The effects of competitive team based learning approach on learner reading performance and attitude among efl learners at ho chi minh city university of technology (hutech)

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY --- NGUYEN THI QUE CHI THE EFFECTS OF COMPETITIVE TEAM-BASED LEARNING APPROACH ON LEARNER READING PERFORMANCE AND ATTITUDE AMONG EFL LEARNERS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (HUTECH) A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY --- NGUYEN THI QUE CHI THE EFFECTS OF COMPETITIVE TEAM-BASED LEARNING APPROACH ON LEARNER READING PERFORMANCE AND ATTITUDE AMONG EFL LEARNERS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (HUTECH) Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 60140111 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Dr NGUYEN THUY NGA Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “The effects of Competitive Team-based learning approach on learner reading performance and attitude among EFL learners at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Hutech)” is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree in any other tertiary institution Ho Chi Minh City, 2018 Nguyen Thi Que Chi i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thesis would not be fulfilled without the assistance and encouragement from many people I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to those who helped me in completing this thesis First and foremost, I gratefully and sincerely appreciate the guidance, encouragement and support of my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thuy Nga, for her careful instruction, clever advice and her thoughtful suggestions at different stages of my writing She spent her valuable time reading my research and helped me realize how to conduct it little by little Without her devotion, I could not have completed this thesis Therefore, I would like to say “thank you so much” again to her and send her all best wishes for her heath and career Second, my sincere appreciation is especially expressed to my students, who participated in this study for their assistance and cooperation Third, I would like to give many thanks to my trainee teacher who was willing to spend time helping me with my thesis, especially the observation completion Last but not least, I owe my deepest gratitude to my mother who was always beside me Although she could not help me this research, she was the one who cared for me and did all housework so that I could devote my full time for my study She encouraged me when I was tired and got stuck on the way of doing this thesis Again, I sincerely thank everybody ii ABSTRACT Most of the previous studies looked into the effect of Competitive Team-based learning on oral performance or other areas but very few about the effect of this new approach on reading performance and attitude This research is an experimental study which intended to look into the effect of Competitive Team-based Learning (CTBL) on learner reading performance and attitude of EFL students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Hutech) Seventy students at level of English from two classes were selected and put into two groups- experimental group (EG) and control group (CG) The study was conducted in three stages Stage one involved administering a pretest in other to test the student reading performance at the beginning of the research Stage two conducted the experiment in two classes with thirty-five students in each The EG was taught by CTBL and the CG taught by Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT) Stage three involved administering a posttest to test the student reading performance after the treatment and conducting the questionnaire to measure student emotional attitude toward the use of CTBL in reading class Furthermore, during the teaching and learning process, the trainee teacher followed the observation checklist to observe both the teacher‟s teaching procedures and students‟ actions in applying CTBL through teamwork and competition in the purpose to find out learner attitude and confirm the effect of CTBL on their reading learning In ten weeks with totally ten periods, both groups received the same curriculum, material (American Headway 3), instructor, assignments and lesson plans The data were collected and analyzed The results revealed a statistically significant difference between posttest and pretest scores of the two groups Besides, the students of the EG had significantly better posttest scores than those of the CG Most of the students of the EG showed their agreement in the use of CTBL in reading lessons Therefore, CTBL had positive effects on Hutech EFL students‟ reading and most of them showed positive attitudes towards this new approach iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES ix LIST OF TABLES x ABBREVIATIONS xii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Problem statements 1.3 Personal motivation 1.4 Research aims 1.5 Research questions 1.6 The significance of the study 1.7 Structure of the study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical foundation 2.1.1 Interaction hypothesis 2.1.2 Cooperative learning method (CL) 11 2.2 Competitive Team-based learning 13 2.2.1 Team 13 2.2.2 Competition 14 2.2.3 Team-based learning (TBL) 15 2.2.4 Competitive Team-based learning (CTBL) 17 2.2.4.1 Teacher’s role in CTBL 18 iv 2.2.4.2 Procedures in CTBL class 19 2.3 Difference between CL and CTBL 21 2.4 Reading performance 24 2.4.1 Reading 24 2.4.2 Reading performance 25 2.5 Attitude 26 2.6 The relationships between CTBL and reading performance and attitude 28 2.6.1 The relationship between CTBL and reading performance 28 2.6.2 The relationship between CTBL and attitude 29 2.7 Studies on CTBL 31 2.8 Chapter summary 41 Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 43 3.1 Research design 43 3.2 Data collection 45 3.2.1 Participants 45 3.2.2 Instruments 46 3.2.2.1 Pretest and Posttest 46 3.2.2.2 Lesson plan 47 3.2.2.3 Questionnaire 53 3.2.2.4 Observation 56 3.2.3 Procedures 58 3.2.3.1 Planning 58 3.2.3.2 Conducting the experiments 58 3.2.3.3 Acting (the teacher applied the method) 59 3.2.3.4 Observing (the teacher analyzes the process of applying the method) 60 3.2.3.5 Reflecting 60 v 3.3 Validity and reliability of Instruments 60 3.4 Data analysis 62 3.4.1 Pretest and posttest 62 3.4.2 Questionnaire 62 3.4.3 Observation 63 3.5 Data analysis procedure 63 3.6 Chapter summary 64 Chapter 4: Results and discussion 65 4.1 The relation between the use of CTBL and learner reading performance 65 4.1.1 Results of the pretest 65 4.1.2 Results of the posttest 67 4.1.2.1 Results of CG’s posttests scores 68 4.1.2.2 Results of EG’s posttest scores 69 4.1.3 The comparisons on the results of the posttest scores of CG and EG 70 4.2 The attitude of the students in EG class toward CTBL in reading class 75 4.2.1 Questionnaire 76 4.2.1.1 Section A: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on reading tasks for individual 77 4.2.1.2 Section B: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on reading tasks for group work 78 4.2.1.3 Section C: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on studentstudent relationship 79 4.2.1.4 Section D: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on teacherstudent relationship 81 4.2.2 Observation 83 4.2.2.1 Observation on attitude 84 4.2.2.2 Observation on team 86 vi 4.2.2.3 Observation on competition 88 4.3 Discussion 90 4.3.1 The selection of participants and material 90 4.3.2 Research question 1: To what extent does CTBL have effects on learner reading performance? 91 4.3.3 Research question 2: What are the learner attitudes toward CTBL in reading class? 93 Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations 97 5.1 Summary of the findings 97 5.2 Contribution and limitations 100 5.2.1 Contributions 100 5.2.2 Limitations 101 5.3 Recommendations 102 5.4 Suggestions for further studies 103 5.5 Conclusion 104 REFERENCES 105 APPENDIX 1A 113 APPENDIX 1B 118 APPENDIX 2A 124 APPENDIX 2B 129 APPENDIX 3A 134 APPENDIX 3B 138 APPENDIX 4A 143 APPENDIX 4B 147 APPENDIX 5A 152 APPENDIX 5B 156 APPENDIX 6A 161 vii APPENDIX 6B 166 APPENDIX 7A 171 APPENDIX 7B 175 APPENDIX 8A 180 APPENDIX 8B 183 APPENDIX 9A 188 APPENDIX 9B 192 APPENDIX 10A 197 APPENDIX 10B 201 APPENDIX 11 206 APPENDIX 12 214 APPENDIX 13 223 APPENDIX 14 225 APPENDIX 15 227 APPENDIX 16 228 viii APPENDIX 12 POSTTEST Time allotted: 45 minutes Class code: ………… Part Instructions You are given some information on the notices Use the meaning to identify which of the answers given is correct The pass mark for this exam is 70% and you need to it in 10 minutes or under Example: (A) Do not leave your bicycle touching the window (B) Do not ride your bicycle in this area (C) Broken glass may damage your bicycle tyres Your answer (A, B or C): A (A) A pizza costs £4.00 (B) Everybody has to pay at least £4.00 between 12:30 and 2p.m (C) No pizzas are served between 12:30 and pm (A) If you travel without a ticket you may have to pay £10 later (B) The price of a ticket is £10 (C) If you don't have a ticket, you will have to pay £10 on the spot 214 How should Maria react? (A) Telephone her sister (B) Write to her sister (C) Send her sister an email A) Lenny has to go back tomorrow B) Lenny is going on holiday on Sunday C) Lenny had a difficult day What does Miriam want Nabil to do? A) Buy her a new printer B) Repair her old printer C) Tell her when he will come Part Instructions You are given some people on the left who want to go to the cinema, and descriptions of the films available on the right Decide which film would be best for each filmgoer and circle the correct letter The pass mark for this exam is 70% and the time allowed is 10 minutes Sarah needs a book for a long trip and likes detective 215 stories If the main character is woman, even better Your answer: A B C D F G H John is looking E for a humorous book about life in the different countries in Europe, because he is going there in the summer He is an American law student Your answer: A B C D E F G H Norman has time to kill and needs a book about animals and usual people, because these subjects interest him He doesn‟t want the book to be too heavy as he is not a serious reader Your answer: A B C D E F G H Joan is looking for a book with short stories She wants to pick it up when she has a A-Life on The Road- by Jamie Butcher This book chronicles one man‟s journey from the UK to Iran by bike with his two dogs It describes the people he met and the hardships he had to face Sleeping rough with only his dogs for company gave him plenty of time to think, and his thoughts are shared in this lovely book B-Dakoo- by Ricky Sharma If you are interested in Indian legends and mysteries, this could be the book for you The writer describes the life of a thief in the India of the British occupation, and does a good job It may be a bit long for some readers, but you get your money‟s worth C-Manana- by Rupert Harman You could call this the best book ever written on Spain without any fear of contradiction The writer understands his subject, but more importantly is elegant in what he chooses to explain and how he explains it Once you read the book, it‟s hardly worth going because his words will have given you everything you could discover in reality D-Slam Dunk- by Morris James Detective Vicky Marshal takes no prisoners in this masterpiece There is corruption in the NBA and she is after the ring leaders, but her life is in danger as the bad guys won‟t give up their action without a fight You will need time if you pick this book up, because you won‟t be able to put it down E-The Look- by Jane Hill The writer is a clinical psychologist and has used all her analytical skill to produce this enchanting collection of short stories, each one a gem The work is fresh and the description of how people from relations will surprise you F-Leather on leather- by David Lancing England won the football world cup in 1966 and here we are given a view of what it would have been like to have been in the changing rooms with that winning team All the intrigue and sporting tension is beautifully describes, and the reader is transported to another time very effectively G-Life In the Olive Grove- by Mark Zola This is a beautifully written book about life in southern Europe, written by a very funny man It is full of perceptive observations and you can almost taste the olive oil and fresh tomatoes Anyone travelling to this part of the world would be well advised to carry this gem with them H-Sayonara- by Mavis Ford Japan in the fifties after the war was a very complicated place It isn‟t simple at the best of times, but here the Japanese society of that period is explained through the eyes of two lovers This is not any normal love story because both characters are blind A good read, but not for the faint hearted 216 few minutes free and be able to follow the action She is not keen on drama, and needs something relaxing and easy to read She likes reading about love and romance Your answer: A B C D E F G H Mike needs a book to help him travel He is visiting Spain and needs information on what to see and It should not be too detailed because he doesn‟t really like reading very much Your answer: A B C D E F G H Part Instructions You are going to read a piece of text For questions – 10, choose the correct answer which you think fits best according to the text The pass mark for this exam is 70% In the exam you need to be able to this part in 10 minutes or less 217 TEXT Social networking sites like facebook, are internet sites which have been created to enable people to communicate with their friends and family, and also to meet people who may be interested in the same things as they are Over the years, there have a few others, like Myspace, and Linkedin, some of which were very popular but then lost their popularity They were not intended for the same kinds of people, because Linkedin was created for professional people to exchange information between themselves, while Myspace and Facebook were more for social interaction, although the people using facebook ten to be older than the people who used Myspace An interesting phenomenon is the influence the internet has had on the English language, by the creation of new verbs Now you can “Google” something, or you can “Facebook” your photos, which means upload your photos to the internet As you “google” somebody to see who they are, you can also “Facebook” somebody to see who their friends are, and whether you have any friends in common, or ask for permission to add them to your list of friends Both Facebook and Myspace have become very versatile words, unlike Linkedin which has not yet become a verb in this way Another addition to the language is the distortion of existing words So, while you‟re “facebooking” or “myspacing” you may also find yourself “commenting”, which means writing a comment on someone‟s Facebook of MySpace page This, of course, is very normal, because a language is really a living thing, in that it reflects what people are doing and saying at any given time Questions True False Myspace users are usually younger than Facebook users T F The people who join Linkedin have good jobs T F T F The language has benefited from the new words like adjectives and adverbs which these new sites have given The word “Myspace” is less versatile than the word 218 “Facebook” T F T F T F Facebook can be used for different things T F These new words have been in use for ten years T F The word “facebook” has various uses T F T F Linkedin, Myspace and Facebook have all contributed new words “to comment” in the language of the internet means to leave a message for someone on their site 10 You cannot add anyone‟s name to your facebook page without their authorisation Part Instructions You are given a piece of text For questions – 5, circle the correct answer The pass mark for this exam is 70% and you need to this exam in 10 minutes or under Kodak Pays the Price Jenny Jordan has mixed feelings She is still very angry but satisfied because she feels she has got justice She had gone to China on a once-in-a-lifetime visit, and had had a marvelous time She kept a diary of everything and took loads of pictures to support her diary entries When she got back to Harpenden where she lived, she decided to give her precious films to her local Kodak shop for developing She gave them one at a time because it would be easier to build up her diary in stages rather than having to sort out all the photos togheter She was really glad that she did that because she was soon informed that Kodak had lost her film Luckily she still had the others They even had the cheek to offer her a free film as compensation, and Jenny was furious She wrote them a very strong letter, telling them of her intention to go to court They wrote back and offered her £20, but she replied that the lowest figure she would accept was £75 Even then she would prefer her pictures, and when the company refused to pay she was 219 set to go to court, Kodak decided to pay the £75, which shows what can be done if you make the effort to complain to a firm or manufacturer and insist on getting fair treatment Questions What is the writer trying to do? E To complain about photographic printing F To inform us about legal problems G To give advice on how to complain This text is from… E a diary F a newspaper G a letter Before her visit, Jenny had… E been to China once before F never been to China before G already been to China several times It was a good thing that Jenny sent her films away one at a time because… E not all the films were lost F she was offered a free roll of film G she was able to complete her diary When Jenny said she would go to court, the company… E made the decision to pay £75 F offered her £20 G said their offer wasn‟t enough 220 Part Instructions For questions - 10, read the text below and circle which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap The pass mark for this exam is 60% or over The recommended time for this exam is 10 minutes or under Example: 11 A one B the C a D an WOMEN AND SCIENCE It is difficult to understand why, but women and science are not automatically associated with each other, even though (0) the first woman scientist was (1) _ in Alexandria, in Egypt, in 370 A.D Her name was Hypatia, and her father, who was the director of Alexandria‟s University, (2) sure his daughter had the best education available It was not normal, at this time For women to have (3) _ to study And after studying in Athens and Rome, she returned to Alexandria (4) she taught mathematics She became famous (5) _ her knowledge of new ideas, and wrote several important mathematical works, (6) no copies of her books have survived Hypatia was very interested in technology and (7) several scientific tools to help with her work, but this story has an unhappy ending Many rulers of that (8) were afraid of science, and (9) _ connected with it was in danger As a consequence, her life was at risk and one day in March 415, she (10) attacked in the street and killed A begun B born C developed D grown A could B made C said D put A classed B customs C opportunities D teachers A where B how C there D which A from B by C for D in 221 A because B but C or D as A did B experimented C invented D learnt A day B period C year D time A anyone B nobody C all D something A was B had C has D is 222 APPENDIX 13 QUESTIONNAIRE This survey is adapted from the questionnaire of Chayarathee’s doctoral thesis (2013) Chayarathee, S (2003) Reading comprehension, and attitude and behaviour, of students taught ESL by cooperative learning in Prathom (Grade) classrooms in Thailand Class code: ……………… Team number: …………… Gender: Male Female Direction: Please select the response by checking () in one column of which indicates your level of agreement or disagreement with each following statement (5= strongly agree 4=agree 3=somewhat agree 2=disagree 1=strongly disagree) Note: Any response in the questionnaire will not affect your score in the course Questions 1 Tasks for individuals 1.1 I like to solve the problem/puzzle in reading assignment 1.2 I can complete cloze exercises with the correct words 1.3 I can find the correct answers to the reading questions Tasks for group work 2.1 I can understand better when I reading activities with friends 2.2 My group finishes the reading activities on time 2.3 I can make notes to summarize the group's ideas for reading tasks 223 2.4 I can guess the meaning of the words from reading activities Student-student relationship 3.1 I learn more when I reading activities in my group 3.2 I can have more opportunity to participate in reading activities among friends 3.3 I like to reading activities in group 3.4 I learn a lot from my friends‟ evaluation on my answers to reading tasks Student-teacher relationship 4.1 I learn a lot from my teacher‟s evaluation on my reading task 4.2 I like the way my teacher teaches me to read English 4.3 I can talk to my teacher informally about my reading assignment Thank you so much! 224 APENDIX 14 OBSERVATION CHECKLIST No Items Ten sessions conducting Total Competitive Team-based learning score in teaching reading Attitude 9 10 ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð 10 ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð 10 ð ð ð × ð × ð ð ð × × ð ð ð ð × ð ð ð ð × ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð 10 × × × ð × ð × × × ð × ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð Students get anxious with being responsible to give out the answers Students feel happy when winning the competition Students get excited when competing with other teams Students like learning vocabulary from reading texts in groups Students like to lead their friends in doing activities in reading tasks Students like to reading activities in groups Students like to listen to their friends‟ ideas about what they read Students like their teacher so much Students like to learn from their friends‟ evaluation on their answers 10 to reading tasks 10 Students like the way that their teacher teaches reading 225 10 Team 11 10 ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð 10 × × ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð × ð × ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð × ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð × ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð 10 × ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð ð 10 × × × ð × ð × × × ð Students can find the correct answers for reading tasks in groups 16 Students can solve the problems in reading assignments in groups 15 Students can make notes to summarize the groups‟ ideas 14 Students the reading tasks and finish them on time 13 Students can understand better when doing reading activities in groups 12 Students have more opportunities to participate in reading activities 10 among their friends 17 Students like to learn from their friends‟ evaluation on their answers 10 to reading tasks Competition 18 Students get excited when competing with other teams 19 Students feel happy when winning the competition 20 Students get anxious with being responsible to give out the answers Thank you so much! 226 APPENDIX 15 THE CONTROL GROUP’S SCORES No Pretest Posttest No Pretest Posttest 3.4 6.2 21 4.8 4.4 7.2 22 5.4 8.6 3.8 23 5.8 4.8 7.2 24 3.6 7.4 3.2 5.6 25 5.2 7.6 3.4 6.4 26 3.4 5.6 7.8 27 4.8 7.2 4.4 6.4 28 6.6 7.8 29 3.6 6.4 10 4.8 30 4.8 4.6 11 6.4 31 4.4 6.6 12 5.2 7.6 32 7.6 13 3.2 33 4.6 4.6 14 5.2 34 3.4 5.6 15 6.8 35 4.6 7.4 16 5.4 8.4 17 4.6 18 4.2 6.4 19 3.2 5.8 20 5.8 8.4 227 APPENDIX 16 THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP’S SCORES No Pretest Posttest No Pretest Posttest 4.2 7.2 21 4.6 7.6 4.4 7.2 22 4.8 7.6 23 3.6 6.8 8.2 24 4.6 7.2 4.4 25 5.4 7.6 5.2 8.2 26 3.4 6.6 5.4 8.6 27 5.2 8 5.8 8.6 28 7.2 8.2 29 4.8 7.6 10 3.2 6.2 30 5.4 8.6 11 4.6 7.6 31 7.8 12 4.4 6.2 32 3.8 6.8 13 4.8 7.2 33 14 34 4.6 7.6 15 3.2 35 3.2 6.8 16 5.2 7.8 17 7.2 18 5.2 8.2 19 3.2 6.6 20 4.8 7.6 228 ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY --- NGUYEN THI QUE CHI THE EFFECTS OF COMPETITIVE TEAM- BASED LEARNING APPROACH ON LEARNER READING PERFORMANCE AND ATTITUDE AMONG. .. learning strategies and learner motivation and attitude However, there are very few studies about the effects of those approaches on learner reading performance and none of them about learner attitude. .. NGA Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled ? ?The effects of Competitive Team- based learning approach on learner reading performance and attitude