Pair Work.

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                                                    Pair Work

  

                         

                  Pair Work  VS.  Group Work


Pair work is learners working together in pairs. One of the main motivations to encourage pair work in the English language classroom is to increase the opportunities for learners to use English in the class.

Example
The learners are answering comprehension questions in pairs after reading a text. This allows them to compare answers, and clarify problems together using English.

In the classroom
Teachers can evaluate the impact and effectiveness of pair work on their learners by using action research tools such as asking the learners how they feel about working like this or by actually participating in an activity in a pair and evaluating this experience afterwards.

Teacher can enable his learners to wotk individually, then jumps  to enabling every 2 leareners to work in pairs.  Other paIrs work and practise till they form 5 groups of 5 learners each to create work groups, then the teacher can do the opposite to change from working in groups to working in pairs then individual work.


1-Individual Work:

 In individual type of student work, the benefits are that students work at their own pace, they are confident about what they know and what they need to send more time on, they can use their preferred learning styles and strategies. The disadvantage is that students don't get the benefit of learning from peers as well as working with their peers. Individual type of student work is suitable when teacher wants students to do their final task or assignment.


2-Pair Work:


In paired type of student work, the advantages are that students have the chance to work with and learn from their peers; struggling students can learn from more capable peers; it is especially useful for students who prefer interpersonal learning settings. There are challenges involved in paired work. If students are not matched up well (i.e. low students together, high students together, a higher student with a low student but they don't work well together, etc.) pair work won't be useful; the ability of the students to work in this way needs to be taken into consideration. Paired work is suitable in inductive learning activities in which instead of explaining a given concept and following this explanation with examples, the teacher presents students with many examples showing how the concept is used. The intent is for students to notice by way of the examples, how the concept works. As a conclusion to the activity, the teacher can ask the students to explain the rule as a final check that they understand the concept.


Kinds of Pairwork:

1-Open Teacher / student pair work.

2-Open Student / student pair work.

3-Closed pair work.


Advantages of using pair work

· Pair work gives everyone a chance to speak in non-threatening environment, i.e. with a fellow-student rather than in front of the teacher and the whole class. Students will learn from one another in a natural way that approximates more to the world outside and gets away from someone of the constraints of the classroom.

· Pair-work activities are students-centred rather than teacher centred. Once an activity has been explained (and perhaps demonstrated), the students work independently of the teacher and at their own pace. This means the students really have an opportunity to see how well they can communicate in English.

· The language produced during pair work is generally more natural and authentic than in teacher-led sessions. It is also more personalized and, subsequently, more memorable for the students.

· Pair work activities encourage co-operation between students since, in order to complete a task successfully, they have to work together and help create a very positive learning atmosphere in class – one where they genuinely want to work with others. It also normally leads to students being less afraid of making mistakes. In addition, most students grow in confidence as they discover that they can complete a task successfully without constant help from the teacher.

· Many pair work activities (especially of the ice-breaker type) lead to greater personalization and students begin to express their own personalities in a more natural and less inhibited way. This again contributes to creating a better learning atmosphere in class plus a positive group feeling.

· Many pair work activities are a lot more fun to do than more traditional exercises. Students who enjoy what they are doing are more likely to learn than those who find the work boring.

· Pair work is dynamic and active. Learning cannot really take place unless the students are actively involved in the process. Pair work keeps them active which increases their ability and desire to learn. Pair work provides some variety during the lesson.

· Finally, pair work gives teachers a break from being the centre of attention, from having to ‘perform‘, be dynamic, interesting, and so on. Instead, the teacher can stand back, listen more actively and think up strategies for helping the students increase their knowledge and confidence.

· It allows you to monitor, move around the class and really listen to the language they are producing. It takes the spotlight off you and puts it onto the students.
·It Gives them a sense of achievement when reaching a team goal
· It allows you to monitor, move around the class and really listen to the language they are producing.

3-Group Work


Group type of student work also have benefits and challenges. It involve benefits such as it provides more opportunity for practice, an increased variety of activities is possible and an increased student creativity. The challenges may be that as with pair work, the groups must be carefully selected to ensure students can work productively; not all students are able to work to their full potential in this situation; assessment of student progress can be challenging.  By dividing the class into groups students get more opportunities to talk than in full class organization and each student can say something. The teachers working with large classes should divide them into five groups which is the most effective organization for practising speaking.  When learners work in pairs or groups, it is impossible for the teacher to listen and correct all the mistakes they make and this is not the purpose of the activity. However, he/she can reduce the number of mistakes before the students start working by demonstrating the activity to the class first and by asking pairs or groups to perform in front of the class afterwards and discussing what they said and pointing out the most common mistakes.


Kinds of Group Work


1-Open Teacher / Group work.

2-Open Work Group/ Work Group.

3-Closed Group work.


Many tasks benefit from a mixture of pair and group formats.
 Here are two examples:


1-Groups into pairs

It is often a good idea to have students discuss a task and/or the language necessary for a task in groups before they move on to do the task in pairs. For example, with a role-play involving two people: to exemplify, teenage daughter/father having a row about coming home late. The daughters’ get together in groups of four to talk about what they might say in this specific situation (the necessary  general language having been already presented and practised in a controlled way), and the ‘fathers’ do the  same. The learners are then paired as father and daughter to do the  role play.  In this way the students feel more confident and already have a repertoire of possible things to say. This is a particularly useful  technique in larger classes with a wide range of ability.

2-Pairs into groups


This is a very generative way of working, particularly in discussions,
and in its extended form is know as ‘pyramiding’. The students are paired to discuss a problem and its  solutions. The pairs are then paired into groups of four to come to a group solution. The fours are then paired into groups of eight to perform the same task. This can end up as two halves of the class discussing their decisions. The strength of the activity comes from constantl defending and having to compromise upon one’s earlier decisions.

Other advantages of pair work and small group work

  • Gives learners more speaking time
  • Changes the pace of the lesson
  • Takes the spotlight off you and puts it onto the children
  • Allows them to mix with everyone in the group
  • Gives them a sense of achievement when reaching a team goal
  • Teaches them how to lead and be led by someone other than the teacher.
  • Allows you to monitor, move around the class and really listen to the language they are producing.


Pitfalls and how to avoid them

  • You could lose control of the class. Set up a signal before you start, like a visual time out with your hands, so that they know when to stop. Don’t shout for them to stop as they will just shout louder!


  • You are not able to listen to everyone at once and hear what they are saying – set up groups of three where A and B talk while C monitors. Then swap roles. They are producing language; you just want to make sure the language they are producing is English. Have a fun system of every mother tongue word you hear the monitor must stand up and then stay standing. The activity stops if all monitors are standing. This will make them aware of using English as much a possible and using their first language as little as possible.


  • The classroom will get very noisy. This is OK, as long as they aren’t shouting. Move them into different places in the room so that they can hear themselves speak.


How to set up pair and group work

  • Be sure to explain the procedure before splitting the class up.


  • Always demonstrate either yourself of with the help of a volunteer exactly what they have to do.


  • Ask them to tell you what they have to do before they do it (in their mother tongue if need be) to check their understanding.


  • Have fill in activities ready for the quick finishers – but be sure that they have completed the task correctly first and haven’t just finished early because they misunderstood what they had to do.


  • Don’t forget to have feedback time after pair work so that the children don’t feel that they have been wasting time. It’s important to share their work as a whole group although this doesn’t have to be systematic.


  • Set a clear time limit.


  • Control who works with who so children aren’t always being dominated or dominating others.


                       Activities which lend themselves to pair work


  • Roll the ball
    This can be used to practise any language that requires a question/answer pattern. They can roll the ball to each other and have to say the appropriate sentence as they roll the ball. E.g. 'Hello.' 'Hello.' 'What’s your name?' etc. Remember the sentences they practise should be fairly short.


  • Information gap
    Give each pair a picture. The pictures should be nearly the same with two or three elements missing from each picture. Without showing each other the pictures they should describe the missing objects. They will practise colour, prepositions of place, and adjectives such as big, small, etc. Then they can compare their pictures.


  • Telephone conversations
    Sitting back to back they can practise telephone language or just simple exchanges that don’t have to be connected to the telephone itself. Sitting back to back should arouse their interest and help train them with listening skills. It’s a challenge, but a fun one!
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View Resources:


1-Pair counting to improve grammar and spoken fluency.

2-Teaching Toolbox, Reconciling theory, practice and language.
3-Teaching Listening skills to young learners "listen and do songs."

................................................................................................................................................

View Other Resources:

1-Online Corpus-based Learner Dictionary.
2-CBI Teachers. Content-based Instruction.
3-Film Circles:Scaffolding Speaking For EFL Students.

4-Writing for the Reader: A problem- solution approach.

5-Integrating language skills through dictogloss procedure.

6-Multilingualism as a resource in the language classroom
7-Rediscovering Curiosity, Imagination, and Humor in Learning.

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Forum cover with title and abstract watercolor design of cattails

 

English Teaching Forum, 2016 Volume 54, Number 2
1-Listening Journals for Extensive and Intensive Listening Practice
2-Using Freewriting to Make Sense of Literature
3-Using Concept Mapping to Teach EFL Learners Reading Skills
4-Reader's Guide
5- Audiovisual Feedback in EFL/ESL Writing Classes
6-Using Power of Language to Foster Community
7-Teaching Techniques: Human Mind Maps
8-My Classroom: Burma
9-Try This: Collaborative Mind Mapping
10-The Lighter Side: A Maps Mind Map
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