Name : Yulia (2313.035)

Task : TEFL 1 (Journal)

The Effectiveness of Group Work and Pair Work for Students of English at Undergraduate Level in Public and Private Sector Colleges

Abstract

The study investigated one of the teaching strategies of collaborative language teaching (CLT), namely group work and pair work.  The introduction of a new English textbook at the undergraduate level has created some difficulties for teachers. These difficulties include the use of group and pair work. The scope of the study was limited to the teachers and students perception, attitude and beliefs about collaborative teaching. The focus was on one of the strategies of CLT – group work and pair work.

Introduction

This study provided an opportunity to explore the possibility of the use of one of the techniques of collaborative language teaching (CLT), that is, pair work and group work. Group and pair work are techniques for collaborative teaching that provide a chance for social interaction. Group work and pair work is a class management strategy and the role the teacher has to play while teaching is of a facilitator. Teacher’s role in group work is very difficult and at the same time it is very important role too. The focus was on group and pair work in English language classes.

The specific purpose of the study was to:

1.      find out the attitude of the teachers towards the innovation of using group work/pair work techniques.

2.      evaluate perceptions of the teachers and students regarding the effectiveness of collaborative teaching.

3.      investigate whether group and pair work is effective for teaching English at the undergraduate level in the existing situation.

4.      make suitable recommendations based on the data.

To investigate the present state of group work is extremely important to find out whether it is applicable or not. The study was of great importance for the teachers teaching at undergraduate level and for development of new books for teaching of English at undergraduate level.

Literature Review

Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century. The period from the 1950s to the 1980s has often been referred to as “The Age of methods”, during which a number of quite detailed prescriptions for language teaching were proposed and each method has in turn fallen out of favor and has been replaced with a new one. Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing attempt in research on teaching and learning and types and quantities of the relative amount of participation by the teacher and students (Chaudron, 1993).

Group work and pair work started getting attention of educationist in the 70s. In 70s educationists were concerned about increasing teacher talking time in language classes. During the 1980s and 1990s the development of communicative language teaching brought an important change in the role of students (Nunan & Lamb 1996) Working together is worthwhile as “pair and group work immediately increase the amount of students talking time” (Harmer, 1991).

Ellis (1994) was of the view that students are more motivated to engage in further communication when they have more opportunities to speak. Researchers observed often that Asian students are not trained to speak up, they prefer other people to take the limelight (Richards and Renandya, 2002). “In some cultures, students are very anxious about making mistakes in front of others” (Weaver and Hybles, 2004). Harmer (1991) claimed that group and pair work allows students to work in a conducing and facilitating environment.

Research Methodology

The strategy of research was a survey. Population was diverse therefore stratified random sampling technique was adopted. 300 students studying at undergraduate level in colleges of Karachi and 75 teachers from the same colleges were selected for the study.

Result and Discussion

The period from 13 to 20 years of human growth and development, called the adolescence, is the most crucial period in the life of human beings. This period is full of turmoil and conflict. At the same time the adolescent is eager to interact and builds new relationships. They try to have more liberty to develop their own potentialities. This clarifies the picture why most of the students at undergraduate level prefer group work. Group work provides them activities to interact in a fresh environment. It also provides them opportunities to express themselves and as a result they have an outlet for emotions and can socialize while studying in class.

Conclusion and Recommendations

It conclusions, that group work and pair work is best used when it is not the only classroom interaction pattern, but when it is combined with other strategies. The large multilevel class works better when we provide a great deal of variety in teaching. Teachers can plan their lessons to include teachers-centered work; individual work and pair work as well as group work. Often the teachers need to encourage students to participate or give suggestions about how students may proceed in an activity especially when there is a silence or when they are confused about what to do next. The teacher might need to prompt the students with information they have forgotten.

Students need to be trained to work in group settings. They need to recognize the importance of communication in class. In a mixed ability class where the target language is the only common language of the group, the use of mother tongue is not generally a problem Hess (2001) believed that what teachers can do is to constantly help them to stick to the target language. Teaches constantly mentioned the problem of large classes. However, in large multilevel classes, group work is obviously a key element as it enables students to learn from one another

Teachers need to specify the objectives of the lesson and make a number of pre instructional decisions. Being clear about the intended purpose or objective of the discussion helps the teacher to plan the topic and format.

Several areas still need to be investigated in order to completely understand the effects of group and pair work at the undergraduate level in the public and private sector colleges. This project was simply a preliminary study that investigated the effectiveness of group and pair work at the undergraduate level. Most of the students in this study were from middle class families with a better social status and they had an English medium background. Another study should be conducted with students from a different socio-cultural background for more generalized results.