Attitudes of Jordanian Students Towards Using Group Work in EFL Classrooms

Abstract

This paper addresses itself to the outcomes of a field study which was carried out to identify Jordanian EFL students' attitudes towards using group work in EFL classrooms. The study sample consisted of 179 students enrolled in English 101, an elementary language skills course taught at Al- Huson University College, Al -Balqa' Applied University, Jordan. A questionnaire was used to investigate the subjects' attitudes. The findings show that approximately two-thirds of the participants are either very extrovert or somewhat extrovert, i.e. they have positive attitudes towards participating in group work in EFL classes. In contrast, only a third are either somewhat introvert or very introvert, i.e., they do not like to take part in group work in EFL classes. Moreover, the data show that neither the subjects' gender nor their secondary school stream (vocational, scientific, or literary) has any significant effect on their preferences.

High School Teachers’ Perceptions and Implementations of Group Work in English Speaking Classes

“…In the same line, Duyen and Huan concluded from their International Journal of Instruction, April 2020 • Vol.13, No.2 survey that "students knew how to communicate with one another during group work process and they tried to solve disagreements in their groups" (2017, p.13). Likewise, students' positive attitudes to group work have also been found in previous studies reported by Ababneh (2017) in Jordan, Alfares (2017) in Saudi Arabia, Masruddin (2018) in Indonesia, Meteetham (2001) in Thailand, Taqi and Al-Nouh (2014) in Kuwait, etc.…”

“…In other words, high school EFL teachers are generally encouraged to utilize group work as much as possible, especially in speaking classes, but whether or not they are fully aware of its benefits and possible problems/drawbacks as well as how to conduct it in an effective way is still open to questions because little has been known about such questions based on empirical research. Moreover, previous studies on group work such as Ababneh (2017), Ibnian (2012), John (2017), Othman and Murad (2015), Taqi and Al-Nouh (2014), and so on have largely focussed on learners' attitudes and gained inconclusive results across the board. Within Vietnam's setting, quite a number of studies have been reported concerning group work or cooperative learning and almost all of them, such as Duyen and Huan (2017), Le (2006), Luu (2010), Pham (2019), Thanh-Pham (2011), Tran and Lewis (2012), were conducted at college level only.…”

Perceptions of EFL Students in Different Proficiency Levels Toward Group Work Experiences During Online Learning

“…Group work has several advantages in the language classroom (Ababneh, 2017). First, it helps to generates the use of language interactions because teachers are no longer the dominant figure in the classroom.…”

Elements Hindering Vietnamese Tertiary Students’ Participation in Group Activities: A Case Study

“…Lastly, students' personalities somehow affect the participation. Yuenfeng (2005) and Ababneh (2017) indicate shyness as what likely discourages them from contributing and raising their voice whilst Mahyuddin et al (2006) supposes that students' self-efficacy entails their confidence in presenting their ideas in groups.…”