The effects of competitive team-based learning approach on learner reading performance and attitude among EFL learners at Ho Chi Minh city University of Technology (HUTECH)

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

---

NGUYEN THI QUE CHI

THE EFFECTS OF COMPETITIVE TEAM-BASED

LEARNING APPROACH ON LEARNER READING

PERFORMANCE AND ATTITUDE AMONG EFL LEARNERS

AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

(HUTECH)

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

---

NGUYEN THI QUE CHI

THE EFFECTS OF COMPETITIVE TEAM-BASED

LEARNING APPROACH ON LEARNER READING

PERFORMANCE AND ATTITUDE AMONG EFL LEARNERS

AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

(HUTECH)

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Major code: 60140111

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: Dr. NGUYEN THUY NGA

Ho Chi Minh City, August 2018

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “The effects of Competitive Team-based

learning approach on learner reading performance and attitude among EFL

learners at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Hutech)” is my own work.

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain

material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I

have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.

No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text

of the thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree in any other

tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, 2018

Nguyen Thi Que Chi

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thesis would not be fulfilled without the assistance and encouragement from

many people. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to

those who helped me in completing this thesis.

First and foremost, I gratefully and sincerely appreciate the guidance,

encouragement and support of my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Thuy Nga, for her careful

instruction, clever advice and her thoughtful suggestions at different stages of my

writing. She spent her valuable time reading my research and helped me realize how to

conduct it little by little. Without her devotion, I could not have completed this thesis.

Therefore, I would like to say “thank you so much” again to her and send her all best

wishes for her heath and career.

Second, my sincere appreciation is especially expressed to my students, who

participated in this study for their assistance and cooperation.

Third, I would like to give many thanks to my trainee teacher who was willing to

spend time helping me with my thesis, especially the observation completion.

Last but not least, I owe my deepest gratitude to my mother who was always

beside me. Although she could not help me do this research, she was the one who cared

for me and did all housework so that I could devote my full time for my study. She

encouraged me when I was tired and got stuck on the way of doing this thesis.

Again, I sincerely thank everybody.

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ABSTRACT

Most of the previous studies looked into the effect of Competitive Team-based

learning on oral performance or other areas but very few about the effect of this new

approach on reading performance and attitude. This research is an experimental study

which intended to look into the effect of Competitive Team-based Learning (CTBL) on

learner reading performance and attitude of EFL students at Ho Chi Minh City

University of Technology (Hutech). Seventy students at level 4 of English from two

classes were selected and put into two groups- experimental group (EG) and control

group (CG). The study was conducted in three stages. Stage one involved

administering a pretest in other to test the student reading performance at the beginning

of the research. Stage two conducted the experiment in two classes with thirty-five

students in each. The EG was taught by CTBL and the CG taught by Communicative

Language Teaching approach (CLT). Stage three involved administering a posttest to

test the student reading performance after the treatment and conducting the

questionnaire to measure student emotional attitude toward the use of CTBL in reading

class. Furthermore, during the teaching and learning process, the trainee teacher

followed the observation checklist to observe both the teacher‟s teaching procedures

and students‟ actions in applying CTBL through teamwork and competition in the

purpose to find out learner attitude and confirm the effect of CTBL on their reading

learning. In ten weeks with totally ten periods, both groups received the same

curriculum, material (American Headway 3), instructor, assignments and lesson plans.

The data were collected and analyzed. The results revealed a statistically significant

difference between posttest and pretest scores of the two groups. Besides, the students

of the EG had significantly better posttest scores than those of the CG. Most of the

students of the EG showed their agreement in the use of CTBL in reading lessons.

Therefore, CTBL had positive effects on Hutech EFL students‟ reading and most of

them showed positive attitudes towards this new approach.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................................... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. ii

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................. iv

LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................... ix

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ x

ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................... xii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1

1.1. Background of the study ................................................................................... 1

1.2. Problem statements ........................................................................................... 3

1.3. Personal motivation........................................................................................... 4

1.4. Research aims .................................................................................................... 5

1.5. Research questions ............................................................................................ 5

1.6. The significance of the study ............................................................................ 6

1.7. Structure of the study........................................................................................ 6

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................... 8

2.1. Theoretical foundation...................................................................................... 8

2.1.1. Interaction hypothesis.................................................................................. 8

2.1.2. Cooperative learning method (CL)............................................................ 11

2.2. Competitive Team-based learning ................................................................. 13

2.2.1. Team........................................................................................................... 13

2.2.2. Competition................................................................................................ 14

2.2.3. Team-based learning (TBL)....................................................................... 15

2.2.4. Competitive Team-based learning (CTBL)................................................ 17

2.2.4.1. Teacher’s role in CTBL ..................................................................... 18

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2.2.4.2. Procedures in CTBL class................................................................ 19

2.3. Difference between CL and CTBL ................................................................ 21

2.4. Reading performance ...................................................................................... 24

2.4.1. Reading ...................................................................................................... 24

2.4.2. Reading performance................................................................................. 25

2.5. Attitude ............................................................................................................. 26

2.6. The relationships between CTBL and reading performance and attitude 28

2.6.1. The relationship between CTBL and reading performance....................... 28

2.6.2. The relationship between CTBL and attitude ............................................ 29

2.7. Studies on CTBL ............................................................................................. 31

2.8. Chapter summary ........................................................................................... 41

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................. 43

3.1. Research design................................................................................................ 43

3.2. Data collection.................................................................................................. 45

3.2.1. Participants................................................................................................ 45

3.2.2 Instruments ................................................................................................. 46

3.2.2.1. Pretest and Posttest .......................................................................... 46

3.2.2.2. Lesson plan ...................................................................................... 47

3.2.2.3. Questionnaire .................................................................................. 53

3.2.2.4. Observation....................................................................................... 56

3.2.3. Procedures ................................................................................................. 58

3.2.3.1. Planning ........................................................................................... 58

3.2.3.2. Conducting the experiments ............................................................. 58

3.2.3.3. Acting (the teacher applied the method) .......................................... 59

3.2.3.4. Observing (the teacher analyzes the process of applying

the method) ................................................................................................... 60

3.2.3.5. Reflecting ......................................................................................... 60

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3.3. Validity and reliability of Instruments.......................................................... 60

3.4. Data analysis .................................................................................................... 62

3.4.1. Pretest and posttest ................................................................................... 62

3.4.2. Questionnaire ............................................................................................. 62

3.4.3. Observation ................................................................................................ 63

3.5. Data analysis procedure.................................................................................. 63

3.6. Chapter summary............................................................................................ 64

Chapter 4: Results and discussion............................................................................... 65

4.1. The relation between the use of CTBL and learner reading performance 65

4.1.1. Results of the pretest .................................................................................. 65

4.1.2. Results of the posttest................................................................................. 67

4.1.2.1. Results of CG’s posttests scores....................................................... 68

4.1.2.2. Results of EG’s posttest scores ........................................................ 69

4.1.3. The comparisons on the results of the posttest scores of CG and EG....... 70

4.2. The attitude of the students in EG class toward CTBL in reading class... 75

4.2.1. Questionnaire............................................................................................. 76

4.2.1.1. Section A: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on reading

tasks for individual........................................................................................ 77

4.2.1.2. Section B: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on reading

tasks for group work ..................................................................................... 78

4.2.1.3. Section C: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on student￾student relationship....................................................................................... 79

4.2.1.4. Section D: Learner attitude toward the effect of CTBL on teacher￾student relationship....................................................................................... 81

4.2.2. Observation................................................................................................ 83

4.2.2.1. Observation on attitude.................................................................... 84

4.2.2.2. Observation on team ........................................................................ 86

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4.2.2.3. Observation on competition ............................................................. 88

4.3. Discussion ......................................................................................................... 90

4.3.1. The selection of participants and material................................................. 90

4.3.2. Research question 1: To what extent does CTBL have effects on learner

reading performance?..................................................................................................... 91

4.3.3. Research question 2: What are the learner attitudes toward CTBL in

reading class? ................................................................................................................. 93

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations........................................................... 97

5.1. Summary of the findings ................................................................................ 97

5.2. Contribution and limitations........................................................................ 100

5.2.1. Contributions ........................................................................................... 100

5.2.2. Limitations ............................................................................................... 101

5.3. Recommendations......................................................................................... 102

5.4. Suggestions for further studies .................................................................... 103

5.5. Conclusion...................................................................................................... 104

REFERENCES............................................................................................................ 105

APPENDIX 1A ............................................................................................................ 113

APPENDIX 1B ............................................................................................................ 118

APPENDIX 2A ............................................................................................................ 124

APPENDIX 2B ............................................................................................................ 129

APPENDIX 3A ............................................................................................................ 134

APPENDIX 3B ............................................................................................................ 138

APPENDIX 4A ............................................................................................................ 143

APPENDIX 4B ............................................................................................................ 147

APPENDIX 5A ............................................................................................................ 152

APPENDIX 5B ............................................................................................................ 156

APPENDIX 6A ............................................................................................................ 161

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APPENDIX 6B ............................................................................................................ 166

APPENDIX 7A ............................................................................................................ 171

APPENDIX 7B ............................................................................................................ 175

APPENDIX 8A ............................................................................................................ 180

APPENDIX 8B ............................................................................................................ 183

APPENDIX 9A ............................................................................................................ 188

APPENDIX 9B ............................................................................................................ 192

APPENDIX 10A .......................................................................................................... 197

APPENDIX 10B .......................................................................................................... 201

APPENDIX 11 ............................................................................................................. 206

APPENDIX 12 ............................................................................................................. 214

APPENDIX 13 ............................................................................................................. 223

APPENDIX 14 ............................................................................................................. 225

APPENDIX 15 ............................................................................................................. 227

APPENDIX 16 ............................................................................................................. 228

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Summary of CTBL‟s construction ............................................................... 18

Figure 2.2: Main components of CTBL (Hosseini, 2014).............................................. 20

Figure 2.3: Research model............................................................................................. 31

Figure 3.1: The picture of the two questionnaires .......................................................... 55

Figure 4.1: Pretest scores of CG and EG ........................................................................ 66

Figure 4.2: Posttest scores of CG and EG....................................................................... 71

Figure 4.3: Finding summary for the effect of CTBL on learner‟s reading performance75

Figure 5.1: Summary of the findings.............................................................................. 99

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Differences between CL and CTBL............................................................... 23

Table 2.2: Summary of previous studies contributing to the effect of CTBL on

learner reading performance and attitude........................................................................ 40

Table 3.1: Experimental research model......................................................................... 44

Table 3.2: Teaching phases for CG and EG.................................................................... 48

Table 3.3: Procedures in conducting the experiments for both CG and EG................... 59

Table 3.4: The procedure of data analysis ...................................................................... 64

Table 4.1: Group Statistics on pretest scores of CG and EG .......................................... 66

Table 4.2: Results of Independent Samples Test on pretest scores of CG and EG ........ 67

Table 4.3: Pair samples statistics on pretest and posttest scores of CG.......................... 68

Table 4.4: Pair samples test result on pretest and posttest score of CG.......................... 68

Table 4.5: Pair samples statistics on pretest and posttest scores of EG.......................... 69

Table 4.6: Pair samples test result on pretest and posttest score of EG.......................... 69

Table 4.7: Group Statistics on posttest scores of CG and EG ........................................ 71

Table 4.8: Results of Independent Samples Test on posttest scores of CG and EG....... 72

Table 4.9: The statistical summary of the data related to the posttest scores of

the CG and EG............................................................................................................ 73

Table 4.10: Students‟ views toward reading tasks for individual................................... 78

Table 4.11: Students‟ views toward reading tasks for group work................................. 78

xi

Table 4.12: Students‟ views toward student-student relationship .................................. 80

Table 4.13: Students‟ views toward student-teacher relationship .................................. 81

Table 4.14: Average value of Mean and SD for four sections........................................ 82

Table 4.15: Trainee teacher‟s observation on attitude .................................................... 85

Table 4.16: Trainee teacher‟s observation on team ........................................................ 87

Table 4.17: Trainee teacher‟s observation on competition............................................. 88

xii

ABBREVIATIONS

CEFR Common European Framework of Reference

CG Control group

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

CTBL Competitive Team-based learning

EFL English as a Foreign Language

EG Experimental group

ESL English as a Second Language

LT Learning Together

MOET Ministry of Education and Training

OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

PET Preliminary English Test

PISSA Program for International Student Assessment

SD Standard Deviation

TLM Traditional Lecture Method

1

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides the background to the current study. It presents the

problems of language learning in general and in Vietnamese setting in particular, which

is the reason for this study to be conducted. Following that, the research aims, research

questions and the significance of the study for both teachers and students are going to

be presented. The structure of the study is placed at the end of this chapter.

1.1. Background of the study

In today global world, the importance of English cannot be denied and ignored

since English is the most common language spoken everywhere. Furthermore, English

has been playing a major role in many domains including medicine, engineering, and

education. Particularly, as a developing country, Vietnam needs to make use of this

world-wide spoken language in order to improve its economy. Obviously, English has

been taught widely as a foreign language (EFL) in Vietnamese educational system.

According to Nguyen and Kazantseva (2015), English is a compulsory subject in

schools and universities in Vietnam for three following reasons: finding a qualified job,

communicating with the international world and accessing scientific sources in the

student‟s major field, etc. Realizing the importance of English, Vietnamese

government has set out a number of policies and investment in order to improve the

quality of EFL teaching and learning in Vietnamese education system. Therefore, the

tendency of English attracts a lot of interest from Vietnamese people and society.

However, it seems that there have been a number of challenges for EFL teachers, and a

lot of problems preventing EFL teaching and learning in Vietnam from its success

(Nguyen & Kazantseva, 2015). However, in recent years, many changes have been

made to overcome these challenges. One of them is changing the teaching method from

teacher-centered to learner-centered. Among the learner-centered approaches,

Communicative Language Teaching is preferred and encouraged to apply. Following

this trend, there is promising method that focuses on the implementation of group