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A study on group discussion and its impacts on speaking ability of the non-major students at the post-elementary level in Military Science Academy = Nghiên cứu về thảo luận nhóm và ảnh hưởng của nó đến khả năng nói của học sinh không chuyên ngữ
M.A. Thesis English Methodology -- College of Foreign Languages. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2007
The study presents an attempt to investigate group work and its impacts on the subsequent individual presentations in the EFL classroom-based context. Oral data from a range of sources including group planning and individual presentations were c
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: ___________________________
ABSTRACTS
The study presents an attempt to investigate group work and its impacts on the subsequent individual presentations in the EFL classroom-based context. Oral data from a range of sources including group planning and individual presentations were collected from 16 non-major students at the post elementary level at MSA over a period of ten weeks. The students worked in small groups preparing for oral presentations. For each topic, two students from two groups were randomly selected to give presentations. Eight group discussions and sixteen individual presentations were selected and analyzed based on language related episodes (LREs) as well as typical features of group interaction and error free clause (EFC). The aims of the study were to explore what actually happens in group planning and whether the students in pre-planning groups perform more accurately and better than those in unplanning groups in terms of tenses, subject-verb agreement and pronouncing morpheme-s in plurality. The results showed that in group discussions students tended to focus on the content of the task, and assisted each other in preparing for the individual presentations. The findings also showed that students in pre-planning groups produced better presentations than those in unplanning groups in terms of tenses, subject-verb agreement and pronouncing morpheme-s in plurality. Since the two activities, group work and individual presentations, are routine tasks at the college where the research had been conducted, the impacts of group planning have important pedagogical implications in organizing group and individual activities in the EFL classroom context.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude to my supervisor Duong Thi Thuc, M.A for her guiding and indispensable comments on my drafts. If it had not been for her supervision, the thesis would not have been completed.
My sincere thanks are due to Mr. Truong Anh Tuan, M.A, whose generous advices and materials have encouraged and inspired me during steps of the thesis.
I would also like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my dear students of group 21T in Military Science Accademy, whose participation in and dedication to the research remain invaluable and have been acknowledged. Without their precious support, the thesis would not have taken shaped.
I am indebted to my colleagues at the English Department of Military Science Academy for their enthusiastic assistance and co-operation.
Finally, the support extended to me by the members of my family has been immeasurable. I would like to express my thanks to my parents, my husband Do Van Tuyen, and my daughters, Do Hai Yen and Do Thu Ha, for their whole hearted encouragement.
Ha Noi, July 8th 2007
Pham Thanh Mai.
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Principal types of task planning
Table 2: The implementation of the study
Table 3a: Summary of the number of LREs in PTP3 group talks
Table 3b: Summary of the number of LREs in PTP4 group talks
Table 4a. Summary of the number of turns in PTP3 group interaction.
Table 4b. Summary of the number of turns in PTP4 group interaction.
Table 5a. Summary of the leadership moves in group PTP3.
Table 5b. Summary of the leadership moves in group PTP4.
Table 6: Summary of EFVC and EFNC
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS
E: English
EFL: English as Foreign Language
ESL: English as Second Language
EFC: Error Free Clause
EFNF: Error Free Noun Forms
EFVF: Error Free Verb Forms
F-LREs: Form-Based Language Related Episodes
L1: Mother tongue/ first language
L2: Second language/ Foreign language
L-LREs: Lexis-Based Language Related Episodes
LREs: Language Related Episodes
M-LREs: Mechanic-Based Language Related Episodes
MSA: Military Science Academy
NNS: Non Native Speaker
NS: Native Speaker
NP: No Planning
PTP: Pre Task Planning
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration ….i
Abstracts ………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Acknowledgements iii
List of tables . iv
Abbreviations and conventions …………………………………………………….... v
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE 1
1.2. SCOPE, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR THE STUDY 3
1.3. METHODS OF THE STUDY 4
1.4. THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY 5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1. GROUP DISCUSSION AND ITS ADVANTAGES 6
2.1.1. Definition of group discussion 6
2.1.2. Group work and its benefits from different points of view 7
2.1.2.1. From the psycho-linguistic point of view 7
2.1.2.2. From the socio-linguistic point of view 8
2.1.2.3. From the pedagogical point of view 10
2.2. TASK-BASED PLANNING AND TASK PERFORMANCE 10
2.2.1. Definition of a task and a frame work of task-based instruction 10
2.2.2. Classification of task-based planning 12
2.3. CRITERIA TO ASSESS ORAL LANGUAGE PRODUCTION 15
2.3.1. Fluency 16
2.3.2. Complexity 17
2.3.3. Accuracy 18
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN 20
3.1. SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE MILITARY SCIENCE ACADEMY 20
3.2. PARTICIPANTS OF THE STUDY 21
3.3. PROCEDURES 22
3.4. INSTRUMENTATION 24
3.5. DATA COLLECTION 25
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS 27
4.1. GROUP DATA 27
4.2. INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION DATA 32
4.3. QUESTIONNAIRES 34
CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS 35
5.1. GROUP DISCUSSION 35
5.1.1. Language Related Episodes 35
5.1.2. Turns in group talks. 36
5.1.3. Leadership moves 37
5.2. INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATIONS 38
5.3. QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS 40
CHAPTER SIX: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 43
6.1. DISCUSSION 43
6.1.1. Research question 1 43
6.1.2. Research question 2 44
6. 2. CONCLUSION 45
References …….……………………………………………………………..…47
Appendix
Observers’ sheet ………………………………………………………………………..
Questionnaire No. 1 ………………………………………………..…….………………
Questionnaire No. 2 ……………………………………………….…………………….
Transcripts of group planning …………………………………………..……………….
Transcripts of individual presentations …………….……………………………………
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
I. Background and Rationale
For many years, the traditional teaching method of English language such as Grammar Translation has dominated the teaching and learning environment in Vietnam. This method does not focus on communicative skills, but much on grammar points in order to Giúp learners pass Grammar Tests at secondary schools and universities. As a result, many Vietnamese learners are excellent at grammar, but they can not communicate with each other in English. In classroom, teachers always explain grammatical points such as tenses, articles, prepositions and so on, and give students a great deal of exercises to practice in order to master grammar rules. Therefore, learners rarely have opportunities to speak and express their own ideas. In the teacher-centered class the teacher tends to explain and students take notes and practice; they rarely work in pairs or in groups to discuss a topic with each other. This seems to be very absurd for many educators in the world as the purpose of learning a second language is to communicate with each other in society. This is a reason why the Ministry of Education and Training needs to innovate the way of the second language teaching by applying the communicative approach in teaching English in Vietnamese classrooms. In addition, the text books and curriculums for both schools and universities should be designed for the communication-oriented and learner-centered approach. Almost all teachers are required to improve their teaching skills and try out new methods to be successful in classrooms. Group work is one of the most effective communicative approach that teachers often take into practice.
A number of researches have been conducted in the field in order to realize the influences of group discussion as a frequent class activity on students’ linguistic performance and communicative competence. Participating in group discussion helps students develop “reproductive thinking” into “productive thinking”; and discussion method results in effective learning outcomes in terms of : (a) the mastery of general subject, (b) the ability of problem-solving, (c) the development of morality, (d) the development of attitude and (e) the development of communication skills (Wilen, 1990). Alvermann and Hayes (1989) believed that active and thoughtful participation in class discussion is an “outward sign of learning”. Besides, in group participants learn to talk better, i.e. they know how to retrieve ideas, organize them coherently and speak them out fluently, and therefore communicative competence is developed. Discussion also shapes “moral culture” as participants act together in a special way with regard to truthfulness, responsiveness, openness, respect, self-awareness, self-confidence and so on (Bridges, 1979). However, Jones (1999) raised a question why a number of non-native English speaking background students, particularly those who come from Asian countries, encounter difficulties in academic group discussion. They stay silent and reticent whilst their counterparts from Europe, for example, actively participate in the group work. In Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi some studies related to group work have been done, but they only focus on applying cooperative learning to improve speaking skills. (Phan Thi Hong Anh, 2003; Vo van Thanh, 2004; Tran Thi Ngoc Bac, 2005; Hoang Thi Lan, 2005; Le Tuan Ngoc, 2005; Le Thi Bich Thuy, 2006; Nguyen Thu Huong, 2006; To Thi Thanh Ha, 2006.)
In sum, group discussion is regarded as a fruitful topic for researchers, particularly for those who are interested in Second Language Acquisition in the sense that it relates to how L2 learners approach a new language and how interactions among them contribute to that process. A number of researchers have shed light onto the field and seemed to agree on the point that group discussion productively promotes interactions among its participants. Though many of the researchers did investigate the issue, few have drawn the conclusion about what truly happens during group discussion and whether there are the relationships between group discussion and its influence on the participants’ speaking skill in terms of accuracy. Moreover, the most important reason why I pursue the study on groupwork is that teachers at the Military Science Academy (MSA) have been using group discussions very so often, however, they do not truly recognize how much their students may benefit from this dynamic activity. A minority of them even show doubts on group discussion’s advantages. Being inspired by the teaching and learning situation in the MSA, the researcher comes up with the project with clear purposes in mind: to go deeply into the essence of group discussion to explore what the students actually do during group discussion and its impacts on students’ acquisition of communicative competence in terms of accuracy, to determine if there is any possibility that participating into group discussion for academic purposes can Giúp students gain better at their interactions within the classroom, inside the college campus and later on in a learning environment of other higher educational institutions.
II. Scope, Objectives and Research Questions for the study
Within the MA thesis, the present study involves in the investigation of what the students truly do during academic group discussion and its impacts on the communicative competence of 16 post-elementary non- major English students who are in the forth year of the Chinese Department. Group discussion is experimented as an intensive methodology in speaking lessons in one class during a ten-week-study.
The project is conducted in the hope that it can contribute to the advancement of teaching and learning quality at the MSA, especially in the course of educational modernization of the country. The first and foremost, it will help:
• contribute more theory to the current understandings of academic group discussion and exploring the relationships between group discussion within the classroom and the advancement of communicative skills of 16 post-elementary non-major English students at the MSA.
• realize the essentials and potentials of group discussion as a means to accelerate EFL students’ communicative competence.
• legalize group discussion, provide the teachers with the basic framework to conduct academic discussion in speaking lessons at the MSA.
• build a stepping-stone toward the generalization of the findings into other classes, with different linguistic level students at the MSA.
• provide EFL students with more chances to interact in small groups, develop speaking skill to communicate more effectively within the group, for academic purposes, and latter on, beyond the fence of the college.
Above all, the focal point of the project is to get a better insight into group discussion as a method of improving communicative competence of EFL students for the sake of enhancing teaching and learning quality at the MSA. The findings of the study may be generalized in a broader scale, with higher level students, in larger contexts; students will enjoy greater chances of being more dynamic and active in group work and their further studies.
The research is going to cast light onto the following questions:
1. What truly happens during group discussion in classroom?
2. Do the students in pre-planning groups perform more accurately and better than those in unplanning groups in terms of tenses, subject-verb agreement and pronouncing morpheme-s in plurality?
III. Methods of the study
The research is conducted basing on both qualitative and quantitative methodology.
Qualitative approach is utilized to investigate fully the issue during group discussion and participants’ performance. Each speaking lesson in which group discussion is experimented will be observed directly by the researcher. The researcher may use field notes, carefully note down what happens in groups during the discussion, how students interact to one another, and how, for instance, the so-called silent students accommodate themselves into the group work, etc. The observation forms are based on the model initiated by Brilhart and Galanes (1992).
6. HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH EFFECTIVELY
Transcript 15 - How to learn E effectively [NP1 –Thuc].
How to learn E Effectively is an important problem. I think we must have 2 condition: Objective condition and subjective condition. First, let’s talk about Objective condition. I think we should have a good language environment and otherwise, we must have modern material. And the most important thing it is good teacher and method teaching. Now talk we ourselves, We must have interest in learning E and have good learning method is very necessary. Everyone have their own learning method, but I think it all class practise all skills: Reading, speaking, writing and listening. Otherwise, we have to practise E everywhere we can and self study effectively. Beside, we should create language environment and we have a good ability to learn E. We should clearly arm to learning E. I think that’s it is enough.
Transcript 17- How to learn E effectively [PTP3- Giang].
English is the mean of international communication. Nowadays, learning E is the trend of society. Learning E is my passion, too. But how to learn E effectively is not easy. I think the first you should have the language environment. It will Giúp you to enjoy E. Having language environment and you usually speak E to the native speakers, they will Giúp you to correct your error. Learning E, you have to practise all the skill such as: reading, speaking, writing and listening. Otherwise, you usually self study, It will Giúp you to learn E more effectively, I think. And I think you learn E effectively or not, the most important thing if you are interested in E and clearly aim at learning E.
7. ADVANTAGES OF PLAYING FOOTBALL
Transcript 16-NP1- Mr Huan- Advantages of playing football
Football really is the King of sport. It brings you a lot of many advantages.
Playing football make you stronger and more relax, more comfortable. It can Giúp you refresh yourself. So playing football can make someone become famous and earn a lot of money such as Beckam, Ronando, Ronandinho, Owel.. Football make everybody become friendly and can erase the race discrimination, colours. So I think playing football or watching football match can make you work effective. Football can show the picture of the country. It has a good effect on public, improve our economy such as TV, tourism. Football is for everyone of sport. Everybody can play football. Now football isn’t for men, but it also for women and children. We have women’s Cup and other Cup. Football really is the King of Sport.
Transcript 22 –PTP4 - Mr Vu- Advantages of playing football
Football is the most popular sport in the world, on the world. Football give advantage not only for our life, but also for our society. About our life, playing football make us stronger and make our life longer. Playing football make us work more effective. And someone play football for keep fitter and someone play football for reduce stress and entertain in free time. The most important things of playing football is that it protect my health from disease and bad habit. About our society, playing football make people friendly which could do charity work If we had a lot of money.
8. HOW TO KEEP FIT
Transcript 19 - How to keep fit? [NP2- Tuan Anh].
Health is one of the most important thing of people and how to keep fit is the thing which everybody want to do. In my opinion if you want to have a good health, at first you would have a good lifestyle and a good working style. What’s a good lifestyle?
It include of many thing. The first I think is eat regularly, many people is overweight because they not eat regularly and not usually do exercise. So if you want to keep fit, you not only eat regularly, but also take some kind of sport. Beside that, keep our body clean is one of keep fit method. Keep an environment clean is as important as that. We would rather not addict. And the last, a good lifestyle it mean you have time to relax. What about a working style?
If you know how to keep balance between work and entertainment, you will have a good health. Environment effect in work. Keep the working environment clean Giúp us work more effectively. And the most important in work is keep our spirit optimistic.
Transcript 27 - How to keep fit? [PTP3 - Giap].
My topic today is talking about How to keep fit our body. First, I think our health is very important and we should keep fit. For me, taking some kind of sport is the best way to keep fit because it can release the extra energy as well as make me stronger. Another way to keep fit is to keep away bad habit such as: smoking, heavy drunken, drinking alcohol. And for my work, I try to avoid the trouble, the stress. I try to keep balance between working and entertainment. Whenever I have free time, I try to make a funny environment to relax. If I have good health, it means that I save time, money for not only myself, but for my family and for society as well. Keeping fit is truly necessary for all of us. I think it’s true.
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A study on group discussion and its impacts on speaking ability of the non-major students at the post-elementary level in Military Science Academy = Nghiên cứu về thảo luận nhóm và ảnh hưởng của nó đến khả năng nói của học sinh không chuyên ngữ
M.A. Thesis English Methodology -- College of Foreign Languages. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2007
The study presents an attempt to investigate group work and its impacts on the subsequent individual presentations in the EFL classroom-based context. Oral data from a range of sources including group planning and individual presentations were c
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: ___________________________
ABSTRACTS
The study presents an attempt to investigate group work and its impacts on the subsequent individual presentations in the EFL classroom-based context. Oral data from a range of sources including group planning and individual presentations were collected from 16 non-major students at the post elementary level at MSA over a period of ten weeks. The students worked in small groups preparing for oral presentations. For each topic, two students from two groups were randomly selected to give presentations. Eight group discussions and sixteen individual presentations were selected and analyzed based on language related episodes (LREs) as well as typical features of group interaction and error free clause (EFC). The aims of the study were to explore what actually happens in group planning and whether the students in pre-planning groups perform more accurately and better than those in unplanning groups in terms of tenses, subject-verb agreement and pronouncing morpheme-s in plurality. The results showed that in group discussions students tended to focus on the content of the task, and assisted each other in preparing for the individual presentations. The findings also showed that students in pre-planning groups produced better presentations than those in unplanning groups in terms of tenses, subject-verb agreement and pronouncing morpheme-s in plurality. Since the two activities, group work and individual presentations, are routine tasks at the college where the research had been conducted, the impacts of group planning have important pedagogical implications in organizing group and individual activities in the EFL classroom context.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude to my supervisor Duong Thi Thuc, M.A for her guiding and indispensable comments on my drafts. If it had not been for her supervision, the thesis would not have been completed.
My sincere thanks are due to Mr. Truong Anh Tuan, M.A, whose generous advices and materials have encouraged and inspired me during steps of the thesis.
I would also like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my dear students of group 21T in Military Science Accademy, whose participation in and dedication to the research remain invaluable and have been acknowledged. Without their precious support, the thesis would not have taken shaped.
I am indebted to my colleagues at the English Department of Military Science Academy for their enthusiastic assistance and co-operation.
Finally, the support extended to me by the members of my family has been immeasurable. I would like to express my thanks to my parents, my husband Do Van Tuyen, and my daughters, Do Hai Yen and Do Thu Ha, for their whole hearted encouragement.
Ha Noi, July 8th 2007
Pham Thanh Mai.
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Principal types of task planning
Table 2: The implementation of the study
Table 3a: Summary of the number of LREs in PTP3 group talks
Table 3b: Summary of the number of LREs in PTP4 group talks
Table 4a. Summary of the number of turns in PTP3 group interaction.
Table 4b. Summary of the number of turns in PTP4 group interaction.
Table 5a. Summary of the leadership moves in group PTP3.
Table 5b. Summary of the leadership moves in group PTP4.
Table 6: Summary of EFVC and EFNC
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS
E: English
EFL: English as Foreign Language
ESL: English as Second Language
EFC: Error Free Clause
EFNF: Error Free Noun Forms
EFVF: Error Free Verb Forms
F-LREs: Form-Based Language Related Episodes
L1: Mother tongue/ first language
L2: Second language/ Foreign language
L-LREs: Lexis-Based Language Related Episodes
LREs: Language Related Episodes
M-LREs: Mechanic-Based Language Related Episodes
MSA: Military Science Academy
NNS: Non Native Speaker
NS: Native Speaker
NP: No Planning
PTP: Pre Task Planning
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration ….i
Abstracts ………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Acknowledgements iii
List of tables . iv
Abbreviations and conventions …………………………………………………….... v
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE 1
1.2. SCOPE, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR THE STUDY 3
1.3. METHODS OF THE STUDY 4
1.4. THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY 5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1. GROUP DISCUSSION AND ITS ADVANTAGES 6
2.1.1. Definition of group discussion 6
2.1.2. Group work and its benefits from different points of view 7
2.1.2.1. From the psycho-linguistic point of view 7
2.1.2.2. From the socio-linguistic point of view 8
2.1.2.3. From the pedagogical point of view 10
2.2. TASK-BASED PLANNING AND TASK PERFORMANCE 10
2.2.1. Definition of a task and a frame work of task-based instruction 10
2.2.2. Classification of task-based planning 12
2.3. CRITERIA TO ASSESS ORAL LANGUAGE PRODUCTION 15
2.3.1. Fluency 16
2.3.2. Complexity 17
2.3.3. Accuracy 18
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN 20
3.1. SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE MILITARY SCIENCE ACADEMY 20
3.2. PARTICIPANTS OF THE STUDY 21
3.3. PROCEDURES 22
3.4. INSTRUMENTATION 24
3.5. DATA COLLECTION 25
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS 27
4.1. GROUP DATA 27
4.2. INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION DATA 32
4.3. QUESTIONNAIRES 34
CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS 35
5.1. GROUP DISCUSSION 35
5.1.1. Language Related Episodes 35
5.1.2. Turns in group talks. 36
5.1.3. Leadership moves 37
5.2. INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATIONS 38
5.3. QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS 40
CHAPTER SIX: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 43
6.1. DISCUSSION 43
6.1.1. Research question 1 43
6.1.2. Research question 2 44
6. 2. CONCLUSION 45
References …….……………………………………………………………..…47
Appendix
Observers’ sheet ………………………………………………………………………..
Questionnaire No. 1 ………………………………………………..…….………………
Questionnaire No. 2 ……………………………………………….…………………….
Transcripts of group planning …………………………………………..……………….
Transcripts of individual presentations …………….……………………………………
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
I. Background and Rationale
For many years, the traditional teaching method of English language such as Grammar Translation has dominated the teaching and learning environment in Vietnam. This method does not focus on communicative skills, but much on grammar points in order to Giúp learners pass Grammar Tests at secondary schools and universities. As a result, many Vietnamese learners are excellent at grammar, but they can not communicate with each other in English. In classroom, teachers always explain grammatical points such as tenses, articles, prepositions and so on, and give students a great deal of exercises to practice in order to master grammar rules. Therefore, learners rarely have opportunities to speak and express their own ideas. In the teacher-centered class the teacher tends to explain and students take notes and practice; they rarely work in pairs or in groups to discuss a topic with each other. This seems to be very absurd for many educators in the world as the purpose of learning a second language is to communicate with each other in society. This is a reason why the Ministry of Education and Training needs to innovate the way of the second language teaching by applying the communicative approach in teaching English in Vietnamese classrooms. In addition, the text books and curriculums for both schools and universities should be designed for the communication-oriented and learner-centered approach. Almost all teachers are required to improve their teaching skills and try out new methods to be successful in classrooms. Group work is one of the most effective communicative approach that teachers often take into practice.
A number of researches have been conducted in the field in order to realize the influences of group discussion as a frequent class activity on students’ linguistic performance and communicative competence. Participating in group discussion helps students develop “reproductive thinking” into “productive thinking”; and discussion method results in effective learning outcomes in terms of : (a) the mastery of general subject, (b) the ability of problem-solving, (c) the development of morality, (d) the development of attitude and (e) the development of communication skills (Wilen, 1990). Alvermann and Hayes (1989) believed that active and thoughtful participation in class discussion is an “outward sign of learning”. Besides, in group participants learn to talk better, i.e. they know how to retrieve ideas, organize them coherently and speak them out fluently, and therefore communicative competence is developed. Discussion also shapes “moral culture” as participants act together in a special way with regard to truthfulness, responsiveness, openness, respect, self-awareness, self-confidence and so on (Bridges, 1979). However, Jones (1999) raised a question why a number of non-native English speaking background students, particularly those who come from Asian countries, encounter difficulties in academic group discussion. They stay silent and reticent whilst their counterparts from Europe, for example, actively participate in the group work. In Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi some studies related to group work have been done, but they only focus on applying cooperative learning to improve speaking skills. (Phan Thi Hong Anh, 2003; Vo van Thanh, 2004; Tran Thi Ngoc Bac, 2005; Hoang Thi Lan, 2005; Le Tuan Ngoc, 2005; Le Thi Bich Thuy, 2006; Nguyen Thu Huong, 2006; To Thi Thanh Ha, 2006.)
In sum, group discussion is regarded as a fruitful topic for researchers, particularly for those who are interested in Second Language Acquisition in the sense that it relates to how L2 learners approach a new language and how interactions among them contribute to that process. A number of researchers have shed light onto the field and seemed to agree on the point that group discussion productively promotes interactions among its participants. Though many of the researchers did investigate the issue, few have drawn the conclusion about what truly happens during group discussion and whether there are the relationships between group discussion and its influence on the participants’ speaking skill in terms of accuracy. Moreover, the most important reason why I pursue the study on groupwork is that teachers at the Military Science Academy (MSA) have been using group discussions very so often, however, they do not truly recognize how much their students may benefit from this dynamic activity. A minority of them even show doubts on group discussion’s advantages. Being inspired by the teaching and learning situation in the MSA, the researcher comes up with the project with clear purposes in mind: to go deeply into the essence of group discussion to explore what the students actually do during group discussion and its impacts on students’ acquisition of communicative competence in terms of accuracy, to determine if there is any possibility that participating into group discussion for academic purposes can Giúp students gain better at their interactions within the classroom, inside the college campus and later on in a learning environment of other higher educational institutions.
II. Scope, Objectives and Research Questions for the study
Within the MA thesis, the present study involves in the investigation of what the students truly do during academic group discussion and its impacts on the communicative competence of 16 post-elementary non- major English students who are in the forth year of the Chinese Department. Group discussion is experimented as an intensive methodology in speaking lessons in one class during a ten-week-study.
The project is conducted in the hope that it can contribute to the advancement of teaching and learning quality at the MSA, especially in the course of educational modernization of the country. The first and foremost, it will help:
• contribute more theory to the current understandings of academic group discussion and exploring the relationships between group discussion within the classroom and the advancement of communicative skills of 16 post-elementary non-major English students at the MSA.
• realize the essentials and potentials of group discussion as a means to accelerate EFL students’ communicative competence.
• legalize group discussion, provide the teachers with the basic framework to conduct academic discussion in speaking lessons at the MSA.
• build a stepping-stone toward the generalization of the findings into other classes, with different linguistic level students at the MSA.
• provide EFL students with more chances to interact in small groups, develop speaking skill to communicate more effectively within the group, for academic purposes, and latter on, beyond the fence of the college.
Above all, the focal point of the project is to get a better insight into group discussion as a method of improving communicative competence of EFL students for the sake of enhancing teaching and learning quality at the MSA. The findings of the study may be generalized in a broader scale, with higher level students, in larger contexts; students will enjoy greater chances of being more dynamic and active in group work and their further studies.
The research is going to cast light onto the following questions:
1. What truly happens during group discussion in classroom?
2. Do the students in pre-planning groups perform more accurately and better than those in unplanning groups in terms of tenses, subject-verb agreement and pronouncing morpheme-s in plurality?
III. Methods of the study
The research is conducted basing on both qualitative and quantitative methodology.
Qualitative approach is utilized to investigate fully the issue during group discussion and participants’ performance. Each speaking lesson in which group discussion is experimented will be observed directly by the researcher. The researcher may use field notes, carefully note down what happens in groups during the discussion, how students interact to one another, and how, for instance, the so-called silent students accommodate themselves into the group work, etc. The observation forms are based on the model initiated by Brilhart and Galanes (1992).
6. HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH EFFECTIVELY
Transcript 15 - How to learn E effectively [NP1 –Thuc].
How to learn E Effectively is an important problem. I think we must have 2 condition: Objective condition and subjective condition. First, let’s talk about Objective condition. I think we should have a good language environment and otherwise, we must have modern material. And the most important thing it is good teacher and method teaching. Now talk we ourselves, We must have interest in learning E and have good learning method is very necessary. Everyone have their own learning method, but I think it all class practise all skills: Reading, speaking, writing and listening. Otherwise, we have to practise E everywhere we can and self study effectively. Beside, we should create language environment and we have a good ability to learn E. We should clearly arm to learning E. I think that’s it is enough.
Transcript 17- How to learn E effectively [PTP3- Giang].
English is the mean of international communication. Nowadays, learning E is the trend of society. Learning E is my passion, too. But how to learn E effectively is not easy. I think the first you should have the language environment. It will Giúp you to enjoy E. Having language environment and you usually speak E to the native speakers, they will Giúp you to correct your error. Learning E, you have to practise all the skill such as: reading, speaking, writing and listening. Otherwise, you usually self study, It will Giúp you to learn E more effectively, I think. And I think you learn E effectively or not, the most important thing if you are interested in E and clearly aim at learning E.
7. ADVANTAGES OF PLAYING FOOTBALL
Transcript 16-NP1- Mr Huan- Advantages of playing football
Football really is the King of sport. It brings you a lot of many advantages.
Playing football make you stronger and more relax, more comfortable. It can Giúp you refresh yourself. So playing football can make someone become famous and earn a lot of money such as Beckam, Ronando, Ronandinho, Owel.. Football make everybody become friendly and can erase the race discrimination, colours. So I think playing football or watching football match can make you work effective. Football can show the picture of the country. It has a good effect on public, improve our economy such as TV, tourism. Football is for everyone of sport. Everybody can play football. Now football isn’t for men, but it also for women and children. We have women’s Cup and other Cup. Football really is the King of Sport.
Transcript 22 –PTP4 - Mr Vu- Advantages of playing football
Football is the most popular sport in the world, on the world. Football give advantage not only for our life, but also for our society. About our life, playing football make us stronger and make our life longer. Playing football make us work more effective. And someone play football for keep fitter and someone play football for reduce stress and entertain in free time. The most important things of playing football is that it protect my health from disease and bad habit. About our society, playing football make people friendly which could do charity work If we had a lot of money.
8. HOW TO KEEP FIT
Transcript 19 - How to keep fit? [NP2- Tuan Anh].
Health is one of the most important thing of people and how to keep fit is the thing which everybody want to do. In my opinion if you want to have a good health, at first you would have a good lifestyle and a good working style. What’s a good lifestyle?
It include of many thing. The first I think is eat regularly, many people is overweight because they not eat regularly and not usually do exercise. So if you want to keep fit, you not only eat regularly, but also take some kind of sport. Beside that, keep our body clean is one of keep fit method. Keep an environment clean is as important as that. We would rather not addict. And the last, a good lifestyle it mean you have time to relax. What about a working style?
If you know how to keep balance between work and entertainment, you will have a good health. Environment effect in work. Keep the working environment clean Giúp us work more effectively. And the most important in work is keep our spirit optimistic.
Transcript 27 - How to keep fit? [PTP3 - Giap].
My topic today is talking about How to keep fit our body. First, I think our health is very important and we should keep fit. For me, taking some kind of sport is the best way to keep fit because it can release the extra energy as well as make me stronger. Another way to keep fit is to keep away bad habit such as: smoking, heavy drunken, drinking alcohol. And for my work, I try to avoid the trouble, the stress. I try to keep balance between working and entertainment. Whenever I have free time, I try to make a funny environment to relax. If I have good health, it means that I save time, money for not only myself, but for my family and for society as well. Keeping fit is truly necessary for all of us. I think it’s true.
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