Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Bu Ali Sina University
2 English Department,, Humanities Faculty, Bu Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the comparative effects of cooperative and competitive learning on English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ speaking ability and self-confidence. Moreover, EFL learners’ attitude towards cooperative and competitive learning procedures were explored. To these ends 90 learners were selected on the basis of a sample PET results and were assigned into three 30-learner cooperative, competitive and control groups. The speaking section of a sample PET test and Academic Confidence Scale were administered to the three groups before the treatment. As the treatment, the first experimental group members were engaged in cooperative learning, the second experimental group members were engaged in competitive learning, and the control group received regular teacher-fronted instruction. At the end of the treatment, the speaking section of another sample PET and Academic Confidence Scale were re-administered as the posttests.10 EFL learners were randomly selected from each experimental group and seated for a semi-structured interview. The analyses revealed that while both cooperative and competitive learning procedures had significant within-group effects on the learners' speaking ability, the impact on academic self-confidence was significant only for cooperative learning procedure. Moreover, analyses verified that the impact of cooperative learning on speaking ability and self-confidence of EFL learners was statistically superior to the other procedures. Content analysis of the interview data showed that the majority of EFL learners believed that cooperative learning helps them develop their own ideas in greater depth, enhance their participation and creativity in speaking, improve self-confidence and reduce anxiety.
Keywords
Main Subjects
Abrami, P. C., Poulsen, C., & Chambers, B. (2004). Teacher motivation to implement an educational innovation: Factors differentiating users and non-users of cooperative learning. Educational Psychology, 24(1), 201–216.
Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164-180.
Bong, M. (2002). Predictive utility of subject-, task-, and problem-specific self-efficacy judgments for immediate and delayed academic performances. J. Exp. Educ. 70(1), 133-162.
Breneiser, J. E., Monetti, D. M., & Adams, K. S. (2012). The nexus between the above-average effect and cooperative learning in the classroom. Educational Research Quarterly, 36(2), 43-62.
Brown, H. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching. 3rd edition. Prentice Hall Regents.
Celce-Murcia, M. (Ed.). (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd edition.). Heinle & Heinle.
Cheng, Y., Horwitz, E., & Schallert, D., (1999). Language writing anxiety: Differentiating writing and speaking components. Language Learning, 49(1), 417-446.
Deutsch, M., Coleman, P. T., & Marcus, E. C. (2006). The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice. Jossey-Bass.
Ellis, R. (2004). Tasks, production and language acquisition. In R. Ellis (Eds.), Task-based language learning and teaching (pp.10-140). Oxford University Press.
Gaith, G.H. (2003). Effects of the learning together model of cooperative learning on English as foreign language reading achievement, academic self-esteem, and feeling of school alienation. Bilingual Research Journal, 27(3), 451-474.
Garfield, J. (2013). Cooperative learning revisited: From an instructional method to a way of life. Journal of Statistics Education, 21(2), 1-9.
Ghorbani, S., & Keshavarzi, A. (2015). The effect of cooperative learning on reading comprehension and reading anxiety of pre-university students. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2(8), 169-180.
Gilbert, P., & Procter, S. (2006). Compassionate mind training for people with high shame and self-criticism: Overview and pilot study of a group therapy approach. Clin. Psychol. Psychother, 13(1), 353–379.
Good, T. L., & Brophy, J. E. (2008). Looking in classrooms (10th ed.). Pearson Education.
Goodwin, C. (2007). Participation, stance and affect in the organization of activities. Discourse and Society, 18(1), 53-73.
Gwyn-Paquette, C., & Tochon, F. V. (2003). The role of reflective conversations and feedback in helping preservice teachers learn to use cooperative activities in their second language classrooms. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 59(1), 503- 545.
Hale, B. (2004). Building self – confidence. Sports Coach.
Hambly, K. (1997). Self-confidence. (B. Biçakçi, Trans). Rota.
Hedge, T. (2008). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford University Press.
Heydari, H., Zarei, E., & Zainalipour, H. (2013). Survey the effect of cooperative learning on confidence. Journal of Educational and Management Studies, 3(4), 360-363.
Holt, D. D., Chips, B., & Wallace, D. (1991). Cooperative learning in the secondary school. Washington, D.C.: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.
Jebson, S. R. (2012). Impact of cooperative learning approach on senior secondary school students’ performance in mathematics. IFE Psychologia: An International Journal, 20(2), 107-112.
John, E. B., & Meera, K. P. (2014). Effect of cooperative learning strategy on the creative thinking skills of secondary school students of Kozhikode District. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(11), 70-74.
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1991). Joining together: Group theory and group skills (Vol. 4). Prentice Hall.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Stanne, M. B. (2000). Cooperative learning methods: A meta-analysis. University of Minnesota Press.
Kagan, S. (1995). When we talk: Cooperative learning in the elementary ESL classroom. Elementary Education Newsletter, 17(2), 1- 16.
Kakepoto, I., Habil, H., Omar, N. A. M., & Said, H. (2012). Factors that influence oral presentations of engineering students of Pakistan for workplace environment. Information and Knowledge Management, 2(7), 70-78.
Kolawole, E. B. (2007). Effects of competitive and cooperative learning strategies on academic performance of Nigerian students. Educational Research and Review, 3(1), 033-037.
Karbakhsh, R. & Ahmadi Safa, M. (2020). Basic psychological needs satisfaction, goal-orientation, willingness to communicate, self-efficacy, and learning strategy use as predictors of second language achievement: A structural equation modeling approach. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 49, 803-822.
Lin, A. M. Y. (1997). Bilingual education in Hong Kong. In J. Cummins & D. Corson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education, Volume 5: Bilingual education (pp. 281-289). Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Lland, A. (2013). Self-confidence: Unleash your confidence, turn your life around. (2nd ed.). Iland business pages.
Lyman, F. (1981). The responsive classroom discussion: The inclusion of all students. In A. Anderson (Ed.), Mainstreaming digest (pp. 109-113). University of Maryland Press.
Marashi, H., & Baygzadeh, L. (2010). Using cooperative learning to enhance EFL learners’ overall achievement. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 73-98.
Marashi, H., & Dibah, P. (2013). The comparative effect of using competitive and cooperative learning on the oral proficiency of Iranian introvert and extrovert EFL learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 4(3), 545-556.
Marashi, H., & Khatami, H. (2017). Using cooperative learning to boost creativity and motivation in language learning. Journal of Language and Translation, 7(13), 43-58.
McCarthy, M., McCarten, J., & Sandiford, H. (2014). Touchstone Level 4 Student's Book . Cambridge University Press.
Montasseri, Z., & Razmjoo, S. (2015). The effect of using competitive and cooperative teaching on the WTC of Iranian EFL learners. International Journal of Language and Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 54-61.
Murray, D. (2006). Coming out asperger: Diagnosis, disclosure and self-confidence. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Mutluer, S. (2006). The role of moral values in forming self-confidence. Graduated thesis. Ankara University, social sciences institute, Ankara, Turkey.
Nebesniak, A. (2007). Using cooperative learning to promote problem-solving classroom. Retrieved from University of Nebraska - Lincoln Digital Commons University of Nebraska - Lincoln: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/mathmidactionresearch/3
Nelson-Laird, T. F. (2005). College student's experiences with diversity and their effects on academic self-confidence, social agency and disposition toward critical thinking. Res. High. Educ, 46(4), 365–387.
Ning, H. (2011). Adapting cooperative learning in tertiary ELT. ELT Journal, 65(1), 60-70.
Ning, H., & Hornby, G. (2010). The effectiveness of cooperative learning in teaching English to Chinese tertiary learners. Effective education, 2(2), 99-116.
Nunan, D. (2003). Practical English language teaching. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary.
Oloyede, O. F., Adebowale, A. & Ojo, A. (2012). The effects of competitive, cooperative, and individualistic classroom interaction models on learning outcomes in mathematics in Nigerian senior secondary schools. International Scholarly Research Network (ISRN) Education, Doi: 10.5402/2012/263891.
Pallant, J. (2013). SPSS survival manual. McGraw-Hill Education.
Pattanpichet, F. (2011). The effect of using collaborative learning to enhance students’ English speaking achievement, Journal of College Teaching and Learning, 8(11), 1-10.
Preston, D. L. (2001). 365 Steps to self-confidence. How to Books.
Quintana, J. (2003). PET practice tests. Oxford University Press.
Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Sachs, G., Candlin, Ch. & Rose, K. (2003). Developing cooperative learning in EFL/ESL secondary classroom. RELC Journal, 34(3), 338-369.
Sander, P. & Sanders, L. (2006). Understanding academic confidence. Psychology Teaching Review, 12(1), 29-42.
Shumin, K. (2002). Factors to consider: Developing adult EFL students' speaking abilities. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice, 12(1), 204-211.
Slavin, R. (1994). Using student team learning (4th ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Social Organization of Schools.
Stevens, R. (2003). Student team reading and writing: A cooperative learning approach to middle school literacy instruction. Educational Research and Evaluation, 9(2), 137- 160.
Taguchi, N. (2007). Chunk learning and the development of spoken discourse in a Japanese as a foreign language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 11(4), 433-457.
Talebi, F. & Sobhani, A. (2012). The impacts of cooperative learning on oral proficiency. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 75-89.
Taylor, L. (2003). The Cambridge approach to speaking assessment. Research Notes, 13(1), 2-4.
Tracy, B. (2008). Speak to win: How to present with power in any situation. AMACOM
Tunçel, H. (2015). The relationship between self-confidence and learning Turkish as a foreign language. Educational Research and Reviews, 10(18), 2575-2589.
Wei, C. (1997). Collaboration in EFL classroom: An investigation of DFLL learners, perception of jigsaw cooperative learning technique in freshman English classes. Department of English, NTNU (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th Conference on English Teaching and Learning in the R. O. C, 223-238. Taipei, Taiwan: Crane
White, K.A. (2009). Self-confidence: a concept analysis. Nurs. Forum, 44 (2), 103–114.
Wright, J. H. (2008). Building self-confidence with encouraging words. Total Recall Publications.
Yang, A. V. (2005). Comparison of the effectiveness of cooperative learning and traditional teaching methods on Taiwanese college students’ English oral performance and motivation towards learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Faculty of the School of Education- La Sierra University.
Zahedi, M., & Tabatabaei, O. (2012). The effect of collaborative learning on Iranian intermediate EFL Learners’ oral skills and motivation. Advances in English Linguistics, 1(3), 56-60.
Zhou, W. (2002). Interactions between classroom activity, enjoyment, effectiveness, and oral participation. English Teaching and Learning, 26(3), 39-68.
Zimmerman, B. J., & Kitsantas, A. (2005). Home work practices and academic achievement: the editing role of self-efficacy and perceived responsibility beliefs. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 30, 397-417.
)