How group work is used in speaking lesson of the first year major students of english at viet nam university of commerce

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background and rationale
The use of English has been gradually increasing in Vietnam. Also, it has a stable ground in the
Vietnamese education system. English is introduced to the educational curriculum from primary
education (optional) to tertiary education (compulsory). Like many other universities, teachers
and students at VUC were affected by the traditional philosophy of teaching and learning. They
were subject to many influences of Confucianism as well as by French and Soviet education that
focused on academic study of grammar and in-depth knowledge of literary texts. As a result,
many students lack the ability to communicate in oral English after graduation from the
university. This fact gives rise to the need of a more effective method that creates opportunities
for the learners, the subject and the centre of the teaching and learning process to bring full play
their intelligence and creativeness.
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 VUC. And students’ speaking skill as well as communicative ability has been
improved remarkably.
VUC Faculty of English has been newly established for two years. Almost all of the teachers were
trained about CLT approach at the University and they fully understood the important role of speaking
ability among students. Therefore, they made all their effort to apply many kinds of activities in
speaking lesson to encourage students to engage in speaking activities in classroom.
As a teacher of the Faculty of English at Vietnam University of Commerce, from her own
observations and experience, the present researcher has noticed that there are many speaking
activities in the speaking lesson of 1
st
– year students, but group work – key features of learner –
centered orientation – have received more emphasis. The researcher as well as other teachers at
the University was well aware of the importance of using group work to energize the speaking
lesson of the first-year students. Nevertheless, both teachers and students have faced a lot of
challenges in implementing and managing group work during speaking lessons. For instance, the
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organization of group work is noisy, teachers sometimes lose control of the class or students

tend to switch to use their mother tongue when not under the teacher’s eyes and so on.
Moreover, the teachers’ procedure in organizing group work in speaking lesson was not very
effective.
The above mentioned situation has urged the researcher to conduct a study to investigate
teachers’ group work organization procedure, teachers’ strategies to foster students’ English use
and teachers’ and students’ difficulties ` implementing group work, the researcher of this study
has decided to carry out a research into “How group work is used in speaking lesson of the 1
st
-
year major students of English at Vietnam University of Commerce”. This study is intended to
make a modest contribution to an increased understanding of using group work in the speaking
lesson at VUC.
1.2. Aims of the study
The purpose of this study is to explore the reality of the use of group work in the speaking
lesson of 1
st
- year English major students of English at VUC where the researcher is serving.
More specifically, this study attempts to clarify the procedures of organizing group work activity
in the speaking lesson of 1
st
-year major students and to identify strategies used by teachers to
stimulate students’ use of English in group work and the factors bringing about difficulties for
the teachers and students in their application of group work. Another aim is to find out teachers’
solutions to the difficulties. One additional aim is to compare teachers’ practice with students’
expectation. Basing on the findings, the research further seeks to suggest practical
recommendations for the possibility of group work in the speaking lesson of 1
st
-year major
students at VUC.
1.3. The research questions

In order to achieve the set goals, the research seeks to answer the following research questions:
1. What procedures do teachers follow in organizing group work during speaking lessons
for the 1
st
year major students at University of Commerce?
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2. What strategies do teachers use to stimulate and foster English language use by the 1
st
year major students at University of Commerce in group work?
3. What hinders teachers at Faculty of English of the University of Commerce in
implementing group work?
4. What hinders the 1
st
-year major students at University of Commerce in participating in
group work?
1.4. Scope of the study
Though group work is applied in any of the four macro-skills, the present researcher has chosen
to focus on speaking skill for the fact that mastering speaking is so central to language learning
that when we refer to speaking a language, we often mean knowing a language (Karimmkhanlui,
2006). Among four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing, group work
is used the most frequently in the speaking lesson. Therefore, this research tends to investigate
the use of group work activity in the speaking lesson. Also, due to the time constraints, this
study only involves a small number of VUC teachers and English-major students in their first
academic year.
1.5. Benefits of the research
The research is hoped to be valuable to both teachers and students of Faculty of English at VUC.
Firstly, this study has been able to contribute to teachers’ knowledge of CLT approach in
general and group work activity in particular. Secondly, from the findings of this study, teachers
of English at VCU can be provided with important knowledge and information which may be
very valuable for their future lesson planning. Ultimately, the teachers’ transformation in group

work implementation will be beneficial to the students.
1.6. Organization of the study
There are five chapters to the thesis. Chapter One presents some background to the research
questions pursued in the study. In chapter Two, the literature on Communicative language
teaching approach, the relation between CLT and teaching speaking and group work in teaching
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speaking are reviewed. Chapter Three describes the methodology used in the research study.
The findings of the procedures in organizing group work, strategies to foster and stimulate
English language use in group work, difficulties teachers experienced when implementing group
work and difficulties students experienced when working in group suggested by the participants
of the study are reported and discussed in chapter Four. Then, Chapter Five voices some
suggestions for improving effectiveness of group work in speaking lesson and proposes areas for
further research in the future. Finally, chapter Six discusses conclusions that can be drawn from
the study.
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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This study investigates the process of group work implementation in speaking lesson. It aims at
finding out how group work is organized in speaking lesson of 1
st
year students at University of
Commerce. It also aims to find out the strategies that teachers use to motivate and foster
students’ use of English in group work. The study also aims to find out the difficulties that
teachers and students encounter while implementing group work. This chapter reviews the
literature on some concepts, characteristics as well as teacher’s roles in communicative language
teaching. In addition, the relation between CLT and teaching speaking skill is also addressed in
this chapter. And definitions, benefits of group work, and the implementation of group work in
speaking lesson are mentioned at the end of the chapter.
2.1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
2.1.1. Some concepts of CLT
The arrival of Communicative Language Teaching was in the late 1960s and its origins were

found in the changes in the British language teaching tradition. Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) marks the beginning of a major innovation within language teaching for its
widely accepted principles. CLT is now regarded as an approach which aims to make
communicative competence the goal of language teaching and to develop procedures for the
teaching of four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and
communication (Hymes, 1972).
Hymes’s theory of communicative competence was a definition of what a speaker needs to
know in order to be communicatively competent in a speech community. In Hymes’s view, a
person who acquires communicative competence acquires both knowledge and ability for
language use with respect to:
- whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible
- whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the means of
implementation available
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- whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate (adequate, happy, successful)
in relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated
- whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually performed, and
what its doing entails
According to Richards and Rodgers (1986:161), at the level of language theory, CLT has a rich
theoretical base and some of the characteristics of the communicative view of language are:
- Language is a system for the expression of meaning
- The primarily function of language is to allow interaction and communication
- The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses
- The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features,
but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse.
Nowadays, language is seen as a dynamic resource for the creation of meaning. Communicative
language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate interaction and
communication. Therefore, the importance of communicative language teaching is to provide
students with as many opportunities as possible to use their communicative purpose. Students
learn not only single grammatical rules but know how to use these rules effectively and

appropriately in communication.
2.1.2. Characteristics of CLT
It is no doubt that the characteristics of CLT, if precisely understood, may help teachers
translate the theory of CLT into classroom reality and make their classroom “communicative”.
Li (1998:679) reviews CLT characteristics based on the work of other researchers such as
Larsen-Freeman (1986), Richards and Rodgers (1986), and Thomson (1996) as follows:
- A focus on communicative function
- A focus on meaningful tasks rather on language per se
- Efforts to make tasks and language relevant to a target group of learners through an
analysis of genuine, realistic situations
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- The use of authentic, from-life materials
- The use of group activities
- The attempt to create a secure, non-threatening atmosphere
Communication competence is the goal of CLT, therefore a focus on communicative function
may be considered to be the most typical characteristics of CLT.
2.2. Teaching speaking skill in CLT
2.2.1. Teaching speaking skill.
Speaking skill plays a significant role in teaching and learning a foreign language. It not only
helps students know how to read, to write and to listen but also know how to communicate with
English speaking people. It is undeniable that the speaking ability is a good source of motivation
for most students. Many students equate being able to speak a language to knowing the
language. Therefore, they view learning the language as learning how to speak the language.
According to Nunan (1991), success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a
conversation in the target language.
Additionally, in the speaking class, if the right activities are taught in the right way, speaking
can be a lot of fun, raising general learner motivation and making the English language
classroom a nice and dynamic place to be.
2.2.2. Types of classroom speaking performance
Brown (1994:271-274) proposes six categories applied to the kinds of oral production that

students are expected to carry out in the classroom:
- Imitative: takes a very limited portion of classroom speaking time when learners are practicing
an intonation contour or trying to pinpoint a certain vowel sound, etc.
- Intensive: includes any speaking performance that is designed to practice some phonological
or grammatical aspect of language.
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- Responsive: is short replies to teachers or student initiated questions or comments. These
replies are usually sufficient and do not extend into dialogues.
- Transactional (dialogue): is carried out for the purpose of conveying or exchanging specific
information. Conversations, for instance, may have more of a negotiative nature to them than
merely responsive speech. Such conversations could readily be part of group work activity.
- Interpersonal (dialogue): carries out more for the purpose of maintaining social relationships
than for the transmission of facts and information. These conversations are a little trickier for
learners because they can involve some or all the following factors: a casual register, colloquial
language, emotionally changed language, and slang, etc.
- Extensive (monologue): students at intermediate or advanced levels are called on to give
extended monologues in the form of oral reports, summaries, or perhaps short speeches. Here
the register is more formal and deliberative.
These above six categories of Brown are highly valuable in offering a guide in working out the
types of classroom speaking performance. The teachers should consider these points when
teaching speaking skill.
2.2.3. Speaking activities
Many researchers discuss classroom activities and a lot of activities are designed based on the
theory and characteristics of CLT.
Richards and Rodgers (1986:165) discuss that the range of exercise types and activities with a
communicative approach is unlimited, provided that such exercises and activities enable learners
to attain the communicative objectives of the curriculum, engage learners in communication and
require the use of such communicative processes as information sharing, negotiation of
meaning, and interaction. In their view, classroom activities should be designed to focus on
completing tasks that are mediated through language or involve negotiation of information and

information sharing.
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From the theory on speaking activities above, teachers should know how to adopt appropriate
speaking activities which can help learners develop speaking skill. Group work is one of the
main ways that the teacher can help students practice what they have learnt, find ways to
achieve communicative objectives.
2.3. Group work in speaking lesson
2.3.1. Definition of group work
There are some definitions discussing about group work:
Doff (1988:137) 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), all the groups work at the
same time.”
According to Richards (1983:189), 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.
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 every move. 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.
2.3.2. Benefits of group work
It is clear that putting students into small groups in the classroom will open up for them
possibilities of interaction which are not usually available in a whole-class approach. Group
work offers many chances for co-operation, through which students share responsibilities, give
their own learning decisions and learn from each other. They learn to negotiate, learn to listen
different opinions. They feel more equal to participate in group work and free to experiment and
use the language. (Brown,2001).
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According to Brown (2001), there are four typical benefits of group work:
2.3.2.1. Group work generates interactive language

The teacher talk is really dominant for a long time in so-called traditional language classes. The
teacher lecture, explain grammar points, conducts drills and spend a little time for whole-class
discussions in which each student might have a few seconds of class period to talk. With
traditional methods, the teacher tends to be the only person who initiates language in an artificial
setting and the whole-class becomes a “group interlocutor”. Thanks to group work, student’s
opportunities for language practice as well as interaction are increased. In other words, students
have more chances to speak English in the classroom.
2.3.2.2. Group work offers a positive affective climate
The second important benefit offered by group work is to make learners feel secure when
speaking on public. It is a nightmare for many students, especially the shy ones when being
called to speak in front of the class and the teacher. Their mind becomes completely empty and
even they cannot say a word. Nevertheless, a small group of peers provides a relatively intimate
setting and a more supportive environment in which they will find it much easier to share their
points of view in a natural way.
2.3.2.3. Group work promotes learners’ responsibility and autonomy
The whole-class activities often give students a lot of time to relax even in a small class of
fifteen to twenty students. But when they participate in group work which places responsibility
for action and progress upon each of the members of the group equally, it is difficult for them to
“hide” in a small group. In addition, group work allows students to make their own decisions in
the group without being told what to do by the teacher.
2.3.2.4. Group work is a step toward individualizing instruction
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Each student in a classroom has different language needs and ability. Therefore, the teachers
have some difficulties in managing the class with students at different levels of language. But
small groups can help students with varying abilities to accomplish individual goals. In addition
to variability in specific language abilities, another kind of individual difference among students
are their age, sex, attitude, motivation, aptitude, personality, interests and language learning
experience which can also be solved by group work. When organizing the class, the teacher can
recognize and capitalize upon these differences by careful selection of small groups and by
administering different tasks to different groups.

2.3.3. The implementation of group work in the classroom
According to Brown (2001), if group work is not carefully planned, well executed, monitored
thoroughly and followed up on in some ways, it can go wrong. The following are practical steps
suggested by him to take to carry out successful group work in the classroom.
2.3.3.1. The selection of appropriate group techniques
The first step in promoting successful group work is to select an appropriate task. Typical group
tasks are defined and briefly characterized by Brown (2001) as follows:
2.3.3.1.1. Game.
A game could be any activities that formalize a technique into units that can be score in some
way. Guessing games are common language classroom activities. For example, twenty questions
are easy adapted to a small group. One member secretly decides that he or she is some famous
person; the rest of the group has to find out who, within twenty yes/ no questions, with each
member of the group taking turns asking questions. The person who is “it” rotates around the
group and points are scored.
2.3.3.1.2. Role-play and simulations
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Role-play minimally involves giving a role to one or more members of a group and assigning an
objective or purpose that participants must accomplish. A group role-play might involve a
discussion of a political issue, with each person assigned to represent a particular political point
of view.
Simulations usually involve a more complex structure and often larger groups (of two or
twenty) where the entire group is working through an imaginary situation as a social unit, the
object of which is to solve some specific problem.
2.3.3.1.3. Drama
Drama is a more formalized form of role-play and simulation, with a pre-planned story line and
script. Sometimes small groups may prepare their own short dramatization of some event,
writing the script and rehearsing the scene as a group. But they are time consuming and rarely
can form part of a typical school curriculum.
2.3.3.1.4. Projects
Mainly for young learners who can greatly benefit from hands-on approaches to language,

certain projects can be rewarding indeed. For example, the teacher choose a topic on
environment, various small groups could each be doing different things: Group A creates an
environmental bulletin board for the rest of the school; group B develops fact sheets; group C
make a three dimensional display; group D puts out a newsletter for the rest of the school; group
E develop a skit, and so on.
2.3.3.1.5. Interview
A popular activity for pair work, but also suitable for group work, interviews are useful at all
level of proficiency.
2.3.3.1.6. Brainstorming
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Brainstorming is often put to excellent use in preparing students to discuss a complex issue. It is
a technique whose purpose is to initiate some sort of thinking process. Brainstorming involves
students in a rapid-fire, free-association listing of concepts or ideas or facts or feelings relevant
to some topic or context.
2.3.3.1.7. Information gap
This technique is one of the easiest and most interesting forms of communicative activity in the
speaking lesson. Information-gap activities include a tremendous variety of techniques in which
the objectives is to convey or to request information. The two main characteristics of
information-gap techniques are their primary attention to information and not to language forms
and the necessity of communicative interaction in order to reach the objective. The information
that students must seek can range from very simple to complex.
2.3.3.1.8. Problem solving and decision making
Problem-solving is also popular in speaking lesson of major students. Problem- solving group
techniques focus on the group’s solution of a specified problem. The problem might be
relatively simple (such as giving directions on a map), moderately complex (such as working out
an itinerary from train, plane, and bus schedules), or quite complex (such as solving a mystery in
a “crime story” or dealing with a political or moral dilemma).
Decision-making techniques are simply one kind of problem-solving where the ultimate goal is
for students to make a decision.
2.3.3.1.9. Opinion exchange

Opinion exchange is a difficult technique for students to deal with at the beginning levels of
proficiency, but by the intermediate level, certain techniques can effectively include the
exchange of various opinions. Sometimes, opinions are appropriate; sometimes they are not. In
opinion exchanges, the teacher must assure all students in the class that, while there may be
disagreement on issues, all opinions are to be valued, not scorned, and respected, not ridiculed.
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2.3.3.2. Group work planning
There are some reasons for the breakdown of group work, but the most salient one is an
inadequate introduction and lead-in to the task. According to Brown (2001), after we have
selected an appropriate type of activity, our group work planning should include the following
seven rules for implementing a group technique:
2.3.3.2.1. Introducing the technique
According to Brown (2001), the introduction of the technique may simply be a brief explanation
but it can decide the success of group work’s results. The introduction should always include a
statement of the ultimate purpose so that students can apply all other directions to that objective.
2.3.3.2.2. Justifying the use of small groups for the technique.
As we said before, many students are reluctant to participate in group work, they do not
understand why group work is used for this task. Therefore, in cases of necessity, the teacher
should tell them explicitly why the small group is important for accomplishing the task. At the
same time, the teacher should remind them that they will get an opportunity to practice certain
language forms or functions, and that if they are not willing to speak up in front of the whole
class, now it is their chance to do so in the security of a small group.
2.3.3.2.3. Modeling the technique
It may not necessary to model simple techniques or the techniques that students have done
before. But for a new and complex task, it is very useful to make sure students know what they
are supposed to do.
2.3.3.2.4. Giving explicit detailed instructions
When students have understood the purpose of the task and how their discussion might proceed,
teacher should give them specific instructions on what they are to do. They include: a
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restatement of the purpose, rules they are to follow, a time frame (time needed to complete the
task), assignment of roles to students (if necessary).
2.3.3.2.5. Dividing the class into groups
There are many ways to divide the class into groups. If we want to ensure participation and
control, we can pre-assign groups in order to account for one or two of the following:
proficiency levels; age or gender differences; personality types; cognitive preferences; interests;
prior learning experience; target language goals.
2.3.3.2.6. Checking for clarification
Before students start moving into their groups, the teacher should check whether students all
understand their assignment by asking some of them to restate the purpose of this activity.
2.3.3.3 The teacher’s role in group work
After completing the first two steps, the teacher plays the role of facilitator and resource. The
teacher should be willing to be a helper or a guide who always lets students know she will be
available for help and can make some suggestions to keep them on task. When the time for
group discussion is going to be over, it is very important to circulate even the teacher has
nothing to say to a group, the teacher can listen to students and get a sense of the groups’
progress and of individuals’ language production. (Brown, 2001)
According to Brown (2001), the teacher should not do the following:
- Don’t sit at your desk and grade papers
- Don’t leave the room and take a break
- Don’t spend an undue amount of time with one group at the expense of others
- Don’t correct students’ errors unless asked to do so
- Don’t assume a dominating or disruptive role while monitoring groups
2.3.3.4. Debriefing
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Debriefing is the way that the teacher and students sit together to give comments on the task
they have done. It is an excellent time to encourage some whole-class feedback which provides
motivation for further group work and is useful for the teacher’s next group work assignment.
In conclusion, group work is one of the techniques that is now popularly applied to language
teaching and learning, especially, to speaking skill learning for its many advantages. Yet, the

teacher also need to aware of some drawbacks that may arise in the process. Obviously, the
success of group work activity depends much on how well tasks are designed and how well the
teacher prepares students for the tasks. Therefore, it is essentially prepare what students need.
During the application of group work in speaking lesson, the teacher should work as an
organizer, controller, as well as participant to help students learn better.
2.4. Previous research into group work
2.4.1. A product approach
The use of group work in speaking lesson is not a totally new area to researchers. The
effectiveness of group work in language teaching and learning was investigated by some post-
graduate students at Hanoi National University and other researchers.
A number of studies have found that group work helps develop students’ speaking ability and
increase the effectiveness of a speaking lesson. Huong (2006) found that when applying group
work activities in speaking lesson, majority of the students are interested in discussion. Through
group work, students have opportunities to help each other as well as exchange experience to
find a good way to improve on their own communication problems. Bac (2005) reports that the
use of group work had good effect on students’ participation, for instance, student-initiated
interactions increased and contributions by students who were shy increased. Donough (2004)
also reports clear positive effects that small group activities had on improvement of production
of the target forms. Long, Adams, McLean, and Castanos (1976; cited in Long and Porter, 1985)
found out that students not only talked more, but also used a wider range of speech acts in the
small group work context.
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