ERIC ED437844: Implementing Cooperative Learning at a Language School.

16 Pages·1999·0.64 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
FL 026 120
ED 437 844
Lee, Soo-im
AUTHOR
Implementing Cooperative Learning at a Language School.
TITLE
1999-00-00
PUB DATE
15p.; In: Cooperative Learning. JALT Applied Materials; see
NOTE
FL 026 115.
Reports - Descriptive (141)
PUB TYPE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Classroom Techniques; *Cooperative Learning; *English
DESCRIPTORS
(Second Language); Foreign Countries; High Schools; Higher
Education; Private Schools; Program Evaluation; Second
Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Student
Role; Teacher Role; Teaching Methods
*Japan
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a program evaluation of cooperative
learning in a private language school devoted to teaching English to Japanese
students. Student resistance to cooperative learning was due to a lack of
training of students, a lack of understanding of basic cooperative learning
principles by administrators, and a lack of cooperative learning techniques
on the part of teachers. Students often interpreted the greater teacher
reticence as negligence or laziness when the poorly trained teacher attempted
to use cooperative learning methods. Students took this as a cue to do less
than their best. Researchers have emphasized that a properly structured
cooperative learning lesson resembles that of a well-prepared traditional
lesson, in that it has clearly defined roles for the students and the
teacher. Teachers should decide how much cooperative learning can be
successfully incorporated into their classrooms after evaluating their
students' learning environment and capability for taking on the
responsibility for their own learning. (Contains 26 references.)
(KFT)
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1
°
Points of view or opinions stated in this
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
00
N
Lee
A,
yukoku University
national obses-
education was approaching a
In 1989, Lee wrote that English
phenomenon
and private sectors, and this
sion as revealed in both the public
of Education
the public sector, the Ministry
still remains in Japanese society. In
public schools
Language Teachers (ALTS) to
has invited more than 4,000 Assistant
(Scholefield, 1996).
[English conversa-
eikaiwa
than 20,000
In the private sector, there are more
schools is
goal for these private language
tion] classrooms. The most important
the students can have
language curriculum in which
to provide an efficient
skills. The
their communicative and interactive
ample opportunities to improve
students and high
study at such schools are university
majority of students who
tradi-
with large-sized classrooms or the
school students who are not content
home schools.
kudokta [translation tasks] at their
tional teaching approach of y
schools are varied; however, small-sized
Classroom sizes in private language
language schools are always attractive to
classrooms (8-10 students) at private
to them.
the customers and bring business success
(Eds.),
D. Kluge, S. McGuire, D. Johnson, & R. Johnson
Lee, S. (1999). Inspiemeinating cooperative teaming at a language school In
for Language Teaching.
JAZNoplieel FruSerfaie Corpenitive learning (pp. 69-79). Tokyo: Japan Association
Lee
68
language schools highl,
and teachers at such
Even though both students
Japanese
in the classrooms,
and interactive activities
expect communicative
this inactive attitude
in the classrooms, and
students are noted to be silent
language skills (Bannai,
opportunity to develop oral
deprives the students of the
of this attitudinal prob-
1974). What are the causes
1981; Sato, 1982; Tomizawa,
communication skills
often stated that lack of
lem of Japanese learners? It is
method
traditional translation
experiences based on the
and inadequate learning
attitude and lack of
main causes of students' inactive
in Japan seems to be the
1975; Tazaki, 1978;
production (Hino, 1988; Kawasumi,
competence in English
English as a me-
that if students were taught
Tajima, 1978). Researchers argue
communication skills
effective manner, their
dium of communication in a more
whether students are
it is important to judge
might be enhanced. However,
unlikely that all success stories
empowerment. It is
fully ready to be given such
be easily copied or
Second Language (ESL) contexts can
in the English as a
particularly in
.Foreign Language (EFL) context,
transferred into an English as a
Japan.
the English classrooms in
Background of the School
Analyses
The Importance of Needs
medium-sized private lan-
study reported here is a
The school chosen for the
largest
part-time students. The
with 4,410 students enrolled as
guage school
false beginners (87.8%),
the school consists of
population among the students at
assumed that they
English communicatively; it was
who have never studied
through the minimum
basic grammar and vocabulary
have some foundation in
students are university
education. The majority of the
of six years of English
their reason for learn-
(75%), and male (67.5%), and
and high school students
beneficial for their future ca-
believe the skill will be
ing English is that they
desire to improve their commu-
majority of the students (95%)
reers (67%). The
they think that their
this institute mainly because
nicative skills of English at
these skills.
efficient curriculum to improve
home schools don't provide an
have to reserve a class
by reservation; students
The classes are arranged
have a different teacher and
reservation system, students
each time. Under this
fixed schedule, this
in each class. Compared to a
study with different students
language schools use
busy students so that many
reservation system attracts
this flexible system.
least every three months
this institute is conducted at
A needs analysis at
and direct observations of
interviews, questionnaires,
using such techniques as
placement test
which is used both as a
students' performance on an oral test
large quan-
frequent needs analyses generate a
and as a diagnostic test. These
Implementing Cooperative Learning at a Language School
69
tity and a wide variety of data. Such information provides a useful starting
point for developing or evaluating a language program. It is believed that the
determination of students' needs is an ongoing process.
A 10-minute long interview is given to all the new students when they enter
the institute, mainly to find out how they perceive the learning of English. The
questions given to them are open-ended questions and the interviewers fill in
during
a diagnostic form for each student The questions are asked in Japanese
the interview and asked in a random order to extract the new students' percep-
tions as much as possible.
Valuable information was obtained from the records and the results of inter-
views. The following translated response represents the perceptions of most of
the beginning level students. Translation of a verbatim account have been used
below in order to retain the original tone of the interview.
Beginning level student (33 year old housewife):.
I get so nervous when I speak English particularly with a native speaker.
I wish I could talk to them more comfortably. My English ability is not so
bad because English was my favorite subject and English was my major
foreigners in
at the university. But when it comes to communication with
English, it is a different story. I sweat a lot and my heart beats faster when
I speak English. I really want to change my attitude, so I chose to come to
this school.
The students' perceptions and attitudes toward learning English based on
this data were reported to the school authority by the staff who conducted the
interviews. The report was summarized as follows:
Students are not self-directed learners. They are passive learners and En-
1.
glish was learned only for passing examinations and tests.
efficient study
2. They are not responsible learners. They are not aware of any
skills.
but they
3. Their motivation to learn communicative English is rather high,
feel strong anxiety about communicating in English.
4. They believe that their basic knowledge is poor and they are not confident
in their own potential ability to learn English.
they received so
5. They have been disappointed with the English education
far.
influenced by past
at adult learners are profoundly
Nunan (1988) stated
e found that
learning experiences, present concerns, and future prospects.
they are less interested in learning for learning's sake than in learning to achieve
Combining the results of the needs
some immediate or not too distant life goal.
4
Soo -gm Lee
70
following immediate objectives were
analysis with Nunan's observation, the
manual:
and they were stated in the teachers'
set in the new curriculum
of the
responsibility for the aims and objectives
1. The students should retain
course.
continu-
the development of the course and its
2. The students should monitor
I eir own objectives.
ing relevance to
of how well
themselves. They should be aware
3. The students should assess
level of
have a reasonable idea of their own
they achieve learning tasks, and
proficiency.
class-
role in learning. In a conversational
4. The students should take an active
rtu-
be manifested in the learner seeking out every op,.
room setting this may
Dickinson, 1982, p. 15).
learn (Carver
nity to understand, practice, and
learning styles.
able to establish their own efficient
5. The learners should be
using English.
6. The students should enjoy communication
eat joy in their learning process.
7. The students should feel a
when they ex-
their potential linguistic abilities
8. The students should utilize
English.
press themselves in
comfortable speaking English.
9. The students should feel
having a strong
able to make their own sentences
10. The students should be
be following exactly the contents
desire to communicate; they should not
given in the textbook.
Time
Increasing the Students' Talking
objectives, the
the above-mentioned goals and
Striving for the means to reach
of increasing the students' talking
administrators began to feel the necessity
the students feel
equation was made; to have
time. A simple mathematical
their talking time.
speaking English equates with increasing
more comfortable
student at a time,
the teacher in front calling on one
In the traditional class with
time to practice because there are so many
students are not given sufficient
students in one class, but still the time
students to call on. There are only six
of the problems to be solved.
constraint on students' talking time was one
class is
student's talking time in a 50-minute
simple calculation shows that each
perfor-
that they would achieve their desired
less than 10 minutes. It is unlikely
students' talking
classroom environment. In order to increase
mance in such a
learning (CL)
the conclusion that cooperative
time, the administrators reached
the quantity of students' talk.
would be an effective way to improve
done by Gaies (1977, 1979), Henzl (1979),
Studies on teacher talk have been
(1983). Long (1983) notes that in language
Long (1983), and Long and Sato
frequent than in natural
classrooms, tutorial (or display) questions are more
Implementing Cooperative Learning at a Language School
71
at comprehension checks and requests
settings. The same researchers note
which
for clarification are less frequent in classrooms than in natural settings,
in class-
they feel is due to the predominance of one-way communication
of classes revealed that teachers tend to domi-
rooms. The direct observation
that students, have few opportunities
nate the talk in classrooms with the result
in the classroom, the administra-
to speak. In order to increase natural settings
of the teachers as facilitators, not as
tors believed in the importance of the role
talking opportunities.
a symbol of authority dominating
Training Given to the Teachers
facilitator was
During the teacher training, this new role of the teacher as a
reached
positively accepted by the teachers at the institute and a consensus was
to
that teachers should democratize the classrooms and give more autonomy
affirming and en-
dents with this new communicative approach. In an
the s
provisional, exploratory
couraging small group, learners feel free to talk in
for the school, teachers were introduced to the
ways. At the training sessions
(1987), Good and Brophy (1987),
past empirical studies on CL by ejarano
(1987) compared the effects of two
Nunan (1992), and Slavin (1983). Bejarano
academic achievement
small-group CL approaches to a whole-class method on
techniques showed signifi-
and found that students taught with cooperative
whole-class method. Slavin
candy higher achievement than did students in the
(1983, p. 128) emphasizes the benefits of CL as follows:
ough positive effects
The research done up to the present has shown e
traditional
of CL, on a variety of outcomes, to force us to reexamine
the potential power of
instructional practices. We can no longer ignore
free resource for improving
the peer group, perhaps the one remaining
schools.
learning has generally been posi-
The research comparing CL to competitive
additional benefits of CL;
tive (Nunan, 1992). Good and Brophy (1987) suggest
be basically
although the positive effects of CL on achievement appear to
against other teams,
motivational, the key is not motivation to win competitions
their in., vidual goals and thus
but motivation to assist one's teammates to meet
the evidence suggesting the
insure that the team as a whole will do well. With
launched the new innovative
benefits of CL and theoretical support, the school
classroom organization plan.
which showed the
The teachers were asked to read three academic papers
Learning and Teach-
effects of CL. Nunan's (1992) book, Colla,,rative Language
there were 34 Japa-
ing was recommended as an additional reference. Since
part-time)
-time, 6o%
nese teachers and 43 native-speaking instructors
(40Db
training sessions were
working for the institute at the time, four two-hour
S00-078 Lee
72
these sessions.
obliged to participate in one of
offered and the teachers were
which aimed to
viewed a demonstration tape
During the training, teachers
artifi-
training video was designed under an
show how CL actually works. The
philosophy of
students. The basic principles and
cial situation using the staff as
useful in visu-
the teachers and the video tape was
CL were well accepted by
about outcomes
teachers' positive expectations
alizing the tasks and activities. The
the school.
be promising for the use of CL at
and their excitement seemed to
CL Activities
CL tasks and
materials continued to be used, adding
Existing textbooks and
each student on a
lesson plans, teachers dealt with
activities. In the previous
there were six students
for most of the activities even though
one-to-one basis
with the
little time given to each student to interact
in the classroom. There was
lesson
activities among the students. Each
teacher and there were no interactive
consisted of five steps:
lesson.
vocabulary and expressions in the
1. Introducing new
the text in the
asking comprehension questions on
2. Homework review by
unit.
the sample dialog.
3. Grammar explanation of
dialog.
4. Conversation practice of the sample
5. Role play practice.
review),
the tasks in steps 2 (homework
CL activities were incorporated into
(role play practice).
4 (conversation, practice), and 5
with the students; instead he or she acts
The teacher doesn't directly interact
around to
task for each activity. The teacher moves
as a facilitator by setting a
only when the students get
pair are doing and helps
see how each group or
stuck in doing the given task.
From Students
A Sign of "Tissue Rejection"
method was implemented, we began
Approximately two months after this new
female student sent a long
from the students. A middle-aged
to hear complaints
with the new teaching
explaining why she was not happy
e institute
letter to
of her letter:
method. The following is a translated summary
En-
having plenty of opportunities to practice
I was looking forward to
this institute. That's why I chose
glish with native speaking instructors at
changed
But your teaching approach has
this school to improve my English.
the teach-
months ago. I used to enjoy listening to
a great deal since two
students. i.ut
they were talking to the other
ers' responses even though
the classroom. I
do is to talk to the other students in
now all we have to
73
Language School
Learning at a
Implementing Cooperative
smooth conver-
boring. I can't continue
and it is very
don't think it is fun
English. How
English is as poor as my
students whose
sations with other
each
just looking at
going when we are
keep our conversation
can we
windows and I
looking out the
silent? Some teachers are
other remaining
should pay more atten-
duties. Teachers
neglecting their
think they are
teachers.
talk to our
have the right to
all the time and we
tion to students
here to
students. I am
practice with other
this school to
I am not at
practice with teachers.
2) uses
Hoyle (1970, p.
subsequently heard.
complaints were
Several similar
innova-
when curriculum
what happens
rejection" to describe
the term "tissue
The stu-
functioning part of the system.
become an effectively
tion does not
administra-
therefore, the
of this tissue rejection;
a sign
de ts' complaints were
evaluate the curriculum.
conduct a survey to
forced to immediately
tors were
the Evaluation
The Purpose of
learner-centered
claim to be truly
that no curriculum can
Nunan (1986) argues
relating to the processes
and perceptions
subjective needs
unless the learners'
anecdotal evi-
that there is
He also states
taken into account.
of learning are
with the
immediately concerned
that learners are more
dence to suggest
would
content, and it
than with learning
learning processes
appropriacy of
conflict occurs.
teacher /learner
processes that most
is in relation to
seem that it
much about class-
evaluation revealed
from the curriculum
The data derived
teachers had been unaware.
administrators and
of which the
room realities
informa-
and analyze precise
to collect
the evaluation was
The purpose of
The administrators
perceiving CL activities.
the students were
tion on how
CL
continue using
whether they should
information to decide
needed accurate
They felt
teacher-centered method.
the previous
it and go back to
or terminate
frustra-
alleviate the students'
prompt action to
responsibility to take
a strong
formative evaluation:
focused on in the
following questions were
tion. The
by the teachers?
effectively implemented
activities been
1. Have CL
the causes?
2. If not, what are
of CL?
teachers' perceptions
students' and
3. What are the
revise and improve
evaluation was to
the formative
ose of
The main p
of di-
Systematic procedures
stude ts' needs.
according to the
the curriculum
behavior were necessary
teachers' classroom
dents' and
of s
six
rect observation
classes and
beginning level
bias. Six higher
i e administrators'
ob-
to minimize
72 students were
12 classes and
classes totaling
lower beginning level
participated in
students who
members. The
administrative staff
served by the
observers
interviews by the two
given follow-up
the observed classes were
Soo-iwa Lee
74
activities were asked indi-
after the classes, and the questions concernin CL
taught the 12 classes were also
vidually and in !iloups. The eight teachers who
interviewed individually.
The Results of the Evaluation
Teachers' i :ehavior
conducted in terms of general class management
Most of ri.e classes were well
mostly limited in all the classes and the
and time management. Teacher talk was
students' talking time through CL ac-
teachers were making efforts to increase
teacher-centered class, it seemed that these
tivities. Compared to the traditional
the students to talk, but even
CL oriented classes gave more opportunities to
appeared that the class atmo-
though such opportunities were amply 'yen, it
expected from the instructional
sphere was inactive and different from the one
the tasks were explained to the
guidance in the teacher's manual. Even though
about the tasks and they re-
students, many of them seemed to be confused
textbooks. Classroom realities
mained quiet or just kept looking down at the
the ones created on the demonstration video tape
were very different from
which was used during the CL training.
of the teachers was "Do
One of the questions asked during the interviews
had
implementing CL?" Most of the teachers
you think you are successfully
Japanese low language
been feeling that it was more difficult to apply CL to
of the teachers said that
proficiency students than they had expected. Many
problems were and were surprised
they didn't know what the reason for the
the training video, which pre-
when the realities were totally different from
sented a false image of CL to the teachers.
One teacher stated as follows in the interview:
implementation is the students' lan-
One of the reasons for failure of CL
students' language proficiency was too low to
guage proficiency. The
Also the training video
understand the tasks, much less carry them out.
quite different from the
projects a false image of CL and the realities are
the problem of the
artificially created atmosphere on the video. Besides
don't know each other so
students' low language proficiency, the students
the first time. The reservation
well and some of them meet in the class for
having active voluntary participation and creat-
system inhibits them from
ing a friendly atmosphere.
observed. Successful classes mean
However, a few successful cases were
tive behavior identified in
here that there was more interactive and communic
compared to the other inactive classes.
the students' performance in these classes
75
native Learning at a Language School
Implementing Coo
ere
Those two successful teachers (out of eight teachers) were conducting CL
activities creatively and effectively. They clearly explained each task in
they
much more detail to the students than did other teachers and also
various techniques. For example,
were creative in implementing CL using
these teachers tried to emphasize team spirit by having the students com-
and gave scores based on
pete with each other in the role play practices
students' performance.
tech-
The class atmosphere was greatly affected by the teachers' creative
the teachers
niques of implementing CL activities, and the classes in which
brighter
tried to foster and strengthen team spirit had a more cheerful and
atmosphere compared to the classes in which no such efforts were made.
to from direct observation and interviews,
After the cross-vali don of the .1
retrained about CL
tors felt strongly that the teachers should be
the adminis
teachers who
and informed of the various techniques of CL activities of those
were demonstrating successful use of CL.
Students' ebavior
behavior showed sub-
The direct observation focusing on the students'
i at the students were not participating with a positive
stantial evide Ice
given to the
attitude in the CL-oriented classrooms. When CL tasks were
teachers
students and the students were told to work in pairs or groups,
eir part-
face
told the students to change the directions of the chairs to
hesitantly moved their chairs, and even though
ners. Some of the students
faces. This
they sat facing their partners, they cldn't look at their partners'
lower beginning
behavioral pattern was more frequently observed in the
of this pas-
level classes than the high beginning level classes. The cause
the data obtained in the
sive behavioral pattern was revealed through
students claimed great diffi-
interviews given to the students. A number of
work with other students
culties with CL activities because they have to
emphatically claimed that they tended
who they don't know so well. They
the beginning of the lesson until they got
to feel nervous, particularly in
but the teachers didn't seem to realize
used to the unfamiliar atmosphere,
feeling.
the psychological pressures the students were
there were a few students who were ex-
A student suggested that if
take the initiative in pi oup work to
tremely cheerful and bright, they could
such cases would occur very
change the atmosphere, but unfortunately
the time was
i i students had increas, 41 their talking time,
rarely. Even thou
of the class situations. A couple of
not necessarily used effectively because
how to help
e teachers didn't know
students complained that umost of
became horrible
these reserved students, and then li!e class atmosphere
the teacher." They
and all students felt the terrible atmosphere except
I 0