From The Journals

1. Jigsaw is one of the best-known CL techniques. Here’s an example of how it can be used to support the learning of science.

After gathering into groups to read papers with different viewpoints on scientific topics, students form new groups to share the diverse viewpoints expressed by the scientist-authors of their papers. This modified jigsaw activity encourages students to analyze the literature and it increases their awareness of the dynamic nature of science.

Magee, V. Y. G., & Jacobs, G. M. (2001). Comparing second language student participation under three teaching modes. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 36(1), 61-80. [Contact: kvmagee@hotkey.net.au]

This study examined the talk of 20 university level learners of Mandarin as a Second Language in three instructional modes: teacher-led (TL), unstructured group work (UGW), and structured group work using a cooperative learning technique (SGW), in this case, Jigsaw. Statistical analyses showed that more learner talk (in terms of turns and c-units) was generated in both types of group work than in the TL setting. Of the two group modes, SGW generated more learner talk than UGW. These learner talk data were supplemented by using questionnaires and interviews to learn how the students and their teacher reacted to the three modes. The results of the study suggest that all three settings can play a positive role in classroom language acquisition. Therefore, keeping a balanced mixture of each in the curriculum is recommended.

3. This study uses Hofstede’s famous work on differences between cultures to look at how online groups function.

Gunawardena, C. N., Nolla, A. C., Wilson, P. L., Lopez-Islas, J. R., Ramirez-Angel, N., & Megchun-Alpizar, M. (2001). A cross-cultural study of group process and development in online conferences. Distance Education, 22(1), 85-121. [Contact: lani@unm.edu]

Employing survey and focus group data, this study examined if there are differences in perception of online group process and development between participants in Mexico and the United States of America (USA). Survey data indicated significant differences in perception for the Norming and Performing stages of group development. The groups also differed in their perception of collectivism, low power distance, femininity, and high context communication. Country differences rather than age and gender differences, accounted for the differences observed. Focus group participation identified several factors that influence online group process and development: (1) language; (2) power distance; (3) gender differences; (4) collectivist vs. individualist tendencies; (5) conflict; (6) social presence; (7) time frame; and (8) technical skills.

4. This study describes a reasonable idea for encouraging pre-service teachers to consider using peer interaction in their future teaching.

Curtis, A. (2001). Hong Kong student teachers’ responses to peer group process writing. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 11, 129-143. [Contact: andy.curtis@sit.edu]

Although process approaches to the development of writing skills are not new, there is still far from widespread use of such approaches in Hong Kong and in Asia. One reason for this might be teachers’ lack of exposure to these approaches during their initial teacher training. This study explores how brief, but hands on, experience of peer group process writing influenced and shaped the way a group of 100 student teachers in Hong Kong subsequently thought and felt about their experience. Although some of the student teachers had reservations after experiencing this approach, the majority saw language and learning benefits resulting from its use including finding it easier to get help from peers than from the teacher and gaining greater understand than if they were working alone.

5. This study challenges the notion that the more expert the peer, the more that peer will be able to help their group mates.

This study explores variations in the performances of one non-native speaker in three different conversations with friends. The chief difference between the conversations is that the interlocutors use different interaction features which we relate to their differing levels of proficiency in English. Various features of the conversations are examined, and the analysis suggests that the interlocutor’s level of proficiency, relative to that of the subject, influences in significant ways the conversational options and the behavior of the subject.

The notion of conversational symmetry is examined, and it is distinguished from equality. It is suggested that symmetry leads to the use of a wider range of conversational features, and the likelihood of deeper processing, because of the increased contingency between utterances. This brings into question the frequent assumption that nonnative speakers benefit most from conversations with native speakers or with interlocutors whose level of proficiency is higher.

6. This paper by a well known, second language researcher suggests how student-student cooperation can promote language learning.

Swain, M. (2001). Integrating language and content teaching through collaborative tasks. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 58, 44-63. [Contact: mswain@oise.utoronto.ca]

In French immersion programs, it is important to integrate the teaching of language and content. One way in which this can be accomplished is through the use of tasks which, using content-relevant material, encourage students to focus on language form. In this paper, tasks which engage students in collaborative writing and therefore in talking about content and the language needed to express that content, are presented. The author presents examples of collaborative dialogues between students to show how such tasks provide opportunities for second language learning because students may externalize their (sometimes partial) knowledge, allowing them to reflect on it, revise it, and apply it.

The authors investigated how students’ (N=233) perceptions of the social environment of their eighth-grade classroom related to changes in motivation and engagement when they moved from seventh to eighth grade. In general, prior motivation and engagement were strong predictors of subsequent motivation and engagement, whereas gender, race, and prior achievement were not related to changes in motivation or engagement.

A higher-order classroom social environment factor accounted for significant changes in all motivation and engagement outcomes. Four distinct dimensions of the social environment were differentially important in explaining changes in various indices of motivation and engagement. In general, however, students’ perceptions of teacher support, and the teacher as promoting interaction and mutual respect were related to positive changes in their motivation and engagement. Students’ perceptions of the teacher as promoting performance goals were related to negative changes in student motivation and engagement. Implications for recent educational reform initiatives were also discussed.

The following are excerpts from the article (pp. 440-441) about promoting interaction and mutual respect.

This research examined the efficacy and feasibility of (a) Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for First-Grade Readers (1^st-Grade PALS) conducted for 35-min sessions, three times per week for 16 weeks with first-grade children of varying reading ability, and (b) the impact of adding 8-10 hr of phonological awareness instruction via the computer to the curriculum already including 1^st-grade PALS with low-performing children. Conducted in naturally constituted academically heterogeneous first-grade classrooms, 36 first-grade teachers in eight schools in a southeastern, medium-sized school district participated: 12 conducted 1^st-Grade PALS, 12 conducted 1^st-Grade PALS and computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and 12 continued their typical instruction. Within these classrooms, the impact of the interventions was investigated with 183 first-grade students (118 low-, 33 average-, and 32 high-achieving students).

Data collected included (a) times-series phonological awareness and reading fluency data and (b) pre-and post-measures of concepts of print, decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Students and teachers also were asked to rate their satisfaction with various aspects of the interventions. The results indicate that 1st-Grade PALS enhanced reading performance both in terms of statistical significance and in terms of educational relevance, although not equally for all learner types. Results also indicate that CAI did not impact students’ performance beyond that achieved with 1^st-Grade PALS alone. Both students and teachers implemented 1^st-Grade PALS with relative ease, demonstrated high fidelity, and reported high levels of satisfaction.