THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES VU THI BINH NGUYEN THE USE OF GROUP WORK TO ENHANCE SPEAKING SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL (Sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để nâng cao kỹ năng nói cho học sinh tại trường THPT Trần Phú) M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THÁI NGUYÊN - 2019 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES VU THI BINH NGUYEN THE USE OF GROUP WORK TO ENHANCE SPEAKING SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL (Sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để nâng cao kỹ năng nói cho học sinh tại trường THPT Trần Phú) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Ha Ph. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com THAI NGUYEN – 2019 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP The thesis entitled “The use of group work to enhance speaking skill for students at Tran Phu high school” has been submitted for the Master of English language. I, the undersigned, hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. I have fully acknowledged and referenced the ideas and work of others, whether published or unpublished, in my thesis.
My thesis does not contain work extracted from a thesis, dissertation or research paper previously presented for another degree or diploma at this or any other universities. Vu Thi Binh Nguyen Date ./2019 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of completing this research paper, I have received great deal of helps, guidance and encouragements from teachers and friends. First of all, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Nguyen Thi Dieu Ha who given me suggestions on how to shape the study and always been most willing and ready to give me valuable advice and helpful comments.
Another special thank goes to my all friends and my family who have always encouraged, supported, and help me to complete my thesis. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The present study aims to investigate the significance of using cooperative group work on improving students' speaking production and communicative skills in EFL classes. The present work is mainly attempts to investigate the students' awareness of the important of speaking skills in learning English at some high schools in Quang Ninh, Vietnam. The study employs a mixed method to find the answers to three research questions.
The researcher carried out the study in two phases; quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (semi-structures interviews) with 10 teachers of English at some high schools in Quang Ninh province. The present study is based on one main hypothesis that if teachers use cooperative learning technique in the oral expression course; then learners will feel more comfortable to use English spontaneously and their speaking skill will be enhanced. The results of the study show that most of the students think that speaking is difficult for them because of the lack of real practice. They all agreed that co-operative group work will help them to talk more in a speaking class.
It is also true for teachers who participate in the semi-structured interview. The findings from this research provide evidence that cooperative group work is the right technique for developing students' language use and increasing their classroom oral participation in interactional environment. The main conclusion drawn from this study has shown that using cooperative learning help high school students in developing their self- confidence and reducing their classroom anxiety and inhibition. Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES. viii CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. 3 CHAPTER II - THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Communicative language teaching.
The nature of speaking. The teaching and learning of speaking. Speaking difficulties in foreign language learning. Nothing to say.
Low or uneven participation. Mother tongue use. The relationship between speaking and other language skills. Speaking and writing.
Speaking and listening. Speaking and reading. Cooperative language learning. 17 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Group work in language learning. What is group work?. Why use group work in language teaching?. Group work in large classes.
Group work for speaking skills.8 Types of group work. Collaborative group work. The role of the teacher with group work activities. 28 CHAPTER III - METHODOLOGY .1 Context of the study.
Data analysis procedures. Administration of the questionnaires. Administration of the interview. 32 CHAPTER IV - RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.
Results of research question 1 .2 Result from questionnaire 2. Results of research question 3. 39 CHAPTER V - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 42 REFERENCES APPENDICES Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS CEFR: Common European framework of reference EFL: English as a foreign language ELLs: English language learning strategies TEFL: Teaching English as a foreign language Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Fig.
1: The sequential of research design. 31 Table 1: Results of research question 1. 34 Table 2: Results of research question 2. 38 Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu và Công nghệ thông tin – ĐHTN http://lrc.vn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationales The main objective of learning a foreign language is to be able to communicate in that language. The students in Vietnam have many difficulties when they communicate in the English language. Improving the learners speaking ability in English is one of the most important challenges that Vietnamese teachers try to achieve. The problem we are confronted with here is that the importance of classroom participation is almost neglected and of little interest and the learners are just passive consumers of the knowledge.
It is generally accepted that knowing a language and being able to speak it are not synonymous because speaking is a skill which has to be developed and practiced inside and outside the classroom. We all know that speaking is one of the four macro language skills. For students who learn English as a foreign language in Vietnam, speaking can be seen as the most challenged task for them. This is because of some reasons.
Firstly, the class size is large. There are often 30 to 40 students in a class that makes it impossible for teachers to take care of them individually. Secondly, students lack of background knowledge of the topic to be discussed. Thirdly, they might feel insecure about their performance in the target language or they do not want to lose face in front of their classmates so they are reluctant to speak in English.
This can be solved by participation in speaking activities in groups that can limit the embarrassment while speaking English. This is the main topic of the study. The use of group work has become more appealing in the teaching and learning process, as it is interactive and encouraging. Group work can be used in teaching varieties of language skills, namely speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Group work offers students opportunities to refine their understanding through discussions with members. It is often recommended for developing social interactions and language skills. It is also a means by which students can support, challenge and extend their learning together, for example by searching for information or through problem solving or working on creative tasks. According to Douglas (2000: 11) group work can develop the students to interact with other students.
It means that group work can develop quite warm, 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com friendly atmospheres in which members feel comfortable and accepted in their membership. The appropriate use of group work in language classroom brings several benefits for the students. First, group work demonstrates the ability of students to communicate, discuss, and cooperate with other students. Second, group work is an effective means of dividing the workload.
Third, this allows for small sections or units to be completed providing a sense of completion for everyone and allows better management of the project as a whole. As the result, group work can promote students’ practice, the quality of their talk, their motivation, and positive classroom atmosphere in teaching and learning speaking. Based on the researcher’s observation and preliminary interview in speaking class at grade 11 in Tran Phu high school, the researcher found some major problems regarding to the implementation of group work. First, from teacher’s statements, it could be concluded that group work activity tended not to be success because most of their classes had a big numbers of students so the teachers face difficulties in controlling big classes, and controlling students not to make noise.
Second, the teachers confused in how to implement the group work in teaching speaking. In this case, most of the students tended to be less initiative to find out any sources that can help them to understand the work to get a deep understanding. From my point of view, one effective solution that can improve students speaking skills is using group work in English class. The benefits of this technique for students have aroused my interest and encouraged me to carry out the thesis “The use of group work to enhance speaking skill for students at Tran Phu high school”.
Aims of the study The overall aims of this study are firstly to advance an understanding of the effectiveness of cooperative learning strategies in the classroom to enhance speaking skill. Secondly, the researcher would like to explore teachers' awareness towards cooperative learning activities such as pair works and group works. Finally, we would find out the effect of using cooperative activities in enhancing speaking ability. In order to achieve our aims, the following objectives have been identified: Identifying the students' speaking difficulties in an EFL class; 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Encourage students to speak, participate and overcome their fear and hesitation; Encourage teachers to implement the cooperative learning strategies in the classroom.
Besides, the researcher will utilize the information that experienced teachers have shared to find out about how they are implementing group work with students. By exploring their classroom experiences, the researcher will be able to provide rich data about how group work benefits students in the speaking classroom. The two different interviews will allow us to investigate further of how teachers using group work identify the growth of social, intellectual, and linguistic growth of students through using this strategy. Research questions With the objectives stated above, the study aims to answer the following research questions: 1.
What are students' perceptions towards group working activities to enhance speaking ability? 2. What are teachers' awareness of the using cooperative learning? 3. How can cooperative learning technique affect the learners' speaking skills? 1.