A STUDY ON IMRPOVING SPEAKING SKILL OF THE 1ST YEAR STUDENTS OF PRE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL AT FPT UNIVESITY THROUGH GROUP WORK

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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study:
Until now, English has been considered very important in every field of each society such
as: diplomacy, business, aviation, education and science and technology. Because of its
globalization, English has become the crucial medium in communication.
In Vietnam, since 1986, English has become very popular because there have been
English-speaking people coming to, visit or work in Viet Nam. They come to Vietnam not
only because they want to do business with the Vietnamese but also they want to get to
know about the people, the cultures and explore the beauty of Vietnam. Specially, with the
open-door policy, many foreigners have been attracted by Vietnam. Thus, English has been
the key to Vietnam’s regional and global integration. English is used not only between the
Vietnamese and foreigners but also between the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese. All this
burns the desire of learning English in Vietnam. The demand for English training is
promoted by an increasing influx of foreign investments from both English-speaking
countries and non-English-speaking countries which needs English as a means of
communication. Vietnamese people need to be able to communicate in English
successfully and effectively. The lack of communicative ability in oral and other language
skills in using English can put Vietnamese regionally and internationally in an inferior
position both in politics and economics.
In FPT University, English is a compulsory subject and certainly, every student knows that
it will be important for their future job. They will use English at work. The students here
opt for English due to their realization that a high proficiency in English will give them
more opportunities for employment, let alone the possibility of going abroad for their
further study in the exchange training program of FPT University and some Universities in
Germany, Japan etc. Among the four languages skills, most students think that speaking is
the most important in the first year of studying in FPT University. During the time of
studying in FPT University, they will have to learn English for 3 semesters (each of which
in university lasts for 13 weeks) include most English lessons. After the second year, they
will learn the subjects almost with the English–speaking teachers and they will have to

present their topic of study in English. Furthermore, after graduation the students will have
to do business, negotiate with the partners in English to sell their products to them. To


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make these successfully, they must have a good ability of English especially
communicating orally in it.
For a long time, the language teaching and learning was based on the out of date methods
which could not help the students speak fluently and communicatively. For over the past
few years, Communicative Language Teaching method has been widely applied. As a
result, the students’ speaking skill has been improved remarkably. This marked the
beginning of the major change in the language teaching and learning at all levels from
school to university.
FPT University is a newly founded university (more than two years old) who also would
like to innovate their teaching and learning... With this implied ambition, we expect that
there will be many changes in the teaching as well as learning in FPT University. Here, the
teaching of speaking skill is always emphasized. All the teachers here have been trying
their best to help their students in learning English speaking skill well. However, the result
has not met their expectation. Many failed their speaking test. When discussing in group,
many students still use Vietnamese while others keep silent etc.
In the speaking class, the 1st –year students have to do many speaking activities. Among
them, group work-one of the key features of learner-centered orientation- have received
more emphasis -because at the end of each semester, the students from the level of preintermediate on have to sit for speaking test which includes two parts: panel discussion and
individual response. Much time has been devoted to group work activities because of a
number of advantages they bring about. For example, group work can dramatically
increase the amount of talking for individual students, encourage border skills of
participation, cooperation and negotiation, promote learner autonomy by allowing students
to make their own decisions in the group without being told what to do by the teacher, and
free the teacher from her usual role of instructor-corrector-controller.
Working as a teacher at FPT University for more than two years, the researcher is well

aware of the importance of using group work to help improve the speaking class of the 1 st
year students. However, like many other teachers of English here, the researcher has also
faced many challenges in organizing and managing group work during speaking lessons.
Are the students getting out of the control? Aren’t they lapsing into their mother tongue?
Isn’t the organization into group work good for some lazy and passive students? Are they
participating in group work? Being aware of these challenges, the researcher and her
colleagues at FPT University have decided to help the students to learn speaking skill and
this is also the reason why the author of this study chose this area to do her research which


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is intended to make a modest contribution making speaking class of the 1 st year students at
FPT University effective and successful.
2. Aims of the study:
This study is aimed at investigating the reality of the use of group work in the speaking
class of the 1st year students at FPT University. To be specific, the aims of the study are:
-

To clarify how group work is used in the speaking class of the 1 st year students at
FPT University.

-

To find the factors that causes the difficulties for the teachers in their application of
group work in the speaking class of the 1st year students at FPT University.

-

To recommend practical suggestions for the possibility of group work in the
speaking class of 1st year students at FPT University.

3. Scope of study
To improve speaking skill of 1st year students at FPT University, the researcher intends to
investigate the current situation of using group work in the speaking class of 1 st year
students at FPT University an then making some suggestion for improving it.
4. Research questions:
This study is implemented to find answer to the following research questions:
1. How group-work is used in the speaking class of 1st year students at FPT University?
2. What facilitates and prevents the teachers from using group work in the speaking class
of FPT University?
3. What recommendations for improvement are needed to make group-work successful in
speaking class of the 1st year students at FPT University?
5. Methods of study
In order to examine the situation of the study, this research used the following methods:
questionnaire, class observation and informal interview is also included. The data collected
from the questionnaire (both for students and teachers) and class observation will then be
analyzed and generalized.
6. Design of the study
The Minor Thesis is divided into three parts.
The first part is the Introduction
The second part consists of Literature Review, Research Methodology and Findings and
Recommendations
The last part is the conclusion.

PART II: DEVELOPMENT


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CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1. Speaking skills and its related concept;
1.1.1. The importance of speaking skill in the classroom
Among the four skills in learning English, speaking and writing are the productive skills.
However, speaking is regarded as very important for language teaching and learning.
Speaking is a bridge to reach other skills. Speaking helps learners to read better, to listen
more effectively and write more accurately. Speaking is surely the most effective means of
communication. (Ur, 1996)
There are two most important reasons why speaking should be taught in the classroom.
The first reason is speaking is a good source of motivation for students. Nunan (1991)
points out, “success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the
(target) language”. For the students who have ability to speak English eligibly, they want
to speak English; they know to express themselves in English. Thus, they always speak
when possible. But for those who can not speak English well, they do not want to speak in
group. As a result, they may soon get de-motivated and lose interest in learning English.
In addition to this, in the English speaking class, if the speaking activities are organized in
the suitable way, speaking can have a lot `of fun and therefore can raise motivation in the
learners. If the speaking is practiced successfully, the other skills can also be improved
through speaking.
For the second reason, nowadays, the demand for communication among people is really
important. Without it, the life does not exist. For this, speaking always plays an important
role in people’s lives. Speaking is considered as survival skill in real life (Ur, 1996; p 134)
For the ideas above, speaking skill also plays the key role in foreign language learning and
teaching.
1.1.2. Types of classroom speaking performance
According to Brown (1994), there are six categories relating of oral production:
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Imitative: which accounts for very small portion of speaking time in the speaking
time when learners are practicing an intonation contour trying to pinpoint a certain
vowel sound, etc

-

Intensive: includes any speaking performance that is designed to practice some
phonological or grammar aspect of language.


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Responsive: is short replies to teacher or student initiated questions or comments.
These replies are usually sufficient and do not extend into dialogue.

-

Transactional (dialogue): is carried out for the purpose of conveying or exchanging
specific information. Conversations, for example, may have more of a negative
nature to them than merely responsive speech. Such conversation could readily be
the part of group work activity as well.

-

Interpersonal (dialogue): carries out more for the purpose of maintaining social
relationship than the transmission of facts and information. These conversations are
a little trickier for learners because they can involve some or all the following
factors: a casual register, colloquial language, emotionally changed language, and
slang etc.

-

Extensive (monologue): Finally, students at intermediate or advanced levels are
called on to give extended monologues in the form of oral report, summaries, or
perhaps short speeches. Here the register is more formal and deliberative.

1.2. Group-work in a speaking lesson
1.2.1. Definition and description of group- work
Student-based group work (also known as team work) has become an integral part of
studying at FPT University. This mode of teaching has primarily arisen in an attempt to
capture many of the benefits associated with collaborative activities (namely peer learning
and graduate attribute development). What is really group work?
According to Adrian Doff (1988: 137), 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.”
When working in small groups, the students can be assigned with many kinds of tasks such
as discussion, role-play, and presentations which help the speaking activities successful,
varied and motivated.
It can be clearly seen that group work is a cooperative activity in which the students work
at the same time, sharing ideas and responsibility and independently have their own ideas
which contribute to the group work’s success without every minute observation from the
teacher and other students.
1.2.2. The advantages and disadvantages of using group work in the classroom.


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1.2.2.1.

Advantag
es

Clearly, group work can increase the student talking time, which increases the speaking

skill. In other word, group work helps improved communication. The students who have
little chance to talk to each other now can share ideas, become close in the short time and
above all solve the common problem assigned by the teacher.
Besides, working in groups helps students to produce greater output. Simply because of the
number of people involved, each with different experience, knowledge, points of view and
values, a larger number and variety of ideas can be given. Moreover, the exchange of the
ideas in the group can act as a stimulus which will encourage individuals to give more
ideas, more opinions and therefore contribute more to group work activities.
In addition to this, group work helps to reduce bias. The shared responsibility in a group in
coming to decisions can encourage individuals to explore seemingly realistic ideas and to
challenge accepted ways of doing things. Individual biases and prejudices can be
challenged by the group, forcing the individual to recognize them. Group pressure can also
encourage individuals to accept that change is need.
Finally, students’ group work frees the teacher from the usual role of “an expert who
always lectures” and allows him/her to walk to each group, to guide, to answer questions
from students or to encourage students to work actively.
(Harmer, 1999:116)
1.2.2.2. Disadvantages:
One obvious disadvantage is the noise made by the group who have a big argument on the
problem or by the group who are so excited about working with one another. It is hard for
the teacher to control these kinds of groups. This can distract the other groups.
The very bad effect of working in groups is that many passive students or lazy students let
their friends do everything provided that they still have their names in the group’s result.
Working in group can cause competitions. Most students working in a group
unconsciously perceive the situations as a competition. This generates a destructive
behavior and drains the creative energy of the group. For example, we often perceive
disagreement with our ideas as a put-down. The natural reaction is to regain our selfesteem, often by trying to sabotage the ideas of those who disagreed with us. Instead of
looking for ways to improve their ideas we chose to destroy them. Eager to express our

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own ideas, we may totally ignore what others suggest. Power-seekers may use ploys such
as highlighting flaws in others' arguments, barbed questions and displays of expertise to
show their supremacy. These types of behavior create an atmosphere which is
incompatible with effective problem solving.
Another disadvantage is that working in group is a relatively slow process compared with
working alone. It requires individuals to come together at an assigned time, usually for
about a long time, and this can cause organizational problems. It is really time-consuming.
It is not only time-consuming for the students in group but also for the teacher. The teacher
needs more time to organize the group work and control all the members in the group let
alone the unsuitable students in groups which makes the class in disorder.
To conclude, although there are some disadvantages of group work, the advantages still
outweighs. Learning from each other in small groups is much more effective than from the
teacher alone.
(Harmer, 1999:116)
1.2.3. Group formation
Small groups or learning teams can be formed in three ways: randomly (counting off or by
seat proximity), teacher-selected, or student-selected. Random group assignments avoid
cliques and ensure that students interact with different students throughout the semester.
Once you know your students fairly well, teacher-selected groups can be useful for pairing
weak and strong students, students with common interests or shared learning styles, etc.
According to I- Jung (2004), frequently employed grouping methods include random,
student-selected and teacher-selected groupings
1.2.3.1.

Random
grouping

Random grouping is often used for in-class activities because of its convenience and
readiness that is random grouping is a way including collecting and gathering students

ignoring any differences among students in terms of their language level, learning style,
interests etc.
With the seating arrangement, fixing the numbers, using playing cards, or distributing the
card of different categories, random grouping is established.
For the class of different levels, random group can be used to narrow down the gap
between the students of different levels.


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1.2.3.2. Student-selected grouping:
Compared to random grouping and teacher-selected grouping, student-selected is
preferred. Knowing well one another or getting on well with each other can help the
students take part in the activities assigned well. They can have more talking, making more
performances and making the group work activities very interesting. However, studentselected grouping can result in making so much noise because of too much socializing.
This can distract the group activities.
1.2.3.3. Teacher-selected grouping
Compared to random grouping and student-selected grouping, teacher-selected grouping is
a more time-consuming one. The reason is that the teacher has to take students’
preferences into consideration, also the learning style, the activeness etc to help the
students who are at the lower levels to keep up with the better students. This kind of
grouping can help peer tutoring which is really the most effective way of learning from one
another.
1.2.4. Group –size
Group size is very flexible depending on many aspects such as task type, the time
available, the class and how skillful the group members are? How big the group should be?
The smaller the group is, the more chance each member has. The fewer skills of managing
the teacher need to have. However, when the group is small, there will be a lot of small
groups in the class. This also leads to the lack of time for them to give report to the class.
So how many members in each group is enough?

Many authors have suggested that three to five in one group can be the best number. Fourmember group is suggested by Honeyfield (1991), I-Jung (2004), Ngoh (1991). Four
members in a group might lead to more interesting and challenging tasks, with a wide
range of opinions being expressed, and more negotiation required for the group members
to reach an agreement. Six members in a group should be the maximum number.
(Honeyfield, 1991; I-Jung, 2004). It can clearly be seen that four is the optimum size to
manage students learning. It allows a good range of experiences and individual
contributions.
1.2.5. Teacher role in group work


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In Communicative Language Teaching, the teacher has the roles of a guide, an instructor,
an organizer, an assessor, a prompter and a participant (Hammer, 1991). When carrying
out group work, even though the students are more independent, the teacher still plays an
important role in conducting( designing) the tasks, analyzing the need. The teacher will be
of great help for the students as the group members interacting with each other as well as
helping them with the difficulties.
According to Cross (1992:54), the teacher is the manager of an activity who must plant it,
organize it, start it, monitor it, time it and in the end conclude it. The teacher in the group
work activities is not the free one but the one who is active with assisting, supervising and
monitoring…the group. The teacher is not only at the beginning or the end of the learning
process but from beginning to the end of it. The teacher is:
- activity selector: This is very important because the teacher has to create activities that
fit the students' skills and abilities, assign group tasks that allow a fair division of energy as
well as set up "competitions" among groups.
- instructor so that the students will be not misleading.
- performance controller. While the students are working in group, this is the time for the
teacher to help, to assist them with the knowledge and may be tackling the difficulties they
have with the group.
- group evaluator. In the group work, the teacher not only evaluates the whole group work

but also each member of the group. If the teacher has good comments on each group’s
performance, this helps a lot because it is both good for the students and the teacher
himself. It is the ideas for the following activities.
Whether group work is successful or not, it depends much on how and where the teacher
applies these roles.
1.2.6. Common oral activities for group work
There are many activities that can be applied for group work but which one is suitable for
the each class type?
For the most common activities, I have quoted three ones which are being used mainly
among the students in my class. They are: group discussion, debating and cross grouping.
The reason why I made a choice among many other activities is that: the students in my
class and some other classes of the same level have to perform these in the final term
examination which includes two main parts: group discussion and individual response. The


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first part takes fifty percent of the total speaking mark, which shows the importance of
itself.
1.2.6.1.

Group
discussion

Discussion sections create great opportunity for students to use active learning strategies to
make your classroom a more interactive environment. In this kind of activity, the students
have a chance to share their ideas with their friends. Moreover, their individuals’ opinions
are also clearly seen and highly appreciated. In this part, the students have used a lot of
discussion language to show their ideas to their partners. According to Ur, ( 1992: 2),
discussion is the “most natural and effective way for learners to practice talking freely in
English is by thinking out some problem or situation together through verbal interchange

of ideas; or in simpler terms, to discuss”. He also adds some factors to the good (or
successful) discussion, that is, topic, group work and role play.
Sometimes in the group discussion, the group has also to find a solution to a problem of
different kind. In groups, students can summarize main points; review problems such as for
exams, compare and contrast knowledge, ideas, or theories; solve problems; or generate
comments for you on class progress or on their levels of skill and understanding.
1.2.6.2.

Debating

In the book, “Discussion that works”, (1992:105) even though Penny Ur lists some
limitations in debating, he also shows his regret if debating is completely excluded from
group work because there are many students enjoying this kind of discussion and he also
emphasized the importance of debating when he affirms the things learned in this activity
much better than any other ones. It is much more interesting when he clearly presents some
very useful steps in designing the debating activity including the number of people in each
group, the quantity of group, the debating topics, group selection, and time limit as well as
motivation creation.
This is also called “For and against” (Ur, 1996, p134, box 9.6) that is the whole is divided
into two big group that. One group is for and the other is against. This kind of group work
includes 2 stages. The first is preparation, the second is debating. In the first stage, the
teacher thinks of the arguments world be for or against. In the second stage, the teacher
divides the class into 2 groups. One has to think of the reasons which agree with the topics
set by the teacher and the other group also thinks of the reason but disagrees with that.


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Then, one or two main speakers present the case for each group, and after that the
discussion is then thrown open for free participation. Very importantly, at the end of the
discussion, the teacher has to put the issue to the vote. At this point the teacher may

abandon the view of the group he/she does not accept and vote according to his/her own
inclination.
1.2.6.3.

Cross
grouping

Cross grouping is a new kind of activity that can make a lot of improvement in speaking.
It is not only the involvement of the member in each group but also the exchange of
member in each group for the new and maybe more attractive environment for speaking
activity. It can be also called “Jigsaw”. First, the students in a class are divided into some
small groups. After discussing with the partners in the experts groups, the students are
mixed and they will share the opinion with other partners in other cooperative group. For
this, the ideas are exchanged and students can learn form one another.

1.2.7. Problems and solutions in making the group work in class effective
According to Jacobs and Hall, 1994, there are many problems associated with group works
which can be solved with careful preparation, clear instructions and appropriate
facilitations.
1.2.7.1.

Some students talk too much or dominate the group

a. Talk to the students privately. Explain that while you are pleased that they have a
lot to contribute, you would like other learners to have more opportunities to think
for themselves. Sometimes, the students just need to be made aware of the
situation.
b. Even if you have not planned to assign roles to group members, do so at an
appropriate point during the group task, either for all groups or for only the one(s)
with a dominant students. Ensure that some roles require significant periods of

silence (e.g. summarizer, detective, recorder, observer, timekeeper, a liaison among


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the groups.) Alternately, speak privately to the dominant students and give him or
her one of these roles.
c. Ask the entire group to reflect on how it is functioning with questions such as: How
well did you complete the task as a group? Did someone take the lead, and if so,
how did this come about? Whose ideas are most strongly presented in the solution
to the task? Was there anything you thought but didn’t actually say?
d. During long period of group work, call for regulation periods of reflective
silence( e.g., after every fifteen to twenty minutes) in which students think (and
write ) about the points that have been made, contradictions that have surfaced,
omissions that should be added, and where the discussion should go next. When
signaling for the discussion to resume, invite students who have said little to read
out what they have written.
1.2.7.2.

Some students speak too little or are “freeloading”

a. Speak to the students privately to determine the reason for lack of participation,
e.g., introversion, fear of looking stupid, feeling unprepared, fearing a trap, feeling
unwelcome, past experiences, trying to be cool, lack of reward.
b. Consider using even smaller groups. Quiet students may feel more comfortable
participating in this situation, and “freeloading” students will be less able to coast
on the other’s efforts.
c. Ask students occasionally to hand in their group notes or their preparation notes.
d. As when handling dominating students, assign ones to one or all of the group
members. Some roles that require active vocal participation are spokesperson,
skeptic, organizer, facilitator, liaison to other group.

e. Suggest go round (or Circle of voices), so that each group member has to
contribute.
f. Offer a general reminder, either to the whole class or to a group in particular, that
every student has valuable input and that there is no poor question. Be sure to
respond appropriately, then, when students have comments or questions.
g. Recognize that quantity is not quality. There is a place for silence in discussion.
h. If the students are shy, consider incorporating an electric discussion into the course.
Students may find it easier to contribute on a class bulletin board, chat room.


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i. Remind students that the content of the group work will be tested on a quiz or test.
You could design a test question in which students must summarize their group’s
result.
1.2.7.3.

Students are not listening to fellow group members

a. Comment on the issue in the general class setting.
b. Tell the students that in the plenary session, you will call on one member of each
group (your choice) to summarize the group’s discussion or answers.
c. Call a time-out, and restructure the activity so that all students must connect what
they say to what the previous person just said.
1.2.7.4.

Students lack the social skills needed to work with others

a. Encourage students who prefer to work alone to stay in group work and at the same
time assist the group by assigning them a task that would give them some sort of
isolation.

b. Explain and ask students to get familiar with active and tolerant listening.
c. Show students the way to give and receive constructive criticism.
d. Tell the students how to negotiate, manage disagreements.
e. Preteach students the way to refuse, disagree, argue………..politely in English.
f. Use pair work and group work frequently so that students will become more
skillful.
1.2.7.5.

Students overuse mother-tongue

a. at the beginning of the activity, teachers should emphasize that students must use
the target language in group work
b. During the group work, teachers move around the classroom to remind learners of
this rule and provide them with language assistance.
c. Make the work task oriented.
d. Join the group briefly to encourage and facilitate the learner’s participation.
e. Set rules, agreed to by the class, for disciplining frequent offenders. ‘
f. Limit the time available. It is better to have a shorter time than is strictly necessary
for full practice of the language because students tend to use mother tongue of
spare time at the end of the group.
g. Preteach some words or phrase necessary for group work.
h. Give someone in the group the role of language monitor.


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CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 Design and methodology
2.1.1. The setting of the study
My university – FPT University is located at 15B Pham Hung street, Cau Giay District,
Hanoi. This is a new university but rather wanted because we have received four Batches
within two year’s time. For this reason, our university has been opened to meet the demand
of the society when the economy is in need of software engineers. In the 1 st year the
students are equipped with theoretical and practical skills of general English, that is in
almost every conservation of everyday life.
In our university, English is a compulsory subject and students show their great interest in
learning English. It is really a must that students have to get 450 marks in Toefl at the end
of the first year. To become the second –year student, they have to make great efforts in
learning English and overcome this exam. However, if they fail it, they can still go up to
the second year but are not allowed to do on-job training after the second year.
For Batch 3, the least quantity compared with Batch 1, 2, and 4, there are nearly about 200
students. Their ages and English level are not the same. After the placement test, they are
sorted into 6 classes of the same level. Each English class has about 30 students. (This is
considered the best number for a class at Universities learning English). The teachers of
English are also various including three full-time ones. Many other visiting teachers from
other Vietnamese universities, colleges and foreign countries are also invited to the
universities to teach here.
For all the students in FPT University, there are 10 semesters in four years. In the first and
second year, each has 3 semesters. For the third and fourth year, each school year has 2
semesters. Only in the first and second year do the students learn English. In the first year,
they just learn General English in the book “TOP NOTCH” (from Top Notch Fundamental
to Top Notch 3) including 4 books and “Summit” (volume 1 and 2). For the second year,
they just learn “Intelligent Business” with 4 periods a week. Beside Top Notch and
Summit book as core books, there are a lot of other reference books in the library which
help the students a lot in learning English. Each unit in Top Notch and Summit contains:
Topic Review, Sound bites, Conversation Snapshot, Grammar focus, Pronunciation,
Listening, Reading, Writing , Activities for pair and group( collaborative) work, and

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Checkpoint. Obviously, these text books cover the four skills of listening, speaking,
reading and writing as well as pronunciation and vocabulary. Especially, from Top Notch 3
to Summit 1 and 2, there are a lot of controversial topics and activities planned for group
discussion, debating and presentation. Speaking skill is not separately taught in this book
but with listening skill. Primary goal is to enable the students to acquire communicative
competence, that is, the ability to communicate in English in a like -real situations.
The activities in these books are pair work, discussion (mostly appear in any small lesson
of each unit) and whole class activities involving information sharing and role-play to
encourage real communication.
Speaking skill at our university is considered to be so important that any student has to take
an oral exam at the end of each semester which includes 2 parts (individual response and
discussion). Discussion part is more emphasized. (60% of the total speaking mark). In this
way, students have the opportunities to personalize the English language they have learnt,
making full use of their own knowledge and experiences to express their own ideas and
opinions.
2.1.2. Data collection instrument
The survey questionnaire is one of the most effective instruments for collecting data in
social science. Advantages of using questionnaire which Gillham (2000) highlights are:
less pressure on respondents, not under pressure of interview bias and analysis of answer is
straightforward. The researcher used the survey questionnaire as the main sources to fulfill
its aims. Two sets of questionnaires were designed to investigate the teachers’ and the
students’ opinion about the use of group work in the speaking classes of the 1 st year
students at FPT University. Clear instructions were given when the questionnaire was
administered.
The first is the questionnaire for students which includes 14 questions written only in
English, was administered to 60 students (2 classes of the same level in the first year).The
questionnaire was divided into 5 main parts:

Part 1: Students’ opinions on speaking skill. (Question 1, 2, 3)
Part 2: Students’ opinions on learning in group work (4, 5, 6, 7, and 8)
Part 3: The difficulties of the students when working in groups (9, 10, and 11)
Part 4: The students’ wishes in working in groups. (12, 13, 14)


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The second is the questionnaire for the teachers including 14 questions written only in
English, was administered to 6 teachers (both full time and part time). This is divided into
5 parts:
Part 1: Teachers’ opinions on speaking skill (question 1)
Part 2: Teachers’ opinions on the use of group work in a speaking lesson.( question 2, 3 , 4 and
5)
Part 3: Teachers’ current teaching methods in using group work in the speaking class.
(questions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11)
Part 4: Obstacles teachers has experienced when applying group work in the speaking
class.( question 12, 13)
Part 5: The teachers’ solutions to overcome their obstacles (question 14).
For the questions with others (to specify), the researcher came to each teacher and asked
him/her to explain clearly to understand their opinions.
2.1.3. The informants
2.1.3.1. The teachers
The teachers asked are all teaching in FPT University and all teaching the 1 st year students.
There are four female teachers, the rest are male. Their ages are from 24 to 34 years old
with at least two years’ experience in teaching English. They were mostly trained in
Vietnam, at Hanoi National University, College of Foreign Languages. Among them, two
have MA from Sydney, Australia. One of them have MA from National University,
College of Foreign languages. They are all professionally experienced with EFL.
2.1.3.2. The students
The 60 1st year students at FPT University were from 2 classes. They are aged from 18 to

24 and come from different provinces in Vietnam (from the North to the South). A large
number of them have learnt English since primary and secondary schools. Their English
are considered the same because before entering these two classes, they had taken a
placement test to be sorted into these two classes. However, the two class teachers (English
teachers: My friend and I) are not satisfied with the level they are at because some of them
at the right level, but some are not (maybe higher or lower). This is expressed in the
written work as well as spoken one.
2.2. Preliminary results


18
Before giving the concrete result of the survey, the researcher will show the preliminary
result.
2.2.1. Student Survey
2.2.1.1. Students’ opinions on speaking skill
Table 1: Students’ opinions on speaking skill
Options
Questions
1

a
a. English speaking is compulsory at your 16

b

c

d

10

60

54

university.
b. You just want to pass the oral exam.
c. Speaking is necessary for your future job.
2

d. You are interested in the speaking skill.
a. very
b. rather

54

6

0

0

3

c. little
a. very

54

6

0

0

d. Not at all
b. rather

c. little
d. Not at all
The statistics in table 1 shows the students’ opinions on speaking skill. It can clearly be
seen that all the students asked (100 %) say that Speaking is necessary for their future job
and 90 % of them are interested in speaking skill while a small amount of them (26 %)
says they learn Speaking skill because English is compulsory at their university. They find
English really interesting while there are only a few students (17 %) who want to learn
speaking skill just to pass the oral test. 90 % of them stated that English is so important for
them.
2.2.1.2. Students’ opinions on learning speaking skills in group work
Table 2: Students’opinions on learning speaking skills in group work.
Not at all

Little
Rather
Very
1. Individually
60
2. In a small group
0
1
23

36
3. With the whole class
60
In the table 2, all of the students asked (100%) said that they had very little favor for
working individually, 38 % of them rather like working in a small group, and 60 % ( more
than half of the students asked) really like working in group in the speaking skill. And no
student reported that they did not like working on their own. From this, it can be
understood that most of the students see the importance of working in group for the better


19
speaking skill. In addition to that, the group work is very suitable for the speaking skill
especially in their book: TOP NOTCH to SUMMIT with many controversial issues raised
and written in it. This also means that group work is surely the most suitable activity for
the speaking skill.
2.2.1.3. Students’ appreciation of the use of group work in the speaking class at FPT
University
Table 3: Students’ assessment for the teachers’ frequent use of group work
Options/
questions
5

a
a. Always

c. Sometimes

b

c

d

0

57

3

0

b. Often
d. Never
Not very surprising information from table is that the students (95 %) affirm that the
teachers in their university use the group work in the speaking lesson very often because it
is compulsory that the teachers implement this to follow the book activities planned in the
teacher’s book and make the students get used to doing this for any oral test and may be for
the students’ future job. This is of great use in helping the students to communicate with
each other.
Table 4: Student’ appreciation of their participation in group work
Options/Questions
6

a. Work with great interest

a
21

b
3

c
17

d
19

b. Remain silent all the time.
c. Chat with other group members about other
topics
d. Speak in Vietnamese to discuss with others
while others discuss in English
From these number in the table 4, just only 35 % of the students asked (21 out of 60)
reported that they had taken part in the group work activities enthusiastically and the
number of the students who did not participate in group work by chatting with other groups
or speaking Vietnamese is so big (29 % and 32 % irrespectively) that it must be looked
into consideration about the group work among these students in these two classes. In
addition to that, the number in the table also implies that the students in these two classes
may have very low proficiency of speaking skill or not enough English background


20
knowledge to communicate with their partners or may be the topic is no interest to them
etc.
When being asked why some of them kept silent in the speaking lesson, they said they did
not know what to speak and how to speak. The teacher asked them to speak English in
group means making them quiet. But when the teacher asked them to contribute their ideas
in Vietnamese, they said that they could not think of anything. Another reason why they
kept silent is that many students could not understand the English–speaking teachers’
instructions. The researcher in this study thought that may be they were the worst students

in these two classes. There would be very little chance for them to pass any oral tests.
Table 5: Students’ appreciation of group work for the benefit of speaking skill (question 7)
Not at all

Little

Rather

Very
58
60
60

a. Speak more in English
b. feel more confident
c. Give you more opportunities for exchanging ideas
d. Learn from each other
18
41
It can be surely said from the table that almost all the students (97 %: 58 out of 60) found
that group was so beneficial for their speaking skill that they can speak more in English,
they can be much more confident and they also have chance to exchange their ideas with
their friends. Regarding the benefit of learning from each other of group work, 68% (41
out of 60) the students stated that it was rather beneficial but only 30 %( 18 out of 60)
think it is a little beneficial.
2.2.1.4. The best group size and difficulties the students had when working in group
work.
Table 6: The best group size and difficulties students had when working in group work.
Options/ questions
8

a. from three to five
b. more than five
c. the more the merrier
d. it depends on the kind of activities.
9
a. Yes, often
c. Yes, but rarely
b. Yes, sometimes
d. No, never
10
a. The teacher’s low proficiency and
experience in English and methodology.
b. The students’ low proficiency in English
c. The student’s passive learning styles with

a
15

b
3

c
12

d
30

17

40

3

0

20

45

56

6


21
overload work
d. Topics are not interesting.
e. Others
Regarding the group size, 50 % (30 out of 60) think the number of the students in a group
depends on the activities they take part in. Only 25 % (15 out of 60) agree that from three
to five are the best number and 20 % (12 out of 60) like to have as many partners as
possible in their group but just only 0.5 % think that the group should consist of more than
five.
According to the table 6, no students said that they had never had any difficulties in
working in group work. All of them had difficulties, among them, 67 % (40 out of 60), of
the students sometimes had that difficulties, 28% ( 17 out of 60) often had difficulties, and
only 5 % (3 out of 60) rarely had difficulties with group work. It means that almost all of
the students in these two classes had difficulties with group work and they also blamed
their low proficiency and passive learning styles with overload work 75% and 93 % for
their difficulties, just more than 33 % thought it was because of the teacher’s low

proficiency and only 10 % blamed on the boring topics. Besides, they also added more
factors that had caused their difficulties. They are: specially overloaded working every
week, members in the group didn’t understand each other, laziness and the anxiety of
making mistakes.
Regarding this table, one underlying cause but easy to understand is their passive learning
style. This not only appears among the students of the 1 st year of this university but also in
many other universities even though in this university, administrator has applied the
gradual assessment, that is they have 30% mark for A.P (Assignment and Participation),
30% for the midterm test and 40 % for the final test. This requires the students to learn in
the whole time not just at the end of the semester.
2.2.1.5. Students’ desire for the better group work

Table 7: Students’ desire for the better group work
Options /
questions
10

a
a.

Students

of

the

same 6

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

26

52

46

2

2

15

54


22
proficiency.
b. Students of the mixed

proficiency.
c. Students of the same interest
d. Students sitting next to you
and near to you.
e. Students of the same age.
f. Students of the same sex.
g. Students of the opposite sex.
11

h. Others
a. Role- playing

20

10

60

13

56

15

0

47

h. Problem solving
a. To minimize his/her talking 60

60

60

47

45

60

47

53

b. conversation
c. Games
d. Debating
e. discussion
f. Cross-grouping ( Jigsaw)
g. Reading a long story
12

time
b. To create a competitive
atmosphere.
c. To give feedback, praise and
encouragement.
d. not to interrupt when you
make mistakes.

e. To provide a promoting
lead-in
f. To give clear instruction
g.

To

provide

vocabulary
language

and

necessary
functional


23
h. Others
Now and even in the future, choosing the partners to work with is really important because
it makes the group work more effective. And when being asked for their favorite kind of
partners, 87% (52 out 60) of the students preferred to have the partners of the same
interest. Only 1 % of them liked to work with the partners of the same proficiency, and 43
% liked to work with partners of the mixed proficiency. One thing which is very easy to
understand is that, 46 out of 60 (77 %) are interested in talking with the students sitting
next to or near them. This can be easily explained that they did not want to stand up and
move to a new place, maybe this can affect their working results and most of them just
wanted to keep fixed and lazy in one place. However, according to the statistics in the
table 7, most of the students in these two classes also wanted to work with partners with

different levels of English so that they can learn a lot from their friends even though they
knew they were sorted into the class of the same level of English proficiency and they
nearly all did not care for their friends ages. In addition to that, only 25 % of the students
answered that working with partners of the opposite sex is better maybe because they knew
for sure that in these two classes, men outnumber women even in one class, for instance,
there are only 3 female students out of 33 students. One more thing reveals in this table is
that 90 % (54 out of 60) of the students gave more answers for their wishes in group work.
They nearly all had the same ideas with one another for the suitability of the partner with
the partners. They said that any partner was alright as long as he/she matched with them.
For the types of group work activities , 100% of the students responded that they liked
Games activities, more than 93 % of them liked to do discussion activities, 78 % of them
liked problem solving activities meanwhile none of them liked reading along story, and
they did not like the conversation activities, debating activities, and cross-grouping and
role playing very much. (16%, 21 %, 25 %, and 33 % in turn).This can be completely
explained that the students in these two classes were at the low level of English proficiency
so they could not do the debating activities (this is only suitable for the high level of
proficiency) and they just wanted to do the practical activities that can help them a lot in
the oral test. The reason why all of them liked games activities is that they wanted to have
an exciting game in their lesson not just a lecture with only saying and writing as they were
so stressed with other subjects such as Concrete Mathematics, High Mathematics, C
program etc.


24
One very important thing which helps to improve group work activities is to get the
students ideas about what the teachers should do about that. It is quite clear that all of them
(100 %) wanted their teachers to minimize his/her talking time, to create a competitive
atmosphere, to give feedback, praise and encouragement and give clear instruction. But 75
% (45 out of 60) wanted their teachers not to interrupt when they made mistakes. 78 %(47
out of 60) would like their teacher to give enough necessary vocabulary and functional

language for their activities, 95 % added more requirement for the teacher, that is, the
teacher should answer any questions during their group work, translate any words for them
into English (not many ideas) and one more funny thing is that nearly all of them said that
the teachers should not give too much homework after the group work activities.
2.2.2. Teacher’s survey
The teachers who are asked to answer the questions in the survey are all teachers teaching
the 1st year students at different levels in Batch 3.
2.2.2.1. Teachers’ opinions on teaching speaking skill
Table 8: teachers’ opinion on teaching speaking skill
Options/
Questions
1

a
a. Very

c

d

6

b. rather

b
0

0

0

c. Little
d. Not at all
From the table 8, all the teachers liked teaching speaking skill. They claimed that speaking
skill can help the students learn the other skills like reading, writing and listening better.
For one more reason is that speaking skill is the compulsory lesson of all the teachers who
were asked. Speaking skill in the future (in more than 1 year) can help students to work in
groups when doing a big project or doing the presentation on the topics requested.
2.2.2.2. Teachers’ opinions on the use of group work to teaching speaking skill.

Table 9 a:
Options /
questions
2

a
a. Always

b. Often

c. Sometimes

d. Never

b

c

d

33%

77 %

0%

0%


25
3

a. Very

b. Rather

4

c. Little
d. Not at all
a. it’s very important
b. It’s quite good
c. It’s both good and bad points

33 %

77 %

0%

0%

77 %

33 %

0%

0%

d. It has no use
Table 9b
Opti

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

k

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

0

0

ons/
ques
tions
5

a. It increases the students’ speaking time.

b. It promotes students’ independence and
cooperation.
c. It improves students’ motivation.
d. Shy and passive students have more
chance of expressing themselves.
e. It creates exciting atmosphere as it
lends itself to game activities.
f. Students can learn from each other.
g. It frees the teacher from his/her hard
role of “an expert who always lectures”
h. It decreases the teacher speaking time.
i. The teacher can relax or do anything
he/she wants.

j. It kills the time.
Regarding the teachers’ opinion for the use of group work, table 9a and table 9b have the
concrete answer. 33 % teachers say they always used the group work. When asked, they
said they students required it and they finds it very essential to organize this in the
speaking lesson. Moreover, 77 % of them claimed that they had used group work as
regular group work activities. The explanation for these two things is that group work is
the essential and compulsory suggested and planned in the teacher’s edition book. The