The Definition of Group Work
11 Group work allows the teacher to temporarily concentrate his teaching efforts
on a small group of students while the other students engage actively in learning.
12 When equipments or facilities are limited, rotation of groups allows all
students to use the equipment that is available. 13
Group work teaches students to be less reliant on the teacher and more reliant on their own ability to think and to seek information from other sources.
14 Group work allow the teacher to vary the learning tasks for different groups of
students, thus adapting to students’ needs, interests, and abilities without making these differences too obvious to other students.
15 Group work gives all students an opportunity to contribute ideas and to try to
master the content in a non-threatening environment. Often one group member’s answer or idea can trigger another group member to think of
something else. 16
Group work allows students to experience roles as leaders, peers, and subordinates and to experience a range of social contacts.
17 Group work gives the teacher a chance to circulate and check individual
students’ understanding, without placing the students in a testing situation. 18
When group tasks require students to solve complex problems they provide rich opportunities for assessing students’ initiative, creativity, flexibility,
tolerance and communication skills. 19
Group tasks can reduce the teachers’ assessment load.
According to Brown 2001: 178, group work has these following advantages:
1 Group work generates interactive language.
2 Group work offers an embracing affective climate.
3 Group work promotes learner responsibility and autonomy.
4 Group work is a step toward individualizing instruction.
To conclude, group work involving communicative tasks is essential to develop oral proficiency because it demands maximum student’s participation in
an orally purposeful activity.