Assessing the Practice and Challenges of Group Work in English Speaking Classroom in Dawro Zone: In the Case of Dali Secondary School

English language plays significant roles in various fields like academic success, science innovation, business process, social interaction and for economic purposes. This study was conducted in Dawro Zone Southern Ethiopia with assessing the Practice and Challenges of Group Work in English Speaking Classroom in Dawro Zone: the case of Dali Secondary School. To achieve the purpose of this study, a descriptive research design was employed. For this study Dali secondary school in Essera district by employing purposive sampling technique. Similarly, Grade 9and 10 classes were selected from selected school through purposive sampling method. Students were selected from selected school through simple random sampling (lottery method). A total of 222 students, were selected for this study. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to describe the finding. Open and close ended questionnaires were prepared and used to collect primary data from the respondents. The findings of this study based on teachers of Dali Secondary School, they were not give clear instruction, motivate, encourage, and do not give their students with appropriate speaking activities and rarely use group work to teach English speaking were identified as impeding factor of group work practice in English speaking classrooms of the target school. Majority of the respondents revealed that they lack confidence, worry to speak in the target language freely and to express their ideas in the language and the opportunity given them to practice English speaking in group was not sufficient and they frequently taught in teacher-centered method. It is thus recommended that all concerned bodies or stakeholders such as Dali Secondary School, Woreda Education Office and Zonal Education Department should give due attention to reduce challenges by creating the suitable condition.

communicative goal of teaching foreign language, group work has got due attention from different scholars.
On other hand, regarding group practice of speaking skill, River (1981) noted that, speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the all four language skills and it can be learned by regular practice in group or pair. Similarly  stated that practicing speaking is the central part of English lesson and the extent to which students practice of speaking determine how far students develop their speaking skill. In line with this, Alamirew (1992) noted that the low communicative competence of students would be improved if learners learn through proper group work activities.
However, it is suggested as effective strategy in teaching EFL in general and speaking skill in particular, the practice of group work in English speaking till today challenged by different factors.
However, some local researchers have also conducted research on differ issue of group work in foreign language classroom to find out research gaps. For example, Gebrewahid (2011), has conducted a research on ''Perception and roles of EFL students' in group work'' and his study revealed that students have perception problems and they did not perform their expected roles in group work activities. Furthermore, Grima (2005) has conducted research on ''Assessment factors that affect students' participation of group in EFL classroom''. His findings indicated that there were assessment factors that impede students' participation of group in EFL Classroom. But they have not said anything about the practice and challenges of group work in English speaking classroom.
Moreover, as far as reading of the researcher is concerned, no research has been conducted and in the research setting in particular. In addition to these, the researcher's experience and informal observation in teaching English, there might be many problems of practicing group work in English speaking classroom at Dali Secondary School. In casual observation of the researcher, however it is not empirical, it was witnessed that students face difficulties in expressing their idea in group work practice of English speaking in target language and teachers might not also been using group work to teach speaking.
Therefore, the current study focuses on the practice and challenges of group work in English speaking classroom.

Research Questions
This study attempted to answer the following research questions: 1. Do English language teachers of Dali Secondary School provide their students opportunity to practice speaking in group? 2.
Do students of Dali Secondary School practice speaking English in group? 3. What are the teachers' related challenges that affect teaching English speaking in group at Dali Secondary School? 4. What are the students' related challenges that affect teaching/learning English in speaking through group at Dali Secondary School?

Objectives of the Study 1.4.1. General objective
The main objective of the study was to investigate the practice and challenges of group work in English speaking classroom in Dali Secondary School: grade nine and ten students and their teachers in focus.

Specific objectives
The specific objectives of this study were: • To identify the opportunity given by English language teachers to practice speaking in group.
• To explore the students practices of English speaking in group at Dali Secondary School.
• To assess teachers related challenges that affect the teaching English speaking in group at Dali Secondary School. • To identify students related challenges that affect the learning English speaking in group at Dali Secondary School.

Significance of the Study
The study may indicate the extent of students' and teachers' practice of English speaking in group work and the major challenges that affect the practice of group work in English speaking classrooms. Then its finding may create better awareness to teachers of English language to pay special attention for group work during English speaking classroom. It may also alarm students about group work importance of practicing speaking English in group. The finding of the study may be used to make useful practical contributions in anticipate the possible ways of addressing the existing main challenges with learning English speaking in group and it may provide further information to the teachers and students in order to cope up with the challenges that affect students' practice of speaking in group. Then it may create the ways of upgrading the teaching and learning of English speaking in group and finally the study can serve as a spring-board for those who want to conduct Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8435 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.82, 2021 10 further study on the related problems.

Scope of the Study
As it is clearly understood from a variety of literature review, there are different aspects of group work that can be seen from different angles in language classroom. But this study was only delimited to explore the practice and challenges of group work in English speaking classroom at Dali Secondary School in 2012 E.C. academic year. This is done because speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of all four language skills (Rivers, 1987). In addition to this, its practice through group work was seemed to be serious problem to many students in target school, it was given a little attention and its practice was challenged with many factors. In addition, the study was also delimited to only Dali Secondary School.

Materials and Methods 2.1. Research Design
The descriptive research design was used for this study. This is because descriptive research design attempts to describe, explain and interpret condition of present and helps the researcher to make investigation with narration of events and drawing of conclusion based the information obtained from sample of target population (Kothari, 2004). Moreover, Mohammed (2004) stated that descriptive research design is important to present and determine the status of the phenomena under investigation. Therefore, current study used descriptive research design hence it is mainly concerned with describing the practice and challenges of group work in English speaking classroom.
In addition, the researcher believed that it would enable him to have multiple instruments of gathering information. To this end, the researcher used descriptive research method by using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to integrate different forms of data to make analysis. Moreover, Dornyei, (2007) andCreswell, (2003) stated that such strategy enables quantitative findings to assist the interpretation and generalization of qualitative findings. Therefore, thus mixed approaches were chosen as methodology for this research to validate each tool.

Participants of the study
The participants of the study were three English language teachers, all grade nine and grade ten students. However for the manageability of the study 222 students were taken by slovn's formula of social science and all 3 English language teachers were included as population of the study due to their small number.

Sampling Techniques and Sample Size
Slovin's formula of social science research was used to draw appropriate sample size of students to fill questionnaire, because Slovn's sample size determination formula is the fair way to select appropriate sample size without bias. On other hand, the sample teachers were selected purposively due to their small number. According to the data available, there were eight sections in the target school; four grade nine and four grade ten. The total numbers of students in grade nine are 245 and the total numbers of students in grade ten are 255 and the total numbers of students in focus school were 500. According to Slovin's formula, n = N/ (1+Ne 2 ) where n = number of sample population, N=Total population=500 and e=error tolerance=0.05.Therefore, 500/1+500(0.05) 2. = This implies that the sample populations of students were 222. After determining total number of sample population through Slovn's formula, students in each section were selected by random sampling method. In each of section there were about 57-64 students. But during observation the average numbers of students actually attended classroom were 54. Therefore every second student was taken as sample student.

Instruments of Data Collection
The relevant data were collected from the sample students and teachers using three tools of data collection: questionnaire, semi-structured interview and classroom observation. Then the researcher used mixed method of data analysis (both quantitative and qualitative) for analysis and interpretation of the data collected.

Questionnaire for students
According to Koul (1984), the questionnaire is a popular means of collecting all kinds of data of educational research to obtain certain condition of an individual or group. Therefore, in this study questionnaire was used to collect data from large sample population to obtain certain condition of an individual or group. The researcher used both close ended and open ended items. Close ended items was offered for respondents as a set of alternatives to choose one of them to reflect their views whereas open ended items require the respondent to write their opinion.
To this end, both close and open ended questionnaire were developed to examine the extent of the students' group work practice and challenges they face during group work practice of English speaking classroom. Close ended questionnaire were constructed on five-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly agree to strongly disagree and Yes or No''. Then the content of each questionnaire was composed of the rationale of the study in group work practice and challenges of English speaking. This was done to enable to fill the questionnaire appropriately. Then it was administered after brief explanation of the purpose of the study. The sample population were informed that their participation entirely voluntary. The researcher explained how to respond to items and told them that they can ask question if they found it difficult to understand.

Interview for teachers
An interview tends to be the most favored by educational researchers as it allows the respondents to express themselves to provide information as much as possible. According to Koul (1984) interview provides opportunity to interviewer to question thoroughly certain area of inquiry and permits greater depth of response which is not possible through any another means. Moreover, Creswell (2003) stated that in qualitative research, an interview provide a framework in which respondents can express their own thoughts in their own words taking the form of conversation between two people. He further stated that it enables both interviewers and the interviewees to freely discuss and express their viewpoint and interpretation of situation. Due to its flexibility, the interview allows the researcher by encouraging interviewees to suggest more and to follow on and prove on unclear ideas. Therefore, the researcher used semi-structured interview comprising eleven key open-ended questions to obtain relevant data from three English language teachers and to get in depth response and more significant information about the study. It was conducted with each English language teacher in providing the freedom to choose convenient time and finally the interview was recorded during discussion to prevent the loss of information.

Classroom Observation
Another instrument employed in this study was classroom observation. According Dornyei (2007), observation allows the researcher to see directly what people actually do without relying on what people have said. He concludes that observation is used to observe what happening situation is and used to cross check data obtained by other methods. In addition to this, Kumar (1996), agree that observation provide highly accurate information that would help to analyze research situation. Therefore, in this study, the researcher used non-participant classroom observation, structured observation check list to catch all accurate information. During classroom observation the researcher carefully observed every activity based on observation check list. Finally, the data gathered was used to triangulate other tools: questionnaires and semi-structured interview.

Pilot Test
Pilot test is used to assess the quality of instruments in order to revise and improve every single aspect of it before the study (Dornyei, 2007). This includes problems like grammatical errors, wording and translation which can affect the result of the study can be alleviated by pilot test method. Therefore, researcher used pilot test to check the clarity, validity and reliability of questionnaire, interview and observation before actual use to get relevant data in order to achieve expected objectives of the study. To this end, the researcher has piloted all data collecting tools at Ofa secondary school of Dawro Zone. The pilot tests of students' questionnaire were given to purposefully twelve students was selected who were not sampled in the study. They carefully completed all the parts of questionnaire. Then based on the result, some questions were reshaped and five questions were deleted due to their redundancy. Finally, the researcher consulted his advisor to give constructive comment.
Similarly, teachers' interview and observation check lists were also commented and checked by three English teachers at pilot school and critically commented by the advisor of the researcher. They commented on context, content and structure. This was to ensure that the interview and observation cover all aspect of the research areas, to increase reliability, minimize errors, biases and to achieve objectives in the study. As result of their constructive comments, ambiguous parts were removed and some questions were rearranged in order to make them to be coherence and cohesion. Similarly the number reduced from fourteen to eleven. Finally, all tools were approved by advisor and administered to sample population.

Methods of Data Analysis
Data analysis embraces a whole range of activities of the qualitative and quantitative type. It is usual tendency in educational research that much use of quantitative analysis is made and statistics methods and techniques are employed (Koul, 1984). To this end, mixed (both qualitative and qualitative) approach of data analysis was used for current study. The researcher quantitatively analyzed the data collected through close-ended part of questionnaire. The descriptive statics mainly frequency and percentage were used to analyze the data. Frequency was used to show the number of respondents involved in study whereas percentage was used the degree of respondents. Thus quantitative data gathered through questionnaires was tabulated and analysis applied by checking the accuracy and the completeness of the responses provided for each question in the questionnaire.
In addition, the data obtained through open-ended questionnaire, interview and classroom observation were analyzed qualitatively by using description and narration. Finally, the data tabulated in Likert scaling technique were merged together (strongly agree + agree and disagree + strongly disagree) to reduce confusion of bulky report and unnecessary repetition. But, the researcher respects the strength each scales. Then, the discussion was made by integrating both quantitative and qualitative data.

Ethical Consideration
According to Wellington (2000), ethics is an important aspect in all forms of research, but ethical consideration is multiple in educational researches, where people are studying people. Byrman (2008) supports this by arguing that ethical issue cannot be ignored as they are related to integrity of a piece of research and of the discipline that are involved. He further stated that the main focus of ethical issue is that people taking part in research are protected from any possible harm including physical, emotional, mental, and financial during research process.
Therefore, researcher explained to the sample population about the brief and full details of the purpose and the importance of study. They were assured that the information they provide is strictly kept confidential. Their name and position to their institution is highly invisible in the study. To this end, codes were used instead of participants name to make sure their identities were protected. Therefore, the researcher collected the data through coding the teachers (T1, T2 and T3). The participants were also ensured that the result would be withdrawn at any time if they were not comfortable with it. Finally, researcher used and bounded to the ethical considerations and let them to be informed consent signed to ensure secrecy and discretion.  Table) 91(40.99 %) of students responded that their teachers use group work for teaching English speaking whereas the majority of students i.e., 131(59.00 %) replied that their teachers do not use group work to teach English speaking. In addition, English teachers were interviewed whether they use group work in English speaking classroom or not. T1 and T2 forwarded almost similar ideas in their part. They replied that they sometimes use group work to teach English speaking. T1 forwarded his reason why he does not regularly use group work in English speaking. ''because the content of the textbook is too bulky and covering textbook is the seen as success of all teaching goal in our school'', but T3 said that he does not often use group work to teach speaking English. Finally, the researcher observed each class to check the information gained via the above tools. During observation it is witnessed that the group work was used rarely in English speaking classroom. The results of above discussion indicate that group work was not adequately used in English speaking classroom. Regarding speaking opportunity given in foreign language, Ryan,(2001) stated that providing maximum opportunity to student to speak the target language by providing a rich environment that contains group work, authentic materials and tasks (activities), reducing teachers' speaking time there by increasing student talking time and promote foreign language.

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF DATA 3.1. Students' Response on Teachers' Practice of Group Work in English Speaking Classroom
As it can be seen in item 2 (Table3), 74(33.33 %) of respondents replied that their teachers give them clear instruction and explanation about how to practice of speaking in group. But majority of students i.e., 148(66.66 %) responded that their teachers do not give them clear instruction to run group work activities of English speaking classroom. In line with this, teachers were interviewed whether they give clear instruction or not. In response, T1 and T2 said that they always give clear instruction in simple understandable words and even in their mother tongue when they teach English speaking in group. But another interviewee further explained the issue by saying ''I sometimes gives them clear instruction because they are high school students''.
Moreover, during the observation time, the researcher observed that the instruction given was not clear and was not understand by many students. Because many students ask each another and they do not perform the Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8435 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.82, 2021 13 activities as well as they were requested. Only a few active students were observed as they understand the instruction and do activities accordingly. In addition to this, most students were not able to start tasks immediately after their teacher told them what and how to do. Some students became confused of after they started doing activities. However, clarity of instruction plays an important role for students to perform activities as well as to take responsibility (Harmer, 1989), from the above discussion, one can generalize a conclusion that the instruction was not clear. Hence it affects the effective practice of group work in English speaking classroom at target school Concerning the motivating and encouraging students during group work practice of speaking English, almost one-third of respondents i.e.,75(33.38 %) confirmed that their teachers motivate and encourage them by using different techniques, while 147(66.21%) of students revealed that their teacher do not motivate and encourage them during group practice of speaking English by using different techniques. On other hand, teachers interviewed the same question reported that they sometimes motivate and encourage their students by using different oral appreciation techniques like; (good, very good, wonderful …). Contrary to teachers' response during observation, the researcher has not seen that teachers motivating and encouraging their students through group work practice of speaking English.
Unlike above result, Littlewoods (1984) noted that the motivation is the crucial force which determines whether learners actively engage in a task at all and how much energy he or she preserves. Furthermore, Littlewoods (1981) state that motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourage somebody to pursue course of action. More to the point, he elaborated that motivation is an essential condition for effective language learning and key to success in language learning. Similarly Ellis (1994) stated that more motivated students are more eager to engage in future communication when they have more opportunity to speak.  (Table 4, item 5), 20(9.00%) students confirmed that they always practice speaking English in group while, 46(20.72%) of sample students said that they sometimes practice speaking in group, but the large numbers of students i.e., 130(58.55%) replied that they rarely practice speaking English in group. Opposing the majorities' idea, remaining 26(11.71%) students replied that they never practice speaking in group. In addition, English teachers were interviewed how often they teach speaking English in group. From interview T1 and T2 said that sometimes they use group work to teach speaking English, whereas another interviewed teacher replied that he rarely uses group work to teach speaking in group.

Students Practice of Group Work in English Speaking Classroom
The teachers were also interviewed why they do not use group work regularly in English speaking classroom. Accordingly they forwarded various factors that affect the use group work in English speaking classroom. But some of these are that; all teachers seriously complained about bulky contents of textbooks, lack of students' interest, students' reluctance to bring text book into classroom, large numbers of passive students and lack of training in CLT in general and group work in particular(see, appendix v). Similarly, the researcher observed that teachers and students rarely practice English speaking in group. This indicates that teachers always use whole class presentation than group work.
In contrast to above discussion result, River (1984) stated that speaking can be learned by regular practice of speaking in pair or in group. In line with this,  states that practicing speaking in group is the central part of English lessons and the best ways to practice English speaking are practicing by group or get practiced with friends and listening to practice. The above data clearly indicates that English speaking was rarely practiced in group work activities at focus school. In the other words, the extent to which students practice English speaking in group was not in the pace of addressing their communicative goal or need.
With reference to group size or numbers of students that work together, many scholars agree that it is essential for effective practice of speaking in group work. According to Coheh (1972 and, 4-5 members are effective during group work, whereas to Harmer, up to 7 members are effective. On other hand, Nunan and Lamb (1991) stated 3-6 members are suggested as productive in foreign language and when it is more than six, it reduces the students' chance to practice in group work activities of language classroom. In line with this, Cohen (1972) and Harmer (1991) stated that if members of the group are large, students' participation fails and the group cohesion may tend to crumble and may result unequal participation. However, there was no agreement on behalf of scholars; most of them agree that small numbers are better for group practice of speaking.
As it can be clearly seen from table (Table 4, item 6), majority of students i.e., 187 (84.84%) replied that they form a group that consists 6-9. The remaining students confirmed their group consists of 2-5. In addition to this, during interview all English language teachers reported that they use 6-8 students in a group or one to five grouping system. Therefore, result of above discussion indicated that the number of students work in a group is relatively 2-8 and this number is a little bit more than what scholars recommend.
As to different activities used in group work practice of speaking, majority of respondents i.e.131(59%) revealed that they practice speaking in group by using dialogue, while 60 (27.02%) and 10(4.50%) of students said that they practice speaking by debate and role play respectively. Only 8(3.6%) students said that they practice speaking with language game. Underlining similar idea, one of the interviewed teachers reported that he frequently uses dialogue and debate only. In the interview no teachers reported that he uses different activities to teach speaking in group. Similarly during classroom observation the researcher observed that students were rarely provided with dialogue and debate. However, using dialogue is assumed to create authentic context for foreign language learners and as result it promotes students' speaking skill, by itself it cannot successfully address students' communicative goal of target language. So the result of above the discussion shows that teachers not use different activities that promote speaking English in group. This implies that teachers' failure to incorporate different speaking activities in group work was one of the impeding challenges in English speaking at school under study.
As can be seen in item 9, majority of the students i.e., 96(43.24%) revealed that the study group is used during group practice of speaking English. On other hand, about 67(30.18%) said that formal grouping was used during group practice of English speaking. This pattern is formed to complete clearly stated role within single class session and the members stay together until the work is finished. The remaining i.e., 59(26.57 %) of students said that they practice speaking in informal grouping. This type of grouping is made by clustering students within a single class session to check students understanding and they are made for carrying some activities whenever interact in any situation (Davis, 1993). Furthermore, the teachers' interview and researcher's observation also underlined the majorities' ideas of students' questionnaire. The result of above discussion the study group was outstandingly used group pattern in research cite. In study group, member stay a semester and more time as well as fix group members so as to complete course requirement and enables students to become aware, to identify one another strength, and to learn to support and couch on another.
Regarding students' preference of group type, majority of respondents 133(59.90%) replied that they prefer homogenous grouping. It refers to grouping students of similar background: sex, ability level, learning style, etc. are grouped together. On other hand, 67 (30.18%) of students reveled that they prefer heterogeneous grouping. It refers to grouping students of different background: sex, ability level, learning style etc. The remaining 22(9.90) students said that they prefer random grouping. This is putting students together by alphabetical or seating arrangement.
Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8435 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.82, 2021 Moreover, teachers' were asked, which types of grouping they use during group practice of English speaking. In reply to this, T1 and T2 said that they use homogenous but another teacher said that he uses heterogeneous (the same achievement level). But during observation, the researcher proved that teachers do not actually practice any particular group type. In addition to these the researcher rarely seen purposefully assigned heterogeneous grouping. Furthermore, researcher observed that some groups were homogenous (some groups are only female, some are only male, some are active) but some groups were mixed. Referring to the above data, one can say that majority of teachers do not care and aware about the importance group type about students' group work practice of speaking. Contrasting to above result, Cohen (1927), stated that heterogeneous grouping allow students to work constructively with varied individuals who will bring different strength and approach to academic tasks. Similarly Byrne (1987) stated that heterogeneous grouping increases students' communicative and social skills.
As clearly indicated in the above table (Table 4, item 10), 155(69.81) students confirmed that the time given was not sufficient to perform the tasks given during group work practice of English speaking classroom. But some students i.e., 67(30.81%) said that the time was sufficient. On other hand, supporting majorities' idea, the teachers' interview result and classroom observation confirmed that the time allocated for speaking activities in group was not sufficient to perform speaking activities, because students were unable to complete the given activities within the allotted time in all sections. The researcher further observed that teachers allocate 5-10 minute for group work activities and they interrupt students by asking them to report before checking every group completed the given task. Regarding the issue, Long and Porter (1985) stated that 15 minutes is very short time for EFL students to practice the language as they have no experience to practice the target language. Similarly Mohamed (2014) further stated that, the shortage of time is a serious problem that hindering students practice in student centered method. All above discussion revealed that the time given was not sufficient to practice English speaking. From this result, therefore, it is possible to infer that insufficiency of time was the one of major challenges during group practice of English speaking classroom in a target school.
In reply to item 11, students' confidence to speak English in group freely, majority of students 145(65.31%) revealed that they do not speak English freely in group. Only 77(34.68%) of students said that they speak English freely in group without shyness or any anxiety. By supporting the majority students' idea, all English language teachers interviewed and classroom observation showed that a few students speak target language freely in group. Therefore, the result of above discussion implies that students' inability to speak English freely or their anxiety to speak the language during group work was one of the challenges of speaking practice in group in school under study.
As presented in the above table (Table 4,) item 12, regarding constructive comment/feedback given to students during group work practice of English speaking, large number of students i.e., 125(56.30%) confirmed that they were not given enough constructive comments after end of group work activities of speaking, while 97(43.63%) reported that they were given constructive comments at the end of group work practices of speaking English. On other hand, the teachers interviewed the same question replied that sometimes they give constructive comments after end of speaking activities in group. They mentioned some reasons why they do not regularly comment on students' mistakes happen during English speaking practice of group work. (See, appendix v, item 8). Some of these reasons are; shortage of time, large numbers of groups, and difference in mistakes. Similarly, during classroom observation the researcher observed that there was almost no constructive comment given to speaking practice in group at end of language classroom. As stated in above this discussion, in contrast to its crucial role in creating awareness about their mistakes, the constructive comment given during group work practice of speaking English was insignificant. This data clearly indicated that the constructive comment given during group work practice of speaking English was insignificant.
But unlike above discussion result, Hodgcock and Lefkowitz (1994) underlined that constructive comment/feedback in language classroom informs students to correct their mistakes, raises their awareness of information linguistic, expectation of language learners and increases students' attention on language subject they are learning.  Regarding teachers' focus in English lesson, majority students i.e., 172 (77.47) response indicated that their teacher focus on grammar rather than group practice of speaking English. Only 45 (20.27%) of student said that their teachers do not focus on grammar section. During teachers interview, T1 and T2 said that they relatively allot more time to the grammar and vocabulary sections than that of language skills in group work and one interviewee said that he allocate the most of class time to grammar sections. These teachers presented different reasons for why they focus on grammar sections and complain to use group work. One of the interviewed teachers presented his reason by saying, ''comparatively grammar can be presented very easily than that of basic skills and national exam mostly center on grammar section and the text book is bulky to cover in academic year''. See (appendix v, item 2).

The Students' Response on the Teachers' Challenges that they Face While Teaching Speaking in Group
Underling similar idea, during classroom observation, the researcher observed that most of the time, student work individually on provided grammar tasks than work in group. This indicates that most of English class was extremely dominated by teachers' explanation of grammar rules. As the above discussion shows that teachers' method was traditional approach of teaching language which focuses on the mastery of grammar structure than group work practice of speaking English.
With regard to using teaching aid to support the group work practice of speaking English, only a few students 39 (17.56%) agreed that their teachers use different teaching aids to support group work practice of English speaking during group work. But majority of students 177 (79.72%) confirmed that their teachers do not use different teaching aids to teach speaking in group. By supporting the idea, two of interviewed teacher reported that they sometimes use teaching aids to facilitate the oral practice of English speaking in group work and one interviewee said that he does not use teaching aids at all during group practice of speaking. Similarly, researcher has not seen any teaching aids used during classroom observation. Referring to the above data, it can be inferred that the majority of teachers in focus school do not use teaching aids for teaching speaking skill in group. Therefore, it was taken as one of serious challenges of teaching speaking in group and the actual practice in target school is inconsiderable. By opposing this, Richards and Rodgers, (1998) suggested that teaching aid as an auxiliary instructional device is intended to facilitate learning and leads to a more effective learning, greater interest or a higher level of motivation, and enables teacher to do better his job.
As pointed out in the above table (Table 5 item 5) teachers' attention given to encourage students during group practice of English speaking, majority of students i.e., 152(68.46%) replied that their teachers do not give attention when they were given speaking activities in group, whereas 70(31.53%) of the students said that their teachers give them due attention when they practice speaking in group. Furthermore, the teachers interviewed reported that they do not give much attention to students' group work practice of speaking English and give due attention to students' master of the different grammatical structures. Moreover, the researcher did not see the effort made to support each student's participation during speaking practice in group. Referring to the above data, it can be inferred that the majority of the teachers in focus school give less attention to support their students' participation.
Students were asked whether or not their teachers grade their English speaking practice in group. As clearly indicated in above table 5, item 5, almost one-third of respondents 61(27.46%) reported that their teachers grade their group work practice of speaking activity. However, two-third of respondents 144(64.86%), replied that teacher do not grade their group work practice of speaking activities. In addition to this, teachers were asked if they provide any grade to students speaking practice in group or not. All teachers said that they rarely grade students' group work practice of speaking. Supporting by these, the researcher has not seen any grading trials during the observation time. This indicates that the lack of grading was one of the challenges of teaching English in group. However, Harmer (2002), states that evaluating students' speaking practice of group by assigning grade is recognized as an essential feature of teaching foreign language oral production.
According to Brumfit (1984)and Byren (1989), the role of teachers during group work is to control, guide, check the activities of the learners , encourage students, comment, to stop if the time is up, forward general and specific feedback and tell the result if the task is graded. Underlining similar idea, a few students 70(31.33%) agreed that their teacher move around the classroom, help and monitor each group. However, majority of students i.e., 144 (64.86%) reported that their teacher do not move around the classroom, help and monitor each group. But during interview all English teachers said that they carry out these duties as much as possible. In contrast to their idea, the researcher does not saw that they perform their duty as expected. They do not, move around, guide, and help each group.
Moreover, the researcher observed that some students chat with each other, some students draw picture, and some students sit at rest. However, group work activity is suggested to be performed under continuous guidance and continuous support of teacher, the result of above discussion illustrated that the guidance, monitoring, and helping given to facilitate the group practice of speaking was not reasonable. Therefore, it can be inferred that the lack of guidance, monitoring, and helping were identified as the challenges of group work practice.  Ur, (1996), the group participation is the characteristics of successful speaking practice in foreign language classroom. However, they hesitate to participate in speaking activities in group and this can limit their speaking performance of FL/SL. On other hand, Harmer (2002) stated that group work strategy requires students to take more responsibility for their learning instead of passively waiting for their teachers to provide them with knowledge to actively constructing by their own. In such strategy, students are expected to actively participate in class discussions and assess their own learning.

The Challenges that Students Face while Learning English Speaking in Group
As can be displayed in the above table (Table 7, item 1), students were asked to know the extent of their participation in group work practice of speaking English. As illustrated in above table item 7, majority of students i.e., 135 (60.8%) agreed that they do not actively participate in group work practice of speaking English, whereas 65(29.27%) students said that they actively participate in group work practice of English speaking. On other hand, a few students i.e., 22(9.93%) replied that they were uncertain about their participation. Furthermore, the researcher interviewed English language teachers about their students' participation in group work practice of speaking. Those interviewed teachers seriously complained that their students do not strongly participate in group work practice of speaking classroom.
Similarly, the classroom observation showed that learners hardly took the part to start doing group tasks provided to them in the foreign language classroom. Most of them preferred to listen to teachers' talk than participate in activities. For example, they do not introduce themselves, involve in asking question, conduct debate, and express their opinion during group work practice of speaking English. Generally, except a few students, majority of them do not actively practice speaking English in group when their teachers give them opportunity. By opposing this idea, Richards and Rodgers (2001) states that students achieve the potential advantages of group work when they actively participate on given tasks. For example, they get increased in fluency and variety of second language practice through different types of interaction and use language in way that support second cognitive development and increased language skills. They further stated learning foreign language is suggested to be meaningless without active participation of learners. Based on above data, it can be inferred that lack of active participation of learners is the severe challenges of implementing group work in English speaking classrooms.
About students' reluctance of English speaking in group, 148 (66.66 %) of respondents reveled that it was one of the greatest challenge of learning speaking in group. But some students 70(31.15%) suggested that it was not challenge for learning English speaking in group. The teachers' interview result also indicated that small numbers of students actively participate and rest students sit inactive. In open-ended parts of questionnaire students listed the various reasons what make them reluctant. Some reasons they forwarded were fear of making mistakes, lack of grade, low level of students' language proficiency and lack of speaking experience and active students' dominance, assumption about waste of time etc. In addition to these, all interviewed teachers indicated that especially cleaver students refuse to participate in group work practice of speaking because they perceive group work practice of speaking as misuse of time. Finally the researcher observed that most students during group work practice of speaking were unwilling to take part in group work practice of English.
Regarding this, Weimer, (2002) stated that in student-centered/ group work activities students become reluctant and they may resist taking responsibility until they understand the rewards attached with the taking responsibility for their own learning. According to him, the best approach to overcome the problem is that, students need to be convinced and told regularly about the benefit of student-centered approach of learning. Students should know how the method works and what merits they gain if they learn in this way. From the result, it is possible to deduce that most students were reluctant to participate in group work practice of English speaking classroom. Therefore, it was seen as one of the underlining challenges of teaching speaking English in group at target school.
Students were also asked whether active students dominate their speaking practice in group work activities or not. Regarding this, majority of students i.e., 195 (87.83 %) agreed that it was one the challenges of learning English speaking in group. But the rest of students 27(12.16%) revealed that it was not the challenges of learning speaking in group. On other hand, English language teachers were interviewed the same question illustrated that only some active students usually participate more actively, carry out the most of activities and talk more time than that of passive students. This implies that the passive students were dominated by some active students and get little chance to speak in group. In the same way, during observation the researcher observed that a few active students in group seen talking more time and preparing group work report without discussion and agreement of all members in group. In line with this, Arends (1997) stated that in a group work activities one or two active members may force the passive learners to accept their ideas that less able students did not understand.
Concerning to the effect of presence of group leader in group activities, 128(57.65%) of respondents confirmed that there was no group leader and the absence group leader was seen as one of the challenges of leaning English speaking in group. On other hand, some students i.e., 93(41.89%) students said that there were group leaders, so it does not affect their participation in the group work practice of speaking English. Because group leaders are expected to play significant role .Regarding their role in group work, Harmer (1991) and Byrne (1977) stated that group leader nominated by classroom teacher or by group members play a significant role by facilitating, coordinating and ensuring every member's participation. He further stated that low participation will be improved if the group leader controls the equal participation of group members and each member was aware of his/her responsibility.
On other hand, all English language teachers during interview revealed that there were group leaders who assigned to accomplish different responsibility. In contrast to this, during observation, the researcher has not seen that the group leader effectively carry out their expected role during group work practice of English speaking. Even though, some students do not know their leaders. From these data, it is possible that one can prove that there was no group leader and that the absence of group leader or inability to play his/her expected role was the problem of implementing group work in English speaking classroom.
Item 11 of Table 6, the question aims at determining whether students afraid to talk English in group, majority of students i.e., 154(69.36%) revealed that they feel fear when they practice English speaking in group, but a few students i.e., 63 (28.37%) said that it is not the problem of learning speaking English in group and they consider themselves as talkative or able to participate. In addition to this, in open ended part of the questionnaire respondents clarified that they do not take initiative to express what they want to say and do not feel at ease to speak because of fear of making pronunciation and grammatical mistakes and not being laughed by rest of members. They also indicated that teaches' negative feedback in class was another devastating problem for practicing speaking in group.
In addition to these, the teachers' interview and classroom observation result indicated that majority of students do were motivated to speak target language and do not actively participate in different group work activities of English speaking classroom and they were shy and lose confidence to express their idea in group when they try to speak English. In relation to this, Little Wood (1996) argued that it is too easy for English as foreign language classroom to create shyness and anxiety. On other hand, Cohen (1972) students' anxiety of foreign language speaking could be improved by continuous practice of speaking in group. He further states that when students feel good about themselves as learners, they are willing to take risks and focus attention necessary for further learning.
In item 12 of table 6, students were asked whether or not unavailability of textbook was challenge of group work practice of speaking. To this question, 167(75.22 %) responses of students confirmed unavailability of textbooks were decisive challenges of learning speaking in group at focus school. On other hand 55(24.76%) respondents replied that unavailability of text book was not problem of learning speaking in group. But during teachers interview teachers said that it was the problem. According to interviewee the problem was that their students do not bring the text when it is needed. The reason for complains were the size of book, the cost of the text and the probability of losing textbook. For this reason, they prefer lecture or explanations rather than applying group work in English speaking classroom and they harry to cover contents on time. As result of above discussion, that unavailability or not bringing textbooks to the classroom was one of shocking challenge for group work implementation of speaking activities.
As it can be seen from above table (Table 6), majority of student respondents i.e., 163 (74.41%) confirmed that low language proficiency was the major challenges of learning English in a group. The rest of them 59(ie.26.56%) pointed out that it was not the problem of learning English in group because they actively take place during group practice of speaking English, but most students in open ended questionnaire supporting the first idea, clarified that the current level of their English language proficiency delay them from expressing idea and what they wanted to say in group. Underling similar idea, all English language teachers interviewed acutely complained that low language proficiency was the first ranking serious challenge of the group work practice of English speaking in target school. Furthermore, the researcher observed that most students in group bother to express their idea in English and do not actively participate in oral activities. He further observed that almost all students do not effectively carry out their respective role in program may indicate the existence of the factors that hinder them in carrying out their roles. For example, most of student in English speaking classroom use their mother tongue to share their idea; do not say even a word when they were asked to present their group work discussion.
Regarding this, Harmer (2001) stated that language proficiency is either facilitating or impeding factor for group work practice of speaking in foreign language (English). Students with high language proficiency are likely to participate in foreign language more actively than less proficient ones (Ellis, 1994). Therefore, from the above mentioned points, it can be inferred that low language proficiency of English language was one of critical challenges for effective practice of English speaking in group.
As indicated in above table (Table 6), there are different factors that impede the use of group in English speaking classrooms. One of these factors is unsuitable seats as responded by majority of students i.e., 163(73.41%) reported that the seats were not suitable. But 59(26.56%) of students replied that seats are suitable and were not the problem of learning English speaking in group. Underlining the first idea, all interviewed teachers also reported that seats are not suitable and they are combined, very heavy to rearrange and more than three students' seat in one desk. The classroom observation also indicated the same reality almost in all of its section. This indicates that seats were not suitable. As result of this discussion it can be inferred that unsuitable seat was one of the challenges of that affect the effective practice of speaking English in group.
Concerning the suitability of classroom and the building, (item 15, Table 6), majority of students i.e., 195(87.83%) revealed that the classrooms currently they learn English were not well built and that allow noisy from outside the door, too hot, not bright enough and unclean. But some students 27(12.16%) reported that classrooms were not the problem of leaning English in group. On other hand, very few students said that they were unsure about classroom suitability of learning speaking through group work.
In the interview, all English confirmed that classrooms were built below the standard. Finally, during observation researcher also proved that classrooms were not appropriate and that negatively affect the group work practice of speaking English. Thus from the above mentioned points, it can be said that unsuitable classrooms were taken as challenges that affect the effective group practice of speaking English.
With respect to commonly accepted ground rules put into practice, during group work practice of speaking English, majority of students i.e., 129(58.10%) confirmed that there was no commonly accepted ground rule. On other hand some students 89(40.09%) reported that there was ground rule. The teachers' interview result also indicated that there was commonly accepted ground rule applied during group work practice of English speaking classroom. Contrary to teachers' interview result, during observation, the researcher has not seen that teachers and students apply any common ground rule in English speaking classroom. From above discussion, it can be inferred that lack of commonly accepted ground rule was one of the challenges that affect the group practice of English speaking.
In table 6, item 17, students were asked whether or not seating arrangements in the classrooms were suitable to the group practice of speaking. Regarding this question, majority of students156 (70. 27%) pointed out that seating arrangement in class was no suitable for group work practice of speaking English. But some students 60(27.02%) respondents confirmed that the arrangement of the seats were suitable for the group work practice of speaking English. According to Byrne (1987), the seating arrangements need to be made according to the type of activities for oral practice. He further, suggested seating arrangement for oral practice should be done by mixing active participants with students who are assumed to be less able during oral interaction. This helps those students who may have difficulty in speaking to practice learn how the active students manage their oral performance and share their experience. But during observation the researcher has not seen any effort made to arrange students in recommended way. Therefore, it was one of the serious problems that affect the effective practice of group.
As clearly seen in the above table (Table 6), the number of students in group and manageability of group, that large numbers of students i.e., 151(68.01%) reported that it was not manageable to practice speaking English in group. On other hand, some students 67(30.18%) revealed that it was not the problem of leaning speaking through group. But all English language teachers during interview reported that there were more than 60 students in one section and thus numbers were difficult to manage the group practice of English speaking. Similarly the researcher observed that there were more than 50 students and ten groups in one class and each group consists of more than six students. Regarding this, the current standard for Ethiopian high school, recommends a class size of 40 students in a room with the total area of 46.00m 2 . But in most high school it is not practical as much as 80 students and more students are being overcrowded in a classroom (MOE, 1995). Because of above data, it is possible to infer that the number of students were challenges of implementing group work in speaking classroom. Moreover, students and teachers were asked what factors impede their group work practice in English speaking classroom and the way of alleviating the existing problems in open-ended students' questionnaire and the last part of teachers' interview respectively.

SUMMARY, CONCLUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIOS 4.1. Summary of Major Findings
Different findings were drawn from the above analysis and discussion of data. These major findings are presented according to the objectives and research questions of the study.

Summary of findings concerning to teachers' practice of group work in English speaking classroom
The findings of this study indicate that teachers of Dali Secondary School rarely use group work to teach English speaking. In addition to these, the clarity of instructions play a significant role to accomplish the given task, but English teachers of Dali secondary school do not give clear instruction during group work practice of English speaking. The finding also showed that English teachers in the target school do not motivate, encourage, and do not give their students with appropriate speaking activities were identified as impeding factor of group work practice in English speaking classrooms of the target school.

Summary of findings concerning students' practice of group work in English speaking classroom
Majority of the respondents revealed that opportunity given them to practice English speaking in group was not sufficient and they frequently taught in teacher-centered method. In addition to these, majority of the respondents confirmed that they lack confidence, worry to speak in the target language freely and to express their ideas in the language. Moreover, the study indicated that the time given to students to practice speaking through group work was not sufficient. For this reason, each student in a group has little opportunity to practice, to see his/her mistakes and to get comments based on their mistakes. Furthermore, the study also indicated that teachers in focus school do not give sufficient constructive comments/ feedback after group activities of English speaking classes.

The summary of findings concerning with the challenges that English teachers face during group work practice of English speaking classroom
The study also identified challenges like teachers' inability to give clear instruction during group work, inability to use different supportive materials to teach speaking skill in group (like table, chart, picture….) and lack of teaching aid. Moreover, the study identified teachers' inability; to motivate, encourages, help and monitor students during group work practice of English speaking.

Summary of Findings Concerning the Different Challenges that Students Face during Group Work Practice of English Classroom
Similarly, the study also identified several students' related challenges that affect their proper practice of group work in English speaking classroom. Some of these were; the tendency among students to wonderful emphasis on teachers' explanation of grammar rules instead of making effort to practice speaking in group, being inactive and students' reluctance to participate in group work practice of speaking English. Moreover, a few active students' dominance of group work activity, lack of group leaders and secretary to facilitate the group work practice of speaking English in group are seen another challenges. Furthermore, low language proficiency of English language and poor background of English speaking of students in group, mother tongue interference, unsuitable classroom, unavailability of textbooks and inappropriate seating arrangement were seen as considerable challenges of implementing group in English speaking classroom in focus school.
In generally, overall findings of the study indicate that group work practice in English speaking classroom at Dali secondary school was given inconsiderable attention regardless of its importance in English speaking. The study further indicated that the opportunity given to group work practice of speaking English was similarly insufficient and much emphasis was given to grammar and vocabulary sections. Moreover, the study identified different challenges that hinder students and teachers practice of speaking English.

Conclusion
Based on above discussion of the study, the following conclusions were stated about practice and challenges of group in English Speaking classroom.
The study indicated that English language teachers of Dali secondary school do not regularly use group work to teach English speaking and they do not give sufficient opportunity for learners to interact in the target language through group work. Similarly, the study indicated that teachers focus school give much emphasis to grammar and vocabulary sections. In addition to these, most teachers were focusing on area where national examinations center. Teachers in target school do not orient and inform students about the importance of group work in English speaking and do not give clear instruction during group work practice of speaking. Similarly, they do not use varied scholarly recommended activities during group practice of speaking. Most learners in target school were passive, reluctant and do not show willingness to participate actively during group work activities and could not reflect their ideas. To practice speaking English through group work, students face different challenges in target school. Some of these are; poor background of target language, lack of language proficiency, poor English speaking background, frequent use of mother tongue, inappropriate seating arrangement and unsuitable classroom they learn were the significant challenges of speaking English.

Recommendations
Based on findings of the study, the researcher forwarded the following recommendations.
To improve students' participation, it is beneficial to organize, orient and inform students about the benefits of group practice in English speaking before students actually start speaking activities in group. English language teachers of Dali Secondary School should give adequate attention to group work practice of English speaking and should maximize opportunity for group work practice of speaking English and they should give students clear instruction ('how' and 'what' to do) of group work practice of English speaking. In order to get every students participating in group work practice of English speaking, teachers should make sure that every student has equal chance to practice speaking English. Because such situations enable students to use the opportunities created and help them to develop their interaction in group.
To help students improve their participation in group work practice during English speaking classroom, teachers should motivate, encourage, assess guide, give comment on and use different speaking activities that can create authentic, meaningful and realistic situation to enhance their students' group work practice of English speaking. The teacher should also allocate sufficient time for group work activities to increase each student's opportunity to practice, to see his/her mistakes and to get comments based on their mistakes. Students of Dali Secondary School should actively participate in group work and should not be Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8435 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.82, 2021 22 reluctant during group work practice of speaking English. The English language teacher should assign group leaders and secretary during group work practice of speaking in English to coordinate, to facilitate, to ensure equal participation of members and to report group discussion. Group work strategy as student-centered approach is interactive way of learning, the language students use to interact with each other is likely influence their learning outcome of English speaking skill. Therefore it is recommended that all concerned body take appropriate action to improve students' proficiency of English language. All concerned bodies or stakeholders such as Dali Secondary School, Woreda Education Office and Zonal Education Department should give due attention to reduce challenges by creating the suitable condition. Finally, the researcher would like to recommend further research to be conducted on related/different aspects in similar topic/area. As the study was delimited to only one secondary school and limited in its sample size, the further study that cover more than one secondary school and larger sample sizes are suggested to increase the reliability of the results and thereby make more accurate generalization on the group work practice and challenges of English speaking classrooms. So as any concerned and interested body can make use of this study as opportunity for further studies and is expected to contribute a lot.