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

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./.
References:
1. Brown, H.D. (1994), Teaching by Principles 
– An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, 
New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents.
2. Carter, R. & Long, M. (1991), Teaching 
Literature, London: Longman.
3. Collie, J. and Slater, S. (1987), Literature 
in the Language Classroom, Cambridge: 
Cambridge University Press.
4. Harmer, J. (1991). The Practice of English 
Language. London: Longman.
5. Ibsen, E.B. (1995), The Double Role of 
Fiction in Foreign Language Learning, Oxford: 
Oxford University Press.
6. Krashen, S.D. (1981), Effective 
Second Language Acquisition: Insights from 
Research, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7. Lazar, G. (1993), Literature and 
Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge 
University Press.
8. Maley, A. (2000), Literature, Oxford: 
Oxford University Press.
9. Moody, H.L. (1983), Approaches to the 
Study of Literature: A Practical View, Oxford: 
Pergamum Press.
10. Pham, T.T. (2016), “Suggested Solutions 
to Improving the Self-study Quality of English 
– American Literature for English Majors at 
Military Science Academy”. The Scientific 
Research, Military Science Academy.
11. Tiberius, R. G. (1995). Small Group 
Teaching, Toronto: DISE Press.
12. Widdowson, H.D. (1975), Stylistics and 
the Teaching of Literature, London: Longman.
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USING PAIR AND GROUP WORK IN TEACHING ENGLISH AND 
AMERICAN LITERATURE FOR EFL LEARNERS
PHAM THI THUY
 Abstract: Teaching, especially teaching literature is never an easy job as it is a 
continuously creative and a problem-solving art or craft. For many scholars, literature 
is considered as a highly effective tool for language teaching and learning and also a 
forum for exchange views. Those who advocate this view look at the role of literature in 
language learning from the perspective of the communicative approach. However, there 
are still opinions regarding literature as a written form, very much far from everyday 
communication and too closely tied to the grammar-translation method. Accordingly, 
many students tend to consider literature as a content-based course; an academic 
subject; even not practical for their English studies and their future jobs. This inadequate 
perception leads to students’ lack of interest and motivation in learning this subject. How 
to help students overcome this problem has long been a major concern and a challenge 
to teachers of the English Department’s Division of Literature and Culture at MSA. The 
article, therefore, aims at promoting pair and group work as a means to create an interesting 
and motivating atmosphere in EFL literature classes. With the teachers’ thought, effort 
and laborious preparation of tasks, it can be legitimately hoped that the learners will 
experience enjoyable, instructive journeys through literature lessons.
Keywords: EFL learners, English and American literature, pair and group work.