ESL Students’ Perceptions of Group Discussions as a Tool

for the Collaborative Learning Process when

Learning Writing SkillsBY:DALJEET SINGH SEDHUS. CHEE CHOYMUN YEE LEE

IntroductionThere has been research evidence to show that using group work could effectively enhance the learning experience of students in the classroom (Barcelona &Rockey, 2010; Nayan et al, 2010).

Group work has been looked upon favourably by educators, as it can enhance creativity and critical thinking, build stronger interpersonal skills, and enhance relationships with the faculty.

However, students may not share the same views as educators. It has been found that students may not be able to manage adequately the amount of time and work needed to effectively carry out group work (Barcelona &Rockey, 2010).

Collaborative learning and writing skills

According to Haber (1994) collaborative learning became popular as a tool when it was found that students were inadequately prepared for college level courses.

This form of learning is appropriate for students who responded well to classroom group work.

It has a distinct advantage over the teacher centred approach in that it allows students to interact with the content from their context and to share their views with others in their group.

Collaborative learning and writing skills

According to Haber (1994) collaborative learning became popular as a tool when it was found that students were inadequately prepared for college level courses.

This form of learning is appropriate for students who responded well to classroom group work.

It has a distinct advantage over the teacher centred approach in that it allows students to interact with the content from their context and to share their views with others in their group.

1. Kuech (2004) found that this form of learning promotes critical

thinking and reflection

among students.

2. This study also found

that collaborative

learning promotes

intersubjectivity where students use

their knowledge of

other subjects in

their conversations to help them learn better.

3. The results of this study showed

that student-student

interaction helps in the

understanding of concepts being

learned.

MethodologyA convenience

sample of twenty-four students in an English class.

Students were

divided into six groups of four:

1. Group A2. Group B3. Group C4. Group D5. Group E6. Group F

The task for this sample of students was to write a letter of enquiry.

Interviewed using the

face to face interview method

The informed consent of

the participants were obtained

Research QuestionsRQ1

What are students’ perceptions of the use of group discussions when learning to write professionally?

RQ2Are these perceptions reflected in their course work performance?

Results: RQ 1a. Increased comprehensionThe students were better able to comprehend the task they were assigned because they could have discussions with other member in their groups. For instance, students in Group C explained:“Before we proceed further in doing anything, my group members and I will analyse the question given to us. After that we will discuss among us how to answer the question given. We will read and understand the requirement of the question first and we made sure that each of our group members is able to get a clear picture of what the question requires”.

Discussion• if students are given the opportunity to discuss a task before they have to complete it, it would helps them carry out the task better.

• They seem to have a better comprehension of what they have to do after they have discussed the task with members of their groups.

• This seems to support the findings of Barcelona & Rockey (2010), Nayan, et al, (2010) and Kuech (2004) that group discussion can enhance creativity and support critical thinking among students when they are given a task to complete.

Results: RQ 1b. Delegation of tasksStudents were assigned to write a letter of enquiry. Each member in the group had to pick a task from a list of tasks that ranged from formatting of the letter to editing each letter produced by the members of the group. All groups seemed to be able to efficiently and effectively assign tasks to each member. For instance, one member of the group A said:“We divided up the job writing the letter of enquiry. Each one of us had a different duty, two persons will prepare the points for the content, another person will prepare format of the letter, and one will do the final write-up and editing. The job was divided by our group leader.”

Discussion:• Students were focused on completing the tasks assigned by their leader.

• Although each student may not be exposed to all aspects of writing the letter, as suggested by Haber (1994), they showed interest and were intent on completing their tasks.

• The teacher could then give an explanation of the overall process of writing the letter as a summary to the whole class.

Results: RQ 1c. Better time managementStudents were able to complete all the tasks given to them in the stipulated time. Added to this, they were able to edit all the letters before they handed them in. For instance, students in Group C said:“We managed to write-up the letter of enquiry in thirty minutes out of the forty minutes given to us by our lecturer. It is much faster to complete the work given to us using this way than doing it individually.”

Discussion:• perceived that group discussion allowed them to complete the task faster than they would if they had to carry it out on their own.

• This does not support the findings of Barcelona & Rockey (2010) that students were not able to manage to complete a given task adequately .

• with proper instructions and guidance from the teacher, students are very capable of completing assigned tasks.

• This supports the findings of Nayan et al (2010) that it is important for teachers to take into consideration the types of learning experiences presented to students and the materials used when teaching.

Results: RQ 2a.Increased proficiency in EnglishStudents perceived that their English language proficiency, both written and spoken, improved after using collaborative learning. Students with a weaker command of English were able to learn from the better ones as they interacted during the group discussions. For instance, one student from Group F said:“I feel my communication skills have improved after I started to interact with my group members who have better language proficiency. This is because my group members always made sure we communicate using English language.”

Discussion:• This interaction process even helped these students to overcome their shyness and build their confidence to communicate using English language.

• This finding does not support the finding of Harber (1994), which states that using group discussion a tool to enhance students’ learning will have its problem. Whereby, the high achievers and low achievers are unable to work together in a similar way to complete a task given.

• This finding further supports the findings of Barcelona &Rockey (2010) that group discussion builds stronger interpersonal skills among students.

Results: RQ 2b. Ability to identify mistakes in work producedStudents were able to learn from the mistakes they made from using the feedback given by other members of the team during the group discussions. Those with a better command of English were able to point out mistakes to the weaker ones. The weaker ones learned about correct grammar and sentence structure. For instance, a student from Group B said:“When I was writing the letter of enquiry, my group members showed me my mistakes. They also showed me the mistakes in my sentence structure and the grammar errors when I wrote the memorandum. This became a guide for me when I wrote the letter of enquiry on my own.”

Discussion:• Students perceived they had improved their command of the language, as well as their writing skills, in the letter of enquiry.

• They were able to learn from their mistakes, and they were receptive of the feedback given by their peers.

• This finding supports research by Kuech (2004) where group discussions promote reflection among students on how they produce an output of a given task.

• During the discussion there was student-student interaction that helped them better comprehend the task they had to carry out. This also supports research by Kuech.

Results: RQ 2c.No use of rote memorisationStudents did not try to rote memorise a sample letter in an attempt to complete the task assigned. Rote memorisation is a common practice among Malaysian students learning ESL. The students wrote the letter of enquiry by analysing what was needed to answer the question that was given to them. For instance, a student in Group A said:“After going through the group discussion session, I realised that I do not need to memorise previous contents when answering a question. Different questions require a different set of answers. I usually memorise the contents of earlier work and use it again on a new task”.

Discussion:• Students seemed to use a more reflective and analytical approach to writing the letter by incorporating previous and current knowledge.

• The group discussions seemed to help them write the letters using their own words rather than using texts that they had memorised by rote.

• This finding supports research by Haber (2004) that when students go through the process of collaborative learning, they are able to incorporate what they learned previously with their current learning to form new knowledge.

Limitation of studyThe major limit is that the study only focused on one example of collaborative learning, writing a letter of enquiry.

Further studies need to be carried out on other aspects of writing, such as essays and other formal written communication.

It would then offer a broader comparison of the efficacy of using collaborative learning to teach writing.

CONCLUSION1. The finding of this study would

support the use

of collabora

tive learning to teach writing skills.

3. The results suggest that students were more reflective of the tasks they had to

carry out, and they were able to learn from their peers in the group. It would also

seem that students were thinking critically about the tasks they had to carry out and

were more able to assess their own learning from the feedback given by their group

members.

2. Added to this, the comprehension levels of these students on the tasks they were

assigned seemed to increase with discussion carried out while they in the groups. The

results of this study showed that collaborative learning, if used

effectively, could enhance students’ learning of ESL tasks and skills.

CONCLUSION4. The

students were also open to comment by their peers and perceived that they learned from them.

6. Students were more willing to participate and showed more enthusiasm

about completing their work and assignments through the use of collaborative leaning.

5. The students in general were receptive to this form of learning and were able to

manage their time well, which does not seem to support finding by Barcelona &Rockey

(2010).

CONCLUSION

8. The results from this study seem to suggest that if collaborative learning was effectively carried out this would be a successful tool to help students learn ESL in an exploratory manner that would enhance their ability to assimilate English.

7. Added to this, the students also perceived that they improved their command of English. This finding did not support research by Nayan, et al, (2010) who found that most teachers perceive collaborative learning as resulting in work was not being done in class and students being less willing to carry out tasks assigned.

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of

Frances A. Bryant to the successful completion of this paper.