Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University

Faculty of Foreign Languages
English Methodology Department

Qualification Paper
Bachelor’s Level
Theme: WAYS OF DEALING WITH STUDENTS’ UNPROPER
BEHAVIOR IN EFL CLASSROOM

Done by: First Name, Second Name

Group 41
Scientific supervisor: Alla Gembaruk
PhD, Associate Professor
Reviewer: Liudmyla Zagoruiko
PhD, Associate Professor

Uman – 2020
 Table of contents
Lead-in……………………………………………………………………………3
Rationale………………………………………………………………………….6
Methodology and Procedure……………………………………………………...9
Findings………………………………………………………………………….14
Interpretations and Conclusions…………………………………………………23
References……………………………………………………………………….27
Appendices………………………………………………………………………28
 3

Lead-in
Ways of dealing with students’ improper behavior in the EFL classroom has
become a central issue for investigating, because it plays a significant role in the
teaching process. Being able to stimulate learners’ engagement and cooperation in
classroom activities and to establish surroundings is an important element of the
productive learning environment. It conceptualises the classroom as a workplace
inhabited by a teacher and a large number of students, some of whom are ready,
willing and capable of learning, others of whom are not. Harmer, an acclaimed and
esteemed ELT expert, author of many books, practitioner, trainer and singer
(1983), states that the effectiveness of the teacher and instruction is dependent
upon how successfully a classroom is managed. With reference to this, positive
intercorrelations between effective classroom management and students’
achievements have been found. However, at the present day relatively high levels
of derogatory behavior in schools is the evidence of poor results in acquiring skills
and English achievements. According to the problem, I target at researching the
reasons of students’ improper behavior in the English classroom and discovering
the effective ways of dealing with them.
Among all the activities that involve the role of a teacher, classroom
behavior is one of the most essential and is really of concern to many teachers and
especially parents. This importance relies on two aspects. Firstly, without the
discipline provided in the EFL classroom there is very small opportunity for
teachers to control and instruct students in acquiring language skills and
knowledge. Secondly, the space of classroom discipline is entirely related to the
problem of inculcating a sense of responsibility in students. The researchers in the
area of second/foreign language (L2) teaching believe that there is no particular
explanation for the increase in improper (disruptive) behavior in the classroom.
Studies have indicated that misbehavior, aggressiveness, and cruelty are
conditioned by factors at home, in society, and in school.
Desired behaviour in the EFL classroom is a behaviour where both teacher
and students know and respect their rights and duties so that it makes possible to
 4

attain the aims of the lesson. To resolve problems with improper behaviour
teachers should employ methods, techniques and activities that in a particular
situation seem to be the most effective. Above all, a well-developed knowledge
based on classroom management provides ways of dealing with disruptive
students. Unless behavioral issues can be solved, the best teaching is wasted, thus
making it possibly the most significant challenge facing teachers. These issues are
undoubtedly need be subjected for research.
Thus, classroom management encircles a wide range of steps and activities
to establish a welcoming atmosphere of learning, ensure smooth running of
lessons, and minimize the misbehaviors and disruptions. I am deeply concerned
with students’ being unable to behave properly in the EFL classroom. During my
school experience, I have observed that naughty students break behavior rules,
make noise, create disruption and mess in the seating arrangement, bully one
another, etc. To my mind, it is a bad experience as they will not be able to perform
effective learning process. What is more, these disturbing behaviors in the
classroom are intolerable and stress-provoking, and teachers have to spend a great
deal of time and energy to manage the classroom.
That is why, my main reason for choosing the topic ‘‘Ways of dealing with
students’ improper behavior in the EFL classroom’’ is my personal interest. As
this problem is not resolved yet, I want to help teachers to find out the ways of
dealing with such kind of behavior and the ways of preventing it. So, one more
reason for selecting this problem is improving teaching and learning, and
producing guidelines for effective practices.
Data collection followed the appropriate ethical procedures and received
approval from Uman Secondary School № 4 where the research was done. The
participants in the research were 13 students of the 5th grade. They are 10-11 year-
old students with Elementary level of English. These learners can understand
simple information in texts and audio/video, which is based on the topics that are
familiar to them. In addition, they can understand and use in their communication
common and ordinary information. Like in every group of learners, there are those
 5

who behave and perform better than others do and vice versa. This class is not the
exception.
In Table 1, you can find a short profile of the class I have been working
with.
Table 1
Class profile
Name of a Age Hobby In-class activities
student
Anna 10 Art Playing games
Oleksandra 10 Dancing Tests
Tymofii 11 Football Playing games
Kostiantyn 10 Football Roleplaying
dialogues
Bohdan 10 Reading books Discussions
Ivan 11 Music Tests
Oleksii 10 Music Listening tasks
Ivan 10 Art Playing games
Tymofii 10 Computer games Retelling stories
Sofiia 11 Dancing Playing games
Maksym 10 Tennis Listening tasks
Dmytro 10 Swimming Tests
Roman 11 Football Group work

From the classroom profile, we can see that 30% of students prefer playing
games as in-class activities. Three out of thirteen learners consider themselves
good in tests and other two in listening tasks. The remaining amount of learners
prefers retelling stories, group work, discussions and roleplaying dialogues.
It was decided that the best tool for compiling the profile of the class would
be students’ questionnaire (see Appendix A), which gave the chance to get to know
the participants better. Furthermore, it helped me to find out more about their
 6

preferences for in-class activities and as well as tasks or activities they are
interested in most of all.
I think my research will help the teachers to reduce students’ misbehavior in
order to create a favourable atmosphere and productive learning environment in the
EFL classroom that is beneficial both for teachers and for students.

Rationale
During my school experience I observed many lessons given for learners. As
a trainee student, I have noticed that the majority of the students were not attentive;
some of them had a rest on the desk during the English lesson or just interrupted
other students. They used their phones a couple of times and therefore all teacher’s
efforts to calm them down were made in vain. After the observations I have come
to such conclusions:
 large classes are harder to involve into work and to maintain their
attention during the lesson;
 the right environment created by the teacher has a special power to
raise the students’ interest and to keep discipline;
 better understanding of classroom management enables both students
and teachers to change their behavior for cheerful and supportive
atmosphere.
The research was organised around three research questions:
1. What do learners say why they misbehave in the EFL classroom?
2. What do teachers say about the reasons for students’ improper behaviour
and possible ways of dealing with it?
3. What am I to do as a teacher in order to prevent or minimize students’
improper behavior?
These questions have been posed many times during my years of studying
and observing the process of teaching and learning English as a second language.
 7

In my research I put forward the hypothesis which states that students’

behaviour in the EFL classroom will be improved if teachers make learners
interested and engaged in learning English by using specific strategies and
approaches, so that they have a reasonable chance of making an impact on
students’ behaviour.
The research will be done with the help of such research tools as
questionnaire, interview, focus group discussion for obtaining quantitative and
qualitative data, and survey for getting qualitative data. These tools will be helpful
for me to do the investigation based on the results. Furthermore, all the strategies
defined will be realized into the lessons on the intervention stage of the research.
A large and growing body of literature has investigated the problem of
students’ misbehavior in the EFL classroom. Many previous studies have shown
that many terms refer to this disciplinary problem. The most frequently used terms
are „misbehavior“(Martin, 1999; Atici, 2007; Stephens, 2005), “challenging
behaviour” (Lyons & O’Connor, 2006; Swinson & Knight, 2007) and “antisocial
behaviour” (Reinke & Herman, 2002; Lake, 2004). Alternative expressions, such
as “discipline problems” ( Zouhnia, 2003; Luiselli , 2005), “low level disruption”
(Woods, 2008), “difficult classroom behaviour” (Miller, 2000; Little, 2002),
“undesirable behaviour” (Kokkinos, 2005), “troublesome classroom behaviour”
(Corrie, 1997; Beaman, 2007), “school conflict” (Ingersol, 1996), “classroom
aggression” (Lawrence & Green, 2005) are also constantly used. In my research I
use the term improper behavior which is viewed as a synonym to misbehavior.
At first, I clarified the notion of behavior, which is considered improper
(disruptive). Wheldall & Merrett (1988, p. 299) define the issue of misbehavior in
the classroom as „an activity which annoys, upsets or distresses teachers is
disruptive of good order in the classroom and causes troubles, and leads teachers
to comment continually”. Another definition is given by Kyriacou & Ortega (2010,
p. 415), who explain that misbehavior is “any behavior by pupils which interferes
with the smooth running of the lesson”. This is the definition I follow in my
research.
 8

It has been claimed that different classifications of the types of students’

behavior exist. Harmer’s classification (2009) of misbehavior is considered the
mostly widespread. He states that there are different forms of disruptive behavior.
These cover:
 Constant chattering in class
 Not listening to teacher-student
 Refusal to do any homework
 No involvement in the classroom activities
 Frequent lateness
 Constant rudeness
 Permanent complaint.
Classroom management may be influenced by many factors that lead to
improper behavior. The researchers in this field have discovered various reasons
for behaving improperly. Among them: physiological factors (children can be
tired, sick, etc.), problems with curriculum, looking for attention and many others.
All these factors influence and are tightly connected with each other. This kind of
behavior is so harmful for both teachers and learners, because it stands in the way
with the teacher’s ability to teach effectively and interrupts the smoothness of
studying. A lot of investigations were made for discovering these factors. Harmer
(2009, p.37) states that „the age of our students is a major factor in our decision
about how and what to teach. People of different ages have different needs,
competences, and cognitive skills”. Kaplan, one of the world's largest and most
diverse education providers, (2002, p.195) states that „boys tend to be more
disruptive than girls, and also tend to manifest more aggressive modes of
disruption”. On the other hand, Ryan & Deci, psychologists, (2000) focused on the
importance of motivation in the learning process since motivated students learn
better than unmotivated students.
In view of all that has been mentioned so far, I may suppose that affective
factors such as age, gender, motivation have a strong influence on determining the
students’ willingness to behave properly during the English lessons.
 9

. Methodology and Procedure

This paper is organized as follows. The first section consists of announcing
the research topic, interest and the reasons for pursuing the topic of the research,
description of the context, including the profile of the class in focus (learners’ age
and level of English), identification a classroom-based problem, formulating
research questions and putting forward the hypothesis. This section also includes
literature review, which let us know who has done similar researches before and
defines the kind of data I need to collect; the description of research participants
and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the research tools.
In the second section I analyze the collected data, present the findings,
interpret them and draw conclusions responding to the research questions. In order
to answer the first question of my research I used focus group discussion,
questionnaire and survey for students. I used interview for teachers to find out the
answer to the second research question. Collected and analyzed data gave some
ideas concerning the choice of activities and strategies that might be effective. I
used such data collection tool as post-intervention questionnaire in order to check
learners' attitude towards activities after conducting the lessons. With the help of
that tool, I was able to give an answer to the third research question. I believe that
chosen tools and methods provided me with accurate information and helped to
receive positive results.
The third section includes references and appendices.
As it was mentioned, the present study took place at Uman Secondary
School № 4 during my observed teaching. All of the participants were 10 and 11
year olds; they were learners of the 5 th grade. The students had the Elementary
level of English. They were quite active and open for discussion.
The study took 4 weeks for me to deeply investigate the problem in which I
was interested in. The first step in the study was to get acquainted with the class
and to review the literature related to the topic of the action research. This stage is
particularly significant, because it provides with better understanding of the topic
itself. After that, according to the research questions I worked on data collection
 10

tools and methods. The next step was to prepare necessary interviews,
questionnaires and activities. These data collection tools gave me a great amount
of information that was used to investigate the problem. Following the analysis of
the findings, I have interpreted them and have come up with conclusions.
I exerted any effort to improve students' behaviour in the EFL classroom
through the ways and procedures in five phases.
In the preparation phase of my research I identified the general issue,
observed the situation, read books to obtain necessary information to conduct the
research. The most important in this phase was fact-finding process to refine the
ideas about the general focus area and prepare more systemic investigation.
During the planning phase I developed a plan for gathering data, considered
and selected a range of appropriate literature sources.
During the action phase the procedures selected for collecting data were
developed and put into action. This period helped me to penetrate more deeply into
the issue being researched.
Observation phase involved observing the outcomes of the intervention and
reflecting on its effectiveness. This involved some new teaching strategies and
activities which were used for further collection of the data.
Reflection phase is considered a combination of both analysis and reflection.
On this stage, the data was analyzed using a systemic process of analysis and
interpretation according to agreed criteria.
I began with reading many literature sources to investigate what other
scholars say about students’ improper behaviour in the EFL classroom and how
they deal with it. It helped me to choose the main tools for gathering data and
moreover to come up with the questions directed to the students and teachers.
I started this study with the first research question “What do learners say
why they misbehave in the EFL classroom?” To answer this question I used such
data collection tools as questionnaire (see Appendix B) and focus group discussion
(see Appendix C).
 11

These tools were aimed at describing students’ opinions about the subject
under investigation. The results of the questionnaire and focus group discussion
served to investigate the situations of both the learning and teaching process. They
provided me with quantitative and qualitative data and showed that some of the
students do foreign affairs during the lessons and don’t try to work fully. It also
helped to discover if the learners have an interest in English and if they are
engaged in the process of studying.
The survey was of a great use to find out whether the students misbehave
during the lessons and discover the main reasons of improper behaviour. These
reasons are mostly connected with the psychological sphere of students’
conscience. The tools helped me to reveal that some learners feel that they are
worse in studying than other classmates, so it caused that they begin to misbehave,
disturb each other in order somebody (teacher or other students) pay attention to
them. One more considerable thing that should be noted is that some learners are
not interested in the subject. They are not engaged in the lessons, their
expectations from it are too low, that is why they become bored and improper
behaviour is likely to occur. I used these data collection tools because it is an
appropriate way of getting information and it provides learners with a possibility to
answer anonymously.
In order to answer the second research question “What do teachers say
about the reasons for students’ improper behaviour and possible ways of dealing
with it?” such data collection tool as interview with teachers was used. The
interview was chosen because it is one of the most reasonable ways of obtaining
the information about teachers’ points of view regarding the topic. Teachers were
asked to answer some questions related to the research topic (see Appendix D). I
consider it to be appropriate tool to get the information about students’ behaviour
during the lessons, if they behave improperly how often it happens, when and what
the reasons for such kind of behaviour are and whether teachers use some activities
and techniques in order to encourage learners to participate and be active. During
the interview positive atmosphere and conditions for further work were created.
 12

The next stage of the action research presupposed answering the third
research question “What am I to do as a teacher in order to prevent or minimize
students’ improper behavior?” Collected and analyzed data gave some ideas
concerning the choice of the activities and techniques that might be effective while
dealing with discipline problems and how they can work in the classroom context.
They also gave me an insight what to do next, how to do the intervention.
I tried very hard to encourage learners to behave in a proper way, so that
they know which behaviour is desired during the lessons and which is not. I
proposed students whose behaviour was not improper to roleplay the situation
where they performed the role of a teacher and I performed the role of a student. I
explained that students who were playing the role of a teacher had to control
others’ behaviour. Learners were supposed to do the task from their workbooks as
they usually do, but observing some established rules:
1. Listen and follow directions of a teacher.
2. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
3. Raise your hand before you want to speak or to ask something.
I know that some teachers make up too many rules, which children ignore or
feel confused. In this experiment children had only three simple rules which were
clear and not frustrating for learners. It was really difficult both for students not to
misbehave and for „teachers“ to control the discipline in the classroom. From this
experience students learnt that classroom atmosphere is tightly connected with
students’ behaviour. „Teachers” were allowed to reward and praise those students
who were active, attentive and obedient. That was a collaborative tool because the
students did their best to be good „teachers“ and students. It helped learners a lot
to look at their behaviour from another perspective and to see how important the
discipline in the classroom management is.
After this experience, I asked students to discuss together possible ways that
could motivate them and help to be active and engaged during the lessons. Though
the students suggested different ways and activities that they would like to try,
some of them still preferred to behave improperly. Suddenly, one of the students
 13

spoke loudly: „English is not interesting for me at all. I don’t want to study it“. At
that time, I realized that some games and different kinds of engaging activities
could boost students’ interest and improve behavioral situation in the classroom. I
rearranged the seats to make the process of study more unusual and interesting for
children.
I developed interactive activities and games for boosting students’
interest to study and behave in a proper way. Below is the description of these
activities:
 Creating a Fictional Story
The students sit in the semicircle in this activity. Students are to create the
emerging story as coherent as possible. Here is an example:
Student A: Jack went to school.
Student B: Jack went to school and he had a bike accident.
Student C: It was very serious; his arm was bleeding (new word).
Student D: He called his mother.
Student E: His mother fainted (new word).
I encouraged my learners to use the new vocabulary and assisted them along the
process. There was a good teamwork, so students could help one another, make up
their own stories and at the same time practice vocabulary and grammar.
 Game „Guess Who!“ (pair work)
The students are to write the name of a famous person prepared in advance and
their partners should guess the name by asking a series of yes/no questions.
 Asking and Answering questions
The students are to write as many questions as they can in 10 minutes about
anything they want. After the students are done with the questions, each of them
must come up front and sit in a chair while the other classmates ask the questions
they wrote.
I found this activity very beneficial for children, because they were active
asking and answering interesting questions of their peers and could develop
speaking skills.
 14

 Game „Simon Says“

One player of this game is called Simon (mostly teacher). Other players have to
follow commands that begin only with the words „Simon Says“. If Simon says,
„Simon says touch your nose“, then players must touch their noses. But, if Simon
simply says, „jump“, without first saying „Simon Says“, players must not jump.
Those children that do jump are out.
These activities were helpful and the students were eager to participate, also
they helped to increase learners’ interest in studying English, so disruptive
behaviour was minimized. In order to check the effectiveness of the mentioned
activities, I used a questionnaire for students (see Appendix E), to discover how
much the students liked such interactive games and activities.
Children then were informed about the research and its goal. They were told
that all the information taken from them was anonymous and used only to gain the
research purpose.

Findings
The first research question was addressed to the students in order to find out
the reasons for improper behaviour in the classroom. For this purpose, the
questionnaire and the questions for focus group discussion were created. After
analyzing the data obtained from the questionnaire I can state that in general, some
students reported that they don’t like to follow some instructions during English
lessons, often get comments or not interested in the subject. According to the
students’ responses to the first question from the questionnaire it has become clear
that in the 5th grade 46 % (6 students) are not interested in English lessons and the
rest 54 % (7 students) have an interest in this subject. The results are illustrated in
Figure 1.
 15

First question (5th grade)

Are not interested

Are interested
46%
54%

Figure1. Students’ attitude to English lessons

According to the next question, whether they want to learn something
new from the school curriculum 62 % (8 students) responded negatively. From the
results displayed in Figure 2, the following findings were identified: 38 % (5
learners of the 5th grade) like doing so.

Second question (5th grade)

Want
Do not want
38%

62%

Figure 2. Students’ attitude to the learning process

The results of students’ answers to the third question are illustrated in Figure 3.
From this figure we can see that 23 % (3 students) of the 5 th grade often get
comments and the rest of them 77 % (10 students) don’t often get comments.
 16

Third question (5th grade)

23% Often get comments

Don’t often get
comments

77%

Figure 3. The frequency of getting comments in the EFL classroom

Figure 4 shows that 38 % (5 students of the 5 th grade) do some foreign affairs in

the lesson. These numbers show us the learners get distracted and don’t
concentrate while learning English. 62 % of the 5th graders try to be attentive.

Fourth question (5th grade)

Do some foreign
38% affairs
Don’t do any foreign
affairs
62%

Figure 4. The frequency of getting distracted during the lesson

Another question helped to find out whether the students ever missed lessons
without a good reason or not. Only 7% (1 student) missed lessons without a good
reason while the rest 93% (12 students) do not cut classes.
 17

Fifth question (5th grade)

Missed lessons
7% without a good reason
Didn’t miss lessons
without a good reason

93%

Figure 5. The frequency of missing lessons

Question 6 in the questionnaire was dedicated to how children work during the
lessons. 77% of the learners answered that they work fully and do their best in
order to work better and 23% gave an opposite answer.

Sixth question (5th grade)

23%
Work fully
Don’t work fully

77%

Figure 6. Students’ eagerness to study

According to the next question, whether they try to find an answer if something is
unclear 15% (2 students) responded negatively. From the results displayed in
Figure 7, the following findings were identified: 85% (11 learners of the 5th
graders) try doing so.
 18

Seventh question (5th grade)

15%
Try to find an answer
Don’t try to find an
answer
85%

Figure 7. Students’ desire to work independently if something is not clear

The most significant question was connected with students’ self-evaluation

in the English learning environment and it gave an opportunity to reveal if the
students do something whether they pay attention to the way their classmates
evaluate their actions. According to Figure 8, we can see that 38% (5 students)
mind peers’ opinion and another part of the children 62% (8 students) don’t find it
very important. This answer provides me with the information whether some
learners do nothing during the lessons instead of making mistakes and peers’
dispraise.

Eighth question (5th grade)

Think how the classmates

evaluate them
38% Don’t think how the
classmates evaluate them
62%

Figure 8. Students’ self-evaluation in the class

The last question helped to set the learners’ self-esteem in the English
learning environment and the atmosphere in the class. It is about being confident in
 19

the process of study. Getting back to the results, I can say that only 15% (2 of the
5th graders) feel that they are not so good as other classmates (the other 85% don’t
have this feeling) (see Figure 9).

Ninth question (5th grade)

Feel that they are not

15% so good as others
Don’t feel that they
are not so good as
others
85%

Figure 9. The students’ self-esteem

I continued my study with the first research question “What do learners say
why they misbehave in the EFL classroom ?“ Having analyzed the data of the
focus group discussion I can postulate that the students of the fifth grade find
learning English boring (23%), make noise at lessons (8% – often, 15% –
sometimes), are not motivated to study (54%) and don’t have enough confidence to
speak to a group of people in English (38%). Furthermore, I revealed that some
students misbehave at English lessons, because they feel that they are bored (15%)
or just want to attract somebody’ attention at them.
The results are presented in Table 2.
Summing up the results of the focus group discussion and the questionnaire I
identified the main reasons for students’ misbehavior in the EFL classroom. They
are predominantly of the psychological nature. The most influential among them
are low self-confidence and lack of interest in the subject. Nevertheless, the
students mentioned that among the activities at lessons they like playing games,
tests, listening tasks and group work most of all, so it would help them to be more
interested in learning the English language.
 20

Table 2
The results of the focus-group discussion for students
№ Items Results
1 Do you like to go to school? Yes (62%) No (38%)
2 Do you find learning English Yes (23%) A little (23%) No (54%)
boring?
3 How often do you make noise at Often (8%) Sometimes (15%)
lessons?
Never (77%)
4 What interrupts you from the I feel bored (15%) Nobody notice
lesson? me (8%) Nothing (77%)
5 Which activities at the lessons do Playing games (38%) Tests (23%)
you like most of all?
Listening tasks (15%) Group work
(8%) The rest (16%)
6 Is it difficult for you to study? Yes (23%) A little (8%) No (69%)
7 Are you motivated to study? Yes (54%) No (46%)
8 Do you have enough confidence Yes (54%) No (46%)
to speak to a group of people in
English?

The second research question was targeted at the teachers (the teacher of
English, the teacher of German). The interview was designed for teachers to
answer. The results are as follows. They told that teachers must consistently
reinforce the desired behaviors while ignoring or in some other way extinguishing
the undesirable ones. Both teachers pointed out that they have 2–3 students almost
in each class who misbehave and have challenging behaviour (mostly at the
beginning of the lesson or at the end). Among the reasons for such kind of
behaviour students’ failure to participate in activities and the desire to interact with
others were pointed out by them. For some children lack of interest in the subject
they study also cause difficulties with behaviour as well as with the learning
process. These reasons are connected with learners’ actions or inactions.
 21

Another question was about the usage of any encouraging techniques which
can motivate learners. One teacher told that during the years of her teaching
English she tried to create a language environment, practiced different modes of
interaction and ways of encouraging students to work actively. Sometimes she
arranged the furniture in the classroom so that students could sit around the table
facing each other or introduced 5-minutes free talk at the beginning of every class.
As a result, they made a lot of progress in classroom management and students’
motivation that helped to diversify usual learning of English. Another teacher
shared that to her mind, praising children is one of the most effective ways to lift
their spirits and keep them working hard. Giving a positive feedback, trying to
praise if teacher can see learners’ eagerness definitely raises their self-esteem and
confidence. It is like a key to children’s heart, but of course teacher should know
the measure.
The next question was focused on teachers’ attitude towards any kinds of
punishment if it is available. Teachers answered that students who are constantly
talking, for example, can receive some extra work. But they use this kind of
punishment rarely in order not to discourage students.
As for the activities which the teachers practice, the teacher of English
named different games, storytelling, roleplaying, group discussions, etc. which are
popular among children. One of the games mentioned by the teacher of English is
the game „Simon Says“ when one player is Simon and the rest players have to
follow his commands that begin only with the words „Simon Says“ until somebody
is out. The 5th graders like this game very much; it requires students’ attention and
concentration.
Taking all the data into account I made an intervention. I tried to encourage
the learners to be active participants during the lessons by using different activities
that boost their interest in the language. Also I rearranged the seats to make the
process of study more unusual. Besides that I included praising for good job in my
intervention, when I saw that students did their best to show that they have not to
 22

be afraid to express their thoughts and opinions. The detailed description of the
intervention is given in Methodology and Procedure section.
Having made the observation, I found out that the students’ interest in
learning English had increased. When all the students were involved they were
more likely to misbehave. The activities that I conducted with 5th graders combined
learning English and the things they like to do. I used the activities and techniques
based on students’ and teachers’ responses, such as: roleplaying the situation,
establishing a few rules in the classroom, creating a fictional story, games „Guess
Who!”, „Simon Says“, asking and answering questions, presentations, praising.
To collect data from the students I created the post-intervention
questionnaire (see Appendix E). The responses were then analyzed. Learners’
attitude to these activities was found. The questionnaire revealed that all the
students of the 5th grade liked to participate in such activities. 9 students mentioned
that they helped them to reduce their fear of making mistakes. Though all the
activities were interesting, two of them were the most preferable according to the
responses: “Simon Says” (11 responses) and Creating a Fictional Story (10
responses).

List of activities
13

11

Creating a Game Asking and

-1 Fictional Answering
Story questtions

Figure 10. The most preferable activities according to the children’s responses
 23

It’s fundamental to note that all the students emphasized that they wanted to
practice such activities in every lesson. Praising also played not the last role in
raising students’ confidence while conducting the intervention.

Interpretations and Conclusions

Many teachers experience in their years of teaching difficult problems, but
they mention problems with students’ behaviour and discipline most often.
Managing improper behaviour calls for a special set of ways and techniques to
change it, at least during the time that the student is in school. If the teacher is able
to find out the root of the problem, he will be able to analyze it and to create
certain methods while dealing with such kind of behaviour. Discipline is a degree
to which learners behave properly, are engaged in tasks and do not disturb the
teacher. So that’s why teachers should provide effective learning atmosphere and
know what activities can help to reach the learning goals before problems arise.
During my practice, I have tried to investigate the situation, create a language
environment in which children could enjoy the process of studying and have good
opportunities to study without any difficulties both for teacher and for students.
This research combined two stages: passive (obtaining the data from the
students and the teachers) and active (the invention). During the second stage
interactive activities were incorporated into the EFL classroom to increase
students’ interest to work in order to achieve certain educational goals, and
consequently, to improve their behaviour. The findings of this study suggest that
teachers should seek ways to include children’ collaboration in the language
classroom to help them gain confidence to express their points of view, opinions
instead of sitting silently and doing nothing in order not to make mistakes.
I have answered the first research question ‘‘What do learners say why they
misbehave in the EFL classroom?’’ and found out that almost half of the students
(46%) are not interested in learning English showing general boredom, doing
foreign affairs or making noise. I also found out that 5 th graders (46%) don’t have
enough confidence to speak to a group of people in English and worry how the
 24

classmates evaluate them (38%). Having analyzed the data of the survey it is
necessary to mention that some students (15%) feel that they are not so good as
their peers are. This situation has negative effect on the classroom atmosphere and
management. Discipline is not synonymous with absolute quiet. So the students
mentioned that interactive activities would help them to improve conditions.
I have answered the second research question ‘‘What do teachers say about
the reasons for students’ improper behaviour and possible ways of dealing with
it?”
And have discovered that lack of interest in subject of learning and fear of
interacting with others make children break behaviour from time to time. I have
also found out that both teachers try to create a positive and friendly environment
by:
 Using meaningful tasks and activities (storytelling, group discussion, games,
etc.)
 Practicing different modes of interaction
 Praising and giving positive feedback or giving extra work for misbehaving
(very seldom)
 Introducing 5-minutes free talk at the beginning of every class
With all these findings I came up with the following list of activities and
strategies which I practiced during my observed teaching and which are the answer
to the third research question. These activities and strategies are:
 Establishing only a few rules which were not frustrating and clear for
children.
 Introducing 5-minutes free talk to assure that learners are ready for further
interaction and don’t dissipate their attention. Students can talk about any
interesting event, news or stories they have read, listened to and watched
recently.
 Creating a Fictional Story: ask students to create the emerging story as
coherent as possible using new vocabulary or grammar.
 25

 Talking according to the picture: show students some cartoon pictures, or

humorous pictures. Let them talk freely.
 Asking and answering questions. This activity has many benefits for
children, because they receive an opportunity to ask and answer interesting
questions of their peers and develop speaking skills.
 Games: students love games. Try to choose games to encourage students’
practice.
 Praising is one of the most powerful tools to engage your students. Use it
effectively and when it is needed.
On doing the research I identified two the most influential factors which
affect and increase misbehavior in the classroom. One is that lack of self-
confidence and fear of making mistakes. Second, students are indifferent to
English and are not interested in it. This is a very significant dimension for
children. Generally speaking, an interesting lesson provides learners with new
knowledge and has a consistent plan without any unnecessary interruptions. I do
not exclude some other factors such as timidity, introversion, social problems
(poverty, parents’ divorce, etc.). Being a victim of any of these problems, child
could misbehave or often break discipline in the EFL classroom.
On the one hand, I tried to engage the 5 th graders to collaborative work.
Besides, I have tried these ways of dealing with students’ improper behaviour.
Here is the list of recommendations for teachers based on the results of this study:
 Try to arrange the seats of the classroom in the circle or in groups with the
students facing each other not in rows and lines.
 Do many short activities instead of a few ones to maintain their attention and
concentration.
 Establish clear rules and hang them in a visible place in the classroom to
avoid future conflicts. It would be great if students take part in creating them
so that they be responsible for obeying them.
 Make a short statement identifying the improper behaviour, a short
expression of the wish for good behaviour, or an announcement of a reward
 26

for good behaviour. Criticize not the student, but his behaviour. Criticism
should be polite and constructive.
 Be firm in a gentle way and give students praise whenever they are doing
anything close to a good job.
 Provide a clear structure for your lessons.
 Make your lessons interesting, exciting and engaging.
 Treat students with the kindness and respect without favoritism. Smile a lot
and value their opinions. Never embarrass anyone for a laugh.
The research has shown that teacher is responsible for what is happening in
the classroom, including not only the learning process but also behaviour.
Improper behaviour of the learners upsets the normal and smooth running of the
school and obstructs the progress of other students. That’s why teachers should
control the students and activities that are supposed to lead to the realization of
learning goals.
To summarize I need to say that this research and its findings will be helpful
for all the teachers to deal successfully with any kind of improper behaviour and
deprive students from the opportunity to enjoy it. Teachers should not only be
honest, trustworthy and responsible, but also be able to keep order in class and at
the same time give students more independence.
 27

References
Atici, M. (2006). Comparison of teachers and counselors' ideas about
collaboration in dealing with students' behavior problems in primary schools.
Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits:
Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry.
Fontana, D. (1991). Psychology for Teachers (2nd ed.). London: The British
Psychological Society in association with Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Harmer, J. (1991). The practice of English language teaching. New edition.
London and New York: Longman.
Kaplan, D. (1990). Educational Psychology for Tomorrow’s Teachers. West
Publishing Company.
Kyriacou, C., & Ortega Martin, JL. Beginning secondary school teacher’s
perceptions of pupil misbehavior in Spain. Teacher development.
Lewis, R. (1999). Teachers coping with the stress of classroom discipline. Social
Psychology of Education.
Shen, J., Zhang, N., Zhang, C., Caldarella, P., Richardson, MJ., & Shatzer, R.
(2009). Chinese elementary school teachers’ perceptions of students’ classroom
behaviour problems. Educational Psychology.
Swinson, J. & Knight, R. (2007). Educational Psychology in Practice.
Walker, C. & Newman, I. (1991). Whole school discipline. Practical English
Teaching.
Wheldall, K., & Merrett, F. (1988). Which classroom behaviors do primary school
teachers say they find most troublesome. Educational Review.
Woods, M., Goc Karp, G., Miao, H. & Perlman, D. (2008). Physical educators'
technology competencies and usage. Physical Educator: a magazine for the
profession.
 28

Appendices
Appendix A
Students’ questionnaire

Name of a student Age

Hobby In-class activities

 29

Appendix B
Students’ questionnaire (Yes/No)
1. Are you interested in English lessons?
Yes
No
2. Do you want to learn something new from the school curriculum?
Yes
No
3. Do you often get comments?
Yes
No
4. Do you do any foreign affairs in the lesson?
Yes
No
5. Have you ever missed lessons without a good reason?
Yes
No
6. Do you fully work during the English lesson?
Yes
No
7. Do you try to find an answer if something is unclear?
Yes
 30

No
8. If you want to do something, do you think about how the class will evaluate it?
Yes
No
9. Do you feel that you are not as good as other classmates?
Yes
No
Appendix C
Focus-group discussion
1. Do you like to go to school?
2. Are you interested in learning English?
3. Do you often make noise at lessons?
4. What interrupts you from the lesson?
5. Which activities at the lessons do you like most of all?
6. Is it difficult for you to study?
7. Are you motivated to study?
8. Do you have enough confidence to speak to a group of people in English?
 31

Appendix D
Teachers’ interview

1. When do your students misbehave at the lessons? In what situations?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. How often?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. Why do you think they behave in such a way? Express your point of view.

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

4. Do you practice any encouraging techniques which motivate learners to work?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
 32

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

5. Having observed some of your lessons I noticed that from time to time you give
your students praise whenever they are doing anything close to a good job. How
much is it effective? Is it important to know the measure?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

6. Do you give some punishments for children?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

7. What types of activities and modes of interaction do you use? Which is the most
effective to increase students’ interest to study English?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
 33

Appendix E
Post-intervention questionnaire for students
1. Do you like to participate in activities we practiced in the lessons?
2. Did they help you to be interested in learning English?
3. Was anything boring for you?
4. Was anything difficult for you?
5. Did you have a fear to speak, to communicate or a feeling that you are not as
good at something as others?
6. Did you get distracted (was inattentive, anxious) during the English lessons?