Pair Work and Group Work

John Mark King in jorabek.com defined pair and group work as the act of dividing students so that they work cooperatively with only a small number of their classmates on a specific task assigned by their teacher. According to him pair and group work first came into usage in the 1970s when teachers first noticed that more than 80% of all classroom talk was teacher talk. Dr Bilash in education.alberta.ca suggested that pair work and group work can all be effective, if used at the right times and if structured in an appropriate way. For teachers, pair work and group work can be excellent tools to promote student interaction. As a teacher it is important to vary groupings depending on the goals and context of the activity and it is important to know what supports to offer students for each situation. A benefit of students working together is that, by explaining a concept or idea to peers, that idea or concept becomes clearer to the student doing the explaining. 

Penny Ur recommends that teachers working with large classes should divide them into five groups which is the most effective organization for practising speaking. (Ur, 1996, p.232). When learners work in pairs or groups it is impossible for the teacher to listen and correct all the mistakes they make and this is not the purpose of the activity. However, he/she can reduce the number of mistakes before the students start working by demonstrating the activity to the class first and by asking pairs or groups to perform in front of the class afterwards and discussing what they said and pointing out the most common mistakes.(Doff, 1988, p.141).

Benefit of pair work is students have the chance to work with and learn from their peers; struggling students can learn from more capable peers; it is especially useful for students who prefer interpersonal learning settings. The challenge of the pair work, If students are not matched up well (low students together, high students together, a higher student with a low student but they don’t work well together) pair work won’t be useful; the ability of the students to work in this way needs to be taken into consideration. When it is suitable giving it and getting it activities, Inductive learning activities.

There are many problems with pair work, but there are also many ways to solve them successfully. Some more tips are suggested by Byrne. (1989:34-35) To prevent problems with pair work Byrne suggests several points to keep in mind:

1. Divide the students into pairs in the most convenient way possible.
2. Make sure the students know exactly what they have to do.
3. Keep activities simple.
4. Don’t let activities go on too long.
5. Carry out selective checking.
6. Control the noise level as necessary.
7. Provide feedback.

Group type of student work also have benefits and challenges. It involve benefits such as it provides more opportunity for practice, an increased variety of activities is possible and an increased student creativity. The challenges may be that as with pair work, the groups must be carefully selected to ensure students can work productively; not all students are able to work to their full potential in this situation; assessment of student progress can be challenging. It is suitable when there is assessment of learning as described by Dr. Bilash in education.alberta.ca. By dividing the class into groups students get more opportunities to talk than in full class organization and each student can say something.

Definition of Pair Work

Pair work is a type of classroom interaction when students are working with another student. This may be to discuss something, to check answers, to do a communicative activity, etc. Pair work is an important component of the communicative approach, and is also a form of collaborative learning. Moon (2000:53) defines pair work as a strategy “to organize those (students) in ways that will maximize opportunities for learning”. Pair work means that students collaborate with their pairs to accomplish tasks and reach its aim. Lightbown and Spada (1999:56) said that in an interactive environment, children are able to advance to a higher level of knowledge and performance than they would be capable of independently. Working in pairs could help to promote meaningful interaction between the learners and as a result that will increase their interest. This view is echoed by Lightbown and Spada (1999:56) when they state that “positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning”. Hence, introducing pair work is an effective strategy that could lead to success in language learning because it helps to increase students’ interest in term of the oral tasks.

Based on the explanation above, pair work is a classroom activity in which the whole class is divided into pairs. Advantages and Disadvantages of Pair Work

The advantages of pair work according to Watcyn-Jones (2002:9) in the points below:

1. Pair work gives everyone a chance to speak in non-threatening environment, i.e. with a fellow-student rather than in front of the teacher and the whole class. Students will learn from one another in a natural way that approximates more to the world outside and gets away from someone of the constraints of the classroom.
2. Pair work activities are students-centered rather than teacher centered. Once an activity has been explained (and perhaps demonstrated), the students work independently of the teacher and at their own pace. This means the students really have an opportunity to see how well they can communicate in English. Byrne adds that it teaches them how to lead and be led by someone other than the teacher. (Byrne, 1989:31)
3. The language produced during pair work is generally more natural and authentic than in teacher-led sessions. It is also more personalized and, subsequently, more memorable for the students. Byrne says that students can face and talk directly to one another, so it is much closer to the way we use language outside the classroom. (Byrne, 1989:31)
4. Pair work activities encourage co-operation between students since, in order to complete a task successfully, they have to work together and help create a very positive learning atmosphere in class – one where they genuinely want to work with others. It also normally leads to students being less afraid of making mistakes. In addition, most students grow in confidence as they discover that they can complete a task successfully without constant help from the teacher.
5. Many pair work activities (especially of the ice-breaker type) lead to greater personalization and students begin to express their own personalities in a more natural and less inhibited way. This again contributes to creating a better learning atmosphere in class plus a positive group feeling. Byrne adds that pair work allows students to mix with everyone in group. (Byrne, 1989:31)
6. Many pair work activities are a lot more fun to do than more traditional exercises. Students who enjoy what they are doing are more likely to learn than those who find the work boring.
7. Pair work is dynamic and active. Learning cannot really take place unless the students are actively involved in the process. Pair work keeps them active which increases their ability and desire to learn. It corresponds to Byrne’s idea that pair work provides some variety during the lesson. (Byrne, 1989:31)
8. Finally, pair work gives teachers a break from being the center of attention, from having to ‘perform‘, be dynamic, interesting, and so on. Instead, the teacher can stand back, listen more actively and think up strategies for helping the students increase their knowledge and confidence. (PW Watcyn-Jones 2002:9)

According to Lie (2005:46) the disadvantages of pair work :

1. Many groups that report and need to be monitored.

2. Fewer ideas emerge.

3. If there is a dispute, there is nomediator.

Definition of Group Work

According to Killen, group work is a learning strategy that having students work together in groups rather than describing the classical.

Group work strategy is defined as a teaching strategy used by the teacher to improve the students’ achievement in which all the students are involved in group activities and become expert on a part of an instructional material they learning about. Any time two or more of our students are working together, other than when we are using whole-class instruction, you can be said to be group work strategy (Killen, Roy: 1996: 59).

Based on the explanation above, group work is the student working together in groups that consist of three or more students.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Work

Advantages of group work :

1. Group work encourages students to express their ideas. It can help them understand the subject matter .
2. Students who understand this will explain to his friend can help the understanding of the members of the group for the completeness of the subject matter .
3. Group work actively involve students in learning, and this can boost their performance .
4. Group work helps students to respect other students either clever or weak and cooperate with each other .
5. Group work provides an opportunity for all students to contribute ideas and finish materials in a cozy atmosphere .
6. Judging from the pedagogical; activities of the group will get a quality of personality of learners such as cooperation, tolerance, critical thinking, discipline and so on.
7. In terms of psikologo; arising positive competition between the groups as they work on each group.
8. In terms of social; smart kids in the group can help children who are less proficient in completing the task.

Disadvantages of group work :

1. Sometimes it can lead to unhealthy competition among the students in the group.
2. The task of educators will become more numerous and varied.
3. The tasks given sometimes only be done by a handful of learners capable and industrious, while learners are lazy submit to his duties within the group.

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