SKKN the effectiveness of using pair work and group work in speaking lessons for the 11TH form students

1 I INTRODUCTION RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Nowadays English has become more and more important part in Vietnam and it is an international language Therefore, it has been taught in Vietnam from primary schools to high schools as a compulsory subject In English teaching, the main objective is to prepare students for communication in the real world and it is very important for a learner to efficiently equip himself with four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, together with relatively sufficient background knowledge Among those skills, speaking is a crucial part of language learning The mastery of speaking skill in English is a priority for many second or foreign language learners The goal of education is currently focused on the development of dynamic, the creative and active of students enable them to identify and solve problems So the application of traditional methods - centered teachers - are not suitable for the development of education The innovation of teaching and learning method is affirming the advantages in the process of receiving lessons of students In fact, the last aim of learning foreign language is to communicate So in the period of learning, students don’t speak much, there is no effect in that period Foreign language teachers need to take advantages all chances to suggest students practising speaking more than other subjects Therefore, the foreign language period is very different from other subject periods Students are always willing to speak They speak a lot and understand what other people speak, they can reach the aims of learning foreign language With many years of experience in teaching English at Nguyen Quan Nho high school, I found that most students are lazy in giving ideas and answering the questions If the teachers apply traditional teaching methods in the lessons, students will be more and more passive in learning So, through the form pairs and groups can support forms of work or working class individual The training activities in pairs, two - way nature of the group, strengthening the exchange of information over the student or give the activities of communication practiced in class so students can communicate in confidence English To achieve this goal, teacher should study the content of each lesson in the textbook, study subjects and suitable students Besides, teacher with teaching experience of ourselves, observe, talk to friends and colleagues in and outside of schools to choose and organize students to work in pair and group for suitable lessons, with cognitive abilities of the children and attract their attention, giving the atmosphere more lively lessons, relieved stress to promote the initiative and creativity of students in acquiring knowledge Therefore, I decided to choose the theme “The effectiveness of using pair work and group work in speaking lessons for the 11 th form students” as the topic of my research 2 AIMS OF THE STUDY The study is aimed at: - The research firstly aims to introduce pair work and group work and to show the advantages of working in pairs and groups - The research secondly aims to show how to organize pair and group work effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise - The research thirdly aims to show how pair and group work can be used for various classroom activities - The research lastly aims to give teachers confidence in using pair and group work themselves SCOPE OF THE STUDY With this study, I put focus on investigating and discovering obstacles or difficulties encountered by students in English speaking lessons at Nguyen Quan Nho high school From these findings, the internal and external causes are analyzed to give some suggestions for tackling them in order to motivate students and help improve students’ speaking competence by using pair work and group work The study was conducted on the students of grade 11 at Nguyen Quan Nho high school with the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11” RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study is carried out to find the answer to the following questions: How often are pair work and group work applied in English speaking lessons? Does using pair work and group work increase students’ interest in English speaking lessons? Does using pair work and group work increase students’ participation in English speaking lessons? METHODS OF THE STUDY In order to get the goals of the study, I used some methods such as: Observation method: The subjects performed self-exploration research project conducted classroom visits, attended colleagues’ lessons Experimental methods: Teachers teach test conducted on each specific purpose requires some speaking lessons Investigation method: Teachers ask questions to check understanding content assessment of the students’ lessons 3 II DEVELOPMENT LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Previous studies Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century The period from the 1950s to the 1980s has often been referred to as “The Age of methods”, during which a number of quite detailed prescriptions for language teaching were proposed and each method has in turn fallen out of favor and has been replaced with a new one Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing attempt in research on teaching and learning and types and quantities of the relative amount of participation by the teacher and students (Chaudron, 1993) Pair work and group work started getting attention of educationist in the 1970s In 1970s educationists were concerned about increasing teacher talking time in language classes During the 1980s and 1990s the development of communicative language teaching brought an important change in the role of students (Nunan & Lamb 1996) Working together is worthwhile as “pair and group work immediately increase the amount of students talking time” (Harmer, 1991) Researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative in learning learn more things and learn better than those who sit at the feet of teachers passively waiting to be taught (Knowles as cited in Hedge, 2000) Researchers reported that it is a source of intrinsic motivation for students as working in groups is fun for them It provides the students with the opportunity to communicate with each other to share “suggestions, insights, feedback about successes and failures” Researchers also claim that a teacher’s dominance in class makes it dull and it kills the students’ interests (Kundo & Tutto, 1989) 1.2 Review of theoretical background 1.2.1 An overview of language teaching and learning 1.2.1.1 Definitions of language teaching and learning "Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learners to learn, setting the conditions for learning" Foreign language learning, like other subjects, is part of the overall development of all students Through learning a foreign language, the students can enrich their experience of life, broaden their world vision, and enhance their thinking skills Language learning is most effective when students' interest, motivation and attitudes are taken into consideration Therefore, evaluation should be summative and formative and designed and administered to encourage the learners rather to frustrate them It should be carried out in terms of what students can rather than what they cannot 1.2.1.2 The goal of teaching speaking In the book Language Learning Strategies by Rebecca L Oxford, she writes: "A more practiced eye, a more receptive ear, a more fluent tongue, a more involved heart, a more responsive mind are the characteristics we want to stimulate in students to enable them to become more proficient language learners." In other words, the goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency Learners should be able to make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest They should try to avoid confusion in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation Besides, the nature of the new teaching theory is promoting a positive, creative initiative of students, student is the subject of learning activities, teacher organizes and guidances to students receiving new knowledge, language training through a variety of communication forms such as personal activities, pair work, groupwork In the teaching process, to promote actively the activities of the student pairs, it is a form of good group learning activities Through this form of learning conditions they have presented, discussed and expressed their thoughts about the information about lessons that they understand The information of each student can be right or may be wrong part Through pair and group, they returned to their teacher Since then teacher can know their understanding This process is taking place in accordance with the two-way relations In terms of learning theory, this is a dialectical relationship Working in pairs and in group is to practise the students' skills, thoughts and expression when they want to present their ideas before a class Through this activity, the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing of students are improved better 1.2.2 An overview of speaking 1.2.2.1 Definitions of speaking Speaking is one of the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) It is the means through which learners can communicate with others to achieve certain goals or to express their opinions, intentions, hopes and viewpoints In addition, people who know a language are referred to as speakers of that language Furthermore, in almost any setting, speaking is the most frequently used language skill As Rivers (1981) argues, speaking is used twice as much as reading and writing in our communication Speaking has usually been compared to writing, both being considered "productive skills", as opposed to the "receptive skills" of reading and listening Speaking also is closely related to listening as two interrelated ways of accomplishing communication Every speaker is simultaneously a listener and every listener is at least potentially a speaker (Oprandy, 1994 & EL Menoufy, 1997) Speaking has been classified to monologue and dialogue The former focuses on giving an interrupted oral presentation and the latter on interacting with other speakers (Nunan, 1989) Speaking can also serve one of two main functions: transactional (transfer of information) and interactional (maintenance of social relationships) (Brown and Yule, 1983) 5 1.2.2.2 The importance of speaking Developing speaking skills is of vital importance in English foreign language programs Nunan (1999) and Burkart & Sheppard (2004) argue that success in learning a language is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the language Therefore, speaking is probably a priority for most learners of English (Florez, 1999) Speaking instruction is important because it helps students acquire English foreign language speaking skills thus converse spontaneously and naturally with native speakers Furthermore, if the right speaking activities are taught in the classroom, speaking can raise general learners' motivation and make the English language classroom a fun and dynamic place to be (Nunan, 1999 & Celce-Murcia, 2001) In addition, speaking can support other language skills Recent research has considered oral interaction as an important factor in the shaping of the learner's developing language (Gass & Varionis, 1994) For instance, it was proved that leraning speaking can help the development of reading competence (Hilferty, 2005), the development of writing (Trachsel & Severino, 2004) as well as the development of listening skills (Regina, 1997) 1.2.3 An overview of pair work and group work 1.2.3.1 Definition of pair work Pair work is learners working together in pairs One of the main motivations to encourage pair work in the English language classroom is to increase the opportunities for learners to use English in the class The teacher devides the whole class into pairs Every student works with his or her partner and all the pairs work at the same time The teacher walks around, listens and intervenes little if necessary Example The learners are answering comprehension questions in pairs after reading a text This allows them to compare answers, and clarify problems together using English In the classroom, teachers can evaluate the impact and effectiveness of pair work on their learners by using action research tools such as asking the learners how they feel about working like this or by actually participating in an activity in a pair and evaluating this experience afterwards 1.2.3.2 Definition of group work According to Giselle Konopka: Group work as defined as “as a method of social work which help individual to enchance their social functioning through purposeful group experience and to cope more effectively with their personal, group and comminity problems” Group work is a form of voluntary association of members benefiting from cooperative learning, that enhances the total output of the activity than when done individually It aims to cater for individual differences, develop skills (e.g communication skills, collaborative skills, critical thinking skills), generic knowledge and socially acceptable attitudes or to generate conforming standards of behavior and judgement, a "group mind" So, students work in small groups (of four or five) on tasks that entail interaction: conveying information, for example, or group decision making All the groups work at the same time The teacher walks around listening, intervenes little if necessary 1.2.4 The advantages, problems and solution to the problems For certain types of activity, pairwork and groupwork have number of advantages over working with the whole class together Teachers should think what the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved in pairwork, groupwork and the solutions for these 1.2.4.1 Advantages - More language practice - Students are more involved - Students feel secure, confident - Students help one another ` - Save time * More language practice Pairwork and groupwork give students far more chance to speak English For example, students are give an exercise of making sentences (question & answer), working in pair, each student makes as many sentences as they can If the exercise were done, round the class, students would only say one sentence each, and in a large class many students would say nothing at all * Student are more involved Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students and others would lose interest if they are conducted with the whole class together Working in pairs and groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate on the task * Students feel secure Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when they are on show in front of the whole class Pairwork and groupwork can help shy students who would never say anything in a whole class activity * Students help each other Pairwork and groupwork encourage students to share indeas and knowledge In a reading actictivity, students can help each other to explore the meaning of a text, in a discussion activity, students can give each other new ideas 1.2.4.2 Problems and solution to the problem - Noise - Students make mistakes - Difficult to control * Noise Obviously pairwork and groupwork in a large class will be noisy, and this can not be helped * Solution to the problem - Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in the next room - The noise created by pairwork and groupwork is usualy”good” noise Students use English or engage in a learning task Teacher should stop the activity when most groups or pairs have finished or prepare a “reserve” task to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected * Students make mistakes During a pair and group activity, the teacher can not control all the language used, and should not try to so * Solution to the problem When doing cotrolled language practice in pairs and groups, the number of mistakes can be reduced by: - Giving enough preparation, the activity can be done with the whole class first, and pair work used for final stage - Checking afterwards The teacher can ask some pairs and groups what they said, and then correct mistakes if necessary * Difficult to control class The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pairwork and groupwork than in normal class * Solution to the problem To stop activities getting out control, it is important to: - Give clear instructions about when to start, what to and when to stop - Give clearly defined tasks which don’t continue for too long - Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs and groups, and know exactly what to 1.2.5 Organizing pair work and group work 1.2.5.1 Pair and group work depends on some extents The success of pair and group work depends on some extents: - The surrounding social climate - How habituated the class is to using it - The selection of an interesting and stimulating task whose performance is well within the ability of the pair and group More immediately, it also depends on: - Effective and careful organization [ 1.2.5.2 Organization steps * Presentation The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial If the students not understand exactly what they have to do, there will be timewasting, confusion, lack of effective practice, possible loss of control Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily and in monolingual classes, you may find it cost - effective to explain some or all in the students “mother tongue” It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing the class into groups and a preliminary rehearsal, dry run of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things If your students have already done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process, giving only brief guidelines It is mainly the first time of doing something with a class that such care needs to be invested in instructing * Process Teacher goes from pair to pair, group to group, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful If you decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of: - Providing general approval and support - Helping students who are having difficultly - Keeping the students using the target language (in manycases your mere presence will ensure this!) - Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent * Ending Draw the activity to a close at a certain point Try to finish the activity while the sudents are still enjoying it and interested, or only just beginning to flag * Feedback A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction after the end of the group work Feedback onthetasks may take many forms: - Giving the right solution, if there is one - Listening to and evaluating suggestions - Pooling ideas on the board - Displaying the meterials the pairs/groups have produced and so on The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results Feedback on language may be integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later 1.2.6 Some activities work in pairs and in groups effectively * Interview This is a common activity, a lot of teachers apply to the lessons, especially the section of Reading, Speaking The teacher asks students to work in pairs and in gruops, ask and answer for each topic of each lesson after giving the sentence patterns Performing this activity requires teachers to pay attention to the bad pairs, encouraging them to participate * Arrange the events in order Arrange the events in order Teachers prepare the content of the lesson but not the order in the post The teacher asks students to work in pairs and groups and rearrangethe story Representatives of the pairs and groups to tell the story after arrangement * Free Role play Role play or real situations in class Students work in pairs and groups by role or character which they are assigned * Describing * Imagination * Report * Information transmitting DEMONSTRATION Practising some periods in speaking lesson (English 11-basic) UNIT 1: FRIENDSHIP Period: Lesson 2: Speaking Activity Teacher gives out the network and people below and asks students to work in pair to give the questions used to ask about the information in it to describe their physical charcteristics Objectives of activity: Students will be able to work in pair to describe the physical characteristics of some people in the picture Face (square,oval, round…) Hair (long, shott, black…) Eyes (small, big, brown…) Describing people’s appearance Build (slim, thin, plump…) Appearance (handsome, beautiful, ) 10 Nose (straight, small, flat…) Lips (thin, full, heart shaped…) Height (tall, short, medium…) *Suggested answers: Eg: Can you describe the boy in the picture? What does the boy look like? Does he have short hair? Is he tall or short? What colour are his eyes? Does he have a round face? Is he wearing a pair of glasses? Is he handsome? Activity Students work in groups Discuss and number the following personalities in order of importance in friendship Objectives of activity: Students will be able to understand some adjectives in the book to order of importance in friendship FRIENDSHIP 11 - caring - sincere - helpful - hospitable - generous - understanding - modest - honest - pleasant - Teacher divides the class into groups and asks students to complete the network Activity Students work in pairs, one student plays the role of a journalist is going to interview an other student to ask some questions about his/ her friend Using the network and the information in activity Objectives of activity: Students will be able to ask and answer some questions to describe the physical characteristics and personalities of their friends *Suggested answers: A: What’s your best friend’s name? B: Her name is Lan A: When was she born? (How old is she?) B: She was born in 2004 (She is 17 years old) A: What does she look like? B: She is very beautiful She is tall She has big eyes and long black hair A: What is she like? B: She is helpful and honest A: What does she usually in her free time? B: She usually reads book in her free time? A: What are her hobbies? B: They are reading and swimming A: What subject does she like best? B: She likes Maths best A: How much time does she spend on Maths every day? B: About an hour a day UNIT 3: A PARTY Period: 15 Lesson 2: Speaking Activity 1: Warm up: Brainstorming: Types of parties Objectives of activity: Students will be able to talk about some kinds of parties and revise the vocabulary on the topic party 12 Birthday Valentine’s day House warming New year Parties Wedding Graduation Farewell Thanks-giving Activity 2: Think of a party you have been to Choose from the list the things you want to talk about Objectives of activity: Students will be able to talk about a party - Whose party was it? - What was the occasion? - Did you take a gift for the host? - Who did you go with? - Where was the party? - Were there any decorations? - Were there a lot of people there? - Did you know most of the people there? - What sort of the drink and food did you have? - What was the music like? - Did you dance? - Did you meet anybody nice there? - What time did it start? - What time did it finish? - Did you stay to the end? 13 Activity 3: Work in pairs Tell your partner about the party Objectives of activity: Students will be able to ask and answer about the party they have been to *Suggested answers: A: Whose party was it? B: It was my friend-Lan A: What was the occasion? B: It was Lan’s birthday party A: Who did you go with? B: I went with some my friends A: Where was the party? B: It was held at Lan’s house A: Were there any decorations? B: Yes, there was A: Were there a lot of people there? B: Yes, there were a lot of her friends at there A: Did you know most of the people there? B: Yes, I did Because most of them are my friends A: What sort of the drink and food did you have? B: I ate cake and drank orange juice A: Did you dance? B: No, I didn’t A: What time did it start? B: It started at 7.30 A: What time did it finish? B: It finished at 9p.m A: Did you stay to the end? B: Yes, I did Activity 4: Work in groups You are going to take part in a competition to organise the best party Decide on the following 14 Objectives of activity: Students will be able to negotiate in order to come up with a plan sor their parties When (date and time) Dressing codes (formal? informal? costumes?) Who Whototoinvite invite (family?relative? (family? relative? friends? friends? classmates?) classmates?) UNIT 7: Period: 40 Where (home? restaurant?) Entertainment (dance? music? game?) Planning a party Budget (How much to spend? How much to Decorations Decorations (colored (colored light light bulbs?flower?) bulbs? flower?) Food and drink (cook our or order? vegetarian food?) WORLD POPULATION Lesson 2: Speaking Activity Work in pairs Teacher gives out the picture and asks students to work in pair to discuss about the picture Objectives of activity: Students will be able to work in pair to talk about the population - Work in pairs and discuss about these questions What can you see in the picture? What does the picture tell you? 15 *Suggested answers: A: What can you see in the picture? B: In the picture, the Earth looks like an old, tired man with too many people on his head, shoulders and arms A What does the picture tell you? B: The picture tells us that the Earth may not properly accommodate too many people We are facing overpopulation Activity Students work in pairs Discuss and number the following causes of population explosion in order of importance and explain Objectives of activity: Students will be able to understand some causes of population explosion in order of importance and explain causes of population explosion Fewer children die at birth Peopleare not aware of the problem of overpopulation People are not properly educated People believe that having many children means happiness Religion doesn’t encourage people to have fewer children Many people believe that having a large family is a form of insurance *Suggested answers: A: I think the first cause of population explosion is people believe that having many children means happiness because the more children they have the more happiness they get B: Ok The next cause of population explosion is that many people believe that having a large family is a form of insurance because they want to be taken care when they get older A: For me, the third cause of population explosion is the religion doesn’t encourage people to have fewer children because having many people means power 16 B: The fourth cause is the low death rate in children, because the Health Care System is good A: The fifth cause is people are not aware of the the problem of overpopulation, because they are short of information B: And the last cause is people are not properly educated, because the population education programme hasn’t presented properly in school Activity Work in pairs List the problem facing poor and overpopulated countries Objectives of activity: Students will be able to ask and answer about the problem facing poor and overpopulated countries Useful language: - poor living condition - low living standars - not enough / expensive food - lack / shortage of schools / hospitals / teachers / doctors and nurses - unemployment - social evils - illiteracy Activity Work in groups Work out the solutions to the problems of overpopulation Objectives of activity: Students will be able to work in groups in order to give the solutions to the problems of overpopulation then report the results to the class *Suggested answers: - Raise an awareness of the problems of overpopulation - Raise the people’s living standards - Exercise/ implement reward and punishment policies - Carry out population education programmes - Carry out family planning programmes - Use birth control methods - Educate people about the danger of overpopulation Activity Work in groups Talk about the problems of overpopulation and offer solutions, using the results of activity and Objectives of activity: Students will be able to work in groups in order to talk about the problems of overpopulation and offer solutions, using the results of activity and *Suggested answers: Nowadays poor and overpopulated countries are facing up to serious problem We all know that the population links to the lack of food and low living 17 standars as well And another consequence of overpopulation is poor living conditions In addition, to solve these problems and to explain the dangers of population, we should educate everybody the family planning and birth control methods And at the same time, we have to exercise properly reward and punishment policies to support and promote these solutions Unit 10: nature in danger Period 62: Lesson 2: Speaking Activity Work in pairs Ask and answer some questions about the reasons why nature and animals are threatened Objectives of activity: Students will be able to ask and answer some questions about the reasons why nature and animals are threatened Why we call some animalss such as tiger, bears, elephants endangered animals ? What should we to protect and save them? *Suggested answers: A: Why we call some animalss such as tiger, bears, elephants endangered animals ? B: Because they are hunted or killed in large number that they are in danger of becoming extinct A: What should we to protect and save them? B: As a students you should stop eating and killing wild animals Activity Work in pairs Network - Brainstorming Objectives of activity: Students will be able to know and talk about some reasons why nature is threatened, put them in the order of importance Ask Ss to work in pairs to complete the network about some reasons why nature is threatened, put them in the order of importance Following Network Reason nature is threatened 18 *Suggested answers: Burning forests Cutting down trees for wood Discharging chemical pollutants into environment Using fertilizers and pesticides for cultivation Killing endangered animals for fur, skin and food Hunting and capturing animals for recreation Keeping animals as pets Activity Work in groups Talk about some reasons why nature is threatened and suggest measures to protect it Objectives of activity: Students will be able to talk about some reasons why nature is threatened and suggest measures to protect it *Suggested answers: Killing endangered animals for fur, skin and food - Killing endangered animals for fur, skin or food should be banned - People who use products made from rare animals fur and skin should be fined - Factories which are involved in using rare animals’ fur and skin for their products should be made to find alter native materials Keeping - Keeping animals as pets should be discouraged animals as pets - Animals which are kept as pets should be treated kindly - There should be organizations to watch over pet owners to make sure they take good care of their pets - Pets owners should register with the governments so that they can be supported and assisted in how to raise and take care of animals Hunting and - Animals should not be captured for recreation and capturing intertainment animals for - People who abuse animals should be punished recreation Burning - Zoos and national parks should be established to save forests animals and plants - All kinds of animals and plants should be protected - Burning forests should be banned Cutting down - Planting trees should be encouraged trees for wood - People should be encouraged to use renewable fuels (eg: solar energy) rather than non-renewable fuels like wood Using - Decreasing the use of fertilizers and pesticides for farming fertilizers and should be encouraged pesticides for - Pesticides and fertilizers should be checked carefully quality 19 cultivation control before being sold for use - Farmers should strictly follow instructions about safety when using pesticides and fertilizers Discharging - Discharging chemical pollutants into environment should be chemical prohibited pollutants into - There should be good systems for treating industrial waste environment and chemical substances RESEARCH RESULTS The number of students who desire speaking lessons Classes Time 11B4 (Frequently using 11B5 (Rarely using pair and pair and group work in group work in speaking speaking lessons) lessons) At the beginning of the school - year 2020 - 2021 11/36 (30.55%) 13/40 (33.5%) At the end of the school - year 2020 - 2021 25/36 (66,44%) 25/40 (62,5%) The data from the table shows that by using pair work and group work in teaching speaking skills for the students, I have obtained many positive results Working in pairs and in groups in lessons textbook 11 really have its effects because the students are active, enthusiastic, excited to learn By using this method, the students who are always afraid, shy, lazy now are active and confident in learning, makes the speaking period more and more exciting They were excited in some speaking activities such as role play, interview… Besides, the students are able to speak English in a real competitive and friendly atmosphere, which encourages them to speak English more From these activities they can speak and understand English better It is really the motivation to all students when taking part in speaking lessons RECOMMENDATIONS I hope that the teaching strategy of using pair work and group work in oral communication classrooms will much benefit my students as they have more chances to engage in speaking activities Students who are timid, shy and feel less motivated when joining in speaking classes of this kind will feel more confident More importantly, competition among the pair and group was an important factor to motivate students to work as a pair and group, because it is important for them to be the best and to be recognized Students will be aware of their responsibility in the speaking process.They should understand that one way to improve speaking is practicing with others, interacting with others, and 20 learning from others III CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS Speaking is one of the important language skills to students, to master it requires a lot of time and efforts The problem for both teachers and students in the learning process is to find teaching methods and how to practice speaking skills effectively The experience initiative carried out with the purposes mentioned above have already provided several effective suggestions of using pair work or group work for students in speaking lessons in English 11 In my teaching English, this experience initiative motivates my colleagues and me more creatively and actively in teaching because teaching speaking skills in English at high schools is not a simple job that requires a lot of effort and patience Thanks to it, students have a positive outlook on language learning in general and learning speaking skills in particular The results need a relatively long time The scope of application of this experience initiative can be extended to all students at different levels because speaking skills exist in all units of the textbooks Although the study has accomplished the objectives set at the beginning, it can not avoid some limitations Due to the short time, limit of knowledge and the scope of the study, the study can not cover all the uses of pair work and group work in four skills and language elements Therefore, further study can focus on the use of language games as a motivator in reading classes, writing classes, listening classes and language games as an effective technique to teach vocabulary and grammar Obviously, mistakes are unavoidable, all comments and remarks on this research will be highly appreciated I would like to hear the comments of all colleagues to make my subject more complete! What is presented on my personal opinions about additional practice English speaking skills for students To achieve high results in teaching combined with having to meet the requirements and purposes of education at hight school, I would strongly suggest some comments later: - For school managers, it is necessary to invest more consulted documents for teachers, to have abundant library for students to study documents - Sessions organized extracurricular activities, English exams or discuss the topics in English to the students questioned, knowledge and hone their skills to communicate his languages English people have an idiom: “Practice makes Perfect” I hereby declare that this initiative is due to the experience I myself have written, not copy anybody’s I sincerely thank you! COMMENTS AND ASSESSMENT OF THE SCIENCE COUNCIL Thieu Hoa, May 5th, 2021 The author 21 Trần Thị Thương REFERENCES Chaudron,C,(1993) Second language classrooms Research on teaching and learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan,D & Lamb, C.(1996) The self-directed teacher: Managing the learning process Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kundo, C L, & Tutto, D.N (1989) Educational Psychology New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and learning in the language classroom Oxford: Oxford University Press Harmer, J (1991) The practice of English language London: Longman Rivers, W (1981) Teaching Foreign Language Skills (2nd ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press Oprandy, R (1994) "Listening/ Speaking in Second and Foreign Language Teaching" System: V 22, n 2, 153-175 Nunan, D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom New York: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers 10 Gass, S & Varionis, E (1994) "Input, Interaction and Second Language Production" Studies in Second language Acquisition, V.16, n 3, Pp: 283-302 11 Hilferty, A (2005) "The Relationship between Reading and Speaking Skills" Focus on Basics http://www.ncsall.net/?id=328, accessed on 22nd May, 2006 12 Trachsel, M & Severino C (2004) The Challenges of Integrating and Balancing Speaking and Writing in First-Year Rhetoric Classes http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/tc/trachselANDseverino/trachselAND sever ino_module.html, accessed on 15th February, 2004 13 Regina, S (1997) English Language Arts: A Curriculum Guide for the Middle Level Canada: Saskatchewan Education 22 Các SKKN đạt giải cấp nghành STT Tên đề tài Biện pháp để dạy hiệu tiết: Language focus Tiếng anh Using cooperative learning in teaching speaking competence for the 11th form students Xếp loại Cấp Năm C Tỉnh 2010 B Tỉnh 2018 ... (62,5%) The data from the table shows that by using pair work and group work in teaching speaking skills for the students, I have obtained many positive results Working in pairs and in groups in lessons. .. to find the answer to the following questions: How often are pair work and group work applied in English speaking lessons? Does using pair work and group work increase students? ?? interest in English... using pair and pair and group work in group work in speaking speaking lessons) lessons) At the beginning of the school - year 2020 - 2021 11/36 (30.55%) 13/40 (33.5%) At the end of the school