STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSON IN CLASS 10A4 AT CHAN MONG HIGH SCHOOL= Thái độ của học sinh đối với các hoạt động nhóm trong giờ học Nói tiếng Anh lớp 10A4 Trường THPT Chân Mộng

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is a great pleasure to thank everyone who helped me write this
graduation paper successfully.
First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my
sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Ms. Dao Thi Thuy Huong for her
dedication, professional support and guidance as well as valuable comments
during the research. Having granted her advices, I could successfully overcome
all the difficulties encountered when doing the research. Without her assistance
and dedicated involvement in every step throughout the process, this graduation
paper would have never been accomplished.
In addition, I am grateful to all the lecturers who have been teaching in
Foreign Language Department, Hung Vuong University, contributed to the
success of the course.
I also would like to thank all the teachers at Chan Mong high school, who
willingly guided and provided me with basic knowledge as well as specialized
knowledge. Therefore, I could carry out this research with great confidence.
Besides, I want to use this opportunity to express my deepest thanks to all 45
members of class 10A4 at Chan Mong High School for having cooperated in
providing valuable information in completing the questionnaires, answering the
questions and sharing their classrooms with me. If it had not been for their help,
I would not have finished my graduation paper with great success.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my love ones and
my friends for their support and encouragement during the completion of this
paper.

1


ABSTRACT
Using group work activities has been approved as one of the most
effective ways in teaching and learning English speaking by many researchers.

However, these activities have not been implemented and effectively for class
10A4 students at Chan Mong high school, and it is still an open question for
many teachers there. This study was carried out to investigate students’ attitudes
towards group work activities in English speaking lesson. In addition, the study
also gives some recommendations to improve the group work activities in
English speaking class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school. Thus, one set of survey
questionnaires and class observation are used to find out the students’ attitudes,
perspectives toward speaking skills and group work activities adapted during
speaking lesson.
The study is composed of three main parts: introduction, contents and
conclusion. Part 1 deals with the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the
significance of the study, the scope as well as the design of the study. Part 2
consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the theoretical background of
speaking skill and group work activities in speaking lesson. Chapter 2 presents
the methodology which gives detail description about the setting, the subject, the
collection and data analysis. Chapter 3 focuses on analyzing the results of
questionnaires and classroom observation. Chapter 4 presents some major
findings drawn from the data analysis and some suggestions on using group
work activities effectively. Part 3 summarizes the major findings of the study.
It is hoped that the thesis will make a small contribution to the improvement of
learning and teaching speaking skill.

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Students' attitudes towards group
work activities in English Speaking Lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high
school” submitted in partial fullfillment of the requirements for the graduation
paper is the result of my own work, except otherwise acknowledge and this

minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted for higher degree to
any other university or institution.

3


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL: English Foreign Language
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
CA: Communicative Approach
ELT: English Language Teaching
TNU- CT: Thai Nguyen University- College Technology
WTO: World Trade Organization
ELLs: English language learners
CEFR: Common European Framework of References
ESL: English as a Second Language
L2: Level two

4


LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
TABLES
PAGES

5


TABLE OF CONTENTS

6


1.1.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
Statement of the problem
It is undeniable that nowadays languages play a significant role in the

society. In the new phase of the country, since regional and international
integration became one of the primary goals of education in Vietnam, foreign
languages have become extremely important. Among hundreds of languages,
English has attained the prestige of a global language. English is the third most
widely spoken language in terms of native speakers, of which it has at least 330
million. In addition, English has gone far beyond the border of English speaking
countries to reach the nations whose citizens speak other languages. It is
essential to communicate across national borders and maintain correspondence
with oversea business parties and professionals. There is no doubt to say that to
keep pace with the process of globalization, we need to learn English.
In context of globalization and integration, Vietnamese education has
continued to grow stronger and stronger, from public policies to specific actions,
from teachers to students, from schools to the society, at every level, especially
higher education in general and foreign language education in particular. After
joining in World Trade Organization (WTO), English is considered as the golden
key helping us access to the world’s civilization. As we all know that English
has been becoming the international language and communication tool, most
fields use English.
Learning and using English requires a creative process of learning and
teaching. One of the most indispensable skills toward every English learner is
speaking. Because it is considered as the tool of communication. Thanks to the

speaking skill, the learner can express their feeling. Moreover, speaking skill help
learners to improve and communicate in English more confidently. Thus,
speaking skill gradually becomes the foundation of the second language learning
process.
7


Attitudes which play an important role in learning foreign languages
determine the success of the learners. Hiriyappa (2008, p.32) argues that
"Attitudes that affect behavior." Indeed, when learners have a positive attitude
toward learning English, they will be willing to communicate in English with
passion and interest in the subject. It creates confidence and learning English
skills will be easy and effective. Conversely, if the learner does not have a
positive attitude toward learning English, the learning will be difficult and the
quality of education will not be high.
There was a fact that teaching and learning foreign languages in general
and English in particular were fulfilled in a traditional teaching way in Vietnam.
Speaking was less paid attention in a number of classrooms than other skills,
such as listening, reading and writing. Recently, English speaking classes are
introduced more frequently than previous to improve students’ English speaking
skill. However, it is undeniable that there are too many students in a class and it
also lacks the interaction among learners in speaking lesson. Despite English
classes, students learn the language regularly with variety of methods, their
learning efficiency is not met the requirements of teachers and educators.
Classroom activity is also a major part of language course to develop
learners' ability by expressing themselves through speech. In speaking lesson,
teachers need to use variety of activities to help their students apply the
language that they have learned, and group work is one of the most effective
activities. Group discussion “increases the sheer amount of learners talk going
on a limited period of time and also lowers the inhibitions of learners who are

unwilling to speak in front of the full class" (Ur, 2000, p. 121). Although group
work activities are commonly used in English speaking lesson, but it has also
been a matter of great concern because not all teachers use it correctly and
successfully. Therefore, applying group discussion activities to teach speaking
for the students at high school is a difficult problem with some teachers.

8


Based on the observation, the researcher realizes that most students at
Chan Mong High School are not familiar with learning all English skills. And
there is no exception for the case of class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school. They
are not eager to involve in the activities given by teachers in the lesson
especially speaking ones. Teachers have tried to find ways to motivate students,
the result is not as high as expected. Although group work is a familiar method
at higher level at most schools in this area, it is considerably difficult for the
majority of students who are unable or unwilling to do this activity in English
speaking lesson. Consequently, it has inevitably posed huge challenges for both
teachers and students at this site.
Thus, the study entitled “Students' attitudes towards group work activities
in English speaking lesson in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school” was
conducted as an attempt to examine the class 10A4 students’ attitudes and
pinpoint teachers’ monitoring strategies to motivate students to participate in
group work.
1.2.

Aims of the study

The research is aimed at:
 Investigating the attitude of students towards group work activities in English

speaking lessons in class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school.
 Proposing some suggestions to improve group work activities in English
speaking lessons for class 10A4 students.

9


Research questions

1.3.

In order to achieve the above - mentioned aims, the following research
questions are going to be answered:

1.4.

1

What are students’ attitude towards group work activities in English

2

speaking lessons?
What are the recommendations to improve the group work activities in
English speaking class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school?
The significance of the study
Although the study was conducted on a small scale with a particular group

of class 10A4 students at Chan Mong high school, the researcher hopes that
findings will be of great significance. This study is a contribution to

understanding of the students’ attitude towards group work activities, the
applicability of group work to the teaching English in general and the teaching
speaking in particular in the context of Vietnamese high schools. Besides, the
findings of the study will make a small contribution to the improvement in using
group work activities in English speaking lesson of teachers and students of
Chan Mong high school.
Specifically, the study will help the teachers who teach foreign languages,
especially oral skills use group work activities more effectively in teaching
speaking skill. Moreover, the research also helps to make students more
interested in their speaking lesson on teaching.
1.5.

The scope of the study
Because of time constraints, instead of studying the students’ attitude

towards group work activities and the current situation of using group work
activities in a larger context, this study only focuses on students’ attitudes and
proposing some suggestions to improve group work activities for 45 students of
class 10A4 at Chan Mong high school.

10


Moreover, in this paper, by the lack of time and effort, I would solely
discuss the students’ attitude toward group work activities and the use of group
work activities in English speaking lessons, not whole speaking process in the
small context of class 10A4 students at Chan Mong high school.
1.6.

Outline of the thesis

The research consists of three parts:

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
This part presents the overview of the study including the statement of the
problem, aims of the study, research questions, significance of the study, the
scope of the research as well as outline of the thesis.
PART 2: CONTENT
This part will be divided into four chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature review
This chapter aims to present some related previous researches that
was conducted in Vietnam and other countries, give the theoretical
background of related concepts: definition of speaking, roles of speaking,
principles to teach speaking English, approaches of teaching speaking
English, problem with speaking activities, definitions of group work,
types of group work, advantages of using group work, disadvantages of
using group work, steps of organizing group work, definition of attitudes,
the importance of attitudes, attitudes towards language learning,
components of language attitudes.
Chapter 2: Methodology
This chapter focuses on the subjects of the study, discusses the
instruments and presents the data collection, analysis and research
procedures.
Chapter 3: Data analysis
This chapter will focus on investigating the reality of the students’
attitudes towards group work activities in learning speaking lesson and

11


proposing some suggestions to improve group work activities for class

10A4 students.
Chapter 4: Major findings and some prosed suggestions to improve group
work activities at Chan Mong high school
In this chapter, the researcher focuses on giving some major
findings of the study and proposing some suggestions to improve group
work activities in English speaking lesson for students in class 10A4.
PART 3: CONCLUSION
This part summarizes the important points of the study. Also, in this
part, implications for classroom practice, the limitations of the study and
suggestions for further studies are clearly presented.
In the nutshell, this part has presented the background, and
significance of the study. These contribute to the purposes and the
research questions of this study in teaching and studying English speaking
at Chan Mong high school. The present study also provides the scope of
the study. And outline of this study is given in the last of this part.

12


PART 2: CONTENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORITICAL BACKGROUND
The purpose of this chapter is to provide information pertaining to this research,
which was obtained from reviewing the related literature and studies.
1.1. Speaking
1.1.1. Definition of speaking
Speaking is one of basic skills that language learners should master when
they study foreign languages. There are many definitions of speaking that have
been proposed by some experts in language learning and teaching. According to
Kayi (2006), speaking is a “crucial part of second language learning and
teaching” while Chaney and Burk (1998: 13) considered speaking as “the

process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, in variety of context”.
Having a different access to speaking skill, Hedge (2000, p.15) stated that
speaking is a skill “by which people are judged while first impressions are being
formed”. Speaking can be considered as an important factor to reflect people’s
personalities and thoughts. Besides, reviewing previous research related to
defining speaking, it was noticed that two main approaches are adopted to define
speaking, the bottom-up and the top down approach.
Alternatively, Valette (2003) advocated adopting a definition of speaking
based on interactional skills

which

involve

making decision about

communication. This is considered as a top- down view of speaking. Adopting
this view, Howarth (2001) defined speaking as a two–way process involving a
true communication of ideas, information or feelings. This top-down view
considers the spoken texts the product of cooperation between two or more
interactant in physical context. Thus, proponents of this view suggest that, rather
than teaching learners to make well-formed sentences and then putting these to
use in discourse we should encourage learners to take part in spoken discourse
from the beginning and then they will acquire the smaller units.
13


Attempting to elaborate more on the interactive nature of speaking,
Luoma (2004) gave another definition about speaking as an interactive process
of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing

information. Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it
occurs, including the participants themselves, the physical environment, and the
purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, opened and evolving. However,
speech is not always unpredictable. Language functions (or patterns) that tend to
recur in certain discourse situations can be identified.
From some definitions above it can be concluded that speaking skill is
always related to communication. Speaking skill itself can be stated as the skill
to use the language accurately to express meanings in order to transfer or to get
knowledge and information from other people in the whole life situation.
Moreover, in order to express effectively, the speaker should know exactly what
he/she wants to speak and communicate, he/she has to evaluate the effects of
his/her communication

to his/her listener, he/she has to understand any

principles that base on his speaking either in general or individual.
1.1.2. Roles of speaking
Language is a tool for communication. To communicate with the others,
people need to speak out what they want to express. Speaking is so much a part
of daily life that people take it for granted. According to Ur (2000), speaking is
considered as the most effective means of communication and without it life
does not exist. Thus, speaking has an important role in learning and teaching
foreign language. Moreover, Byrne, D. (2003) said that all four language skills,
speaking skill is one of the most important and essential skill that must be
practiced to communicate orally. The people who are good at speaking are ones
who master not only grammar, pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary but also
the social contexts in which language is used. In other words, speaking, in real
sense, includes both producing language and applying in different circumstances
in life. In short, speaking skills are closely related to all other language skills.

14


Nowadays, English is an international language, so the ability of using
English in communication is very necessary. In addition, speaking is the fastest
way to exchange information, therefore, more and more people are trying to
learn English speaking skill on the purpose of communicating in the modern
life. This tendency may put speaking in the highest position among all four
language skills.
Another reason why speaking should be paid more attention in the
classroom is that teachers can motivate students’ learning English through
speaking. To students who are capable of studying English, they are not afraid of
speaking and more important, they know how to express their ideas, their
thought in English. Hence, speaking is a necessary way for them to develop their
speaking ability. In contrast, for those who do not speak English well, they are
afraid of communicating with other people. They are not confident to work in
groups with the others. However, if teachers use useful speaking activities in
their English speaking class in a suitable way, students will be attracted and
motivated. If students’ speaking is improved, other skills be improved, too.
1.1.3. Principles to teach speaking English
In the communicative model of language teaching, the teacher helps the
students in real life communication. They help their students develop the ability
to produce grammatically correct, logically connected sentences that are
appropriate to specific contexts.
According to Nunan (2003), there are some principles for teaching speaking.
Some of which are described below:

15

Giving students practice with both fluency and accuracy
At the beginning and intermediate level of studies, learners must be given
opportunities to improve their fluency as well as accuracy. Accuracy means
using the target language correctly and fluency is using language quickly and
confidently. The teacher should not emphasize on any one aspect of speaking.
Rather, students should get practice on both accuracy and fluency.
Using group work or pair work
To improve students’ speaking skill, they should be given enough
opportunities to speak in class. Thus, it is important for language teachers do not
take all the time. Also, according to Nunan (2003, p.54) “Pair work and group
work can be used to increase the amount of time that learners get to speak in the
target language during lesson.”
In this way, the students will get chance to interact and practice the language
with other students. The single most important reason for teaching speaking is to
develop oral fluency, that is, the ability to express oneself intelligibly,
reasonably, accurately and without undue hesitation. Learners of English will
want to use speech principally for two reasons. The first reason is that they want
to give and receive information, that is, for transactional or message-oriented
purposes. The other is that they want to maintain good social relationships, that
is, for interactional purposes focused on sharing personal experiences and
opinions. Language educators and teachers have made great efforts to find out
the main principles of teaching speaking so far.
Furthermore, in order to make sure the teaching takes place in an intended
way, it is critical to create a high level of motivation (Ur, 2000). That is the key
consideration in determining the preparedness of learners to communicate.
Motivation is the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of
learning plus favorable attitudes toward learning the language. So effort alone
does not signify motivation but it is the desire and the satisfaction in the activity
that count (Nunan, 1991: 233).
16

Attempting to elaborate more on the interactive nature of speaking, Kayi
(2006) gave another principles of teaching English speaking that teachers should
do to make students feel satisfied and have the desire to get involved in English
speaking lesson:
The first, teachers use the instinct or experience, depending on the teacher’s
qualification, to choose interesting topics in order to draw students’ attention and
make inspiration. Productive skills cannot be developed beyond meaningful
contexts. In addition, unreal contexts cannot help students get involved in such
real life activities as job and academic settings.
The second, teachers can create interest in the topic by talking about the
topic. Teachers can ask if anyone knows about the topic and can therefore tell
the others about it before the activities start. In this way, students have chances
to express their ideas meaningfully and teachers can exploit their previous
knowledge to get them into the lesson. Also, teachers can ask students to make
guesses about the content and to discuss what happens which inspire students’
curiosity and their want to find out the truth. Additionally, teachers can ask
several guiding questions before the activity and provide necessary information
without telling what students have already known to create stronger motivation.
The third, motivation is raised in a lesson also by the fact that teachers
help to create a relaxed, nonanxious atmosphere which helps even weak and
reluctant students. This can be done through some activities such as playing
guessing games, doing the rehearsal in small groups before speaking in front of
many people, or practicing speaking under the guidance of the teachers through
drills, repetition, mechanical exercises first (Kayi, 2006: 253). In the case that
students feel fear of mistakes, teachers can encourage them to take risk and
focus on content rather than form.
The fourth, teachers should give appropriate level of difficulty, neither too
difficult nor too easy for students may feel bored.

17


The final, teachers have better meaningful activities relevantly to the real
life to let students talk about themselves. In addition, when students are
motivated enough to get involved in the lesson, teachers should give them the
maximum opportunities to practice the target language in meaningful contexts
and situations which helps to facilitate acquisition for all learners rather than
grammatical explanation or linguistics analysis. It is because learners must learn
to develop the ability to use language to get things done in real life, outside the
classroom.
The suggested principles above are helpful for teachers to use suitable
strategies and design effective speaking activities.
1.1.4. Approaches of teaching speaking English
We can see that approaches to teaching speaking skills have reflected the
existing theories and the approaches like grammar-translation method, cognitive
approaches and comprehension approach to language and language learning that
have not always considered speaking a primary goal.
With reference to theories of second language acquisition and learning,
Thornbury (2005, p.36) highlights three theories of language learning that are
relevant to the teaching of speaking: behaviourist, cognitivist and sociocultural
theory.
Behaviourist theory is based on the belief that the language is learned by
‘forming good habits through reinforcement (Thornbury, 2005, p. 38).’ The
elements of learning, labelled presentation, practice and controlled production
were used to develop speaking skills.
Cognitivists (Thornbury, 2005, p.39) view language learners’ minds as a
black boxes with information processing capacity and a complex skill like
speaking is believed to be developed through stages ranging from controlled to

automatic. Learning focuses first on awareness-raising of particular stages of a
procedure, then it moves on to integrating newly acquired knowledge to the

18


existing one

via practice and ends by autonomy, the stage in which new

language is readily available for use.
Sociocultural theory (Thornbury, 2005, p.47) emphasises the sociocultural
context in learning and believes learning is mediated through social interaction
with other learners.
Nowadays the development of speaking skills as a productive skill is
largely emphasized and communicative language competences are considered to
be key competences in the development of an engaged individuals who are
actively involved in a social life and development of ones’ community and
society (CEFR, 2001a). The latest advances in discourse analysis, conversational
and corpus analysis, as Richards (2008) points out, have revealed a great deal about
spoken discourse and the complexity of a spoken interaction (2008, p. 19). ‘The
theory of communicative competence prompted proposals for the development of
communicative syllabuses, and more recently for task-based and text-based
syllabuses and methodologies’ (Thornbury, 2005) that as he claims should inform
approaches to teaching and learning speaking. These range from direct to indirect
ones.
1.1.4.1. A direct approach
This distinction relies on the dichotomy of learning vs. acquiring the
language with a number of proponents and opponents of both theories of
language learning. Thornbury (2005, p.76) maintain that a direct approach

focuses on the development of isolated speaking skills, micro-skills. It is
concerned with a structural accuracy and emphasises the use of language forms.
It also provides space for language analysis, raising learners’ awareness about
grammar, discourse structures, and routines (Goh & Burns, 2012).

1.1.4.2. An indirect approach

19


According to (Goh & Burns, 2012, p.34), on the other hand, an indirect
approach focuses on the development of fluency of speech. It encourages
learners to use language by engaging them in communicative activities (Goh
&Burns, 2012, p. 134). It is believed that learners will acquire speaking skills by
communicating with each other (see also Thornbury, 2005, p. 75) and they will
be able to transfer those skills to real-life situations (Goh & Burns, 2012, p.35).
Thornbury (2006, p. 95) advocate for an indirect approach that allows a
lot of opportunities for exposure to and participation in authentic conversation
and explicit instruction. Although it called indirect approach it encompasses
typical activities for direct approaches, i.e. the ones’ focused on language form.
All in all, good practice in teaching speaking advocates for an approach that
combines features of direct and indirect approaches. In practice, this is reflected
in course books with one or the other approach prevailing (Goh & Burns, 2012,
p.37).
Direct and indirect approaches to learning correspond with a part versus
whole dichotomy with the first one concentrating on the components of
language and the latter one focusing on a context of use (Thornbury, 2006, p.
79). There are proponents of both approaches (Thornbury, 2006, p. 82).
According to Goh and Burns (2012, p.135), there are limitations in both
approaches. As the direct approach does not take into account that the accurate

use of language form is developed through face-to-face communication. The
indirect approach, on the other hand, neglects the development of accuracy. The
latest development in learning and teaching speaking has shaped current
thinking emphasising a combination of features in both approaches.

1.1.4.3. General approach

20


Recently Thornbury (2005, p. 11) advocated a general approach to
teaching speaking skills. He proposes (Thornbury, 2005, p. 40) three stages of
learning speaking: awareness-raising, during which students familiarise
themselves with new knowledge. Appropriation, during which students integrate
the new knowledge into the existing one and autonomy, allowing students to use
this newly constructed knowledge in real-life situations without any assistance.
During the appropriation stage, that he labels (Thornbury, 2005, p. 63-88)
practiced control, learners are provided a supportive framework in which they
can practice control over their speaking skills. Activities at this stage are
typically used within direct and indirect approaches.
1.1.4.4. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
With the same respect, many EFL teachers believe that students learn to
speak in a second or a foreign language by interacting. For instance, Byrne (2003:
68) acknowledges that to learn to speak are comprehensible language input and
extensive

opportunities

for

interaction

and

authentic

communication.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) serve best for this aim since it is based
on real-life situations that require communication. It is therefore using this
approach in ESL or EFL classes, students will have the opportunity of
communicating each other in the target language.
Speaking is not the result of repeating or memorizing a lot of words in
isolation or just combining a continuum of formal linguistic rules (Valetee 2003:
51). They however pointed out that speaking nowadays is recognized as an
interactive, social and contextualized process that serves a number of functions.
The teaching of speaking is therefore considered as a very complex communicative
process that requires a variety of linguistic, contextual, cultural, and interactional
aspects among speakers. Consequently, communicative framework in the teaching
of speaking is believed can contribute to develop the students’ communicative
competence.

21


1.1.4.5. Grammar-Translation Method
Grammar-Translation Method, just as the name suggests, emphasizes the
teaching of the second language grammar, its principle techniques is translation
from and into the target language. In practice, reading and writing are the major
focus; little or no systematic attention is paid to speaking or listening.

The Grammar-Translation Method has been facing various attacks from
reformers. Some criticizes that this method often creates frustration for students
by a tedious experience of memorizing endless list of unusable An Analysis of
Language Teaching Approaches and Methods- Effectiveness and Weakness
grammar rules and vocabulary, and the limitations of practice techniques never
emancipate the learner from the dominance of the first language; others says that
this method pay little attention to the student’s communicative competence
(Luoma, 2004).
In spite of the severe attacks, the Grammar-Translation Method is stilled
widely practiced. Because there is no inherent contradiction between grammar
instruction and communicative approach, and a sort of explicit grammar
instruction can complement communicative language teaching to raise learners’
conscious awareness of the form and structure of the target language. Moreover,
the first language, as a reference system, can dismiss the misunderstanding in
the process of the second language learning. Then, thinking about formal
features of the second language and translation as a practice technique put the
learner into an active problem-solving situation. Finally, Grammar-Translation
Method appears relatively easy to apply and it makes few demands on teachers,
which is perhaps the exact reason of its popularity.
1.1.5. Problems with speaking activities
In the process of teaching learning activity, there are also some challenges
for the teacher. As stated before, there are many things that affect students’ low
speaking mastery. There are many difficulties that students felt. According to
Thornbury (2005), the difficulties that the learner-speaker faces break down into
two main areas:
22


1) Knowledge factors: the learner does not yet know aspects of the language
that enable production.

2) Skills factors: the learner’s knowledge is not sufficiently automated to
ensure fluency.
As a result, there may also be:
3) Affective factors, such as lack of confidence or self-consciousness which
might inhibit fluency.
Alternatively, Ur (2000) advocated adopting problem with speaking
activities based on his observation. In his view, speaking is a productive skill.
Therefore, the students often face some problems. The problems frequently
stated are lacking of confidence, having nothing to say. He discussed some
common problems above. The first problem is lacking of confidence. Unlike the
other skills such as reading, listening, and writing, speaking requires some
degree of real-time exposure to an audience. Some often feel stressed when
having to speak in a foreign language in front of the whole class, being worried
about making mistakes, being fearful of criticism or losing face, or being simply
shy. The second problem is that students sometimes think they have nothing to
say on a particular topic. In reality, they may be bored or feel that the topic is
unrelated to anything they know. Students often lack confidence in speaking and
feel they have no knowledge of the target topic and enough vocabulary to talk.
Besides, there are some other reasons prevent students from speaking well
in English. Harmer (2007) stated that the class mix, the topic, the organization of
the task, and also the reluctant students may become problems in teaching
speaking. Besides, according to Brown (2001) one of the major obstacles
students have to overcome in learning to speak is the anxiety generated over the
risks of blurting things out that are wrong or in comprehensible. Furthermore,
unlike reading or writing, speaking happens in real time where the person you
are talking to is waiting for you to speak right then. You also cannot revise what
you wish to say as you can if you are writing.

23

1.2. Group work
1.2.1. Definitions of group work
There is a general consensus among educators bout the definition of group
work. As Richards (2008) stated “group work is an essential activity because the
kind of interactions produced in group activities has been shown to be
quantitatively as well as qualitatively different form that which goes on in the
teacher-dominated lessons”.
Vo (2004) also followed Richards’s approach as she states group work as
“any classroom activity in which students’ perform collaborative tasks with one
or more partners.” On the whole, it is widely agreed that group work is a process
in which two or more learners work together to do a task which involves
cooperation and self- generated language.
On the other hand, group speaking was defined as a term referring to the
way the teacher divides the students into groups to accomplish a speaking task
together (Nunan (1991). Hence, group discussion is one of the most popular
speaking English class activities to improve students’ communicative skills. It is
a group of students working together, the number of students in each group
usually from four to six. They meet face to face and through free oral
interaction, originate, share and discuss ideas to arrive at a decision or solution
to a problem or speaking tasks.
It is obvious that 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. And they can work without the pressure of the whole class
listening to what they are doing. In addition, students have many chances to
interact with each other.
1.2.2. Types of group work
1.2.2.1. Collaborative group work

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Group work, or collaborative group work, is a teaching and learning
strategy that can be utilized for all types of students and can take various forms
in the classroom. Using group work as a pedagogical tool can be useful in
numerous ways. It can be used to organize activities or tasks in the class where
an assignment is given by the teacher and students are expected to work as a
group to solve the group task (Doff, 2011). Through group work, students can
develop social skills, build a sense of community, support and depend on each
other for their learning experiences. Furthermore, also called Learner-learner
interaction (Brown, 2001), during group work, the learners or the students are
the main participants in the learning process while the teacher plays the role as
the monitor allowing students to take ownership of their learning. Therefore, the
teacher provides students with the opportunity to take ownership of their own
learning.
In collaborative group work, every group member is involved in working
on a given task to produce an outcome that they all agree upon. This allows all
types of learners, including English language learners, the opportunity to be in
an environment where they can work together to discuss their ideas, share and
listen to their peers’ thinking process. Nunan (2003) stated that opportunities are
provided through group work for students to talk freely with their peers, which
ultimately allows all students to practice and improve their oral language skills.
1.2.2.2. Pair work
Another form of group work, only involving two participants, is pair
work. This type of group work fosters two students to communicate with each
other as they teach and learn from each other. To enhance language skills, ELLs
need opportunities to practice with English proficient students. Through pair
work, students are able to share in more talking time to freely communicate in
the classroom (Davis, 1999). In pairs, he argues that students can practice their

oral language skills more efficiently than in a whole-class setting or with the

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