A STUDY ON THE USE OF PEER TEACHING IN ESP CLASSES AT THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, VIETNAM NATIONAL

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1. Identification of the problem

“Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good

learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working

with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s own ideas and responding

to others’ reactions improves thinking and deepens understanding.” (Whitman, 1988: 117).

As mentioned in Whitman’s view, students learn a great deal by explaining their ideas

to others and by participating in activities in which they can learn from their peers. They

develop skills in organizing and planning learning activities, working collaboratively with

others, giving and receiving feedback and evaluating their own learning. Peer learning is

becoming an increasingly important part of many courses, and it is being used in a variety of

contexts and disciplines in many countries.

The potential of peer learning is starting to be realized, but examination of the ways in

which it is used in existing courses suggests that practices are often introduced in an ad hoc

way, without consideration of their implications. When such practices are used

unsystematically, students unfamiliar with this approach become confused about what they are

supposed to be doing. They miss opportunities for learning altogether, and fail to develop the

skills expected for them. Much peer teaching occurs informally without staff involvement, and

students who are already effective learners tend to benefit disproportionately when it is left to

chance.

At a time when university resources are stretched and demands upon staff are

increasing, students are offered the opportunity to learn from each other. This gives them

considerably more practice than traditional teaching and learning methods in taking

responsibility for their own learning and, more generally, learning how to learn. It is not a

substitute for teaching and activities designed and conducted by staff members, but an

important addition to the repertoire of teaching and learning activities that can enhance the

quality of education.

As a teacher of ESP at the College of Science for six years I can find that formalized

peer teaching can help students learn ESP effectively.



2. Aims of the study

The idea of whether “peer-teaching” activities can develop ESP teaching and learning

quality at the College of Science aroused my interest and drew my attention to the writing “ A

study on the use of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College of Science, VNU ”. The

primary aim of the study is to examine teachers and students’ perceptions of the peer teaching

process, their difficulties in peer teaching process and the suggestion of some effective ways

for improving this practice in the ESP classes at the College of Science. Two questions guide

the study:

1) What are the students and teachers’ perceptions and their assessment towards

peer teaching practices in ESP classes?

2) What is the teachers and students’ reflection towards their current practice of

peer teaching in ESP classes at the College and some suggested ways for

improving the peer teaching process in ESP classes?

3. Scopes of the study

Due to the limitation of its author’s time and conditions, the thesis does not cover the

whole issue ‘peer teaching’. Instead, it is only targeted at working out the effectiveness of

peer teaching on ESP teaching and learning quality and giving some suggestions for

improving the peer teaching process in ESP classes.

4. Methods of the study

In order to increase the robustness and trustworthiness of the study, both qualitative

and quantitative methods were used. Miles and Huberman (1994) attest there are three good

reasons for resorting to numbers: “to see rapidly what you have in a large batch of data; to

verify a hunch or hyporthesis; and to keep yourself analytically honest, protecting against

bias”. Used in the manner described, quantification supports and illuminates the study’s

qualitative analysis.

Due to the limited scope of the study, the biggest aim of the research is only to obtain a

snapshot of the current practice of peer teaching in ESP classes at the College of Science, and

of the survey subjects’ attitudes towards some suggested ways for improving peer teaching

process. The researcher wishes to make a small contribution to the improvement of ESP



teaching and learning methods at the College, where she has been teaching for many years.

So, the most suitable method for the study is possibly a survey research. The study is both

quantitative and qualitative. The data is collected by means of questionnaires.

5. Design of the study

The study is divided into three main parts: the introduction, the development and the

conclusion.

The very first part, the introduction, covers the background information such as

rationale, aims, scope, and design of the study.

The second part, the main part, of the study is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1

deals with the review of the literature relevant to the study. Chapter 2 covers the

methodological framework for the study, the results and the discussions obtained from the

questionnaires. Chapter 3 presents some suggested ways for improving peer teaching process.

The last part of the study is intended to review what has been presented and to make it

an ending point of the study.



PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1. Definitions of key terms

It is important to have a look at the following terms before any further ideas are dealt with:

• Peer: According to Boud, D., Cohan, R., and Sampson, J. (2001: 13), a member of a

group of people of the same age, status, ability, etc. Peers are other people in a similar

situation to each other who do not have a role in that situation as teacher or expert

practitioner. They may have considerable experience and expertise or they may have

relatively little. They share the status as fellow learners and they are accepted as such.

Most importantly, they do not have power over each other by virtue of their position or

responsibilities. In this light, peers are students learning in the same class. Throughout

the study we will be discussing the role of students who are in the same classes as

those from whom they are learning.

• Peer teacher: The term ‘peer teacher’ refers to the student who is more advanced in

her understanding of certain subject matter is enlisted to provide learning assistance to

less advanced students. (Sampson, J., Cohen, R., Boud, D., and Anderson, G, 1999: 7)

• Peer teaching: Peer teaching is known as the cooperation and group cohesion, a two￾way, reciprocal learning experience. (McKeachie et el, 1986: 12). It involves mutual

benefits and a sharing of knowledge, ideas and experience among participants. It is a

way of moving beyond independent to interdependent learning. This idea of

interdependence is important since the alternative is a more instrumental peer teaching

approach which often involves some form of credit or payment for the person acting in

a teaching capacity thus losing a sense of mutuality. Peer teaching involves students

learning from and with each other in both formal and informal ways. The emphasis is

on the learning process, including emotional support learners offer to each other, as

much as the learning task. The roles of teacher and learner may either not be defined or

shift during the course of the learning experience, unlike peer teaching in which roles

are fixed. Staff may be actively involved as group facilitators or may simply initiate a