VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ĐẶNG THỊ THU THÚY INCOOPORATING TEAM WORK ACTIVITIES INTO LISTENING LESSONS TO MOTIVATE THE NON - ENGLISH MAJOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE (HUS) (Kết hợp các hoạt động tập thể vào bài giảng kĩ năng nghe hiểu để khuyến khích sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm hai tại trường ĐH Khoa học tự nhiên Hà Nội) M.A Minor Program Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 HÀ NỘI – 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ĐẶNG THỊ THU THÚY INCOOPORATING TEAM WORK ACTIVITIES INTO LISTENING LESSONS TO MOTIVATE THE NON - ENGLISH MAJOR 2ND YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE (HUS) (Kết hợp các hoạt động tập thể vào bài giảng kĩ năng nghe hiểu để khuyến khích sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm hai tại trường ĐH Khoa học tự nhiên Hà Nội) M.A Minor Program Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60. Nguyễn Thi Ngo ̣ ̣c Quỳnh HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Incorporating team work activities into listening lessons to motivate the non– English major second year students at Hanoi University of Science (HUS) is the result of my own work. It is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Education. This minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted for any other universities or institutions.
Author’s signature i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis. Firstly, I would like to thank Faculty of Post Graduate – University of Languages and International Studies for giving me permission to carry out this thesis, and to use some precious references of Department library. Secondly, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quynh whose help, stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped me in all the time of carrying out the research and writing this thesis.
Thirdly, I am bound to my friends and my colleagues who supported and helped me collect data and corrected some grammatical and spelling mistakes in my writing. Lastly, I would like to give my special thanks to my husband who gave me technological support. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This research is an investigation on the current situation of using cooperative teamwork activities in listening class and students’ attitude towards these activities to find out some practical methods so as to incorporate them into listening class to motivate the non English major second - year students at Hanoi University of Science (HUS). A groups of 84 non - English major second year students and five teachers of English at HUS were participated in a questionnaire, interviews and class observations.
Results indicate that cooperative teamwork activities were used regularly but inappropriately and unequally among listening classes. Moreover; while discussion is the most common activity used in listening class, students paid more attention to games. In addition, although listening is an importance skill, listening practice has not been performed regularly in class. Moreover, kinds of activities, group forming and durations for activities are three factors which have influences on students’ participations in cooperative team work activities.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT Page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLES OF CONTENT iv LIST OF ABBREVIATION vii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS viii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1. Rationale of the study 1 2. Objectives of the study 1 3. Significance of the study 2 4.
Scope of the study 2 5. Method of the study 3 6. Organization of the study 4 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 1. Theoretical background of listening 5 1.1 The nature of listening 5 1.
Theoretical background of cooperative learning 8 1.1 Definitions of cooperative learning (CL) 8 Cooperative learning 8 Cooperative leaning and competitive learning 9 Collaborative leaning and cooperative learning 9 1.2 Basic factors of cooperative learning 10 1.3 Effectiveness of CL 13 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Benefits to learners 13 Benefits to teachers 14 1.4 Challenges of cooperative learning 14 Challenges to teachers 14 Challenges to learners 15 1.5 Roles of teachers, learners and materials in cooperative learning 16 Learners’ roles: 16 Teachers’ roles: 16 Role of materials: 16 1.6 Group forming 17 Type of grouping 17 Sizes of groups: 19 1.7 Cooperative teamwork activities 20 1.3 Related studies on the topic 22 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27 2.3 Data collection Instruments 31 2.4 Data collection procedure 32 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33 3.1 Cooperative team work activities 33 3.1 Kind of activities 33 3.2 The frequency of using cooperative team work activities in listening lessons 34 3.2 Students’ attitudes to cooperative team work activities; materials and listening lesson 35 3.1 Students’ attitudes to cooperative team work activities 35 Students’ preferences for cooperative team work activities 35 Grouping in cooperative team work activities 37 Group’s size 38 Group forming 39 Students’ cooperation in groups in cooperative team work activities 40 Students’ preferences for materials 42 Duration for cooperative team work activities 43 3.2 Students’ attitudes to listening lessons 44 PART 3: CONCLUSION 45 1. Suggestions for further study 47 REFERENCES 49 APPENDICES I APPENDIX I I APPENDIX II VI APPENDIX III XVI APPENDIX IV XVII vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATION CL: Cooperative learning HUS: Hanoi University of Science UlIS: University of Languages and International Studies MCQ: multiple choice questions CTET: College of Technology and Economics in trade HUBT: Hanoi University of business and technology EFL: English as a foreign language vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Figures Figure 1: Bottom up and top down processing Figure 2: Cooperative learning elements by Johnson, D. Figure 3: Illustration of random groups Figure 4: Homogeneous and heterogeneous groups Charts Chart 1: Cooperative teamwork activities Chart 2: Frequency of using cooperative teamwork activities in listening class Chart 3: Students' preferences for cooperative teamwork activities Chart 4: Group sizes Chart 5: Grouping in cooperative team work activities Chart 6: Students' preferences for materials Chart 7: Duration for cooperative teamwork activities in listening class Tables Table 1: Group structures and associated tasks Table 2: Students’ attitudes to grouping in listening class Table 3: Students’ cooperation in cooperative team work activities Table 4: Students’ attitudes to listening lessons viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter focuses on six main parts namely the rationale for the study, the objectives; the scope of the study; the significance of the study; the method used to conduct this research and the organization of the study. Rationale of the study Since English has become one of the most influential languages in the world, it has been widely taught at many universities for such a long time.
English is considered to be a means of communication which people use to exchange information, share experience as well as to broaden their mind. Nevertheless; the goal of acquiring it for communication has not been emphasized. In addition, although there has been much innovation in English Teaching Methodology, students have some difficulties in listening comprehension in the target language (Huyen, Ng (2010:14). With the aim of motivating students into listening classes and involving them into cooperative practice, the teachers improved their teaching methods by applying CL into their classes; incorporating cooperative teamwork activities in listening classes.
However, the current situation of incorporating cooperative team work activities to motivate the second year - students has not been examined. Therefore; this study focuses on investigating the current situation of using these activities in listening class and students’ attitude towards them to find out some practical methods so as to incorporate them into listening class to motivate the second year students in HUS. Objectives of the study The study aims at: Investigating the current situation of using cooperative teamwork activities used in listening class for non – English major second year students in HUS Exploring the students’ preferences for these activities 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Identifying students’ attitudes and teachers’ ones towards cooperative teamwork activities in their listening lessons. Suggesting some recommendations/ methods for incorporating/ implementing cooperative teamwork activities in the listening lesson to motivate non – English major second year students in HUS In order to achieve these objectives, three research questions were raised: Which cooperative team work activities are currently used in listening lessons for non – English major second year students at HUS? What is the situation of using these activities in listening lessons in HUS? Which cooperative team work activities are the students’ preferences? 3.
Significance of the study The study is conducted to examine the current situation of using cooperative teamwork activities and students’ attitude towards them in order to indentify some practical methods to motivate non – English major second year students at HUS. Therefore; it is expected to bring about some advantages to both the lectures and students at HUS. The first and foremost aim; thus, is for the sake of the students. The researcher hopes that the students will raise their awareness of the benefits of teamwork activities in their listening lessons; hence, they will cooperate with their partners to achieve their common goals.
Besides, it is hoped that the study will help teachers absorb, adjust their teaching methods as well as design teamwork activities appropriately in their own teaching lessons. Furthermore, this study is also believed as a reliable source of reference for all lecturers, teachers or those who are concerned. Scope of the study There is a variety of means and factors which play important roles in the teaching of listening skills. Considering the objectives and research questions, the study concentrates on the effectiveness of cooperative teamwork activities used in 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com listening lesson at HUS, not in other linguistic lessons, which interferes with students’ ability to determine the level of listening comprehension or motivate students in listening lessons.
More specifically, the researcher focuses on cooperative teamwork activities used in listening class for non – English major second year students at HUS find out some students’ preferences and effective methods to motivate students in listening lessons. In terms of participants, the study investigates 84 non – English major second year students at HUS. In addition, 5 lecturers of English teaching in these classes will be included in this research. Method of the study The research is conducted basing on both qualitative and quantitative methods.
First, quantitative methods were applied to investigate the participants’ performance in listening lessons. Quantitative analysis was involved in the process of data collection and analysis via some pieces of information collected by class observation. The checklists were carefully noted down to provide some proofs happening in listening classes. Additionally, questionnaires which aimed at investigating students’ attitudes towards cooperative teamwork activities; listening lessons and their preferences for cooperative teamwork activities which influenced on their participation in listening lessons were utilized.
Close-ended; open-ended questionnaire items and rating scale response were used. The survey was carried out with the participation of 85 non – English major second year students at HUS who come from some different Departments. They were asked to complete the questionnaires. Besides, qualitative approach was also involved in the process of data collection, the ideas in semi – unstructured interviews with 5 lectures at HUS contributed much to the data analysis.
After that, the researcher processed the data and drawn conclusions basing on these instruments.