An Assessment of The Oral Group Lessons in "English for Ethiopia Grade Seven" in Promoting Cooperative Learning
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Date
2008-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the oral group lessons in the
newly (2007/2008) implemented student’s English textbook of grade
seven. The assessment mainly focused on whether or not the oral group
lessons in the textbook promote cooperative learning.
The study involved the textbook, four English language teachers who
have been teaching the language in Muke Turi and Gebreguracha
Primary and Junior Secondary Schools, and five hundred and twenty-five
students who have been learning at the same schools in Northern Shoa.
The data for the study were gathered through text analysis . In order to
see the actual happening and to triangulate the findings of the text
analysis, interviews were conducted and classrooms were observed.
The results of the study showed as follows:
- The oral group lessons in the textbook of grade seven fulfill almost all
the criteria of cooperative learning.
- The teachers and the students who were interviewed understood the
benefits of sharing ideas through cooperative learning in spite of the
fact that the number of the students in each class was large, and the
students had poor background knowledge of English.
- The classroom observations proved that the number of students in
each class was large; the desks were fixed; some teachers followed up
and monitored their learners while working the activities in groups;
the students frequently used their mother tongue rather than English
during group discussions; the teachers did not set a time limit for the
discussions, and there was little practice of evaluating the oral group
lessons after cooperative learning.
The summary of the findings indicated that the oral group lessons in the
textbook help to promote cooperative learning though there are some
problems that have been mentioned above to practice them in the
classrooms.
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Assessment of The Oral Group Lessons