VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
o0o VŨ THỊ KHÁNH VÂN ORGANIZING PAIRWORK IN THE ENGLISH LESSONS AT
PHO YEN HIGH SCHOOL 11
th
GRADE,
THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE

Tổ chức hoạt động cặp trong các giờ học Tiếng Anh tại khối
lớp 11 của trường THPT Phổ Yên, tỉnh Thái Nguyên

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE : 60140111

Hanoi, 2014


i
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT
*****
I hereby certify that the thesis entitled

Organizing pairwork in the English lessons at Pho Yen High School 11
th
grade,
Thai Nguyen Province.

In the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at College of
Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University, and that this thesis has not been
submitted for any degree at any other university or institution wholly or partly. Hanoi, August 2014 Vũ Thị Khánh Vân

iii
ABSTRACT

Learning language well depends on many factors such as personal
characteristics, the structure of the native and target languages, opportunities to
communicate with other people and with native speakers, etc. For students at schools,
these factors can only work well with the help of the teachers‟ using different
techniques, and approaches in language teaching.
In communicative language teaching, students have more chances to practise in
the target language through different classroom activities, among them pairwork and
groupwork appear to be the most appropriate application.
This thesis was carried out to investigate the use of pairwork activities to
develop speaking skills for the first year English students at Pho Yen High School.
Survey questionnaires for teachers and students were employed to find answers
to these two questions. The use of paiwork activities are also beneficial for both
teachers and learners. However, there were some problems such as student low
proficiency and their passive way of learning styles, which prevent them from taking
part in pairwork activities. Teachers‟ lack of time and have to deal with large and
multi-level classes in unqualified conditions hinder them a lot in implementing
pairwork activities to teach four language skills. By analyzing and comparing the
results of students‟ and teachers‟ responses to questionnaire about pairwork activities,
the author attempts to shed light on the effectiveness of these activities and how to best
implement them.


v
TABLE OF CONTENT

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF CHARTS iv
TABLE OF CONTENT v

1.4.3.1. Pre activities 11
1.4.3.2. While activities 12
1.4.3.3. Post activities 12
1.5. Difficulties in organizing pairwork and suggested solutions 13
1.5.1. Difficulties 13
1.5.1.1. Space 13
1.5.1.2. Instruction 13
1.5.2. Solutions 13
1.6. Previous studies related to organizing pairwork 14
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15
2.1. Research setting 15
2.1.1. An overview of Pho Yen High School 15
2.1.2. The students 16
2.1.3. The teachers 16
2.2. Methodology 17
2.2.1. The participants 17
2.2.2. Data collection instruments 17
2.2.2.1. Questionnaires 17
2.2.2.2. Class observations 17
2.2.3. Data collection procedures 18
2.2.4. Data analysis 18
2.2.4.1. Results from questionnaires 19
2.2.4.1.1. Teachers’ and students’ opinions about benefits of pairwork 19
2.2.4.1.2. Teachers’ and students’ judgements about the use of pairwork
activities in English classes 21
2.2.4.1.3. Teachers’ and students’ desires to learn English via pairwork
Activities 22
2.2.4.2. Data analysis from class observations 26
2.2.4.3. Examples of pairwork 27

1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the rationale, aims, scope, research questions, research
methods and design of the study.
1. Rationale
“Better English, more opportunities” has become a target for lots of
students in recent years. English is a useful means they need for their future career
since it equips them with linguistic, social and cultural knowledge and provides
them with access to the modern world in the era of informatics and technology. It is
used as the official language in many powerful and developed countries.
Additionally, it is also considered as the means of communication in a number of
aspects such as business, education, science, 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.
English, nowadays, is widely taught in Vietnam, from primary school to
university, including English centers throughout the country. People learn English
for their work or for their higher study. However, the results of the English courses
are not very good. Vietnamese teachers of English have not known how to apply the
teaching method in effective ways. They are lack of knowledge, teaching aid, time,
and money to teach four language skills: listening skills, speaking skills, reading
skills and writing skills.
Like many teachers in the schools of Vietnam, teachers of English at Pho Yen
upper secondary school face the same problem: students‟ inactive participation in
learning activities in the classroom. In fact, there are a variety of reasons for this
poor participation, and therefore using appropriate techniques and methods for
teaching English effectively to students at Pho Yen upper secondary school requires
a teachers‟ enthusiasm and commitment.
This led me the choice of the study “Organizing pair work in the English lessons

analysis of the statistics from the survey questionnaires conducted with students and
teachers of Phổ Yên High School. The study is also based on a qualitative method
with the author‟s own experience and observation during 9 years of teaching
English. 3
6. Design of study
This study consists of 3 parts:
Part A: provides an introduction which includes the rationale, aims, scope, research
questions, methods and design of the study.
Part B: provides a development which is divided into three chapters.
Chapter 1: Literature Review: is intended to give some theories related to the
study such as communicative language teaching, communication learning process,
definitions of pairwork along with some common pairwork oral activities. The
chapter also mentions advantages and disadvantages of using pairwork.
Chapter 2: The Study Research – provides an analysis on the current situation of
using pairwork in teaching and learning English at Phổ Yên High School. Data
collection and analysis are also presented in this chapter.
Chapter 3: Findings and Suggestions - focuses on how the teachers at Phổ Yên
High School organized pairwork and difficulties facing them and their students in
carrying out these activities and some suggestions for the teachers to organize
pairwork more effectively.
Part C: Conclusion - which is the conclusion of the study. Some explanations,
interpretations of the findings of the study and some pedagogical implications are
given in this chapter. In addition, some possible suggestions for further research are
also discussed.

messages” (Thompson, 2003:10). There are two related aspects that we should
consider when talking about definition of communication is “social” and
“interaction”.
According to Dwyer (2000:8), communication is very important in daily life:
“For those working in our changing social and economic environment,
effective communication is as important as it has always been. Now, however, we
must grasp the fact that we are dealing with more layers of communication than
ever before. The exchange of information and ideas becomes more complex daily,

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as management structures flatten, work teams emerge and interact with other teams
and as globalization requires us to link up with individuals and organizations at
regional, national and international levels. Increasingly sophisticated technology
enables us to achieve a scope and range of communication unimaginable even 20
years ago”.
1.1.2. Communicative Language Teaching
1.1.2.1. Nature of Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching means little more than an integration of
grammatical and functional teaching. Littlewood (1981:1) states, “One of the most
characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic
attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language”.
Communicative Language Teaching means using procedures where the
learners mainly work in pairs or groups employing available language resources in
problem- solving tasks. CLT stresses the importance of providing the learners with
opportunities to use English for communicative purposes and attempts to integrate
such activities into a wider program of language teaching.
1.1.2.2. The Techniques of Communicative Language Teaching
The techniques of Communicative Language Teaching are described by different
linguists as following:
Nunan (1991a:279) gives five features to characterize CLT:

cognitive and other processes that are important factors in second language
acquisition.
+ Risk taking: Learners are encouraged to make guesses and learn from their errors.
By going beyond what they have been taught, they are encouraged to employ a
variety of communication strategies.
+ Free practice: CLT encourages the use of “holistic practice” involving the
simultaneous use of a variety of sub-skills, rather than practising individual skills
one piece at a time
To sum up, Communicative Language Teaching is best considered an
approach rather than a method. It refers to a diverse set of principles that reflect a

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communicative view of language and language learning and that can be used to
support a wide variety of classroom procedures.
1.2. Definition of pairwork
The definitions of pairwork have been developed over the years with the
contributions of a great number of linguistics and are brought together by Doff
(1988: 137): “In pairwork, the teacher divides the whole class into pairs. 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” pairwork, with pairs of students speaking in turn in front of the
class.”
The definition of pairwork 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 pairwork, 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

To introduce pairwork, teacher brings variety into the classroom. It enables
him to individualize work by preparing different tasks taking into accounts students‟
abilities and potentials. when both able and less able students may feel a sense of
achievement while completing the task.
1.3.2. Disadvantages of using pairwork activities
Gorgon (2008) also points out clearly disadvantages of using pairwork
activities as follow:
Some teachers are reluctant to use pairwork being afraid of noise or
discipline problems which might occur particularly. Indeed students make noise
while working on the task; they discuss things, check words and communicate with
one another. However, this is so-called “positive noise” and it does not disturb the
students. They are concentrated on the task and they do not hear it. If an activity

9
goes on for too long; students, especially the poor ones make noise because they
become bored, they want to get the teacher‟s attention and they become disruptive.
Another disadvantage of using pairwork activities is the use of mother
tongue. When students get excited working in pairs they sometimes use their mother
tongue to express something they are not able to express in a foreign language. Such
a situation is normal because they want to communicate.
One of the disadvantages of using pairwork activities is making mistakes.
Some teachers neglect to use pairwork saying that students make mistakes trying to
express their own ideas. Indeed incorrectness is a problem yet in real life, it is
communicative fluency that matters not accuracy, so we should not be concerned
too much with accuracy if we want to practise oral skills. According to Doff (1988:
141), when learners work in pairs it is impossible for the teachers to listen and
correct all the mistakes they make and it is not the purpose of this activity.
However, 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 to
perform in front of the class afterwards and discussing what they said and pointing

1.4.2.3. Size and selection of pair
Pair size normally ranges between 2 students. Group size can some times go
larger although groups larger than 8 do not ensure that everyone will participate.
Pair membership can be determined in different ways. A random selection might
be done by “counting off” with students (go around the room systematically having
students count 1, 2, etc., with each number representing a pair or selecting pairs on
the basis of birth date.
Sometimes pairs are organized only for one activity. Other times, teachers use
the pair for a series of activities, so that students get used to working with one
another.
1.4.2.4. Organize students within the pair
A laissez- faire approach to pairwork would be that the teacher gives a
general assignment to the pair- like organize a research project on „qualities of good
leaders‟- and the students are left to organize themselves.

11
A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific role
to each pair member. Depending upon the task, the roles might include „materials
handler‟, „scribe‟, „reporter to the pair‟ and so on. A semi- structured approach
might be that the teacher recommend certain roles, but leaves it to the pair to assign
roles.
A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a pair, is often used
with younger children. A less structured approach can be used with students with
experience in pairwork or for simple tasks that do not require that students take on
different roles.
1.4.2.5. Time the pairwork
The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task results,
sharing with the whole pair, and so on. After giving clear instructions to the
students, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not interfere with
the pairs‟ activities.

When students are working in pairs, the teachers have an ideal opportunity to
work with individual students whom they feel would benefit from their ttention.
They also have a great chance to act as observers, picking up information about
students‟ progress.
1.4.3.3. Post activities
When pairs stop working together the teacher need to organize feedback. The
teachers want to let them discuss what occurred during the group session and, where
necessary, add their own assessments and make corrections.
Where pairwork has formed part of a practice session, our feedback may take
the form of having a few pairs or groups quickly demonstrate the language they
have been using. The teachers can then correct it, if and when necessary, and this
procedure will give both those students and the rest of the class good information
for future learning and action.
Finally, it is vital to remember that constructive feedback on the content of
student work can greatly enhance students‟ future motivation. The feedback the
teachers give on language mistakes is only one part of that process.

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1.5. Difficulties in organizing pairwork and suggested solutions
When teachers organize pairwork, they might encounter some difficulties.
1.5.1. Difficulties
According to Hoodith (1997), there are three main difficulties while working
in pair.
1.5.1.1. Space
The furniture in the class is fixed, the teachers and students cannot change or
have no or little time to do with it. Sometimes the class is too crowded (with more
than 40 students in a small room), there is not enough space for them to move if
they are asked to change their partner in a pairwork. The arrangement of classroom
furniture can mitigate pair.
1.5.1.2. Instruction

studies mentioned above have firmly asserted the important roles of pairwork
activities in improving learners‟ speaking skill. Thao ( 2013) found out the benefits
of using pair and groupwork and spend much time to apply these techniques to
develop students‟ speaking skills. Phuong (2008) reports that pairwork helped to
increase students‟ participation in communicative activities in large classes. Phuong
(2008) found out the students‟ interest in discussion when applying pair and
groupwork activities in speaking lesson. Minh ( 2011) carried out to investigate the
application of pairwork and groupwork in speaking class, the human factors
affecting students‟ participation in pairs and some feasible solutions to improve
students‟ participation in pairwork. Most of these studies explored mainly on the
benefits of the techniques, they have not made clear what process teachers and
learners went through when implementing pairwork. Phuong (2008) show that the
success of communicative pairwork activities is often determined by the work the
teacher does before the students begins the activities itself. These studies have
focused on the process of groupwork implementation in speaking lesson of non-
major English students. Understanding of the pairwork organizing processes would
enable teachers to better facilitate learners in communicative activities. 15
CHAPTER 2 : METHODOLOGY
2.1. Research setting
2.1.1. An overview of Pho Yen High School
At Pho Yen High school, students are taught English in grade 10, 11, 12. In
the past, students learnt the three - year -course textbooks. Now they are studying
the seven-year course textbooks. English is now a compulsory subject in Vietnam
educational system. Students here have three English lessons in a week.
The chosen textbook is English 10, 11,12 compiled by Hoàng Văn Vân,
Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Đỗ Tuấn Minh, Nguyễn Thu Phương, Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn,
nhà xuất bản Giáo Dục (2006), each consists of 16 lessons which have been covered

do so themselves.
2.1.2. The students
Like the students of other schools, in order to be students of Pho Yen Upper
Secondary School, they have to take entrance examination in Maths and Literature
only. Actuallly, most of the students of Pho Yen school live in the countryside.
New students here have the same level of English language proficiency. They have
learnt English for 4 years at lower secondary school. However, they have a basic
knowledge of English grammar but their language skills are not good. Comparing to
students in the past, now the students are more aware of the importance of learning
English, they are more intelligent, more active and more motivative in learning
English. Besides many other subjects, they have 3 lessons of English per week. In
class, they are given chances to practise mainly four skills : speaking, listening,
reading and writing skills.
2.1.3. The teachers
If students are considered most important factor in the learning process, teachers
are the most important factor in the teaching process. At Pho Yen High School,
there are 7 teachers of English language aged ranging from 25 to 54 but none of
them have ever been to any English speaking countries. They all graduated from
Thai Nguyen Teachers‟ Training University. In the past, most of these teachers
mainly used the Grammar- Translation Method - a way of teaching and learning a