practice speaking with your friends A Always B Often C Sometimes D Never In your opinion, the role of student interaction in learning speaking skill is A Very important B Important C Quite important D Unimportant Part III: Group work activities in teaching speaking English In your speaking classes, you have group work activities 54 A Always B Often C Sometimes D Never In your opinion, the role of group work in learning speaking skill is A Very important B Important C Quite important D Unimportant In your opinion, the role of group work organization in enhancing student interaction speaking class is A Very important B Important C Quite important D Unimportant In part IV, please read the following statements and tick the column which is appropriate in your opinion in your speaking classes (SA - Strongly Agree, A - Agree, DK - Don’t Know, D - Disagree, SD - Strongly disagree) Statements Students are often divided into groups by their teachers Students are not required to change their seats when working in groups 10 Students are interested in activities and topics provided by their teachers 11 Students are often let to take control of group work activities while their teachers are facilitators SA A DK D SD Part IV: The effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking classes 55 In part V, please read the following statements and tick the column which is appropriate in your opinion in your speaking classes (SA - Strongly Agree, A - Agree, DK - Don’t Know, D - Disagree, SD - Strongly disagree) Statements 12 Students feel more engaged in group work activities 13 Students feel confident when speaking in groups 14 Students think that their speaking performance is better when working in groups SA A This is the end of the survey Thank you so much for your participation! 56 DK D SD APPENDIX 2: TEACHERS’ QUESTIONNAIRES I am Nguyen Mai Quynh Trang from class 13E2, FELTE, ULIS, VNU I am conducting a research for my graduation paper on “The effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in 2nd year speaking classes at FELTE, ULIS, VNU” This survey will help me have more in-depth information on the research as well as its reliability I am extremely grateful for your cooperation It is confirmed that your information will be strictly kept confidential Your name: Part I: Personal information Your teaching experience: A Less than years B - years C - years D Over years Your number of English speaking lessons per week: Part II: Student interaction in English speaking classes In your opinion, the role of student interaction in speaking classes is A Very important B Important C Quite important D Unimportant In your speaking classes, you let your students A Work with you all the time B Work with you most of the time, and sometimes work in pairs or groups C Work in groups most of the time D Others (please specify): Part III: Group work activities in teaching speaking English In your opinion, the role of group work on enhancing student interaction in speaking classes is A Very important B Important C Quite important D Unimportant In your opinion, the role of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking classes is A Very important B Important 57 C Quite important D Unimportant In your speaking classes, how groups are often formed? For this question, you can choose more than option A Based on students’ seats B Based on students’ levels C Based on students’ numbers, etc D Based on students’ choices E Randomly F Others (please specify): In your opinion, which is the most appropriate number of an effective group? A - students B - students C - students D Over students In your class, you rearrange students’ seats in group activities A Always B Often C Sometimes D Never 10 In your speaking class, the role of searing arrangements in teaching English speaking is A Very important B Important C Quite important D Unimportant 11 In your class, the topic of speaking tasks for group activities is A Based on materials (textbooks, handouts) B Based on students’ interest C Randomly D Others (please specify): 12 When students work in groups, what you usually do? A Go around the class to observe and help students who are in need B Sit at the teacher’s table and observe C Go around the class and control the work flow of each group D Others (please specify): Part IV: The effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking classes In part IV, from Question to 3, you can choose more than option 58 13 In your opinion, what advantages does group work organization have on promoting student interaction in speaking classes? A Students have more chances to use the target language while working in groups B Students are more involved in the lessons C Students feel more confident while speaking with their group mates D Students can correct and receive feedback on each other’s performance E Students are provided with more input and output from their friends F Students have better speaking performance G Others (please specify): 14 If a group activity works effectively, the reason(s) for the success is(are) based on A Effective grouping method B Appropriate and interesting tasks C Your students’ interest in working in groups D Your students’ proficiency E Effective class management F Appropriate seating arrangements for group activities G Others (please specify): 15 If a group activity fails, the reason(s) for this failure result(s) from A Troubles in grouping process B Poor choice of tasks for group activities C Students’ dislike for working in groups D Students’ proficiency E Ineffective class management F Inappropriate seating arrangements for group activities G Others (please specify): This is the end of the survey Thank you so much for your participation! 59 APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Question 1: What difficulties you face when organizing group activities that enhance student interaction within the preparation steps? Question 2: In order to organize a group activity that enhances student interaction in speaking classes, which type of group organization you find the most effective? 60 APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION Following in the translation version of the interview with the first teacher T1 The other interviewee’s transcript is available at request Good afternoon, my name is Nguyen Mai Quynh Trang Now I am conducting a study on “The effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in 2nd speaking classes in Fast-track Program, FELTE, ULIS” I know that you often apply group work activities for speaking practice in class Group work organization such as grouping method and types of tasks are common and important for any group activities As a result, I want to conduct an interview with you on the effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking classes Q1: What difficulties you face when organizing group activities that enhance student interaction within the preparation steps? A1: I think one of the biggest difficulties for me is to choose appropriate, interesting, meaningful and beneficial topics for discussion or a task for students to work on Also, it is about the interest of students Some may like the topics I give them, but some may not So, I try to vary the topics each time I go to class Sometimes the topics are quite controversial but I try to touch on students who are quite special, who like something different Also, in the CLC classes, I think the class is not very convenient for group work However, it is not something to hinder We can easily rearrange the class and it is quite comfortable for student to work in smaller or bigger groups So I try to not keep the same seat or setting every time I go to class Furthermore, it is very hard to balance among all the groups and among all the members of the class So I often have to use lucky draw to choose the presenter, to choose the groups all the time Q2: Do these mentioned difficulties affect the quality of your group activities? 61 A2: I don’t really think they affect the quality of my class However, it takes me a lot of time to think of how to deal with them Sometimes I reflect the classes I have taught I see that maybe one day the topic of discussion or the topic of the whole class is not interesting and meaningful enough, it is just superficial The students will not have very in-depth discussion about it I really want to dig deep to each of the topics or the problem I give to them Also, it just takes more time to figure out in general what the teacher should to to gain students’ interest and to involve them in all the activities they bring to class Also, regarding types of tasks, I also care about the authenticity of the task I often call it the authentic task It also refers to the meaning of tasks of all the activities If I something in my class, will it help anything in real lives Moreover, students now not go to class eager to learn They want something to entertain them, they want good feelings, they want prices and they want rewarding Therefore, the teacher has to figure out some ways to approach so that can trigger students and enforce them to work Q3: In order to organize a group activity that can enhance student interaction in speaking classes, which type of group organization you use the most? A3: If I have to choose the most important factor, then I would probably choose types of tasks I still think the types of tasks are important What types of tasks you give students is important Is this interesting enough, is this beneficial and meaningful enough? Can you show them how and what they can achieve after class is important If you just give them a topic to discuss in groups, they will feel bored immediately But this is what I often in most my classes, not just speaking and listening practice In all the speaking activities I often do, I divide students in groups randomly, about to 5, or even students a group I gave out the task and instructions Keep it short and simple Make sure that everyone know clearly about the time and the rules Then, I let them talk for about 20 to 30 minutes You know time flies very fast Also, I have to warn them again and again about the time limit 62 And then, I often circulate the class, go around and help if everyone needs I often go around and sometimes kneel down to talk to them They will not feel the power from the teacher but a friendly help from someone What I often next is to mingle them again Maybe I will ask some of them to summarize the report or the results of their group discussion or to present the result they have come up with Here is what I often do, I will group them up again, pick one representative in each group and form a new group In the new groups, they will act as public speaker presenting something like Ted Talk They have to stand up in front of the other members and act like they are real public speaker They really like the activity and it brings more pressure 63 APPENDIX 5: OBSERVATION Class: 15E2 Activity Method of Applied How organization Discussion Grouping X - T divided groups method of 4-5 students - group outnumbered others (because late Ss came) Seating X - T asked Ss to sit in arrangements a circle to face each other Types of X - T asked Ss to tasks discuss what they prepared at home in class - The topic was travelling Roles X - T went around and asked Ss questions such as “What you think about ” or “What are you talking about”, etc - Ss controlled the contents of the group discussions Vocabulary Grouping X - T asked Ss to game method stand in two lines and faced each other 64 Effects - Ss actively engaged in the discussions - The groups, with most students, showed no effects due to its nature - Ss found it easier to interact when they could look at each other - The video Ss watched at home was quite difficult to understand - Ss felt motivated to express their ideas - Ss felt free to talk - T listened to Ss most of the time - T mostly focused on groups The last one with a large number of Ss spent half of their time socializing and doing unrelated work - Ss had different partner in each round - Ss worked with unfamiliar faces Seating arrangements X Types of tasks X Roles X - T made some small changes in pairs - All Ss stood in the middle of the class - Ss felt excited when they moved However, it was quite difficult for both T and Ss to move when they changed their place - T used new words - The activity was in the from handouts form of a game Ss who - Ss were asked to had most points had ask definitions and rewards at the end make sentences with - Ss felt excited to new words without participate looking at their handouts - T went around and - Ss felt free to talk and listened to check Ss expressed their opinions sentences as well as since their partner were meaning someone they knew 65 APPENDIX 6: OBSERVATION Class: 15E1 Activity Discussion Method of organization Grouping method Applied Seating arrangements X Types of tasks X Roles X X How Effects - T grouped - The heterogeneity was not 4-5 Ss in each ensured table - Ss knew each other before and some socialized instead of discussing - Also, some Ss did not discuss with others - All Ss in - Some Ss found it difficult to each groups interact as they could not look sat in the at their friends same table - Some Ss did not discuss - Discussion - There was no excitement with topics and interest in the activity from - Ss discuss because that was handouts their duty - No further - Ss did not actively explanations participate - T sat at the - Ss controlled their group T’s table and discussions observe - Some Ss did not discuss but - T asked T did not pay attention questions to see Ss’ progress 66 ... group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking class 23 4.1.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards the effects of group work organization on enhancing student interaction in speaking. .. of group work organization in enhancing student interaction in speaking classes Figure 10: Teachers’ opinions about the role of student interaction in speaking classes Figure 11: Time spent on. .. Students’ opinions about the effects of group work organization in enhancing student interaction in speaking classes Table 3: Teachers’ opinions about the advantages of group work organization