Đề tài Tổ chức hoạt động tổ và hoạt động nhóm trong lớp học THPT tại trường PTTH Phạm Văn Nghị tỉnh Nam Định: một nghiên cứu cá biệt

he answers of question 5 show that grammar is the most useful for working in pairs and groups (50%), the next is speaking (33,3%), and then other ones. For question 7, the answers of the students did not agree with the answers of the teachers. They liked using the same topics as in the textbook but not the exact copies (50%). 29,2% of students use the information in the textbook. Some students design the work by themselves and use information from another reference book. Like the teachers here, the students also found pair work and group work useful in language classes. Most of them (93,4%) considered pair work and group work important and useful activities in language classes. However, there were few students (6,7%) did not see the usefulness of pair work and group work in their learning process. 85,8% of the students said pairwork and groupwork are suitable and appropriate in their school. Only 14,2% thought they are not appropriate in school because they did not see the usefulness of these activities. Surprisingly, most of the students (72,5%) here thought that their hardship, their cooperation and their language proficiency are the decisive factors of success of pair work and group work in language classes.The other factors affected little about the success of pair work and group work. 2.3.2. Classroom observation The researcher observed 15 classes taught by all eight teachers. The classes were of all three grades 10, 11 and 12 and at both levels A and B. This part describes the detail procedure of the classes observation and then some evaluations are given by the researcher. They are described at the order they were observed as follow : Basing on the classroom observation sheets (see Appendix 3 and 4), pairwork and group work activities take place in language classes in PVN upper- secondary school quite often. They were used in all the classes observed (100%). This means that the teachers here usually organized pair and group work in their language classes but not all the teachers used them effectively. Moreover, the different teachers spent the various time on pairwork and groupwork activities, the total for these activities were about 50% of the total time amount, and in average, pair and group work activities took 20 minutes each period. The maximum time amount for pairwork and groupwork activities in a class was 30 minutes and the minimum time amount was 10 minutes. And the average time amount for pair and group work in a class with in this school was 20 minutes. This number is also shown in the language teaching survey questionnaires, in which they chose 10 minutes and more for the appropriate time amount. The table 4 describes the use of pair work and group work in PVN upper secodary school in details. The table shows that the teachers at PVN upper secondary school prefer pair work to group work. There were only 4 groupworks among 30 organized. And most of pair work and group work they organized were for teaching speaking (13/30), and the rest 17 were for teaching grammar, reading, writing, vocabulary and listening ; 5 for teaching grammar, 5 for teaching reading, 4 for teaching writing, and only 1 for teaching vocabulary, and 2 for teaching listening. Each pair and group work organized took at least 5 minutes and at most 15 minutes. The teachers usually group students at the same table in pair work and group work (25/30). And the information the teachers used in organizing pair and group work was mainly taken from the textbook (23/30), among them in 9 cases the teachers used the exact copies from the textbook and in 12 cases they used the information in the textbook with adaptation and extension, 9 cases the teachers designed the work by themselves. Notes : for more details, please look at the table in Appendix In conclusion, after analyzing data from survey questionnaires and observation, the author has a brief overview of organizing pairwork and group work in PVN upper secondary school. The author wants to give examples of pair and group work in order to make readers know clearly about how pair work and group work were organized in this school 2.3.3. Examples of pair and group work These examples below shows how to organize pair work and group work in PVN upper secondary school. They will be described in details in order to show the way the teachers in this school often organize pair and group work. 2.3.3.1. Pairwork This pair work was organized to teach speaking through making a dialogue in Task 1 in lesson 16 «  historical places »- 10th form ; twelve- year course textbook. In the first half of the lesson, the teacher asks students to close the book and give some information about President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Then teacher asks students to open the book and look at the situation in Task 1 : A foreign visitor has taken some notes about President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Ask and answer questions with a partner, using his notes. The teacher explains some possible new words, pronunciation first. Then the teacher asked the students to do this task in pairs of two students sitting at the same tables, next to each other. The purpose of this pair work was to practise speaking and remind students about one of historical places by using the simple past tense and passive voice Here is the copy of the exercise for this activity from the textbook B. SPEAKING Task 1. A foreign visitor has taken some notes about President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Ask and answer questions with a partner, using his notes. Example : A : Where is President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum situated ? B : It is situated in Ba Dinh District in HaNoi. A : When did the construction of the Mausoleum start ? B : It started in September 1973. PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH’ S MAUSOLEUM . Place : Ba Dinh District, Hanoi . Built in September 1973, completed in August 1975 . 1st floor : a stand for important meetings organised at Ba Dinh Square, 2nd floor : Where the late president is lying, 3rd floor : the roof . Visiting hours : 7 :30- 10 : 30 a.m. in summer and 8 :00-11 :00 a.m. in winter. Every day except Monday and Friday. . Usually closed September 5- December 10 for maintenance. . No photograpraphy allowed inside. After forming pairs, the teacher gave some explanation of the exercise : in this exercise students have to make the questions and answer the questions basing on the given information The students worked in pairs in 10 minutes, during that period of time one student makes questions, the other answers those questions. While the students were working in pairs, the teacher went round and helped with pronunciation and the words to be used. After 10 minutes, the teacher requests some pairs to speak loudly for all class to hear. The other students in the class were asked to listen to them, give comments and correct the mistakes. In some cases, the teacher gave the correct word(s) or some further explanation. As an observer I found that the pair work had followed all the steps needed ; presentation, process, ending and feedback. At the first step- presentation- the teacher had given clear instruction before the work and that made students understand what they had to do with the excercise. And the way of forming pairs was sufficient, it was suitable and convenient for students to work together. Then at process step, the role of both the teacher and the students is suitable. The students worked together smoothly and it was not too difficult for them to do this exercise. The teacher went round and offered some help only when it was needed. 10 minutes was a suitable time for this exercise and all the students seemed to finish their task on time.At the last step, the whole class was involved in evaluating the work. The exercise was corrected clearly to all students. The teacher corrected not only the mistakes in using grammar structures, but the mistakes in pronunciation and the tone as well. 2.3.3.2. Groupwork The group work was in class 10A1, lesson 16, task 3 « historical places »- 10th twelve year course textbook. The main purpose of lesson 16 was to revise the use of simple past tense- one of the main grammar structures and it was taught in primary school and now students have known quite well. Here is the copy of the exercise for this activity from the textbook. TASK 3. Work in groups. Ask other members of the group questions about a historical place they have been to or know about, note down the main information, and then report to the class what you have learnt about that place. The teacher asked the students to work in groups after they had finished task 1 and task 2 in the textbook.The purpose of the group was to teach speaking and to practice the simple past tense. The activity lasted 20 minutes. First, the teacher requests students to choose one of historical places then ask and answer about that place. One of students in the group writes information about that place. The teacher goes round the class, listen and correct. Then, one student of a group present for all class to hear. It is more interesting if the class do not know that place and guess. Sometimes, teacher prepares some information about one historical place and request students to guess about the name of that place. As observed, I found the work of the students in group of three was ineffective. In the time of five minutes they only discuss some information about that place.They must collect information from the other groups and from the teacher. The class is very noisy because the class is very large. In this task, It is better for students to work in larger group of five. One student speaks his idea, the other ones hear and take notes. The teacher should give a more suitable feedback. CHAPTER 3 : FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS This chapter presents the ways the teachers in PVN school organized pairwork and groupwork, the major problems that teachers and students at PVN encounter during the process of organizing pairwork and groupwork. These difficulties have been drawn from the results of the two survey questionnaires and observation.The author’s suggestion which help improve the quality of the organizing pairwork and groupwork are also presented in this chapter. 3.1. FINDINGS The results of the two questionnaires and observation clearly show the way to organize pairwork or group work, and some factors that make organization of pairwork and groupwork at PVN school less effective. 3.1.1. How did teachers at PVN school organize pairwork and groupwork ? After collecting the information by using two kinds of questionnaires and observation sheets, I have an overview of how pair and group work are used in my school 3.1.1.1. Steps of organizing pair and group work In theory, there are three steps in organizing pair work and group work which were mentioned in chapter I- Literature Review. The teachers in this school followed all three steps but the ways they organized pair and group work were different Firstly, the teacher presents what the students have to do, what structures they have to practise and whom they have to work with. Some vocabulary was given before the activities.The teachers explain the task both in English and in Vietnamese. Some teachers gave a sample product as an example, others did the task with a student immediately in class. In spite of different ways of presenting, they all did this step well and did not make students misunderstand.The teachers here preferred to make students sitting at the same table work with each other, they rarely formed groups of students sitting far from each other. Because the classroom furniture is fixed and the class is too crowded with students, they will make much noise that affects to other class. Sometimes they ask the students to form large groups of more than ten, this also caused some noise and took much more time but it made students more excited about the work. Next, the teachers worked as a guide or an observer. The students speak freely with the partners and they only help when it was necessary. However, the teachers must keep the students using the target language and participating in pairs and in groups. The students rarely finished on time in spite of the time limit. That was because the difficulty of the work was not accurately accounted. If the work is easy, they finish it easier and make noise. If the task is difficult or long, they can not do it on time. Finally, most of the teachers requested some pairs or the representatives of some groups to stand up and report their work for the others in the class to comment and correct the mistakes. The teachers often gave some additional explanation and the key. Some other teachers gave comments, correct all the mistakes and gave marks. One thing the author wants to emphasize here is that the teachers here often tried to correct all the mistakes appeared ; both linguistic and grammatical ones. It is not necessary for CLT. The communicative approach shows that not all mistakes need to be corrected ; the main aim of language learning is to receive and convey meaningful messages, and correcting should be focused on mistakes that interfere with this aim, not on inaccuracies of usage (A course of language teaching- Penny Ur, p 244 ; Cambridge University Press 1996). In some cases, the teacher did not give feedback. 3.1.1.2. The material used in organizing pair and group works The material used in language classes in PVN upper- secondary school are taken from different sources and various in form and content.There are three kinds of materials used in organizing pair work and group work in PVN upper seconary school : the first one is the exact copy from the textbook, the second one is a copy from the text book with adaptation and extension and the last one is the material designed by the teachers or taken from other reference books.In 9 among 30 cases the teachers used the exact copy from the textbook. For example, in lesson 16 - 10th form textbook, the teacher asked the students to work in pairs to do task 1.The teachers adapted the task in the textbook and extended them more often than they used an exact copy of them. In lesson 16, the teacher extended the task 3 for group work. The teacher required this task much more than those in the textbook.. Sometimes the teachers here created the materials themselves or took from other books to organize pair and group work.They prepared the worksheets, the games and different kinds of activities to use in language classes. Among 30 cases obseved, there were 9 times the teachers used the material out of the textbook. Some materials of this kind were not very appropriate, effective, and poor in content or not related to the topic of the lesson. Although the teacher tried to collect the new materials in their language classes, but the selection of the material to be used sometimes was not sufficient. 3.1.2. Difficulties from teachers 3.1.2.1. Lack of knowledge of pairwork and groupwork Some teachers are not fully aware of the knowledge of pairwork and groupwork. They even do not know exactly the steps of organizing pairwork and groupwork, therefore while organizing pair work and group work they sometimes feel confused and passive. For example, they do not create motivation for students to express their own ideas and in some cases students have nothing new to say because they have to follow a fixed rule, they have to make sentences with cue words, they have to read a sample dialogue. 3.1.2.2. Habits of old teaching methods Despite the fact that the teachers at PVN school are well aware of the benefits of working in pair and group, some of them find it difficult to use it in their teaching because of many reasons, the biggest one is that they are deeply affected by old teaching methods. They said that after quite a long time applying these methods, they become absorbed to them and it is very difficult for them to change. They think that they should organize pairwork and groupwork regularly but when they do it ineffectively, they just return to the old ones. 3.1.2.3. Not good preparation Most of the teachers in my school are too busy to prepare lesson carefully. They must do a lot of work in the family beside teaching extra classes in other schools to earn more money. They do not prepare the lesson plan for pairwork and groupwork carefully .They do not know how to use modern equipments effectively because they were not taught carefully. Some of them mind to use them because of their limited time. 3.1.3. Difficulties from students 3.1.3.1. Passive learning style According to Burns and Joyce (1997) :134), this factor makes learners reluctant to take part in pairwork and groupwork. They still deeply affected by the old methods such as Grammar Translation or Audio-lingual Method and the learning enviroment at secondary or high schools where speaking was not encourged and focused. They get used to listening to the teachers, take notes and doing exercises, not speaking. That can explain why they mind participating in pairwork and groupwork 3.1.3.2. Low level of English language proficiency While working in pair and group, some students can not express ideas in English because of their poor vocabulary, grammar, and even pronunciation. Some of them do not have any knowledge to present the given topic. All these reasons prevent them from participating in pair work and group work, gradually they will lose their interest in working in pairwork and groupwork. Laziness, passive learning way also deters them to speak in group 3.1.3.3. Learners’ fear of making mistakes Many students are afraid of making mistakes because of their low level of proficiency and their lack of ideas.They are not confident enough to express their ideas for the partners. 3.1.3. Objective factors 3.1.3.1. Large- sized classes All classes in PVN school consists more than 45 students, so that it is very difficult for teachers to organize pairwork and groupwork, to control the class and to put an eye on every student. During the time working in pair or group, only good and talkative students make use of the chances to raise their voice, shy and less able students can not be given enough care, attention and encouragement. 3.1.3.2. Lack of reference books and teaching aids In the library, reference books are not available. There are only some reference books for doing exercices. Teachers must self – prepare for their lesson without school’s helping. The lack of teaching aids like video recorders, multi- functions projectors lowers the effectiveness of working in pair and group. Teachers can not show the pictures or conversations in real life by showing them video clips or TV progammes. 3.2. SUGGESTIONS Within the scope of this study, the author does not have the ambition to find the solutions to all the problems mentioned above. In this part, the author just wants to give some suggestions to improve the quality of organizing pairwork and groupwork more effectively. 3.2.1. General suggestions In order to organize pairwork and groupwork more effectively, besides having a deeply understanding about pairwork and groupwork, steps of organizing pairwork and groupwork and know how to apply them suitablely, the teachers and students in my school should try to overcome some difficulties : both subjective factors and objective factors. Some subjective factors are the prior passive learning experiences, the fear of mistakes and losing face in front of teachers and peers, their low proficiency in English and their lack of motivations. Some objective factors are considered such as large-sized classes (more than 45 learners in one class) and difficulties from the textbooks (too much newwords, difficult topics…). Especially, the teachers and students should do the following things : To the teachers, firstly, teachers should have a good preparation. They should prepare a various materials for lessons with pictures and information, then teachers should create a good atmosphere for students to take part in pair work or groupwork by noticing something such as : creating pair and group. According to Harmer, J, the teachers have to decide how to put individual students in to pairs or groups, and with which of their classmates. The teachers can base such decisions on any one of the following principles : friendship (to put friends with friends), streaming (mixture of weaker and stronger students), chance (for no special reasons of friendship, ability, or level of participation), changing group (to change partners often). Secondly, teachers should design activities with a purpose. Normally, every real life communication has a purpose to convey information. Activities in the language classroom simulate communication outside the classroom when they are structured with such a purpose. In other words, the clearer the purpose of the discussion is the more motivated students will be. In such classroom activities, students use the language to fill an information gap by getting answers or expanding a partial understanding. Moreover, teachers should base the activities on easy language. Generally, the level of language needed for a discussion should be lower than that use in intensive- learning activities in the same class. The language required for a discussion should be easily recalled and produced by students so that they can speak fluently. In some cases, pre- teaching or reviewing essential vocabulary before the activity starts is a good idea. Thirdly, teachers should use task- based activities. In real life, people use language to perform tasks such as solving problems, developing plans or teaching. The use of similar task- based activities inside the classrooms will encourage students to use the language. Finally, the teachers’attitude toward students during the time of working in pair and group will decide the success of the lesson such as : observe, listen and how to help students, encouragement and even giving feedback. Teachers should use different ways of giving feedback or correcting errors for different lessons. For lessons that focus on form like grammar lessons, direct and immediate feedback and error correction are needed and expected. However, in communicative lessons like speaking, the flow of talk should not be interrupted by the teachers’ corrections. Teachers should only give feedback and correct errors after students already finish their task. When giving feedback, the teachers should give feedback on both form and content. It is advisable that teachers should encourage students to self- correct. Giving feedback and correcting errors is also a good way to motivate students as it is a useful comprehension for students and it shows that the teachers really listen to what they say. To students, they should participate in pair and group positively with the highest motivation. They should become active speakers in the class with the careful preparation of knowledge.Students should improve their background knowledge by reading supplementary materials in terms of videotapes or reading texts from the internet or other sources like magazines or newspapers.Students should be aware that confidence is especially important in working in pair or group. If they are afraid of making mistakes, afraid of losing face, they can not make use of the chances to express their ideas and show their language use. Their teachers and friends will not laugh at them but help them correct their mistakes which later results in their progress. In conclusion, effective pair and group activities have the following characteristics : (1) communication gap : each student has relevant information that the others don’t ; (2) task orientation : activity has a defined outcome such as solving a problem ; (3) time limited : students have a preset amount of time to complete the task. In case the task is based on group discussion, teachers should include instructions about participation when introducing it. Another issue that may reduce the effectiveness of pairwork and groupwork is students’ Vietnamese use. They may use Vietnamese during discussion or even chat with each other. The best way to keep students speaking English is that the teachers should try their best to put an eye on all groups, remind students and model them the language use. 3.2.2. Some suggested exercises in working in pair and group According to Adrian Doff, students can practise language together, study a text, research language or take part in information- gap activities in pairwork. They also can write dialogues, predict the content of reading texts, or compare notes on what they have listened to or seen. In groupwork, students can do a range of tasks for which pairwork is not sufficient or appropriate. Thus students can write a group story or role- play a situation which involves five people. They can prepare a presentation or discuss an issue and come to a group decision. They can watch, write, or perform a video sequence ; we can give individual students in a group different lines from a poem which the group has to reassemble. In general the small groups of around five students is better than larger groups. They are small enough for real interpersonal interaction. However, there are occasions when larger groups are necessary. The activity may demand it, or we may want to divide the class into teams for some game or preparation phase. These are some kinds of exercises that are suitable for pair work or group work : - Controlled oral practice : pattern practice : This can be done in pairs and group in the same way as the likes/ dislikes’ activity. Any controlled oral practice can be done first with the whole class, and then in pairs. - Practicing short dialogues : Acting out short dialogues can very easily be done in pairs, with little chance of students making mistakes. It can be done first with pairs of students in front of the class, and then with all the students working in pairs at the same time. - Reading a text and answering questions : Students can discuss questions in pairs or groups and then read the text : or they can read the text silently, and then ask and answer questions in pairs or groups. This is a good way of involving the whole class in answering questions. - Short writing exercises : Students can sit in groups and decide together what to write- one student acts as ‘ secretary’. This can be difficult to organize, but in a large class it has the advantage that students correct each other’s mistake and the teacher only has a few papers to mark at the end. Pair work can be used for correcting written work (e.g. homework)- students sit in pairs and correct what their partner has written. - Discussion : With more advanced classes, discussions can be conducted in groups. It is important to define the discussions clearly, and to ask each group to report their conclusions afterwards. - Grammar exercises : students can do grammar exercises orally in pairs ; the teacher goes through the answers afterwards with the whole class, and students write the exercises for homework. This is more interesting and productive than students doing exercises alone in silence. (Adrian Doff, 1988 ; Teach English p.146- Cambridge University Press) Part C : CONCLUSION 1. Summary of the study The aim of the study is testing the effectiveness of working in pair and group at PVN upper secondary school with which teachers may be able to get a better understanding of how students work in pairs and groups, which can be made available to them. This study consists 3 chapters through which the important roles of pairwork, groupwork and how to organize pairwork and groupwork effectively are presented. The first part is introduction of the rationale, the aims, the scope, the method of study and the design of study. Then, Communicative approach to language teaching and pairwork and groupwork are mentioned in chapter 1 of the second part .Finally, the results of working in pair and group in classes from 10th form to 12 form at PVN upper secondary school are performed and presented in chapter two. After making questionnaires and observing the classes at PVN upper secondary school. The author knows much information about working in pairs and groups. After analyzing the data, the author realizes that pair work and group work are used widely in PVN upper secondary school, but the effect of it needs discussing. Chapter three of the research presents the author’s findings and suggestions. In fact, all teachers know how to control the kinds of communicative activities and the ways to carry out these activities, the ways to group the students, the appropriate amount of time for them and the purposes of the activities. They have adapted or expanded the exercises in the textbook to make them suitable for the students here and they have made use of the material in other books in their language classes. However, the way to organize pair work and group work is not effective. In conclusion, the teachers in this school always organize pair work and group work and these activities attract almost students. They have certain knowledge of pair work and group work, but the ways they applied them was not sufficient. However, if the teachers notice these kinds of activities, they could organize them better. After studying, communicative activities - an effective and interesting teaching way - are applied more regularly. Pair and group work are one of the simple and easy way to apply and not less affective than others. So it is important to continue to study other kinds of activities. 2. Limitations of the study However, there is an obvious limitation that this length of time is not enough for the students to familiarize themselves with learning. Neither is it long enough to measure the effectiveness of a new idea in teaching language. In addition, data collection was done through questionnaires and observation . As it can be seen from the student and teacher questionnaires, the information to be obtained was quite limited and not very accurate.Their responses may be just their beliefs or thoughts that they have about their use of working in pair and group. Some students can answer thing that they actually not do or they have different understanding of some concepts/ terms used in the questionnaire. 3. Suggestions for further study Moreover, this research is limited on organizing pair work and group work in a particular school at PVN upper secondary school, a kind of case study. Some further research should be taken as follows : - A study on the ways to use material provided by the textbook effectively in organizing pair and group work. - A study on the tips and techniques, which help to succcessfully organize pair work and group work in crowded classes. Working in pair and group is one of the techniques in Communicative Language Teaching.These mentioned above ways of organizing pairwork and groupwork effectively will probably help learners and teachers organize pairwork and groupwork better and more effectively. However, it is important to note that these ways are only comparative. Therefore, students and teachers should have an objective and all- side outlook to choose the most efficient ways of organizing pairwork and groupwork. The author would like to hear from all of readers whose comment or advice is appreciated. REFERENCES Atkinson, D. (1993) – « Teaching Monolingual Classes », Essex, Longman Blair. G. M. (www. Britishcouncil.org.vn) Starting to manage : the essential skills. Brown, H.D. (1994).  « Teaching by Principles An Interaractive Approach to Language Pedagogy »- San Francisco State University. Das, B. K. (1984). « Communicative Language Teaching »- Singapore University Press Doff.A. (1998) « Teach English » a training course for teachers- Cambridge University Press in association with The British Council. Dwyer, J. (2000), The Business Communication Handbook. Prentice Hall Fiske, J. (1990, 1994). Introduction to Communication Studies. Znd edn. London. Routledge Larsen- Freeman, D. (1986). «  Techniques and principles in language teaching » Oxford : Oxford University Press. Le Ngoc Tuan (2005), An Investigation in to the Techniques for Improving Speaking Skills to Entrepreneurs via Using a New International Business English at Vinh University, VietNam National University. Le Thi Hong (2005), Personalizing Oral activities for second year English major students at HaiPhong University : An action research,- VietNam National University Ha Thi Lien Hoan (2005), An investigation in to how pair and group work are used in an upper secondary school. A case study, VietNam National University. Harmer, J. (1999). « Practice of English Language Teaching » - Longman Johnson, K. and Johnson, H. (1989). Communicative Methodology. Oxford: Blackwell. Littlewood, W. (1981). Communicative Language Teaching. CUP Mai Thuy Phuong (2005), A Study on the techniques for improving speaking skills to non- major students of English at HaiPhong foreign language center, HaiPhong university, VietNam National University. Nguyen Xuan Thom (1992), In search of possible solutions to the increase of ELT effectiveness and efficiency for Junior secondary schools in rural VietNam, University of Canberra Nguyen Thi Minh Trang (2006), Teaching speaking skill to non – English major students of pre- intermediate level at the people’s police academy : some suggsted techniques and activities, VietNam National University Nunan, D. «  Second Language Teaching and Learning »- University of Hong Kong Pattison, P. (1987). « The communicative approach and classroom realities » (EDRS No ED 288 407. 17 pages). Pica, T. P. (1988). Communicative language teaching : An aid to second language acquisition ? Some insights from classroom research. « English Quarterly, » 21(2), 70-80. Savignon, S., & Berns, M.S. (Eds.). (1984). « Initiatives in communicative language teaching. » Reading, MA : Addison- Wesley. Tibbitts, F « Working in pairs and groups » Human Rights Education Associates Richards, J.C. & Rodgers, T. S (1986) « Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching » Cambridge University Press. Ur.P (1996). « A course in language teaching »- Practice and theory Cambridge University Press. Widdowson, H.G. (1990). « Aspects of Language Teaching » - Oxford University. APPENDIX 1 : Questionnaires Language teaching survey I.General : 1. Sex : Male Female 2. Highest academic/ professional qualification : A teacher’s certificate in language education  A diploma in language education A bachelor’s degree in language education A master’s degree in language education Other ; please specify :..................................................................................... 3. Numbers of years of teaching experience II. Teaching : How long do you usually spend on pair and group work per period? Please, tick the appropriate box 5 minutes per period More than 15 minutes per period 10 minutes per period 15 minutes per period Others ; Please, specify :.................................................................................. What are the main benefits of group work and pair work ? Please, tick the appropriate box To make students more motivative To help the learning process To create a good atmosphere in class To help the teaching proces To kill the time Others ; Please, specify................................................................................... 3. Which activities do you often use pairwork and group work ? Please, tick the appropriate boxes  Speaking  Writing  Reading Listening Others, Please , specify................. 4. How do you group for pair and group work ? Please, tick the appropriate box. Students at the same table  Good students with the weak ones Students from different tables Weak students with the weak ones Students sitting next to each other  Good students with the good ones Students sitting far from each other Students in different rows Others, Please, specify.................................................................................... 5. In your opinion, which ones are pair work and group work most useful for ? Please, tick the appropriate box(es). Grammar  Speaking Pronunciation Writing Vocabulary  Reading Translation  Listening Others, Please, specify.................... 6. To use pair and group work successfully in a secondary school, the teacher has to : Have awareness of the work Give clear instructions with examples  Good preparation Control the work Make the work suitable to the students Create a competitive sense Others, Please, specify.................................................................................... 7. How do you often prepare for pair and group work in your classes ? Please indicate your response by circling the number according to the following key. Use the information given in the textbook. Use the same topics as in the textbook but not the exact copies Take an extract or information from another reference book  Self- design Collaborate with your colleagues or get their opinions Other : Please, specify..................................................................................... 8. How useful do you think pair work and group work are to improve learning at your school ? Please, tick the appropriate box. It is an important activity in language teaching It is one of the important and useful activities in language teaching It is a good activity to be applied It is neither good nor bad Its usefulness is not clear. It has no use Others, Please, specify..................... 9. How appropriate do you think are pair work and group work at your school ? Please indicate your response by circling the number according to the following key. Very appropriate Appropriate Not very appropriate Not appropriate at all Others, Please,specify............................................................................................................... 10. which factor do you think can most affect the success of a pair and group work ? Please, tick one option only. Teaching experience The age of teacher The proficiency of the teacher The hard work of the students The cooperation of the students The proficiency of the students Others, Please,specify..................................................................................................... APPENDIX 2 : Questionnaires Language learning survey I.General : Sex : Male Female Grade : 10 11 12 Study result of the previous term : Excellent  Good  Fare  Bad II.Learning : 1. What do you think is an appropriate time for pair work and group work ? Please, tick the appropriate box.( Em nghĩ thời gian tốt nhất làm việc theo nhóm là bao nhiêu ? Hãy tích vào một trong các ý kiến sau) 5 minutes per period (5 phút mỗi tiết) 10 minutes per period (10 phút mỗi tiết) 15 minutes per period (15 phút mỗi tiết) More than 15 minutes per period (nhiều hơn 15 phút mỗi tiết) Others ; Please, specify....................................................................... (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 2. What are the main benefits of group work and pair work ? Please, tick the appropriate box. ( Theo em những lợi ích chính của việc học nhóm là gì ? hãy tích vào một trong các ý sau) To make students more motivative  To help the learning process ( Tạo động lực cho sinh viên) ( Giúp cho quá trình học) To create a good atmosphere in class  To help the teaching process ( Tạo cho lớp học có không khí sôi nổi) ( Giúp cho quá trình dạy) To kill the time (Để giết thời gian) Others ; Please, specify........................................................................... (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 3. Which activities do you often work in pairs and group ? Please, tick the appropriate box(es) ( Hoạt động nào em thường làm việc theo cặp và nhóm ? hãy tích vào một trong các ý sau) Speaking (Đọc) Reading (Nói) Writing (Viết) Listening ( Nghe) Others ; Please, specify....................................................................... (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 4. How are you often grouped for pair and group work ? Please, tick the appropriate box. ( Em thường được nhóm thành cặp và nhóm như thế nào ? Hãy tích vào một trong các ý sau) Students at the same table Good students with the good ones (Học sinh ở cùng một bàn) (Học sinh giỏi với học sinh giỏi) Students from different tables Weak students with the weak ones (Học sinh từ các bàn khác nhau) (Học sinh yếu với học sinh yếu) Students sitting next to each other Good students with the weak ones ( Học sinh ngồi ngay cạnh nhau) ( Học sinh giỏi với học sinh yếu) Students sitting far from each other ( Học sinh ngồi xa nhau) Students in different rows (Học sinh ở các hàng khác nhau) Others ; Please, specify.................................................................... (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 5. In your opinion , which ones are pairwork and groupwork most useful for ? Please, tick the appropriate box. (Theo em cái nào trong số những cái sau đây khi làm nhóm mang lại lợi ích nhất ? Hãy tích vào một trong các ý sau đây) : Grammar ( Ngữ pháp) Reading (Đọc) Pronunciation ( Ngữ âm) Writing ( Viết) Vocabulary (Từ vựng) Speaking ( Nói) Translation ( Dịch)  Listening ( Nghe) Other ; Please, specify............................................................................. (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 6. To use of pair work and group work successfully in a secondary school, the teacher has to : (Theo ý kiến của em, để sử dụng cặp nhóm thành công ở trường PTTH, giáo viên phải) : Have awareness of the work Give clear instructions with examples (Có sự cảnh báo về công việc) (Đưa ra chỉ dẫn rõ ràng cùng các ví dụ) Prepare beforehand Control the work (Chuẩn bị trước) (Điều khiển hoạt động) Make the work suitable to the students  Create a competitive sense ( Tạo ra hoạt động phù hợp với học sinh) Tạo ra sự cạnh tranh Others ;Please, specify......................................................................... (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 7. How do you often prepare for pair work and group work in your classes ? Please indicate your response by circling the number according to the following key : ( Em thường chuẩn bị như thế nào khi làm việc theo cặp, nhóm ở lớp ? Hãy đưa ý kiến của em bằng cách khoanh tròn các ý sau) : Use the information given in the textbook ( Dùng các thông tin trong sách) Use the same topics as in the textbook but not the exact copies. ( Sử dụng cùng chủ đề như trong sách nhưng không phải là bản sao chính xác) Take an extract or information from another commercial book ( Lấy thông tin từ trong một cuốn sách khác) Design by yourself ( Thiết kế bởi chính bản thân em) Collaborate with your colleagues or get their opinions ( Hợp tác với bạn bè hoặc lấy ý kiến từ họ Others ;Please specify............................................................................ (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 8. How useful do you think pair work and group work are to the promoting learning at your school ? Please, tick the appropriate box. (Ích lợi của việc học nhóm như thế nào trong việc nâng cao chất lượng học trong trường ? Hãy tích vào một trong các ý sau : It is a vital activity in language teaching It is neither good nor bad ( Nó là một hoạt động trong việc dạy ngoại ngữ) (Nó không tốt cũng không xấu) It is one of the important and useful activities in language teaching (Nó là một trong những hoạt động quan trọng và có ích trong việc dạy ngoại ngữ) Its usefulness is not clear (Ích lợi của nó không rõ ràng) It is a good activity to be applied  It has no use ( Nó là một hoạt động tốt được ứng dụng) ( Nó không có tác dụng) It is a good activity to be applied Others ; Please, specify....................................................................... (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 9. How appropriate do you think are pair work and group work at your school ? ( Làm việc theo nhóm ở trường em có phù hợp không) Please indicate your response by circling the number according to the following key. ( Hãy đưa ra ý kiến bằng cách chọn một trong các ý sau) : Very appropriate ( Rất phù hợp) Appropriate ( Phù hợp) Not very appropriate ( Không phù hợp lắm) Not appropriate at all (Không phù hợp) Others ; Please, specify........................................................................ (Hãy đưa ra ý kiến khác) 10. Which factor do you think can most affect the success of a pair work and group work ? Please, tick one option only ( Nhân tố nào em nghĩ ảnh hưởng nhất đến hiệu quả của việc học nhóm) : Teaching experience The hard work of the students ( Kinh nghiệm dạy học) ( Sự làm việc chăm chỉ của học sinh) The age of teacher The cooperation of the students ( Tuổi của giáo viên) ( Sự hợp tác của giáo viên) The proficiency of the teacherThe proficiency of the students ( Trình độ của giáo viên) ( Trình độ của học sinh) The hard work of the teacher ( Sự làm việc chăm chỉ của giáo viên) Others ; Please, specify............................................................................ APPENDIX 3 : Classroom observation sheet Date : Pham Van Nghi upper secondary school Teacher : Number of years of teaching experience : Grade : Number of students : Girls : Boys : Lesson : Period : Purpose of the lesson : Learning aids : Teaching aids : Steps of the lesson : Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Observation sheet : No Activity Time Aim Grouping Evaluation How pair and group work are carried out: They are organized naturally Teacher provides clear instruction before the work Teacher’s preparation ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………...... Students’ preparation: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..... The participation of the teacher: as a partner as a guider as a facilitator as an observer Students participate: -Actively -Forcedly 7. Students speak Vietnamese during the work Yes No 8. The teacher gives the feedback after the work Yes No 9. The thing(s) the teacher does to find out how successful the work is: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… APPENDIX 4: The description of the classroom observation sheets No Kind Activity Time Grouping Preparation 1 Pairwork Speaking 15 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 2 Pairwork Speaking 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 3 Groupwork Vocabulary 10 minutes The class is divided in to four equal parts Words selected and prepared by the teacher 4 Groupwork Listening 15 minutes The class is divided in to three equal parts 3 worksheets designed by the teacher 5 Pairwork Speaking 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 6 Pairwork Writing 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with adaptation 7 Pairwork Speaking 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with extension 8 Pairwork Grammar 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with adaptation 9 Pairwork Grammar 5 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with adaptation 10 Pairwork Writing 5 minutes Students sitting far from each other A copy from the textbook with adaptation and extension 11 Groupwork Writing 7 minutes The class divided in to three equal part A copy from the textbook with adaptation and extension 12 Pairwork Grammar 5 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 13 Pairwork Grammar 7 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 14 Pairwork Reading 7 minutes Students from different tables and rows A copy from the textbook with extension and adaptation 15 Groupwork Speaking 5 minutes Students from different tables and students with teacher Designed by the teacher 16 Pairwork Speaking 3 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 17 Pairwork Speaking 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with adaptation 18 Pairwork Speaking 10 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 19 Pairwork Speaking 7 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 20 Pairwork Reading 10 minutes Students from different tables A copy from the textbook with adaptation and extension 21 Pairwork Grammar 8 minutes Students at the same table Designed by the teacher 22 Pairwork Speaking 6 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with extension 23 Pairwork Reading 6 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook with extension 24 Pairwork Speaking 5 minutes Students at the same table A copy from the textbook 25 Pairwork Speaking 7 minutes Students at the same table Designed by the teacher 26 Pairwork Speaking 6 minutes Students at the same table Designed by the teacher 27 Groupwork Speaking 8 minutes Class divided in to 4 groups Designed by the teacher 28 Groupwork Reading 15minutes Students at the same table Designed by the teacher 29 Groupwork Listening 10minutes Students at the same table Designed by the teacher 30 Groupwork Writing 15minutes Students at the same table Designed by the teacher