MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY TRAN THI NGOC QUYNH GROUPWORK ACTIVITIES IN DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS AMONG EFL TENTH-GRADE STUDENTS IN QUANG NGAI PROVINCE Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: HA THANH HAI, Ph. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN TRẦN THỊ NGỌC QUỲNH HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN KĨ NĂNG NÓI ĐỐI VỚI HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TẠI TỈNH QUẢNG NGÃI Ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp giảng dạy Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: TS. HÀ THANH HẢI i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP The thesis, titled "Groupwork Activities in Developing Speaking Skills among EFL Tenth-Grade Students in Quang Ngai Province," is being supervised by Quy Nhon University lecturer Ha Thanh Hai, Ph. I declare that all of the work provided in this paper was conducted by myself, except where reference is made in the text of the thesis.
I also confirm that this work is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M. thesis in English at Quy Nhon University. I also confirm that this work is submitted in partial fulfillment for the M.A thesis in English Quy Nhon University. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree, and it has not been submitted for any degree or diploma candidate.
Quy Nhon, March 2023 Tran Thi Ngoc Quynh ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha Thanh Hai, who was willing to sacrifice his valuable time not only to improve my thesis, but also to encourage me to carry out my thesis. I appreciate his flexible guidelines, recommendations, and great management abilities for supporting me in overcoming challenges in my work. I feel fortune to have gotten the assistance of my supervisor. My gratitude also goes to all lecturers who have brought me a lot of knowledge.
This study was made possible by the participation of passionate high school students in Quang Ngai Province, particularly the tenth-graders of class A1 and A9 at Huynh Thuc Khang High School, who donated their time for the research. I was also appreciative of my colleagues' assistance, support, and management in thesis writing. I am truly thankful to my great friends, Mr. Nguyen Duy Linh, Ms.
Duong Thi Ngoc Vu, Ms. Vu Thi Kim Khue, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Ha, Mr. Dang Xuan Hung, Ms.
Huynh Thi Minh Thy, Ms. Pham Nguyen Minh Tram and other beloved people. They encouraged and assisted me when I encountered obstacles while writing my thesis and provided me with useful insight into my thesis as well. Last but not least, I am grateful for all the support I got from my family, who gave me motivation throughout my thesis studies.
iii ABSTRACT Speaking is an essential skill in learning any language. However, many students find it challenging to develop their speaking skills. Groupwork activities are suggested as one of the methods that have been shown to enhance the speaking abilities of EFL learners. This research aims at examining whether groupwork activities have any significant effects on the speaking skills of EFL 10th grade students.
The research used a quasi- experimental method and a mixed-method approach, with 60 EFL tenth- graders from a high school in Quang Ngai Province. These participants were divided into two groups: the control group and the experimental group. The study instruments were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data: speaking tests, a questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that there was a significant difference in speaking skills between the control group and the experimental group.
Besides, the majority of the experimental group participants had positive perceptions towards learning and enhancing their speaking skills through groupwork activities. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for further studies are addressed based on the findings of the study. Keywords: Group work activities, EFL tenth-grade students, speaking skills, students’perceptions. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES. AIMS OF THE STUDY.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 6 2.
Definition of speaking skills. The importance of speaking skills. Characteristics of speaking skills. Speaking activities in the classroom.
Speaking Testing and Assessment. The problems in developing the students' speaking skills. Definition of groupwork activities. The benefits of groupwork activities.
THE APPLICATION OF GROUPWORK ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES. Semi-structured interviews. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES.
Semi-structured Interviews. Data from Pre-test and Post-test. Data from Questionnaire. Data from Semi-structured Interviews.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. The effects of groupwork activities on learning speaking skills. The perceptions towards the use of groupwork activities in learning speaking skills. The results for the Research Question 1:.
The results for the Research Question 2:. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 67 APPENDICES vii ABBREVIATION EFL English as foreign language MOET Ministry of Education and Training L2 Second language CEFR Common European Framework of Reference for Languages viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The information of the participants.
General lesson plans .3: Pre-test and Post-test format .4: Descriptive Statistic for the pre-test and the post-test .5: The Criteria for Rating Scale .1: The results from pre-test between the two groups before the intervention .2: The results from post-test between the two groups after the intervention .3: Difference in results between the pre-test and post-test within the experimental group .5: Students' perceptions towards the advantages of groupwork activities .6: Students’ perceptions towards the drawbacks of groupwork activities .7: Students’ perceptions towards suggestions for groupwork activities. 49 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Summary of students’ speaking skills scores between the two groups before and after the intervention .2: Students' perceptions towards the necessity of speaking skills. Theoretical reasons No one can deny or ignore the importance of English in today's globalized world since it is the most common language spoken all over the world. English is considered a widely spoken language with over 2 billion speakers and is also the official language of 67 countries as well as international organizations.
Speaking skills are one of the most vital abilities for students in learning English and for their future career as well. According to Richards (2006), mastering English speaking abilities is a top priority for many second- languages or foreign language students. Many students, however, have difficulty speaking English both in and outside of the classroom. As a result, group work activities are a crucial and major component for everyone, especially in the academic environment.
Learners look forward to spending more time on collaborative work where they can access more knowledge and build social analysis abilities (Ruben, 2010). The positive influence of collaboration is a flexible style for learners to interact with others. Furthermore, research on the relevance and effectiveness of implementing group work activities in oral abilities shows that student can benefit from cooperation activities to develop their speaking skills (Pratiwi, 2020; Alfi, 2015; John, 2017). The study provides a theoretical framework for analyzing the use of groupwork activities in teaching and learning speaking skills and examines whether their impact on developing speaking skills is effective.
Finally, various communicative activities have been introduced as a method to enhance students' oral abilities and to examine students' perceptions on the implementation of groupwork tasks in order to develop their speaking skills. Contextual reasons In the context of Vietnam's strong integration program, the English- speaking ability has a significant impact on determining the lifestyle and future orientation of several individuals, particularly the younger generation. However, it has been shown through several exams that Vietnamese students' English competence is weak, uneven. Students learn English in secondary and high schools and continue to do so in college, but few achieve any proficiency (Minh Nga, 2020).
In reality, most EFL students and teachers still believe in the traditional teaching style of learning English by using grammar as a foundation, and less attention to actual English. As a result, not enough attention has been paid to encouraging EFL learners to communicate more clearly and with confidence. Hence, it is a significant difficulty for students to meet the fundamental objective of the current general English curriculum, which fits into CEFR Level B1-1 after graduation. Moreover, communication skills and language knowledge are built on the basis of specific communicative competence units so as to to help students achieve the requirements specified in the 6-level foreign language competency framework for Vietnam (approved by the Vietnamese government and issued in accordance with Circular No.
01/2014/TT-BGDĐT on January 24, 2014, by the Ministry of Education and Training) as well as the teaching of the English textbook series for Vietnamese schools under the strategy of “Vietnam’s National Foreign Language 2020 Project”. In light of this, it is suggested that group work activities be used in the classroom and as extracurricular activities. For the reasons above, group work activities in classes or at school need to be encouraged more so that learners can use the target language independently in the communicative environment. However, the problem is that few studies of the use of groupwork activities in improving students' 3 speaking skills have been conducted in high schools in Vietnam.
As a result, in order to fill a research gap, the present research aims to determine whether groupwork activities have any significant effects on EFL high school learners' speaking skills. As a result of the foregoing, I decide to choose the title “Group work activities in developing speaking skills among EFL tenth-grade students in Quang Ngai Province”. AIMS OF THE STUDY 1. General aim This study is conducted to examine group work activities in developing speaking skills among EFL tenth-grade students.
Specific objectives To achieve the general aim, the following study is expected: - To identify the effects of groupwork activities on EFL tenth-graders’ speaking skills. - To examine students' perceptions of applying groupwork activities in learning speaking skills. RESEARCH QUESTIONS For these purposes, this thesis aimed at investigating research questions: 1. To what extent does the use of groupwork activities effect on tenth-grade EFL students’ speaking skills in Quang Ngai Province? 2.
What are students’ perceptions of the use of groupwork activities in developing their English-speaking abilities? 1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY This research primarily focuses on the development of speaking skills through the use of groupwork activities in students; therefore, other aspects receive limited attention. The study is designed to be applicable to grade 10 4 students from two intact classes enrolling at a high school in Quang Ngai Province. Then, about 60 students are chosen randomly to participate in this study.
The time for the study is limited, and this study's sample size may not be representative of all EFL students in Quang Ngai Province. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Despite the fact that many significant studies have been done on the use of groupwork activities, few studies have been conducted on the use of groupwork activities to enhance speaking abilities among EFL learners in developing countries such as Vietnam, particularly in EFL high school context. According to the results of the study, it is necessary to provide administrators, teachers, and students with valuable information, such as the benefits of groupwork activities in teaching and learning speaking skills in EFL high school contexts. In addition, students may incorporate more groupwork activities into their speaking practises.
The final purpose of the study is to encourage teachers and learners to focus more on applying groupwork activities to enhance the target language. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The research report consists of five chapters: Introduction, Theoretical Background and Literature Review, Research Methods and Procedures, Findings and Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations. Chapter 1 Introduction The chapter provides some background knowledge of the study. This chapter discusses the objective of the study.