At
this stage, based on the analyses from the presentation of the the finding
mostly the questionnaire, the classroom observation and the interview, the
interpretation of the findings were made by categorizing the findings related
to each research question.
4.4.1 The effectiveness of group work technique on the
development of students' speaking ability
We have noticed that is necessary for EFL teachers to
explain students the importance of group work activity. They should tell them
how it can help them on the development of their speaking ability. Most of the
students (93%) agree that group work has the potentials for helping learners to
improve their speaking skills. In an interviews a teacher said:
«Leaners have seen that group work creates natural real-life
interactions in which they have logical reasons for listening to one another,
asking question, clarifying issues and helping each other.» These
interactions increase the amount of student talk and participation in the
classroom. Teacher must make students on task and will give them advice to
focus more on the activity because group work can improve their speaking.
During group work activity, as an ideal EFL teacher has to motivate all the
members of the group to take the floor. An important aim of group work is to
encourage fluency in language. In language classes, group work is a strategy
that enables students to discuss issues or to engage in joint activities with
other students in a less threatening environment (Harmer, 1991). Particularly
in EFL classrooms, grouping is said to be an effective method of teaching for
several reasons; for instance, it maximizes the time that students can speak
the target language. In addition, it minimizes the time that students spend
listening to other students interacting with the teacher, furthermore, it
avoids the anxiety that hinders some language learners from speaking and
interacting with the teracher in front of the whole class; and it gives the
teacher more opportunities to discuss with students the structure of the task
(Foster, 1998).
4.4.2 Activities used to teach
speaking in group work context
My research showed that most of EFL teacher (70%) used the
same activity (discussion) in their classes to teach speaking in group work
context. They recognized the benefits of using this study concerning the
potentials of using group work in improving students' communicative skills are
relevant. Teachers need to encourage and motivate their students to practise
the language inside the classroom so as to be good English speakers. Teachers
must promote group work and motivational activities. So, teachers should use
different activities to increase student's motivation to work together.
Oral communication activities are conducted with group work
to stimilate learners' interest and to defeat their feeling of shyness and
fear, as they are helpful in giving each learner, especially for overcrowded
classes, the chance to participate within the group. They are conducted by
dividing the students into groups, with a leader for each group and then give
them the task. After a limited period of time, all learners meet again and
debate what they found as results.
Teacher organizes his learners in the classroom according to
two shapes, the first one is that learners sit roundly to see each other and to
ease their contributions; and the second one is that learners are put into a
group of two learners, and ask them to converse between each other one asks and
the other one replies. As he can help students with vocabulary and expression
necessary for the exercises as well as offering students the chance to
contribute orally through paying the students' attention to ask questions that
need long answers, as he must correct just students' errors that cause
misunderstanding among them.
Thombury (2008) suggested three different stages that learners
go through when they are learning to speak. The first stage is awareness.
Awareness means that students need to be aware of the characteristics of the
language under study. Appropriation makes up the second stage. Appropriation is
the `'integration'' of the language characteristics into the students'
existing knowledge. The last stage has to do with autonomy (usually referred to
as automaticity). When students are able to use the new language on their own
they are said to be autonomous.
According to Thombury (2008), Theorists have designed
several activities for all the stages mentioned above in order for an effective
teaching to take place. All these activities urge the students to participate
since they bring interest into the classroom and, thus endeavour motivation.
When implemented well, group work technique encourages
achievement, student discussion, active learning, student confidence, and
motivation. The skills students develop while
collaborating with others are different from the skills they develop while
working independently. As more business organize employees into teams and task
forces, the skills necessary to be a `'team player'' (e.g., verbalizing and
justifying ideads, handling conflicts, collaboring, building consensus, and
disagreeing politely) are becoming more and valuable and useful. It gives
authentic experiences that will help them to be successful in their future
careers as well.
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