Observing Pair-Work Task in an English Speaking Class
Observing Pair-Work Task in an English Speaking Class
Yazar: Achmad, Diana; Yusuf, Yunisrina Qismullah
Dergi: International Journal of Instruction, Vol. 7 No. 1, 2014
Anahtar kelimeler: Pair-Work, Task-Based Learning, Speaking, Multilingual Classroom, Learning

This paper reports on students’ pair-work interactions to develop their speaking  skills in an ELT classroom which consisted of international learners. A number of  16 learners of intermediate proficiency with IELTS score band 5.5 were observed.  The teacher had paired those he considered among them to be the more competent  ones (hereafter, stronger) with the less competent ones (hereafter, weaker);  therefore, eight pairs were observed during the lesson. The task given to the  students was to express ‘Agree and Disagree’ in the context of giving opinions  related to social life. Based on the observations, the task was successfully  implemented by six pairs; thus, the two others faced some problems. From the first  pair, it was seen that the stronger student had intimated the weaker one into  speaking during the task. The other pair, who was both of the same native, did not  converse in English as expected and mostly used their native language to speak  with one another presumably due to respect from the stronger student towards the  weaker one. In situations like this, when pair-work becomes unproductive, rotating  pairs is recommended to strengthen information sharing and assigning roles to  avoid a student from taking over the activity from his or her pair. In conclusion,  pairing international learners with mixed speaking proficiency by teachers must be  conducted as effectively as possible by initially identifying their ability and  learning culture to profoundly expand the students’ language resources

This paper reports on students’ pair-work interactions to develop their speaking  skills in an ELT classroom which consisted of international learners. A number of  16 learners of intermediate proficiency with IELTS score band 5.5 were observed.  The teacher had paired those he considered among them to be the more competent  ones (hereafter, stronger) with the less competent ones (hereafter, weaker);  therefore, eight pairs were observed during the lesson. The task given to the  students was to express ‘Agree and Disagree’ in the context of giving opinions  related to social life. Based on the observations, the task was successfully  implemented by six pairs; thus, the two others faced some problems. From the first  pair, it was seen that the stronger student had intimated the weaker one into  speaking during the task. The other pair, who was both of the same native, did not  converse in English as expected and mostly used their native language to speak  with one another presumably due to respect from the stronger student towards the  weaker one. In situations like this, when pair-work becomes unproductive, rotating  pairs is recommended to strengthen information sharing and assigning roles to  avoid a student from taking over the activity from his or her pair. In conclusion,  pairing international learners with mixed speaking proficiency by teachers must be  conducted as effectively as possible by initially identifying their ability and  learning culture to profoundly expand the students’ language resources