17.

Cooperative Language Learning ( Approach)

INTRODUCTION
CL is an approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving
pairs and small groups of learners in the classroom. CL does the following :

- Raise the achievement of all students, including those who are gifted or academically
handicapped;
- Help the teacher build positive relationship among students;
- Replace the competitive organizational structure of most classrooms and schools with a
team-based structure.

It is viewed as learner centered approach. The goals are : to provide opportunities for
naturalistic 2nd language acquisition through the use of pair and group activities; to enable
focused attention to lexical items and language structures; to enhance learner motivation and
reduce learner stress. The most important dimension of CL : IT IS BASED ON
COOPERATION RATHER THAN COMPETITION.

ADVANTAGES : increased fluency; opportunities to integrate language with Content based

instruction; freedom for teachers to master new professional skills; active role in teaching.

THEORY OF LANGUAGE
1. Language is a resource for expressing meaning – language serves the goal of making
meaning. In this case, meaning is realized through collaboration;
2. Language is a means of expressing different communicative functions – language serves
to express and understand functions or speech acts. CLL activities can be used to develop
fluency in expressing categories of functional meaning;
3. Language is a means of interpersonal and social interactions – in CLL learners are
required to interact through the use of both spoken and written language. Language is
achieved through the result of interaction;
4. Language is a resource for carrying out tasks – the focus of CLL activities is
collaborating to complete different kinds of tasks. Language serves to achieve practical
goals.

THEORY OF LEARNING
1. Learning results from conversational interaction – students engage in process of
negotiation of meaning. It is based on to achieve meaning. It results from such things as
“repetition, confirmation, clarification requests”. These aspects of conversational
interaction serve the basis of learning.
 Abdullah and Jacobs suggest that CL promotes interaction in these ways :
1. In CL, teachers can encourage more negotiation for meaning by allowing groups to
try to sort out their own communicative difficulties without teacher, although teacher
is ready to help;
2. Group activities can encourage students to interact with each other;
3. Peer assessment in which students check each other’s writing or speaking;
4. Noticing tasks in which students analyze how a grammar point functions.

2. Language learning is a sociocultural process - Abdullah and Jacobs cite sociocultural

learning theory as support for CLL. In sociocultural process students and teachers form
relationship in the classroom to help the students learn. The relationship help facilitate
social interaction and active participation. Students learn through observation, listening,
talking through their tasks. In this section we can mention scaffolding ( to help students
when they need). It refers to the assistance a more advanced learner or language user
gives to a less advanced learner in completing a task and makes use of collaborative
dialogue. CLL tasks provide extended opportunities for these processes to take place.