The Effects of Group Work on Students' L2
Keywords: motivation,
Motivation
Andra Candea, Malena Beamonte, Smehan Es Saheb
Innovation and Classroom Research in EFL
01 Introduction
This research aims to investigate the effects of group work on the Second Language (L2)
motivation among 4th-year ESO students (38 boys, 31 girls, and 2 non-binary students) aged 15
to 16 in three different schools in Zaragoza:
Salesianos Zaragoza (private, 10.7% immigration rate),
Escolapios (private, 84% immigration rate)
IES Corona de Aragón (public, 100% immigration rate).
A total of 6 group work lessons were conducted in non-bilingual settings, and multimodal
materials such as audiovisual resources, literary texts, pictures, and posts were utilized. The
study focused on writing and speaking tasks that dealt with the topic of healthy relationships.
We deem this study necessary as we have observed that the students do not enjoy the English
lessons or show any interest in the English Language when working individually. Students often
reached for their classmates’ help and attention while conducting the exercises so we believe
that group work might be the way to increase their motivation towards the L2. In fact, there
has not been much research done in this field in Zaragoza nor in the schools selected,
therefore, we believe that this research is relevant as it may help the students and teachers of
these schools deal with the problem of demotivation.
Theoretical Framework and
02 Research Questions
In recent years there has been an increase in the number of research analysing the
effects of group work on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' motivation. As
Dornyei (1997) states, group work has been recognized as a factor that positively and
considerably contributes to students' success as well as the quality of their language
learning. In addition, Dobao (2012) states that group interaction facilitates language
learning thus making the students' learning process more bearable. Moreover,
students that work in small groups focus more on the use of the L2 and are better at
solving language-related issues. Therefore, students working in groups are
linguistically more accurate (Dobao, 2012). According to Long (1977), students are
more prone to using the L2 in their interactions with others when the tasks are done
in groups. Costley and Lange (2018) also mention that group work positively affects
students, more specifically those with low levels of motivation. Kerr and Hertel (2011)
also highlight that the students who conduct tasks in groups are highly more
motivated than students that work individually. Basing ourselves on the existing
literature, we formulated the following research questions to bear in mind throughout
the whole research process:
Does group work affect 4th-year ESO students' motivation? If so, how?
Does group work increase student participation during the tasks?
Does group work increase students' use of the L2 during the tasks?
03 Methodology
To conduct the present study, a triangulation of methods was employed, which included a survey, observation,
and peer observation. In order to gather data, the research tools employed were:
Field notes.
During all the lessons to track the progress of the students during the tasks.
An anonymous questionnaire (in Spanish).
15 questions (1-5 Likert scale questions, multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions).
Administered at the end of the last session.
A peer-observation checklist.
The research enlisted the aid of peers to obtain an external perspective.
The peers were invited to participate in the 4th session.
They observed the group's participation, performance, and use of English during the assigned tasks.
The materials employed in the class were Learning Units that adhered to the principles of
Communicative Language Teaching (Brown, 2007; Richards, 2006)
Tasks were developed using
Task-Based Learning principles, following a pre-task, task, and post-task sequence designed to simulate
real-world English language usage and to promote student interaction.
We kept in mind that response bias exhibited by the students may compromise the results of the survey.
Response bias can manifest in a number of ways, such as socially desirable responding, inattention to the
questions, avoidance of extreme responses, or exaggeration of answers (Sax, Gilmartin & Bryant, 2003). To
mitigate these potential limitations, we employed the peer observation checklist and our own field notes to
bolster the reliability of our data.
group work, use of L2,
participation
04 Results and Discussion
Following the completion of both an observation task and a survey, the present
study has yielded valuable insights into the impact of group work on students'
motivation. We have noticed no significant differences in the results from the
Negatively:
different classes so the results shown in this section are combined from the three
14% NO: 21%
schools. The survey results have served to confirm the effectiveness of group work in
promoting higher levels of motivation, participation, and use of the L2 skills, as
expressed by the students. Additionally, the survey findings indicate that students
felt more comfortable and connected with their peers, which facilitated their
collaborative work. Conversely, the observation task has revealed that group work
contributed to increased engagement and interaction among students. Positively: 86% YES: 79%
86,2% (see Table 1) of the students think that group work positively affects the
class environment.
Students found that the work was more accessible for them when working in
groups seen as 79,3% (see Table 2) believe that it would have been harder to work
individually. Table 1. How does group work affect class Table 2. Would it have been harder to work alone?
environment? 56 students answered yes to the question.
61 students consider that group work improves class
Moreover, the field notes taken during the observation task documented a environment.
significant rise in students' participation and engagement levels when working in
small groups,
The survey confirms it as 71% (see Table 3) of students consider that group work
increases their interest in the English language. The students' interactions were
primarily focused on the task at hand, with a noticeable use of the L2 language
in accordance with Long's (1977) assertions.
According to the survey results, 86% (see Table 4) explicitly stated that group
71% 84%
Table 4: Do you think your participation increased
work made them participate more. Table 3. Have you seen any difference in your interest
when working in groups?
in the English subject?
59 students considered that they increased their
50 students answered positively to this question
The overall response to group work was positive, as indicated by the results of the participation when working in groups.
survey, with a majority of students expressing greater enthusiasm for collaborative
learning compared to individual work. Notably, the students also exhibited:
Heightened interest in and use of the L2, as evidenced by their increase in
queries regarding the task and their utilization of the L2 to communicate with
their peers, teacher, and teacher trainees.
Furthermore, the observation task conducted by a peer corroborates the positive
06 References
effects of group work on students' motivation and performance. The student's high
level of participation, increased productivity, and greater self-assurance are Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (5th Ed.). New York:
notable outcomes of their collaborative efforts. Additionally, the students' reliance Longman.
on and support of one another throughout the task further emphasizes the benefits
of group work for promoting positive social interactions and a sense of shared Costley, J., & Lange, C. (2018). The Moderating Effects of Group Work on the Relationship
responsibility. Between Motivation and Cognitive Load. The International Review of Research in Open and
Distributed Learning, 19(1).
05 Conclusion Dobao, A. F. (2012). Collaborative writing tasks in the L2 classroom: Comparing group, pair, and
individual work. Journal of second language Writing, 21(1), 40-58.
Dörnyei, Z. (1997). Psychological processes in cooperative language learning: Group dynamics
The current study was undertaken with the aim of exploring the effectiveness of
and motivation. The modern language journal, 81(4), 482-493.
group work as a means of enhancing students' motivation in the EFL classroom. The
initial observations indicated that students lacked motivation and engagement in
L2 interactions. To address this issue, the study investigated whether group work
could serve as a tool to promote students' motivation and participation during L2
lessons. The findings of the study indicated that in the three-school context where
it was conducted, group work was indeed effective in improving students'
Kerr, N.L. and Hertel, G. (2011). The Köhler Group Motivation Gain: How to Motivate the ‘Weak
Links’ in a Group. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5: 43-55.
Long, M. H. (1977). Group work in the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language—
problems and potential. ELT Journal, 31(4), 285-292.
motivation and led to greater participation and interaction among them.
However, it is important to note that certain limitations of the study may have
Richards, K. (2006). Language and professional identity: Aspects of collaborative interaction.
impacted the reliability of the findings:
Springer.
The short amount of time allocated for the implementation of group work may
have limited the ability to draw definitive conclusions regarding the comparison
between individual work and group work.
The use of multiple researchers to collect field notes in different contexts may
have introduced biases and inaccuracies into the data.
Response bias from the students may have impacted the reliability of the
questionnaire results.
Small sample size used in this study limits the generalizability of the results to
larger populations.
In short, our research findings have concluded that group work has been an
effective class organization tool to increase students' motivation and participation
in the selected contexts. These findings may help the EFL teachers of the schools
improve the students' motivation and participation in the classroom. For future
research, as some of our participants have stated that they feel better working
alone, we believe it would be interesting to conduct some research to find a way to Access to the survey, results,
cater for students who feel more motivated working in groups as well as those who checklist and field notes
prefer to work independently.