Motivation in Second language Learning : Kinds and Factors

This post teaches you the different aspects of  'Organising Group Work in the classroom'.

Recollect how your teacher conducts 'group work' in classes and how he /she monitors the whole class. Think about the different steps followed. Are there any advantages? Are there any problems from teacher's side or from your side as a learner? 

List them out and compare with the handout given below:

GROUP WORK ORGANIZATION

from A Course in Language Teaching by Penny Ur

Group Work

 In group work, learners perform a learning task through small-group interaction.  It is a form of learner activation that is of particular value in the practice of oral fluency:  learners in a class that is divided into five groups get five times as many opportunities to talk as in full-class organization. 

It also has other advantages:

• it fosters learner responsibility and independence, can improve motivation and contribute to a feeling of cooperation and warmth in the class. 

• There is some research that indicates that the use of group work improves learning outcomes.

 Problems:

These potential advantages are not,  however, always realized.  Teachers fear they may lose control, that there may be too much noise, that their students may over-use their mother tongue, do the task badly or not at all:  and their fears are often well-founded.  Some people—both learners and teachers—dislike a situation where the teacher cannot constantly monitor learner language.

The success of group work depends to some extent on the surrounding social climate, and on how habituated the class is to using it; and also, of course, on the selection of an interesting and stimulating task whose performance is well within the ability of the group.  But it also depends, more immediately, on effective and careful organization. 

Some guidelines on organizing group work are divided into four sections:  presentation, process, ending, feedback. 

Questions for Assignment:

1. How does group work help learners?

2. What are the other advantages of group work?

3. what are the problems faced by teachers while engaging students in group work?

4. How can group work be conducted successfully?

5. What are the important aspects of organizing group work?

(Courtesy: ELF training)