Using Cooperative Learning to Enhance Student Engagement with Language Support Classes in Pakistani Higher Education
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ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY USING COOPERATIVE LEARNING TO ENHANCE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH LANGUAGE SUPPORT CLASSES IN PAKISTANI HIGHER EDUCATION A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Abdul Hameed Panhwar Submitted: February 2016 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my beloved parents. My parents’ love, prayers, devotion, sacrifices and moral support facilitated me to accomplish this achievement. I specifically dedicate this thesis to my father who always wanted me to return to Pakistan with PhD degree. Alas! He could not share this happiness with me and left this transient world for the eternal one. I pray; he may have an elevated place in heavens! i Acknowledgements I thank Allah the most Gracious, Who blessed me with both intellectual and physical strength to complete this PhD project. I am tremendously indebted to my first supervisor Dr Melanie Bell for her relentless support and guidance. Her ceaseless support and constructive feedback guided me throughout my doctoral journey, and helped me fashion this thesis. The most important aspect of Dr Melanie Bell’s help that I feel obliged to mention here was that she always directed my attention to learning first, and then to producing. To her, learning leads to better academic production and lives with us forever. Her attitude to research always inspired me and her moral support, feedback and comments assisted me to steer my study through oceans of intelligence and knowledge. I am very thankful to my second and third supervisors Dr Paulette Luff and Dr Aldo Zammit Borda for their valuable feedback and inspiring encouragement. Their feedback and comments also guided me in the production of this piece of work. I am very beholden to my mother, wife Ms. Sanam Abdul Hameed Panhwar and my daughter Aqsa Panhwar for their unfailing support, love and patience. Particularly, their prayer and patience gave me strength and courage to finish this time-taking project. I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr Muhammad Khan Sangi, the former Director of the Institute of English Language and Literature (IELL), UoSJP for his unconditional moral and official support and encouragement during my study. Without his official support during the data collection at the institute, I would have gone through very daunting times. I am also very thankful to the present Director of IELL, Dr Rafique Ahmed Memon for his constructive feedback and intellectual and moral support during my study. I specially thank the University of Sindh, Jamshoro for the award and sponsorship of my PhD study. I also extend my gratitude to the Department of English and Media, Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge for providing funds for my writing up stage. I am grateful to the Charles Wallace Trust as well for the grant they offered me to assist in my PhD study. Lastly, I would express my thanks for my colleagues at IELL for their support and encouragement. I, especially, would like to acknowledge support of Ms. Uzma Shah, Ms. Sumera Bhambhro, Ms. Mehtab Khaskhely, Mr Faiz Muhammad Brohi, and Mr Manzoor Panhwar during the fieldwork of the study. ii ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT FACULTY OF ARTS, LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY This thesis reports a classroom-based action-research study conducted in the University of Sindh, Jamshoro Pakistan, where the researcher teaches English as a Second Language in large compulsory language support classes. The study aims to find an accessible solution to the problem that the majority of students do not actively engage with the learning process in these classes, and therefore fail to make satisfactory progress with their language learning. The problem was investigated through a cyclical process of planning, action, observation and reflection in the researcher’s own class. An initial literature review led to the hypothesis that a highly structured approach to group work, using permanent groups and regular cooperative learning strategies, could effectively improve participation without introducing the classroom management problems sometimes associated with group work in large classes. These strategies were introduced and regularly reviewed using the researcher’s own reflections, as well as feedback from the students and from other teachers who observed the classes. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and the findings from the two types of data were cross-referenced to check their validity. The results indicate that the strategies enhanced students’ participation, confidence, motivation, cognitive skills, and willingness to take responsibility for their own and others’ learning; the intervention also increased student-student and student-teacher interaction. Although there were initially some problems related to students’ unresponsiveness or reluctance to participate, these were largely brought under control by adjusting group membership and constantly explaining to the shyer students the benefits of learning in groups. The study shows that a highly structured approach to group work, using permanent groups and carefully selected cooperative learning activities, can serve to increase student engagement in English language support classes at the University of Sindh, without requiring significant extra resources or creating classroom management issues. It is therefore suggested that wider adoption of this form of communicative learning across the institution, and in similar situations elsewhere, is feasible and could be beneficial for both students and university teachers. Key words: action research, language support, large classes, English as Second Language, teaching, learning, group work, cooperative learning iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION.......................................................................................................i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................ii ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................vii LIST OF CHARTS.................................................................................................vii LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................vii LIST OF PICTURES..............................................................................................viii LIST OF APPENDICES.........................................................................................viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................ix 1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to English language in Pakistan ....................................................................... 2 1.3 Controversial status of English as an official language ................................................... 3 1.4 English language and education in Pakistan ........................................................................ 6 1.5 English language teaching in universities ............................................................................. 9 1.6 My experience ................................................................................................................................ 14 1.7 Objectives of the study ............................................................................................................... 15 1.8 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................................. 17 1.9 Contribution to knowledge ...................................................................................................... 17 1.10 Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 18 2 Effect of class size .......................................................................... 19 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Teachers’ perceptions and experiences of class size effects ...................................... 20 2.2.1 What constitutes a large class? .................................................................................. 20 2.2.2 Problems experienced by teachers .......................................................................... 22 2.3 Perceptions and experiences of learners ........................................................................... 27 2.4 Effects of class size on student engagement and attainment .................................... 29 2.4.1 Observational and experimental studies of large classes .............................. 29 2.4.2 Class size and student attainment ............................................................................ 34 2.5 Group work in large classes ..................................................................................................... 37 2.6 Facilitating the adoption of group work