The Effect of Small Group Cooperation on EFL Learner's Conversation Ability

This study reports an experimental research on two groups of English major students taking a ‘speaking and listening’ course. One group was taught mostly through the traditional teacher-centered methods, while the other devoted the greatest part of each class session to small group activities, leaving the teacher as coordinator of the group and pair work. With the same topics covered and the same test given to the two groups, the students who had worked in small groups significantly outperformed those who had been taught through the traditional teacher-centered instruction. The findings suggest a need for the incorporation of more cooperative and (small) group learning activities in the curriculum and a greater emphasis on the effectiveness of such activities in EFL classes.