Some methods to organize pair and group work to improve the quality in teaching English at Tho truong secondary school

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. The reason for choosing the topic.
	In the past years, the reality of education quality has always been a topical issue of interest to many levels of education management, teachers as well as parents. Especially, from the school year, the program of replacing textbooks for grade 1 and grade 6 has been left, leaving many questions for researchers, education managers, and many concerns for teachers, students and parents. the student.
	From the reality of the quality of education, major campaigns have been launched and implemented such as: The campaign "Every teacher is an example of self-learning self-creation" (2005); The movement: "Say no to negativity in exams and achievement in education" (2006); Campaign: "Building a positive student friendly school" (2008) ...; Experimental education programs are studied and implemented in many localities; The innovation of teaching methods is carried out deeply and widely in each educational institution and is considered one of the important solutions in improving the quality of education.
However, changing the quality of education has not been synchronized and clear. There are many factors that affect the quality of education, in which the implementation of innovative teaching methods towards learners has a particularly important role.
	One of the important highlights in the learner-centered teaching method is the teaching of couples and groups; By teaching couples, the group will create a lively atmosphere in the classroom, help students be more active in performing tasks and comprehending knowledge, enhance communication, exchange, cooperation and help. Students' interactions help students to form and practice their academic and life skills, while enabling teachers to work as mentors and counselors for students. .
	With the advantages of pair teaching, the group is very suitable for the characteristics of English in general and teaching English in secondary schools, because this is a heavy vocabulary, difficult to grammar, right associated with communication, learning must go hand in hand with practice.
Concerned about how students can actively implement the task of learning comprehension knowledge, meet the subject's listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, especially communication skills; During my teaching, I learned to apply pairing, group teaching and achieved important results through every study.
	Each school has different conditions so there will also be different ways in the process of organizing pair and group activities in teaching English. But I also boldly present some measures to organize pair and group activities in my own English teaching at secondary schools ... through the topic: 
"Some methods to organize pair and group work to improve the quality in teaching English at Tho truong secondary school. ”
1.2. Research purposes.
	Helping themselves and colleagues to master the knowledge of organizing pair and group activities in teaching and forming skills on organizing pair and group activities in teaching Secondary school English, specifically as follows:
	1.2.1. Master the concept and nature of teaching couples and groups.
	1.2.2. Five ways to organize; steps in pairing and group activities in teaching junior high school English
	1.2.3. Knowing the content, the right time to organize the group teaching activities.
	1.2.4. Train and improve students' teamwork skills.
	1.2.5. Train your ability to use English in actual communication for students.
	1.2.6. Contribute to improving the quality of teaching English.
1.3. Research object.
	Some methods to organize pair and group work to improve the quality in teaching English at Tho Truong secondary school. 
1.4. Research Methodology.
	1.4.1. Observation method: The person who implements the topic self-studies and conducts the class visit time of his colleagues.
	1.4.2. Methods of exchange and discussion: After studying the colleague's time, the colleague now expects the subject, colleagues and implementers to exchange and discuss from which to draw experiences for lesson.
	1.4.3. Experimental method: Teachers conduct experimental teaching for each purpose, specifically require some lessons to apply the form of activities in groups and pairs.
	1.4.4. Methods of investigation: Teachers ask questions to check and assess the content of students' lessons.
2. THE CONTENT OF THE EXPERIENCE
2.1. The theoretical foundation of the experience..
	The current educational goal is focused on developing students' dynamism, creativity and positivity to create the ability to identify and solve problems for them. To achieve this goal, changing teaching methods towards attaching importance to learners - considering students as subjects of activities, encouraging their active, proactive and creative learning activities in The process of teaching is essential.
	In foreign language teaching, this view is more and more correct because no one can replace learners in learning foreign languages ​​and use them in communication activities with their own communication skills. The method of teaching foreign languages ​​to choose communication is the main direction, communication capacity is the basic teaching unit, considering communication as both a purpose and a teaching medium. The form of working in pairs or groups has recently become popular in foreign language classes from a communication perspective. Forms of activities in pairs or groups can support the forms of working class or personal work. The pair or group practice activities are twofold, enhancing students' exchange of information or creating communication activities in class so that students can confidently communicate with English. Through some years of teaching English from a communicative point of view, I found that teaching in the form of pair and group practice is really effective.
2.2. Situation of the problem before applying experience initiatives.
	English is a subject that requires high communication skills, learning must go hand in hand with practice; Especially with the new English program, the requirement for listening and speaking skills is higher. Therefore, the implementation of innovating teaching methods towards learner-centered learning, particularly organizing pair-teaching and group-teaching activities, plays a particularly important role. However, the organization of teaching English in the form of pair organization, the group has quite a form to greatly affect the quality of teaching subjects.
	Through teaching practice at the school and learning through colleagues (through projections, cluster professional activities), I personally see that the organization of group teaching is not effective because:
	- Facilities do not meet the requirements of improving the quality of teaching of the subject.
	- Teachers' awareness about the organization of pair and group teaching is not high, most teachers only stop at the level of grasping the theory of teaching and learning steps in pairs and groups; not investing in research to apply appropriately, the organization is not mature, so when the organization is still confused, out of control, low efficiency (through professional activities of the group of schools in the cluster); the organization of pair teaching, the group is still heavy in form, sometimes coping with the problem (Mostly just giving lessons, planning time)
	- For students: Not yet formed habits and practical skills, so there is a lack of confidence (pair communication), expectation, dependence (group activity). So learning results are limited.
Below learning results English subject grade 6 school year 2015-2016 at my secondary school .
Grade level
Class Year 
Number of student
Good 
Fair
Average
Weak
SL
TL (%)
SL
TL (%)
SL
TL (%)
SL
TL (%)
6
2015-2016
48
0
0
1
2,1
33
68,8
14
29,1
2.3. The solutions used to solve the problem:
2.3.1. Learn about pair work and group work:
2,3.1.1. Work in pair / pair work
- The role of teachers when students participate in practice in pairs
	Previous teachers who have always held leadership and control roles in the classroom now need to have a different perspective because their roles have changed in these new stages of their learning. . Now the teacher has two functions. The first function is the follower: The teacher goes from one group to another listening and noting the repeated errors in the students but still letting them speak naturally, desperately interrupting them unless absolutely necessary . Critical errors will be resolved at other times that may be at the beginning of the next session or at the end of the practice session. The second function is the person providing, documenting, helping, and answering students with difficult problems in language or general knowledge.
	In the process of teaching, to promote students' activeness, pair and group activities are a good form of learning activities. Through this form of learning, they have the opportunity to present, exchange and express their thoughts about the amount of information about the lesson they understand, I feel that the amount of information each student can get is correct. or may be partially wrong. From there, the teacher captures their level of thinking and understanding. This process takes place in a two-way relationship. In terms of teaching theory, this is a dialectical relationship. In addition, when exchanging pairs, groups of students are further trained in skills and habits of thinking, expressing and presenting a problem before a group. Through this activity, students' listening, speaking, reading and writing skills are increasingly improved.
- Introduce how to practice in pairs:
	When using this type of exercise for the first time, explain to students the advantages and reasons for using it. Explanations can be made in the student's native language. In addition, the following principles should be agreed with students:
	1. Doing a pair exercise is not a time to chat.
	2. After completing the assignment, students can change their roles and do the exercises again.
	3. If the time is up and the students have not finished, there is nothing to worry about, because most importantly, they are allowed to practice, but not necessarily a specific outcome of a task.
	4. After finishing the lesson, teachers must check and evaluate the results of the work they have done in pairs.
	5. All students must participate in this activity in a certain pair. When they are alone, the student can participate with the pair sitting closest to them. If the assignment is to be exchanged between two people, the third person will be watching, then join in the second round of training with one of the other two.
	6. They can ask the teacher for help if needed. While students practice asking and answering questions, the teacher must cover and monitor the class to comment on each pair, listen and correct the students' mistakes, note pairs with weak students.
- Steps to practice in pairs:
	Step 1: Prepare
	Need to be very careful through the introduction and practice of the language, so that everyone is confident when using foreign languages. After the introduction and practice of the language, you should save all the information on the board.
	Step 2: The teacher models with a student
	Teachers, along with a good student in the class, serve as a package model for all students to understand the requirements and know how to do it.
Step 3: Two students make samples
	Call two good students to model before class again. If students are allowed to stand on the spot, ask the students to speak loud enough for the class to hear.
	Step 4: Specify the time
	Tell students how much time they will have to do this exercise (usually only about 2-3 minutes).
	Step 5: Students work in pairs
	Sign orders for all students to start doing homework at the same time. While students do their homework, teachers go from one pair to the other, watching and helping them when needed but avoiding interfering with student activities even though they may find them wrong.
	Step 6: Check before class
	At the end of the lesson, when most of the couples did it, signaled to all students to stop. Choose a few pairs and ask the two students to present themselves in front of the class. This test is very important because it makes students work more seriously at the following training sessions. Students will become more diligent, more self-aware when they learn that teachers will check their assessment for their academic performance.
- Types of practice in pairs:
	+ Conversation:
	After learning a sample dialogue, the students are very structured and understand the grammatical issues in it, the teacher may ask each pair of students to play the part but only replace some of them. details (such as names, hometowns, careers, interests, etc.) to turn their lines about themselves or about issues they care about.
	+ Alternative training lesson:
	After introducing the sentences and practicing the exercises quickly, the teacher writes the suggested words to replace on the board asking the students to practice in pairs. A lot of space should be left in the suggestions section for students to develop their creative abilities. Example written on the board:
	A: How often do you have Math lesson?
                       (music, English, literature ...)
	B: We have it four times a week
                     (three times, twice, once ......)
	+ Practice grammar:
         After the students have mastered the grammar problem and have practiced collectively (with repeated exercises or conversions ...), divide the students into pairs and ask them to talk to each other (pay attention to the choices). close, familiar topics. For example, talk about yourself or real things related to students' lives. Suggested words on the board are still ideal for this exercise.
	+ Description of pictures:
	Pictures can be used as stimuli for many types of exercises in pairs. For example, looking at a picture that comes with a reading, a student in the pair finds the right and wrong place in the picture and the student raises an opinion of approval or opposition (comparing the picture to the reading). Or two students have the same two panoramas but the details in the picture are different (such as the position of the object in the painting, the color, the type of clothing, the appearance of the person, ...). One student described the details of his painting and the other found differences in the second picture.
	+ Ask and answer:
	At the end of the readings there are often questions. Students can discuss finding answers to these questions in pairs. First students make their mouths, then the teacher calls a few students to check. Or make this activity plentiful by having students discuss their mouths and write answers out of paper, pairs of students cross their answers to each other under teacher control.
	+ Write an illustration sentence:
	After teaching and practicing new words, at the end of the lesson, keep the new words on the board, just delete the illustrated sentences and then ask the students to rewrite the other illustrations for new words to check them. Did you really understand the meaning and usage of those new words?
2.3.1.2. Work in group / group work:
	In our classrooms the seats cannot move around the classroom so in this situation it is only possible to ask students on the table to turn down to the table to form groups to practice. It is best to form groups of 4 - 6 but sometimes the number of students in each group depends on the number of students sitting at each table.
	After the group is finished, you should designate or let the group members vote for the group leader or secretary. This person will directly contact the teacher when the group has difficulty in fulfilling the requirements of the exercise. This will make it easier and easier to control all the groups in the teacher's class. It is advisable to designate or instruct students who are more vocal and active to do this. But sometimes it also needs to change: choose a pretty but shy student to facilitate that student to train to become more bold. Or it is also possible for the members of the group to take turns as leaders. It is important that this work needs to be done quickly and students must be informed immediately who is their leader so they can get started, without wasting time.
- The role of teachers:
	The teacher is the manager of all activities in the classroom. So they have to plan it, organize it, start it, watch it, watch for it and end it. The most taboo is that after asking students to work in groups, teachers go to the table to sit or do their own work to see that it is done. It is necessary for teachers to manage, monitor, urge and help students practice. Teachers can go from one group to the other, check to see if the student has met the requirements of the exercise. Teachers need to be active and sensitive to the classroom atmosphere as well as the whole work's rhythm, remembering repeated errors in students to correct their lesson later. If most students find it difficult to perform the task of the assignment, stop all groups, explain the requirements of the assignment, structure or grammar issues, or the whole class. retrain the problem before continuing to work in groups.
- Types of group practice:
	Group activities tend to be more free and also more interactive than pair-based activities. There are many activities that are easy to implement, even for the least experienced teachers.
	+ Game
	The guessing game information to question Yes - No. The simplest is guessing What place am I thinking about? What’s my favorite food / drink? Or Guess what I will do (tomorrow / on the weekend). Put the title of the game on the board, provide some suggestions, vocabulary, background knowledge, then model and then let students play by themselves.
	+ Make a question
	Ask the groups to read the text and then ask the question about it. After a few minutes the groups folded the books, and the team leaders or the secretary stood up to ask a few questions, the members of the other groups were tasked with answering. In order for students to be more interested in activities, it should be organized as a contest: The answers are graded based on language accuracy and information.
	+ Practice with instructions:
	After using replacements so that students become familiar with its structure and functions, organizing more meaningful exercises with game-based and creative group activities.
	For example, after teaching structure with should / should not be interpreted as:
	Teachers give some suggestive words? Let students work in groups. A person raises his problem and others in the group give advice. A problem can have many different tips. Allowing students to participate more actively should turn this activity into a contest: see which group gives the most advice and has the best advice that can't be refuted.
Examples of suggested words:
             Wallet / lost bad marks for science
            Shirt / torn have headache / toothache
            Watch / broken etc.
	It may take a few minutes for students to raise their own real problems in their lives, and others in the group give advice. Or conversely, students in this group read some of their advice and students in other groups have to try to guess what the advice is.
	+ Role play
	After the class has practiced a structure with a certain function, role-playing games work very well to reinforce students' understanding of the function of the structure in more natural circumstances. For example, groups may be asked to close a scene in which a person complains that he wants to change into a new piece of clothing he bought the day before; or gather information for a package holiday, ... With role-playing games, groups can set up plays in which each member plays a role. While the group m