The Organization of Group Work in Spoken English II Classes: Adama and Jimma Teachers Colleges in Focus
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Date
2002-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study was conducted to explore the organization of group tasks in teaching Spoken
English II at Adama and Jimma Teachers Colleges. A descriptive case study was employed to
achieve this research goal. Two English language instructors and one hundred and six students
from both colleges were considered to be the subjects of the study. Questionnaire with a set of
both closed and open-ended items were used to secure relevant data from the students. In
addition, a semi-structured interview was designed to elicit pertinent information from the
instructors. Finally, the third instrument used for data collection was classroom observation.
During classroom observation, semi-structured observation checklists were used to collect
data while the instructors were teaching Spoken English II to the students.
The data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive statistics
(frequency and percentage) and chi-square test. But those data gathered through the interview
and classroom observations were qualitatively analyzed. All the data secured from different
sources were collated in the discussions to arrive at conclusions regarding the instructors'
practices of group task organization.
The results of the study generally suggest that the instructors did not properly organize group
tasks, which were designed for teaching Spoken English II. Consequently, group tasks seemed
to suffer from different problems created at various stages of organization. The tasks did not
appear to provide the students with helpful learning atmosphere in order to practice speaking
and develop their oral skills. Recommendations were forwarded to alleviate the problems.
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Keywords
Organization of Group Work