USING GROUP WORK TO INCREASE STUDENTS’

MOTIVATION AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF

INDUSTRY IN SPEAKING LESSONS

TRUONG MINH HUE

 CONTENT
• The research rationale
• Context and problem identification
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Methods
• Pedagogical tensions and ethical issues
 Introduction
The research rationale
- Motivation plays a vital role in foreign language
learning: “Many researchers considered
motivation as one of the main elements that
determine success in a second or foreign
language, it determines the extent of active,
personal involvement in L2 learning ” (Oxford&
Shearin, 1994).
- The researcher’s teaching context
- Advantages of group work
 Description of my context

English course: 150 periods/ 2 semesters

Text book: New Headway – Elementary
No. of students: 20 students/ class, non-
English major, elementary level, age: 19-20
 Problem Identification

Problem: Students are not interested in

participating speaking lessons.

Innovation: Using group work

 Literature review
• Research question:

HOW DO THE FISRT YEAR STUDENTS AT HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY RESPOND TO GROUP WORK
WHEN LEARNING SPEAKING?
 Literature review
1) Motivation
a) Definition: - Linghtbrown & Spada (2002)
- Garder (1996)
- Dornyei (1994)
- Littlewood (1998)
“Motivation is interest in and enthusiasm for the materials
used in class; persistence with the learning task, as
indicated by levels of attention or action for an
extended duration; and levels of concentration and
enjoyment. (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991)
b)
2) Group work
a) Definition
Group work is defined as a collaborative activity
wherein students work in groups and they together
share aims and responsibilities to accomplish a task
allotted by their teacher. (Johnson, Johnson and
Smith, 1991)
b) Types of group work
- Informal learning group
- Formal learning group
- Study teams
(Johnson, Johnson and Smith, 1991)
c) Advantages of group work

• Increasing participation ( Long, 1985)

• Increasing language practice opportunity (Ur, 1996)
• Increasing motivation (Ur, 1996)
• Improving the quality of student talk (Krall, 1989-
1993)
 Methodology
Qualitative Research Methodology
• focuses on understanding the thought,
perspectives and experience of the
participants through their natural setting
(Harwell, 2011)
• is often carried out in small scale (Denzin,
2006)
• constructs explanations from the information
gathered by participants -> inductive style
(Harwell, 2011)
 Methods
Observation
• Data: students’ behaviour and overall class
motivation in their process of learning
• Time: before and after applying group work
• Observation sheets: adapted from Hopkins
(1985) and Nunan (1989)
• Data analysis: calculate in mean score and
compare
 Methods
Semi- structured interview
• Data: the participants’ opinions about the
application of group work
• Time: after applying group work
• Interview questions: adapted from the
attitude questionnaire by Shak (2006)
• Data analysis: transcribe and categorise into
the same theme
 Pedagogical tension
Difficulties in:
• Forming interview questions
• Collecting data in observation method

Solutions:
• Adapting interview questions and observation
sheets from literature
 Ethical issues

• Get permission of the dean of department

and institutional scientific council
• Notify the aim and the process of research to
the participants
• Describe the role of the researcher and the
research clearly
• Preserve students’ anonymity
• Keep the students’ answers confidentially
Thank you for listening