COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Mainstream teachers with both ELLs and English-dominant students in their classrooms can use cooperative learning strategies as a powerful tool for fostering language acquisition. According to most writers, there are a number of elements that set cooperative learning apart from other grouping techniques (Cochran, 1989; Johnson & Johnson, 1999). These elements include the following:

•Heterogeneous grouping (combining ELLs and English dominant students in the same group)

•Positive interdependence (sinking or swimming together)

•Face-to-face supportive interaction (helping each other learn and applauding each other’s successes and efforts)

•Individual accountability (requiring each group member to contribute to the group’s achievement of its goals; typically, each member is assigned a specific role to perform in the group)

•Interpersonal and small group skills (communication, trust, leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution)

•Group processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how it can function even better)

Educators have found that cooperative learning groups foster language acquisition in ways that whole-class instruction cannot. So what is it about these groups that make them such a rich opportunity for ELLs?

First, ELLs working in small groups have many more opportunities to speak than they have during whole-class instruction. Small groups “create opportunities for sustained dialogue and substantive language use” as students use language to accomplish the task at hand (Zehler, 1994, p. 7). In fact, cooperative learning groups “demand speech” because each member must carry out her role if the group as a whole is to succeed (Alanis, 2004, p. 222). Some roles you can assign and will need to thoroughly explain include recorder, final copy scribe, illustrator, materials collector, and reporter.

Group members must also “negotiate meaning” as they speak, meaning that they must adjust their language so that it is comprehensible to other members. In doing this, students ensure that all members are able to understand what others have said (Englander, 2002; Kagan, 1995). Because students are in small groups, it is easy to check for understanding and adjust the level of speech appropriately—something that a teacher or student cannot do easily in a whole-class session (Kagan, 1995).

Small groups offer the following additional advantages:

• They allow for the repetition of key words and phrases. According to Kagan (1995), “Language acquisition is not ensured unless input is received repeatedly from a variety of sources.” Repetition allows the ELL to move the content she hears “from short-term comprehension to long-term acquisition” (Kagan, 1995).

• They require functional, context-relevant speech. Speech that is personally relevant and related to “real-life” situations is more likely to add to an ELL’s fluency (Kagan, 1995).

• They are “feedback-rich.” Not only are there far more opportunities for feedback and correction in a small group set ting, but the feedback and correction occur in the context of actual conversation, rather than in a formal instructional situation. An English language learner is less likely to feel self-conscious about being corrected in a small group setting (Kagan, 1995).

• They can greatly reduce student anxiety. Because small groups are supportive and interdependent, ELLs feel more comfortable speaking. Negative emotions (such as anxiety and lack of self-confidence) can impede language acquisition.

Bear in mind, however, that students who have recently arrived in the United States may be unfamiliar with group work. Kagan and McGroarty (1993) emphasize the importance of team-building exercises in creating a supportive classroom environment for these new students.

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مواضيع ذات صلة

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CUES, QUESTIONS, AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS Summary

CUES, QUESTIONS, AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS Classroom Example

Classroom Recommendations

CUES, QUESTIONS, AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS Generalizations from Classroom Instruction That Works

Advance Organizers

CUES, QUESTIONS, ANDADVANCEORGANIZERS Classroom Recommendations

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CUES, QUESTIONS, AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS Cues and Questions

NON-LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS Summary

NON LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS Classroom Example

NON-LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS Classroom Recommendations