Áp dụng hoạt động cặp, nhóm trong giảng dạy môn Văn học Anh-Mỹ cho người học tiếng Anh tại Học viện Khoa học Quân sự

ups to express their 
own viewpoints, partly they expect to convince 
their partners into their world views and at the 
same time they wish to understand their partners’ 
insights as human being. This view is supported 
by Ibsen (1995) as he believes that literature can 
be considered as a forum for exchange views 
and that: “Literature, when published, is the 
‘property’of the readers and the EFL learners, 
and they should become involved as co-writers 
of the text in their imagination, in speech, and 
on paper.”
The last but by no mean the least, using pair 
and group work in EFL literature classes is of 
great benefit for boosting students’ feeling of 
self-esteem and cooperation, which can function 
as a great source of encouragement for language 
learning (Krashen, 1981). When students work 
in pairs or groups to discuss or exchange ideas, 
they gain a team spirit, solidarity and a sense of 
belonging to a place. Simultaneously, it reduces 
the element of teacher domination and teacher 
talking time (TTT) as often seen in a content-
based subject of literature and that learning 
literature encompasses a variety of cooperative 
and communicative activities, not just attending 
a conventional lecture.
To sum up, the use of pair and group work 
in teaching English and American literature 
in EFL classes not only creates students’ 
interest and motivation, which play a key 
role in second language learning but also 
fits well with many theoretical assumptions 
of second language acquisition: openness, 
communication, classroom interaction, even 
mutual understanding and compassion among 
learners. However, in the process of conducting 
pair or group work, teachers should bear in mind 
that some difficulties or problems are inevitable 
and be ready to deal with them. 
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3. DIFFICULTIES CONDUCTING PAIR 
AND GROUP WORK IN EFL LITERATURE 
CLASSES
In the scientific research entitles: “Suggested 
solutions to improving the self-study quality 
of English and American literature subject for 
English majors at MSA”, Pham Thi Thuy (2016) 
points out that at MSA, students of English have 
to face a number of difficulties in learning EFL 
literature as listed here below.
Firstly, the theory taught alongside literature 
gives you the power to sense and perceive the 
truth, the good, and the beauty. It is, therefore, 
strongly argued that the best way ever to test 
learners’ ability to appreciate a literary work is 
by written form or creative writing rather than 
spoken form (Ibsen, 1995). Obviously, most 
students are concerned with passing the exams, 
which do not test for their communicative 
competence. Hence, it is not hard to understand 
why students are not fully motivated, unwilling to 
communicate, and hesitant to class participation 
in literature classes (Pham, 2016).
In addition, rather than learning how to use the 
language creatively, students come to literature 
classes with the mindset that teachers are the 
only information providers - about the historical 
background; the author: life and writing career; 
the work: setting, plot, characters, themes, and 
even moral lessons (Pham, 2016). In other 
words, students simply expect to have the ability 
to take all this in, make it their own and accept 
almost everything without questions, which is a 
really constraint in using pair and group work in 
literature lessons.
Large classes can be a source of difficulty. 
EFL literature classes at MSA are often too 
crowded, on the average of up to 100 students in 
size. A literature class is often divided in smaller 
classes (about 20 - 30 students) for such subjects 
as Listening, Speaking or Writing. Obviously, 
teaching and managing a class of over 100 
students will never be as easy as teaching one 
with 20 or 30 students. With such a big number, 
it is difficult for teachers to have efficient control 
over what students are doing in pairs or groups. 
Once students plunge themselves into pair or 
group work, teachers are struggling only to 
control the class, let alone to maintain a positive, 
relaxed atmosphere or to judge individual’s true 
ability. How can teachers make content class 
like literature more communicative in such a 
challenging situation?
To make the problem worse, large classes 
usually have students with differing English 
proficiency levels. Most likely, a group is 
dominated by stronger students, whereas weaker 
students remain reticent due to their insecure or 
inferior feelings, along with lack of confidence 
to put themselves forward (Pham, 2016).
An other category that causes difficulties for 
teachers is the lack of conductive facilities for 
pair and group work activities. As is traditional, 
students’ desks are arranged with rows after 
rows facing the teacher, the teacher’s desk is in 
the corner, and there is a blackboard at the front. 
Students’ desks and chairs, for some reason, are 
unmovable.
In short, teachers of literature, from time to 
time, can hardly avoid some of these difficulties 
when conducting pair or group work activities. 
Obviously, they themselves must play a vital role 
in overcoming these difficulties and in helping 
to create an engaging, motivating atmosphere 
for their students.
4. ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN EFL 
LITERATURE CLASSES
Based on the above theoretical background and 
my own experiences as an EFL teacher of English 
and American literature, I now propose to analyze 
the role of the teacher and potential solutions for 
using pair and group work in literature classes. 
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Varying students’ assessment 
First, right at the very beginning of the 
course, teachers should provide students with 
criteria of marking scales and evaluation based 
not only on the end-of-course written exam 
(summative assessment) but also on students’ 
participation and interaction in the class 
(formative assessment). Then, teachers, step by 
step, familiarize students with pair and group 
work by helping them perform easy, short, 
simple tasks that do not require a great deal of 
knowledge or language skill. The teacher, for 
instance, cuts the plot summary of A Farewell 
to Arms into separate sentences, each sentence 
written on a piece of paper and asks students to 
work in pairs/group to rearrange the sentences 
into the correct orders of the work. Once 
students get used to it, teachers can extend the 
range of activities to include more complicated 
tasks such as role-plays, simulations, debates, 
persuasion, or problem-solving which come 
as close to authentic communicative situations 
as possible (Kindly look at Sample Activities). 
When pair and group work become a norm in 
literature classes, students will automatically 
accept this way of learning.
Creating supportive and relaxing learning 
atmosphere
The term “supportive and relaxing 
atmosphere” here is referred to students’ safe 
feelings; students’ level of anxiety; and teachers’ 
compliment and encouragement.
To help students feel excited in pair/group 
work, teachers might vary where individual 
students are sitting for pair or group work 
so that on different days they work with 
different partners. By doing so, students will be 
stimulated and eager to interact with their new 
partners. Sometime, it is better still for students 
of the same level to form a pair/group, or even 
for students to be allowed to choose their own 
partners. With the partners of their choice, they 
feel at ease and secure and that positive feeling 
helps them become more confident and in turn 
stimulates their creativity. 
As teachers of foreign languages, we need 
to be aware of students’ anxiety levels and take 
steps to help them overcome this problem. A 
study shows that problems often attributed to 
students’ anxiety and hesitation to communicate 
are actually caused by students’ low English 
proficiency (Maley, 2000). In odder to lower 
students’ anxiety, teachers should give students 
plenty of time to well-prepare before starting 
pair or group since preparation will partly help 
them, even the lower-level students, to respond 
well and gain a sense of self-confidence.
Besides, teachers need to constantly 
give students support, encouragement, and 
compliment, which is of great source of 
motivation for any EFL learners. It is agreed 
that there is no correct solution or answer for 
experiencing literary texts, therefore, teachers 
should accept, listen, and appreciate every 
opinion, even the “abnormal” ones as long as 
the communicative purposes are fulfilled. In 
this way, even the shy or weak students are also 
stimulated to get engaged in the communicative 
process so as to express themselves and to show 
their unique traits of personality
Applying appropriate pair and group work 
techniques
 Along with other roles, applying appropriate 
techniques and designing various tasks 
(activities and exercises) are very important 
work for teachers. First, the tasks should 
provide opportunities for plenty of use of the 
target language and cover a satisfactory range 
of language items and skills. Next, teachers 
need to decide which types of tasks are most 
appropriate, and then diversify the repertoire 
of classroom procedures. On the one hand, 
this enables the teachers to employ different 
techniques for different learning purposes to suit 
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different learners’ English levels. On the other 
hand, the students will be more involved and 
get engaged if they are provided with a variety 
of activities and exercises rather than the fixed 
already-known ones.
The tasks should include game-like features 
or imaginative elements such as:
Rearranging pictures in the orders that the 
story happens
Sample Activity: Put the following pictures 
in the correct orders of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and 
in your pair/group descibe what happen in each 
picture. (picture 1)
Role-play (Note: select an interesting and not 
very complicated scene in a literary work)
Sample Activity: Teacher asks students to 
improvise a role play between two characters, 
Della and Jim, in The Gift of the Magi and act 
out a part of a selected scene in groups.
Problem-solving (What would you do if you 
were in the situation or in somebody’s shoes?)
Sample Activity: Della in The Gift of the 
Magi has little money and desperately wants 
to find a Christmas gift for her husband. What 
would you do if you were Della?
Positive competition
Sample Activity: Teacher provides class 
with some key words from a work, preferably 
a short story. Next, teacher divides class into 3 
or 4 groups to make up their own story. Then, 
each group or one representative from each 
group takes turn to read out their group’s story 
and teacher works as the judge to decide which 
story is the best.
Discussion, debate, or persuasion (Note: 
assign tasks which give students freedom to 
express and explore themselves)
Sample Activity: Which character in Hamlet 
by William Shakespeare do you feel sorry for 
the most? (Teacher gives students time to choose 
the character, then teacher puts those who share 
the same idea in one group, gives them more 
time to discuss in their group, then they go to 
other groups to talk about their group’s opinion).
Picture 1.
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Lessons learned in literary works
Sample Activity: What moral lessons can 
you learn in The Pardoner’s Tale by Geoffrey 
Chaucer? (students are put into small to discuss 
and exchange views. After a brief discussion, 
one representative from each group is called on 
to talk about their group’s opinion)
Whatever kinds of tasks, teachers should 
create a positive communication atmosphere in 
which students are given opportunities to acquire 
confidence to develop, express, value their own 
responses and assess other perspectives. 
5. CONCLUSION
This article has considered the use of pair/
group work within the context of EFL literature 
classes at MSA. Using pair and group work, 
with its repertoire of communication strategies, 
in EFL literature classes is one way to make 
a positive contribution to students’ language 
competence and their personal developments. 
Some areas of difficulty have been pointed out 
including lack of conductive facilities; large 
classes; students’ differing language proficiency; 
and students’ lack of motivation and interest. 
The recommendations for teacher’s role, which 
are mainly based on the theoretical background 
and the researcher’s experiences, attempt to 
contribute to better learning and teaching 
EFL English and American literature at MSA. 
In a final word, to stimulate students’ desire 
to communicate and share their views, EFL 
teachers of English and American literature need 
to be highly elaborate in applying appropriate 
techniques and designing a variety of tasks to 
ensure both effectiveness and learners’ interest. 
Besides, teachers should be ready to move 
beyond the basics to be flexible and adaptive. 
Changes of some sort are inevitable if we wish 
to bring about effective and fruitful teaching and 
learning. Clearly, the job involves a lot of hard 
work and it does take time, thought, and effort 
of the teachers but the results are well worth it./.
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