2.1. Theoretical Basis of Reading Comprehension
2.2.5. Some Cooperative Learning Structures
What are Cooperative Learning structures or techniques? Structures/Techniques are very specific CL strategies that teachers can use to establish interaction between students. Most structures can be used with almost any academic content, but some structures are better than others for certain tasks. Some structures regulate interaction between pairs, some are better for group work, and others involve the entire class. The
key is learning structures are best suited for a particular instructional purpose.
Following are some of the structures Cooperative Learning most commonly used in language class.
2.2.5.1. Roundrobin
Students in teams take turns orally responding to a question or prompt. You can have questions on slips of paper in the middle of the team, or you can call the question aloud. For example, you could have team members Roundrobin their predictions for a science experiment before you do the activity.
2.2.5.2. Roundtable
Roundtable is the activity from the structural Approach of Kagan (1994). In this activity, students in teams take turns passing a paper around and writing on it or completing another task. This structure can also be used with sorting activities. For example, you could have the names of various organs of the body on slips of paper, and the kids could take turns sorting them into categories according to body system.
2.2.5.3. Think-Pair-Share
This is a cooperative learning strategy developed by Lyman in 1987. It can be defined as “a multi-mode discussion cycle in which students listen to a question or presentation, have time to think individually before talking to each other in pairs, and finally share responses with the larger group” (Lyman, 1987, p.1-2). Students are divided into pairs. First, he teacher calls out a discussion topic and students THINK of their own answer. Then students PAIR to discuss their ideas. Finally, the teacher calls on one student to SHARE their ideas with the class.
2.2.5.4. Numbered Heads Together
The teacher calls out a question and students put their heads together in teams to discuss the answer. Then a number is called, and one person from each team responds (without help from the team.)
2.2.5.5. Jigsaw
Students are on "base teams" of four. Each student is assigned a different role as an "expert." All experts with the same topic meet in a corner of the classroom to learn about their topic. Then they prepare a brief presentation on the material and return to their base teams. They teach their base team members the new material they learned.
2.2.5.6. Corners
The teacher calls out a question or a prompt and names 4 possible answers or responses. The teacher designates a corner of the room for each response. Students write down their personal answer and move to the corner of the room that represents their choice. They pair up with another student to discuss why they chose that answer or response.
2.2.5.7. Three-step Interview
Three-step interviews can be used as an icebreaker for team members to get to know one another or can be used to get to know concepts in depth, by assigning roles to students.
• Teacher assigns roles or students can "play" themselves. Teacher may also give interview questions or information that should be "found."
• Student A interviews student B for the specified number of minutes, listening attentively and asking probing questions.
• At a signal, students reverse roles and B interviews A for the same number of minutes.
At another signal, each pair turns to another pair, forming a group of four. Each member of the group introduces his or her partner, highlighting the most interesting points.
2.2.5.8. Co-op Co-op
In this structure, students work in groups to produce a particular group product to share with the whole class. Each student makes a particular contribution to the group. The main purpose of this structure is that students learn and share complex material, often with multiple sources. Students will learn how to deal with conflicts, and find resolutions and will achieve presentation skills.
This concludes the introduction to CL as an overall approach to teaching that can be used with any subject area. The next section looks more specifically at CL concerning language pedagogy. As can be seen clearly, there are a number of CL structures and not all the structures are useful for teaching reading skills for NEMs.
Therefore, the author decided to use only three of the 3 structures in her teaching reading skills: Think-Pair-Share, Numbered Heads Together and Jigsaw based on the content of the reading texts in the coursebook mentioned before.