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Action research on students’ inactiveness in pre-writing group discussion of an essay-writing essay practice lesson at hong duc university,thanh hoa
PART 1: INTRODUCTION RATIONALE Nowadays English has become an international language because it is widely used in many parts of the world In the tendency of integration of the global economy English is one of the effective communicative tools for everybody The role of English is considered to be very important in the fields of economics, politics, science, culture and education Especially, Vietnam’s official membership of WTO on 7th November 2006 opened a new door for integrating into the world economy, and more and more people want to learn English for communicating with foreign partners, tourism, study tours, etc Since the Communicative Language Teaching was applied widely, groupwork has had its actual and important roles in helping students to practice their four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) in integration When teaching writing essays to the third-year Major English College students at Hong Duc University I found out that in practice writing lessons very few students took part in groupwork actively I saw that students sat in groups saying nothing or very little mainly in their mother tongue or having private talks When they were encouraged to work in groups they reluctantly spoke I decided to carry out the action research to find out the causes of students' inactive participation in groupwork Based on the results of this action research, some changes and improvements could be applied in my lessons, and some appropriate strategies needed to be designed to enable all group members to discuss actively in groups I hoped the results of my study would be shared with any colleagues who had the same problem or anyone who was interested in this study METHODOLOGY 2.1 Participants The subjects of my research were 36 third-year major English college students in Class K12A (Academic Course: 2005-2008) of Foreign Language Department at Hong Duc University, Thanh Hoa province The class was divided into groups with six students in each The research was carried out during the second term of the academic year 2006-2007 at Hong Duc University 2.2 Research procedure My action research consisted of three main stages: Pre-Improvement stage, TryingOut stage and Post-Improvement stage Stage 1: Pre-Improvement: Step Identifying the problem which was wished to solve or an area which was wished to improve by: i Observing a lesson that illustrated the problem ii Conducting a survey to get information from students Step Finding causes of the problem by: i Consulting with colleagues: a number of colleagues were asked to answer three questions about groupwork on a piece of paper ii Reading professional books/ journals for ideas and suggestions Stage 2: Trying-Out Step Designing strategies for improvements (plan for action) Step Trying out the strategies (action) and making records of what happened in class Stage 3: Post-Improvement Step Evaluating the try-out by: i Observing a lesson (Focusing on the students’ turns of speaking in groupwork in an essay-writing practice lesson at the end of the try-out period) that illustrated the changes that have been made; ii Reflecting on the reasons for those changes (which could include things that had been improved or that had been gotten worse) iii Carrying out a survey to get information from my students iv Giving comments and conclusions Scope of the study This study was carried out in an English class with 36 rd year college students in the Foreign Language Department at Hong Duc University in Thanh Hoa province The research focused on the problem of “inactiveness” in group discussion in pre-writing stage of essay-writing practice lessons Design of the study My research consists of three main parts with: Introduction, Development and Conclusion Part 1: Introduction presents the rationale, the method of study, the scope of the study, the subject of the study, the significance of the study and the design of the study Part 2: Development consists of Section A ‘ Literature Review’ and Section B ‘Action Research Procedure’ In Section A, there are three chapters with different focuses Chapter One focuses on action research: its definition, three reasons to use it, and ways to carry out it Chapter Two introduces the concepts of writing, academic writing, writing essays, types of essays, the process of writing essays It also discusses the teaching of writing and the teaching of writing essays, some approaches to teaching writing The last chapter (Chapter Three) focuses on groupwork in teaching foreign languages in general and in teaching writing essays; some advantages and problems of groupwork Section B namely “Action Research Procedure” describes the procedure of my action research with the following main steps: defining the problem, observing class, conducting a survey using questionnaires, collecting data and analyzing data, and giving out conclusions from findings Part 3: Conclusion is the last part which offered a summary and suggestions for solving the problem of inactiveness of groupwork in teaching writing essays and some implications for the teachers who uses groupwork in teaching writing essays PART 2: DEVELOPMENT A LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 1: ACTION RESEARCH What is action research? According to Jerry G Grebhard (1999), the concept of action research originated in the work of Kurt Lewin (1948, 1952) He was a social psychologist who brought together experimental approaches to social-science research and the idea of “social action” to address social issues Stephen Corey (1952, 1953), a Columbia University professor, was among the first to use action research in the field of education He argued that formal research following a scientific method had little impact on educational practice Through action research, he argued, changes in educational practice were possible In terms of what action research was, having considered what it was not, action research had been defined in many different ways In Stephen Corey’s definition “(Action research is) a way in which teachers try to study their own problems scientifically, in an effort to evaluate, guide and correct their procedures” Tsui’s definition was more detailed and simpler: "Action research is a very effective way of helping teachers to reflect on their teaching and to come up with their own alternatives to improve their practice.” (Tsui, 1993) In another way, action research was mentioned at two levels by Grebhard and Oprandy: “At one level, action research is about teachers identifying and posing problems, as well as addressing issues and concerns related to the problem It is about working toward understanding and possibly resolving these problems by setting goals and creating and initiating a plan of action, as well as reflecting on the degree to which the plan works … At another level, it can be about addressing educational practices that go beyond each teacher’s classroom” (Grebhard and Oprandy, 1999) In the “Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics” Richards, J.C and Platt, J H gave the following definitions of action research: In the general meaning, it is “… research which has the primary goal of finding ways of solving problems, bringing about social change or practical action, in comparison with research which seeks to discover scientific principles or develop general laws and theories” In teacher education, it is “ … teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase the teacher’s understanding of classroom teaching and learning and to bring about improvements in classroom practices.” In brief, action research is a kind of scientific study which is often carried out by a teacher or an educator in order to solve a practical problem in a classroom As it was named, it focuses mainly on the actions of both students and teachers So, it can solve the problems which are related to all actions and activities in a classroom The problems which are solved by action research are often practical and useful for teachers Why does a teacher need action research? Action research in schools, colleges or universities solves everyday practical problems experienced by teachers, rather than the ‘theoretical problems’ defined by non-teaching researchers It should be carried out by the teachers themselves or by someone they commission to carry out for them Action research in education focuses on the three related stages of action: “1 Initiating action, such as, adopting a text, choosing an alternative assessment strategy Monitoring and adjusting, such as, seeing how a pilot project is proceeding, assessing the early progress of new programme, improving a current practice Evaluating action, such as, preparing a final report on a completed project” (Sagor, 1992) If the teacher was trained to conduct action research he could solve his problems on his own or in collaboration with other teachers Anders (1988), Curtis (1988) and Tsui (1993) gave three reasons why a teacher needed action research: - to solve own problems in a scientific process and improve own practice - to adapt theory (findings of conventional research) to practice (own problems) - to share the results of action research with other teachers Moreover, action research was also for a teacher’s professional developments He would become a better teacher because he knew how to find out and solve his problems in teaching scientifically on his own This also showed his dynamic, activeness and imagination in his teaching job How does a teacher carry out action research in a language classroom? Tsui (1993) suggested steps in conducting action research: Step Identifying problems you wish to solve or an area you wish to improve by: + reviewing an audio- or a video-taped lesson and the transcription of a segment of the lesson that illustrates the problem + conducting a survey to hear from your students Step Finding causes of the problem by: + consulting with your colleagues, trainers + reading professional books/ journals for ideas and suggestions Step Designing strategies for improvement (plan for action) and writing a proposal for action research Step Trying out the strategies (action) and keeping a diary of what happened in the class Step Evaluating the try-out by: + reviewing a lesson (taped at the end of the try-out period) that illustrated the changes that have been made; and + reflecting on the reasons for those changes (which could include things that have been improved or that have been gotten worse) + carrying out a survey to get information from students Other authors such as Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988), Andy Curtis (1988) and Nunan (1989) also recommended the similar steps in doing action research in a classroom Different from Tsui, in the step of “Collecting data and identifying the problem’, Nunan (1992) suggested that teachers should observe and make notes on what their learners and themselves said and did in class, and then, based on these observations, identified positive ways to bring about this change In my opinion, observing the class and making notes are feasible for a teacher to implement his/her action research where cassette recorders or camcorders are not available A necessary component of action research is collaboration among different people They are teachers, their colleagues and students, who should be willing to talk with each other about the problems and find out the solutions together, as well as help each other in implementing classroom-centered action research projects It also needs the collaborative efforts of students who participate in the action research project Students’ collaboration plays an important role in the success of the action research project Summary Action research is a kind of scientific study carried out by a teacher which solves the practical problems in a classroom The teacher needs action research to adapt theory (findings of conventional research) to practice (his/her own problems) Action research consists of three stages: Pre-Improvement: Firstly, the teacher identifies the problem in his teaching job in class He/she observes by himself/herself or asks somebody to observe or has his/her lessons video-taped in class to get data to prove the problem He/she also proves the problem by conducting a survey to get information from his/her students Secondly, the teacher tries to find out the causes of the problem from professional books or journals, colleagues and students Try-Out: The teacher designs the strategies for improvement and tries them out in some following lessons Next, a lesson is observed or video-taped to get data to illustrate the changes and improvements Post-Improvement: The teacher reflects on the reasons for the changes and improvements To ensure the success of the applied strategies in action research a survey is necessary to get the evaluation from students From the results of the action research some conclusions and comments will be made Action research can be carried out in collaboration with other teachers or educators and it needs the supports from both students and education administrators Its results should be popularized and shared with anybody who is interested in CHAPTER 2: WRITING WHAT IS WRITING? In teaching a language, writing is considered one of the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) that a learner is expected to master Writing is the process in which the writer expresses his thoughts or ideas in the form of handwriting “Writing is communicating Good writing gets your ideas out of your head and into the reader’s head without losing or distorting those ideas” (Leki, 1976) To understand thoroughly the nature of writing, some more academic definitions of writing should be studied According to “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” (1989), writing is to “make letters or other symbols on a surface (usually paper), especially with a pen or pencil” Writing, in Davies’s point of view, involved two kinds of skills The first ones were lowlevel skills such as handwriting or typing, spelling, constructing grammatical sentences, punctuating and the second ones were high-level cognitive skills such as gathering ideas, organizing and sequencing, structuring, drafting, and editing Byrne (1988) gave a long and complex definition which might be summarized as follows: writing is the act of forming graphic symbols (letters or combinations of letters) which were arranged according to certain conventions, to form words, and words which were arranged to form sentences, and we produced a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and linked together in certain way, on a flat surface of some kind In conclusion, Byrne’s definition can be considered one of the most complete definitions of writing because it covers all of the features of writing given by three abovementioned authors WHAT IS ACADEMIC WRITING? Academic writing is part of the writing skills that is taught in schools, colleges or universities “Academic writing, as the name implies, is kind of writing that you are required to in college or university It differs from other kinds of writing (personal, literary, journalistic, business, etc) ways Its differences can be explained in part by its special audience, tone, and purpose” (Oshima and Hogue, 1991) In more details, Oshima and Hogue gave some clear explanations to some terms in their definition of academic writing “Audience” meant the people who would read what the author had written Knowing audience helped the writer reach his/her goal of communicating clearly and effectively In academic writing, the audience was primarily his/her professors, teachers 10 The following questions were chosen for my colleagues in the Foreign Languages Department in Hong Duc University to answer on a piece of paper: a Do you usually use groupwork in teaching writing essays? All of 12 English teachers (100 %) usually used groupwork in teaching writing essays This shows that groupwork is very popular in teaching writing essays in my department b Do you agree with the following criteria of evaluating students’ activeness in groupwork: Active (over times); Inactive ( time or no participation)? 10 teachers (about 83.33 %) supported the criteria of evaluating student’s activeness in groupwork and only teachers had no ideas c Have you ever met the problem of inactive participation in groupwork? All of the teachers thought they had ever met this problem d How did you solve this problem? teachers gave the following solutions to inactiveness in groupwork: Teachers should choose interesting topics Teachers should go to the entire group to ask students to talk and listen to them Teachers should not interrupt students to correct his or her grammar or pronunciation mistakes because this made them unable to continue to speak any more The other three teachers wrote that they still did not find any effective ways to eliminate inactiveness in groupwork READING PROFESSIONAL BOOKS OR JOURNALS FOR IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS All of information, ideas or suggestions I got from the professional books or journals were mentioned in details in the chapter “Groupwork” in this Minor Thesis Paper (from page 22 to page 26) TRY-OUT STAGE 31 STEP 3: DESIGNING STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT From the comments, ideas and suggestions from my students, my colleagues, professional books or journals and my own teaching experience I designed the following strategies to improve the problem: Choosing suitable topics for my students’ essays (by using a questionnaire) Allowing students to form a group by themselves Allowing students to choose a student as the head of group Asking the head of the group to the two duties: encouraging all of his/her members to contribute their ideas equally and making all of the group members follow the rules “No private talks and no speaking Vietnamese” during the groupwork Moving among the groups as quickly as possible, paying more attention to less – confident or quiet students and encouraging them to speak Avoiding interrupting students for correcting mistakes STEP 4: TRYING OUT STRATEGIES AND MAKING NOTES ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CLASS The new strategies and changes were tried out in two next practice writing lessons All of the changes and improvements or even new or bad problems after each lesson were made notes on by the teacher in brief 4.1 The first try-out lesson: Topic: “Computer games online have both good points and bad points Do you agree or disagree?” - Pre-writing group discussion lasted for 10 minutes - It took some minutes for students to form a group by themselves and to choose the head of the group 32 - Students worked more actively in their new groups - The head of the group showed his/her active roles when asking each of the group members to speak in turn - The chosen topic was interesting for students to share their ideas on the topic - Instead of standing to observe students talking as before, I had to move among the groups very quickly to listen to all the group talking, give necessary aids and encourage some lessconfident students to speak - It might be a successful lesson 4.2 The second try-out lesson: Topic: “Chatting online is a waste of time Do you agree or disagree?” - Pre-writing group discussion lasted for 10 minutes - Students started their group work very quickly -The head of the group organized and controlled his/her group’s activities more professionally and effectively Most of the students followed the rules given by the head of the group - The topic was suitably chosen - There were still some students worked less actively in groupwork - It might be a successful lesson After two trying-out lessons with some successful changes and improvements it’s time to observe a lesson to collect data for analyzing to evaluate the Try-Out Stage POST-IMPROVEMENT STAGE 33 STEP 5: EVALUATING THE TRY-OUT - Three volunteer teachers were asked to observe a lesson after the trying-out stage that illustrated the changes that had been made; - The results of class observation was used to reflect on the reasons for those changes (which could include things that were improved or that got worse) - A survey was carried out to get information from students - Comments and conclusions were made POST-IMPROVEMENT CLASS OBSERVATION A BRIEF DESCRITION OF THE LESSON Topic for writing essay: “What should an applicant for a successful interview for a job?” Time allowance: 10 minutes (3 minutes for brainstorming and minutes for group discussion) The criteria of evaluating each student’s activeness in groupwork: Inactive (0 - time), Active (Over times) Total number of students was observed: 36 Total number of groups was observed: 06 B THE RESULTS OF POST-IMPROVEMENT CLASS OBSERVATION 34 TABLE 03: Students’ turns of speaking in six groups Total number Ordinal Group number 01 02 03 04 05 06 Total: of students Group 01 Group 02 Group 03 Group 04 Group 05 Group 06 06 0-1 Over (turns of speaking) (turns of speaking) 01 00 01 00 00 00 02 (≈ 5.55) 05 06 05 06 06 06 34 (≈ 94.44%) 06 06 06 06 06 06 36 ( 100 %) In Table 03 there were 02 students (≈ 5.55 %) who worked inactively and there were 34 students, which made up about 94.44 %, worked very actively In short, in the Post–Improvement Stage the above results proved that my changes and improvements were successful because the number of inactive students was minimized to about 5.55 % 5.2 POST-IMPROVEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS Question 1: Multiple-choice: a too difficult (out of your knowledge) b too easy (you know everything about it) c interesting and challenging (you like it but you need groupwork to exchange ideas about it before writing) d boring (you not like it) Choice Question a What you think of today’s topic for writing an essay? 02 (≈5.55 %) b (0 %) Notes c 34 ( ≈ 94.44 %) 35 d (0 %) 02 students (≈5.55 %) considered the topic too difficult and 34 students ( ≈ 94.44%) thought that the topic was interesting and challenging Question 2: Multiple–choice: a The teacher let students choose other group members by themselves b The teacher allowed students select a head for their group c The teacher moved among the groups quickly to encourage less active students to work and give helps when necessary d all of a, b and c Choice Question Notes a Which of the changes made by the teacher were successful? b c d (0 %) (0 %) (0 %) 36 (100 %) All of the students (100 %) agreed that the changes made by the teacher were successful Question 3: Multiple-choice: a Groupwork enables students to get used to helping and learning from each other? b Groupwork gives students more talking time and freedom to express their ideas c Groupwork helps students exchange their ideas with others in group d all of them Notes Choice Question a What were the good points of groupwork which were proved in today’s lesson? b c d ( 0%) (0 %) ( 0%) 36 (100%) 36 36 students (100%) agreed with the three good points of groupwork given by the teacher This also showed that all of the students found out the benefits of groupwork so they worked in groupwork actively Question 4: Multiple-choice: a poor vocabulary related to the topic you are discussing b not enough grammar knowledge or sentence patterns to express your ideas easily c your pronunciation is not good so you don’t want to speak d nothing Choice Question a Did you have any of these language problems in group work? b c d 02 (≈ 5.55%) 02 (≈ 5.55) (0 %) Notes 32 (≈ 83.33%) There were 32 students (≈ 83.33%) had no language problems but there were still 04 students (≈11.11%) had language problems This showed that my changes and improvements about groupwork could not help students solve their language inability completely for a short time These problems should be further studied in other scientific researches Question 5: Multiple-choice: a shyness (not used to speaking in front of others) b used to have a bad relationship with others in your old group c stress d nothing 37 Choice Question Notes a Did you have any personal problems in group work: b c d (0%) 01 (≈ 2.77 %) (%) 35 (≈ 97.22 %) There was one student who used to have a bad relationship with other members in his old group He /she could join a new group so his bad relationship did not affect his groupwork any more although it still existed About 97.22 % of students had no personal problems Question 6: Multiple-choice: a encouraging and asking everybody in turns to speak b giving the rule “No private talks and no speaking Vietnamese” c putting talkative students next to quiet students and good speakers next to bad speakers d all of a, b and c Choice Question Notes a Which of these roles of the head of the group were successful? b c d (0%) (0%) (0%) 36 (100%) All of the 36 students agreed that all the heads of the groups in class were successful with their responsibilities as the controllers or organizers of all of the activities of their groups They also helped the teacher eliminate inactiveness in groupwork effectively SUMMARY My action research was carried out through five steps successfully The causes of my students’ inactive participation in groupwork were proved by Pre-Improvement class 38 observation and the survey to get information from students The changes, improvements and some strategies, which were based on from the ideas, comments and suggestions by my students, colleagues and other experts in some professional books or journals, were designed and applied successfully in Try-out stage They showed initial effects in the next two try-out lessons Analyzing the data of both post-improvement class observation and the survey for students showed that the problem of inactiveness in groupwork in my class was solved successfully PART 3: CONCLUSION The validity and reliability of my 5-step action research were ensured because the results of the class observations were in accordance with those of the surveys for students Firstly, the problem was identified and a lesson was observed to illustrate the problem Then a survey for students was conducted to get students’ opinions about the problem The results of analyzing the data of the pre-improvement class observation showed that over 39 58.33 % of students (21/36) did not participate in group work or spoke only one time group work There were 15 students (about 41.66%) who worked actively in group work Answering the question about the reasons why not participating in group work in the survey, 21 students (≈ 58.33 %) said that they did not join their groups because the topic was too difficult and they had no ideas about it 15 students ( ≈ 41.66%) either liked the topic or disliked the topic Next, I consulted with my colleagues and read professional books or journals to collect advice, suggestions and opinions from experts or authors I designed the following strategies to solve the problem in the next stage (try-out): Choosing suitable topics for my students’ essays (by using a questionnaire) Allowing students to form a group by themselves Allowing students to choose a student as the head of group Asking the head of the group to the two duties: encouraging all of his/her members to contribute their ideas equally and making all of the group members follow the rules “No private talks and no speaking Vietnamese” during the groupwork Moving among the groups as quickly as possible, paying more attention to less – confident or quiet students and encouraging them to speak Avoid interrupting students for correcting any kinds of their mistakes During the try-out stage these strategies worked very well and effectively and the activities of groups became more active than before and students’ participation in groupwork was improved remarkably After the try-out stage a lesson was observed to illustrate the changes that have been made Analyzing the data of the class observation proved that the action research was successful 100 % of groups worked actively There were only 02 inactive students (≈ 5.55%) in groupwork and 34 students (≈ 94.44%) who worked actively in groupwork The results of the post-improvement questionnaire for students also confirmed the above-mentioned conclusions These results explained the reason why 02 inactive students (≈ 5.55%) did not join groupwork because they thought the topic was too difficult for them to talk about In this questionnaire 100% of students also confirmed the success of the researcher’s changes, improvements and strategies to solve the problem of inactiveness in groupwork All of 36 students also recognized the good points of groupwork and this encouraged them to work in groupwork effectively In conclusion, the problem of inactiveness in groupwork was solved successfully 40 The findings of the action research implicated that: The suitability of the topic is very important Students should be allowed to form their groups and choose their group heads by themselves The roles of the head of the group is decisive in control of the activities of a group Some group regulations i.e “No private talks and no speaking Vietnamese” are useful in eliminating inactiveness in groupwork The teacher should be present at every group to help and encourage students to speak While students are speaking in groupwork, the teacher should not interrupt them for correcting mistakes because this may make them feel less confident when they continue speaking later The problem of bad relationship between or among students can be solved temporarily by student’s movement to another group The post-improvement questionnaire also showed that there were still some problems that this study could not solve absolutely for during the try-out stage: Students’ poor vocabulary related to the topic Students’ insufficiency of grammar knowledge I hope that these above problems should be solved completely in other studies in future However, the study still has some shortcomings I would be willing to hear and grateful that the readers could give constructive comments so that it would be improved later REFERENCES Anders, D J 1988 Action research In The Action Research Reader Deakin University, pp 121-2 Army, B M 1993 Helping Teachers to Conduct AR in Their Classrooms In Freeman, D and Cornwall, S (Eds.) 1993 New Ways in Teacher Education Tesol Inc Byrne, D 1988 Teaching Writing Skills Longman Corey, S M 1953 Action Research to Improve School Practices New York: Teacher 41 College Press Curtis, A 1988 Action research: What, How and Why In The Action Research Reader Deakin University Davies, P and Pearse, E 2000 Success in English Teaching OUP David, N 1989 Research Methods in Language Learning CUP Elliott, J What is Action Research in Schools? Journal of Curriculum Studies, vol.10, no.4, 1998, pp, 355-7 Fawcett, S and Sandberg, A Evergreen – A Guide to Writing Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company 10 Freeman, D and Cornwall, S (Eds) 1993 New Ways in Teacher Education Tesol Inc 11 Gebhard and Oprandy 1999 Language Teaching Awareness: A guide to Exploring Beliefs and Practices CUP 12 Gower, R et al (1985) Teaching Practice Handbook (New edition) Heinemann 13 Hornby, A S 1989 Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary OUP 14 Jack C Richards 1987 Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms CUP 15 Richards, J.C and Platt, J.,H 1992 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Longman 16 Jeremy, H 1998 How to Teach English Longman 17 Kemmis, S and R Mc Taggart.1988 The Action Research Planner Victoria, Australia: Deakin University Press 18 Leki, I 1976 Academic Writing, Techniques and Tasks: ST Martin Press, New York 19 Nunan, D 1989 Understanding Language Classroom: A Guide for Teacher Initiated Action New York: Prentice – Hall 20 Oshima, A and Hogue, A 1991 Writing Academic English New York: Welsley Publishing Company 21 Raimes, A 1983 Techniques in Teaching Writing OUP 22 Sagor, R 1992 How to Conduct Collaborative Action Research USA: Association Supervision and Curriculum Development 23 Sharpe, Pamela, J 2001 How to Prepare for the TOEFL Test USA: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc 42 24 Smalley, L R and Ruetten , K M 1986 Refining Composition Skills New York: Macmillan Publishing Company 25 Barry, S 1997 How to Teach English OUP 26 Tsui, A.B 1993 Helping Teachers to Conduct Action Research in Their Classrooms In D Freeman, with S Cornwell (Eds) New Ways in Teacher Education Alexandria VA: TESOL 27 Wallace, M.J 1998 Action Research for Language Teacher CUP APPENDICES: Appendix 01 GROUP WORK OBSERVATION IN THE CLASSROOM Class: Date/time: Number of students: Stage: Pre/ Post-Improvement Lesson content/ topic: Observer’s name: …………………………………………………………… 43 Board Teacher's table Group 01 G Group 02 G Group 03 G13 G19 14 20 Group 04 15 16 21 17 23 22 Group 05 18 24 Group 06 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 o 33 Notes: - Write NP (non-participating) next to the numbers of the students who don't take part in groupwork - Count the number of turns of participation of each student in each group and write down next to the student's number - Record the number of students who speak Vietnamese and have private talks 44 Appendix 02 QUESTIONNAIRE ON GROUP WORK (For students in Post-Improvement stage) In order to find the ways to use group discussion effectively in topic-based essaywriting practice lessons, the teacher have applied some changes in using groupwork, please complete this questionnaire by putting a tick into the box What you think of today’ s topic for writing an essay? a too difficult (out of your knowledge) b too easy (you know everything about it) c interesting and challenging (you like it but you need groupwork to exchange ideas about it before writing) d boring (you not like it) Which of the changes made by the teacher were successful? a The teacher let students choose other group members by themselves b The teacher allowed students select a head for their group c The teacher moved among the groups quickly to encourage less active students to work and give helps when necessary d all of a, b and c What were the good points of groupwork which were proved in today’ s lesson? a Groupwork enables students to get used to helping and learning from each other? b Groupwork gives students more talking time and freedom to express their ideas c Groupwork helps students exchange their ideas with others in group d all of them Did you have any of these language problems in group work? a poor vocabulary related to the topic you are discussing b not enough grammar knowledge or sentence patterns to express your ideas easily c your pronunciation is not good so you don’t want to speak d nothing Did you have any personal problems in group work: a shyness (not used to speaking in front of others) b used to have a bad relationship with others in your old group c stress d nothing Which of these roles of the head of the group was successful? a encouraging and asking everybody in turns to speak b giving the rule “No private talks and no speaking Vietnamese” c putting talkative students next to quiet students and good speakers next to bad speakers d all of a, b and c Thank you for your support 45 ... Department at Hong Duc University in Thanh Hoa province The research focused on the problem of ? ?inactiveness? ?? in group discussion in pre-writing stage of essay- writing practice lessons Design of the... The action research was carried out to solve following problem: ? ?Students’ inactiveness in pre-writing group discussion of an essay- writing practice lesson at Hong Duc University” OBSERVING A LESSON. .. in education focuses on the three related stages of action: “1 Initiating action, such as, adopting a text, choosing an alternative assessment strategy Monitoring and adjusting, such as, seeing