Role of Cooperative Learning in Enhancing Students’ Writing Skills in Pakistani Colleges: A Review of Literature

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The current study examined the causes of poor writing skills of intermediate students in the public sector colleges of Pakistan. Besides, the study discusses the methods being used in these colleges and how those methods can be replaced by cooperative and collaborative learning techniques to enhance the writing skills of the students successfully and effectively. Research conducted so far in Pakistani context indicated that a large number of students in Pakistan fail due mainly to their poor writing skills as writing is being instructed through rote learning in teacher-centered classroom. To tackle this issue of students' poor writing skills, the paradigm needs to be shifted from rote learning to cooperative learning. The paper purports to explore as to why pedagogues in Pakistan are employing rote learning and teacher centered approach for the instruction of writing skills. To explore this issue, the paper employed the technique of review of literature. The findings indicated that the lecturers employed the conventional methods to teach writing skills especially descriptive essay writing skills. The literature reviewed showed that large classes, maintaining discipline, compulsion to complete the course in time are the causes of lecturers' sticking to such conventional methods. Besides, the current paper gives recommendations for the enhancement of writing skills which include encouragement of group work, face to face interaction and discussion as learning strategies. Finally, to attain this objective, the current study recommends the employment of cooperative and collaborative learning strategies for the improvement of intermediate students' descriptive essay writing skills.

Effects of Utilizing the STAD Method (Cooperative Learning Approach) in Enhancing Students Descriptive Writing Skills

“…The findings of this study showed that the utilization of the STAD method was beneficial to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning process, especially in teaching descriptive writing. These findings also support the studies done by Zulfa (2015); Mahmoud and Mohamed (2014) and Siddique and Singh (2016) who had verified that the STAD method can improve students" writing performance significantly.…”

“…Similarly Siddique and Singh (2016) employed the cooperative learning method to teach ESL writing skills to college students (intermediate) in Pakistan. The findings indicated that students" descriptive essay writing improved tremendously through this method.…”

Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning For Improving Learners’ Proficiency Level of English Language in Secondary Level Education in Nepal

“…After the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data, the result shows that CL is effective in improving learners' ELP level. This result is consistent with the previous research (see Ahmadi, Motallebzade, & Fatemi, 2014;Aicha, 2012;Almuslimi, 2016;Al-Tamimi & Attamimi, 2014;Chukwuyenum, Nwankwo, & Toochi, 2014;Keshavarz, Shahrokhi, & Nejad, 2014;Khan & Ahmad, 2014;Lin, 2009;Mohammadi & Davarbina, 2015;Ning, 2010;Siddique & Singh, 2016;Soraya, 2010). But, the peer-mediated model of learning is criticized to be a "failure to address the needs of the more able pupil who may require more independent learning and flexibility" (Jolliffe, 2007, p. 14).…”

“…There has been much research done on CL (see Ahmadi, Motallebzade, & Fatemi, 2014;Aicha, 2012;Almuslimi, 2016;Al-Tamimi & Attamimi, 2014;Chukwuyenum, Nwankwo, & Toochi, 2014;Keshavarz, Shahrokhi, & Nejad, 2014;Khan & Ahmad, 2014;Lin, 2009;Mohammadi & Davarbina, 2015;Ning, 2010;Siddique & Singh, 2016;Soraya, 2010). However, no research is found to have been carried out to investigate the effectiveness of CL for the improvement of learners' English language proficiency level in the context of Nepal.…”

The Effectiveness of Think Talk Write Model in English Essay Writing

“…It makes the class a studentcentred where they can discuss, share and construct their own sentences of varied structures. [11] Therefore, writing learning needs self-concept. Like as Fatimawati found in her research that in the academic writing class.…”