TỔ CHỨC HOẠT ĐỘNG TỔ VÀ HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG LỚP HỌC THPT TẠI TRƯỜNG PTTH PHẠM VĂN NGHỊ TỈNH NAM ĐỊNH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU CÁ BIỆT

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
-----------o0o------------

MAI THỊ HẰNG PHƯƠNG
ORGANIZING PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGH
SCHOOL CLASSROOMS AT PHAM VAN NGHI UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL,
NAM DINH PROVINCE: A CASE STUDY.
(TỔ CHỨC HOẠT ĐỘNG TỔ VÀ HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG LỚP HỌC THPT
TẠI TRƯỜNG PTTH PHẠM VĂN NGHỊ TỈNH NAM ĐỊNH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU
CÁ BIỆT)
MINOR M.A THESIS
Field: English Methodology
Code: 601410
Hanoi, July 2008
1
VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
-----------o0o------------

MAI THỊ HẰNG PHƯƠNG
ORGANIZING PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGH
SCHOOL CLASSROOMS AT PHAM VAN NGHI UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL,
NAM DINH PROVINCE: A CASE STUDY.
(TỔ CHỨC HOẠT ĐỘNG TỔ VÀ HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM TRONG LỚP HỌC THPT
TẠI TRƯỜNG PTTH PHẠM VĂN NGHỊ TỈNH NAM ĐỊNH: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU
CÁ BIỆT)
MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: TRẦN THỊ THANH, M.A.
Hanoi, July 2008
2
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT
-----------*****-----------
I hereby certify that the thesis entitled
ORGANIZING PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGH
SCHOOL CLASSROOMS AT PHAM VAN NGHI UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL,
NAM DINH PROVINCE: A CASE STUDY
Is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at College of
Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted
for any degree at any other upper secondary schools
Signature:
Date : 10/10/2008
3
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In completion of my thesis, I have received generous advice and help from many
lecturers whose lectures are very practical and useful. Firstly, I would like to express my
sincere thanks to my supervisor, M.A. TRẦN THỊ THANH from Vietnam National
University, Hanoi College of Foreign Language, for her close guidance, criticism, and her
generous help in the process of completing my thesis.
My special thanks also go to all lecturers and the staff of the Department of Post
Graduate Studies at Hanoi College of Foreign Language for their useful materials, guidance
and enthusiasm during my course of study.
I really wish to thank all my colleagues and my students at my school - PHAM VAN
NGHI upper secondary school- for their kind cooperation in giving valuable information.
Finally, I owe my deep thanks to my dear family, specially my husband, my little

daughter and my friends who always stand for me with their consideration and
encouragement.
Mai Thị Hằng Phương
4
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ABSTRACT
Learning language well depends on many factors such as personal characteristics, the
structure of the native and target languages, opportunities for communicating with other
people and with native speakers......For students at schools, these factors can only work well
with the help of the teachers using different techniques, and approaches in language
teaching.
In communicative language teaching, students have more chances practicing in the
target language through different classroom activities, among them pair work and group
work appear to be the most appropriate application.
In my school, PHAM VAN NGHI upper secondary school in Y YEN district, NAM
DINH province, pairwork and group work are used widely in foreign language classes.
However, it seems that the using of these activities in the school is not very effective. This
research focuses on pointing out how to organize pair work and groupwork more effectively
after investigating how these activities are used in our school by collecting data through class
observation, and analyzing the questionanaire data .Some evaluation will be drawn and some
suggestions for the future use of these activities will be made.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Candidate’s statement…………………………………………………….....……………....i
Acknowledgement………………………………………....……………………………......ii
Abstract…………………………………………………...……………….………….........iii
Table of contents…………………………………………....……………………………...iv
Appendix………………………………………………………...……………………........vi

List of abbreviations and tables…………………………………......……………………..vii
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT.................................................................................................3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................4
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................5
Part A: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................8
1. Rationale.............................................................................................................................8
2. Aims of study......................................................................................................................8
3. Scope of the study...............................................................................................................8
4. Research questions of the study.........................................................................................9
5. Methods of study................................................................................................................9
6. Design of study...................................................................................................................9
Part B: DEVELOPMENT.........................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................11
1.1. Communicative approach to language teaching ..........................................................11
1.1.1. What is meant by Communication?...................................................................11
1.1.2. Communicative Language Teaching..........................................................................12
1.1.2.1. Nature of Communicative Language Teaching..............................................12
1.1.2.2. The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching...............................12
1.2. Definition of pair and group work................................................................................13
1.3. Advantages and disadvantages of pair and group work...............................................14
1.3.2. Disadvantages.....................................................................................................14
1.4. How to organize pair and group work :........................................................................15
1.4.1. Preparation for group work: ..............................................................................15
1.4.2. Steps of organizing pair and group work:.........................................................18
1.5. Difficulties in organizing pair and group work and suggested solutions.....................19
1.5.1. Difficulties :........................................................................................................19
1.5.2. Solution :............................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 2 : PRACTICAL RESEARCH..............................................................................20
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2.1. Background of the study................................................................................................20

2.1.1. Description of the English syllabus in PVN school.........................................20
2.1.2. Description of the students at PVN school........................................................21
2.1.3. Description of the teachers at the PVN..............................................................22
2.1.4. Description of physical setting...........................................................................22
2.2. Design and methodology...............................................................................................22
2.2.1. The participants..................................................................................................22
2.2.2. Research instruments.........................................................................................23
2.2.3. Data analysis.......................................................................................................23
2.3. Presentation of statistical results...................................................................................24
2.3.1. Questionnaires...................................................................................................24
2.3.2. Classroom observation ......................................................................................31
2.3.3. Examples of pair and group work......................................................................32
CHAPTER 3 : FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS ................................................................35
3.1. FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................35
3.1.1. How did teachers at PVN school organize pairwork and groupwork ?............35
3.1.2. Difficulties from teachers...................................................................................37
3.1.3. Difficulties from students...................................................................................37
3.1.3. Objective factors................................................................................................38
3.2. SUGGESTIONS ...........................................................................................................38
3.2.1. General suggestions...........................................................................................38
3.2.2. Some suggested exercises in working in pair and group...................................40
Part C : CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................43
1. Summary of the study ......................................................................................................43
2. Limitations of the study ...................................................................................................43
3. Suggestions for further study ..........................................................................................44
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................45
APPENDIX 1 :..........................................................................................................................46
APPENDIX 2 :..........................................................................................................................50
APPENDIX 3 :..........................................................................................................................55
APPENDIX 4:...........................................................................................................................58

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Part A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
English, nowadays, is widely taught from primary school to university, even at
English centers through out the country. People learn English for their work or for their
higher study. However, the results of the English courses are not very good. Vietnamese
teachers of English have not known how to apply the teaching method in effective ways.
They are lack of knowledge, teaching aid, time, and money to teach four language skills:
listening skill, speaking skill, reading skill and writing skill. Like many teachers in the
schools of Vietnam, teachers of English at PVN upper secondary school are faced with a
common problem: students’ poor participation in activities in the classroom. In fact, there are
a variety of reasons for this poor participation, and therefore finding appropriate techniques
and methods for teaching English effectively to students at PVN upper secondary school
requires a long serious research. This led me the choice of the study “organizing pair work
and groupwork in the context of high school classrooms at PVN upper secondary school”
with the hope of investigating into ways to organize pairwork and groupwork more
effectively in English classes. My study only focuses on how to organize pairwork and
groupwork more effectively for students at PVN upper secondary school in NAM DINH.
2. Aims of study
The study is aimed at:
+ Understanding the theoretical background of classroom activities: pairwork and
groupwork to improve students’ language skills.
+ Investigating the use of pair and group work in PVN upper secondary school- a school
located in Y Yen district, Nam Dinh province.
+ Helping teachers at PVN upper secondary school to find out effective technique to
organize pairwork and groupwork with the hope of helping them in teaching English.
3. Scope of the study
To improve four skills for students at PVN upper secondary school, the teachers can
make use of various techniques and a number of things should be done. However, the

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researcher only intends to draw a brief overview of pairwork and groupwork in classes at
PVN upper secondary school and to find out the ways to organize pairwork and groupwork
more effectively.
4. Research questions of the study
This study was aimed to answer the following research questions:
1. How do the teachers in PVN high school use pair and group work? And how often?
2. Is that a suitable way of teaching in PVN school? Why?
3.How to organize pairwork and groupwork in English class more effectively for improving
four skills to students at PVN upper secondary school?
5. Methods of 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 came from two sources:
the students and the English teachers at PVN upper secondary school (8 English teachers and
120 students) by making survey questionnaires and observation.
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 PVN
upper secondary school. The study is also based on a qualitative method with the author’s
own experience and observation during 6 years of teaching English.
6. Design of study
This study consists of 3 parts:
Part A: Introduction which presents the rationale, the aims, scope, the method and
design of the study. The research questions are also mentioned in this part.
Part B: Development which consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature Review - reviews the theory about CLT, and pairwork and
groupwork.
Chapter 2: Practical Research –provides an analysis on the current situation of using
pairwork and groupwork in teaching and learning English at PVN upper secondary school.

Data collection and analysis are also presented in this chapter.
Chapter 3: Findings and Suggestions - focuses on how the teachers at PVN upper
secondary school organized pairwork and groupwork and difficulties facing them and their
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students in carrying out these activities and some suggestions for the teachers to organize
pair work and groupwork more effectively.
Part C: Conclusion summarizes all the key issues as well as the limitations of the study
and some suggestions for further study.
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Part B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter briefly covers the theories related to the study : Communicative approach
to language teaching, and pairwork and groupwork in language teaching and learning.
1.1. Communicative approach to language teaching
1.1.1. What is meant by Communication?
In Thompson’s book (2003: 9) “Communication and Language”, he considers that
“Communication is such a well-integrated part of our day- to- day existence that we tend to
take it for granted rarely pausing to consider what it involves or just how important it is to
us”. Before he expressed to his own ideas about communication, he mentioned some of
Fiske’s ideas:
“Communication is one of those human activities that everyone recognizes but few can
definite satisfactorily”
(Fiske 1990:1)
“Communication is too often taken for granted when it should be taken to pieces”
(Fiske 1994:8)
Thompson noticed “I quickly recognized that communication is used in a number of
senses and at a number of levels to indicate the transmission of information or even, as in the
transport networks example, the transmission of goods and people” (Thompson, N.2003:10).
However he completely agreed with Fiske’s ideas that “the most relevant definition
of communication for present purposes is social interaction through messages” (Thompson,

N.2003:10). There are two related aspects that we should consider when talking about
definition of communication is “social” and “interaction”.
According to Dwyer (2000:8), communication is very important in daily life:
“For those working in our changing social and economic environment, effective
communication is as important as it has always been. Now, however, we must grasp the fact
that we are dealing with more layers of communication than ever before. The exchange of
information and ideas becomes more complex daily, as management structures flatten, work
teams emerge and interact with other teams and as globalization requires us to link up with
individuals and organizations at regional, national and international levels. Increasingly
sophisticated technology enables us to achieve a scope and range of communication
unimaginable even 20 years ago”.
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1.1.2. Communicative Language Teaching
1.1.2.1. Nature of Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching means little more than an integration of
grammatical and functional teaching. Littlewood (1981:1) states, “One of the most
characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic
attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language”.
Communicative Language Teaching means using procedures where the learners mainly
work in pairs or groups employing available language resources in problem- solving tasks.
CLT stresses the importance of providing the learners with opportunities to use English for
communicative purposes and attempts to integrate such activities in to a wider program of
language teaching
1.1.2.2. The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching
The techniques of Communicative Language Teaching are described by features.
Nunan (1991a:279) gives five features to characterize CLT:
+ An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
+ The introduction of authentic texts in to the 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 personal experiences as important contributing
elements to classroom learning.
+ An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the
classroom.
According to Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986:170), because
communicative principles can be applied to the teaching of any skill, at any level, and
because of the wide variety of classroom activities and exercise types discussed in the
literature on Communicative Language Teaching, description of typical classroom
procedures used in a lesson based on CLT principle is not feasible. Savignon (1983)
discusses techniques and class management procedures associated with a number of CLT
classroom procedure (e.g., group activities, language games, role plays), but neither these
activities nor the ways in which they are used are exclusive to CLT classrooms.
Johnson and Johnson (1998) offer five core characteristics that underlie current
applications of communicative methodology:
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+ Appropriateness: Language use reflects the situations of its use and must be appropriate to
that situation depending on the setting, the roles of the participants and the purpose of the
communication, for example. Thus learners may need to be able to use formal as well as
casual styles of speaking.
+ Message focus: Learners need to be able to create and understand messages, that is, real
meanings. Hence the focus on information sharing and information transfer in CLT
activities.
+ Psycholinguistic processing: CLT activities seek to engage learners in the use of cognitive
and other processes that are important factors in second language acquisition.
+ Risk taking: Learners are encouraged to make guesses and learn from their errors. By
going beyond what they have been taught, they are encouraged to employ a variety of
communication strategies.
+ Free practice: CLT encourages the use of “holistic practice” involving the simultaneous
use of a variety of sub-skills, rather than practising individual skills one piece at a time
To sum up, Communicative Language Teaching is best considered an approach rather

than a method. It refers to a diverse set of principles that reflect a communicative view of
language and language learning and that can be used to support a wide variety of classroom
procedures.
1.2. Definition of pair and group work
There are many definitions of pairwork and group work :
Students may be organized to do work in pairs or small groups in the classroom. The
advantage of small group work is that it promotes maximum participation from all students.
In a small group situation, ideally all students are involved in both "thinking and
doing."Small group work also promotes cooperative skills, such as listening and
communication skills, problem solving and sharing of tasks.
Research has shown that group work enhances the learning of all group members,
regardless of how skilled or unskilled individual members are.
The small group approach is most commonly used with children through the ages of
12, although it has shown to be beneficial for older children as well.
(Felisa Tibbitts)
According to Adrian Doff (1988 :137), the whole class is divided in to pairs by the
teacher. Every students works with his or her partner in pairs and all the pairs work at the
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same time (It is sometimes called simultaneous pair work). This is not the same as ‘public’
or ‘open’, pairwork, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front of the class. In fact, A
pairwork consists of two students working together at the same time.
Groupwork is a group of students working together. A class can be divided in to small
groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), as in pairwork, all the
groups work at the same time.
1.3. Advantages and disadvantages of pair and group work
According to Hubert Skrzynski, pair work and group work have both advantages and
disadvantages. These are mentioned below :
1.3.1. The advantages of pairwork and groupwork
1.3.1.1. To increase the amount of student practice : When students work in pairs or
groups they have more chance to practise. Working in pair and group, students often feel more

willing to talk among themselves in a small group than with a teacher in a large group, so that
it dramatically increases the amount of talking for individual students.
1.3.1.2. To increase the learner’s confidence : The students feel much more comfortable to
speak foreign language with one or two other students rather than with the whole class and
the teacher. Especially shy students, or ones who are not good at speaking language yet feel
more relaxed and self- confident trying to put their language abilities to a test during the
activity and seeing how they use them.This encourages students to cooperate with one
another.
1.3.1.3. To develop students’ fluency : while working in pair or group abilities, the students
can use the language freely and express their opinions and thoughts without any restrictions. It
is difficult not to get the impression that fluency can be improved only during constant
speaking practice in the atmosphere of independence and in the state of relaxation.
1.3.1.4. To increase students’ motivation : While working in pairs and groups the activities
are available. As you know a huge variety of activities influences the course of a lesson and its
success. The more different the activities the teacher uses in the lessons, the bigger their
motivation is. In fact, students’ motivation increases because they are active and feel important
during these activities. In keeping with this, the teacher is going to experience success in his/
her work because motivated students are usually good languages learners and they always
make progress.
1.3.2. Disadvantages
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1.3.2.1. To speak native language : One of the disadvantages is that students often speak in
their native language. If the class is really big with too many students, it is very difficult for
the teacher to listen to all pairs or groups at the same time. However, the teacher can still do
something to change situation. The teacher should establish certain rules at the beginning of
the school year and be very strict about them. After sometime the good habit of speaking
only English may be established.
1.3.2.2. To make mistakes : Another problem is incorrectness. While students work in pairs
and groups, the teacher usually do not disturb them, even if he/she notices some mistakes
they have made, but we should not forget that errors or mistakes are an indissoluble element

of the process of learning.Besides, students try to correct each other rather than learn the
mistakes. One of the main points of having learners speak to each other is to help them
increase their confidence and reduce the anxiety that is often found in a purely teacher-
centered classroom. Pair work and group work activities are usually geared to fluency
enhancement rather than accuracy practice.
1.3.2.3. To eliminate shy and weak students from the practice : Some shy or weak
students can be eliminated from the practice, because of individuals who always tend to
dominate. It is not a problem when they work in pairs, but as far as the groups are concerned,
the teacher should assign roles to avoid one or two learners taking over the activity and
others becoming passive observers.
1.3.2.4. To make noise and indiscipline : Working in pairs and groups in a large class
makes noise and indiscipline, the teachers have more troublesome than the learners have.
Participants in a pair work or group work activity are normally unaware of the noise and of
what other pairs or groups are doing. The only possible problem here could be if the
classroom had particularly thin walls.
It seems that there are as many disadvantages as advantages of these classroom
arrangements and one can not unanimously state which one is better, since each teacher has
his/her own likes and dislikes. It is his/her individual choice which one should be used
during the process of teaching a language.
1.4. How to organize pair and group work :
1.4.1. Preparation for group work:
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In order to prepare for group work, according to Felisa Tibbits, the teacher will need to
do the following:
- Select the activity
- Prepare any physical materials for group work ahead of time
- Anticipate the size and the selection of groups
-Anticipate how students will be organized within the groups (tasks and roles)
- Consider the timing of the group work
- Consider how the small group work will be shared with the entire class and linked with

the overall curriculum.
Steps in the classroom:
1.4.1.1. Select the activity
An activity that is best suited for group work may meet the following criteria:
- The activity has multiple tasks that can be shared among group members or a single
task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the articipation of all individuals
within a group.
- The activity involves problem solving and discussion
- Examples of activities that may be suited for group work are investigations of
materials (newspapers, scientific specimens) and development of ideas or arguments
1.4.1.2. Preparation of materials.
The teacher will need to personally collect, or organize students to collect, physical
specimens for investigation. For example, if the teacher anticipates doing a lesson on the role
of the media, she or he might ask the students to bring in to class examples of newspapers
and magazines. There should be materials sufficient for each group.
1.4.1.3. Size and selection of group
Group size normally ranges between 3-5 students. Group size can some times go larger
although groups larger than 8 do not ensure that everyone will participate.
Since groups often report their work back to the whole class, teachers also take in to
account the total number of groups within the class.
Group membership can be determined in different ways. A random selection might be
done by “counting off” with students (go around the room systematically having students
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count 1, 2, 3, etc., with each numbers representing a group) or selecting groups on the basis
of birth date.
In a non random selection, groups will be selected based on the teachers’ prior
knowledge. Usually, groups are selected to maximine diversity within the group, since
diversity enhances learning. Such groups often have a balance of girls and boys, and students
with differing ability levels. Teachers can also use their best judgement about personality
mixes that would enhance the work of the group.

Sometimes groups are organized only for one activity. Other times, teachers use the same
small groups for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with one another.
If the tables and chairs can not be moved for group work, then students can form groups
by turning around in seats to face the children behind.
1.4.1.4. Organize students within the group
A laissez- faire approach to group work would be that the teacher gives a general
assignment to the group- like organize a research project on ‘qualities of good leaders’- and
the students are left to organize themselves.
A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific role to each
group member. Depending upon the task, the roles might include ‘materials handler’,
‘scribe’, ‘reporter to the large group’ and so on. A semi- structured approach might be that
the teacher recommend certain roles, but leaves it to the group to assign roles.
A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a group, is often used with
younger children. A less structured approach can be used with students with experience in
group work or for simple tasks that do not require that students take on different roles.
1.4.1.5. Time the group work
The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task results, sharing
with the whole group, and so on. After giving clear instructions to the students, the teacher
should be available to answer questions, but not interfere with the groups’ activities.
It is common in many classrooms that a small group activity constitutes 20 minutes of a
40 minute- period, with 10 minutes allowed for sharing small group work with the whole
class
1.4.1.6. Share small group work with the whole class.
Usually the results of the small group work are shared with the class. This sharing can be
oral (reporting out), visual (written or graphic representation), or both.
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It is highly interesting to contrast the results of group work.
1.4.2. Steps of organizing pair and group work:
Harmer, J devides it in to 3 steps : before activities, during activities and after activities.
1.4. 2 .1. Before : The teacher makes students feel enthusiastic about what they are going to

do. They need to understand what they are going to do, and they need to be given an idea of
when they will have finished the task they are going to get involved in.
Sometimes our instructions will involve a demonstration- when, for example, students
are going to use a new information- gap activity or when we want them to use card. On other
occasions, where an activity is familiar, we may simplely give them an instruction to practise
language they are to study in pairs, or to use their dictionaries to find specific bits of
information.
The important thing about instructions is that the students should understand and agree
on what the task is. To check that they do we may ask them to repeat the instructions, or, in
monolingual classes, to translate them in to their first language.
1.4.2.2. During : While students are working in pairs or groups the teachers have a number
of options. They could, for instance, stand at the front or the side of the class (or at the back
or anywhere else in the room) and keep an eye on what is happening, noting who appears to
be stuck or disengaged, or about to finish. In this position we can ‘tune in’ to a particular pair
or group from some distance away. The teachers can then decide whether to go over and help
that pair or group.
An alternative procedure is to go round the class watching and listening to specific pairs
and groups. The teachers can stay (with their agreement) for a period of time and then
intervene if we think it is appropriate or necessary, always bearing in mind what we have
said about the difference between accuracy and fluency work
When students are working in pairs or groups the teachers have an ideal opportunity to
work with individual students whom they feel would benefit from our attention. They also
have a great chance to act as observer, picking up information about students’ progress.
1.4.2.3. After : When pairs and groups stop working together the teacher need to organise
feedback. The teachers want to let them discuss what occurred during the group session and,
where necessary, add their own assessments and make corrections.
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Where pairwork or groupwork has formed part of a practice session, our feedback may
take the form of having a few pairs or groups quickly demonstrate the language they have
been using. The teachers can then correct it, if and when necessary, and this procedure will

give both those students and the rest of the class good information for future learning and
action.
Finally, it is vital to remember that constructive feedback on the content of student work
can greatly enhance students’ future motivation. The feedback the teachers give on language
mistakes is only one part of that process.
1.5. Difficulties in organizing pair and group work and suggested solutions
When teachers organize pairwork and groupwork, they encounter some difficulties.
1.5.1. Difficulties :
According to Andy Hoodith- Saitama University, there are three main difficulties
while working in pair and group.
1.5.1.1. Space : The furniture in the class is fixed, the teachers and students can not change
or have no time to do it. Sometimes the class is too crowded (with more than 50 students in a
small room), there is no space for them to move if they are asked to change their partner in a
pair work. For group work it sometimes appears more serious when the teachers want to
have groups of students with different abilities. The arrangement of classroom furniture can
mitigate against pair and group.
1.5.1.2. Instruction : It is neccesary for students to know what the teacher wants them to
do. This sounds obvious and easy, but in some case, some students hadn’t known exactly
what they had to do. Some teachers try to give instructions in students’ target language, and,
so funny it sometimes appears that understanding the instructions in target language is much
more difficult than doing the exercise.
1.5.1.3. Activity Types : Pair and group work are fine in theory, but what type of activity to
do with them is a problem. Some group members may sit doing nothing if teacher asks a
group of four or five to work with a small dialogue. And problem solving activities seem to
be difficult for pairs when one of them or none of them has no idea about the problem.
1.5.2. Solution :
Along with showing difficulties, Andy Hoodith also suggests some solutions for each
situation.
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If the furniture in the class are fixed and it is impossible to change the classroom, then

the teacher should plan more carefully, and try to create gaps between the groups and circles
of interaction.
Drawing a plan of the room and visualizing the arrangements will help to achieve this.
For difficulties in giving instructions, Andy Hoodith considers that students should give
instructions in the students’ mother tongue. It’s better to be strict, then ease up, than to allow
students too much leeway to use their mother tongue in the first few lessons and then try to
stop them overusing it. One method is to explain briefly in English, then if necessary supply
written instructions in their mother tongue. If students are still not clear, about what to do,
then the written instructions probably weren’t very good ! The teacher can then allow a
couple of minutes for them to clarity the instructions for each other in mother tongue, and
one example can be made to make students completely understand the instructions.
Andy Hoodith advised to choose more simple types of activities for pair work. These
types must be less controversial than the ones for group work, but dialogues and speaking
activities are more suitable to pair work than group work.
CHAPTER 2 : PRACTICAL RESEARCH
2.1. Background of the study
2.1.1. Description of the English syllabus in PVN school.
At PVN upper secondary school, English is taught nearly 40 years ago.There are
three levels of English : English 10, 11, and English 12. In the past, the textbook used here is
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the three - year -course textbook, the twelve- year- course books have been used here for two
years. English is now a compulsory subject in PVN school. Students here have English
lessons during the first term and second term of the school year.
The textbook chosen is English 10, 11,12 by Hoang Van Van, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa,
Do Tuan Minh, Nguyen Thu Phuong, Nguyen Quoc Tuan, Nha Xuat Ban Giao Duc each
consists of 16 lessons which have been covered through out the school year with mid- term
and term tests in between. Each lesson is devided into 5 periods with the aim of giving the
students basic knowledge of English and practice four skills : speaking, listening, reading
and writing skill. This is a new textbook with many pictures and suitable for applying
Communicative Language Teaching. By using this textbook, we can develop our students’

communicative competence and our students can learn the real things from daily life.
Students are required to work in pairs, in group to practise English in common situations.
Additionally, students also have chances to listen to both native and non-native speakers
from the tapes used with the textbook. The textbook also develope students’reading skill and
writing skill. At the end of each term, students have an exam for four skills
The objectives of the English course are clear. At the end of the course (after 105
periods), students are required to obtain :
- General knowledge of English grammar and an active vocabulary
-The ability to communicate with foreigners in English in common situations like : showing
ways, making requests…..
-The ability to read English pre- intermediate book, English newspapers or magazines
2.1.2. Description of the students at PVN school
Like students of other school, in order to be 10th form students of PVN school, they have
to pass a national examination. All the students of PVN school come from the countryside.
New students here have the same level of English language proficiency. They have learnt
English for 4 years at secondary school. However, they have a basic knowledge of English
grammar but their language skills are not quite good. Comparing to students in the past now
the students are more aware of the important of learning English, they are more intelligent,
more active and more motivative in learning English. Students have to spend 3 years at PVN
school in order to get general certificate of education. Besides many other subjects, they
have 3 periods of English per week, they have 15 munites tests every two weeks and 45
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munites tests every four weeks. In class, they are given chances to practise mainly four
skills : speaking, listening, reading and writing skill.
2.1.3. Description of the teachers at the PVN
If students are the most important factor in the learning process, teachers are the most
important factor in the teaching process. In PVN school, there are 8 teachers of English
language aged from 25 to 59 but none of them have ever been to any English speaking
countries. Of the eight teachers, only 5 have been trained at VNU - CFL, two have been
trained from Hanoi University of Foreign Studies and one has been trained from Hanoi

teachers’ training University. In the past, most of these teachers mainly used the Grammar-
Translation Method - a way of teaching and learning a foreign language on the basis of
detailed analysis of grammar rules and application of these rules to the translation of
sentences and texts into the mother tongue and in to English. Now, the textbook is designed
for Communicative Language Teaching in which the use of procedures that develop the four
language skills through working in pairs or groups is problem- solving tasks. Only half of the
teachers who have graduated from VNU- CFL are familiar with CLT. But their teaching
experience with the students is still limited.
2.1.4. Description of physical setting
The term « physical setting » refers to the place where the lessons take place, the number
of students in an English class, the equipments and different types of materials available for
teachers and students in teaching and learning English
In PVN school, English teaching and learning activities are mostly carried out inside the
classrooms which are designed for lecture lessons with the only classroom equipment – a
blackboard, tables and desks. The only type of teaching aid that the English group has is
some cassette recorders and projectors. In term of class size, the number of students in an
English class is quite large, from 40 to 60. This large number causes a great deal of
difficulties for the teaching and learning.
The materials for reference and self- study are not available for teachers and students at PVN
school. In the school library, there are only some English books but they are not really
helpful for teachers and students. The problem is not very bad for the teachers since they can
go out to find their own references but it is very difficult for the students to do so themselves.
2.2. Design and methodology
2.2.1. The participants
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In total, 120 students at PVN upper secondary school and eight English teachers
participated in this study. The students are choosen randomly from 10th form, 11th form and
12 form and consist of 78 female and 42 male students at the age from 16 to 18. They may
be from the classes observed or may not, but the researcher intends to take 20 from each
class of the teachers in the English group. They come from different districts.All of them

come from the countryside. They started to learn English from six form, it means they have
learnt English for at least 4 years.There are two old teachers aged 45 to 59 and six young
teachers, aged 25 to 35. A survey is conducted among teachers and students at PVN upper
secondary school to find out the information about the current situation of classroom
activities : pairwork and groupwork. The survey questionnaire includes information about
pairwork and groupwork at school (see Appendix 1 and 2). The results of the survey is
illustrated in Table 1 and 3. The researcher should give questionnaires to the teachers and
students before observing the classes.The researcher observed 15 classes and then analyze
the data collected from the questionnaires and classroom observation sheets to find
information to answer the research questions. After analyzing the data, some conclusion
must be drawn and some suggestions for further research must be made, too
2.2.2. Research instruments
In order to get the needed information the researcher use two following research
methods : questionnaires and observation.There are two types of questionnaires : one for
teachers and the other for students. Each of them has ten questions.The questionnaires are
mainly used for exploiting teacher’s and students’ knowledge , their experience, and their
attitude toward pair and group work .Observation is done in classes of different aims and
purposes : teaching speaking, teaching reading, teaching listening, teaching grammar and
teaching writing, the researcher has to design the Classroom Observation Sheet before
observing classes.The classes observed must be from grade 10 to 12 and with all eight
teachers of English in PVN upper secondary school.The classes observed must not be
prepared especially for being obseved.
2.2.3. Data analysis
Data analysis is not simply a single description of the collected data. In fact, it is the
process by which the researcher interprets the data collected from the survey questionnaires.
The scheme and coding catergories in this research emerged from an examination of data
rather than being pre- determined and imposed on the data.
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2.3. Presentation of statistical results
2.3.1. Questionnaires

2.3.1.1. The result of language teaching survey questionnaires
Table 1 : The results of the language teaching survey
No Questions Options Number of
teachers
Percent
(%)
1 How long do you
usually spend on
pair work and
group work?
a. 5 minutes per period 0 0
b. 10 minutes per period 2 25
c. 15 minutes per period 2 25
d. More than 15 minutes per period 3 37,5
e. Other Options : from 5 to 15
minutes per period
1 11,3
2 In your opinion,
What are the main
benefits of the pair
work and group
work ?
a. To make students more motivative 2 25
b. To make the class more interesting 4 50
c. To help the learning process 2 25
d. To help the teaching process 0 0
e. To kill the time 0 0
f. Other option 0 0
3 Which activities do
you often use pair

work and group
work ?
a. Speaking 8 100
b. Writing 4 50
c. Reading 3 37,5
d. Listening 3 37,5
e. Other option : 0 0
4 How do you
create pairwork
and group work ?
a. Students at the same tables 2 25
b. Students from different tables 1 11,3
c. Students sitting next to each other 4 50
d. Students sitting far from each other 0 0
e. Students in different rows 1 11,3
f. Good students with good ones.
Weak students with the weak ones
0 0
g. Good students with the weak ones 0 0
h. Other options 0 0
5 In your opinion,
pair work and
groupwork are
most useful for
a. Grammar 8 100
b. Pronunciation 3 37,5
c. Vocabulary 1 11,3
d. Translation 1 11,3
e. Reading 4 50
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teaching ... f. Writing 3 37,5
g. Speaking 8 100
h. Listening 2 25
i. Other options 0 0
6 To use pair work
and group work
successfully in a
secondary school,
the teacher has
to….
a. Have awareness of the work 3 37,5
b. Good preparation 6 75
c. Make the work suitable to the
students
5 62,5
d. Give clear instruction with
examples
4 50
e. Control the work 3 37,5
f. Create the competitive sense 1 11,3
g. Other option 0 0
7 How do you often
prepare materials
for pair work and
group work in your
classes ?
a. Use the information given in the
textbook
7 87,5
b. Use the same topics as in the

textbook but not the same copies
4 50%
c. Take an extract or information from
another reference books
1 11,3
d. Self- Design 2 25
e. Collaborate with your coleagues or
get their opinions
2 25
f. Other option 0 0
8 How useful do you
think pair work and
group work are to
improve learning
at your school ?
a. It is a vital activity in language
teaching
2 25
b. It is one of the important and useful
activities in language teaching
5 62,5
c. It is a good activity to be applied 2 25
d. It is neither good nor bad 0 0
e. Its usefulness is not clear 0 0
f. It has no use 0 0
9 Is it easy to use
pair work and
group work in
language teaching ?
a.Very easy 0 0

b. Not very easy 5 62,5
c. Easy 3 37,5
d. Difficult 1 11,3
e. Very difficult 0 0
f. Other option 0 0
10 The factors which
effect most on the
success of a pair
a.Teaching experience 3 37,5
b. The age of the teacher 1 11,3
c. The language proficiency of the
teacher
1 11,3
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