Yếu tố giáo viên và học sinh ảnh hưởng đến việc tham gia hoạt động cặp và nhóm của học sinh chuyên Anh - Một nghiên cứu cá biệt tại trường THPT Chuyên Lương Văn

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

------

PHẠM TUYẾT MINH

TEACHER AND STUDENTS’ FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’
PARTICIPATION IN PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK
– A CASE STUDY AT LUONG VAN TUY GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH

(Yếu tố giáo viên và học sinh ảnh hưởng đến việc tham gia hoạt động cặp và
nhóm của học sinh chuyên Anh - Một nghiên cứu cá biệt tại trường THPT
Chuyên Lương Văn Tuỵ - Ninh Bình)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi, 2011


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

------

PHẠM TUYẾT MINH

TEACHER AND STUDENTS’ FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’
PARTICIPATION IN PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK
– A CASE STUDY AT LUONG VAN TUY GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH

(Yếu tố giáo viên và học sinh ảnh hưởng đến việc tham gia hoạt động cặp và
nhóm của học sinh chuyên Anh - Một nghiên cứu cá biệt tại trường THPT
Chuyên Lương Văn Tuỵ - Ninh Bình)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: M.A NGUYỄN THU LỆ HẰNG

Hanoi, 2011


iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND CHARTS
1. Abbreviations:
PW: Pair work
GW: Group work
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
T: Teacher
SS: Students
2. Charts:
Chart 1: Students’ opinion when being asked about the advantages of PW and GW
Chart 2: What the students often do when being asked to work in pairs and in groups.

Chart 3: The students’ self – evaluation when taking part in PW and GW.
Chart 4: Teacher’s opinion on the importance of PW and GW
Chart 5: How often the PW and GW are implemented in the speaking class?
Chart 6: The most important factors that come from teachers which affect students’
participation when working in pairs and in groups.
Chart 7: The most important factors came from students that affect students’ participation
in pairs and in groups. (Students’ questionnaire)
Chart 8: Factors from teacher affecting students’ participation in PW and GW
Chart 9: Factors from students affecting their participation in PW and GW
Chart 10: Students’ desire about what teachers should do to facilitate PW and GW
Chart 11: What the students should do to motivate themselves in PW and GW.
Chart 12: What the teacher do to overcome the difficulties when organizing PW and GW.
Chart 13: What the teacher should do when the students are working in pairs and in
groups.


v

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………………...i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………………….ii
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………..…………….iii
LIST OF CHARTS……………………………………………………….……………...…..iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………..v

PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………..….…………...1
I. Rationale of the study……….……………………………………...…..…...........1
II. Aims of the study..………………………………………………..……….…….2
III. Scope of the study………………………………………………………...........2

IV. Research questions ...…………………………………………………………...2
V. Methodology of the study………………………………………………..……...3
VI. Significance of the study…………………………………………………...…...3
VII. Design of the study……………………………………………………...……..4
VIII. Summary…………………………………………………………………........5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………..………..…...6
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW..………………………………...……..………6
I. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) ……………………………….………….....6
I.1. An overview of Communicative Language Teaching…………………..…..….6
I. 2. Communicative activities………………………………………………..……..6
II. Classroom work arrangements: Pair work and Group work…………………………….7
II.1. Definition and description of Pair Work and Group Work…………………....7
II. 2. Advantages and disadvantages of Pair work and Group work………………..7
II.3. Organization of Pair Work and Group Work………………………………….9
II. 3.1. Formation………………………………………………………..…..9
II. 3.2. Procedures for Pair Work and Group Work…………………..…….9
II. 3.3. Seating arrangement in Pair Work and Group Work……………....10


vi

III. Students’ participation and factors affecting their participation in Pair Work and Group
work……………………………………………………………………………..…………10
III.1. Concept of students’ participation in PW and GW……..…………………...10
III. 2. Human factors affecting their participation in Pair work and Group
work………………………………………………………………………………………..11
III. 2.1. Students’ factors………………………………………...………………...11
III. 2.1.1. Students’ learning style…………………………….…………...11
III. 2.1.2. Students’ attitude and motivation………………….……………11
III. 2.1.3. Students’ language level………………………...………………11

III. 2.1.4. Students’ learning habit…………………………………………12
III. 2.1.5. Gender difference…………………………….…………………12
III. 2.2. Teacher’s factors……………………………………………..…………...13
III. 2.2.1. Teacher’s teaching methods…………………………..………...13
III. 2.2.2. Teacher’s knowledge……………………………………………13
III. 2.2.3. Teacher’s characteristics………………………………...……...13
III. 2.2.4. Teacher’s role in Pair work and Group work…………………...14
IV. Summary……………………………………..……………………….……………….14
CHAPTER II: THE STUDY………………………………………………..……………15
I. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………......15
II. English learning situation at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School………...…………..15
II.1. Students ………………………………………………………...……...…….15
II.2. Teachers…………………………………………………..…………..………16
II.3. Textbook…………………………………………………………...….……...16
II.4. Using pair work and Group work in speaking lesson………….…..…………16
III. Methodology and design of the study………………………………………...………17
III.1. Subjects of the study……………………………………….……...…………17
III.2. Research questions………………………………………………...………...17
III.3. Research methods……….…………………………………...…...……….…17
III.4. Research instruments: …………………………………………….…………18
III.4.1. Survey questionnaires...……………………………………..……..18
III.4.2. Class Observation ……………………………………………..…..18
III.4.3. Interviews……………………………………...……………..……18
III.5. Data collection procedures…………………………………………...……...19
III.6. Data analysis………………………………………………………......……..21


vii

III.7. Summary……………………………………………...……..………………19

CHAPTER III: PRESENTATION OF STATISICAL RESULTS……………………20
I. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………......21
II. Presentation of statistical results………………………………………………………..21
1. How are PW and GW applied in English speaking class at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High
school? How do students participate in Pair work and group work? ..................................21
2. What are the human factors affecting students’ participation in Pair work and Group
work? …………………………………………………………………………………...…26
3. What are the feasible solutions to improve students’ participation in pair work and in
group work, as recommended by the teachers and students? ..............................................32
CHAPTER IV: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...….….38
I. Findings: …………………………………………………………………………...……38
I.1. Research question 1: How are Pair work and Group work used in speaking
lesson at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School? How do students participate in Pair work
and group work? …………………………………………………………………………..38
I.2. Research question 2: What are the human factors affecting students’
participation in Pair work and Group work? ……………………………………………...39
I.2.1. Teacher’s factors…………………………………………..………...39
I.2.2. Students’ factors………………………………………………..……39
I.3. Research question 3: What are the feasible solutions to improve students’
participation in pair work and in group work, as recommended by the teachers and
students? ..............................................................................................................................40
II. Some main recommendations: …………………………………………………………41
II.1. To teachers……………………………………………………………………41
II.2. To students……………………………………………………………………42
PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………..…………44
I. Conclusions ……………………………………………………………..……………...44
II. Limitation of the study …………………………………………………………………44
III. Suggestions for further studies ………………………………………………………..44
PART D: REFERENCES…………………………………………………..……………46

viii

APPENDICES…………………………………………..………………………………….I
Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for students…………..…………………………………I
Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for teacher …………..………………………………...V
Appendix 3: Class observation sheet 1 - Students’ on – task behavior…………..……….IX
Appendix 4: Class observation sheet 2 - Overall class participation …………..……….XII
Appendix 5: Class observation sheet 3…………..……………………………………...XIV
Factors from teacher which affect students’ participation in Pair work and group work
Appendix 6: Class observation sheet 4…………..………………………………………...XVI
Factors from students which affect students’ participation in Pair work and group work

Appendix 7: Questions for students’ interview…………..……………………………XVIII
Appendix 8: Questions for teacher’s interview…………..……………………………...XIX
Appendix 9: Transcript from students’ interviews…………………………………….....XX
Appendix 10: Transcript from teachers’ interviews…………………………………...XXIV


1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale of the study
In recent decades, English has been more and more important in Vietnam. The
importance of English is not only in how many people speak it but also in what it is used
for. Besides the native language is popularly used in all fields of the society, English is
now widely known as the major language of intercommunication, international commerce,
business, science and technology and so on. As a result, there has been a positive trend of
teaching and learning English across the country. People, from children to adults, learn
English with different purposes. In general, despite deriving from different purposes, every

one wants to turn English to become their own instrument in their lives.
Over the past few years, the application of the communicative language teaching
method has been widely adopted. This marked the beginning of a major change in the
language teaching and learning at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School in Ninh Binh. And
the students‟ speaking skill as well as their communicative abilities has been improved
remarkably. In the speaking class of English major students, there are many speaking
activities. Among them, Pair work and Group work, key features of learner – centered
orientation – have received more emphasis because of a number of advantages they bring
about.
Being a teacher of English at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School, the researcher is
well aware of the importance of using pair work and group work during speaking lesson.
However, like many other teachers of English here, the researcher see that the students in
general and the English proficiency students have also faced many challenges coming from
teacher, students, classroom condition, and different culture between two languages when
organizing and managing pair work and group work. This lead me the choice of the study
“Teacher and students’ factors affecting students’ participation in pair work and group
work – A case study at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School” with the hope of
investigating the teacher and students‟ factors which come from teacher and students
themselves affecting the students‟ participation in pair work and group work. With regard
to the factors affecting the students‟ participation in pairs and in groups, the study focused
on the students‟ factors including learning styles, attitudes and motivation, language levels,
learning habits and gender differences; teacher factors including teacher methods,


2

knowledge, characteristics and roles in oral activities. This research is also aimed at
discovering the application of pair work and group work during speaking lesson in English
major classes and then some feasible suggestions for both teacher and students to organize
the pair work and group work successfully. Thus, pair work and group work can be used in

flexible way to create variety, freshness in the classroom atmosphere and most importantly,
to enhance students‟ oral practice of English.
II. Aims of the study
The aims of the study are to investigate the factors affecting students‟ participation
in pair work and group work of English major students at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High
School in Ninh Binh. Some mains purposes covering the study are summarized as follows:
- To identify the application of pair work and group work in speaking lesson at
Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School.
- To point out some teacher and students‟ factors affecting students‟ participation in
pair work and group work.
- To give some suggestions for teachers to stimulate students and to improve their
participation when working in pairs and in groups.
III. Scope of the study
Concerning the scope of the study, some of the following things should be taken
into consideration. First, the subjects of the study are the 99 English major students at
Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School. We chose the major students of English because they
had basic knowledge about English and began to learn English as their proficiency so in
speaking lesson, they will be more participated in speaking activities, especially in pair
work and group work. Second, the study only focuses on oral activities because speaking
skill is considered the most important and needs developing for their future employment
aspect. Third, the study concentrates to find out the human factors including teacher factors
and student factors. Finally, the two techniques chosen to be investigated are pair work and
group work.
IV. Research questions of the study
This study was aimed to answer the three following research questions:


3

1. How often are pair work and group work applied in English speaking class in

Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School? How actively are the students involved in pair work
and group work?
2. Which are the teacher and students‟ factors affecting their participation in pair
work and group work?
3. What are the feasible solutions to improve students‟ participation in pair work
and in group work, as recommended by the teachers and students?
V. Methodology of the study
To realize the aims of the study, a case study was used. The theoretical background
of the study comes from many published books written by different authors on language
teaching and language acquisition. The data collected for the study come from two sources:
The students and the teachers of English at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School (99
students of three English proficiency classes and 10 teachers of English) by making survey
questionnaires, class observation and interview. In this research, quantitative method is
used, too. All comments, remarks, recommendations assumption and conclusion provided
in the study based on the analysis of the statistics from the survey questionnaires conducted
with students and teachers of Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School. The study is also based
on a qualitative method with the author‟s own experience and observation during 6 years
of teaching English.
VI. Significance of the study
The study is of great values by the following reasons:
First, the information about the self – evaluation of the participation in pair work
and group work of the students is believed to be useful for the teachers of English in
general and teachers of English at Luong Van Tuy Gifted High School in Ninh Binh in
particular.
Second, identifying some human factors affecting students‟ participation of
students in pairs and in groups, pointing out students‟ preferences and demands to
activities and techniques applied by teachers are believed to be helpful for all teachers
when teaching speaking and when designing pairs and groups.
Third, giving some recommendations for teachers to motivate students to
participate in pairs and groups and to overcome obstacles and difficulties in teaching

speaking is expected to be beneficial.


4

VII. Design of the study
The study is divided into four parts: The Introduction, the Development, the
Conclusion and the References.
Part A: Introduction
This part deals with the rationale, aims, scope, methods, significance and design of
the study.
Part B: Development
This part consists of the following chapters:
Chapter I: Literature review – is intended to give some theoretical background
related to Communicative language teaching, speaking skills and its related concepts,
classroom work arrangement (pair work and group work) and the concept of students‟
participation in pairs and in groups and factors affecting students‟ participation in pair
work and group work including students‟ factors.
Chapter II: The study – presents the situation analysis, participants, data
collection instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis. The detailed results of
the survey and a comprehensive analysis on the data collected are focused.
Chapter III: Presentation of statistical results – analyzes the statistical results
from questionnaires, class observation and interviews which aim at answering three
research questions mentioned in the previous part.
Chapter IV: Summary of findings and recommendations – shows major findings
and offers some feasible solutions to improve students‟ participation in pair work and in
group work, as recommended by the teachers and students.
Part C: Conclusion: - gives the conclusion from the results of the findings, some
suggestions for further researches and limitation of the study.
Part D: References: - provides readers a list of the lecturers, their books, the

publisher, the year of published, and pages that the author used as recommended
documents.
VIII. Summary: In the Introduction part, the author has covered the rationale, the
aims, the scope, the research questions, the methodologies, the significance and design of


5

the study. The following section – Development will present the literature review (Chapter
I), the study (Chapter II), the presentation of statistical results (Chapter III) and the
summary of findings and recommendations (Chapter IV).


6

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I - LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter briefly covers the theories related to the study: Communicative
approach to language teaching, pair work and group work arrangement in language
teaching and learning and human factors affecting the students‟ participation in pair work
and in group work.
I. COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT)
I.1. AN OVERVIEW OF CLT
CLT appearing between the 1960s and 1970s marks the beginning of major
innovation within language teaching and it has been widely accepted nowadays because of
its superior principles.
According to Nunan (1989), CLT views language “as a system for the expression
of meaning. Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaningful tasks, and
using language, which is meaningful for learners. Objectives reflect the needs of the
learners; they include functional skills as well as linguistic objectives. The learners‟ role is

as a negotiator and an integrator. The teacher‟s role is as a facilitator of the communication
process. Materials promote communicative language use; they are task based and
authentic”.
According to CLT, the purpose of language teaching is to develop “communicative
competence”. Hymes (1972) defines “communicative competence” as “what a speaker
needs to know in order to be communicatively competent in a speech community”.
Also, “activities in CLT are often carried out by students in small groups”(Larsen –
Freeman, 1986:132). Students are expected to interact with one another, either through pair
and group work or in their writings (Brumfit, 1983). Teachers select activities which
engage students in meaningful and authentic language use rather than in mechanical
practice of language patterns.
I.2. COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES
Communicative activities, defined by Littlewood (1981) “In communicative
activities the teacher creates a situation and sets an activity in notion, but it is the learners
themselves who are responsible for conducting the interaction to its conclusion”.


7

Harmer (1991) divides communicative activities into oral and written ones. Oral
activities include such categories as communication games, problem – solving, reaching a
consensus, discussion, replaying instruction, role – play… Written communicative
activities consist of writing reports and advertisements; co-operative writing, exchanging
letters, writing journals and so on.
II. CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENT: PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK
II.1. Definition and description of Pair work and Group work
II.1.1. Pair work
The definitions of pair work have been developed over the years with the
contributions of many linguists and are brought together by Adrian Doff (1988) as follows:
Pair work is a process in which “the teacher divides the whole class into pairs. Every

student works with his or her partner in pair, and all the pairs work at the same time (it is
sometimes called “simultaneous pair work”). This is not the same as “public” or “open”
pair work, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front of the class.” Generally, there
are two main types of pair work, fixed pairs and flexible pairs, suggested by Byrne (1983).
The former is when the students work with the same partner in order to complete task of
some kinds. Meanwhile, in the later, the students keep changing the partners. This thus will
make the activity more interesting.
II.1.2. Group work:
Beside pair work, Adrian (1988) also defines group work as 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”.
Clearly, group work is a co – operative activity, during which 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 opinions and points of view. They participate more equally and in
most cases, they feel free to experiment and use the language.
II.2. Advantages and disadvantages of pair work and group work:
II.2.1. Pair work:
Pair work plays an indispensable role in teaching and learning speaking skill
because of a good deal of advantages as follow: It dramatically increases the amount on


8

speaking time any one student gets in the class, it allows students to work and interact
independently without the necessary guidance of the teacher, thus promoting learner
independence, it allows teachers time to work with one or two pairs while the other
students continue working, it recognizes the old maxims that “two heads are better than
one”, thus promoting learner cooperation, it relatively quick and easy to organize.
(Harmer, 1999)

Pair work also has some disadvantages. Below are their common problems: Pair
work is frequently very noise and some teachers and students dislike this. Teachers in
particular worry that they will lose control of their classes, students in pair can veer away
from the point of an exercise, talking about something else completely, often in their first
language, it is not always popular with all students, many of whom feel they would rather
relate to the teacher as individuals than interact with other learners who may be just
linguistically weak as they are, the actual choice of paired partner can be problematic,
especially if students frequently find themselves working someone they are not keen on.
(Harmer, 1999)
II.2.2. Group work:
Like pair work, group work has its both advantages and disadvantages:
* Group work also plays an indispensable role in teaching and learning speaking
skill because of a good deal of advantages as follow: Group work dramatically increases
students talking time, it increases students‟ participation. Students, who are shy of saying
something in front of the whole class, or to the teacher, often find it much easier to express
themselves in front of a small group of their peers. Because there are more than two people
in group, there is a greater chance of different opinions and varied contributions than in
pair work, it frees the teacher from her usual role of “an expert who always lectures” and
allows her to wander freely round the class, leading and encouraging discussion, giving
help where needed, noting language mistakes for future remedial work. (Harmer,1999)
Besides, Group work also has some shortcomings that follow: it is likely to be
noisy. Some teachers feel that they lose control, and the whole – class feeling may
dissipate when the class is split into smaller entities, not all students enjoy it since they
would prefer to be the focus of teacher‟s attention rather than working with their peers,
individual may fall into group roles that become fossilized, so that some are passive
whereas others may dominate, groups can take longer to organize than pairs; beginning and


9

ending group work activities – especially where people move around the class – can take
time and be chaotic. (Harmer, 1999)
To sum up, teachers have to deal with a number of problems while conducting
group work and pair work. However, those problems may overcome if “teachers consider
various factors at different stages of pair work and group work from planning, practice,
instruction, organization and process stage to the presentation stage” (Skim Grek, Ngoh,
1991).
II.3. Organization of pair work and group work
II.3.1. Formation:
We have to decide how to put individual students into pairs and groups. There are a
number of factors we might consider when doing this. According to Harmer (1999:115),
we can base such decision on any of the following principles: Friendship, Streaming,
Chance, Changing groups, Grouping based in other differences, or Types of tasks. In short,
our paring and grouping decision is made based on a variety of factors. We can put
students in pairs or in groups differently according to our own purpose or the class‟s
atmosphere or characteristic.
II.3.2. Procedures for Pair work and Group work:
Harmer (1999) suggests three stages in carrying out pair work and group work as
follow:
* Before: We need to give instructions to let students understand what they are
going to do, give them ideas of when they will have finished the task they are going to get
involved in. Sometimes, we may ask them to repeat the instructions or to translate them
into their first language so as to check that they do understand. In some cases, our
instructions may involve a demonstration.
* During: While students are working in pairs or groups we have a number of
options. We could, for instance, stand at the front or the side of the class or anywhere else
in the classroom, and keep an eye on what happening. Therefore, we can “tune in” to a
particular pair or group from some distance away. We then decide whether to go over or to
help that pair or group. Besides this, we can also go round the class watching and listening
to specific pairs and groups. Then we may stop and intervene if it is appropriate or

necessary. We can give them support and suggestions but it is vital that we bear in mind
the most appropriate way to do so.


10

* After: When pairs and groups stop working together we need to organize
feedback. We may have a few pairs or groups quickly demonstrate the language they have
been using. We can then correct it, it can when necessary and this procedure will give both
those students and the rest of the class good information for future learning and action.
Constructive feedback can greatly enhance students‟ future motivation.
II.3.3. Seating arrangement in pair work and group work:
Seating arrangements are very important for pair and group work. It is a main part
in a teacher‟s plan for classroom management. Not only do the teachers need to consider
the physical arrangement of the room but also the nature of the students involved,
Therefore, it is proposed to arrange the class into orderly rows, separate tables, circle and
horseshoes.
III. Students’ participation and factors affecting their participation in Pair
work and Group work
III. 1. Concept of students’ participation in pair work and group work:
Students‟ participation can be identified in terms of three kinds of interaction:
students to their teacher, students to students, and students to material.
The interaction between students and their teacher includes care, contact, co –
operation between them in the class. Students who have a good interaction with their
teacher always participate in the class discussion, support each other and act as their
teacher‟s requirement. Thus, participation not only means attending the class regularly and
on time, but also taking part in the lesson actively or showing desire or be active. Students
become self – centered in the class activities.
The interaction between students and students is set up through their discussion in
small groups. They work together, help each other, and learn from each other. A good

interaction involves their co – operation and contribution to the task given. Students feel
pleasant and comfortable when they work together, then they will do their best to complete
the task.
Student‟s participation also includes the interaction between students and material.
Obviously, students will be active and pay more attention to the lesson if they are
interested in the material or the task given. In other words, good and interesting materials
can get students involved in the lesson. Students will find it difficult to participate in the
class activities if they don‟t understand the tasks or feel bored with them. (Ellis (1994: 178)
(Cited in Keller, 1984))


11

In short, students‟ participation is concerned with their activeness in the lesson,
their success in completing the class activities and their attention to what is happening in
the class.
III.2. Human factors affecting students’ participation in Pair work and Group
work:
III.2.1. Students’ factors:
III.2.1.1. Students’ learning style:
Learners may have their own learning styles which help classify them into certain
learner groups. Willing (1987); cited in Harmer (2001) divides learners into the following
groups based on their individual behaviors: Convergers, Conformists, Concrete learners,
Communicative learners
As can be seen from Willing‟s classification, if the majority of students in one class
belong to the two former groups, the degree of participation in oral activities of this class
will be low. More importantly, it can have negative effects on creating a good learning
atmosphere, which may prevent the others from taking part in oral tasks.
III.2.1.2. Students’ attitude and motivation:
No one can deny the importance of motivation towards the success in learning a

foreign language, so how can we initiate and sustain motivation? When starting to learn a
foreign language, students may have in themselves some kind of motivation either
extrinsic or intrinsic motivation which has fired them up. We, teachers, must be
responsible for sustaining their motivation otherwise it may be weak and die (Rogers:
1996: 102; cited in Harmer: 2001).
With a view to helping teacher realize whether a learner is motivated or not ,Penny
Ur (1996) points out typical characteristics of a motivated learner including: Positive task
orientation, Ego – involvement, Need for achievement, High aspiration, Goal orientation,
Tolerance.
In conclusion, we should be aware of the role and the sources of motivation and
then promote it among our students, and when they are motivated they will have in
themselves a force that pushes them to participate more actively in classroom activities in
general and oral activities in particular.
III.2.1.3. Students’ language level:


12

According to Harmer (2001), in a class where students‟ language levels are
different, teachers may have some difficulties choosing a suitable teaching method,
language and activities used in class. In order to speak successfully, students must have
certain knowledge about the topics, the types of activities otherwise the variety in the
classroom appears counter – productive as a result.
Concerning the topic and genre Harmer (2001) suggests that teachers should take
the following issues into consideration: choosing interesting topics, creating interesting
topic, verifying topics and genre, providing necessary information.
Another factor included in students‟ levels that may hinder students‟ participation
in speaking activities is their pronunciation of the second language. As mentioned by some
researchers like Shyuing (1999), most of students, who are learning English, have
difficulties in pronunciation, which makes them unwilling to communicate in the target

language for fear of being ridiculed.
In brief, the limitation in the students‟ language levels can directly affect their
participation however much they like the activities. We, therefore, should choose the topics
as well as the kinds of activities of their levels to encourage their participation.
III.2.1.4. Students’ learning habits:
For a long time, students have formed a habit of learning subject in Vietnamese
people passively. They are hardly willing to speak out their ideas in class unless they are
called. This habit may have a negative effect when they are learning a foreign language
which needs their frequent practice.
Even for English, many schools and learners only focus on written exams while
developing learners‟ communicative abilities is not emphasized. When they go on to study
at university, it often takes them time and effort to change their habit. That explains why
many of them do not take part in speaking activities.
III.2.1.5. Gender differences:
The issue of “Sex differences and language use in the classroom” has been
mentioned in some research but it has rarely been considered an important variable. In
order to have a deep understanding about the problem, Homes (1986; cited in Das: 1986)
studied sex differences and language use in terms of “Conventional Interaction” and found
out interesting results as follows: The results of the research were quite different compared
to our thought: men talked more and more frequent turns at talk; interrupted more often;


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with held responses to women‟s topics; and with held self disclosure, collaboration,
cooperation and flexible leadership characterize women‟s talk more frequently than men‟s
interaction.
In conclusion, those are the main factors originating from students‟ side that may
affect students‟ participation in classroom activities in general and oral ones in particular.
For each student, the degrees of effect of those five factors may vary and within one factor

the degrees of effect on different students are different. The teacher should identify which
group a student belongs to, then plan to form suitable pairs or groups among them so that
students can avoid having difficulties when involving in oral activities. More importantly,
the teacher often should create an encouraging learning environment.
III.2.2. Teacher’s factors:
III.2.2.1. Teacher’s teaching methods:
Through the history we have experienced the existence and development of many
teaching methods that can be divided into two types: teacher – centered and learner –
centered methods. Stern (1983) listed out some main methods including: Grammar –
translation or traditional method, Direct method, Audio – lingual method, Audiovisual
method. Listing out these methods does not mean that we can choose a method to be
perfectly applied to a certain class to increase students‟ involvement. In order to have a
suitable method, the teacher should take some of the following factors into consideration
including learners, teaching purposes and other available classroom conditions. This
method can be one or a combination of those above mentioned methods. Choosing an
inappropriate or not being flexible in applying methods to a certain class may have
negative effects on students‟ participation.
III.2.2.2. Teachers’ knowledge:
In the study “What makes a Good teacher”, Breach (2005) points out that most
students believe that the teacher is a fountain of knowledge and their main responsibility is
to pass on that knowledge to students: Language, Specialist knowledge, General
knowledge of English – speaking country.
III.2.2.3. Teachers’ characteristics: