Observing Pair-Work Task in an English Speaking Class

Abstract

This paper reports on students’ pair-work interactions to develop their speaking skills in an ELT classroom which consisted of international learners. A number of 16 learners of intermediate proficiency with IELTS score band 5.5 were observed. The teacher had paired those he considered among them to be the more competent ones (hereafter, stronger) with the less competent ones (hereafter, weaker); therefore, eight pairs were observed during the lesson. The task given to the students was to express ‘Agree and Disagree’ in the context of giving opinions related to social life. Based on the observations, the task was successfully implemented by six pairs; thus, the two others faced some problems. From the first pair, it was seen that the stronger student had intimated the weaker one into speaking during the task. The other pair, who was both of the same native, did not converse in English as expected and mostly used their native language to speak with one another presumably due to respect from the stronger student towards the weaker one. In situations like this, when pair-work becomes unproductive, rotating pairs is recommended to strengthen information sharing and assigning roles to avoid a student from taking over the activity from his or her pair. In conclusion, pairing international learners with mixed speaking proficiency by teachers must be conducted as effectively as possible by initially identifying their ability and learning culture to profoundly expand the students’ language resources

Keywords

• Pair-Work, Task-Based Learning, Speaking, Multilingual Classroom, Learning

Observing Pair-Work Task in an English Speaking Class

Öz

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Anahtar Kelimeler

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References

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25. İngilizce Konuşulan Bir Sınıfta İkili Grup Görevini Gözlemleme Bu çalışma öğrencilerin konuşma becerilerini geliştirmek için farklı uluslardan öğrencilerin olduğu bir İngilizce dil sınıfında ikili grup etkileşimi hakkındadır. IELTS 5.5 puan bandında 16 tane orta seviye öğrenci çalışmada gözlenmiştir. Öğretmen öğrenciler arasından daha yetenekli(gelecek, güçlü) olduğunu düşündükleriyle daha az yetenekli (gelecek, güçsüz) olduğunu düşündüklerini gruplamış ve sekiz grup ders boyunca gözlenmiştir. Öğrencilere verilen görev sosyal yaşamla ilgili fikir belirtme bağlamında “Katılma ve Katılmama” durumunu belirtmektir. Gözlemlere dayalı olarak, görev altı grup tarafından başarıyla tamamlanırken, diğer ikisi bazı problemlerle karşılaşmışlardır.Birinci grupta, güçlü olan öğrencinin diğer öğrenciyi görev sırasında konuşması için desteklediği görülmüştür. Diğer grup, her ikisinin de ana dili aynı, beklendiği gibi İngilizce konuşmamışlar ve muhtemelen güçlü olanın diğerine olan saygısından dolayı genellikle ana dillerini kullanmışlardır. Bu tür durumlarda, gruplar verimsiz olduğunda bilgi paylaşımını güçlendirmek için grupları değiştirmek ve birinin diğer arkadaşı üzerinden aktiviteyi alıp sırtlanmasını önlemek için roller vermek önerilir. Sonuç olarak öğrencilerin dil kaynaklarını genişletmek için öncelikle öğrencilerin yetenek ve öğrenme kültürlerini belirleyerek öğretmenler tarafından farklı konuşma yeterliğinde olan öğrencilerin gruplandırılması en etkili bir şekilde yapılmalıdır. Anahtar Kelimeler: İkili Grup Çalışması, Görev Tabanlı Öğrenme, Konuşma, Çok Dilli Sınıflar, Öğrenme French Abstract L'Observation de Tâche de Travail à deux dans un anglais Parlant Classe Cet article annonce les interactions de travail à deux des étudiants pour développer leurs compétences à l'oral dans une salle de classe ELT qui a consisté en apprenants internationaux. Un certain nombre de 16 apprenants de compétence intermédiaire qui ont approximativement un score d'IELTS 5.5 ont été observés. Le professeur avait appareillé lesquels il pensait plus compétents (les plus forts) avec lesquels il pensait moins compétents (plus faibles) donc, huit paires ont été observées pendant la leçon. La tâche donnée aux étudiants était d'exprimer ' Sont d'accord et Ne sont pas d'accord ' dans le contexte d'avis généreux liés à la vie sociale. Basé sur les observations, la tâche a été avec succès mise en œuvre par six paires; ainsi, les deux d'autres ont fait face à quelques problèmes. De la première paire, on l'a vu que l'étudiant plus fort avait annoncé le plus faible dans la conversation pendant la tâche.L'autre paire, qui était les deux même originaire, ne s'est pas entretenue en anglais comme attendu et utiliser surtout leur langue maternelle pour parler entre eux vraisemblablement, en raison de respect de l'étudiant plus fort vers le plus faible. Dans des telles situations, quand le travail à deux devient improductif, faire tourner des paires pour renforcer le partage d'information et assigner les rôles sont recommandés pour éviter un étudiant de reprendre l'activité de sa paire. Pour conclure, appareiller des apprenants internationaux avec la compétence parlante mélangée, par des professeurs, doit être conduit aussi effectivement que possible en identifient initialement leur capacité et en apprennent leur culture pour profondément étendre les ressources de langue des étudiants. Mots Clés : Travail à Deux ; Apprentissage À Base de Tâche; Conversation ; Salle de Classe Multilingue ; Apprentissage Arabic Abstract ةيزيلجنلإا ةثداحملا ةصح شاعنأ يف يئانثلا طاشنلا رثأ انايد دامكأ ايسينودنأ : رضاحم يبيردت بولسأ يئانثلا لمعلا للاخ نم بلاطلا لعافت لوح ريرقت نع ةرابع وه ثحبلا اذه عبتي مهددع غلبي نييلود نيبردم عم ةيزيلجنلإا ةغللا ةراهم بيردت دنع ،ةساردلا ةعاق لخاد 61 ىوتسملا يوذ نم ًاسراد طسوتملا ةيئانث تاعومجم ينامث ىلإ مهيسردم لبق نم مهعيزوت مت ) ًاسفانت لقأ رخآ عم سفانتم بلاط ( فلك يذلا ماهملاو بعتلا وه ) ةساردلا ةعاق يف ( بلاطلا هب ام يأرب صتخي اميف "قفاوأ لا " وأ " قفاوأ " يظفل نع ري – دق يظفللا ملاكلا كلذ ةيئانثلا هذه ربع حاجنب تاعومجم تس يف بلاطلا هسرام – نع باعصلا ضعب مهتهجاو دقف نييرخلأا ةعومجملا بلاط امأ تيل هتغلب ملاكلا يف نأ لب ةيزيلجنلإاب ثيدحلا نم نكمتي مل بلاطلا دحأ نأ لثم ةيزيلجنلإا ةغللا نم ًلادب ةركفلا ليصوت نم نكم ) دحاو نطو نم امهيلك نأ مغر ( اذهو ) رخآ بلاطب بلاط ليدبت( بلاطلا لدابت لضفلأا نم نوكي فقاوملا هذه لثم يفف ،اذل ردت نأ لوقن نأ اننكمي نذا ،هيف بلاطلا بعلي يتلا راودلأا للاخ تامولعملا ةيوقت ىلإ يدؤي دق ءارجلأا للاخ نم ةثداحملا سي حاجنب هليعفت نكمي ةيئانث تاعومجم ىلإ نيسرادلا عيزوت – .ةيميلعتلا مهتافاقثو نيسرادلا تاردق ةفرعم بجو كلذ لبق نك