Sử dụng hoạt động hợp tác trong việc dạy kỹ năng nói cho học sinh lớp 12 không chuyên ngành tiếng Anh tại trường Trung học phổ thông chuyên Bắc Ninh

1
Vietnam National University, HANOI
UNIVERSITY oF languages AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY of Post- graduate studies
***

NGUYỄN THUÝ NHUNG



The exploitation of cooperative activities for
teaching speaking skill to the 12
th
form non-
specialized english students at bac ninh
specialized high school.
( Sử dụng hoạt động hợp tác trong việc dạy kỹ năng nói cho học
sinh lớp 12 không chuyên tiếng Anh tại Trường Trung học Phổ
thông Chuyên Bắc Ninh )


M.A. Minor Programme Thesis
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10






HANOI, 2010

2
Vietnam National University, HANOI
UNIVERSITY oF languages AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY of Post- graduate studies
***


NGUYEN THUY NHUNG


The exploitation of cooperative activities for
teaching speaking skill to the 12
th
form non-
specialized english students at bac ninh
specialized high school.
( Sử dụng hoạt động hợp tác trong việc dạy kỹ năng nói cho học
sinh lớp 12 không chuyên tiếng Anh tại Trường Trung học Phổ
thông Chuyên Bắc Ninh)


M.A. Minor Programme Thesis
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor : Trần Hiền Lan, M.A



HANOI, 2010
6

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents .… iv
List of abbreviations and tables .… vi

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Research question 2
4. Methods of the study 2
5. Scope of the study 2
6. Design of the study 3

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. The teaching and learning of the speaking skill 4
1.1.1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 4
1.1.1.2. The nature of CLT 5
1.1.1.2. Features of CLT 6
1.1.2. The role of speaking in foreign language teaching 7
1.2. Cooperative learning and its activities 8
1.2.1. What is cooperative learning? 8
1.2.2. Essential components of cooperative learning and activities 9
1.2.3. Cooperative learning techniques and activities in a speaking lesson .11
1.2.4.

The role of cooperative activities in teaching speaking skill 13

7
Chapter 2: THE STUDY 16

2.1. Background of the study 16
2.1.1. The learning and teaching situation 16
2.1.2. The learners 16
2.1.3. The teachers of English group 17
2.1.4. The teaching material 18
2.2. Research methods 18
2.2.1. The participants 18
2.2.2. Data collection instruments 18
2.2.3. Procedures 19
2.2.4. Methods of data analysis 19

Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 20

3.1. Analysis of the questionnaires 20
3.1.1. Results of teachers‟ survey questionnaire 20
3.1.2. Results of students‟ survey questionnaire 24
3.2. Analysis of the researcher’s class observation 28
3.3. Findings 29

Chapter 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 31

PART 3: CONCLUSION 37

References 40
Appendices
Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers I
Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students …IV

8

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES

1. Abbreviations
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
BNSHS: Bac Ninh Specialized High School
EFL: English as a Foreign Language

2. Tables
Table 1: Data collected from teachers
Table 2: Data collected from students
Table 3: Description of classes observed

9

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Entering the 21
st
century, under the impact of globalization Vietnam is facing a range
of political, social, economic, technological and educational changes. It is widely accepted that
the shift from a central economy to a mixed system with both socialist and market sectors
since the late 1990s has required the Vietnamese education system to carry out remarkable
changes. Today, people insist that education and training must not only be able to equip
students with new scientific and cultural knowledge but also develop their reasoning thought,
creative abilities and team work skills.
Language teaching is a complex process involving many interrelated factors. Besides
suitable and effective methods of teaching language, classroom interaction is considered as the
most vital element in language learning process. The emphasis on individual achievement and
transmission of information has become inadequate in supporting the development of
students‟ thinking and learning skills. The best way is to enable students to become actively
involved in their learning processes, which will provide them with more opportunities to
develop important knowledge and skills for today‟s labour market.
It is clear that one of the main goals of learning English is to use it effectively in
communication. Speaking skill, more or less, is an important skill that students must acquire in
the learning process. Since the application of the new textbooks, speaking skill has had a
different position at upper secondary schools.
As we know, learning a foreign language is a process in which learners do not have a
natural communication environment like native people. Thus, in order to help students master
a foreign language as a means of communication, the teacher plays an important role in
finding out the ways to make their speaking lessons more interesting and productive.
Accordingly, nowadays, instead of making use of activities that demand accurate repetition
and memorization of sentences and grammar patterns, activities that ask learners to negotiate

meaning and to interact meaningfully are required.

10
All the reasons mentioned above encouraged the researcher to carry out the study "The
exploitation of cooperative activities for teaching speaking skill to the 12
th
form non-
specialized English students at Bac Ninh Specialized High School.” with the hope to
contribute her small part to improving the teaching and learning of the speaking skill for the
12
th
form non - specialized English students at her school.
2. Aims of the study
The study aims at:
 investigating the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill
for the 12
th
form non - specialized English students at BNSHS
 evaluating the use of cooperative activities in speaking lessons
 offering some suggestions on using cooperative activities in speaking
lessons to promote students‟ speaking ability
3. Research question
For the purpose of investigating the current situation of using cooperative activities in
speaking lessons, the researcher set up the following research question to guide her in doing
this research:
“To what extent do the teachers at Bac Ninh Specialized High School exploit cooperative
activities in speaking lessons for the 12
th
form non - specialized English students?”
4. Methods of the study

To conduct the study, quantitative and qualitative methods will be used. The data
collected will come from two sources: the 12
th
form non - specialized English students and
teachers of English at Bac Ninh Specialized High School. Questionnaires and classroom
observation will be used to collect information and evidence for the study. All the comments,
recommendations and conclusions provided in the study will be based on the data analysis.
5. Scope of the study
This study limits itself to the application of cooperative learning for the 12
th
form non
- specialized English students‟ speaking skill. It is concerned with the context at Bac Ninh
Specialized High School.

11
6. Design of the study
This study includes three main parts: the introduction, the development and the
conclusion.
The first part, “Introduction”, provides the basic information such as rationale, aims,
research question, methods, scope and design of the study.
The second part, “Development”, consists of the four chapters:
Chapter one, Literature review, deals with theoretical background about
communicative language teaching, speaking skill and cooperative learning.
Chapter two, The study, is an overview of the reality of teaching and learning speaking
skill for the 12
th
form non - specialized English students at Bac Ninh Specialized High
School. In this part, the school, the subjects and instruments used in the research will be
discussed.
Chapter three, Data analysis and discussion, deals with analyzing the data.

Chapter four, Recommendations, focuses on some suggestions on using cooperative
activities in speaking lessons.
The last part, “Conclusion”, presents the summary of the major findings; points out
some shortcomings revealed during the process of completing this research paper and suggests
further studies.











12



PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

To begin with the study, in this chapter, the researcher will present some theoretical
background based on which the study will be carried out. The first section overviews the
teaching and learning of the speaking skill. Then cooperative learning and its activities are
discussed in the second section.

1.1. The teaching and learning of the speaking skill
A glance through the past century or so of language teaching will give an interesting

picture of how varied approaches and methods applied in language teaching are. David Nunan
(1991b: 228, cited in Bang, N & Ngoc, N.B) remarks “It has been realized that there never
was and probably never will be a method for all”. As a matter of fact, there is no perfectly
good language teaching method for all, instead we need to get on well with the approach to
language teaching we have chosen and design effective tasks and techniques informed by that
approach. New methods have appeared, developed and replaced the previous ones for the only
purpose: to find out the best way to teach a foreign language.
In recent years, there has been a preference for learning foreign languages in general
and English in particular as a means of communication. Thus, Communicative Language
Teaching becomes the most preferable method. The following part will concern with the
communicative approach and its implication for teaching and learning the speaking skill.
1.1.1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Being founded in the early 1960s “CLT” has recently become a fashionable term to
cover a variety of developments in syllabus design and to a lesser extent, in the methodology
13
of teaching a foreign language, especially English. CLT is emphasized as an appropriate
approach to language teaching for the 21
st
century.


1.1.1.1. The nature of CLT
For many years, language teaching was seen as helping learners develop linguistic
competence – that is, helping students master the sounds, words and grammar patterns of
English. The idea was that by studying the bits and pieces of a language, students could
eventually put them all together and communicate.
In the mid - 1970s the notion of linguistic competence came to be viewed as a
component of the broader idea of communicative competence. According to Canale and Swain
(1980), the second language learners cannot be expected to achieve a satisfactory level of
communicative competence if no knowledge of probability of occurrence of grammatical

forms and communicative function is developed. Their view of communicative competence
consists of four areas of knowledge and skills.








 Grammatical competence: Ability to use correct grammar, vocabulary and
pronunciation
 Sociolinguistic competence: Ability to use appropriate language in different contexts
and settings
 Discourse competence: Ability to combine language elements to show cohesion in
form and coherence in thought
Grammatical competence
Strategic competence
Sociolinguistic competence
Discourse competence
Communicative competence
14
 Strategic competence: Ability to use verbal and non-verbal communication strategies
It is concluded that using language well is not simply a question of its grammar but its
overall appropriateness and acceptability. CLT is the approach which recognizes
communicative competence as its aim. These four components of communicative competence
have several practical implications for EFL teachers. Since communicative competence is a
multifaceted construct, it is important for teachers to understand the difficulties learners face
when they are speaking English.

1.1.1.2. Features of CLT
According to Littlewood (1981:1), one of the most characteristic features of CLT is
that it plays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language.
Furthermore, David Nunan (1991a: 279, cited in Bang, N & Ngoc, N.B) offers five features to
characterize CLT:
 An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
 The introduction of authentic texts into learning situation
 The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on
the learning process itself
 An enhancement of the learner‟s own experiences as important contributing elements
to classroom learning
 An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the
classroom.
CLT is a teaching methodology that emphasizes fluency over accuracy. This approach
stresses the use of language and the ability to communicate. Meaning is what is
communicated; therefore, CLT is tailored to get at meaning. Learners are given opportunities
to negotiate meaning in class. Richards and Rogers (2001:158) emphasize that one dimension
of CLT is “ its learner-centered and experience- based view of second language teaching”.
Far from being a „transmitter‟ of knowledge, the teacher is a „facilitator‟. Characterized by
high participation, the CLT classroom becomes a place for students to engage in meaningful
language use.
15
In the light of the CLT approach which takes the learners‟ communicative competence
as the final goal, a T.E.F.L class is considered to be successful if the learners speak English as
much as they can and the teacher speaks it as little as possible. Larsen-Freeman (1986:132)
states that “activities in the Communicative Approach are often carried out by students in
small groups”. CLT favours interaction among small numbers of students in order to
maximize the time allotted to each student for learning to negotiate meaning.
Clearly, cooperative learning is stressed in CLT. In the book “A Course in TEFL”,
Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc list cooperative learning as one feature that CLT bears. A

classroom that is cooperative and therefore not competitive – usually involves the above
learner-centered characteristics. As students work together in pairs and groups, they share
information and come to each other‟s aid. They are a “team” whose players must work
together in order to achieve goals successfully.
These characteristics will be the principles for teachers to choose appropriate
techniques as well as activities in class to improve the students‟ communicative competence.
All learning activities should be selected according to how well they engage the students in
meaningful and authentic language use rather than only mechanical practice of language
patterns to achieve accuracy in language forms.

1.1.2. The role of speaking in foreign language teaching
It is known that language has been divided into different skill areas based on the
purpose of analysis and instruction. In view of language teaching there are mainly four macro-
skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. It has been accepted for many years that
communication is the proper aim for language teaching. That means we learn a language so as
to communicate well in that language.
For that reason, speaking skill plays an important role in foreign language teaching
because effective speaking ability helps learners not only to acquire the language better but
also to communicate successfully.
According to Ur (1996:120), speaking seems intuitively the most important of all four
skills. Speaking is regarded as the first step to confirm who knows or does not know a
16
language. Ur (1996) indicates that people who know a language are referred to as “speakers”
of that language, as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing; and many if not most
foreign language learners are primarily interested in learning to speak.
Hence, having dealt with the importance of oral skills in language teaching and
learning it is essential that language teachers should pay much attention to teaching speaking
skill. In fact, the current teaching and learning of the speaking skill at Vietnam‟s upper
secondary schools has been taken into consideration since the new textbooks were introduced.
Lessons are arranged according to topics which are true to life and familiar with students. Like

other skills, teaching procedure of the speaking skill is divided into three stages (pre-speaking,
while-speaking and post-speaking). This refers to the domination of communicative approach
and characterized features of the new textbooks.
The development of communicative skills can take place only if learners have
motivation and opportunity to express their own identity and to relate to the people around
them. That requires the kind of learning atmosphere which gives them a sense of security and
value as individuals. In turn, this atmosphere depends, to a large extent, on the existence of
interpersonal relationships which do not create inhibitions, but are supportive and accepting.
In order to improve students‟ speaking ability, for teachers, they should play a positive
role in helping students get involved in speaking activities in the classroom. Rather than
leading students to pure memorization, the teacher can provide a rich environment where
students have real communication, authentic materials and meaningful tasks that promote oral
language. Gradually, students will know how to use their target language correctly and
communicatively in everyday conversations.

1.2. Cooperative learning and its activities
1.2.1. What is cooperative learning?
So far, many definitions of cooperative learning have been stated by different
researchers.
17
Johnson, Johnson and Holubec, leaders of cooperative learning since 1970s, offer the
following definition: “Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that
students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning” (1993:9).
Olsen and Kagan (1992: 8) define cooperative learning as “group learning activity
organized so that learning is dependent on the socially structured exchange of information
between learners in groups and in which each learner is held accountable for his or her own
learning and is motivated to increase the learning of others”.
According to Richards & Rodgers (2001: 192), Cooperative learning is “an approach
to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small
groups of learners in the classroom”.

In second language teaching, cooperative learning has been embraced as a way of
promoting communicative interaction in the classroom and is seen as an extension of the
principles of CLT. It is viewed as a learner - centered approach to teaching held to offer
advantages over teacher - fronted classroom methods.
The word “cooperative” in Cooperative Learning emphasizes: it seeks to develop
classrooms that foster cooperation rather than competition in learning. In other words, within
cooperative learning, students benefit from sharing ideas rather than working alone and they
help one another to achieve the learning goals as a group. This is in contrast with the
traditional method where students work individually or competitively and are generally
concerned with improving their own grade or reaching their own goals only.
To sum up, cooperative learning is a pedagogical technique in which students work
together in small and mixed groups on a structured learning task with the aim of maximizing
their own and each other's learning. This learning strategy has been applied to a wide variety
of content areas at all levels so it becomes one of the most widespread and fruitful areas of
theory, research, and practice in education.

1.2.2. Essential components of cooperative learning and activities
Cooperative learning is distinguished from whole class instruction, individualized
instruction and traditional forms of group work. According to Johnson and Johnson (1999a)
18
the key elements that must be present in order for a small group learning activity to be
cooperative include:
 Positive Interdependence
Positive interdependence is defined as having specific roles for each participant that are
necessary for the group to work toward the goal(s) set by the teacher, i.e., each student have a
particular role within the group. No single student is fully capable of performing all the tasks
required by a particular assignment or project (Ransdell , 2003: 5).
Ghaith (2002: 7) states that positive interdependence is a feeling among group
members that if one fails, all fail, if one succeeds, everybody succeeds. Group members
realize that each member‟s efforts benefit not only himself-herself, but all other group

members as well. Positive interdependence provides a feeling of support within the group.
 Face-to-face Promotive Interaction
It occurs when individuals encourage and facilitate each group member‟s efforts to
achieve group goals. In this element students do real work together, share resources and
provide each other with help, support and praise. Ghaith (2002: 9) notes that face-to-face
interaction is based on the idea that groups succeed only when members engage in dialogue
with each other to explain, debate, encourage, and question one another. By this interaction,
they promote each other‟s success.
 Individual Accountability
Ghaith (2002: 7) indicates that individual accountability exists when each individual
member feels responsible to learn, to demonstrate their learning, and to contribute to the
learning of teammates. The purpose of cooperative learning is to make each member a
stronger individual in their own right. The success of the group is not measured by a particular
group product, but by the individual progress of each group member. To ensure that the
performance of each student has to be evaluated, feedback is given both to the individual and
to the group in order to ascertain who needs more assistance, support and encouragement in
learning. The group must be accountable for achieving its goals and each member must be
accountable for contributing his share of the work.

19
 Social skills
That element involves appropriate use of small-group and interpersonal skills.
Instructors should not assume that every student has the necessary social skills to work
effectively with other group members. They should teach their students leadership, trust-
building, decision-making, communication and problem-solving skills just as thoroughly as
they would teach academic skills.
Ghaith (2002: 7) views that collaborative skills receive emphasis because to work
successfully with others, students need to develop collaborative skills such as asking for help,
making suggestions and disagreeing politely. Social skills involve efforts to encourage all
group members to participate to a roughly equal degree. Means of doing this include providing

each member with a turn to speak or to add particular information that they need to contribute
to the group.
 Group processing
It is a vital aspect of cooperative learning. Ghaith (2002: 8) asserts that group
processing allows team members to address how well the group is functioning and to maintain
the effectiveness of the group. Group processing takes place when students analyze and
discuss how well their group is working together and how their group might function better in
the future. Thus, group processing increases learning dramatically and builds a sense of
responsibility as well as helps groups work more effectively.
In short, when these components are incorporated into small groups work, the activities
become cooperative ones and can make a difference in the student‟s academic and social skills
development.

1.2.3. Cooperative learning techniques and activities in a speaking lesson
As mentioned above, cooperation is working together to accomplish shared goals.
Within cooperative activities individuals seek outcomes that are beneficial to themselves and
to all other group members. Class members are organized into small groups after receiving
instructions from the teacher. Then they work through the assignment until all group members
successfully understand and complete it. Hence, in order to implement cooperative learning,
20
the teacher must decide whether cooperative activities will help meet the goals of the class.
And he must also decide which type of cooperative activity to use according to his own
students and teaching context so as to give all students the best chance of learning to speak
English.
It is said that numerous descriptions exist of activity types that can be used with
cooperative learning. Here are some examples of cooperative learning activities which are
described by Coelho (1992b:132); Olsen and Kagan (1992:88):
 Jigsaw
Each group member receives a different piece of information. Students regroup in topic
groups (expert ones) composed of people with the same piece to master the material and then

return to home groups (jigsaw ones) to share their information with each other. Students
synthesize the information through discussion. Each student produces an assignment of part of
a group project to demonstrate synthesis of all the information presented by all group
members.
Information - gap activities in language teaching are jigsaw activities in the form of
pair work. Partners have data (in the form of text, tables, charts, etc.) with missing information
to be supplied during interaction with another partner.
 Think – Pair – Share
Teacher poses a question (usually a low - consensus question). Students think of a
response individually. Then they pair up with another student and exchange thoughts. At last,
the pairs share their responses with other pairs or the entire class.
 Three – Step Interview
Students are in pairs; one is interviewer and the other is interviewee. During the second
step students reverse roles. For the final step, each shares with team member what was learned
during the two interviews.
 Cooperative projects
Topics may be different for each group. Students identify subtopics for each group
member and then synthesize their information for a group presentation. Each group member
21
plays a part in the presentation and each group presents to the whole class. Students need
plenty of previous experience with more structured group work for this to be effective.
 Numbered Heads Together
Students number off in groups. Teacher asks a question (usually high - consensus).
Groups work together to answer the question and make sure that everyone knows and can
explain the answer. Teacher calls a number and students with that number raise their hands to
be called on, as in traditional classroom.
 Round Robin
Class is divided into small groups with one person appointed as the recorder. A
question is posed with many answers and students are given time to think about answers. After
the “think time”, members of the team share responses with one another round robin style. The

recorder writes down the answers of the group members. The person next to the recorder starts
and each person in the group in order gives an answer until time is called.
 Solve – Pair – Share
Teacher poses a problem (a low - consensus or high - consensus item that may be
resolved with different strategies). Students then work out solutions individually. Afterwards
students explain how they solved the problem in Interview or Round Robin structures.
Clearly, pair work and group work are the ways teachers organize the class to carry out
many activities in learning language skills, especially in speaking skill. In fact, group work is a
co-operative activity. Here, students share aims and responsibilities. They have chances for
greater independence as they take some of their own learning decisions without the teacher
controlling every move, and they can work without the pressure of the whole class listening to
what they are doing. They learn to negotiate, to listen to different opinions and points of view.
They participate more equally and in most cases, they feel free to experiment and use the
language. Moreover, cooperative learning activities provide meaningful, realistic practice
combined with useful developmental feedback. Students are encouraged to view learning as a
dynamic process over which they have individual responsibility and group control.


22
1.2.4. The role of cooperative activities in teaching speaking skill
Advancements in psychology, pedagogy and language teaching theories affirmed that
students at all levels must play an active role in their learning. They must take up knowledge
by themselves and, at the same time, develop language competence through speaking
activities. The practice of teaching English at schools has proved that language acquisition
cannot be successful just through learning by heart or repetition.
In recent years, since the application of student-centered teaching more time has been
spent on students‟ speaking. As far as we can see, the traditional classroom is teacher-
centered, with the teacher as information giver whereas the cooperative classroom is student-
centered, with the teacher as facilitator and the students as information seekers.
As stated before, the main goal of the communicative approach to second language

learning is communicative competence. In an attempt to achieve this goal, educators are
seeking instructional strategies and techniques which will improve students‟ ability to
communicate in real - life situations. The one that has brought success to language acquisition
is cooperative learning. Therefore, cooperative activities must be taken into consideration in
any language classroom.
“Without the cooperation of its members society cannot survive, and the society of man has
survived because the cooperativeness of its members made survival possible… It was not an
advantageous individual here and there was not an advantageous individual here and there
who did so, but the group. In human societies the individuals who are most likely to survive
are those who are best enabled to do so by their group.”
(Ashley Montagn, 1965, cited in Roger and Johnson)
From this statement, we can initially comprehend the importance of cooperation in
foreign language teaching and learning. Moreover, we all see that cooperative learning is a
unique format, with different expectations for teachers and for students, compared to
traditional activities such as whole class discussion, teacher presentation, or individual work.
Actually, cooperative activities play an important part in language teaching and learning
especially for speaking skill. The followings are some of the benefits of using cooperative
activities in the classroom:
* Enhancing Students‟ Social Skills
23
In cooperative activities, students can exercise their collaborative skills and practise
working with others to achieve mutual benefit for everyone. Carter et al (2001:37) indicate
that social skills attained through cooperative learning include: communication skills (verbal
and non-verbal), leadership (problem solving, decision making, the acceptance and support of
others), trust building (maintain working relationships and enhance teamwork).
Obviously, using cooperative activities in the classrooms can help to teach students how
to socialize appropriately and can give them opportunities to practise. This can provide tools
to transfer the skills learned into real-life situations.
* Promoting Peer Interaction
Cooperative activities promote peer interaction, which helps the development of

language and the learning of concepts and content. In cooperative learning, students have
opportunities to talk through the material, explain it to each other and look at it in
different ways. Giving and receiving information enhance student performance. Students feel
that they have a chance to succeed, and believe working toward a successful outcome is a
valuable goal. Students‟ social relationships are improved because when students work
together toward a common goal they have a chance to get to know one another as individuals.
* Increasing Students‟ Participation
When groups are used, students receive much more chance to speak. There is an
increase in the percentage of time when students are talking, instead of the teacher. And
during the time for students to talk, many of them are speaking at any time (Lie, 2000: 125).
Cooperative activities provide a context in which students may be more likely to interact than
in a whole class setting. Students participate and interact with each other, thus an environment
for productive learning is created.
* Increasing Motivation and Positive Attitude toward Learning
In a traditional class, only teachers provide encouragement to students. In cooperative
activities, students can encourage and help each other. By providing peer support, student
motivation is increased. As part of a learning team, students can achieve success by working
well with others. The cooperative atmosphere of working in a small group may help develop
"affective bonds" among students and greatly motivate them to work together (Lie, 2000:
24
125). Cooperative learning is said to foster positive attitudes toward working with others
and create thinking skills that are necessary to acquire and integrate knowledge.
* Decreasing Anxiety
Students often feel anxious to speak in front of the whole class. In contrast,
there is less anxiety connected with speaking in the smaller group. In addition, when a
student represents the group and reports to the whole class, he/she feels more support because
the answer is not just from one student alone but from the whole group (Lie, 2000: 125).
Therefore, learners may feel less anxious and more confident when interacting with
peers during pair or small group activities than during whole-class discussions.
It is obvious that cooperative learning is an effective strategy for classrooms with

English language learners. Cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups provide
learners with more time to speak the target language than teacher-fronted activities, and
promote learner autonomy and self-directed learning. With the help of cooperative activities,
the teacher can increase the quality of language practice and the opportunities for feedback
and monitoring as well.
Overall, in this chapter the theoretical basis of the study has been reviewed. The
researcher has mentioned the communicative approach and speaking skill in foreign language
teaching. The discussion of cooperative learning and its activities in teaching and learning the
speaking skill has set the background for the implications and recommendations of the study.


CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

This chapter is devoted to the discussion of two parts. In the first part, an overview of
Bac Ninh Specialized High School, the teachers of English, the students and the textbook are
mentioned. In the second part, there is a description of the subjects, instruments and
procedures for carrying out the research as well as the methods of data analysis.
2.1. Background to the study
25
2.1.1. The learning and teaching situation
 Setting
Bac Ninh Specialized High School is a newly-established one. It was formed in 1996.
It is now located in the center of Bac Ninh city, Bac Ninh province, about 40km from Hanoi.
In my school there are 80 teachers, 27 classes and 650 students from all over the province.
Each class is specialized in one subject such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Informatics,
Biology, History, Geography, Literature and English. Since its foundation, BNSHS has always
proved itself to be a school of high teaching and learning quality in the province and has made
contributions to the education and training course of the nation.
 Class size
There are about 20 to 30 students in each class. This average class size helps teachers

deal easily with class management and organizing group work or pair work activities.
 Equipment
As my school is new, the facility is not so good. It is now being equipped step by step.
Our teaching and learning condition is a little hard. We have only 2 projectors for the whole
school teachers, some computers for the teachers to work on, several cassettes and DVD
players.
2.1.2. The learners
Academic and educational level:
All of the students entering the school are selected through an entrance examination in
which they have to take 4 subjects: Mathematics, English, Literature and the major subject.
The 12
th
form non-specialized English students have experienced in English for at
least six years (4 years at secondary schools and 2 years at BNSHS). Although they are quite
interested in the new way of studying English, their language skills are not very good.
Socio-cultural background:
These non-specialized English students come from different districts in Bac Ninh
province and have different English learning conditions. Moreover, they are likely to be
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motivated or de-motivated easily. This matter of fact should be taken into consideration in
using teaching methods and approaches so as to foster and develop their English efficiently.
2.1.3. The teachers of English group
Number & Age: 11 teachers from age 26 to age 48
Educational & professional background:
- Ten of them graduated from the English department, College of Foreign Languages,
VNU and only one graduated from Thai Nguyen University of Education. Two of them are
taking the M.A course and three completed their M.A course in 2007 and in 2009.
- None of the teachers have ever been to an English speaking country and only two of
them have taken refresher courses to improve their English and their teaching methods. Few of
them have chances to work or contact with native speakers and experts for consultation.

Methods of teaching:
Half of the teachers were trained under the strong influence of the traditional teaching
method which emphasizes teacher-centeredness and accuracy in language learning. The rest –
the younger ones were trained to teach language based on the communicative approach which
emphasizes learner-centeredness. There is one thing that all the teachers share, that is,
they are all eager for knowledge and willing to help their students tackle with difficulties in
learning English.
2.1.4. The teaching material
English 12 is the last volume in the new set of standard textbooks for high schools. The
whole course is divided into two semesters with a total of 105 periods. 80 periods are used for
specialised content referring to 4 language skills and language knowledge of phonology,
grammar and lexis whereas 25 periods are used for revising and testing.
The textbook is designed under the tendency of theme-based approach with 16 teaching
units and 6 review units. Each teaching unit covers a topic and is structured into five sections:
Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Language Focus. The review units, called “Test
Yourself”, aim to help students assess their own progress and serve as sample tests for teachers
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when designing 45-minute tests for their classes. Each review has four main components:
Listening, Reading, Writing and Language Focus. No speaking practice is included.
The textbook is also designed following the communicative approach and the learner-
centeredness approach. This implies that the teacher should use new methods and techniques
of teaching and re-organize the classroom in a way that students will have more opportunities
to learn independently, to participate more actively in the teaching-learning process and to
interact more effectively in communication.
2.2. Research methods
This section deals with the methodology which was employed to achieve the aims of
the study.
2.2.1. The participants
In order to get the data for the study, 100 non-specialized English students in the 12
th

grade were randomly selected from seven classes (158) to answer the questionnaire. All of
them are at the age of 18, so they belong to the same psychological age group. Their time
length of learning English is also the same: they all started learning English at grade 6.
The study was also carried out with 5 teachers of English teaching grade 12 at BNSHS.
2.2.2. Data collection instruments
Data for the study were collected from two different instruments: questionnaire and
classroom observation.
There were two types of survey questionnaires: one for the teachers and the other for
the students. Each questionnaire contains 12 questions to investigate the following issues:
* For teachers:
 Teachers‟ attitude towards the speaking skill
 Teachers‟ exploitation of cooperative activities in teaching speaking skill
 Teachers‟ difficulties in using cooperative activities
 Teachers‟ ideas about the benefits of cooperative activities
 Teachers‟ attitude towards the use of cooperative activities
* For students:
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 Students‟ attitude towards the speaking skill
 Students‟ opinions about teachers‟ techniques used for teaching speaking skill
 Students‟ participation in pair work and group work
 Students‟ ideas about the benefits of cooperative activities
 Students‟ attitude towards the use of cooperative activities
Class observation was carried out later to reaffirm the information collected from these
questionnaires and add some more useful and realistic information for this study: how the
teachers conducted their lessons, what atmosphere there was in the class, what students‟
attitudes were like and what interactions students had during the lessons.
2.2.3. Procedures
The researcher conducted her study from the first semester of the school year 2009-
2010.

With the teachers‟ permission, copies of the questionnaire were handed out to the
students. Five copies were given to the teachers as well.
In order to get more in-depth information about the teaching and learning of the
speaking skill at BNSHS, three classes of grade 12 were observed.
2.2.4. Methods of data analysis
The comments and perceptions made by the teachers and the students in response to the
questionnaires were sorted and categorized by the researcher. The results were subsequently
tabulated and converted to percentages for the convenience of analysis. Besides, information
gained through classroom observations helped to assist this analysis.