PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK IN TEACHING ENGLISH
Antonela Cornelia Corina Dobrin , Colegiul Economic „ George Barițiu ” Sibiu
Abstract : Both pair work and group work have a place in ESL classes . Using a variety of seating arrangements and groupings of students is important as it allows learners to practise different types of things . Working with others gives students the opportunity to interact with a variety of people and learn from one another . It also encourages cooperation which will help students get along in class and could reduce the number of student outbursts too .
Key words : pair work , group work , communication , collaboration , success
Group and pair work are techniques for collaborative teaching that provide a chance for social interaction . Group work and pair work are class management strategies , and the role the teacher has to play while teaching is that of a facilitator . Teacher ’ s role in group work is very difficult and very important at the same time . Groups that are focused are a temporary clustering of students within a single class session . These groups can be pairs of students or groups of three or four that can be formed to solve a problem or pose a question . The teacher can organize these groups at any time in a class of any size to check on the students ’ understanding of the material , to give students an opportunity to apply what they are learning , or to provide a change of pace .
Some teachers use to treat the class as a whole group and underestimate their ability to work in pairs or in small groups . However , even very young learners can become independent in their learning and guided early , they will be more likely to grow into autonomous and successful language learners .
The advantages of pair work and small group work : v Gives learners more speaking time . v Changes the pace of the lesson . v Takes the spotlight off you and puts it onto the students . v Allows them to mix with everyone in the group . v Gives them a sense of achievement when reaching a team goal . v Teaches them how to lead and be led by someone other than the teacher . v It allows you to monitor , move around the class and really listen to the language they are producing .
Pitfalls and how to avoid them : v You could lose control of the class . Set up a signal before you start , like a visual time out with your hands , so that they know when to stop . Don ’ t shout at them to stop as they will just shout louder ! v You are not able to listen to everyone at once and hear what they are saying – set up groups of three where A and B talk while C monitors . Then swap roles . They are producing language ; you just want to make sure the language they are producing is English . Have a fun system of every mother tongue word you hear the monitor must stand up and then stay standing . The activity stops if all monitors are standing . This will make
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