Rethinking the role of group work in the EFL classes
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Date
2018
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University of Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
Group work has become a part that cannot be separated from other classroom activities, and a teaching technique that is frequently used in EFL classes. The current study aims at investigating the role of group work in EFL classes. It attempts to analyze the negative effect of group work and problems in relation to the learner and the learning/teaching process. It was hypothesized that the group work does not always reflect a successful teaching technique, and that its associated disadvantages exceed its advantages. A mixed method approach is used to collect data using a students' questionnaire and a teachers' interview as research tools. The students' questionnaire was administered to Master one Didactics students at the department of English, Larbi Ben M'hidi University, during the academic year 2018/2019, they were chosen because of their sufficient experience with group work. The teachers' interview was conducted with four randomly chosen teachers from the same department. The findings of the students' questionnaire have revealed that students are indeed facing more problems than getting benefits from this technique, and that the latter turns out to be ,in most of the time, a waste of time. The results of the teachers' interview have showed that, on the one hand, some teachers are not aware of how students really experience group work, and how the latter is actually processed; on the other hand, some are aware of it and of its problems, however they do not attempt to cope with these problems and just tend to ignore them. Thus, teachers are recommended to rethink the effectiveness of the group work in EFL classes.
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Keywords
Learning, Group work, EFL classe, Disadvantage