STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any college or university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Date: August 1st, 2017 Signature i ABSTRACT This study aimed at investigating forms of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities, how students scaffolded each other and students’ perceptions towards peer scaffolding in English speaking activities at Dong Ha High School in Quang Tri. The study was conducted with eleventh grade students at Dong Ha High school, Quang Tri.
The data collection tools included questionnaire, audio recording and interview. Data analysis involved both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The findings revealed that four forms of peer scaffolding, namely, procedural scaffolding, conceptual scaffolding, technical scaffolding and affective scaffolding were often used among students in speaking activities. Besides, students highly appreciated peer scaffolding and frequently provided peer scaffolding in preparing presentation and delivering language knowledge in English speaking activities.
Based on the findings, some practical implications were put forwards to EFL teachers, students and administrators regarding peer scaffolding. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and many thanks to my supervisor, Assoc. Le Pham Hoai Huong, who spent her time on giving comments and suggestions to every piece of my study. I am thankful for her professional guidance and detailed advice throughout the development of the study.
Without her support, I might never have fulfilled my work successfully. I am also indebted to the EFL teachers and administrators from Dong Ha High School in Quang Tri as well as students from classes 11A1, 11A2 and 11A3 who enthusiastically cooperated to help me collect data for the study. Last but not least, I am immensely grateful to my beloved family and friends who gave me lots of best wishes, motivation and inspiration to complete my study. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents.
Pages STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS.
Organization of the research. Definitions of key terms. Definitions of scaffolding. Benefits and challenges of scaffolding.
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and its relation with scaffolding. The application of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities. Forms of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities. Previous studies in other countries.
Previous studies in Vietnam. Gaps in the literature. Setting and participants. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Peer scaffolding in English speaking activities. Forms of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities. How students scaffolded each other in English speaking activities. Direction maintenance of peer sscaffolding.
Giving explanations or suggestions. Work sharing for effective performmance. Answering/Satisfying peers’ questions and needs. Ideas sharing for better content knowledge.
Giving feedback and encouragemment. Giving a sense of safety. Students’ perceptions of peer scaffolding. CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY.
Summary of the key findings. Forms of peer scaffolding and how students scaffolded each other in English speaking activities. Students’ perceptions of peer scaffolding. Implications for effective peer scaffolding in English speaking activities.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study .70 REFERENCES APPENDICES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching L1: First Language L2: Second language LRE: Language Related Episode TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages ZPD: Zone of Proximal Development vii LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS Table 2. Illustrative model of scaffolding. Common forms of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities.
Forms of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities. Specific techniques of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities. Students’ attitudes when working with more knowledgeable peers in English speaking activities. Students’ perceptions of peer scaffolding advantages in English speaking activities.
Students’ perceptions of peer scaffolding disadvantages in English speaking activities. 61 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale The concept of scaffolding mentioned in Vygotsky’s constructivist theory has received a great deal of attention in educational research over the past few decades. An abundance of research on scaffolding in different contexts has been carried out.
Scaffolding highlights one of the key aspects of children’s learning, namely that it is often “guided by others” (Stone 1998a, p. Vygotsky indicated that learning awakens in children a variety of internal developmental processes that can work only when they interact with more competent partners in their language educational environment and in cooperation with their peers. Additionally, Vygotsky theorized that when children scaffold each other, they modify a task and offer assistance to each other to help complete the task (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988). When children model each other, they offer behaviors to each other for imitation, thereby helping each other to see the appropriate behaviors, understand the reasons for their use, and exhibit the specific behaviors in order to put them into their own understanding.
Also, he stressed that children develop in a social matrix that is formed by their relationships and interactions with other children. The social environment is a major contributor to the cognition of children because of the open area of communication that exists that allows them to negotiate and express ideas as necessities for speaking skills as well as contribute to each other’s understanding. In the acquisition of a second language, speaking is a vital skill to master. In ELT, speaking skills is considered the most important skills and even the most difficult aspects of language learning (Brown & Yule, 1983).
Therefore, the major goal of all English language teaching should be to give learners the ability to use English effectively, accurately in communication (Davies & Pearse, 2000). In spite of that, according to Baker and Westrup (2003), in many countries, because speaking skills 1 are not assessed in tests, teachers usually disregard this skill and focus on other features such as grammar or vocabulary. This is especially true in the case of English education in Vietnamese high schools. In recent years, Vietnam has seen an explosion in the demand for English.
With the move to a market economy by the Vietnamese government and the growth of international businesses as well as an increasing number of foreign tourists, knowledge of English has become the passport to a better-paid job. English as a foreign language (EFL) has been taught widely as a compulsory subject in many educational institutions in Vietnam, from primary schools to tertiary institutions. The efficacy of English teaching and learning attracts much interest from Vietnamese people and society. Vietnamese government has set out a number of policies and initiatives in order to improve the quality of EFL teaching and learning in Vietnamese education system.
However, it seems that there have been a number of challenges for EFL teachers and students, and administrators in Vietnam. Of the challenges that EFL teachers and students face, the exam-oriented education system has been identified as a barrier to the teaching and learning of communicative language. Teachers and students have spent class time on practicing tasks for form- based exams instead of focusing on activities to improve students’ communicative competence (Gao, 2012; Ming & Jaya, 2011; Pan & Block, 2011). Nowadays, EFL students are learning English in the light of communicative approach which focuses on four main skills.
Therefore, it is easier for young learners to get used to new ways of learning language in the very first stages but for the high school students at this time. High school students have experienced both grammar-based syllabus and skill-based syllabus in acquiring the English language in Vietnamese education, which means they have to change their way of learning from a passive and individual mode into very active and collaborative one. Therefore, Vietnamese high school students obviously need to adapt a new way of learning a foreign language, which learners’ knowledge acquisition is not only from teachers but also from their peers and many other online sources regarding speaking skills that have always been underestimated before. As an English language teacher and learner, I have 2 realized the importance of peer scaffolding.
It in many ways can support students in the process of learning a new language. For the above reasons, this study was set out to investigate forms of peer scaffolding, how students scaffolded each other and students’ perceptions of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities. Research objectives This study was implemented with the purpose of exploring aspects of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities of Dong Ha high school students in Quang Tri. Particularly, it aims to explore forms of peer scaffolding, how students scaffolded each other and students’ perceptions towards peer scaffolding in English speaking activities.
To achieve the purpose, what students have known about peer scaffolding and how they have applied peer scaffolding in their learning were examined. Research questions Specifically, the study addresses the following research questions: 1. What forms of peer scaffolding appear in English speaking activities? 2. How do students scaffold each other in English speaking activities? 3.
What are students' perceptions of peer scaffolding in English speaking activities? 1. Research scope The study was implemented with the participation of one hundred students of eleventh grade classes at Dong Ha High School in Quang Tri. These students have similar educational and social cutural backgrounds as they have been learning English since they were at primary schools and secondary schools and are living in Dong Ha city in Quang Tri. According to English eleven new syllabus, students must learn eight forty-five-minute periods of speaking during the whole semester.
In speaking, speaking activities are conducted as part of the curriculum during the whole semester and students were definitely familiar with a large number of 3 speaking activities, for example, presentation, story telling, role-play, discussion, etc. Research significance Peer scaffolding has been largely studied in L2 writing so far, however it remains a new area of research in L2 speaking, particularly in speaking activities. By approaching peer scaffolding in terms of speaking activities, the study aims to emphasize the importance of peer scaffolding as components of a practical activity students are engaged in, and as a result, possibly offer a broader understanding of what happens in peer interaction. This study hopefully offers a number of pedagogical implications to the EFL teachers, students and administrators based on the findings.
Theoretically, the study contributes to pedagogical points of views in teaching and learning speaking skills. In practice, the study is expected to figure out some new aspects of peer scaffolding in speaking activities for EFL upper secondary school students. Organization of the research This paper is divided into 5 Chapters which mainly serve the purposes as the followings: Chapter 1: Introduction will focus on rationale, objectives as well as research questions. Also, the significance and the scope of the study will be included in the chapter in order to provide an overview to the readers.
Chapter 2: This chapter is about Literature Review. It presents the theoretical background regarding the definitions of key terms, previous studies in other countries and in Viet Nam as well as gaps in the studies. Chapter 3: Methodology shows the method of carrying out the study. Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion focuses on what has been found.
Chapter 5: The last chapter, Conclusion and Implications, summarizes the key findings and presents practical implications and suggestions for further study. 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Introduction Sociocultural theory which was first introduced and developed by Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, has gradually made a great impact on the language learning and teaching profession. According to Turuk (2008), the sociocultural theory advocates learning, particularly in L2 acquisition and is a process where participation in socially mediated activities is essential.
Therefore, it is believed that learning in an L2 context should be a collaborative achievement and not an isolated individual's effort where the learner works unassisted and unmediated.