Some activities work in pairs or in groups effectively in speaking lesson (English 10 - Basic )

 THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT
 HAU LOC 3 HIGH SCHOOL
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EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
SOME ACTIVITIES WORK IN PAIRS OR IN GROUPS EFFECTIVELY IN SPEAKING LESSON 
( ENGLISH 10 - BASIC ) 
Implementer : PHAM THI CHUYEN
 Position : Teacher
 Field : English
THANH HOA YEAR 2018
CONTENT TABLE
CONTENTS
PAGES
PART I: OPENING
I. Reason for choosing the research
II. Aims of the research
III. Scope, object and researching method
PART II: STUDY CONTENTS
I. Thoery basic
II. The actual subject
 III. Solutions
1. General introduction
a. What are pair work and group work
b. Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems.
2. Organizing pair work and group work
3. Some activities work in pairs or in groups effectively 
IV. Demonstration:
1. Example of pair work:
2. Example of group work.
3. Example of dividing the class:
4. Suggestions for some popular kinds of practice
V. Applying the research in teaching
VI. Result after applying the research in teaching
 PART III: CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS
1. Conclusion
2. Proposals.
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PART I: OPENING
I. REASON FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH
 With the speedy development of the world today, English is widely used in every field of life. It is not only the native language of many countries but also the most popular comunication language of people around the world.The goal of education is currently focused on the development of dynamic, The creative and active of students enable them to identify and solve problems . To achieve this goal, changing teaching methods towards learners seriously - considered to be the subject of student activities to encourage active learning activities, and creativity of the children in teaching process is essential.
 In foreign language teaching, this view is especially true because no one can replace learners in language learning and use them in active communication with the energy of their communication. Foreign language teaching methods is selected to communicate broad guidelines, communicative competence is the basic teaching, as communication is both a purpose and a means of teaching. 
 In the process of fact teaching at Hau Loc 3 Upper Secondary School, fact teaching in classes , I find that most students are lazy in giving ideas and answering the questions . If the teachers apply traditional teaching methods in the lessons, students will be more and more passive in learning. So, through the form pairs or groups can support forms of work or working class individual. The training activities in pairs, two-way nature of the group, strengthening the exchange of information over the student or give the activities of communication practiced in class so students can communicate in confidence English. Through several years teaching English communication perspective I found the learning pair of practices really effective team.
 To do so, this teacher should study the content of each lesson in the textbook, study subjects and suitable students, with teaching experience of ourselves, observe, talk to friends and colleagues in and outside of schools to choose and organize students to work in pair or group for suitable lessons, with cognitive abilities of the children and attract their attention, giving the atmosphere more lively lessons, relieved stress. To promote the initiative and creativity of students in acquiring knowledge.
 So I choose the theme: “Some activities work in pairs or in groups effectively in Speaking lesson (English 10- basic)." with the aim to exchange some experiences of myself in the process of teaching “ Speaking lesson”. I am very glad to receive the sharing and contributing ideas of collogues so that I can perfect in the process of applying and teaching facts.
II. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH
- To introduce pair work and group work and to show the advantages of working in pairs and groups.
- To show how to organize pair and group work effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise.
- To show how pair and group work can be used for various classroom activities.
- To give teachers confidence in using pair and group work themselves.
III. SCOPE, OBJECT AND RESEARCHING METHOD
- Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English at Hau Loc 3 high school.
- Object: This subject is concerned with ways of organizing activities in the class. 
- Researching method: Reading reference books , discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences.
PART II: STUDY CONTENTS
I. THEORY BASIC:
The nature of the new teaching theory is promoting a positive, creative initiative of students, , student is the subject of learning activities, teacher organizes and guidances to students receiving new knowledge, language training through a variety of communication forms such as personal activities, pair work, group.
In the teaching process, to promote actively the activities of the student pairs,it is a form of good group learning activities . Through this form of learning conditions they have presented, discussed and expressed their thoughts about the information about lessons that they understand . The information of each student can be right or may be wrong part. Through pair or group, they returned to their teacher. Since then teacher can know their understanding. This process is taking place in accordance with the two-way relations. In terms of learning theory, this is a dialectical relationship. Working in pairs or in group is to practise the students' skills , thoughts and expression when they want to present their ideas before a class. Through this activity, the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing of students are improved better.
II. THE ACTUAL SUBJECT :
Nowadays, the application of traditional methods – centered teachers- are not suitable for the development of education. The innovation of teaching and learning method is affirming the advantages in the process of receiving lessons of students. In fact, the last aim of learning foreign language is to communicate. So in the period of learning , students don’t speak much , there is no effect in that period. Foreign language teachers need to take advantages all chances to suggest students practising speaking more than other subjects. Therefore, the foreign language period is very different from other subject periods. Students are always willing to speak. They speak a lot and understand what other people speak, they can reach the aims of learning foreign language.
Hau Loc 3 Upper Secondary School belongs to six north west communes of Hau Loc, including Dai Loc, Thanh Loc, Cau Loc, Dong Loc , Chau Loc and Trieu Loc. The economic condition is not good and the social learning is also not good so teaching and learning of teachers and students are having many difficulties. The approaching with books, newspapers and modern communication media is limited . Otherwise, the class is crowded . Level is uneven. Most students are in the status “losing basic knowledge” of Primary and Lower Secondary School’s knowledge. Besides, they consider English a difficult subject, so they are worried of learning. In the English period , the students are not confident in communicating because they are worried of speaking wrong or pronouncing not very exactly. Therefore, it is necessary for students to work in pairs or in group so as to interact each other and complete their task in the lesson.
In fact, excellent students are less than bad ones in my school. The feeling of boredom is commonly experienced by the students here. From observations and teaching experiences the author notes that the students always feel bored with working in each lesson. On the other hand, I often hear a lot of complaints from the colleagues: “Students seem so noisy and lazy and bad students don’t do except for good ones . 
Moreover, some of the teachers of English at Hau Loc 3 High School find it difficult for them to organise the students working in pairs or in group successfully because of the class size, the students’ language level. 
Therefore, the idea of doing something useful for my colleagues and students has urged me to write the theme. I can find relevant techniques along with activities to organise my lessons working in pairs or in group effectly at Hau Loc 3 High School with the hope to make a little contribution to the quality of teaching and learning for Grade 10th at Hau Loc 3 High School 
 The study is narrowed down to the area of speaking lessaon for grade 10 students at Hau Loc 3 High School with the textbook English 10. Specifically, this theme deals with the present situation in working pairs or group, the activities motivate students to to share ideas and knowledge . In a speaking actictivity, students can help each other to practise , students can give each other new ideas.
III. SOLUTIONS:
1. General introduction
a. What are pair work and group work?
1.1. Pair work: 
The teacher devices the whole class into pairs. Every student works with his or her parner and all the pairs work at the same time. The teacher walks around, listens and intervenes little if necessary.
1.2 Group work :
 	Students work in small groups (of four or five) on tasks that entail interaction: conveying information, for example, or group decision making. All the groups work at the same time. The teacher walks around listening, intervenes little if at all
b. Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems.
For certain types of activity, pairwork and groupwork have number of advantages over working with the whole class together. Teachers should think what the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved in pairwork, groupwork and the solutions for these.
Here are some main advantages and problems:
 Advantages 
 Problems
 More language practice
 Students are more involved
 Students feel secure, confident
 Students help one another
 Save time
Noise 
Students make mistakes
Difficult to control
..
( Of course, your own advantages and problems may look slightly different from these, but most teachers suggestions will probably fit under these headings)
Now, we will discuss each heading in more detail. First, let’s start with the advantages
*More language practice:
 Pairwork and groupwork give students far more chance to speak English. For example, students are given an exercise of making sentences (question & answer), working in pair, each student makes as many sentences as they can. If the exercise were done ‘round the class’, students would only say one sentence each , and in a large class many students would say nothing at all.
* Student are more involved:
 Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students and others would lose interest if they are conducted with the whole class together. Working in pairs or groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate on the task.
* Students feel secure:
Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when they are on show in front of the whole class. Pairwork and groupwork can help shy students who would never say anything in a whole class activity.
*Students help each other:
 Pairwork and groupwork encourage students to share ideas and knowledge. In a reading actictivity, students can help each other to explore the meaning of a text; in a discussion activity, students can give each other new ideas.
Now talk about the problems, and discuss the ways of recovering them:
* Noise: 
Obviously pairwork and groupwork in a large class will be noisy, and this can not be helped. But:
- Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in the next room .
- The noise created by pairwork and groupwork is usually “good” noise. Students use English or engage in a learning task. Teacher should stop the activity when most groups or pairs have finished or prepare a “reserve” task to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected.
* Students make mistakes: 
During a pair or group activity, the teacher can not control all the language used, and should not try to do so. When doing cotrolled language practice in pairs or groups, the number of mistakes can be reduced by:
- Giving enough preparation, the activity can be done with the whole class first, and pair work used for final stage.
- Checking afterwards. The teacher can ask some pairs or groups what they said , and then correct mistakes if necessary.
*Difficult to control class:
 The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pairwork and groupwork than in normal class. To stop activities getting out control, it is important to:
- Give clear instructions about when to start, what to do and when to stop.
- Give clearly defined tasks which don’t continue for too long.
- Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs or groups, and know exactly what to do.
2. Oganizing pair work and group work
a, Group and pair work organization
- The success of group or pair work depends on some extents:
The surrounding social climate .
How habituated the class is to using it
The selection of an interesting and stimulating task whose performance is well within the ability of the group or pair.
- More immediately, it also depends on:
Effective and careful organization.
b, Organization steps:
+ Presentation: 
The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial. If the students do not understand exactly what they have to do, there will be time-wasting, confusion, lack of effective practice, possible loss of control. Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily; and in monolingual classes, you may find it cost-effective to explain some or all in the students’mother tongue. It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing the class into groups; and a preliminary rehearsal or ‘dry run’ of a sample of the activity with the full class can help to clarify things. If your students have already done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process,giving only brief guidelines;It is mainly the first time of doing something with a class that such care needs to be invested in instructing.
Try to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary quick review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary. Finally before giving the sign to start tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: If there is a time limit, or a set signal for stopping, say what it is; if the groups simply stop when they have finished, then tell them what they will have to do next. It is wise to have a reserve task planned to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than expected.
+ Process:
 	Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful. If you do decide to intervene, your contribution may take the form of :
 	- Providing general approval and support;
 	- Helping students who are having difficultly;
- Keeping the students using the target language(in many cases your mere presence will ensure this!)
 	- Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent.
+ Ending:
Draw the activity to a close at a certain point. Try to finish the activity while the students are still enjoying it and interested, or only just beginning to flag.
+ Feedback:
A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction after the end of the group work. Feedback on the tasks may take many forms:
 	- Giving the right solution, if there is one. 
- Listening to and evaluating suggestions.
 	- Pooling ideas on the board.
 	- Displaying the meterials the groups/ pairs have produced.
And so on.
The main objective here is to express appreciation of the effort that has been invested and its results. Feedback on language may be integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class session later.
3. Some activities work in pairs or in groups effectively.
3.1. Interview:
This is a common activity, a lot of teachers apply to the lessons, especially the section of Reading, Speaking. The teacher asks students to work in pairs, ask and answer for each topic of each lesson after giving the sentence patterns. Performing this activity requires teachers to pay attention to the bad pairs, encouraging them to participate.
3.2.Arrange the events in order.
Arrange the events in order.Teachers prepare the content of the lesson but not the order in the post. The teacher asks students to work in pairs or groups and rearrangethe story. Representatives of the groups or pairs to tell the story after arrangement.
3.3. Free Role play.
Role play, or real situations in class. Students work in pairs or groups by role or character which they are assigned.
3.4. Describing.
3.5. Imagination:
3.6. Report.
3.7. Information transmitting.
IV. Demonstration:
Practising some periods in speaking lesson (English 10-basic)
1. Example of pair work.
Activity 1: Imagination
Unit 3:People’s Background
Period 14: Speaking
Activity 1: Brainstorming:
-Teacher asks students to brainstorm about people back’sground .
- Teacher gives them the beginning of a list and students have to add their ideas to it.
- Students work in pairs write them on a poster.
- The two or three pairs which write more correct ideas will win the game.
People’s background
Family
Appreance
*Suggested answer:
- Family
- education
- experience	 
Activity 2: Interview
Basing on the words family, education, experience make questions with them. Work in pairs to discuss the questions.
Family:
- How many people are there in your family?
- What does your father/ mother do?
Education:
- Where did you study at primary school/ junior secondary school?
- What subject do you like best?
- What degree do you have?
Experience:
- How long have you been a member of our school's speaking club?
- Have you ever won any prizes?
Activities 3
Ask sts to imagine they are journalists and ask them to work in pairs to interview their partners about his/her background or that of a person he/ she knows well.
- Ask them to follow the stages in the textbook.
- Go around to suggest the questions if necessary.
- Ask one pair to report.
- Give remarks so that other pairs can correct their mistakes.
- Work in pairs to ask and answer.
- One pair stand up and report:
S1: Hello. Can you tell me something about yourself?
S2: Oh, of course. What do you want to know?
S1: When and where were you born?
S2: I was born on September 11th, 1991 in Hai Duong.
S1: How many people are there in your family?
S2: There are four: my parents, my sister and I.
S1: What do your parents do?
S2: my dad is a doctor and my mum is a nurse.
 ...............................
* Give feedback
- Well done.
- Pay attention to.
(And so on)
2. Example of group work.
Task 4 (Unit 5 – Part B: Speaking - English 10)
This is a free activity and aims to develop fluency in speaking. The procedure may be:
Divide students into groups of four or five.
Read through the instrutions and make sure that each group understands what to do. Choose one “secretary” in each group to write the list but emphasis that everyone in the groups should agree on what to write.
While the activity is going on, move from groups, but do not interrupt more than is necessary.
When some groups have finished their discussion, stop the activity, ask one person from each group to report on what they decided
Give feedback: - Content
 - Popular mistakes
3. Example of dividing the class:
First, draw a plan of your own class of 5 students. Show how you would divide the class for a pair work or a group work activity and what instructions you would