How do I encourage cooperative learning activities?

6~12 grade learners are not strangers to cooperative learning. In English, they do peer-editing, and in social studies they have group projects, etc. It can be argued that foreign language classes need interpersonal communication more than other subject areas. Cooperative learning activities are beneficial to language learning. However, a cooperative learning activity must include the following rules to guarantee its effectiveness.

1.      Work with a purpose:

The cooperative learning activity needs to have a purpose, such as performing some real-life tasks to make it meaningful.

2.      Provide clear instructions:

The activity needs to have a schedule, a time limit, a defined procedure, and step-by –step instructions.

3.      Work with individual roles and shared responsibilities:

The group has to be small.

Each learner must have an indispensable role in the group.

Each member of the group must be given a share of the work that contributes to group success.

  

4.      Work with pressure or competition:

There has to be a built-in mechanism to stimulate competition between groups as motivation for high quality performances.