Cooperative Language Learning

Presenter: DARIOZ B. LUCERO

 OBJECTIVES:

a. Discuss the nature of Cooperative

Language Learning.
b. Explain the roles of learners and teachers
in CLL.
d. Cite examples of CLL Approach in
language class.
 Background

• Cooperative Language Learning (CLL) is part of a

more general instructional approach also known as
Collaborative Learning (CL).
• Cooperative Learning is an approach to teaching that
makes maximum use of cooperative activities
involving pairs and small groups of learners in the
classroom
 Definition:

• Cooperative learning is group learning activity

organized 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. (Olsen
and Kagan 1992: 8)
Cooperative Learning
• Cooperative Learning has antecedents in
proposals for peer-tutoring and peer-
monitoring that go back hundreds of years and
longer.
• The early twentieth century U.S. educator
John Dewey is usually credited with promoting
the idea of building cooperation in learning in
regular classrooms on a regular and systematic
basis (Rodgers 1988).
Cooperative Learning in this context sought
to do the following:

• raise the achievement of all students, including those who are

gifted or academically handicapped
• help the teacher build positive relationships among students
• give students the experiences they need for healthy social,
psychological, and cognitive development
• replace the competitive organizational structure of most classrooms
and schools with a team-based, high-performance organizational
structure
In second language teaching, Cooperative
Language Learning (CLL)
• It has been embraced as a way of promoting
communicative interaction in the classroom and
is seen as an extension of the principles of
Communicative Language Teaching.

• It is viewed as a learner-centered approach to

teaching held to offer advantages over teacher-
fronted classroom methods.
In language teaching its goals are:
• – to provide opportunities for naturalistic second language
acquisition through the use of interactive pair and group activities
• – to provide teachers with a methodology to enable them to achieve
this goal and one that can be applied in a variety of curriculum
settings (e.g., content-based, foreign language classrooms;
mainstreaming)
• – to enable focused attention to particular lexical items, language
structures, and communicative functions through the use of
interactive tasks
In language teaching its goals are:
• – to provide opportunities for learners to
develop successful learning and communication
strategies

• – to enhance learner motivation and reduce

learner stress and to create a positive affective
classroom climate
Cooperative Language Learning Approach

•CLL is thus an approach that crosses

both mainstream education and
second and foreign language
teaching.
 Approach : Theory of language

• Cooperative Language Learning is

founded on some basic premises
about the interactive/cooperative
nature of language and language
learning
 Premise 1
• mirrors the title of a book on child language
titled Born to Talk (Weeks 1979). The author
holds (along with many others) that “all normal
children growing up in a normal environment
learn to talk. We are born to talk . . . we may
think of ourselves as having been programmed
to talk . . . communication is generally
considered to be the primary purpose of
language” (Weeks 1979: 1).
 Premise 2
• Premise 2 is that most talk/speech is
organized as conversation. “Human
beings spend a large part of their lives
engaging in conversation and for most of
them conversation is among their most
significant and engrossing activities”
(Richards and Schmidt 1983: 117).
 Premise 3
• Premise 3 is that conversation operates
according to a certain agreedupon set of
cooperative rules or “maxims” (Grice
1975).
 Premise 4
• Premise 4 is that one learns how these
cooperative maxims are realized in one’s
native language through casual, everyday
conversational interaction
 Premise 5
• Premise 5 is that one learns how the
maxims are realized in a second language
through participation in cooperatively
structured interactional activities.
Theory of learning
• Cooperative learning advocates draw
heavily on the theoretical work of
developmental psychologists Jean Piaget
(e.g., 1965) and Lev Vygotsky (e.g., 1962),
both of whom stress the central role of
social interaction in learning.
Theory of learning
• a central premise of CLL is that learners
develop communicative competence in a
language by conversing in socially or
pedagogically structured situations. CLL
advocates have proposed certain interactive
structures that are considered optimal for
learning the appropriate rules and practices in
conversing in a new language.
Theory of learning
• CLL also seeks to develop learners’ critical
thinking skills, which are seen as central to
learning of any sort. Some authors have
even elevated critical thinking to the same
level of focus as that of the basic language
skills of reading, writing, listening, and
speaking (Kagan 1992).
Theory of learning
• The word cooperative in Cooperative
Learning emphasizes another important
dimension of CLL: It seeks to develop
classrooms that foster cooperation rather
than competition in learning.
Advocates of CLL in general education stress the
benefits of cooperation in promoting learning
• Cooperation is working together to accomplish shared
goals. Within cooperative situations, individuals seek
outcomes beneficial to themselves and all other group
members. Cooperative learning is the instructional
use of small groups through which students work
together to maximize their own and each other’s
learning. It may be contrasted with competitive
learning in which students work against each other to
achieve an academic goal such as a grade of “A.”
(Johnson et al., 1994: 4)
From the perspective of second language teaching,
McGroarty (1989) offers six learning advantages for ESL
students in CLL classrooms:
1. increased frequency and variety of second language practice through
different types of interaction
2. possibility for development or use of language in ways that support
cognitive development and increased language skills
3. opportunities to integrate language with content-based instruction

4. opportunities to include a greater variety of curricular materials to

stimulate language as well as concept learning

5. freedom for teachers to master new professional skills, particularly those

emphasizing communication 6. opportunities for students to act as resources
for each other, thus assuming a more active role in their learning
Design
• Objectives: Since CLL is an approach designed
to foster cooperation rather than
competition, to develop critical thinking
skills, and to develop communicative
competence through socially structured
interaction activities, these can be regarded
as the overall objectives of CLL. More specific
objectives will derive from the context in
which it is used
The syllabus
• CLL does not assume any particular form of language
syllabus, since activities from a wide variety of curriculum
orientations can be taught via cooperative learning.

• Thus we find CLL used in teaching content classes, ESP, the

four skills, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary.

• CLL is the systematic and carefully planned use of group-

based procedures in teaching as an alternative to teacher-
fronted teaching.
Types of learning and teaching activities:

• Johnson et al., (1994: 4–5) describe three types of cooperative learning

groups.
• 1. Formal cooperative learning groups. These last from one class period
to several weeks. These are established for a specific task and involve
students working together to achieve shared learning goals.
• 2. Informal cooperative learning groups. These are ad-hoc groups that
last from a few minutes to a class period and are used to focus student
attention or to facilitate learning during direct teaching.
• 3. Cooperative base groups. These are long term, lasting for at least a
year and consist of heterogeneous learning groups with stable
membership whose primary purpose is to allow members to give each
other the support, help, encouragement, and assistance they need to
succeed academically.
Olsen and Kagan (1992) propose the following key
elements of successful group-based learning in CL:

• - Positive interdependence
• – Group formation
• – Individual accountability
• – Social skills
• – Structuring and structures
Three major kinds of cooperative learning tasks and
their learning focus, each of which has many variations:
1. Team practice from common input – skills development and mastery of fact
– All students work on the same material.
– Practice could follow a traditional teacher
- directed presentation of new material and for that reason is a good starting point for
teachers and/or students new to group work.
– The task is to make sure that everyone in the group knows the answer to a question and
can explain how the answer was obtained or understands the material. Because students
want their team to do well, they coach and tutor each other to make sure that any member
of the group could answer for all of them and explain their team’s answer.
– When the teacher takes up the question or assignment, anyone in a group may be called on
to answer for the team.
– This technique is good for review and for practice tests; the group takes the practice test
together, but each student will eventually do an assignment or take a test individually.
– This technique is effective in situations where the composition of the groups is unstable
(in adult programs, for example). Students can form new groups every day.
2. Jigsaw: differentiated but predetermined input
– evaluation and synthesis of facts and opinions
• – Each group member receives a different piece of the
information.
• – Students regroup in topic groups (expert groups) composed
of people with the same piece to master the material and
prepare to teach it.
• – Students return to home groups (Jigsaw groups) to share
their information with each other.
• – Students synthesize the information through discussion.
2. Jigsaw: differentiated but predetermined input
– evaluation and synthesis of facts and opinions
• – Each student produces an assignment of part of a group project, or
takes a test, to demonstrate synthesis of all the information presented
by all group members.
• – This method of organization may require team-building activities for
both home groups and topic groups, long-term group involvement, and
rehearsal of presentation methods.
• – This method is very useful in the multilevel class, allowing for both
homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping in terms of English
proficiency.
• – Information-gap activities in language teaching are jigsaw activities in
the form of pair work. Partners have data (in the form of text, tables,
charts, etc.) with missing information to be supplied during interaction
with another partner.
3. Cooperative projects: topics/resources
selected by students – discovery learning
• – Topics may be different for each group.
• – Students identify subtopics for each group member.
• – Steering committee may coordinate the work of the class as
a whole.
• – Students research the information using resources such as
library reference, interviews, visual media.
• – Students synthesize their information for a group
presentation: oral and/or written. Each group member plays a
part in the presentation. – Each group presents to the whole
class.
3. Cooperative projects: topics/resources
selected by students – discovery learning
• This method places greater emphasis on
individualization and students’ interests.
• Each student’s assignment is unique.
• Students need plenty of previous
experience with more structured group
work for this to be effective.
Olsen and Kagan (1992: 88) describes the
following examples of CLL activities:
• Three-step interview:
(1)Students are in pairs; one is interviewer and the
other is interviewee.
(2)Students reverse roles.
(3) Each shares with team member what was learned
during the two interviews.
Roundtable:
• There is one piece of paper and one pen for
each team.
(1) One student makes a contribution and
(2) passes the paper and pen to the student of
his or her left.
(3) Each student makes contributions in turn.
If done orally, the structure is called Round
Robin.
Think-Pair-Share:
• (1) Teacher poses a question (usually a
lowconsensus question).
• (2) Students think of a responses.
• (3) Students discuss their responses with a
partner.
• (4) Students share their partner’s response with
the class.
Solve-Pair-Share:
• (1) Teacher poses a problem (a low-
consensus or high-consensus item that may
be resolved with different strategies).
• (2) Students work out solutions individually.
• (3) Students explain how they solved the
problem in Interview or Round Robin
structures.
Numbered Heads:
• (1) Students number off in teams.
• (2) Teacher asks a question (usually high-
consensus).
• (3) Heads Together – students literally put their
heads together and make sure everyone knows and
can explain the answer.
• (4) Teacher calls a number and students with that
number raise their hands to be called on, as in
traditional classroom.
Learner roles
• The primary role of the learner is as a member of a
group who must work collaboratively on tasks with
other group members.
• Learners have to learn teamwork skills.
• Learners are also directors of their own learning.
• They are taught to plan, monitor, and evaluate their
own learning, which is viewed as a compilation of
lifelong learning skills.
Teacher roles
• The role of the teacher in CLL differs considerably from the role of
teachers in traditional teacher-fronted lesson.
• The teacher has to create a highly structured and well-organized
learning environment in the classroom, setting goals, planning and
structuring tasks, establishing the physical arrangement of the
classroom, assigning students to groups and roles, and selecting
materials and time (Johnson et al. 1994).
• An important role for the teacher is that of facilitator of learning. In his
or her role as facilitator, the teacher must move around the class
helping students and groups as needs arise:
Teacher roles
• Teachers speak less than in teacher-fronted classes. They
provide broad questions to challenge thinking, they prepare
students for the tasks they will carry out, they assist students
with the learning tasks, and they give few commands,
imposing less disciplinary control (Harel 1992).
• The teacher may also have the task of restructuring lessons so
that students can work on them cooperatively.
The role of instructional materials
• Materials play an important part in creating opportunities for
students to work cooperatively. The same materials can be
used as are used in other types of lessons but variations are
required in how the materials are used.
• For example, if students are working in groups, each might
have one set of materials (or groups might have different sets
of materials), or each group member might need a copy of a
text to read and refer to.
• Materials may be specially designed for CLL learning (such as
commercially sold jigsaw and information-gap activities),
modified from existing materials, or borrowed from other
disciplines.
Procedure
• Johnson et al. (1994: 67–68) give the following
example of how a collaborative learning lesson
would be carried out when students are
required to write an essay, report, poem, or
story, or review something that they have read.
. The procedure works in the following way:

• 1. The teacher assigns students to pairs with at least one good reader in
each pair.
• 2. Student A describes what he or she is planning to write to Student B,
who listens carefully, probes with a set of questions, and outlines
Student A’s ideas. Student B gives the written outline to Student A.
• 3. This procedure is reversed, with Student B describing what he or she
is going to write and Student A listening and completing an outline of
Student B’s ideas, which is then given to Student B.
• 4. The students individually research the material they need for their
compositions, keeping an eye out for material useful to their partner.
. The procedure works in the following way:

• 5. The students work together to write the first paragraph of each

composition to ensure that they both have a clear start on their
compositions.
• 6. The students write their compositions individually.
• 7. When the students have completed their compositions, they proofread
each other’s compositions, making corrections in capitalization,
punctuation, spelling, language usage, and other aspects of writing the
teacher specifies. Students also give each other suggestions for revision.
• 8. The students revise their compositions.
• 9. The students then reread each other’s compositions and sign their
names to indicate that each composition is error-free
 Cooperative Learning
Disadvantages
Advantages
• Peer learning • People learn at different
speeds
• Improves critical thinking
• Someone may be in charge of
• Enhances problem solving the group
• Improves communication skills • Some groups may struggle if
• Improves cultural awareness they don’t have group work
skills
• Social loafing/ introverts may
struggle
Conclusions
• The use of discussion groups, group work, and pair work has
often been advocated both in teaching languages and in other
subjects. Typically, such groups are used to provide a change
from the normal pace of classroom events and to increase the
amount of student participation in lessons. Such activities,
however, are not necessarily cooperative. In Cooperative
Learning, group activities are the major mode of learning and
are part of a comprehensive theory and system for the use of
group work in teaching. Group activities are carefully planned
to maximize students’ interaction and to facilitate students’
contributions to each other’s learning.
Conclusions
• CLL activities can also be used in collaboration with
other teaching methods and approaches. In
addition, it places considerable demands on
teachers, who may have difficulty adapting to the
new roles required of them. Proponents of CLL
stress that it enhances both learning and learners’
interaction skills.