Meanwhile, Ur said that group work is a learning task through small-group interaction that is performed by learner to become more active in oral fluency
because students in group get opportunities to talk in class.
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Group work can make students learn actively because they have chance to talk in the classroom.
In addition, Hess explained that: Group work is obviously a key element as it enables students to learn from
one another. When working in small groups, students have a greater chance to practice oral fluency. Students are also far less intimidated in a
small group, and once they become familiar with the procedure, they usually enjoy sharing ideas and practicing new language structure in this
format.
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Based on the definition, group work is viewed as a technique that gives students some chances to practice oral fluency, share idea with friends, and practice the
new language. In sum up, group work is one of the techniques that consist of two or more
students in a group who are given the same task to finish well. Then, students cooperate to study and share their ideas in group work. They may also help and
guide each other. Again, they can interpret the reading text cooperatively.
2. Purposes of Group Work
There are some purposes of group work. According to
Bormann,
“The primary purpose of much of the talk in a group discussion must be to
communicate.”
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It means that communication is the main purpose of group work. It is in line with Brown in his book Teaching by Principles: an Interactive
Approach to Language Pedagogy, stated that one of the major purpose of group
33
Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 232.
34
Natalie Hess, Teaching Large Multilevel Classes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 112
35
Ernest G. Bormann, Discussion and Group Methods, New York: Harper Row Publisher, 1969, p. 4.
work is giving more opportunities to speak for students.
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In other words, group work can increase students’ ability in speaking.
In addition, group work gives the opportunities for student to:
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1. Generate more ideas and be exposed to different point of view
2. Develop tolerance for ambiguity
3. Experience incidental and planned opportunities that use language as a
tool for learning 4.
Learn from and teach one another in a supportive environment 5.
Ask their own questions so that they own their learning and have better retention
6. Make use of exploratory talk; offer possible suggestion and tentative
ideas 7.
Realize the fact that their talk helps them to understand better 8.
Gain confidence while learning as a result of peer support and encouragement
9. Acquire higher – level thinking skills for example, to speculate,
hypothesize, and generalize because of the potential for what if question to occur
10. Develop short – and long – term recall of information
11. Experience genuine intellectual inquiry that cultivates moral and
intellectual autonomy 12.
Value their thinking and experiences during the learning process 13.
Become more responsibly for their own learning and the learning of others
14. See how others learn and how they themselves learn
15. Have shared experiences that become the basis for learning
16. Present what they know and reflect on how they learned it i.e.,
develop metacognitive knowledge 17.
Build on what they know already with increased motivation in order to get more information that makes use of critical thinking skills
18. Develop problem solving strategies
19. Attain better academic achievement
20. Learn in a context compatible to their culture
21. Develop emphatic perspective as a result of working together
22. Learn how to work together i.e., acquire social skills
23. Develop a liking for self and others
Based on the statements above, group work is useful for students because they may share their ideas and experience in a group, develop their social
36
H. Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principles: an Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy 2
nd
Edition, San Francisco: Addison Wesley Longman, 2001, p. 177
37
Carolyn Kessler, Cooperative Language Learning: a Teacher’s Resource Book,
Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Regents, 1992, p. 59-60.
