Tài liệu An investigation into the 5th graders' participation in group work discussion at phung hung a primary school, khoai chau hung yen

HANOI UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYEN THI HONG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE 5TH GRADERS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK DISCUSSION AT PHUNG HUNG A PRIMARY SCHOOL, KHOAI CHAU-HUNG YEN. (Nghiên cứu về sự tham gia vào hoạt động thảo luận nhóm của học sinh lớp 5 trường tiểu học Phùng Hưng A, Khoái Châu-Hưng Yên). SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN ENGLISH STUDIES Student: Nguyễn Thị Hồng. Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Ngô Hữu Hoàng, PhD. Class: 1701K24. Hanoi – 2019. STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that I am the sole author of the master thesis entitled “An investigation into 5th graders' participation in group work discussion at Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai Chau-Hung Yen.” and that I have not used any sources other than those listed in the references. I further declare that I have submitted this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of English Studies at the Department of Post Graduate Studies, Hanoi University and I have not submitted this thesis at any other institution in order to obtain a degree. The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University. Hanoi, 2019. Nguyễn Thị Hồng i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge and extend my great thanks to many people who have made the completion of this study possible: First and foremost, I would like to offer the deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Ngô Hữu Hoàng, who has supported me throughout my thesis with his knowledge and enthusiasm. Then, I am extremely grateful to all the lecturers of Department of Post Graduate Studies, Hanoi University for their awesome lectures that have helped to increase my interest in English language and teaching. Another special thank goes to my colleagues and students at Phung Hung A Primary School. They would be very enthusiastic about taking part in my questionnaires and interviews, which provided me with the facts and figures to complete my research. Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the members of my family who gave me the best personal conditions to support me whenever I needed. ii ABSTRACT Speaking is of great importance to all learners of English and Vietnamese students also encounter great obstacles when they learn this skill, especially the ones who do not major in languages. For most of Vietnamese students in general and learners at Phung Hung A Primary school in particular, it seems to be one problem to participate in group discussion activities fluently and naturally. As a result, the researcher conducted an investigation on students’ participation in group discussion for the fifth graders at Phung hung A Primary school. The study was carried out on 120 students of grade 5. Questionaires, interviews and observations were used to collect information to identify the current situation and causes of the problem. I hope that the information about the situation of using group work activities in English classes in general and students’ engagement by grade 5 students at primary schools like Phung Hung A Primary school in detail will be useful to suggest my students participating in English group work activities more effectively. After analyzing the data, the findings from the study showed that students’ participation in group discussion remaining high level; howerver, students did not really engage in due to some reasons. Based on the findings of the research, several discussions and important pedagogy of implications were presented. Hopefully this investigation can be used as a useful reference for other teachers who would like to upgrade the quality of group discussion in Primary schools in general and in their class context as well. iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Scales reliability analysis Table 2: Explore indepentdent factors analysis Table 3: Explore depentdent factors analysis Table 4: Factors relating to the teacher. Table 5: Students’ learning styles. Table 6: Students’ language level. Table 7: Students’ learning motivation. Table 8: Students’ participation in group work speaking activities. Table 9: Interview result iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ....................................................................................................................................... .i Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract.............................................................................................................................................iii List of tables......................................................................................................................................iv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................1 1.1. Rationale for the study ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. Aims of the study ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.3. Methods of the study ................................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Scope of the study.........................................................................................................................3 1.5. Significance of the study...............................................................................................................3 1.6. Structure of the study .................................................................................................................. .4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................... 5 2.1. Definitions....................................................................................................................................5 2.1.1 Definitions of group work...........................................................................................................5 2.1.2. Definitions of students’ participation.........................................................................................5 2.2. An overview of speaking, teaching speaking and speaking discussion...................................7 2.2.1. Speaking.....................................................................................................................................7 2.2.2. Speaking and learning speaking.................................................................................................9 2.2.3. Common speaking activities......................................................................................................16 2.3. An overview of group work using in speaking activities.........................................................16 2.3.1 Ways to devide the whole class into small groups......................................................................16 2.3.2. The large of a group....................................................................................................................17 2.3.3. Benefits of using group work activities .....................................................................................19 2.3.4. Challanges in using group work activities..................................................................................20 2.3.5. Factors affecting students’ participation in group work speaking activities...............................21 2.4. Previous related study...................................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 3: METHDOLOGY.......................................................................................................29 3.1. Contexts........................................................................................................................................29 3.2. Methods ........................................................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.............................................................................37 4.1. Descriptive statistics.......................................................................................................................37 4.2. Scales reliability analysis...............................................................................................................37 4.3. Analysis of interviews…………………………………………………………............................50 4.4. Analysis of interviews....................................................................................................................51 CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................54 5.1. Concluding remarks.......................................................................................................................54 5.2. Recommendations..........................................................................................................................55 5.3. Suggestions for further studies.......................................................................................................58 5.4. Limitations of the study.................................................................................................................58 REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................-1APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................................... ...I APPENDIX B.......................................................................................................................................IV APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................................... .VII APPENDIX D....................................................................................................................................VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. 1.1.Rationale. Recent years learning and teaching English is becoming one of the topics of interest, especially English for primary students. Concerns for English subject is accompanied with investment in facilities and the application of active teaching methods. Group work activities are belived to bring optimistic results in teaching and learning English. Using group discussion in Let’s talk activities is getting more and more popular in primary schools,for example, Phung Hung A primary school. Phung Hung A primary school is one of the tops in learning and teaching in Khoai Chau district, Hung yen province. This is a primary school which is engaged in VNEN project. So, group work activities are familiar with students here. Group work activities in Phung Hung A primary school are often groups of two to four students discussing a topic, then they show their preparation to the class and teacher. During their discussion, members in group perform at different level of performance. Thanks to group work activities, less confident students get the chance to put their knowledge of the new language into practice in a non-threatening environment, away from the critical eye and ear of the teacher. Instead of being dependent on the teacher, students get used to helping and learning from each other. However, it is not difficult to find out that students did not fully participate in group work activities. Therefore, teachers had a lot of difficulties using group work activities in their class. Hence, this study focuses on investigating into the matter in the hope to work out and explain how the 5th form students participate into group discussion in Let’s talk activities. Furthermore, based on the study, practical teaching ideas to improve the students' participation into the group work activities will be drawn out. 1 Group work is becoming more and more popular at schools. In English classes, group work activities are employed widely and then show beneficial consequences; however, the implemention of group work in English classes, in particular in primary school, is not an easy task. Recent researchers have repoted that students in languages classes in Asia countries (including Vietnam) occupied low level of participation in group activities. In other words, a remarkable number of students tended to be timid or passive no matter how hard the teachers tried to handle cooperative lessons (Morita, 2004; Liu, Zhang and Lu, 2011). Students at Phung Hung A primary school are not an exception. They sometimes seem to be quiet and reluctant in expressing their ideas, which drives teachers’ efforts into disappointing. Kim (2006) and Donald (2010) pointed out influencing factors to students’ participation in group work such as fear of losing face, inproficiency in English to express opinion or lack of belief in effectiveness of group activity implementation. While level of students’ participation is considered to be one of the most important indicators to show the success of group tasks, the factors which influence learners’ engagement must be identified. Basing on this, appropriate teaching methods can be suggested to enhance the performance of group work activities in language classes at primary schools. This has driven me to the study “An investigation into 5th graders' participation in group work discussion at Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai Chau-Hung Yen.” 1.2 Aims of the study. The study aims to investigate current participation by the grade 5 students in group work discussion in Let’s talk activities in the course book at Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai Chau-Hung Yen. Also, the writer have desires to identify the most affecting factors to the students' participation in group work discussion in Let’s talk activities. To achieve the above aims, the following questions are given: 2 1. How do the 5th graders at Phung Hung A primary school participate in group work discussion in “Let’s talk” activities? 2. What are the most important influencing factors to the students' participation in group work discussion at Phung Hung A primary school? 1.3 Methods of the study. To seek for the answers to the above research questions, a survey research design has been adopted. - The questionaires were used to investigate students’ level of participation in group work discussions and the most affecting factors to their participation. - Three observations were used to make clear the students’ level of participation. - Six interviews were employed to gain more information of the most affecting factors. 1.4 Scope of the study. As mentioned in the title, this study focused on the use of group work discussion in terms of students’ participation and affecting factors. Therefore, the researcher spent time and effort investigating how group work activities were organized to the three 5th classes at Phung Hung A primary school during the time of the school year 2017-2018 with 120 students. 1.5 Significance of the study. The study “An investigation into 5th graders' participation in groupwork discussion at Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai Chau-Hung Yen.” is carried out with the purpose of promote the author’s professional development. I hope that the information about the situation of using group work activities in English classes in general and students’ engagement by grade 5 students at primary schools like Phung Hung A Primary school in 3 detail will be useful to suggest my students participating in English group work activities more effectively. Furthermore, the researcher through the study wants to share some experience and recommendations with other teachers to administer group work activities to attract high level of students’ participation . 1.6 Structure of the thesis. The thesis structure is divided into five main parts: Chapter 1, INTRODUCTION, provides some brief information about the reasons for choosing the topic, the aims, the methods, the scope as well as the design of the study. Chapter 2, LITERATURE REVIEW, presents various concepts relevant to the research topic such as speaking skill, definitions of group work, advantages and disadvantages of using group work activities, students’ participation in group discussion. Chapter 3, METHDOLOGY, provides the methodology underlying the research which includes the general information about the situation of teaching and learning English at Phung Hung A primary school. This chapter also deals with the methods of data collection such as survey questionnaires and observation. Chapter 4, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION, gives a detailed presentation of data and description of data analysis. Explanations, interpretation of the findings are mentioned. Chapter 5, CONCLUSION, a brief summary of the whole thesis. This chapter provides the summary of the findings. Based on the findings, the research recommends some possible teaching ideas to make the grade 5 students' participation in groupwork activities more effective in speaking discussion. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1. Definitions 2. 1. 1. Group work Rod Killen (2004) indicades that 'Group work occurs when you ask two or more students to work together.' Davis (1993) sorts out three types of group work which are called: informal learning groups, formal learning groups, and study teams. Informal learning groups are temporary clustering of students within a single class session. Informal learning groups can be initiated, for example, by asking students to turn to a neighbor and spend two minutes discussing a question the teacher has posed. Teachers can also form groups of three to five to solve a problem or solve a question. The teacher can organize informal groups at any time in a class of any size to check on students' understanding of the material, to give students an opportunity to apply what they are learning, or to provide a change of pace. Formal learning groups are groups established to complete a specific task, such as write a report or carry out a project. These groups may complete their duty in a single class session or over a period of time (several weeks). Typically, students work together until the task is finished, and their project is graded. Study teams are long-term groups (usually existing over the course of a semester) with stable membership whose primary responsibility is to provide members with support, encouragement, and assistance in completing course requirements and assignments. Study teams also inform their members about lectures and assignments when one or some members have missed a period lesson. The larger the class and the more complex the subject matter, the more valuable study teams can be. 5 Group work has been incorporated into language teaching and learning in most parts of the world since the emergence of the CLT up work, in a language class, is a co- operative during which students share aims and responsibilities to complete a task assigned by the teacher in groups or in pairs". According to Sprott (cited in Metcalfe 1959:9), " a team as a number of people who interact with another one, who are psychological aware of one another and who perceive themselves to be a team". Doff (1988: 137) defines group work is a process that “the teacher divides the class into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), as in pair work, all the groups work at the same time.” In spite of the different definitions, it can be said that in group work, all the members have chances to cooperate with others. They learn to negotiate to listen to different opinions. Students participate more equally and in most cases they feel free to explore and use English to handle the poblem. In group work, the focus is not only on the product but also on the process and the skills which are activated in order to achieve the goal. From the above definitions, in my opinion, groupwork can be understood as an action of two or more students who interact by verbal skills to share aims and responsibilities in order to complete the tasks given by teachers. In this situation, group work can be used with the same meaning with pair work or team work. 2. 1. 2. Students' participation Many linguists pointed out that students' participation plays a crucially important role which helps to determine the level of proficiency by different students in language learning. According to Howard, Short, and Clark (1996) participation is the student’s active engagement in the classroom to promote effective learning. Besides, Peacock (1997) defined students' participation in language learning in term of on task and off task. Students are 6 considered to be on task when they "engaged in the pedagogic work of the day" and students are off task when they have "a complete lack of attention to the task". Whereas, Sylvelyn, Judith & Paulin (2009) stated that students' participation is when students who actively engage in classroom discussions, rather than be passive learners who simply take in knowledge. Smith (2007) defined students’ participation in learning projects and programs as the motives for engagement in learning projects are often mixed and operated at a number of levels. In the other study, participation can be known as an active engagement process which can be sorted into five categories: preparation, contribution to discussion, group skills, communication skills, and attendance (Dancer & Kamvounias, 2005). It also has been shown that faculty perceives six stages of students’ participation, moving from simply attending class through giving oral presentations (Fritschner, 2000). Participation can also be seen as ‘‘the number of unsolicited responses volunteered’’. It can come in several disparating forms, including students’ questions and comments (Fassinger, 1995). Drawing on the scholarly definitions of classroom participation as mentioned above, participation in this study could be understood in terms of: - staying focused on the group task - listening to others’ ideas - asking questions when needed - giving constructive feedback and offering own opinions - trying to solve the problems arising during group discussion 2.2. An overview of speaking, teaching speaking and speaking discussion. 2.2.1. Speaking There are various definitions of speaking. According to Jones, R (1989: 86) he defined speaking as “a form of communication, so it is important that what you say conveyed in the 7 most effective way.” Speaking is one of the basic skills that must be upgraded by students since it is very important for them to communicate in the class or outside the class. They must practice it especially in learning and teaching in order to become more and more fluently. Ability to speak is one of the most crucial important condition to have natural communication between people each other. Brown and Yule (1989: 14) state in their book “Speaking is to express the needs request, information, service, etc.” The speakers say a word to the listeners not only to express what in their mind but also to express what they need. Most people might spend their everyday life communicating with other members in community. While Bygate (1987) claims that "speaking is a skill which deserves attention as much as the literary skills in both native and foreign languages". If students speak in a confident and comfortable way in class, they can interact better in real daily situations. Because of this, it is necessary to encourage the development of the students' ability of fluency in spoken English. Developing fluency implies taking risks by using language in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere –an atmosphere of trust and support. Speaking fluently means speaking easily and appropriately with others in some ways. Characteristics of speaking Bygate (1987) suggests that conversation can be analyzed in terms of routines which are “conventional ways of presenting information because they are conventional, they are predictable and help ensure clarity. There are two main kinds of routines: information routines and interaction routines. With regards to information routines, we mean frequently recurring types of information structures, including stories; descriptions of places and people; presentation of facts, comparison, and instruction. Broadly speaking, information routines can be defined as “expository and evaluative”. Expository routines involve factual information hinging on questions of sequencing or identity of the subject. Brown and Yule (1983) suggest that the principal types of expository routines are narration, description, and instruction. Meanwhile, 8 evaluative routines involve the drawing of conclusion, usually requiring the expression of reasoning. Concerning interaction routines, they are routines based not so much on sequences of kinds of terms occurring in typical kinds of interactions. Thus, these routines can be characterized in broad terms including the kinds of turns typically occurring in given situations and the order in which the components are likely to occur. So telephone conversations, interview conversations, casual encounters, conversations at parties, conversations around a table at a dinner party, lessons, radio or television interviews, all tend to be organized in characteristic a way (Bygate, 1987). 2.2.2. Teaching and learning speaking People use verbal language as their most common means of communication. Skill and fluency in speaking have dramatic effects upon life in general. The recent emphasis on communication has focused particular attention on ways of fostering speaking skills. Developing verbal skills is not only language competence but also language use. Therefore, speaking activities aim to develop the confidence, desire, and ability to use the target language accurately and appropriately and effectively for the purposes of communication as well. Teaching speaking skill is to prepare students to be able to use English in class or in their daily life. The level of preparation and success depends on the way the teachers set the goals and understand the aims to administer the lesson. For students, learning to speak a foreign language is considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of language learning. To help students be able to use that foreign language to express themselves intelligibly, reasonably, accurately without too much hesitation, teachers must provide them with an environment within in which they can communicate freely, and work together independently with only the minimum amount of direction from the teachers. In the light of what is known about the nature of language learning process and given many demands while speaking activities can make learners, it is 9 important to set attainable objectives and to have realistic expectation about learners' achievements. This requires a certain attitude on the part of the teachers towards the learners' performance, particularly with regard to the class organization as group work and the use of communicative strategies to teach simultaneously. A successful speaking activity in the classroom. Spoken language is the primary objective in language teaching. Giving speaking classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech is important. According to Ur (1996:120), a successful speaking activity requires four typical characteristics: learners talk a lot; participation is even; motivation is high; and language is of an acceptable level. These characteristics are closely related to the theme of this study in hope that learners involve much more, more actively and enthusiastically in speaking lessons. First and foremost, they need a motivation to be eager and encouraged to speak, for example, they have something new to share, want to contribute to the task achievement or just they are fond of the topic. Then, when taking part in speaking practice, learners, on the one hand, should try their best to talk as much as possible in an available period of time; on the other hand, opportunities to raise their voices should be fairly equal to every learner. Besides, learners can express themselves in relevant and comprehensible ways with acceptable accuracy. However, if students cannot communicate in reality, they will not be supposed to be successful. Thus, Pattison (1992:7-8) lays great stress on four conditions to develop speaking ability as follows: -Learners choose what they want to say by giving them a list of different situations or topics (with one or some grammar points for elementary level). -Type of drills in which learners respond mechanically without thinking about what they are saying is left out. 10 -Teachers should pay more attention to fluency than accuracy and do not interrupt to correct mistakes or errors. -Pair or group work is employed. Problems with speaking activities Classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech are important components of a language course where CLT is applied. However, it is more difficult to design and administer such activities than to do so for listening, reading or writing. According to Ur (1996, p.121), teachers often come across the following problems: * The first is “inhibition”. It is explained that unlike reading, writing and listening activities, speaking requires some degree of real-time exposure to an audience. Learners are often inhabited about trying to say something in a foreign language in the classroom because they are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts. * Nothing to say is the second problem. Teachers often hear learners complain they can not think of anything to say. They may have no motivation to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking. The problem is also mentioned by Lawtie (2004) and it is necessary to be tackled. * Moreover, uneven or low participation is among the teachers‟ obstacles. Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard. In a large group, this means that each one has only very little time for talking. This problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate the group, while the others speak very little or not at all. * Last but not least, mother-tongue use is also problematic. When all, or a number of the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it. This happens because it is 11 easier, because it is unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language and because or because learners feel less „exposed‟ if they are speaking their mother tongue. Lawtie (2003, p.2) also states that the problem would happen if the task or activity is not “pitched at the right level for the students”. If the language is pitched too high they may revert to their first language, likewise if the task is too easy they may get bored and revert to the first language, too. To deal with the problems, Lawtie (2004) believes that as a teacher maybe you need to take a closer look at the type of speaking activities in order to make the activities interesting enough to capture students‟ interest and create a real need for communication. In a word, overcoming these obstacles in speaking class to create successful speaking activities where learners talk a lot, participation is even and motivation is high certainly Requires a lot of teachers‟ efforts in designing and carrying out speaking activities. 2.2.3. Common group work activities There are a variety of group work activities used in communicative language teaching. However, this study only discusses some common pair work and group work to develop oral skills of students as follow: 2.2.3.1. Role-play Role-play is an activity that the class is usually divided into pairs or groups. These pairs or groups are given situations and roles to act out. This acting is done for the sake of the language and imaginative activity, not for exhibition. According to Richards (2005: 20), role-play is an activity in which students are assigned roles and improvise a scene or exchanged based on given information or clues. Role-play brings some usefulness to students. Firstly, it helps students master fields of language like vocabulary, structure, pronunciation and intonation more easily. It also gives students opportunities to practise language in various situations not only in class but also outside 12 classroom. Additionally, through role-play, students are trained to deal with the unpredictable nature of language because they act imaginary roles in a lot of situations. Moreover, role-play promotes interaction in the classroom as well as increase motivation. Role-play is simple to prepare, easy to play, and along with games and other communicative activities are recommended to be used in the English speaking class. 2.2.3.2. Information gap activity An important aspect of communication in CLT is the notion of information gap. This refers to the fact that in real communication, people normally communicate in order to get information they do not possess. This is known as an information gap. According to Underhill (1987), an information gap is an activity where one student is provided information that is kept from a partner. A lot of communication involves bridging information gap: you know things I don not know, and I know things you do not know. Often this is hard for students to do naturally in class, either because they might not know enough facts or because everyone knows the same facts. We can simulate the information gap by giving two participant different information, which they have to share. Information gap may take three forms: o One student has some information and the other has to find it by asking questions o One student has some information and tells it to the other students o Both students have different information and they tell each other 2.2.3.3. Problem solving Byrne (1990) suggests an oral activity for pair work and group work. Problem solving has been used to group together a wide range of activities that require students to find “solution” to problems of different kinds. Puzzles, problems, and brain-teasers can also stimulate meaningful 13