An investigation into the 5th graders participation in group work discussion at phung hung a primary school, khoai chau hung yen

HANOI UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN THI HONG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE 5TH GRADERS’ PARTICIPATION
IN GROUP WORK DISCUSSION AT
PHUNG HUNG A PRIMARY SCHOOL, KHOAI CHAU-HUNG YEN.
(Nghiên cứu về sự tham gia vào hoạt động thảo luận nhóm của học sinh
lớp 5 trường tiểu học Phùng Hưng A, Khoái Châu-Hưng Yên).
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN ENGLISH STUDIES

Student: Nguyễn Thị Hồng.
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Ngơ Hữu Hồng, PhD.
Class: 1701K24.

Hanoi – 2019.


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of the master thesis entitled “An investigation into
5th graders' participation in group work discussion at Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai
Chau-Hung Yen.” and that I have not used any sources other than those listed in the
references. I further declare that I have submitted this thesis in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of English Studies at the Department of Post Graduate
Studies, Hanoi University and I have not submitted this thesis at any other institution in order
to obtain a degree.
The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University.
Hanoi, 2019.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge and extend my great thanks to many people who have
made the completion of this study possible:
First and foremost, I would like to offer the deepest appreciation to my supervisor,
Assoc. Prof. Ngơ Hữu Hồng, who has supported me throughout my thesis with his knowledge
and enthusiasm.
Then, I am extremely grateful to all the lecturers of Department of Post Graduate
Studies, Hanoi University for their awesome lectures that have helped to increase my interest
in English language and teaching.
Another special thank goes to my colleagues and students at Phung Hung A Primary
School. They would be very enthusiastic about taking part in my questionnaires and interviews,
which provided me with the facts and figures to complete my research.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the members of my family who
gave me the best personal conditions to support me whenever I needed.

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ABSTRACT
Speaking is of great importance to all learners of English and Vietnamese students also
encounter great obstacles when they learn this skill, especially the ones who do not major in
languages. For most of Vietnamese students in general and learners at Phung Hung A Primary
school in particular, it seems to be one problem to participate in group discussion activities
fluently and naturally. As a result, the researcher conducted an investigation on students’

participation in group discussion for the fifth graders at Phung hung A Primary school. The
study was carried out on 120 students of grade 5. Questionaires, interviews and observations
were used to collect information to identify the current situation and causes of the problem. I
hope that the information about the situation of using group work activities in English classes
in general and students’ engagement by grade 5 students at primary schools like Phung Hung
A Primary school in detail will be useful to suggest my students participating in English group
work activities more effectively.
After analyzing the data, the findings from the study showed that students’ participation
in group discussion remaining high level; howerver, students did not really engage in due to
some reasons. Based on the findings of the research, several discussions and important
pedagogy of implications were presented.
Hopefully this investigation can be used as a useful reference for other teachers who
would like to upgrade the quality of group discussion in Primary schools in general and in their
class context as well.

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Scales reliability analysis
Table 2: Explore indepentdent factors analysis
Table 3: Explore depentdent factors analysis
Table 4: Factors relating to the teacher.
Table 5: Students’ learning styles.
Table 6: Students’ language level.
Table 7: Students’ learning motivation.
Table 8: Students’ participation in group work speaking activities.
Table 9: Interview result

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration ....................................................................................................................................... .i
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................iii
List of tables......................................................................................................................................iv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale for the study ................................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Aims of the study ........................................................................................................................ 2
1.3. Methods of the study ................................................................................................................... 3
1.4. Scope of the study.........................................................................................................................3
1.5. Significance of the study...............................................................................................................3
1.6. Structure of the study .................................................................................................................. .4
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................... 5
2.1. Definitions....................................................................................................................................5
2.1.1 Definitions of group work...........................................................................................................5
2.1.2. Definitions of students’ participation.........................................................................................5
2.2. An overview of speaking, teaching speaking and speaking discussion...................................7
2.2.1. Speaking.....................................................................................................................................7
2.2.2. Speaking and learning speaking.................................................................................................9
2.2.3. Common speaking activities......................................................................................................16
2.3. An overview of group work using in speaking activities.........................................................16
2.3.1 Ways to devide the whole class into small groups......................................................................16
2.3.2. The large of a group....................................................................................................................17
2.3.3. Benefits of using group work activities .....................................................................................19
2.3.4. Challanges in using group work activities..................................................................................20
2.3.5. Factors affecting students’ participation in group work speaking activities...............................21
2.4. Previous related study...................................................................................................................26

CHAPTER 3: METHDOLOGY.......................................................................................................29
3.1. Contexts........................................................................................................................................29


3.2. Methods ........................................................................................................................................32
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.............................................................................37
4.1. Descriptive statistics.......................................................................................................................37
4.2. Scales reliability analysis...............................................................................................................37
4.3. Analysis of interviews…………………………………………………………............................50
4.4. Analysis of interviews....................................................................................................................51
CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................54
5.1. Concluding remarks.......................................................................................................................54
5.2. Recommendations..........................................................................................................................55
5.3. Suggestions for further studies.......................................................................................................58
5.4. Limitations of the study.................................................................................................................58
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................-1APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................................... ...I
APPENDIX B.......................................................................................................................................IV
APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................................... .VII
APPENDIX D....................................................................................................................................VIII


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
1.1.Rationale.
Recent years learning and teaching English is becoming one of the topics of interest, especially
English for primary students. Concerns for English subject is accompanied with investment in
facilities and the application of active teaching methods. Group work activities are belived to
bring optimistic results in teaching and learning English. Using group discussion in Let’s talk
activities is getting more and more popular in primary schools,for example, Phung Hung A
primary school.
Phung Hung A primary school is one of the tops in learning and teaching in Khoai Chau district,

Hung yen province. This is a primary school which is engaged in VNEN project. So, group
work activities are familiar with students here. Group work activities in Phung Hung A primary
school are often groups of two to four students discussing a topic, then they show their
preparation to the class and teacher. During their discussion, members in group perform at
different level of performance. Thanks to group work activities, less confident students get the
chance to put their knowledge of the new language into practice in a non-threatening
environment, away from the critical eye and ear of the teacher. Instead of being dependent on
the teacher, students get used to helping and learning from each other. However, it is not
difficult to find out that students did not fully participate in group work activities. Therefore,
teachers had a lot of difficulties using group work activities in their class. Hence, this study
focuses on investigating into the matter in the hope to work out and explain how the 5th form
students participate into group discussion in Let’s talk activities. Furthermore, based on the
study, practical teaching ideas to improve the students' participation into the group work
activities will be drawn out.

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Group work is becoming more and more popular at schools. In English classes, group work
activities are employed widely and then show beneficial consequences; however, the
implemention of group work in English classes, in particular in primary school, is not an easy
task. Recent researchers have repoted that students in languages classes in Asia countries
(including Vietnam) occupied low level of participation in group activities. In other words, a
remarkable number of students tended to be timid or passive no matter how hard the teachers
tried to handle cooperative lessons (Morita, 2004; Liu, Zhang and Lu, 2011). Students at Phung
Hung A primary school are not an exception. They sometimes seem to be quiet and reluctant
in expressing their ideas, which drives teachers’ efforts into disappointing.
Kim (2006) and Donald (2010) pointed out influencing factors to students’ participation in
group work such as fear of losing face, inproficiency in English to express opinion or lack of
belief in effectiveness of group activity implementation. While level of students’ participation

is considered to be one of the most important indicators to show the success of group tasks, the
factors which influence learners’ engagement must be identified. Basing on this, appropriate
teaching methods can be suggested to enhance the performance of group work activities in
language classes at primary schools. This has driven me to the study “An investigation into 5th
graders' participation in group work discussion at Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai
Chau-Hung Yen.”
1.2 Aims of the study.
The study aims to investigate current participation by the grade 5 students in group work
discussion in Let’s talk activities in the course book at Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai
Chau-Hung Yen. Also, the writer have desires to identify the most affecting factors to the
students' participation in group work discussion in Let’s talk activities.
To achieve the above aims, the following questions are given:
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1. How do the 5th graders at Phung Hung A primary school participate in group work
discussion in “Let’s talk” activities?
2. What are the most important influencing factors to the students' participation in
group work discussion at Phung Hung A primary school?
1.3 Methods of the study.
To seek for the answers to the above research questions, a survey research design has been
adopted.
-

The questionaires were used to investigate students’ level of participation in group
work discussions and the most affecting factors to their participation.

-

Three observations were used to make clear the students’ level of participation.

-

Six interviews were employed to gain more information of the most affecting
factors.

1.4 Scope of the study.
As mentioned in the title, this study focused on the use of group work discussion in terms of
students’ participation and affecting factors. Therefore, the researcher spent time and effort
investigating how group work activities were organized to the three 5th classes at Phung Hung
A primary school during the time of the school year 2017-2018 with 120 students.
1.5 Significance of the study.
The study “An investigation into 5th graders' participation in groupwork discussion at
Phung Hung A Primary school, Khoai Chau-Hung Yen.” is carried out with the purpose
of promote the author’s professional development. I hope that the information about the
situation of using group work activities in English classes in general and students’
engagement by grade 5 students at primary schools like Phung Hung A Primary school in
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detail will be useful to suggest my students participating in English group work activities
more effectively. Furthermore, the researcher through the study wants to share some
experience and recommendations with other teachers to administer group work activities to
attract high level of students’ participation .
1.6 Structure of the thesis.
The thesis structure is divided into five main parts:
Chapter 1, INTRODUCTION, provides some brief information about the reasons for choosing
the topic, the aims, the methods, the scope as well as the design of the study.
Chapter 2, LITERATURE REVIEW, presents various concepts relevant to the research topic
such as speaking skill, definitions of group work, advantages and disadvantages of using group

work activities, students’ participation in group discussion.
Chapter 3, METHDOLOGY, provides the methodology underlying the research which
includes the general information about the situation of teaching and learning English at Phung
Hung A primary school. This chapter also deals with the methods of data collection such as
survey questionnaires and observation.
Chapter 4, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION, gives a detailed presentation of data and
description of data analysis. Explanations, interpretation of the findings are mentioned.
Chapter 5, CONCLUSION, a brief summary of the whole thesis. This chapter provides the
summary of the findings. Based on the findings, the research recommends some possible
teaching ideas to make the grade 5 students' participation in groupwork activities more effective
in speaking discussion.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2. 1. Definitions

2. 1. 1. Group work

Rod Killen (2004) indicades that 'Group work occurs when you ask two or more students to
work together.' Davis (1993) sorts out three types of group work which are called: informal
learning groups, formal learning groups, and study teams.

Informal learning groups are temporary clustering of students within a single class session.
Informal learning groups can be initiated, for example, by asking students to turn to a neighbor
and spend two minutes discussing a question the teacher has posed. Teachers can also form
groups of three to five to solve a problem or solve a question. The teacher can organize informal
groups at any time in a class of any size to check on students' understanding of the material, to

give students an opportunity to apply what they are learning, or to provide a change of pace.

Formal learning groups are groups established to complete a specific task, such as write a
report or carry out a project. These groups may complete their duty in a single class session or
over a period of time (several weeks). Typically, students work together until the task is
finished, and their project is graded.

Study teams are long-term groups (usually existing over the course of a semester) with stable
membership whose primary responsibility is to provide members with support, encouragement,
and assistance in completing course requirements and assignments. Study teams also inform
their members about lectures and assignments when one or some members have missed a
period lesson. The larger the class and the more complex the subject matter, the more valuable
study teams can be.

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Group work has been incorporated into language teaching and learning in most parts of the
world since the emergence of the CLT up work, in a language class, is a co- operative during
which students share aims and responsibilities to complete a task assigned by the teacher in
groups or in pairs".
According to Sprott (cited in Metcalfe 1959:9), " a team as a number of people who interact
with another one, who are psychological aware of one another and who perceive themselves to
be a team". Doff (1988: 137) defines group work is a process that “the teacher divides the class
into small groups to work together (usually four or five students in each group), as in pair work,
all the groups work at the same time.”
In spite of the different definitions, it can be said that in group work, all the members have
chances to cooperate with others. They learn to negotiate to listen to different opinions.
Students participate more equally and in most cases they feel free to explore and use English
to handle the poblem. In group work, the focus is not only on the product but also on the process

and the skills which are activated in order to achieve the goal.

From the above definitions, in my opinion, groupwork can be understood as an action of two
or more students who interact by verbal skills to share aims and responsibilities in order to
complete the tasks given by teachers. In this situation, group work can be used with the same
meaning with pair work or team work.

2. 1. 2. Students' participation

Many linguists pointed out that students' participation plays a crucially important role which
helps to determine the level of proficiency by different students in language learning.
According to Howard, Short, and Clark (1996) participation is the student’s active
engagement in the classroom to promote effective learning. Besides, Peacock (1997) defined
students' participation in language learning in term of on task and off task. Students are
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considered to be on task when they "engaged in the pedagogic work of the day" and students
are off task when they have "a complete lack of attention to the task". Whereas, Sylvelyn,
Judith & Paulin (2009) stated that students' participation is when students who actively engage
in classroom discussions, rather than be passive learners who simply take in knowledge.
Smith (2007) defined students’ participation in learning projects and programs as the motives
for engagement in learning projects are often mixed and operated at a number of levels. In the
other study, participation can be known as an active engagement process which can be sorted
into five categories: preparation, contribution to discussion, group skills, communication
skills, and attendance (Dancer & Kamvounias, 2005). It also has been shown that faculty
perceives six stages of students’ participation, moving from simply attending class through
giving oral presentations (Fritschner, 2000). Participation can also be seen as ‘‘the number of
unsolicited responses volunteered’’. It can come in several disparating forms, including
students’ questions and comments (Fassinger, 1995). Drawing on the scholarly definitions of

classroom participation as mentioned above, participation in this study could be understood
in terms of:
-

staying focused on the group task

-

listening to others’ ideas

-

asking questions when needed

-

giving constructive feedback and offering own opinions

-

trying to solve the problems arising during group discussion

2.2. An overview of speaking, teaching speaking and speaking discussion.
2.2.1. Speaking
There are various definitions of speaking. According to Jones, R (1989: 86) he defined
speaking as “a form of communication, so it is important that what you say conveyed in the
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most effective way.” Speaking is one of the basic skills that must be upgraded by students since

it is very important for them to communicate in the class or outside the class. They must
practice it especially in learning and teaching in order to become more and more fluently.
Ability to speak is one of the most crucial important condition to have natural communication
between people each other. Brown and Yule (1989: 14) state in their book “Speaking is to
express the needs request, information, service, etc.” The speakers say a word to the listeners
not only to express what in their mind but also to express what they need. Most people might
spend their everyday life communicating with other members in community. While Bygate
(1987) claims that "speaking is a skill which deserves attention as much as the literary skills in
both native and foreign languages". If students speak in a confident and comfortable way in
class, they can interact better in real daily situations. Because of this, it is necessary to
encourage the development of the students' ability of fluency in spoken English. Developing
fluency implies taking risks by using language in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere –an
atmosphere of trust and support. Speaking fluently means speaking easily and appropriately
with others in some ways.
Characteristics of speaking
Bygate (1987) suggests that conversation can be analyzed in terms of routines which are
“conventional ways of presenting information because they are conventional, they are
predictable and help ensure clarity. There are two main kinds of routines: information routines
and interaction routines.
With regards to information routines, we mean frequently recurring types of information
structures, including stories; descriptions of places and people; presentation of facts,
comparison, and instruction. Broadly speaking, information routines can be defined as
“expository and evaluative”. Expository routines involve factual information hinging on
questions of sequencing or identity of the subject. Brown and Yule (1983) suggest that the
principal types of expository routines are narration, description, and instruction. Meanwhile,
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evaluative routines involve the drawing of conclusion, usually requiring the expression of
reasoning.

Concerning interaction routines, they are routines based not so much on sequences of kinds of
terms occurring in typical kinds of interactions. Thus, these routines can be characterized in
broad terms including the kinds of turns typically occurring in given situations and the order in
which the components are likely to occur. So telephone conversations, interview conversations,
casual encounters, conversations at parties, conversations around a table at a dinner party,
lessons, radio or television interviews, all tend to be organized in characteristic a way (Bygate,
1987).
2.2.2. Teaching and learning speaking
People use verbal language as their most common means of communication. Skill and fluency
in speaking have dramatic effects upon life in general. The recent emphasis on communication
has focused particular attention on ways of fostering speaking skills. Developing verbal skills
is not only language competence but also language use. Therefore, speaking activities aim to
develop the confidence, desire, and ability to use the target language accurately and
appropriately and effectively for the purposes of communication as well.
Teaching speaking skill is to prepare students to be able to use English in class or in their daily
life. The level of preparation and success depends on the way the teachers set the goals and
understand the aims to administer the lesson. For students, learning to speak a foreign language
is considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of language learning. To help students be
able to use that foreign language to express themselves intelligibly, reasonably, accurately
without too much hesitation, teachers must provide them with an environment within in which
they can communicate freely, and work together independently with only the minimum amount
of direction from the teachers. In the light of what is known about the nature of language
learning process and given many demands while speaking activities can make learners, it is
9


important to set attainable objectives and to have realistic expectation about learners'
achievements. This requires a certain attitude on the part of the teachers towards the learners'
performance, particularly with regard to the class organization as group work and the use of
communicative strategies to teach simultaneously.

A successful speaking activity in the classroom.
Spoken language is the primary objective in language teaching. Giving speaking classroom
activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech is important.
According to Ur (1996:120), a successful speaking activity requires four typical characteristics:
learners talk a lot; participation is even; motivation is high; and language is of an acceptable
level. These characteristics are closely related to the theme of this study in hope that learners
involve much more, more actively and enthusiastically in speaking lessons. First and foremost,
they need a motivation to be eager and encouraged to speak, for example, they have something
new to share, want to contribute to the task achievement or just they are fond of the topic. Then,
when taking part in speaking practice, learners, on the one hand, should try their best to talk as
much as possible in an available period of time; on the other hand, opportunities to raise their
voices should be fairly equal to every learner. Besides, learners can express themselves in
relevant and comprehensible ways with acceptable accuracy.
However, if students cannot communicate in reality, they will not be supposed to be successful.
Thus, Pattison (1992:7-8) lays great stress on four conditions to develop speaking ability as
follows:
-Learners choose what they want to say by giving them a list of different situations or topics
(with one or some grammar points for elementary level).
-Type of drills in which learners respond mechanically without thinking about what they are
saying is left out.
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-Teachers should pay more attention to fluency than accuracy and do not interrupt to correct
mistakes or errors.
-Pair or group work is employed.
Problems with speaking activities
Classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech are
important components of a language course where CLT is applied. However, it is more difficult
to design and administer such activities than to do so for listening, reading or writing.

According to Ur (1996, p.121), teachers often come across the following problems:
* The first is “inhibition”. It is explained that unlike reading, writing and listening activities,
speaking requires some degree of real-time exposure to an audience. Learners are often
inhabited about trying to say something in a foreign language in the classroom because they
are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the
attention that their speech attracts.
* Nothing to say is the second problem. Teachers often hear learners complain they can not
think of anything to say. They may have no motivation to express themselves beyond the guilty
feeling that they should be speaking. The problem is also mentioned by Lawtie (2004) and it is
necessary to be tackled.
* Moreover, uneven or low participation is among the teachers‟ obstacles. Only one participant
can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard. In a large group, this means that each one has only
very little time for talking. This problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to
dominate the group, while the others speak very little or not at all.
* Last but not least, mother-tongue use is also problematic. When all, or a number of the
learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it. This happens because it is
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easier, because it is unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language and because or
because learners feel less „exposed‟ if they are speaking their mother tongue. Lawtie (2003,
p.2) also states that the problem would happen if the task or activity is not “pitched at the right
level for the students”. If the language is pitched too high they may revert to their first language,
likewise if the task is too easy they may get bored and revert to the first language, too. To deal
with the problems, Lawtie (2004) believes that as a teacher maybe you need to take a closer
look at the type of speaking activities in order to make the activities interesting enough to
capture students‟ interest and create a real need for communication. In a word, overcoming
these obstacles in speaking class to create successful speaking activities where learners talk a
lot, participation is even and motivation is high certainly Requires a lot of teachers‟ efforts in
designing and carrying out speaking activities.

2.2.3. Common group work activities
There are a variety of group work activities used in communicative language teaching.
However, this study only discusses some common pair work and group work to develop oral
skills of students as follow:

2.2.3.1. Role-play
Role-play is an activity that the class is usually divided into pairs or groups. These pairs or
groups are given situations and roles to act out. This acting is done for the sake of the language
and imaginative activity, not for exhibition.
According to Richards (2005: 20), role-play is an activity in which students are assigned roles
and improvise a scene or exchanged based on given information or clues.
Role-play brings some usefulness to students. Firstly, it helps students master fields of language
like vocabulary, structure, pronunciation and intonation more easily. It also gives students
opportunities to practise language in various situations not only in class but also outside
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classroom. Additionally, through role-play, students are trained to deal with the unpredictable
nature of language because they act imaginary roles in a lot of situations. Moreover, role-play
promotes interaction in the classroom as well as increase motivation. Role-play is simple to
prepare, easy to play, and along with games and other communicative activities are
recommended to be used in the English speaking class.

2.2.3.2. Information gap activity
An important aspect of communication in CLT is the notion of information gap. This refers to
the fact that in real communication, people normally communicate in order to get information
they do not possess. This is known as an information gap. According to Underhill (1987), an
information gap is an activity where one student is provided information that is kept from a
partner. A lot of communication involves bridging information gap: you know things I don not
know, and I know things you do not know. Often this is hard for students to do naturally in

class, either because they might not know enough facts or because everyone knows the same
facts. We can simulate the information gap by giving two participant different information,
which they have to share.
Information gap may take three forms:
o One student has some information and the other has to find it by asking
questions
o One student has some information and tells it to the other students
o Both students have different information and they tell each other
2.2.3.3. Problem solving
Byrne (1990) suggests an oral activity for pair work and group work. Problem solving has been
used to group together a wide range of activities that require students to find “solution” to
problems of different kinds. Puzzles, problems, and brain-teasers can also stimulate meaningful
13


communication if students work together to solve them. “Although it may be quicker to do this
alone, without distractions, students have to do it with a partner and discuss how to solve the
problems. Students are focused on solving the problems and coming up with the correct
solutions, but the purpose of the activity is to make them talk in English. It doesn’t matter if
they cannot get the answers- what matters is that they speak English.” (Jones, 2007: 36)
Many of these problems involve possesses that we commonly use in real life:
 We frequently hypothesize links between two things (events, actions, people, etc.)
 We detect difference (real or imaginary)
 We grade things according to criteria (subjective or objective)
Problem solving is believed to be necessary and suited to students of all levels. Because
students are put in some situations that are similar to the real life, they actively join in the
activities because of the feeling that they are doing with their language, taking the risks of
experimenting what they have learned. Additionally, the lesson can become more practical and
attractive to them.

2.2.3.4. Communication games
A game is an activity with rules, a goal and fun. Games help and motivate students to sustain
their interest and work. In the games, learners are free to express in the target. As a result, they
have opportunity to improve their capacity of speaking, creativity and memory. Their
grammatical knowledge and speaking fluency and accuracy enhance a lot. Also, games often
require a great deal of collaboration among the members of the groups.

2.2.3.5. Discussion
This activity is followed by a content-based lesson. More specifically, students study their
reading or listening comprehension in each unit of their textbook under teacher’s control to
14


gain the general knowledge of the topic. After that, the whole class will be divided into small
teams of four or five to get involved in the discussion. Teachers should provide their students
with controversial situations so that they can freely express their different ideas, for instance,
“Do you like playing video games? Why?” Teachers should notice that they should master
the time excellently so that as many students have a chance to present their groups’ opinions
as possible by giving them a limited time to finish their task, to share their ideas before the
class as well as to get comments from their teacher. “This activity fosters critical thinking and
quick decision making”, Harmer affirmed the strength of discussion in his book. In this
activity, students also learn how to negotiate with the others by justifying themselves in a
polite way when their idea is different from the other groups. Also according to Harmer,
students should always be encouraged to ask questions, support their partners or check for
clarification.
According to Penny Ur (1996), discussion is the most natural and effective way for students to
talk freely in English by thinking out some problems or situations together through verbal
interchange of ideas. The word “discussion” here includes anything from the simple questions
to the most political and philosophical debates.
Discussion works best in pairs or small groups because then more people can give their views.

In lager groups or in a whole class, once one person has given his or her view, everyone else
can only agree or disagree. (Jones, 2007: 30)
From discussion, students learn something from what is being said or discussed. Besides, it
provides students with interest in learning in a cooperative atmosphere. When discussion are
carried out in groups, students have chance to exchange their ideas or opinions. They not only
speak out their feelings and attitudes but also listen to what others say. Additionally, the
motivation of participants also improves when they discuss in small group.

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2.3. An overview of group work using in speaking activities.

2.3.1. Ways to divide the whole class into small groups
2.3.1.1. Grouping students by interests
Teachers can allow those who are interested in the same topic to work together. By working
in this way, they easily motivate their students to show their real interest in the chosen topic.
It is vital that teachers give out a list of different topics related to the lesson so that the
students have more chances to choose and then form a group of the same interest. However,
the teachers should notice that in some cases, there are so many students sharing the same
interest, which makes it difficult to group them. To solve this problem, the teachers should
ask their students to form small groups of three or four or even five, there can be different
ones of the same interest.
2.3.1.2.

Grouping students by different abilities

The fact that students can assist each other to achieve their learning goals is the aim of this
method. A team of different abilities involves excellent students, good ones as well as slow
ones. In each activity, these students work together to complete their task, hence, students of

advanced level will help those of the lower one to improve their English speaking. For
example, when this one does not know how to express his or her idea in English, the other
ones can help him or her and gradually, this one’s ability of using English will be much
developed.
2.3.1.3.

Convenient grouping

To save time in class, teachers often group the students sitting next to each other to form a
group. These students know and understand each other much better than those who sit far
from them, therefore, they can easily form a strong team by cooperating tightly with each
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other to complete the assigned task. However, there is one disadvantage when students have
too much in common to share, so they may talk to each other instead of focusing on the topic
of discussion.
2.3.1.4.

Random student grouping

This is the most common way of grouping as it is considered to be fair among students.
Random student groupings can be done by having students count off, pair up or cast lots.
There will be no change and no argument when this method is used. Nevertheless, this way of
grouping can lead the the situation when students’ levels remain a distant so that the passive
students have no chance to show their ideas. In addition, students do not know well each
other which prevents them to cooperate effectively.
2.3.2. The large of a group
“Group” means that there are more than one member; this is to say ones gather together to
share their ideas or to solve problems. According to Jacobs and Hall (1994), even two people

can make a group; however, how many people in a group should be the best is difficult to
give the answer for all the cases. Also according to these two authors, the smaller the group
is, the more each member talks and the less chance that someone will be left out.
Additionally, as for smaller groups, all the members can be easily controlled or they require
fewer management skills and decisions can be made faster with a few ideas from the
members.
2.3.2.1. Groups of two members
In his action research (1996), William Pellowe affirmed that activities for groups of two
members or pair work activities are an integral aspect of many teachers’ approach to
language teaching. He noted that “pair” refers to groups of 2 or 3 (as for classes of odd
numbers of students, there must be a group of three).
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Likewise, according to Jaques (2000, pp.52-53), doing a small group activity is one way to
“change the pace” in the classroom. The aim of this division is to generate ideas, increase
students’ confidence in their answers, and encourage broad participation in a plenary session.
By using this approach, the students have a chance to “validate” their ideas in pairs before
sharing the ideas with the whole class (Jaques, 2000). Hence, shy students will feel more
confident to participate in activities.
2.3.2.2. Grouping of three, four or five members
When students have to cope with a challenging task, it is necessary that they need
more help from others. In this case, pair work is not a good enough to seek for new ideas;
instead, the size of groups should be bigger with three, four or five members. The group
leader will be responsible for dividing tasks for each member, at the same time they will do
their tasks and then the leader collects all the results to make the product of the whole group.
It means that the leader is the key to the success which requires the teacher to have deep
understanding of the class to indicate the responsible leaders.
2.3.2.3. Groups of more than five members
In Jacobs’ opinion, larger groups are the best choice for doing big tasks because they

“increase the variety of people” in a group in terms of skills, personalities, backgrounds and
so on. Larger ones also reduce the number of groups, which makes it easier for the teacher to
monitor.
Generally speaking, the choice of the size of each group depends on specific situations, the
physical features of the classroom, as well as the types of tasks. As for discussion, small
teams of two, three or four are the best choice. According to Kagan (1992, p.374), foursomes
(teams of four) should be applied in speaking lessons. More specifically, students work in
pairs at first and then the two pairs of the foursomes interact with one another. This strategy
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