Different Grouping Strategies for Cooperative Learning in English Majored Seniors and Juniors at Can Tho University, Vietnam

Hien Nhan,Thái Nhan

doi:10.3390/educsci9010059

Abstract

We present research on the attitudes of seniors and juniors doing a major in English toward different grouping strategies for cooperative learning at Can Tho University, Can Tho city, Vietnam. The collected data is analyzed by a means of quantitative approach. The findings not only facilitate the further understanding of English majors’ opinions on different grouping strategies, but also provide teachers and lecturers who employ cooperative learning as one of their teaching strategies with useful clues on which group formation they should use. More importantly, we hope to give an insight to the characteristics of different grouping strategies, in order to find out the group forming method(s) that simultaneously boosts group dynamics, students’ satisfaction, and academic achievements.

Highlights

Language is a tool humans use to exchange information
The results are presented based on the quantitative analysis of the data
The quantitative analysis includes processing the data using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistic in order to find out the grouping strategy most favored by students, and whether the perceived differences on group dynamics, student’s satisfaction and achievement exist under different group assignment methods

Summary

Introduction

Language is a tool humans use to exchange information. To naturally acquire a language, English, one needs engagement, a lot of practice and authentic language contexts. A successful language classroom is the one that encourages students’ engagement, maximizes their practice time and allows socialization. Cooperative learning is an active pedagogy which has long been proven to be a means of promoting learning by encouraging the use of cognitive-strategies of higher level, critical thinking, and positive attitude towards learning in students (Hsu [1]; Johnson and Johnson [2,3]). Cooperative learning is one of the most widespread educational approaches in language teaching, especially in teaching English (see, for instance, [4,5] and the monograph by McCafferty et al [6])

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Results

Conclusion