COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN THE EFL CLASSROOM

by Mary Ann Christinson

Once there was a very mean boss who owned a large factory. The boss liked to watch his workers work in order to make certain they were working hard.

It made his workers very nervous. One day while the boss was watching his workers, he saw a man taking a coffee break. He did not like his workers taking coffee breaks. When he came back half an hour later, the man was still taking a break. This made the boss very angry. He said to the man, "How much money do you make in a week?"

"Two hundred dollars," said the man. The boss reached in his back pocket, took out his wallet, and gave the man two hundred dollars.

"Here," said the boss, "take this, get out, and don't come back."

After the man had gone, the boss turned to another worker and asked, "What was that man's job, anyway?"

"Oh", said the other man, "he doesn't work here. He just came out to take the garbage!"

As foreign-language teachers, we are often like the mean boss in the story. We sometimes make decisions without having all the facts. In doing so, we jump to erroneous conclusions. This can be the case when teachers " make decisions about using small groups and cooperative learning in the classroom. Some teachers decide that cooperative learning is not for them or for their students; they already have a system for managing and organizing the classrooms that "works".

I frequently hear the following comments from teachers about cooperative learning: "It's too noisy!" "I don't have enough space to do cooperative activities." "It takes so much time and effort." "I have too many students in my class to work in pairs or small groups."

These comments suggest that many foreign language teachers do not have all the facts about cooperative learning. Cooperative learning can be characterized in the following Chinese proverb: Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember, Involve me, and I'll learn.

Cooperative learning can be defined as a strategy for the classroom that is used to increase motivation and retention, to help students develop a positive image of self and others, to provide a vehicle for critical thinking and problem solving, and to encourage collaborative social skills.

There are several ways a teacher might help students see value in cooperative skills. Some teachers simply explain why they are doing cooperative work. Other teachers do a brainstorm session on the possible value of cooperative group work. Still others place posters around the room to remind learners of the benefits of cooperative group work. What follows is a list of ideas that were generated by my own students. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to provide you with some ideas on the value of cooperative learning for your own students:

We can interact with our classmates.

We find out what our classmates think and know.

We hear more English.

We get a chance to be a leader.

We learn more about each other and that's interesting.

We learn to respect different ideas and opinions.

We have to really think in order to solve the problems.

We learn social skills for getting along with others.

We learn more vocabulary words.

Others listen to what Ihave to say.

Most studies done investigating the effects of cooperative learning programs on student learning show that high, average, and low achievers gain equally from the cooperative experience. Studies also supported the concept that the more tightly structured methods of cooperative group work will have the largest effects on basic skills. Higher-order cognitive skills are best improved by the more open-ended methods used in cooperative learning. Through those, students can become real partners in the learning enterprise. Consequently, they are better prepared to meet life's obligations.

3. Speculate on a Chinese proverb below and its relation to the ideas postulated in the article. Express your ideas in writing (150 + words).

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
HOME ASSIGNMENT	\|	Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.

Не знайшли потрібну інформацію? Скористайтесь пошуком google:

Генерація сторінки за: 0.005 сек.