TABLE OF CONTENTS Content Page Sub-cover page Statements of the authorship .ii Table of contents. 1 List of abbreviations. 4 List of tables. 5 List of figures.
Background to the Study. Objectives of the Study. Significance of the Study. Scope of the Study.
Organization of the Study. Review of Previous Studies Related to the Topic. Definition of Cooperative Learning. Cooperative Learning vs.
Elements of CL. Structuring CL Classes. Issues in Implementing CL in the EFL/ESL classroom. Reading and the Traditional Ways of Teaching Reading Skill.
Definition of Reading. Teacher-centered Methods and the Traditional Ways of Teaching Reading Skill. CL in Teaching and Learning Reading. CL in Reading Classes.
Cooperative Learning Activities in Reading Classes. Benefits of CLAs. Data Collection Methods. Data Collection Procedures.
Data Analysis Methods. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Teachers‟ Views on CL in English Reading Classes. Teachers‟ Practice in Conducting CLAs in English Reading Classes.
Challenges of Organizing CLAs in English Reading Classes. Teachers‟ Solutions to the Problems Detected. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. A Summary of the Key Findings.
For Educational Administrators. Limitations of the Study. Suggestions for Further Studies. Classroom observation sheet.
Teachers‟ interview schedule .12 3 LIST OF ABREVIATIONS CIRC : Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition CL : Cooperative Learning CLA : Cooperative Learning Activity CLT : Communicative Language Teaching CRA : Cooperative Reading Activity EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language SSR : Simply Sitting together and Reading TESOL : Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages 4 LIST OF TABLES Tables Page Table 4. Teachers‟ Perceptions on CLAs in English Reading Classes. Teachers‟ Aims of Conducting CLAs in English Reading Classes. Teachers‟ views on the Benefits of CL in English Reading Classes.
Reasons for Teachers‟ Preferences of CLAs. Number of Students in Group. Teachers‟ Assigning Roles. Teaching Students Skills of Team Work.
Teachers‟ Ways of Evaluating Students Group Work. Teachers‟ Ways of Encouraging Students Cooperation. Challenges from Teachers. Challenges from Students.
Challenges from Educational System. Teachers‟ Solutions to the Problems Detected. 70 5 LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page Figure 4. Teachers‟ opinions on the Usefulness of CLAs in English Reading Classes.
Teachers‟ and Students‟ Interest in Organizing CLAs in English Reading Classes. Frequency of Organizing CLAs in English Reading Classes. CLAs used in English Reading Classes. Students‟ Participation in the CLAs.
Teachers‟ Roles during Students Working in Pairs or Groups. 57 6 ABSTRACT Cooperative learning (CL), known as a feature of communicative language teaching, has been encouraged in English teaching at all levels in the Vietnamese context. At high schools, especially some schools in mountainous areas, the implementation of this method in English reading classes was reported to face challenges. This research is an investigation into teachers‟ perceptions and their practice of organizing cooperative learning activities (CLAs) in English reading classes for grade 11 students.
The participants of the study were 24 EFL teachers and 150 students of the 11th grade from three high schools in Buon Ho town, Daklak province. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study. The overall findings from two sets of questionnaires, eight teacher interviews and twelve classroom observations showed that most of the teachers fully understood the key concepts of CL and highly appreciated the benefits of CLAs in English reading classes. However, the frequency of teachers‟ implementation of CLAs was comparatively not high, few CLAs were organized frequently in English reading classes, teachers neglected to structure group work, and students‟ participation in CLAs was not enthusiastic.
The results also showed that teachers did not have interest in the teaching of social or group skills. Given that fact, the study managed to pinpoint some problems from the teachers themselves, challenges from the students and some constraints from the educational system that revealed the inconsistency between what teachers perceived and their classroom practice. The study also proposed a number of implications to facilitate high school teachers in general and teachers in Daklak in particular in order to conduct CLAs more effectively in teaching English reading classes. Overview This chapter starts with the background which serves as the fundamental basis for the study and continues with the rationale that provides the reasons for the researcher to carry out the study.
Furthermore, the aims of the research, the research questions, the significance and the scope of the research are also stated. The structure of the study is then provided in the last section of the chapter. Background to the Study We are on the race of globalization in which being capable of using English is one of the most vital factors for each of us. Many people are expected to be competent to communicate verbally in English with the outside world and to access technology.
To meet the demand, adapting communicative approach in teaching and learning English has been a significant development in Vietnamese context. In correspondence to this trend, new textbooks and syllabus which are communication- oriented and learner-centered have been designed and implemented in English classes at all levels of education. Instead of grammar-based approach, communicative language teaching (CLT) method covers the training of all four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. And the success of English teaching through communicative approach depends entirely on the practice of these skills.
To acquire this result, it is now necessary to take into consideration the application of a typical technique of CLT, the cooperative learning (CL), for its usefulness in promoting students of heterogeneous group cooperating and supporting each other as well as helping teachers overcome difficulties in teaching method and organizing classroom activities. CL is described as a large group of instructional strategies in which students collaborate in order to reach a common goal (Slavin, 1992). CL has been practiced throughout human history and is a part of educational practice. Its 8 effectiveness has been documented through numerous studies such as Johnson and Johnson (1986), Kagan (1992), Slavin (1998).
Besides, Daniel (1993) stated that CL is now widely recognized as one of the most promising practices in educational field. Sapon-Shevin‟s study (1991) found out that CL is a successful teaching strategy at all levels, from pre-school to post-secondary school and as a peer- centered pedagogy that can promote academic achievements and build positive social relationships. Furthermore, CL is considered as “the best option for all students because it emphasizes active interaction between students of diverse abilities and background” (Arends, 2007, p. Therefore, it is believable that CL is a supportive environment for the best and the less able students to practice English, an aid for Vietnamese students to achieve the goal of becoming good English communicators.
Among the major skills which are vitally important for a student to be a good English communicator, reading is the most important one for most of learners (Nunan, 2003). Murcia and Olshtain (2000) support that “skill in reading is imperative since so much of what one needs to know is communicated via written texts” (p. At high schools, reading comprehension is considered the first required skill, the receptive skill, which provides students with input knowledge to develop other language skills. Nevertheless, many of Vietnamese EFL learners find reading “the toughest and most boring” of the four practical skills (Nguyen Quang Ngoan, 2003).
The reason is that since the “teacher-as-authority” and “classroom-as-family” tradition in Vietnamese classes is still dominated, teaching English reading skill for high school students is under the teacher-centered approach. As a result, in a common English reading class, the reading process occurs repeatedly as the teacher asks students to read the whole passage, answer some questions or do some reading comprehension exercises available in the textbook. The main task for the students is to read over and over again until they understand the passage thoroughly and complete all the textbook tasks. This method of teaching and learning easily makes students bored and even some learners complain about the reading class as a 9 “sleeping pill”.
Consequently, they often feel stressed and confused while reading, and thus easily forgetting the lesson after that. To compensate for this fact, more emphasis should now be put on communication and interaction in reading classes to make reading “an active, interactive, and productive process” (Nguyen Quang Ngoan, 2003). In this spirit, developing students‟ cooperative and supportive skills to work together in reading classes becomes a demand. Rationale This research was conducted for a number of the following reasons: Firstly, in Vietnamese context, although a number of studies have been carried out to find the effects of incorporating CL into English classrooms, little attention has been specifically given to the implementation of this technique in English reading classes.
Besides Le Pham Hoai Huong (2009) who examines what students at Hue College of Foreign Languages learn from group work in English basic skill subjects, there are some other researchers such as Tran Thi Le Ninh (2007) exploring the difficulties faced by teachers in implementing CLAs, Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh (2011) investigating how CLAs are used in English writing classes at a high school in Gia Lai province, and so on. It is fact that there have been few studies investigating the current situation of implementing CL in teaching reading skill to students at high school level. As Peregoy and Boyle (1993) state, “cooperative work and sharing play a crucial role in second language reading development and shared reading experiences will further develop students into community of readers and writers” (p.116), there is always a demand to have special focus on using CL for teaching this receptive skill. Secondly, up to now, few studies in Vietnamese context focus on examining teachers‟ attitudes and perceptions about CL, especially, CLAs in English reading classes.
What do teachers think of CL? Do they really realize the importance of CL in teaching reading skill? How do they reflect after implementing some of the CLAs? Finding the answers for these questions becomes an urge for the researcher to carry out the thesis. 10 Lastly, for over ten years of teaching English at some high schools in Buon Ho town, Daklak province, the researcher has found that in most of English classes in general and reading classes in particular, pair work and group work for students are organized but not really successfully. Students make noises, discuss off the topic required, work individually instead of cooperating with one another and even worse, many of low-level students do nothing in their group work. Consequently, many of them find working with other students in pairs or groups a waste of time and feel bored with learning.
Many choose to read individually as the most effective way to fulfill all the reading tasks required. It is worse that some teachers find the implementation of pair work or group work a time-consuming task, and some even avoid using this technique in teaching reading classes. To compensate for this fact, the need of finding an effective way to implement CL in those English reading classes is crucial. For those reasons, I find it necessary to have an investigation into teachers‟ perceptions and practice in organizing CLAs in English reading classes for grade 11 students at high schools in Daklak province.
It is hoped that we could gain more insights into the implementation of this technique of CLT in teaching a specific skill, the reading skill, in our Vietnamese context. Objectives of the Study This research aims to consider and analyze teachers‟ perceptions and their classroom practice of organizing CLAs in English reading classes for grade 11 students at Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Buon Ho High School, and Hai Ba Trung High School in Daklak province.