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 work individually, then jumps to enabling
every 2 learners to work in pairs. Other paIrs work and practice 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-Paired work
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 pair work:
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-centered rather than teacher centered.
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 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 rationalization 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.
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.
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 constant 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.
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.
Activities of pair work
Roll the ball
This
can be used to practice 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 practice 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 practice color prepositions of
place, and adjectives such as big, small, etc. Then they can compare
their pictures.
Telephone conversations
Sitting back to back
they can practice 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!