Cooperative language learning

all for one, one for all.

Theory of Language: An interactive view of language. Lge is a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and for the performance of social relations (interaction analysis, conversation analysis, and ethnomethodology

Definition

• Olsen and Kagan, (1992) define cooperative learning as "group learning activity organised so that learning is dependent on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in groups and in which each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning and is motivated to increase the learning of others."

• Within cooperative situations, individuals seek outcomes that are beneficial to themselves and beneficial to all other group members. Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning.

Theory of Language 2: Premises

• Premise 1: children are born to talk; communication is the primary purpose of language.

• Premise 2: Most speech is organized as conversation.• Premise 3: conversation operates according to a set of

cooperative rules (maxims)• Premise 4: learning maxims in L1 is through

engagement in everyday interaction.• Premise 5: learning how maxims are realized in L2 is

through participation in cooperatively structured interactions.

Research findings: benefits of CLL• Research findings in both L1 and L2 contexts suggest that cooperative

learning has benefits for many learners (e.g. Long & Porter, 1985; McManus & Gettinger, 1996). These studies indicate that, cooperative learning is more effective in promoting such values as intrinsic motivation and task achievement. Cooperative learning is also said to generate higher order thinking skills, improve attitudes toward the subject, develop academic peer norms, heighten selfesteem, and increase time on task (Johnson & Johnson, 1985; Slavin, 1983,1991). When compared with competitive and individualistic efforts, cooperative learning typically results in greater efforts to achieve more positive relationships among students (Cooper, Johnson, Johnson & Wilderson, 1980; Solomon, Watson, Schaps, Battistich & Solomon, 1990), and greater psychological health (Bandura, 1977; Schunk, 1987). Among all the positive outcomes of cooperative learning, the most important outcome of cooperative learning is enhanced achievement (Slavin, 1995)

relatedness, competence, and autonomy

• to help students satisfy the three needs of relatedness, competence, and autonomy in the classroom.

• all for one, one for all.

Slavin’s review (1995)

• listed over 90 experimental studies about cooperative learning.

• the reason cooperative learning succeeds as an educational methodology is its use of convergent tasks:

• Group goals based on the individual responsibility of all group members leads to increased learning achievement, regardless of subject or proficiency level of students involved

Teacher’s role• Making pre-instructional decisions : • . Specifying academic and social skills objectives. Every lesson has

both academic and interpersonal and small group skills objectives. . • Deciding on group size. Learning groups should be small. • . Deciding on group composition. Assigning students to groups

randomly or select groups. Maximize the heterogeneity in each group,

• Assigning roles, structure student-student interaction by assigning roles such as "reader, recorder, encourager of participation, and checker for understanding".

• Arranging the room. Group members should be 'knee to knee and eye to eye' but arranged so they all can see you at the front of the room. .

Teacher’s roles 2• Planning materials. Arranging materials to give a 'sink or swim together' message.

Give only paper to the group or give each member part of the material to be learned.

• Explaining task and cooperative structure • Explaining the academic task and the objectives of the lessons, the concepts and

principles students need to know in order to complete the assignment, and the procedures they are to follow.

• Explaining the criteria for success. Students’ work should be evaluated on a criteria-referenced basis. Making clear your criteria for evaluating students' work.

• Structuring positive interdependence. Students must believe that they 'sink or swim together'.

• Structuring intergroup cooperation. Having groups check and help other groups. • The teacher plays a leading role in setting up the cooperative learning structures as

well as in preparing students for the tasks and in facilitating the accomplishment of the task goals.

Learners’ roles

• Facilitator, time keeper, reporter, summarizer, recorder.

• Counsellor, decision maker, negotiator, problem solver, researcher, leader …

Other benefits for SLL

• cooperative learning provides second language learners with opportunities to hear more language and more complex language during interaction with peers. This increased complexity of input facilitates language development. Group activity also increases students' chances to be exposed to ideas that may be more cognitively complex. Complexity and variety of input produce higher level cognitive development (Bloom, 1964; Bruner, 1966; Sharan et al., 1984).

Basic principles of CLL activities

• 1 Cooperation as a value • 2 Heterogeneous grouping • 3 Positive interdependence • 4 Individual accountability • 5 Simultaneous interaction • 6 Equal participation • 7 Collaborative skills • 8 Group autonomy

Cognitive SLA theories

• Interlanguage (Selinker, 1972): the objective is to achieve near native-like interlanguage.

• Some theories of cognitive SLA: Krashen’s Comprehensible Input Hypothesis (1982), Long’s Interaction Hypothesis(1983), Swain’s Output Hypothesis (1985), and Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis (1990).

Cognitive theories vs SCT

• cognitive theories of second language acquisition focus on the individual learner’s internal cognitive processing of input,

• social-cultural theories place the individual within the larger social or communal context.

• Social-cultural theories (SCT) in educational practice stem largely from the writings of Soviet-Era psychologist Lev Vygotsky.

Vygotsky• the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): the limit to which

someone can learn new information with the assistance of someone else. This could be an expert such as a teacher or a fellow learner at the same level or slightly higher level of competence than the learner. S/he acts as a mediator between the student and the knowledge the student is trying to understand and assists the learner in reaching goals not attainable by the learner alone. Thus, the ZPD “defines those functions that have not yet matured but are in the process of maturation, functions that will mature tomorrow but are currently in an embryonic state” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86).

Two levels of learning

• The intramental plane• The intermental plane

Types of CL groups

• Formal cooperative groups• Informal cooperative groups• Cooperative base groups

(1) Timed pair share

• See the article on cooperative structures of Kagan