Tài liệu Students' perceptions and practices in group work activities in project lessons at a lower secondary school

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN NGÔ HOÀI DIỄM STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN PROJECT LESSONS AT A LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code 8140111 Supervisor: NGUYEN QUANG NGOAN Assoc. Prof. Dr. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN NGUYỄN NGÔ HOÀI DIỄM NHẬN THỨC CỦA HỌC SINH VÀ THỰC HÀNH TRONG HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM CỦA TIẾT HỌC PROJECT TẠI TRƢỜNG THCS Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh Mã số 8140111 Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: PGS. TS. NGUYỄN QUANG NGOẠN i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “Students‟ Perceptions and Practices in Group Work Activities in Project Lessons at a Lower Secondary School” is my own work. Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this paper does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. Binh Dinh, July 2022 NGUYEN NGO HOAI DIEM ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my appreciation and deep thank to all who have supported and stood by me during the time I tried to finish my thesis. First and foremost, I would like to sing out my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoan, with my greatest gratitude for his valuable guidance, advice, and encouragement. He has kindly guided me to get over the most problematic period when I was stuck in finding solutions for my thesis. Undoubtedly, without his support, this thesis is far from being completed. Therefore, I need to emphasize that words fail me in expressing my indebtedness to him. Next, I would like to send my deep thank to all the lecturers, who have laid my background knowledge in the Master‟s program at Quy Nhon University. This background helps me to have intensive knowledge in the scientific arena as well as improve my personal skills to conduct research papers. Then, my particular gratitude is sent to all of my students who have participated in my research. They were eager to join and fill in the questionnaires together with answering the interview questions. Furthermore, my thanks go to my classmates, who were always willing to help me and give their best suggestions and encouragement to me during my course. Last but not least, my words of appreciation are sent to my family members for their endless love and care. iii ABSTRACT This study which entitles “Students‟ Perceptions and Practices in Group Work Activities in Project Lessons at a Lower Secondary School” was conducted with the following objectives: (1) to find out lower secondary school students‟ attitudes toward group work activities in Project lesson; and (2) to examine lower secondary school students‟ practices in group work activities in Project lessons. The study population was all 8th grader students. There are 213 8th-grade students including 101 females and 112 males. A combination of both quantitative method and qualitative approaches was employed to answer the research questions. A questionnaire survey, semistructured interview, and observation were employed as research instruments for quantitative and qualitative data collection. The investigation revealed results that students‟ perception of the advantages of group work activities, such as solving the tasks more effectively, saving quite much time, motivate in English speaking, and reducing the difficulty in learning English speaking. Besides, the study also found students‟ strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to difficulties while doing a project, the findings also showed three main categories, including time constraints, members‟ responsibilities, and teamwork conflict. It is hoped that the results of this study will partly contribute to the teaching and learning of English at lower secondary schools in Vietnam, especially in Project lessons. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLE ............................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 1.1. RATIONALE .......................................................................................... 1 1.2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES ....................................................................... 3 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................................................... 3 1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................ 3 1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ........................................................ 3 1.6. ORGANIZATION OF STUDY .............................................................. 4 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................... 6 2.1. PROJECT-BASED LEARNING ............................................................ 6 2.1.1. Project-based Learning .................................................................... 6 2.1.2. Definition of Project work ................................................................ 9 2.2. GROUP WORK .................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 What is group work? ........................................................................ 13 2.2.2 Benefits of group work ..................................................................... 14 2.2.3 Challenges of group work activities ................................................ 15 2.2.4 Organizing group work in classroom .............................................. 16 v 2.3. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT LESSONS IN VIETNAMESE EDUCATION .................................................................... 19 2.4. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES .................................................... 21 2.5. SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................ 25 3.1. RESEARCH METHODS ...................................................................... 25 3.2. PARTICIPANTS................................................................................... 25 3.2.1. Teacher ........................................................................................... 25 3.2.2. Students ........................................................................................... 25 3.3. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS AND PROCEDURE ........................... 27 3.3.1. Research Instruments ...................................................................... 27 3.3.2. Data-gathering Procedures ............................................................ 31 3.4. DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................... 32 3.5. SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......................................... 34 4.1. STUDENTS‟ PERCEPTION OF AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES .................................................................... 34 4.1.1. Students‟ perception towards the benefits of group work .............. 34 4.1.2. Students‟ perception of and attitude towards project work implementation in Project lessons ............................................................ 36 4.1.3. Students‟ improvement after group work activities in Project lessons ....................................................................................................... 44 4.2. STUDENTS‟ PRACTICES IN GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN PROJECT LESSONS................................................................................... 44 4.2.1. Students‟ difficulties while doing a Project .................................... 45 4.2.2. Students‟ interest in information technology skills......................... 47 4.3. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................... 48 vi 4.4. SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS ............................ 50 5.1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................. 50 5.2. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ................................................................. 50 5.3. LIMITATIONS ..................................................................................... 51 5.4. IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ..52 REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 54 APPENDIX vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS GW : Group Work PBL : Project-Based Learning PW : Project Work viii LIST OF TABLE Table 3.2 Summary of demographic information of the participants ............. 26 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1. The benefits of group work .......................................................... 34 Figure 4.2 Students‟ attitude about the use of PW to show students‟ creativity ................................................................................... 37 Figure 4.3 Students‟ attitude about the use of PW to enhance co-operation skill ............................................................................................ 39 Figure 4.4 Students‟ attitude towards their responsibility in PW ................... 40 Figure 4.5 Students‟ motivation in Project lessons with PW ......................... 42 Figure 4.6 Students‟ attitude towards the obtainment of knowledge in Project lessons with PW ........................................................... 43 Figure 4.7 Students‟ difficulties to make their projects .................................. 46 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. RATIONALE Today with the trend of globalization, the need to use language in general and English, in particular, is becoming increasingly important in our lives. A comprehensive change in all levels, disciplines, materials, facilities, methods, and motivational attitudes of all participants is necessary for the process of teaching and learning English. Being aware of the importance of foreign languages, the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed Decision 1400/QĐTTg to promulgate the National Foreign Language 2020 Project on the 30th of September, 2008. The goal of the 2020 Project is “to renovate thoroughly the tasks of teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system”, and by 2020 most Vietnamese young people will be able “to use a foreign language confidently in their daily communication, their study and work in an integrated, multicultural and multilingual environment, making foreign languages a competitive advantage of the Vietnamese people to serve the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country”. To gain the goal, the Ministry of Education and Training has introduced one of the most prominent measures which is the replacement of English textbooks with new teaching methods. One of the outstanding methods appreciated by the writers and professors is Projectbased learning. The pilot English textbook series for Vietnamese schools under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project was published in 2012 by Vietnamese textbook writers and those of MacMillan Education and Pearson 2 Education – two leading international second/foreign language textbook publishers. One of the most prominent differences between the pilot English textbooks and the previous program is that Project lessons are distributed at the end of each unit based on Project-based learning method. This is a student-centered teaching method that encourages learners to explore and realize knowledge they have learnt in the process of doing their own project and/ or creating their own products and promotes activeness and self– discipline in their learning. With the aim to develop the thinking and creative abilities of students as well as do outstanding projects and/ or products, group work or collaborative activities are increasingly receiving attention in lessons. However, I find many teachers have focused on group work in skills lessons, especially in Speaking and Writing skills lessons, while only a few let lower secondary school students work in a group in Project lessons. On the other hand, most lower secondary school students usually present their own products in Project lessons through posters or PowerPoint. One of the reasons, in my opinion, is that teachers do not organize or design new group activities to motivate the students‟ participation in Project lessons, such as mini shows, photo exhibitions, making videos, etc. If teachers organize these activities, lower secondary school students will have more opportunities to improve and develop four macro skills, teamwork skills, and some abilities. Hence, this study attempts to explore the lower secondary school students‟ attitudes and examine their performances in group work and collaborative activities as well as suggest some group activities to attract lower secondary school students‟ attention in Project lessons at a Secondary School. This is the reason I chose the topic “Students’ Perceptions and Practices in Group Work Activities in Project Lessons at a Lower Secondary School” for my MA thesis. 3 1.2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES The study is aimed to study lower secondary school students‟ perceptions and practices in group work activities in Project lessons at a Lower Secondary School. More specifically, this research has two objectives: - To find out lower secondary school students‟ perceptions on group work activities in Project lessons. - To examine lower secondary school students‟ practices in group work activities in Project lessons. 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The research questions investigated in this thesis are the following: 1. What are lower secondary school students‟ attitudes on group work activities in Project lessons? 2. How do lower secondary school students perform in group work activities in Project lessons? 1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY - The study mainly uses Harmer„s theory (2011) about group work in education to examine students‟ participation in group work activities. - To achieve consistency and reliability, all the students in grade 8 at Hoai Duc Lower Secondary School who participate in group work activities in Project lessons are chosen for the study. 1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The initial purpose of the study is to bring up a significant contribution to Hoai Duc Lower Secondary School because group work has been 4 considered to be very useful for English language teaching and learning. Nevertheless, in the context of Hoai Duc Lower Secondary School, there needs to be a study on group work implementation in Project lessons from different perspective of students in grade 8. The analysis of group work activities in Project lessons can benefit both teachers and students in English teaching and learning. Especially, students will be motivated through a number of group work activities. During the group work process, students can develop team spirit, responsibility as well as learning awareness. Furthermore, students can be more confident in oral communication and students can have more chances to show their creativity and thinking. When teachers pay attention to the process of group work, they also need to plan carefully for Project lessons as well as they will assist their students if students have trouble. The current study also helps school leaders and educators have a deep understanding of how teachers and students appreciate PBL in their teaching and learning, thus teachers and students can be supported in their PBL implementation. The findings of the study can also contribute to the improvement of the current piloted English program. 1.6. ORGANIZATION OF STUDY This study is organized into 5 chapters, including the present introductory section and a conclusive chapter. The Introduction presents the main aim and objectives and the questions addressed in the study as well as provides background information on the topic analyzed. In Chapter 2, the study is put within its theoretical framework by presenting the major theories that support it, which are drawn from linguistics and media studies. The chapter begins with an introduction of group work and 5 the aspect of this theory that is employed in group work activities in the Project lessons. Chapter 3 discusses the methods employed in the selection and analysis of the data. Chapter 4 discusses the results from the analysis as well as the findings of the research questions. Moreover, discussions of the findings are also included in this chapter. Chapter 5 closes the study with a conclusion about its limitations and a few recommendations for further study. 6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The chapter presents the theoretical background on which this study is based. Furthermore, it provides a review of previous studies related to the present study. 2.1. PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 2.1.1. Project-based Learning Project–based learning method has been originated since the early 1900s. This method is becoming increasingly common in teaching and learning language and attracts students to the learning process (according to Ellison and Freedberg, 2015). Nonetheless, there is not a specific definition of project-based learning. Thus, many researchers studied project-based learning with a certain amount of different definitions. Originally, Dewey (1938) stated that project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching and learning model developed based on the concept that learning comes with practice. In other words, his main concern is the relationship between the learning process and real life when he carried out this method. Mergendoller (2006) argued that, on the other hand, PBL is considered a student–centered teaching method. With the traditional teaching method, teacher is the center, he or she has to strictly follow the teaching plan and guide students step by step; meanwhile, in the PBL method teachers play as coachers or assisters, and students will discuss, plan and do their own projects as well as solve the problems. In other words, teachers only assist if the students‟ problems are too much hard to tackle. PBL allows learners to 7 discover themselves since learners not only are offered resource and guidance but they also have to be responsible to find out the best way to learn the material based on given information. Thus, PBL has a complicated working procedure and requires more time for operation. It is flexible because of interaction and cooperation among learners, between learners and teachers and students implement their own projects. This is a reason why students feel proud of themselves. Learners‟ motivation will be increased in presenting better projects in the next decades (Jung, Jun, & Gruenwald, 2001). Differing from the other researchers, Thomas (2010) defined PBL through the following essential features: - Students gain knowledge to solve realistic problems they can face in the real life. - Students can be increased control over their learning. - Students have more chances to work in pairs or groups. It has in fact been said that each of many researchers has their own definition of PBL but some identical features are summarized by the Buck Institute for Education on www.bie.org (BIE, 2015), which involves three groups: (1) Student Learning Goals; (2) Essential Project Design Elements; and (3) Project Based Teaching Practice. All of the features of PBL theory are mentioned by some previous scholars. In conclusion, a number of vital features of PBL contain Challenging Problems or Questions; Sustained Inquiry; Authenticity; Student Voice and Choice; Reflection; Critique and Revision; and Public Product. Seven essential project design elements of PBL are illustrated in the following diagram. 8 Diagram 2.1 Gold Standards PBL (Adapted from Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements, cited in www.pblworks.org). To help readers get a greater understanding, the elements illustrated in diagram 2.1 are explained as follows: - A Challenging Problem or Question: The project is framed by a meaningful problem to be solved or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of challenge. - Sustained Inquiry: Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of posing questions, finding resources, and applying information. - Authenticity: The project involves real-world context, tasks, and tools, quality standards, or impact, or the project speaks to personal concerns, interests, and issues in the students‟ lives. - Student Voice & Choice: Students make some decisions about the project, including how they work and what they create, and express their own 9 ideas in their own voice. - Reflection: Students and teachers reflect on the learning, the effectiveness of their inquiry and project activities, the quality of student work, obstacles that arise, and strategies for overcoming them. - Critique & Revision: Students give, receive, and apply feedback to improve their process and products. - Public Product: Students make their project work public by sharing it with and explaining or presenting it to people beyond the classroom. PBL is a teaching method in which learners study by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects whilst teachers facilitate and guide their learners. However, the author also thinks that teachers play a role in supervising the step-by-step process in order to assist, or even need to control as soon as their students go in the wrong direction. Besides a new method, PBL is considered as a basis of the curriculum because many questions are related to science-based or current social matters. Thus, PBL helps learners clearly know a topic, deeply learn and develop their motivation. What is more, the outcome of PBL is useful and applicable and it is also a part to build habits as well as necessary living skills. 2.1.2. Definition of Project work Project–based learning (PBL) has been investigated in a variety of studies on a global scale over thousands of years; however, education in Vietnam is still not an applied approach to teaching English as a foreign language. Moss and Van Duzer (1998) revealed that project–based learning is like “an instructional approach that contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products to develop”. J. W. Thomas (2000) also mentioned PBL as a learning model organized around