4.2.2.1.Students’ misbehavior perceived by group members in speaking classes
Group work has some disadvantages which affect on students’ misbehavior.
Those things really caused difficulties for teachers in classroom management. They complained that some always asked unrelated questions or talked too much while it was not easy to kick the others to say a word. Being interviewed, most of students admitted that they sometimes used mother tongue in English speaking classes.
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A. talk too much B. too quiet C.keeping their own ideas D. ask teacher crazy or unrelated sentences E. read worksheet.
F.Some speak Vietnamese.
G.private talk and laugh.
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Chart 4.5: Students’ misbehavior perceived by group members in speaking classes
The chart above expresses the diversity of students’ opinions on behavior in group work in speaking classes. Overall, there is a considerable percentage of misbehavior.
As can be seen, up to 65% said that their friends did not try to communicate in English but hold the worksheet and read. Besides, more than a half was very impolite in group work due to the interruption manner (54%). An alarming number of students who spoke Vietnamese in classes is 48%. In addition, people who found
expressing ideas in English difficulty and avoided speaking their mother tongue tend to keep quiet (25%). In contrast, a half of that number (12%) caused the confusion for friends because they talked too much or too fast. Besides, many learners felt frustrated when some insisted on contrastive ideas with group (5%), some said or asked teacher crazy or unrelated sentences (4%) and some had private talk and laugh (9%).
4.2.2.2. Students’ speaking habits in group work
Working in the same group, students usually imitate their partners’ bad speaking habits. Questionnaire, therefore, includes question 5 “What behavior do you accidentally imitate from your group members?”. The chart below reveals the proportion of learners’ opinions on the effects of others’ speaking habits.
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A.Picking up wrong words or phrases.
B. Picking up wrong pronunciation.
C.Not using any gestures or body language.
D.Using no intonation.
E.Not caring about grammar.
Chart 4. 6: Students’ speaking habits effects on others in group work In particular, only 25% of asked students answered that they could not use gesture or body language during speaking because nobody did like that. Seemingly, they just harmonized with others’ behavior. On the other hand, up to 91% said that picking up wrong pronunciation was their problem. They also found difficulties in choosing appropriate words or phrases (86%). What is more, other 17% added the
opinion that when the others used wrong grammar, they might make the same mistake later on. 70% students showed their obstacles in speaking with intonation.
4.2.2.3.Teacher’s influence on students’ behavior in group work
Students in English speaking classes have interaction with not only others members but also with the teacher. In this relationship, teacher has a strong influence on students’ behavior in group work. Therefore, question 9 in the questionnaire asked students to choose among guidance, movement, responses, remarks and classroom management of the teacher which affect on their behavior most. The result is displayed in chart 7 as below.
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E.The teacher’s classroom management.
D.The teacher’s remarks
C.The teacher’s responses during
“while-speaking” stage.
B.The teacher’s movement A.The teacher’s guidance.
Chart 4.7: Teacher’s influence on students’ behavior in group work As can be seen, all factors are highly appreciated with the percentage more than a half for each one.
According to the statistics, nobody denied the importance of teacher’s remark (100%). Not much less than this number (90%) is teacher’s responses during
“while-speaking” stage. In addition, 57% students emphasized the way teacher managing the class. That means how teacher controled the class with factors such as private talk, phone using, laughing... were really significant factors. A half of students said that their behavior changed basing on teacher’s guidance for the activity. And 52% learners revealed that where teacher stood, how often teacher
moved, how far teacher kept from groups to observe and take note made them behave differently.
In short, teacher’s interaction can considerately change students’ behavior.
4.2.2.4. The effects of classroom settings on students in group work
Apart from partners and teacher’s interaction, of settings of the classroom caused different types of students’ behavior. The chart below indicates the result from Question 8 in the questionnaire about learners’ opinions on it.
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A.Room’s size
B.Desk and chair arrangement.
C.Number of members in a group D.Mobile phone’s distraction.
E.Noisy next door classes.
F.Noisy neighbor groups.
G.Others’ tardiness.
H.Others’ sleepiness.
I.The balance of male and female students in a group.
Chart 4.8: Effects of classroom settings on students in group work Overall, “who” in the group “how” group arranged have higher proportion than other features. In particular, 94% students said that having suitable number of members in a group was the most important thing which decided group work’s effectiveness. Besides, appropriate desk and chair arrangement needed to form group quickly (67%). Many students stated that mobile phones (55%) and others’
sleepiness (58%) also affected on group work’s attitude. Nearly a half of students complained about others’ tardiness (45%). Other factors donated a small percentage such as noisy neighbor groups (12%), room’s size (10%) and noisy next door classes (3%).
4.2.2.5. Students’ behavior with difficult tasks
Students in groups sometimes had difficulties in completing the speaking tasks.
However, the way they handled the tasks varied. Some reached for teacher’s help.
Some tried to solve the problem in any way. Besides, some were too lazy to do anything. The pie chart below has a specific result on it (Question 9 in the questionnaire).
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A.I ask the teacher to explain
B.I look up difficult w ords or phrases before discussing.
C.I do not mind. I just w ait for my partners.
D.I never have problem w ith any tasks. Therefore, I try to explain for the group to understand.
Chart 4.9: Students’ behavior with difficult tasks
The pie chart indicates the difference in students’ behavior in group work when they meet difficult tasks. In particular, 74% students felt satisfied with the tasks given. They could not only understand the requirements but also explained for the whole group. Besides, 12% members were patient to look up the answer for the complicated words or phrases before working with others. And just some of them reached for teacher’s help (5%). On the contrary, a number of 9% students were still lazy waiting for other members in the group.
In general, most of students had a positive attitude towards the tasks meanwhile some were irresponsible for their duty in group work.
4.2.2.6. Reasons causing students’ low participation
Question 10 in the questionnaire researched on the reasons why students did not participate well in group in speaking lessons. Results from this question can explain students’ behavior in those classes.
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A. Students worry to lose my face because they do not understand or do not know much about the topics given.
B. Students are not familiar with speaking English in front of others.
C Students are afraid that the teacher know how bad they are and may give them bad marks.
D.The topic or activity is not interesting at all.
Chart 4.10: Reasons causing students’ low participant
The percentage of reasons why students were not interested much in group work in speaking classes is shown as above. Most of learners did not practice to speak English frequently was the main reason.
As can be seen, more than a half of learners (66%) were not familiar with speaking English in front of others. Surprisingly, the number of shy students because of their limited knowledge about the topics and stress due to marks share the same percentage (15%) also lowed down group work’s quality. Only 4%
students blamed for boring topics.