Implementation of Collaborative Group Projects with Students of Different Ages and Language Levels: A Suggestion.
Despoina Sarantidou, Greece
Despoina Sarantidou has been working as an EFL teacher at ISON Foreign Language Schools in Thessaloniki for more than seven years and since September she has been teaching Academic English in the University of Sheffield, International Faculty CITY College. She is particularly interested in Methodology of English Language Teaching and Design of Teaching Materials.
Menu
A realization
A suggestion
Possible projects
What could be expected to happen
The role of the teacher
References
“-Are you having a lesson with the older kids now Miss?”
My class has already ended and this is the most common question that my junior students ask me before they leave the classroom. I know that when I open the door, I will find my senior students waiting for me in the corridor. They will probably smile at the young ones that look at them with awe as they pass by and they will enter the same classroom, sit on the same desks and wait for our lesson to commence. I will then have ten minutes to leave the books of the previous lesson on my shelf and take the ones I need next, to drink a sip of coffee or tea and to get my thoughts straight. It is quite possible that when I enter the classroom again, my students will start telling me about the song that the younger ones were singing during the previous lesson or how easy the things that junior students learn are.
This series of events which has become a pleasant routine for me in the language school where I work as an EFL teacher, has helped me realise that students of different ages and levels do not have a lot of opportunities for interaction within the school, since they belong in different classes. However, they are members of the same learning community and they share common goals regarding language learning. Furthermore, even though the level of language they are being taught is different, the thematic contexts in which they are exposed to it can be the same in many cases.
Interaction with other students has been proven to play an important role in learning and in shaping the students’ personalities (Rot Vrhovec, 2015). On this basis, cooperative learning techniques such as the JingSaw Method (Aronson& Patnoe, 1997) can create a classroom environment where heterogeneous groups of students collaborate with each other, towards a common learning objective. Traditionally, EFL classrooms are formed by students of the same age and language level. However, it may be the case that learning could also take place through the collaboration of students that belong in different levels and age groups. Besides, it is quite common for younger children to learn from their older siblings.
On the other hand, it is not possible to bring students of different levels in the same classroom due to practical reasons such as the difference in the personal schedules of each individual student.
Thus, an idea worth exploring would be the implementation of group projects such as collaborative writing tasks, with the participation of students of different ages and levels. The chosen tasks could be broken down into distinct but topic related and interdependent sub activities of ascending difficulty. Each task could be allocated to a different group according to the age and level of the students and realised independently in each separate classroom but within a specific time frame. Less demanding tasks, in terms of language, could be first given to younger students. The outcome of their work could form the basis for the implementation of more difficult activities undertaken by older students at a later stage. This way, each group will build on the work done by students of a different level, while every contribution remains equally essential for the creation of the final product.
Collaborative writing tasks could be built upon topics that are common across language levels such as the environment, city life, technology, music, celebrations, vacation etc.
Thus, for instance students of junior classes could create a poster related to the protection of the environment, whereas older students building on the work done by their younger peers could produce awareness raising materials such as flyers or a video campaign. Working on a different thematic area, students of senior classes could create a tourist brochure or an advertisement based on a map of their city created by younger students.
Through the suggested collaborative tasks, pupils could learn how to work independently on different phases of a joint project and understand the responsibility of dealing with a task within a particular time frame. At the same time, knowing that their individual contribution would be vital for the success of the whole project, they could feel more motivated and committed to the task.
Through the common ownership of the project, students could learn the value of accepting and building on the work done by peers, thus they could be exposed to modes of thinking that promote tolerance and acceptance of others.
On a different note, the division of the task into sub activities according to the age and level of each student group could ensure that each task fits the skills of the particular group, while at the same it could maximize the results of this collaboration in terms of creativity.
Social bonds between older and younger students could also be enhanced with the younger students being exposed to positive role models and gaining more self-esteem and prestige through their collaboration with their older peers. In addition, older students could feel that they can make a difference in the lives of the younger ones. This network of interaction could reinforce the sense of school belonging among students and contribute to the creation a community of learners who are able to work as partners in a common project.
The effective implementation of this collaborative project depends greatly on the managerial skills of the teacher/s involved, who must act as facilitator(s) and coordinator(s) between the different student groups. It is the teachers’ encouragement and positive attitude that can draw the students to this common project and help them realise the benefits that this form of collaboration could bring. At the same time, the teacher/s must themselves believe in the power of cooperation, especially in the case where more than one teacher is involved in this endeavour and project their ability to collaborate with their colleagues throughout the realisation of the task.
Aronson, E., & Patnoe, S. (1997). The jigsaw classroom: Building cooperation in the
classroom (2nd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
Fragoulis, I. & Tsiplakides, I. (2009). Project-based learning in the teaching of English as a foreign language in Greek primary schools: From theory to practice. English Language Teaching, 2(3), 113-119.
Rot Vrhovec, A. (2015). Forms of cooperative learning in language teaching in Slovenian language classes at the primary school level. CEPS Journal, 5(3), 129-155.
You, L. (2014). Cooperative Learning: An effective approach to college English learning. Theory and Practice in Language Studies. 4(9), 1948-1953.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology and Language for Primary course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary course at Pilgrims website.
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