USING COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES (EAP)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
BY
CINTAVHATI PRANOTO
Why Cooperative Learning……………………………………………………………… 2
Cooperative learning in science and language learning………………………………… 3
Language activities for Cooperative Learning in a science setting……………………… 3
Evaluation of Cooperative Learning classroom…………………………………………. 5
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………. 6
The University of Indonesia, as a tertiary educational institution, feels responsible for the production of quality graduates who will be able to enhance the standard and quality of social life. In addition, it is also responsible to make its graduates able to compete in the global job market during the era of economic liberation, which will start in the year 2020. For these reasons, the University of Indonesia is determined to help students develop their intellectual capacity and integrity as well as awaken their deep concern for the welfare of their people.
In its effort to achieve the objectives of producing graduates who can think analytically, critically and creatively, the University of Indonesia has established a program called “Pendidikan Dasar Perguruan Tinggi (d.h. Basic Education for Tertiary Level Students, further referred to as PDPT) which is to provide students not only with the basic knowledge and the skills needed for effective learning, but also with the proper attitude and behaviour of an academic individual.
PDPT UI integrates all eight subjects previously included in the General Subjects (Matakuliah Umum). Seven of them are integrated in one teaching program having one syllabus, while Academic English is separated from the other subjects, and has its own syllabus. PDPT is compulsory for S1 incoming students in all faculties. The new paradigm that PDPT has implemented changes the teaching method from teacher oriented to student-oriental by which learners are guided, directed and motivated towards critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and problem solving. Therefore, related skills identified to contribute to achieving to objective – the competence to communicate effectively and to access and manage information efficiently – should be particularly dealt with in the learning process. In this context, both skills in using computers and the language of science obtained from English for Academic Purposes (EAP) should be developed in such a way that they can significantly contribute to the achievement of the main objectives.
It is in this context that English for Academic Purposes is adopted, arranged and organized in a workable syllabus. It is given three credits, meaning that there are 6 hours/week provided for students to come to English classes, while the three remaining hours are allocated for self-access learning.
Since the PDPT program requires an active learning process in which students can enhance critical thinking and analytical competence, activities are designed to make learners possess intellectual rigour, creativity and imagination as well as values such as integrity and tolerance. Cooperative learning is considered the methods chosen to be conducted in PDPT Academic English course, lectures are still given to make students familiar with academic skills and with various ways of going through cooperative learning assignments, both of which are new for the incoming students.
Cooperation in education offers ways to organize group work to enhance learning and increase academic achievement. Cooperative learning is not general, free discussion, but it is carefully structured – organized so that each learner interacts with others and all learners are motivated to increase each other’s learning.
Limited English Proficient (LEP) students can benefit from cooperative learning since it provides the opportunity for these students to have increased interactions among them. In addition, it increases opportunities for language practice – especially listening and speaking – while using those, the interactions also increase comprehension of lesson materials. Carefully structured interactions between students can thus contribute to gains in second language acquisition and in academic achievement. Interactions such as restating, expansions and contextualizing allow students to clarify their meanings, elaborate explanations and resolve discrepancies.
Academic achievement has always been a particular concern for LEP students who feel unable to benefit adequately from English-only instruction. The traditional, competitively oriented classroom is essentially undemocratic and teacher dominated. The importance of talk as a tool for thinking and learning is frequently underestimated, and the students spent a lot more time listening in class than talking.
Cooperative learning strategies are therefore especially important foe LEP students because they provide a variety of flexible options or frameworks for organizing instruction and interaction types so that language and content may be integrated into a wide variety of discourse and instructional contexts.
It is stated in an article written by Carolyn Kessler’s, Mary Ellen Quin’s and Aon K Fathman’s ‘Science and Cooperative Learning for LEP students’ that cooperative learning strategies can serve to integrate science and language learning for limited English proficient students (students coming from a variety of linguistic and culture backgrounds without sufficient access to English) who need further development in English as a second language. The development can occur in heterogeneous groupings with learners at different levels of English language proficiency working together on the same science activity.
Learning to think critically, analyse information, communicate ideas, argue logically, and work on a term requires practice in applying science concepts in new realistic situation. Language learning also requires practice, not through repetitive drilling or pattern practice, but in applying new language system to genuine, real-life communicative situations. Learning often takes place when students can express ideas and get feedback from their peers. Feedback needs to be more than just correct answers; it needs to be analytical or suggestive of over ways of thinking.
Current research on second language learning shows that the value of peers correction and interaction may trigger internal adjustment that alters the language system. Peer feedback in language learning can be more powerful than teacher feedback. Peer-peer interaction on topics of interest and relevance strongly facilitate language learning. Therefore, articles discussed should be relevant to students’ disciplines as this can attract the interest and curiosity of the students.
In the cooperative learning classroom peer support and acceptance for learning occurs because each students’ success is to the benefit of the group. Students feel more in control in their own learning, display more on task behaviour; show improved attendance, like their classmates, the class, the subject and the teacher better, and become more cooperative as a result of cooperative learning experiences. These positive attitudes are likely not only to improve academic performance but also to prepare students for effective interaction with the community.
Cooperative learning in science and language learning.
Cooperative learning is a powerful approach to integrating science and language learning for LEP students. It permits crucial elements facilitating both science learning and language learning come together. Small group interactions not only provide meaningful input for language acquisition but also provide the sociocognitive – conflicting ideas of team members-which is necessary for learning.
It is in cooperative science experiences that LEP students feel themselves encouraged to make use of both oral and written language. Spoken discourse in the interactions within the group normally leads to written reports or other forms related to the experience. A wide range of language functions appears in both oral and written language used in science. Among cooperative learning group the function of defining a central function for science, becomes important. In group work on science tasks, giving and requesting information are basic functions. Discussing findings and arguing in a positive sense, result from group attempts to arrive at a common understanding. This involves suggesting and expressing opinions, agreeing and disagreeing. Evaluating results often involves comparing as well as classifying. All these language functions are important to the use of a second language and essential to its use in science context. Along with the language functions associated with science, learners also require necessary vocabulary and syntactic structure needed for scientific discourse.
Language activities for Cooperative Learning in a science setting
Cooperative work in a science setting is an ideal method for students to learn to understand and use a new language. Language will be acquired naturally as students are encouraged to listen to others and express themselves while working interactively in groups. A Language will be learned by the need and desire to communicate with others. Teachers can, however, enhance language learning by using certain strategies in cooperating language activities and exercises with science investigations.
The in corporation of language activities can be achieved if teachers are aware of what students need to know linguistically to understand and express themselves in group science investigations. Teachers need to be aware of the proficiency level of students in order to design language activities that can be flexible adopted to motivate and involve students at all levels. Therefore, it is very crucial for teachers to know in which level some graduates are to enable them all to participate and be involved in the exercises designed for cooperative learning.
During language activities, advanced students should interact with lower ability students, providing encouragement and help in dealing with the comprehension of science concepts and linguistic structures. Advanced students should be capable of following detailed instructions, giving explanations, asking and answering complex questions (how, why), summarizing, expressing opinions in writing, and understanding from a language point of view, most of the material presented in science texts. An interactive learning setting and appropriates teacher management strategies can greatly enhance language learning.
Teacher’s role in Cooperative Learning
a. The teachers as an inquirer, wants to know how the students learn and how they acquire a first and second language. They examine students’ response to diversity, their tolerance and ambiguity, their ability to be flexible, and their commitment to educating the minority students.
b. The teacher as creator is interested in effective group work and therefore realizes that the learning environment should be highly structured and organised because a cooperative learning class is process-oriented. Key for structuring a successful cooperative learning classroom are found in creating the social climate, setting goals, planning and structuring the task, establishing the physical arrangement of the classroom, assigning students to groups and rates, and setting materials and time. Among the most important resources available to learners are their group members. In addition to these resources, teachers select materials that are authentic, purposeful, culturally relevant, and promote interaction in language-rich environment.
c. The teacher as observer includes watching and listening to students’ group discussions. Observation is an integral part of the teaching process. Cooperative small-group learning provides the teacher with the opportunity to observe, reflect, and intervene in supporting ways when we find our learner interests, strengths, need and feelings. He/she finds what the learner brings to or takes from the learning experience. He/she discovers what learners’ surprises or questions are and how they are solving problems. He/she is able to access what second language learners know about language and culture. He/she is given the opportunity to access group interaction and to monitor how learners are practicing social skills. Finally, observing groups at work gives us the basis to reflect our own teaching and learning practices. It gives us reasons for supportive interventions.
d. The teacher as facilitator steps aside to give the learner a more meaningful role. Effective facilitators are prepared to intervene and to assist in the problem-solving process. They support and encourage the learners to learn.
The role of a teacher, then, changes significantly, from agent of control and provider of all knowledge to that of catalyst and adviser. Contrary to many teachers’ fears, the students become more task oriented in cooperative learning situation. In a well-organized cooperative classroom, students take a lot of responsibility for the classroom activities, freeing the teacher to give individual attention where needed. More significant, perhaps, is the fact that students learn better the way in all kinds of subject disciples.
Even if the teacher in a cooperative learning classroom seems to be less active than a teacher in a traditional classroom, he/she in practice is responsible for the process of learning in each group to see whether interactions among group members are running well and whether discussions achieve the planned objectives. In addition, he/she has to estimate the teamwork as well as evaluate how each student performs in his/she group.
Evaluation of Cooperative Learning classroom
Although cooperative learning is a method which gives more benefits to learners than the traditional teacher-oriented learning, in terms of evaluation, a cooperative learning classroom is much more difficult to evaluate than a traditional classroom. Evaluation is not only based on a single exam-paper marked by the teacher but it is also based on the day-to-day process of learning of the students. Evaluation is performed by the teacher while observing the class and among peers during classes.
In its try-out in the first semester of the academic year 2002/2003, the PDPT Academic English applied the evaluation of cooperative learning classroom; however, the evaluation of cooperative learning classes were not considered reliable as there were many constraints. Teachers were not confident in giving scores although they had been gone through a brief training before the PDPT started. Their initial experience in doing it might have been a very strong reason for their failures. Secondly, was the peer-peer evaluation, which tend to be emotional rather then rational. It was perhaps because of the students’ culture that ‘putting a friend in an awkward position’ should be avoided. The fact that they became good friends during the semester, sharing opinions, getting benefits from each other was likely to be the reason that they gave their friends good grades no matter how bad they were. Therefore the evaluation at that time was primarily based on their written exams and written assignments.
To improve evaluation for cooperative learning classrooms, the PDPT Board conducted another two-week training for teachers, which emphasized all teachers’ responsibilities in cooperative learning classroom including to persuade students to take per-peer evaluation more seriously.
Conclusion
There has not been a single accepted definition of Cooperative Learning. What we can learn from scholars dealing with cooperative learning is their description of elements, characteristics, or principles that contribute to achievement, socialization and other gains. However, we can conclude that cooperative learning is distinctive because it may include attention to positive interdependence, team formation, accountability, attention to social skills, structure, and structuring learning. Positive interdependence occurs when the gains for an individual are associated with the gains for others, i.e. when one students, other benefit, too. Positive interdependence can either be determined by goal or reward: it can be goaled-structured-i.e. having a single team product such as in an essay-or reward-structured which is a result from creating a team score averaged from individual score.
The PDPT EAP has chosen cooperative learning as a major method in its teaching because it has three main benefits. First, it provides a richness of alternatives to structure interactions between students. These are important for language development and developing familiarity with new academic content material. Direct teaching does not disappear, but the ratio of information-giver to information-receiver does change dramatically. Cooperative learning provides a framework for organizing interaction-type according to the kind of information students are learning and according to the kind of lesson objectives. Second, cooperative learning addresses content area learning and language development needs within the same organizational framework. The effect of combining language learning with content learning may be multiplicative rather than simply additive. And since it is done within a well-structured framework, the language functions may be learned more effectively than through traditional direct teaching methods. Finally, the variety of ways to structure students practice with lesson material increases opportunities for individualized instruction, such as peer-provided classification. As a result, lesson objectives may be achieved more readily and more efficiently.
The seven integrated General Subjects (including Bahasa Indonesia) mentioned in the introduction adopt Cooperative Learning, Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Computer-Mediated Learning (CML) to achieve the main objective of PDPT, i.e. to produce graduates who can think analytically, critically and creatively. But as English is a second language for learners, the EAP or PDPT adopts only Cooperative Learning considering that direct teaching is still important for the language itself. However, cooperative learning has encouraged students top use the language orally and written to understand, analyse and express themselves about new academic content materials.
Bibligraphy
Kessler, Carolyn 1992 ‘Cooperative Language Learning’, Prentice hall
Olson, Roger W-B, and Kagan, Spencer 1992, ‘About Cooperation Language’, Prentice Hall
McDonell, Wendy 1992, ‘The Role of the Teacher in the Cooperative Learning Classroom’, Prentice Hall
Kessler, Carolyn; Quinn, Mary Ellen and Fathman Ama K, ‘Science and Cooperative Learning for Limited English Proficiency Students’, Prentice Hall
‘Project Development for Undergraduate Education’, DUE-Like, UI 2002. ‘Panduan Pelaksanaan Cooperative Learning dan Problem Solved Learning.