An Investigation into the Role of Culture within Cooperative Learning: The Cognitive Drivers

This study attempts to investigate how culture affects the cognitive drivers of Cooperative Learning (CL) so that the way for the culturally responsive education, as an imperative for sustainable development, is further paved. For this purpose, perceptions of 241 and 200 Iranian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), arrived at through convenience sampling, were respectively solicited about their culture and experience of group work using two questionnaires whose constructs’ psychometric properties were double checked using CFA and Rasch. The data were analyzed using forced entry multiple regression and the results suggest that: (a) the cultural factors can significantly predict the cognitive drivers of CL and as a result, its classroom practice can be troubled by mismatching cultural factors including assertiveness and future orientation; (b) the role of culture, notwithstanding its significance, is not too big to have CL simply abandoned on the pretext of neo-colonialism; (c) contextualized teacher development is necessary to have CL effectively implemented.