The Exploration of Group Work in College English Teaching

胡思思

Abstract：Group work，as a good method of producing more effective learning outcome，has been widely applied in English class.Based on the advantages of group work，this paper mainly focuses on the orientation of teachers roles in students group work and structure groups heterogeneously in order to promote language production in group learning and make group work more effective and significant in college English teaching.

Key words：Group work；group activities；group learning；teachers roles；structure groups heterogeneously.

1.Advantages of Group Work

As Swain said，“In teacher-centered classes only one student is allowed to speak at a time，and for most of the remaining time，students usually keep silent with fewer opportunities to produce comprehensible output.By comparison，there will be more chances for students to interact in the target language when they work in groups”.Therefore，it is obvious that group work is an useful way for simulating effective communication in the class，which have been recognized by many researchers，and may be summed up in the following.

1.1 Communication and Cooperation are Strengthened

In the group situation，which students all sit in closer and face-to-face view，they are willing to speak because they feel more reassured and eased.Thus，they get more chances to share their ideas，organize or modify their languages to make sure that others can understand what they are saying or trying to say，by means of questioning，checking and clarifying.Whats more，the students speaking time is greatly increased，which results in other students listening time，the ability of speaking and listening are both practiced.

1.2 Increased Number of Skills and Strategies are Enhanced

Students can learn and obtain some social participation skills in group activities because group work provides students with communicative skills they are probable to use outside the classroom.Information and ideas are exchanged among three or four people in small group activities.Students may have more opportunities to learn how to structure their sentences and expressions in order to connect them logically and expand on previous ideas than in whole class activities.Group activities also provide students with opportunities to learn more skills，such as how to infer，negotiate and summarize.

1.3 More Relaxed Atmosphere

Many students experienced considerable stress when they were named by the teacher in the class.And this stress will be increased by the knowledge that they must respond exactly and quickly.In contrast，a small group of peers provides a relatively intimate and comfort environment.Thats to say，group work can reduce anxiety in certain types of classroom interaction.This may also be verified by Brady & Tsays survey that students who fully participated in group activities，exhibited collaborative behaviors，provided constructive feedback and cooperated with their group had a higher likelihood of receiving higher test scores（Brady & Tsay，2010）.

2.Suggestions for Managing Group Work in English Teaching

Although the potential of appropriately structured students interaction for improving English learning is great，there are some concerns about implementing these activities in EFL classes.Among them，what should be addressed now is the teachers role in group work before and during the class and whether to structure groups homogeneously or heterogeneously in the EFL context.

2.1 To Orientate Teachers Roles in Group Work

Some researchers and educators believe that group work is more productive when students choose their own group members or when groups are organized with the common interest of all the members.However，it may be more appropriate to experiment with teacher-chosen groups because teachers have more experience in planning and executing group learning.For example，teachers can consider male to female ratios，personal characteristics，leadership capabilities and other factors to enhance group study.During the group activities，it does not mean teachers have nothing to do.In fact，teachers play integrated roles in the group learning of the whole class.They should circulate，listen，observe，and take notes about the students performance and problems.Moreover，They should provide materials when needed or give advice to the students.

2.2 To Structure Groups Heterogeneously

There is a debate on the issue whether to group students homogeneously or heterogeneously，researchers are in favor of the heterogeneous one，because in China，the development of students English proficiency are unbalanced.If teachers put students homogeneously with the low-level students in a group，they will have phonological，lexical and syntactical problems in English.And the students lack of ability may also give peers inaccurate expression and feedback.Furthermore，students consciousness of their lack of knowledge about English may lead them to be shy and depressed，even be afraid of not giving classmates any feedback at all，which may account for obstacles in language communication.While，if teachers structure groups heterogeneously，different proficiency levels will create beneficial conditions for language learning.On the one hand，each group has their high-level students，and they may be able to correct some of the low-level students errors.On the other hand，the low-level students in the group will act as a model proficiently，even with not exactly standard English，but relatively more native-like expression.

References：

[1] Brady，M.& Tsay，2010.A case study of cooperative learning and communication pedagogy：Does working in teams make a difference？ [M].Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning，10（2），79-88.

[2] Wang Z.Z.2012.Advantages of Group Work in English Teaching [J].English on Campus，（9）166.