Group work

Group work refers to the practice in English teaching of having more than two students work together in English to complete a language learning task.

Typical examples of group work include preparing presentations, role plays and simulations.

Why group work?
Group work is necessary for a number of reasons:
 * 1) It is not possible for the teacher to practice individually with all the students in a large class.
 * 2) Most students participate more naturally, and therefore more fully, with their peers
 * 3) Having the students talk to each other without the whole class listening to them lowers the affective filter.
 * 4) When the students talk to each other they are able to notice errors made by their peers and eliminate them from their own speech.
 * 5) Group work provides excellent and natural opportunities for practising functions such as interrupting, expressing agreement etc.

Objections to group work
As it means that the teacher "risks" losing control to a certain extent, group work is not universally popular and the following criticisms may be heard:
 * 1) Time management may be difficult.
 * 2) It is a second best solution to the problem of teachers having classes so large that they cannot deal with students individually. It is a case of making a virtue out of necessity.
 * 3) Teachers are not able to monitor every conversation.
 * 4) Students may seize the opportunity to speak in their L1.
 * 5) Rather than learn from each other, students may simply re-enforce their existing errors.
 * 6) Some students think the activity is pointless.