LUẬN VĂN THẠC SỸ TIÊNG ANH "SPEAKING"

DECLARATION

I certify that the minor thesis titled “Enhancing third-year non-English major students’ participation in speaking lessons through collaborative activities at Hanoi University of Business and Technology” is the result of my own work and that this thesis has not been published or submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions.

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Nguyễn Thị Minh Hà

ACKOWLEDGEMENTS
To complete the task, I have received a great deal of useful and practical support from many people.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Đỗ Bá Quý. for his scholarly knowledge, wholehearted supervision, insightful invaluable guidance and constructive critical feedback. He has inspired and encouraged me during the steps of the thesis.
Also, my special thanks are sent to my colleagues and my beloved third-year students in two classes, KT1210 and KT1218, of Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) for their participation in as well as their strong support for the research with comments, useful materials and classroom observation opportunities without which my work would have not been completed.
Last but not least, I would like to convey my heartfelt thanks to my family and all of my close friends for their love, care, encouragement and financial as well as spiritual support for me to fulfill this thesis.
Hanoi, August 2010
Nguyễn Thị Minh Hà
ABSTRACT
Cooperative learning has been widely accepted and used in international English language classes for years, but in Vietnam, this approach seems to be a fairly new issue and yet to be applied nationwide. Taking the advantages of collaborative learning, the author of this study attempted to apply some collaborative activities to 58 third-year non-English major students in speaking lessons in hope that they can solve some in-class speaking problems such as boring and quiet atmosphere, team members’ laziness, ‘hijacking’ attitudes, ineffective collaboration, too much competitiveness, etc. This action research is conducted in two classes of Accountancy at Hanoi University of Business and Technology with the focus on the effectiveness of the cooperative activities in enhancing students’ participation in speaking lessons, to some extent. In this paper, the researcher uses four data collection instruments: questionnaires, follow-up semi-structured interviews with students, observation in each lesson and students’ reports on their pair or group work after the lessons. The researcher reviews some theories regarding speaking skill, cooperative learning, and then analyzes the informant’s feedback on the effectiveness of cooperative learning. The research shows that collaborative activities are effective in helping students to change their attitudes towards speaking skill, as well as pair or group work, and enhance their participation in speaking lessons.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rational and statement of the problem for the study 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Scope of the study 3
4. Research questions/ hypothesis 3
5. Method of the study 4
6. Organization of the thesis 4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 6
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Theoretical backgrounds of speaking 5
1.1.1. Nature of speaking 5
1.1.2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 5
1.1.3. Problems with speaking and speaking activities 6
1.2. Theoretical backgrounds of collaborative learning (CL) 6
1.2.1. Definitions of CL 6
1.2.1.1. Definition 6
1.2.1.2. Collaborative learning versus competitive learning 8
1.2.1.3. Collaborative learning versus cooperative learning 8
1.2.2. Key factors of successful CL 8
1.2.3. Benefits of CL 11
1.2.4. Types of grouping 13
1.2.5. Learner’s roles 14
1.2.6. Teacher’s roles 14
1.2.7. Role of instructional materials 15
1.2.8. Collaborative activities (CA) 15
1.2.9. Previous studies on the topic 16
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18
2.1. Background of the study 18
2.1.1. The teaching and learning conditions 18
2.1.2. The syllabus 18
2.1.3. The description of the material used 19
2.1.4. The learners 19
2.1.5. The teachers 20
2.1.6. The participants 20
2.1.7. Teaching practice at HUBT 21
2.2. Data collection instruments 22
2.2.1. Classroom observation 22
2.2.2 .Students’ reports 23
2.2.