Luận văn Thạc sĩ Students’ participation in group work activities in English language classes at a high school in Phu Tho province

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

TRẦN THỊ THANH HOA

STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK
ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A
HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ THAM GIA CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM
TRONG GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH
Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ở PHÚ THỌ)

M.A MINOR THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi - 2019


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

TRẦN THỊ THANH HOA

STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK
ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A
HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ THAM GIA CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NHÓM
TRONG GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH
Ở MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ở PHÚ THỌ)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 8140231.01

Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Lê Văn Canh, PhD

Hanoi - 2019


DECLARATION

Title: “ STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WORK
ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A HIGH
SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE”

I certify that no part of the thesis has been copied or reproduced by me from any
other works without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by
me under strict guidance of my supervisor.
Hanoi, 2019
Student‟s signature

Trần Thị Thanh Hoa

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to send my sincere and special gratitude to my supervisor,
Assoc. Prof. Dr.Lê Văn Canh, who has given valuable assistance, guidance,
precious suggestions, advice, and reference materials to me so that I can complete
this thesis. The success of my paper would have been almost impossible without his
tireless support.
My thanks and gratitude also go to all professors and lecturers at Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures.
Last but not least, I would like to send my gratitude to my parents, all members in
my family and my friends for their support and encouragement during the process
of writing this thesis.

ii


ABSTRACT
Group work activities play an important role in all stages of second language
acquisition. Using group work activities has been considered an effective tool for
enhancing English teaching and learning process. The paper aims to find out the
participation in group-work activities of the 11th students at a high school in Phu
Tho and the reasons that make them participate the way. From that finding, the
researcher could find ways to stimulate active involvement from students and make
using groupwork in teaching language effectively. A mix-method approach
(quantitative and qualitative methods) was used to collect the required data for the

study. Questionnaires were collected from 58 students in two classes at this high
school. From this sample, 12 students were interviewed in more detail in face-toface interviews. The findings show that learners in this school were very excited
about the lessons when group-work activities were used. It also means that groupwork activities can support the teachers in attracting the learners to the lesson. In
other words, using group-work activities brought many benefits for not only
learners but also teachers in the school. For example, students could improve
learning skills, such as English skills, presentation skills and groupwork skills.
Additionally, not only students but also teachers could have chance to learn
something new from other students. However, some learners identified difficulties,
mostly related to students‟ knowledge and skills, which can lead to ineffective
teamwork. Hopefully, the study can be a useful source of reference for those
teaching English to young learners.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL: English as a Foreign language
T: Teacher
SCT : Sociocultural theory
Ss:Students
ZPD: The zone of proximal development

iv


TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ....................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..........................................................................................v
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. vii
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................1
1. Rationale of the study.............................................................................................1
2. Aims of the study ...................................................................................................2
3. The research questions ............................................................................................2
4. Methods of the study ...............................................................................................2
5. The scope of the study.............................................................................................2
6. The significance of the study .................................................................................2
7. Organization of the thesis.......................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................4
2.1. The Sociocultural perspectives on language learning: the role of social
interaction ....................................................................................................................4
2.2. Group work ..........................................................................................................5
2.2.1. Definition of group activities ............................................................................5
2.2.2. The role of group work activities in language teaching ....................................6
2.2.3. Challenges in Group work ................................................................................8
2.3. Participation as learning .......................................................................................9
2.4. Students‟ attitudes towards group work .............................................................11
2.5. Overview of the research projects related to the thesis topic .............................12
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................15
3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................15
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3.2. The case study methodology ..............................................................................15
3.2.1. Definitions of case study .................................................................................15
3.2.2. Why choosing case study ................................................................................16

3.2.3. Descriptive case study .....................................................................................17
3.3. Research procedures...........................................................................................18
3.3.1. The context of the study .................................................................................18
3.3.2. The course book ..............................................................................................18
3.3.3. The teachers ....................................................................................................19
3.3.4. The students ....................................................................................................19
3.4. Data collection ...................................................................................................20
3.4. 1 Data collection instruments .............................................................................20
3.4.2. Data collection procedures ..............................................................................23
3.5. Summary ............................................................................................................24
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................25
4.1. Data analysis ......................................................................................................25
4.1.1 Data from questionnaires .................................................................................25
4.2. Findings and Discussion ....................................................................................39
4.3. Chapter summary ...............................................................................................41
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................42
1. Conclusion .............................................................................................................42
2. Limitations of the study ........................................................................................42
3. Suggestions for further research............................................................................42
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................44
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE ......................................................................... I
APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW ...............................................III
APPENDIX 3: LESSON PLAN IN THE CLASSROOM ................................. IV
APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT SUMMARY ............................XIII

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Description to Questionnaire ...................................................................21
Table 4.1: Summarizing the results of questionnaires in five weeks ........................34

vii


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1: Number of students by Level of Study and Gender Students Participation ..20
Figure 4.1: The role of students in group work activities in class A ........................25
Figure 4.2: The role of students in group work activities in class A ........................26
Figure 4.3: The contribution to the group work activities of students in class A .....27
Figure 4.4: The contribution to the group work activities of students in class B .....27
Figure 4.5: Frequency of participation by class A ....................................................28
Figure 4.6: Frequency of participation by class B ....................................................29
Figure 4.7: Reasons of active participation by class A .............................................30
Figure 4.8: Reasons of passive participation by class A ...........................................31
Figure 4.9: Reasons of active participation by class B .............................................32
Figure 4.10: Reasons of passive participation by class B .........................................32
Figure 4.11: The change in students‟ participation in group work activities............37

viii


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale of the study
Interaction has now been recognized as the most effective way of learning a
language. Therefore, group-work has been considered to be vital to students‟
language learning because group-work offers opportunities for interaction to occur.
Until now, there have been a great number of studies on using group work,

particularly using group work activities for English language teaching and learning.
Researchers have been working on different aspects of group work such as : the role
of group work activities in language teaching, challenges in using group work,
students‟ attitudes towards group work, the relationship between students‟
participation in group work activities and their achievement, et cetera, which will be
discussed more in the literature review. Generally speaking, they have made big
efforts to find out what extent group work is effective in students‟ learning process.
In the context of Thanh Thuy high school where I have been teaching for
several years I have observed that group work is not always welcomed by every
student and teacher. Moreover, students do not actively participate or become
passive in the group activities despite encouragements and use of various teaching
methods by the teacher to stimulate active participation from students. As I believe
in the usefulness of group work to my students‟ learning English, I have a strong
desire of investing the students‟ level of participation in group work and what
factors influence students‟ participation in group work activities from their own
perceptions in order to design and set appropriate and effective group activities for
my students.
With all factors above, I have decided to conduct a case study of 11th graders
at a Phu Tho high school which thoroughly investigates “students‟ participation in
group work activities in English language classes at a high school in Phu Tho.” This
study hoped to fill the gap in understanding of students‟ level of involvement in
English language classroom and the factors affecting their participation, which
could help teachers find ways to increase students‟ participation
interaction.

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in group

2. Aims of the study
The research aims to find out the level of students‟ participation in group
work activities and the factors that affect their participation. From that result, the
researcher suggests some activities used effectively for group work.
3. The research questions
In order to get the above aims, the research was designed and conducted to
seek answers to the following research questions:
1. How do students participate in group work activities in English language
classes and why do they participate that way?
2. What types of group tasks encourage students‟ better participation?
4. Methods of the study
This is a descriptive case study. In order to gain information that can help to
answer the above research questions both qualitative methods were employed to
collect the data. To be specific, data was obtained from two different sources:
questionnaire and interviews.
5. The scope of the study
The research was carried out with one group of 58 high students (27 female
and 31 male) at Thanh Thuy high school in Phu Tho province. The study focused on
only students‟ participation in interactional activities in the classroom and the way
their participation influenced their English skills.
6. The significance of the study
The purpose of this study is to discuss the level of students‟ involvement in
group work activities and factors affecting their participation. It is significant
because it will provide definition and advantages of group work to help students
have a deeper understanding and apply this method in learning effectively. Besides,
the high school students are not used to using this way of studying at secondary
school, therefore they have to cope with many difficulties which are already in the
study. Through this study, the researcher would like to help the students and
teachers can use group work activities effectively.

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This study will serve as the basis for students‟ creative ideas in group work. The
results of this research study may give them insights which would encourage them
to plan projects designed to improve the quality of language learning. It will enable
the students in general to grasp at the innovative teaching-learning approaches.
7. Organization of the thesis
The thesis is organized as follows:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION – introduces the rationale; aims of the
study; research questions; significance of the study; and the thesis structure.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW – reviews and presents relevant
theories and studies to the study.
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY – describes the research design, the
participants selection, date collection procedure, date collection instruments.
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION – presents an analysis of the
data and discusses the results of the study.
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS – summarizes the study, limitations of the
study and suggestions for further research.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. The Sociocultural perspectives on language learning: the role of social
interaction
Sociocultural theory (SCT) emphasizes the interaction among interpersonal
( social), cultural- historical, and individual factors as the key to the development of
human cognition ( Tudge & Scrimsher, 2003). Interactions with persons in the

environment stimulate developmental processes and promote cognitive growth. In
other words, the sociocultural theory views the child‟s cognitive development as a
product of social interaction, especially interactions with adults ( parents, teachers,
relatives), or more capable peers.
Sociocultural theory is originated in the works of the Russian psychologist,
Vygotsky (1978). The major theme of Vygotsky's works is that social interaction
plays a fundamental role in cognitive development . According to Vygotsky (1978),
"Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the
social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people
(interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies
equally to attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the
higher functions originate as actual relationships between individual.” ( p. 57)
Sociocultural theory postulates that children are very impressionable and
therefore they can quickly adapts the pattern of speech, behavior, written language
and even other symbols around them. Through these inputs by themselves or with
the help with their parents or teachers, the information could gradually be
associated with the meanings and finally take root in children‟s knowledge
framework.
Viewed from sociocultural theory, learning is a dynamic process in which
participation in socially-mediated activities within the zone of proximal
development (ZPD) is necessary. therefore, instruction should be directed to the
ZPD, which is defined by Vygotsky (1978, pp. 86-87) as follows:

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"The distance between the actual development level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of potential development as
determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in
collaboration with more capable peers." (Vygotsky, 1978, pp. 86-87)

Differently, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the range of
abilities that an individual can perform with assistance but cannot yet
perform independently. These skills are called "proximal" because the
individual is close to mastering them but needs more guidance and
practice in order to perform these actions independently.
Vygotsky believed that peer interaction was an essential part of the
learning process. In order for children to learn new skills, he suggested
pairing more competent students with less skilled ones. Translated into
classroom teaching, the learning process is composed of three stages:
1. The presence of someone with the knowledge and skills to guide
the learner;
2. Social interactions that allow the learner to observe and practice
their skills; and
3. Scaffolding, or supportive activities provided by the mentor or
teacher that help guide the learner through the ZPD
In summary, the sociocultural theory emphasizes that learning is changing
participation in situated practices. As such, this study aims to explore the students‟
participation in group work.
2.2. Group work
2.2.1. Definition of group activities
In this study, Brown‟s (2000) definition of group work is adopted. According
to Brown, group work is when individuals work together, they depend on each other
and they have a common goal. If someone in the group is affected by an event or a
thing, it will affect the whole group. This definition is adopted because it reflects
the nature of group work in an EFL classroom. This means that in the EFL

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classroom, individual students co-operate with one another in small groups to

achieve a common goal, which is understood as the learning goal to be achieved in
each learning task or activity.
Sharing Brown‟s definition, Forsyth (2006) considered a group as two or more
individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships. Forsyth also
pointed out that group should satisfy three factors: the number of individuals
involved, connections, and relationships.
2.2.2. The role of group work activities in language teaching
A literature review shows that the benefits of group work in EFL can be
classified into three categories. These are discussed below.
Group work activities can promote students’ responsibility and autonomy
All students work together, share their ideas, and always have desire to
achieve the goal in group activities. In addition, one of their main tasks is to take
charge of their group activities. Every learner is responsible for himself and others,
so there is a friendly help and high personal interdependence between them. Doff
(1998) believes that group work and pair wok encourage students to share ideas
knowledge. In a reading activity, students can help each other to explore the
meaning of a text, in a discussion activity; students can give each other new ideas.
Chirac and Hempel (2008: 26-27) points out that group work can be a way to learn
how to think for yourself, as well as develop the students‟ argumentative abilities
and critical thinking”. It was revealed in this study that student collaboration led to
higher productivity and higher results on the part of students‟ learning outcomes.
Group work increase students’ talking time and oral fluency.
According to Ur (1996), students can have a learning task in small
interaction in group work and it is considered as a kind of their activation and is
very valuable for practicing of fluency in speaking. There are 5 groups in a class;
students can get five times as some probability to speak as in a large class.
Moreover, group work activities can be used to improve the students‟
motivation . Group-work activity can allow participants to use and practice the

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language. It is also one of the most effective ways to motivate participants to
become more involved. Richards and Loc Khart (1994) point out that students not
only play more active roles in the learning process but also get the benefits of
sharing ideas with their group members through participation in groups. Doff (1988,
p.141) also shares the idea that while working in groups, “students felt less anxiety
when they are privately than when they are on shown in front of the whole class.
Pair work and group-work can help shy students, who would never say anything in
a whole class activity.”
Group work helps to provide mutual learning and student-student interaction
Viewed from a sociocultural perspective, which emphasizes the role of social
interaction in human cognitive development, group work can provide affordances for
learning . For example, Lightbrown & Spada (2006) assert that learning is supposed to
happen when an individual interacts with an interlocutor within his/her zone of
proximal development (ZPD). It can be deduced that cooperative learning provide
opportunities of a social interaction in a classroom while interaction for EFL is very
limited outside the classroom. The sociocultural view of group work in second or
foreign language learning will be discussed in details in the subsequent section.
The benefits of group-work can be seen in many different aspects, including
improving students‟ language skills. In the best group-work activity in a language
classroom, the participants of a learning group can benefit in many ways. By
dividing the class into group, a new social context is created whereby learners have
the opportunity to share personal awareness with their group mates and decide on a
conclusion based on the sum of these cognitions.
In general, group work is beneficial to second language learning in several
ways. However, the organization of group activities can be a challenge to teachers.
For example, some students may control the group a lot and make others
uncomfortable. So, the effectiveness of group work to student learning depends
considerably on how group work is organized and the appropriateness of the tasks

or activities for the students to work in group.

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2.2.3. Challenges in Group work
Along with these benefits, however, there are also some negative aspects that
may be related to group work. For instance, McGraw and Tidwell (2001) say that
students often have to deal with difficult issues such as getting credit without
working equally, poor communication, culturally different approaches to work, lack
of leadership, varying work ethics, and different grade expectations. In extreme
cases, teams collapse. Group Work (n.d.) and Fisher et al. (1994) report other
challenges such as “advantaging some students and disadvantaging others,”
“difficulty in grading individual input” and “time consuming for both students and
faculty.”
Scholars (Davis 1997; Ives 2000; Brown, 2001; Hess 2001; Alley 2005;
Ramirez 2005; Shamim, F and others 2007) have identified a number of the
reasons why teacher avoid using group work in their classes. Some teachers are
concerned that most students will not participate during group work, will go „offtask‟, or that students will communicate in their native language (e.g. Peacock
1998; Brown, H.D 2001).
The reason most commonly cited by teachers why they do not use group
work is classroom management. For example, Davis (1997), Brown, (2001), Alley
(2005), and Ramirez (2005) report that teachers have difficulty controlling class
discipline during group work. This may involve a lack of instruction or preparation
of the strategy. For some teachers, group work means putting students together
without planning or developing a rationale to use group work for that activity or
task. For instance, Davis (1997) and Brown, (2001) show that teachers can operate
group work superficially, and that many of them do it without a thorough
understanding of the underlying purposes for the technique. As a result, the
outcomes tend to be limited due to a poor design.

Similarly, group work represents a more student-centred approach which
particularly in large classes has been difficult to implement as explained above.
Davis (1997,p. 267) argues that, for some teachers, group work challenges the

8


“traditional teacher-centred classroom” and that “allowing learners to work without
teacher supervision tends to disrupt the notion of teachers as “knowers” who impart
their knowledge to students, who are simply receptacles”. He believes that this
perception is particularly common in teachers with little experience. In practice,
however, Ramirez (2005, p. 4) emphasizes that during group work “the teacher is
still the director and manager of the class and needs to make students aware of this”.
Nevertheless, the perception that group work challenges the “traditional teachercentred classroom” could result in a negative attitude towards group work.
In order to solve the discipline problems during group work, various studies
suggest clear instructions, teacher training covering group work strategies, careful
planning, justified use of group work for the activity, and giving roles to the group
members (Pasigna 1997; Brown, 2001; Hess 2001; Shamim, F and others 2007).
2.3. Participation as learning
Class participation is an important aspect of student learning. For examples,
when students speak up in class, they will learn how to express their ideas in a way
that others can understand; or when they ask questions, they learn how to gather
information to improve their own understanding of a topic. Moreover, it also is a
valuable learning tool for teachers. Through the questions of students, the teachers
will learn what students do not understand, and can adjust your instruction
accordingly.

Therefore,

participation

between

lecturers

and

students

is

indispensable in the process of learning. There are several reasons why participation
is important in the learning process.
Jong (in Theberge, 1994), it was found that students, who are active
participants, tends to have better academic achievement, compared with students,
who are passive in participation. This statement was supported by Astin (1999),
claiming that students who actively participate in the classroom discussions showed
greater satisfaction in the learning process. Active participation of students in
discussions in the classroom is very important for the aim of achieving effective
learning and plays a crucial role in the success of education and personal

9


development of students in the future (Tatar, 2005). This is because students will
learn how to think critically and enhance their intellectual development if they are
an active participant in the classroom
It can be said that the relationship between students‟ participation in the
classroom and students‟ achievement is undeniable. Participation provides an
opportunity to the students to learn through their own contribution, and through the

contribution of their classmates. Through discussion, students can practice thinking
through problems, organizing concepts, formulating arguments, testing their ideas
in a public setting, evaluating the evidence for their own and others‟ positions, and
responding thoroughly to critical and diverse perspectives. Lahaderne (1967) claims
that there are interactions between the process of teaching and academic
achievement. Cobb (in Abu Bakar, 1986) found that there are links between
children‟s behaviors in learning mathematics and their academic achievement.
Therefore, student participation is one of instructional components in the instruction
enhanced by school to help students to learn more (Abu Bakar, 1986).
Hull ( 1985, cited in Horder 2010) also pointed out that adults learn best if
they were put in group. Working in groups can help learners achieve higher order
thinking skills and retain knowledge longer than working individually.
Hicks ( 1955) and Palinscar(1986) also stated that discussion which requires
students to participate and share their opinions and ideas permit teacher to provide
information and explanation in an efficient manner besides checking students‟
understanding about the lessons ( as cited in Chu and Kim , 1999).
Classroom participation can help students to study better at school.
According to Scepansky (2003), higher levels of classroom participation also
tended to score slightly higher on personality traits of openness and consciousness.
Classroom participation can send positive signals to students about the type of
learning and thinking such as growth in critical thinking, active learning,
development of listening, and speaking skills needed for career success, and the
ability to join a disciplined conversation.

10


Ewens (2000) points out that compared to traditional lecture style teaching,
encouraging classroom participation promotes a higher level of reflective thinking,
and problem solving, including application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, and

that information learned through discussion, is generally retained better than
information learned through lecture.
Based on the literature and selected past research, it can be concluded
that student‟s participation in the classroom will ensure the effectiveness of the
learning process.
2.4. Students’ attitudes towards group work
In spite of the benefits that research suggests can be accrued through
academic group work, it is reasonable to expect that there would be a variety of
opinions among students about their participation in group work. In a recent article
concerning academic group work, the author noted that it is common for students to
not enjoy group work (Butts, 2000). This leads a potential instructor to a certain
problem: If group work is proven to have highly beneficial results, it would seem
wise to incorporate group work into the curriculum. However, if students often
dislike group work, and if these negative attitudes are related to a diminishing
effectiveness of such groups, the instructor might be understandably reluctant to use
group work. If we hope to improve student attitudes toward group work, the first
important thing is to explore the issues that might affect such attitudes. This
information might then be used to address student concerns and to explore possible
techniques for improving students‟ attitudes and groups‟ effectiveness.
Recent research related to student attitudes towards group work suggests that
these attitudes may be influenced by a number of factors. Roughly speaking, these
factors can be divided into two broad categories: unique characteristics to the
individuals which comprise the group (i.e., gender, or education level), and
characteristics which belong to the group as a unit (i.e., the interpersonal
relationships that develop over time within the group, and the division of labor).

11


Students‟ attitudes toward group coursework can pose a challenge to the

performance of assessed group coursework tasks. Such attitudes can be shaped by
educators, mixed messages related to the purpose and effectiveness of group work
(Mutch, 1998). They can also be shaped by the manner in which the coursework is
operationalised (Willcoxson, 2006). However, Chapman and Van Auken (2001)
believe that educators‟ negative attitudes toward group coursework due to recurrent
group conflicts play an important role in influencing students‟ attitudes, their
perceptions of the benefits of teamwork, as well as their concerns in relation to
fairness in marking. The authors also suggest that students are more likely to have
positive attitudes toward assessed group coursework if their lecturers discuss group
management issues with them and use tools such as peer evaluations to assess
individual performance within the group(Chapman and Van Auken, 2001).
Similarly, Pffaf and Huddleston (2003) argue that some group conflicts can indeed
be caused by the educator, due to practices such as determining groups without
students‟ input, failing to reduce (or insignificantly reducing) the marks of social
loafers, and not requiring peer evaluation.
2.5. Overview of the research projects related to the thesis topic
The roles of using group work activities and its effectiveness in English
teaching have been the subject of many studies. Recently, Li and Campbell's (2008)
examined Asian students‟ perceptions of the much promulgated cooperative
learning concepts in the form of group work and group assignments. The population
in this study consisted of twenty- two Asian students. Face-to face semi-structured
interviews were used as tools in this study. The results revealed not only the
strength of group work, but also some detrimental factors that affects group
dynamics, such as members‟ attitudes and willingness to cooperate and contribute
as a team, the composition of the group, students‟ competing demands on students‟
time and attention, heterogeneity from the natural abilities of students, and varying
cultural values and beliefs held by group members.

12

Another study by Chen and Hird‟s (2006) aimed to examine both
quantitative and qualitative data relating to student behaviour in groups collected in
EFL lessons in China. The researchers were interested to find out how 36 Chinese
non- English major students behave in groups in EFL classroom in Normal
University. Both tape recordings of group discussion and interviews were used in
this research. The results presented the difficulty of generalizing about what
happens when students get into groups in English lessons, and argues that there are
still many unexplored aspects regarding how group work functions and what
students actually do in groups in English classrooms.
Payne and Monk-Turner (2006) also had a study to research how students
perceive group work after completing a semester –long group project. The
participants were 145 students taking an upper division research methods class in
the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at a large regional university.
The data supported the idea that small groups may work more effectively together
than larger one. However, it sometimes inhibits the performance of the weakest
members as those who are good in the group dominate the tasks carried out.
According to Jeremy Harmer (2007), there are a lot of activities for students to
do in groups. For instance, students can work and prepare a story, then they can take
roles to perform a situation in their groups. Moreover, the writer says that the students
tend to participate more in small groups than large groups. In his opinion, small groups
will motivate students to communicate. However, he states that when students work in
groups, students do usually like to sit with their friends in the group work activities
because they like their teachers to pay special attention to them.
Davis (1997) also did an action research which pointed out some issues in
the design and implementation in group activities and then included solutions for
the post-observation remodeling of activities within a task and content-based
framework for language instruction. The results indicated that teachers had
difficulty controlling class discipline during group work. This could be related to
the lack of instruction or preparation of the strategy. For some teachers group work

means putting students together without planning or developing a rationale to use
group work for that activity or task.

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Nihalani et al., (2010) also pointed out that group performance will reflect
the groups‟ member level in stead of the whole group together when one group
member dominates the group.
In short, relevant studies above show that using group work activities could
bring both advantages and disadvantages in teaching English for students. Thus, the
present study was conducted with the aim to see how students participate in group
work activities and find out the reasons for their participation. From that point,
teachers could find ways to use groupwork activities effectively in English language
classrooms.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1. Introduction
This chapter begins with the methodological orientation adopted in this
study, which is the case study approach. The chapter provides the reasons for
choosing the methodology. This chapter also presents the research designs used in
the study with explanation of selection of research design and development of the
tools as well as the methods of data collection and its analysis. The chapter ends
with ethical consideration of the present study and a brief summary of the chapter.
3.2. The case study methodology
3.2.1. Definitions of case study

Case study is a very popular research method in the current development of
society. However, different researchers have different ideas about what a case study
is. Yin (2003) considers case as “a contemporary phenomenon within its real life
context, especially when the boundaries between a phenomenon and context are not
clear and the researcher has little control over the phenomenon and context” (p. 13).
His definition also reflects his support for the case study as a legitimate research
method. According to this definition, from Yinian viewpoint, case study is an
empirical inquiry investigating the case or cases that follow to the above mentioned
definition by solving the “how” or “why” questions related to the phenomenon of
interest. He finds it particularly instrumental to evaluate the program. The rest of his
technical definition draws attention to the aspects of data collection and analysis
related to the situation under study: in order to investigate a different situation
including “many more variables of interest than data points,” case study draws from
diverse lines of evidence for triangulating purposes and avails itself of “prior
development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis” (Yin,
2003, pp. 13-14). This attention shows that his approach is meticulous about the
cohesion and consistency among the design components and phases of case study as
a research strategy.

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