SKKN Applying Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) to improve students’ reading skills in High School

 to their classrooms. 
Third, prepare students for CL. This includes explaining to them why to use 
CL, what benefits they can get, and what results they can find from this technique. 
This is an important task since students need to know the “whats” and the “whys” 
of learning together in order that they can set goals for learning and have high 
motivation to participate in the activities. Additionally, it is essential to teach 
students some basic skills of team work (group and social skills). For the fact that 
the teacher-fronted classes do not train students to work in a cooperative 
environment, the group skills such as sharing ideas, supporting each other, trust-
building, conflict-management, etc. are essential for the group work to go 
smoothly. 
Fourth, plan materials and redesign textbook tasks suitable for CL. The 
quality of the task is central to the success of CL. Therefore, if high school teachers 
are required to follow the textbook strictly, it is better that they should redesign 
35 
some tasks to make them interesting, challenging, motivating, and most 
importantly, relevant for CL. Moreover, teaching students English reading skill 
does not mean merely helping them to fulfill a Question-and-Answer exercise or 
deciding on True/False statements in textbook. It is recommended that teachers 
could provide supplementary tasks/activities suitable for students or integrate the 
textbook tasks into CLAs so that their students would be exposed into a 
communicative and cooperative environment to develop not only language skills 
but also social skills and communicative competence. 
Fifth, begin with a simple CLA first, and use it several times to let students 
become accustomed to working together. It is also important that the certain 
activity must be in accordance with certain classroom, students and lesson. Also, 
the teachers must give clear instructions and carefully structure the activity. 
Sixth, determine group size, assign students to groups, and assign group 
roles. Depending on the number of students in the class and the CL tasks, group 
size can range from two to four students. Experts advise that teachers should 
begin their CL implementation by using only pairs for group work. Then two 
pairs may join to form a bigger group. Heterogeneous groups (groups of mix-
ability) should be in favor since the better students can help the weaker ones. 
Teachers should choose or assist students in choosing roles that use their 
strengths and improve their areas of weakness. 
Phase 2: During Implementation 
After all of the preparation, it is time to begin working. During this phase, the 
roles of students to fulfill the CL tasks are the most important. Nevertheless, the 
teachers should activate their roles in controlling and processing students’ group 
work. Followings are some essential tasks they must take into consideration. 
First, take control of the class time and use time appropriately for CL. Make 
sure that students have enough time to be exposed to pair or group reading. 
Furthermore, although CL is documented to be very beneficial in developing 
students’ language and social skills, it is not advisable to use CLAs all the time in 
all reading classes. 
Second, take control of students’ discussion in pairs or groups. Make sure that 
students are working in heterogeneous groups, group members share different roles 
according to their strengths, and students are aware of helping each other, sharing 
reading strategies or reading techniques. 
Third, create a cooperative reading environment, ask the class to read together 
and discuss how they understand what is written instead of simply asking them to 
answer all the comprehension questions in the textbook. 
Fourth, be helpful when students encounter difficulties. Teachers’ roles as 
facilitators, participants, controllers, and so on should be flexible according to 
different situations and different groups. 
36 
Fifth, be creative and flexible in conducting CLAs. There is no need to obey 
an original CLA passively. Integrate textbook tasks into a CLA if possible or make 
some changes of the original activity so that it becomes suitable for each 
classroom. 
Phase 3: After Implementation 
After completing the group work, it is time for the teachers to give feedback, 
evaluate students’ product and their group performance as well as provide students 
with a chance to reflect on what they have or have not done during their 
cooperation. 
First, check groups’ answer before giving feedback to the whole class. Have 
students look at a chart which displays the group’s achievement in terms of points 
or smiling faces. Then the name of the winning group is announced. 
Second, let students choose their group’s representative to present the group’s 
outcomes. As each group often assigns roles to group members, the representative 
is often the student who takes his/her role as the speaker of the group. Teachers’ 
random appointment may cause difficulties to students. 
Last, spare some time for students to assess how well the group functioned, 
what things have been done well, and what things should be improved. The 
students can be asked to fill in a feedback form, expressing their feelings, thoughts 
and opinions about the time spent together as a team, the work done and what they 
feel they have achieved. This self-evaluation is essential for students because it 
highlights the positive aspects of CL. Furthermore, it is important for teachers 
because it brings problems to the teachers’ attention. 
PART D: CONCLUSION 
 In conclusion, students who participated in this study had positive perceptions 
of using CLAs in learning reading skills. It is worth noting that the majority of the 
respondents showed their agreements on interesting reading lessons and exciting 
learning atmosphere that CLAs brought in reading classes. There were also high 
proportions on students’ approval of the fact that CLAs encouraged students to 
give effective support to each other while learning reading skills and increased 
student – student interaction during reading lessons. However, there are some 
challenges that need considering. A number of participants admitted that they 
faced challenges while employing CLAs in reading. Some found it difficult to 
organize CLAs effectively within forty-five minutes of a period because these 
activities took much time. More important, some were not very confident when 
working better students in the same group. In these cases, teacher should pay 
attention to class management and take measures to encourage weak students to be 
more confident and active. 
37 
With regard to the impact on students’ reading skills, CLAs proved to have 
positive effects on participants’ reading competence. This was evidenced by the 
better performances of experimental group in the post-test. Additionally, most of 
the participants admitted CLAs’ benefits in terms of enhancing students’ reading 
strategies and broading students’ vocabulary. CLAs also created high motivation in 
learning reading skills, especially for weak students because they were ale to deal 
with easier tasks compared to working individually and doing the whole tasks, 
which was considered rather daunting to them. 
As far as I am concerned, CLAs not only provide students with high 
motivation to read and improve their reading skills but also create an exciting 
learning atmosphere in class and develop many necessary soft skills for students. I 
have carried out this method of teaching in my classes and gain successful results. 
Hopefully, my research can be useful reference materials for language teachers and 
help them teach English in general and reading skills in particular more effectively 
at school. I’m looking forward to having your comments so that my study will 
become more perfect and applicable. 
 Quynh Luu, April, 10
th
, 2022 
38 
REFERENCES 
1. Tiếng Anh 10- Student’s book - Education Publishing House and Pearson 
2. Tiếng Anh 10- Teacher’s book - Education Publishing House and Pearson 
3. Adams, D. & Hamm, M. (2005), Redefining Education in the Twenty-first century: 
Shaping Collaborative Learning in the Age of Information, Illinois: Charles C Thomas 
Publisher, Ltd. 
4. Aronson, E. (1978), The Jigsaw Classroom: A Cooperative Learning Technique, 
Retrieved from  jigsaw.org on April 16, 2011. 
5. Celce-Murcia, M. & Olshtain, E. (2000), Discourse and Context in Language 
Teaching, NY: Cambridge University Press. 
6. Daniel, D.H. (1993), “Cooperative Learning: A Response to Linguistic and Cultural 
Diversity”, TESL-EJ, 1(3), 15-24. 
7. Garner, R. (1985), Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of 
Attitudes and Motivation, London: Edward Arnold. 
8. Ilola, L. M., Power, K. M. & Jacobs, G. (1989), “Structuring Student Interaction to 
Promote Learning”, English Teaching Forum, 27(3), 12-16. 
9. Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T. (1986), Circles of Learning: Cooperation in the 
Classroom, Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company. 
10. Kagan, S. (1988), Cooperative Learning: Resources for Teachers, Riverside CA: 
University of California. 
11. Kagan, S. (1992), Cooperative Learning, CA: Kagan Cooperative learning. 
12. Larson, S. & Dansereau, G. (1986), Paired-Reading, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 
Associates, Inc. 
13. Opitz, M.F. (1992), Flexible Grouping in Reading: Practical Ways to Help all 
Students Become Better Readers, NY: Scholastic, Inc. 
14. Slavin, R. (1997), “Comprehensive Approaches to Cooperative Learning”, THEORY 
INTO PRACTICE 38(2), Spring 1999, The Ohio State University. 
15. Slavin, R.E & Madden, N. A, (2001), Success for All: Research and Reform in 
Elementary Education, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 
16. Tsai, S. (1998), The effects of Cooperative Learning on Teaching English as a 
Foreign Language to Senior High School Students, MA thesis, National Kaohsiung 
Normal University. 
17. Wood, K.D. & Harmon, J.M. (1987), Strategies for Integrating Reading and Writing 
in Middle and High School Classrooms, National Middle School Association. 
18. 
johnson 
39 
APPENDIX 
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE 
 hiếu kh o s t kiến) 
Effect of Cooperative Learning Activities (CLAs) on high school students’ reading 
skills 
 nh h ng c a c c ho t ng h c h p t c ến k n ng c c a h c sinh T T) 
Section A: c A) 
General information: (Thông tin chung) 
Full name (H v t n):.Class (L p): 
 Male (Nam) Female ( ) 
How long have you been learning English? (Em h c Tiếng Anh c bao l u?) 
 - 6 years (3 – 6 năm) 
– 10 years (7 – 10 năm) 
years (hơn 10 năm) 
Section B: c ) 
Tick the box that apply to you in the following opinion about CLAs in reading classes 
( nh d u v o ph h p v i kiến c a em v nh ng quan i m sau y v c c ho t 
 ng h c h p t c trong gi h c k năng Reading) 
Strongly agree: Ho n to n ng 
Agree: ng 
 ndecided: Ch a x c nh 
Disagree: Kh ng ng 
Strongly disagree: Ho n to n kh ng ng 
No. 
Statements 
 kiến) S
tr
o
n
g
ly
d
is
a
g
re
e
D
is
a
g
re
e
U
n
d
ec
id
e
d
A
g
re
e
S
tr
o
n
g
ly
a
g
re
e
1. CLAs make reading lessons less 
monotonous. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c l m tiết 
Reading nh m ch n hơn) 
40 
2. CLAs encourage students to give 
effective support to each 
other while learning reading skills. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c khuyến 
kh ch h c sinh h tr nhau trong 
qu tr nh h c c) 
3. CLAs increase student – student 
interaction during reading lessons. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c l m 
tăng s t ơng t c gi a h c sinh 
trong gi h c) 
4. CLAs establish a friendly learning 
environment in reading classes. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c t o ra 1 
m i tr ng h c th n thi n trong l p 
h c) 
5. CLAs in reading classes are time-
consuming. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c t n th i 
gian) 
6. Students find it difficult to conduct 
CLAs effectively in reading classes. 
(H c sinh th y kh t ch c c c 
ho t ng h c h p t c hi u qu 
trong gi h c c) 
7. Students are not confident when 
working in the same group with 
better students. 
(H c sinh c m th y kh ng t tin khi 
l m vi c c ng nh m v i nh ng b n 
gi i hơn) 
8. CLAs help enhance students’ 
vocabulary in reading lessons 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p 
l m tăng v n t v ng c a h c sinh) 
41 
9. CLAs create opportunities for 
students to learn useful strategies 
from their peers or their group 
members when reading in English. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c t o cơ 
h i cho h c sinh h c h i c c chiến 
thu t c hi u qu t b n c ng 
c p/nh m v i m nh) 
10. CLAs make reading tasks easier for 
weak students to deal with. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t cl m cho 
c c b i t p d d ng hơn v i c c h c 
sinh yếu) 
11. CLAs create high motivation in 
learning reading skills. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c t o 
 ng l c l n cho h c sinh h c k 
năng c) 
12. CLAs help develop self-study of 
students. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p 
ph t tri n kh năng t h c c a h c 
sinh) 
13. CLAs help students get information 
from reading texts more effectively. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p 
h c sinh biết c ch l y th ng tin t 
b i c hi u qu hơn) 
14. CLAs help improve high school 
students’ reading competence. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p c i 
thi n k năng c c a h c sinh 
THPT) 
 Thank you for your participation and cooperation! 
42 
Appendix B: Semi-Structured Interview 
Main questions Follow-up questions 
1. What do you think about the use of 
CLAs in your reading lessons? 
(Em ngh nh thế n o v vi c p d ng 
c c ho t ng h c h p t c trong c c tiết 
h c Reading?) 
a. In your opinion, is it appropriate if 
the teacher applies frequent CLAs in 
reading classes? 
(Theo em, c ph h p kh ng nếu nh 
GV p d ng c c ho t ng h c h p t c 
th ng xuy n trong c c tiết Reading?) 
b. How do CLAs help you and your 
classmates in learning reading skills? 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p em 
v c c b n trong l p trong qu tr nh h c 
 c nh thế n o?) 
c. What do you think is the most 
challenging when learning the reading 
skills with CLAs? 
(Em ngh i u g l tr ng i l n nh t khi 
h c tiết Reading v i vi c p d ng c c 
ho t ng h c h p t c?) 
2. How do CLAs affect your reading 
skills? 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c c nh h ng 
 ến k năng c c a em nh thế n o?) 
a. Do you think that you have learned 
useful reading strategies from your 
classmates in CLAs? If yes, what are 
they? 
(Em c cho r ng em h c c c c 
chiến thu t c h u ch t b n c a m nh 
nh v o c c ho t ng h c h p t c hay 
kh ng? ếu c , em h y cho v d .) 
b. In what ways do CLAs help you to 
improve your reading skills? Please 
give examples. 
(C c ho t ng h c h p t c gi p em 
c i thi n k năng c b ng c ch n o? 
Em h y cho v d ) 
c. What types of CLAs do you find the 
most useful? Why? 
(Em th y ho t ng h c h p t c n o 
hi u qu nh t? V sao?)