LECTURERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT THE ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES DEPARTMENT, HANOI UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Pair work and group work are considered useful in improving speaking skills. This study aims to examine the opinions of 148 students and 33 lecturers at the English for Specific Purposes Department, Hanoi University in using pair work and group work activities in speaking lessons. A combination of questionnaires and a semi-constructed interview was administered to discover theadvantages of pair work and group work and challenges faced by students and lecturers in speaking classes. The findings revealed that pair work and group work offered many benefits to students including learning from their peers, expressing themselves more often, becoming more confident, and improving their teamwork skills. Those activities also reduced teacher talking time as students had more time to speak. However, difficulties such as mixed-level classes, shortage of vocabulary and grammatical structures, lack of confidence, and students’ passive learning styles prevented them from participating in pair work and group work activities. Students, thus, were recommended to strengthen their English vocabulary and structures by actively participating in out-of-class activities. Instructors should also carefully prepare appropriate content and give more explicit instructions.