Group work
in a classroom is not necessary for learning
Peer-editing is a
waste of time
Only the teacher can
mark work
Many students from overseas are not accustomed to working in
groups. They are used to sitting and learning on their own and listening to the
teacher.
It is not enough to simply exhort students to work together.
Careful planning is necessary by the teacher so that each group contains
students of a similar level and who are of different nationalities if possible.
Doing this once and expecting the students to then form groups themselves is unrealistic.
It may be time consuming but it is necessary for the teacher to form the groups
again and again. In addition, sometimes students are simply shy-this has to be
taken into to account.
Some students really do not believe that group work is
important and will try and sabotage it. However, with practice, most students
will embrace it and see it, at the very least to be an opportunity to socialize
which they otherwise wouldn’t have. Other students see the value of it quickly
and rapidly develop confidence in themselves as learners.
Peer editing of writing tasks is central to any academic
English course and it is essential that students are familiar with group work
before the peer editing sessions start.
One issue in connection with peer-editing is that students
may not really believe in the validity of marking others work nor value the
marking of peers. They always want the teacher to mark. The teacher knows that
neither these assertions are not true. The student is quite capable of editing
his partners work as long as clear and specific
guidelines are given for the task. Many students resist because marking
is hard work –and explaining to their partner the reasons for the mark given is
a complex language task.
Group work and peer editing are key activities in the
program to produce the learner who is independent of the teacher. The teacher
needs to be patent and persistent in the promotion of group work.
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