HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

======

DO NGOC ANH

A STUDY ON THE USE OF GROUP WORK IN
SPEAKING LESSONS OF 10TH GRADE STUDENTS
AT BEN TRE HIGH SCHOOL

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS OF
THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF PEDAGOGY IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: DO THI THANH DUNG, M.A

HA NOI, 2018


DECLARATION
I hereby state that I- Do Ngoc Anh, certify my authorship of the study
entitled
A STUDY ON THE USE OF GROUP WORK IN SPEAKING LESSONS
OF 10TH GRADE STUDENTS AT BEN TRE HIGH SCHOOL
The thesis is the study of my own research and that I have not used any
sources other than those listed in reference. I further declare that I have not
submitted this thesis at any other institution in order to obtain a degree.
Ha Noi, May 2018
Student

Do Ngoc Anh

Keywords: group work, Ben Tre High school

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the process of completing this graduation paper, I was encouraged by a lot
of support, valuable ideas, and encouragement from my teachers, family and
friends.
Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Do Thi Thanh Dung, my
supervisor of this graduation paper. Her detailed ideas and useful tips helped me to
shape my ideas and realize my goals. She also provided me with useful materials as
well as encouraged and facilitated my research. Therefore, this article could not be
completed without her invaluable support.
Secondly, I would like to express my special thanks to all the teachers of Ben
Tre High School for their participation in the interview and giving me lots of

valuable

comments. Particularly, I would like to thank 35 students of 10A5 in Ben Tre High
School for their enthusiastic and effective cooperation in completing the
questionnaire survey. In addition, I warmly thank all my friends for their
encouragement and support during the writing process. Their material and spiritual
support was a great motivation for me.
Finally, I was very grateful to my family, who have encouraged and
supported me to complete this graduation thesis.

Ha Noi, May 2018
Student


2. Data collection instruments ..................................................................................................15
3. Procedures for data collection .............................................................................................17

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS

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1. Students’ survey. .....................................................................................................................18
2. Teachers’ survey .....................................................................................................................21
3. Interview ....................................................................................................................................25
4. Class observation ....................................................................................................................27

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION

1. The use of group work in speaking lessons .....................................................................29
2. Group work’s benefits ...........................................................................................................30
3. Obstacles in applying group work ......................................................................................32

CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS

1. For the students ........................................................................................................................34
2. For the teachers ........................................................................................................................34
3. Researcher .................................................................................................................................35

PART 3: CONCLUSION

1. Summary of the Study ...........................................................................................................36
2. Limitations of the study .......................................................................................................37
3. Recommendations for Further Study .................................................................................38

speaking skills, in particular, has been recognized by school leaders in Vietnam.
Language teachers are finding out new methods and techniques to motivate students
to raise their voice in class. One of the effective ways to apply much is group work.
Because of positive points that group work brings, group work tends to be used
quite often in speaking lessons. According to Harmer (1999), working in group can
significantly increase the time spent talking to each individual, encourage border
skills to participate, cooperate and negotiate, promote learner autonomy by allowing
students to self- decide on groups that are not instructed by the teacher, and free
teachers from their usual role of the controller-driver-corrector.
As a high school student-teacher and as a tutor at a foreign language center,
the researcher realizes the significance of applying group work to help promote
students’ interest in speaking. However, researchers also face many challenges in
implementing work in speaking lessons. This researcher learned that there are not
many studies on the use of group work in high school in the rural area. Therefore,
the researcher carried out this study to understand this situation with practical
evidence and find out solutions for problems related to using group work in
speaking lessons.
Deriving from the above-mentioned reasons, “A Study on the Use of Group
Work in Speaking Lessons of the 10th-Grade Students at Ben Tre High School”
is carried out. The researcher hopes that this research will contribute a relatively full

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and detailed view about how to use this technique effectively.
2. Aims of the Study
This study was carried with a view to investigating the possibility of using
group work in the speaking class of 10th-grade students at Ben Tre High School. In
detail, the purposes of the study were:
1. To clarify what ways group work is used in the speaking lessons of 10thgrade students at Ben Tre High School.

Findings, Discussion and Recommendations for students, teachers, and the
researcher.
The last part is the Conclusion, which summarizes the study and gives out
the limitations and recommendations for further studies.

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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. The importance of speaking skills in the classroom
Obviously, all four skills are very important in learning any language.
Nonetheless, speaking is considered as very significant skill for teaching and
learning any language. Acquiring speaking well is a fundamental step to conquer
other skills. If their speaking skills are good, this can assist learners to read better,
listen more easily and write more properly. Speaking is surely the most effective
means of communication (Ur, 1996).
Speaking skills are very important. The first point is that students are more
motivated by speaking lessons. Nunan (1991) points out that success is measured
in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the (target) language. For the
students to speak English correctly, they tend to maximize their chance of using
English to express themselves in daily life. Thus, they always try to speak English
when possible. On the contrary, those who cannot speak English fluently are not
confident to speak even when they are asked to speak in class. Therefore, they
may gradually get depressed and lost their passion for learning English. If
speaking activities are held in the suitable and creative way, students can find
speaking more exciting and motivation in the learners can be raised. The other
skills can also be enhanced thanks to practicing speaking if they have collaborated
in a suitable way. As a result, speaking lessons are successful and inspire students
to learn more.

share ideas, become closer in the short term, and above all address common
problems assigned by the teacher.
In addition, group work helps students produce better outcomes. Simply,
because of the number of participants, each with different experiences, knowledge,
views and values, greater numbers and more ideas can be given. In addition, the
exchange of ideas within a group can be a motivation to encourage individuals to
come up with ideas and contribute more and thus contribute more to group
activities.
In addition, the work of the group can be reduced. The shared responsibility
of a group in decision-making can encourage individuals to discover realistic ideas.
Personal prejudices and prejudices can be challenged by the group, requiring

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individuals to recognize them. Group pressure can also encourage individuals to
accept that change as necessary.
Finally, this technique helps free the teacher from the normal role of "an
expert who always teaches" and allows him/her to walk to each group, instruct,
answer student questions or encourage students to work actively (Harmer, 1999).
2.2.2. Drawbacks
One obvious drawback is that the noise from the group of people having a
discussion on the topic or by the group who are really interested in working with
their group. It is difficult for teachers to monitor these groups. The noise can
confuse other groups.
The negative effect of group work is that many are passive and lazy students, and
often let their peers do all work and still have names in the results of the group.
Working in the group can cause competition. Most students working in a
group consider the situation as a contest. This creates destructive behaviors and
contributes to disagreement among groups. For example, we often feel bad if our

With the layout of the seats, the number of cards, the use of cards, or the
distribution of different cards, a random group is set.
For the class with mixed levels, random groups can be used to bridge the gap
between students at all levels.
b. Student-selected groups
Compared to the random grouping and group chosen by the teacher, the
students-selected group is preferred. Knowing their classmates well or knowing
how their friend think can help students participate in assigned activities. They can
talk more, perform more and make the activities of the group very interesting.
However, there is so much noise created because of too much socialization. This
can confuse other groups or and it can be hard for the teacher to manage the class.
c. Teacher-selected groups
Compared to two above types of grouping student, the group selected by
teachers is much more time-consuming. The reason is that teachers have to pay
attention to the student's interests, as well as the learning style, the dynamics to help
lower level students keep up with the better ones. This type of grouping can be an
extremely effective way to learn from one another, this is called by peer tutoring.
2.4. Group size
The smaller the group, the more opportunities each member has, and more

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management skills are needed. However, many small groups are made in the class.
This can be hard for all groups to have the chance to report to the class due to the
limitation of time.
The groups with four-members are proposed by Honeyfield (1991), and IJung (2004), Ngoh (1991). A four member group can be more interesting and do
more challenging tasks, with more ideas expressed, and negotiation among
members is much more before they can reach an agreement. The maximal number
for one group is six. It is clear that four is the optimal size for managing student

Whether the team is successful or not, it depends a lot on the way teachers
apply for these roles.
2.5.2. Students’ roles
According to Lin (2006), the most common roles for the group of three to
four are described as below:
- Facilitator (leader): make sure the objective is met, monitor group
discussion, clarify work of the group.
- Scribe (secretary): take note group’s result, report writing
- Presenter (spoken person): present result to other group and answer
questions.
- Researcher (resource collector): manage time and plan, follow achievement
of the objective.
2.6. Group work speaking activities
2.6.1. Group discussion
The discussion section provides an excellent chance for students to use good
learning strategies to turn the classroom into an interactive class. In this activity,
students have the opportunity to express what they are thinking to their peers. In
addition, their personal opinions are clearly stated and highly appreciated. In this
section, students use a variety of discussion strategies to present their ideas to their
partners. According to Ur (1992), the discussion is the most natural and effective
way for a learner to practice speaking freely in English by thinking of a number of
issues or situations through exchange words, or in simple terms, to discuss. He also
adds a number of elements to the good (or successful) discussion, namely, the topic,
teamwork and role play. Sometimes in group discussions, the team has found a
different solution to a problem. In groups, students can summarize key points,
consider issues such as checking, comparing and contrasting knowledge, ideas or
theory, problem-solving; or create ideas for you on the progress of the class or on
their level of skills and understanding.

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1.1. Students’ opinion on speaking skills
When asked about the favorite English skills, 45.3% students responded that
the skills they like most were reading, while speaking skills occupied less, at 29%.
In terms of the attitude toward speaking skills, there were 14.2% students said that
they were very interested in speaking skills, and 60% students were rather fond of
this skills. The rate of participants who do not like speaking skills was 5.8%.
1.2. Students’ opinion on learning speaking skills in group work.

Students' opinions on working in small
group
11.4%

8.6%
Not at all
31.4%

Little

Rather
Very

48.6%

Figure 1: Students’ opinions on learning speaking skills in group work
As can be seen from the chart that nearly half of the students (48.6%) said
they were rather interested in working in the group, while the rate of students who
were very fond of working in the group was 11.4%. However, the number of
students had less interest or did not like working in the group were 31.4% and 8.6%
respectively.