Who manages who and what in the language learning classroom?
Diana Hicks

The increasing trend towards student autonomy and decision-making, which is fundamental to a more learner-centred approach to language learning, requires teachers to put into practice different kinds of classroom management strategies. In the traditional classroom the teacher managed all or most of the decisions about the pace and timing of the lessons, as well as the content, assessment and working style of the students. However, clearer views about the nature of learning, combined with a wider range of students who need to learn English for longer periods at a higher standard, have created another generation of exercise types and classroom behaviours which, in turn, have created a need for a reappraisal of established classroom management techniques.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference between language lessons today and those of twenty years ago is the amount of time students spend working in groups or pairs. However, setting up and monitoring successful pair and group work requires planning by the teacher, co-operation from the students and a clear understanding of both the process and the product of the task. This article gives some ideas about three different ‘problem areas’ of pair and group work management.

Mother tongue and pair/group work tasks

Not all pair work tasks demand the same levels of language and cognitive skills, so different ‘rules’ need to be established for different kinds of tasks, particularly with regard to the use of mother tongue.

In most of the schools where Cambridge English for Schools is used, students share the same mother tongue, which means that as soon as they have to brainstorm, discuss or plan anything in a group or pair they will use their first language. Prohibiting them from doing this will often sabotage or limit the outcome of an open-ended task or one which requires sharing ideas. However, separating pair work into ‘open’ and ‘closed’ tasks will diminish what can be seen as the problem of mother tongue use.

For example, the purpose of these ‘closed’ tasks taken from Cambridge English for Schools Level 3 Student’s Book is simply to practise the Present perfect. Because there is little call on their creativity or memory students have less need to draw on their mother tongue.

In these ‘closed’ pair work tasks, the objective is controlled and accurate practice of speaking and listening, so the use of mother tongue would be inappropriate. It is important that students recognise the purpose of such tasks and can see the difference between these and the following, open ended pair/group work tasks

In these two tasks we are asking the students to discuss and generate ideas and while the emphasis is on the process of thinking, the students will use mother tongue to help them think, but the outcome – sharing their thoughts with the class or the teacher – will be in English. So, before starting a pair work task, check that the students recognise whether the focus is on accurate practice (no need to use the mother tongue) or on thinking (mother tongue will be helpful). The preparation of pair and group work often emphasises checking that students know what they have to do but it is perhaps more important for them to know why and how they have to do it.

Managing time in pair/group work

A second management problem with open ended pair and group work tasks is timing. It is easier to time-manage the closed tasks such as those in A above because the practice is finite with clear boundaries. However, open-ended pair/group work tasks are not quite so finite, nor as predictable in terms of time needs. This is why we have specified the time the students have in the second exercise in B. They need to know how long they have for a task.

If most of the students have finished within the given time then they can move onto the next task. Those who haven’t finished can be asked to consider why they need longer and how they could speed up their work. This allows an opportunity for some immediate support by the teacher as the delay may reveal gaps in some students’ understanding or knowledge, which may be remedied by additional exercises. Dealing with such issues on the spot prevents a build up of resentment and feelings of inadequacy which can lead to problems of discipline.

Evaluation of group co-operation

The other problem of pair and group work is who should work with whom and who should decide and manage the ‘pairings’? For short tasks it is usually better for students to choose their own partners who are probably the ones they are sitting near as this causes the least disruption, but this can be varied as much as possible by asking students to work with the person on their left, immediately behind them, etc. Ask students to make a note in their exercise books of who their partner was for each pair work task, so there is no argument about who they work with next time.

For longer tasks such as the following, more sophisticated management strategies need to be employed to ensure the smooth running of the tasks. One of the features of Cambridge English for Schools is the ‘Decide’ exercises where students choose which task they do and how they do it – alone or with other students as in this example:

As the students are taking responsibility here, and deciding what they will do, it is important that they understand that, at the end of the task, they will also have to take responsibility for evaluating the success or failure of their decision and working out ways to do it better next time. Part of the evaluation will consider how well the group ‘gelled’ and worked together. Here is an example of the kind of evaluation an eight year old wrote in a UK school after she had been working in a group to write a ‘mini play’.

The earlier the better

Successful management involves knowing how to delegate or share some of the responsibility with others and also knowing how to build on previous experience. The earlier the students are brought into the process of managing their learning by understanding more about how it works, the easier the whole process of classroom management becomes for the teacher.

Note from Diana:

If you have used other management strategies for pair and group work in your classes which have worked, why not write about them for the Magazine? We would love to hear about your experiences.

‘Have you ever eaten snake meat?’
Cartoon by Amanda MacPhail

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