The effects of co-operative learning on student performance in English as a second language with specific reference to Madadeni College of Education

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The writing of this thesis has been an attempt to respond to the problem ofstudents who do not seem to be able to express themselves succinctly andclearly in English. Madadeni College of Education enrols students who havepassed grade twelve, at least most of them have passed English. Their passingEnglish at grade twelve presupposes that they can use English freely during theteaching and learning situation, for all courses are studied and presented throughthe medium of English.On realising this serious handicap the researcher decided to come up withsomething that can probably help contribute in shaping good prospective Englishteachers who will in turn teach many generations to come.There was decided on co-operative learning as the possible technique that canbe used in higher education with the view to influencing students to use Englishpractically. It needs to be stressed that co-operative learning is a learningtechnique or strategy (not a teaching method) that is used to make participantsuse English practically.The central problem of this thesis therefore is that students fail to expressthemselves clearly in English. This means the sample of sixty studentparticipants who were drawn from the primary section of teacher training gotinvolved in practical co-operative learning activities in order to practice English insmall manageable co-operative learning groups. Co-operative learning is aspecial type of group work where each participant is given a specific function ortask to do.Chapter 1 of this thesis explores the problem of the research and is followed bythe hypothesis. The purpose of the research is spelt out that it is to examine anddiagnose how co-operative learning can be used as an instrument for improvingstudents' English-speaking skills through active and participatory learning. The research methodology, which uses a descriptive approach becomes part ofthis thesis. It outlines the activities that are part of this research.Student participants became involved in practical co-operative learning for threeweeks. After these activities had been completed, a questionnaire wasdeveloped and constructed. The purpose of the study was to examine anddiagnose how co-operative learning can be used as an instrument for improvingstudents' English-speaking skills through active and participating learning.Student respondents or participants were respondents.Chapter 2 deals with a critical review of the literature which was completedmainly to identify possible solutions and effective ways to educate the nextgenerations about the problem.Chapter 3 focuses on the research and the research methodology where aresearch design, which spells out the population sample, research proceduresand the design of the questionnaire are central.Chapter 4 deals with the presentation, analysis, and interpretation of the results.As a penultimate chapter, the researcher is able to evaluate (from studentparticipants' responses) the success or the shortfalls of the research.Chapter 5 focuses on the synthesis of findings, conclusions, recommendationsand the conclusion of this research.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University