VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
o0o LÝ THỊ HOÀNG MẾN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF PAIR WORK AND GROUP
WORK ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE FIRST
YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES, THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

(NGHIÊN CỨU THỰC TRẠNG SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG THEO CẶP
VÀ THEO NHÓM ĐỂ PHÁT TRIỂN KĨ NĂNG NÓI CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM
THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH TẠI KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ,
ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10

HANOI – 2013



DECLARATION

To the best of my knowledge and belief, this minor thesis contains no material
which has previously been submitted and accepted for any other degree in any university.
The thesis is my own work and based on my own research. It involves no material
previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference is
acknowledged in the paper. Signature: ___________________________

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ABSTRACT

This thesis was carried out to investigate the use of pair work and group work
activities to develop speaking skills for the first year English major students at the Faculty
of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University.
Survey questionnaires for teachers and students were employed to find answers to these
three questions. The findings of the research revealed that pair work and group work were
frequently applied in English speaking class with two main activities that students have to
master are discussion and role-play. The use of pair work and group work activities are
also beneficial for both teachers and learners. However, there were some problems such as
students low proficiency and their passive way of learning styles, which prevent them from
taking part in pair work and group work activities. Teachers lack time and have to deal
with large and multi-level classes in unqualified conditions hindering them a lot in
implementing pair work and group work activities to teach English speaking. By analyzing
and comparing the results of students’ and teachers’ response to questionnaire about pair
work and group work activities, the author attempts to shed some light on the effectiveness
of these activities and how to best implement them.

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1.1.1. Traditional methods of second language teaching
4
1.1.2. Communicative language teaching methods
5
1.2. The communicative learning process
8
1.3. Pair work and group work
9
1.3.1. Definition and description
9
1.3.2. Common pair work and group work oral activities
11
1.3.2.1. Role – play
11
1.3.2.2. Information gap activity
12
1.3.2.3. Problem solving
12
1.3.2.4. Communication games
13
1.3.2.5. Discussion
13
1.3.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using pair work and group work
activities
13
1.3.3.1. Advantages of using pair work and group work activities
13
1.3.3.2. Disadvantages of using pair work and group work activities
15

27
2.2.2.1. Teachers’ opinions on teaching English speaking skills
27
2.2.2.2. Teachers’ opinions about the use of pair work and group work activities
to teach English speaking skills.
28
2.2.2.3. Teachers’ current teaching methods of using pair work and group work
activity in using pair work and group work activities in English speaking class.
31
2.2.2.4. Teachers’ difficulties in using pair work and group work activities to
teach English speaking skills.
34
2.2.2.5. Teachers’ solutions to overcome difficulties in using pair work and
group work activities
36
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1. Findings
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3.1.1. How pair work and group work activities are used at FFL, TNU
37
3.1.2. Difficulties in applying pair work and group work activities
39
3.1.2.1. Students’ difficulties
39
3.1.2.2. Teachers’ difficulties
40
3.1.2.3. Classroom conditions’ difficulties
40
3.2. Recommendations


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

FFL, TNU: Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
TEFL: Teaching English as Foreign Language
TESL: Teaching English as a Second Language

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1:Students’opinions about speaking skills
Table 2: Students’ judgments about how they like to practise speaking in English speaking
class at FFL – TNU

and so on. Therefore, English teaching and learning play an important role in social
developing policies in a large number of countries throughout the world.
In Vietnam, English has been used widely, and becomes the most popular language
in the country. Because of our country’s regional and global participation in every aspect,
the demand for English speaking people has increased. English is also a compulsory
subject to be taught and learned at schools and universities. With a strategic view to the
future, teaching and learning English in recent years are changing. There have been several
international organizations and projects and teachers who attended TESOL, TEFL, or
TESL courses with efforts to introduce and apply new approaches, methodology and
techniques to their teaching of English nationwide. Methodologically, the methods of
English teaching have shifted from traditional grammar translation approach to
communicative approach. New syllabi, new textbooks which focus on communicative-
oriented and learner-centered have been designed. Therefore, according to the National
Foreign Language Project 2020, teachers of English have to improve their capability of
communicating successfully in English. Not to be the exception to the trend, teaching
English at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University (FFL, TNU) is also
the strategic duty of all teachers and students. Although communicative language teaching
is the aim to approach, the process to achieve is quite difficult.
As a teacher of English at the FFL, TNU, I would like to help my students to
master the language and have an ability to communicate confidently in English. However,
2

there still remain some questions that how can we cooperate new approaches with the
previous one and how to implement them in class. One of the effective ways that I often
work with students in our speaking class is pair work and group work. From what I have
experienced, this kind of activities has created chances for students to talk and
communicate with each other in English naturally.
For the above reasons, the researcher chose the topic “An investigation into the use
of pair work and group work activities to develop speaking skill of the 1
st

Three research questions are used to find out answers for the use of pair work and group
work activities in teaching and learning English speaking skills at FFL, TNU.
3

1. How pair work and group work activities are used to teach the 1
st
year English major
students at FFL, TNU?
2. What difficulties do the teachers cope with in using pair work and group work activities
in the speaking class of the 1
st
year English major students at FFL, TNU?
3. What suggestions are needed to make pair work and group work activities effective and
successful in developing speaking skill for 1
st
year English major students at FFL, TNU?
5. Methods of the study
To investigate the situation of the study, the researcher conducts survey on the use
of pair work and group work in teaching and studying speaking skills at the FFL, TNU.
6. Design of the study
The study consists of three main parts:
Part 1 provides an introduction which includes the rationale, aims, scope, research
questions, methods and design of the study.
Part 2 provides a development which is divided into three chapters.
- Chapter 1 is attempt to review some key theories related to the study such as
communicative language teaching, communication learning process, definitions of pair
work and group work along with some common pair work and group work oral activities.
The chapter also mentions advantages and disadvantages of using pair work and group
work.
- Chapter 2 presents a design and analysis of the research.

and syntax of the foreign language.” In this method, reading and writing are major
focus and little or no attention is paid to speaking or listening. Students who are
taught in this way do not have chance to practise their speaking and listening.
 The Audio- lingual method: The theory of language underlying Audio-lingualism
was known as Structural Linguistics, resulted from the World War II and viewed
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language as “a system of structurally related elements for the encoding of meaning,
the elements being phonemes, morphemes, words, structures, and sentence types.”
The overall goal of the Audio-Lingual method was to create linguistic competence
in learners. Through tapes, visual aids, the students listened and then repeated
several times to memorize the pronunciation as well as vocabulary. Therefore, just
listening and speaking skills of students could be drilled in a mechanical way.
However, the above two methods only focus on grammar, linguistic competence and
individual learning. Grammar-translation method was based on language study (grammar,
literature) and written exercises (translation) rather than real life communication and
speech. As a result, after several years of studying, students might have a fairly good
knowledge of grammar and translating skills, but could hardly communicate. The overall
goal of the Audio-lingual method was to create communicative competence in learners.
However, it was thought that the most effective way to do this was for students to
“overlearn” the language being studied through extensive repetition and a variety of
elaborate drills. These old methods fell out of fashion because in recent years, people tend
to learn language by communicating and keep on searching for a new method which is the
combination of the old ones.
1.1.2. Communicative language teaching method
The origins of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) are to be found in the
changes in the British language teaching transition dating from the late 1960s. According
to Richards and Rodgers (1986), the work of the Council of Europe, the writings of
Wilkins (1972), Widdowson, Candlin, Christopher Brumfit, Keith Johnson, and other
British applied linguists on the theoretical basis for a communicative or functional

to day, so students’ motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in
meaningful ways about meaningful topics.
In this book Communicative Language Teaching Today (2006), Richards points out
that in recent years, language learning has been viewed from a different perspective. It is
seen as resulting from processes such as:
 Interaction between the learner and users of the language
 Collaborative creation of meaning
 Creating meaningful and purposeful interaction through language
 Negotiation of meaning as the learner and his or her interlocutor arrive at
understanding
 Learning through attending to the feedback learners get when they use the language
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 Paying attention to the language one hears (the input) and trying to incorporate new
forms into one’s developing communicative competence
 Trying out and experimenting with different ways of saying things
According to Littlewood, there are four domains of skill which makes up a person’s
communicative competence, which must be recognized in foreign language teaching:
 The learner must attain as high a degree as possible of linguistic competence. That
is, he must develop skill in manipulating the linguistic system, to the point where
he can use it spontaneously and flexibly in order to express his intended message.
 The learner must distinguish between the forms he has mastered as part of his
linguistic competence and the communicative functions, which they perform. In
other words, items mastered as part of a linguistic system must also be understood
as part of a communicative system.
 The learner must develop skills and strategies for using language to communicative
meaning as effectively as possible in concrete situations. He must learn to use
feedback to judge his success and if necessary, remedy failure by using different
language.
 The learner must become aware of the social meaning of language forms. For many

Pre-communicative activities are “learner was not engaged in activities where his
main purpose was to communicate meanings effectively to a partner. Rather, his main
purpose was to produce certain language forms in an acceptable way.” (Littlewood,
1981:16) In this kind of activities, the teachers isolate specific elements of knowledge on
skill, which compose communicative ability and provide learners with opportunities to
practise them separately. The learners; therefore, are being trained in the part-skills of
communication rather than practicing the total skill to be acquired. They are subdivided
Pre-communicative activities
Social interaction activities
Quasi – communicative activities
Functional communicative activities
Structural activities
Communicative activities
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into structural activities and quasi-communicative activities. The first sub-division focuses
on the grammatical system and on the ways in which linguistic items can be combined. On
the other hand, the second sub-division is made to help learner relate forms and structures
to communicative functions, specific meanings and social context. Littlewood also points
out that the aim of Pre-communicative activities is providing learners with a fluent
command of the linguistic system, without requiring them to use this system for

Every student works with his or her partner in pairs, and all the pairs work at the
same time (it is sometimes called “simultaneous pair work”). This is not the same
as “public” or “open” pair work, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front of
the class.”
The definition of pair work in this case is an activity that gives students a chance to
talk to each other practice language together, study a text, research language or take
part in information-gap activities. They can write dialogues, predict the content of
reading texts, or compare notes on what they have listened or seen.
In general, there are two main types of pair work, fixed pairs and flexible pairs,
suggested by Byrne (1983). The first type is when the students work with the same
partner in order to complete task. In this kind of pairs, they will deeply understand
each other and know the other’s ability. Meanwhile, the second one is when
students keep changing the partners. They can lift their chairs freely to talk to any
partners they like. Therefore, this will make the activity more interesting.
 Group work
Adrian Doff (1988: 37) also 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), as in pair work, all the groups work at the same time.”
Another definition of group work provided by Brumfit (1984: 72) is “group is often
defined as a number of people who interact with one another, who are
psychologically aware of one another and who perceive themselves to be a group”.
Shaw (1971: 7) and Mill (1967: 2) have a definition about a small group as “units
composed of two or more persons who come into contact for purpose and who
consider the contact meaningful.” In other words, group is seen as a task-oriented
group in which members have a clear perception of the purpose and goal of the
activity. Group is made up of four or five students under the control of a group
leader, whose functions are as the group organizer and as a mini-teacher. Group
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work depends much on the size of group, the types of activity, types of lesson and

1.3.2.2. 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
1.3.2.3. 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 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.

interaction in a stress free environment. (Brumfit, 1984:78).
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Pair work and group work give students more opportunities to speak English in
classroom. Students participate in the lesson much more actively because they are involved
in talking to their friends exchange opinions, practising new structures more than listening
to their teacher talking. By dividing the class into groups, students get more chances to talk
than in full class organization, thus each student can say something. Penny Ur recommends
that teachers working with larger classes should divide them into five groups which is the
most effective organization for practising speaking. (Ur, 1996: 232)
Students may feel less anxious when they are working in a group with a small
number of people. Particularly, timid students find it hard to speak in front of the class and
teacher in their eyes seems to be a fear. They become silent and cannot open their mouth
with an empty mind. However, when participating in pairs or groups, they maybe find
easier to share their opinions naturally. “It is generally easier to show that you do not
know, or do not understand something, in a smaller group than in a large one.” (Norman,
Levihn and Hedenquist, 1986: 6)
In the long run group work develops student’s independence. At first, preparing a
group or a pair may be time-consuming and requires more effort from the students.
However, sing this technique regularly, students will become more efficient and skilled at
practising the language. They become more confident, their motivation also increases and
they can manage without regular teacher’s supervision. Students learn how to learn and
gradually take responsibility for their own learning.
Beside practising and consolidating the language, pair work and group work help to
integrate the class. Students learn how to cooperate with one another, make compromise,
negotiate, and respect individual with different abilities and views, which is important for
the class atmosphere and relationship with the teacher. Instead of sitting alone trying to
understand something difficult, they can help each other. “There is a greater chance that at
least one member of the group will be able to solve a problem when it arises.” (Harmer,
1992: 245) In such a class the teacher is no longer a supervisor but becomes a resource

she/he can reduce the number of mistakes before the students start working by
demonstrating the activity to the class first and by asking pairs or groups to perform in
front of the class afterwards and discussing what they said and pointing out the most
common mistakes.
Putting the students into group may be a problem. There is a challenge that if the
teacher divides the class into mixed ability groups, the best students in the group will have
to do the task while the weakest ones switch off and become disruptive. Teacher therefore
should put the students into groups according to their abilities and each group is given a
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task right for their level of difficulty. Then the teacher may monitor the whole class, devote
more time to the students who need assistance or even work with individual students.