Introduction
There is no denying that education is of paramount importance. Therefore, it is normal to find that most countries, especially the developed ones, give more support and significance to the educational sector. Needless to say, education plays a key role in shaping the present as well as the future status of any nation. Formerly, educators were adopting the behaviorist approach to teaching and learning. This approach has been subjected to heavy criticism because it treats the student as a passive learner whose task is just to receive knowledge from the teacher. As a result, constructivism, led chiefly by Vygotsky and Piaget, has come to replace behaviorism in teaching and learning. This is due to the fact that the constructivist approach has seen more success and respect thanks to its applicability and effectiveness. In general, the theory of constructivism considers the student an active learner who is the center of all knowledge. Hence, the learner is supposed to build and construct his/her knowledge under the guidance of the teacher. Accordingly, this article aims to investigate both co-operative learning and the importance of language in the context of English language classroom within Vygotsky’s social constructivist framework.
I. Application of Vygotsky’s Concepts of Co-operative Learning and Language to English Language Classroom
A. Sample
The sample consists of nine students of either gender. They all belong to a private senior high school.
B. Method
It is noteworthy that the study in hand is a descriptive one. The data was collected from the sample through participant observation.
C. Data Analysis
1. Co-operative Learning
On the occasion of teaching a writing lesson entitled “Apply for a Grant,” I demanded that the students should work in small groups. Each group consisted of, at least, two students. The activity was about filling in a table with some project specifications. Afterwards, each group was required to write a formal letter addressed to the President of the Municipality using the information on the table. The students were given twenty-five minutes to do the exercise. Meanwhile, I guided the groups through filling their tables in. I tried, as much as possible, not to answer anything and left the students to perform the task on their own. I, only, helped them whenever they were in need. Therefore, I was applying Vygotsky’s notion of “Scaffolding,” which is related to the “Zone of Proximal Development,” to teaching (as cited in Santrock, 2008, p. 52). Following Vygotsky’s notion of scaffolding, I allowed the students to work out the exercise and I acted as a facilitator whose job was to provide the groups with adequate help (as cited in Turuk, 2008, p. 252). Next, I drew a sample of the table on the board and asked one student to stand up and fill in the table with the help of his/her classmates. In the meantime, I corrected any mistake or error if found. Thus, all the groups contributed to producing one coherent project. After, each group was asked to use their project information so as to fill in the gaps found in the letter that would be addressed to the President of the Municipality. However, this was their homework for the coming session. On the occasion of that session, the groups were asked to show me their letters for the purpose of correcting them. In the end, the students copied the letters into their lesson books. I bet that activity was a good opportunity for the learners to appreciate the co-operative work and thereby helped each other to construct knowledge.
2. the Importance of Language in Learning and Teaching
It is undeniable that language is so crucial to education. Hence, it is very rare, if not impossible, to imagine an educator teaching learners without using language. This shows the significance of language in learning and teaching. Perhaps, this is why Vygotsky (1962) maintains that language is a powerful tool which shapes thought and that language and thought initially develop independently before being merged. Accordingly, Vygotsky (1962) believes that young children use language in order to guide and monitor their own behavior. In other words, they use language to regulate their behavior. Vygotsky (1962) calls this “Private Speech” which becomes more internal when children grow up (as cited in Santrock, 2008, p. 52).
When in class, I noticed that some students, sometimes, wanted to say something, but, unfortunately, they did not know how to say it in English. As a result, they, often, preferred to keep silent. However, I always encourage my students to speak English and never be afraid of making mistakes. I keep telling them that the only terrible mistake one can make throughout his/her life is being afraid of making mistakes. More importantly, speaking English most of the time, I think, is the only solution for the students to improve their English language. With all due respect, I disagree with those teachers of EFL or ESL who explain difficult things by means of speaking the students’ mother tongue. An effective teacher can avoid all this and explain through giving examples or making illustrations etc. only in English.
Conclusion
Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and how they influence behavior (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2010). According to Santrock (2008), educational psychology is a branch of psychology that is specialized in understanding both teaching and learning in educational settings. In the late nineteenth century, educational psychology was established by several pioneers such as William James, John Dewey and E. L. Thorndike. Therefore, one cannot simply mention the history of educational psychology without talking about the aforementioned psychologists who mainly shaped and influenced the branch of educational psychology.
Recently, constructivism has emerged as one of the basic influences on the field of education. Most educators have embraced the constructivist pedagogy with an enthusiasm that is so rare nowadays. As a matter of fact, constructivism is an indispensable alternative for behaviorism which is partially doomed to failure. Vygotsky’s work has built the basis of social constructivism in educational settings. He has emphasized, basically, the role of others and the social context vis-à-vis learning.
References
Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary (8th ed.) [Computer software]. (2010). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Santrock, J. W. (2008). Educational psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Turuk, M. C. (2008). The relevance and implications of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory in the second language classroom. ARECLS, 5, 244-262. Retrieved from
http://research.ncl.ac.uk/ARECLS/volume_5/turuk_vol5.pdf
Comments
What wrote Ohnie in her three paragraphs, expressed my words. But... it is also up to the students to change the approach to learning, though to it, a teacher does not lead them. It heads to self-study. I mean the view from inside - not to take the school as obligation for education, not to try to take from these hours of learning as little as possible, but as much as we are able, and it does a lot of students. In fact, they must be aware, at least. Anyway, many young people realize of this error, and more and more they have debating about it, did you notice?
Interestingly, at my school teaches us many of vets or engineers, and you can compare them with pedagogs - so, I think that the problem of education system is in people who "advices" to teachers how to teach, alias especially teachers who follow by this system.
First, I would like to thank you Vietnamese for your spontaneity. As you mentioned, great teachers inspire. An effective teacher exhibits subject matter competence, implements appropriate instructional strategies, sets high goals for themselves and students as well, plans for instruction, creates developmentally appropriate instructional materials and activities and manages the classroom for optimal learning. This is just a synopsis of the profile of an effective teacher. This is maintained by almost all educational psychologists. One more thing, constructivism is the widespread and effective approach to teaching. Other approaches, like behaviourism, are subjected either to partial or complete failure. An effective teacher should always update their learning and teaching methods and materials. Above all, teaching is noble. Peace and Respect!
After a while pondering on your language, finally I decided to put my language. (Don't mind if looks like I am in a tangle).
First, I am not a teacher, one of reasons keeps me far from this career is Impatience. I never had an intention to be a teacher. I do agree with Ken Robinson that Schools Kill Creativity, especially in the Vietnamese education system. That's students have too much homework and even a large number of people who work in education criticize that they have never seen any countries had thick textbooks in schools as in Vietnam and when opening the books you can feel giddy with words filled in each page, no illustrations, or very few. That's why students don't have time to create creativity when they want to be a good student. Rote learning is a popular form of majority of students when they want to get high score in their exams but what they grasp after their lessons? That's they want to forget as soon as possible those lessons finished. I like the educational methods that can develop radically the capabilities and creativity of students. Let them have time to think about new ideas from lessons. Saying more instead of reading only.
I like a saying of Albert Einstein:
I would like to share about my historical teacher in high school. He is one of the most amazing teacher I ever met. I didn't get worried about examining the previous lessons or compulsory exams when joining in his historical classes. All what I can remember now is he used to take some sleep or read magazines in his lecture hours. Sometimes he also lectured some lessons or shared with us about what he found on his newspapers such as the gas prices, car sales in the US, etc. For exams, we would copy from the textbook and he would grade them as the the quantity of words written on papers. I once got bad score because of writing too little. Of course we always learn from experience, I even copied the same paragraphs in my exam paper, and then as a result, I got high score. A laughable situation. When he got inspiration for teaching us, he lectured attractively and passionately (imagine as you are walking under the drizzling sky when you sit nearly his place standing). This way also made us grasp something for lessons, not learn by rote. For example, I still remember his explanation why many babies were born in the war time in Vietnam, though parents didn't afford enough food for their children. That's because they didn't have enough food, and then they could sleep because of hunger, and then they didn't have anything to do to overcome their hunger, and then... and the children were born then.(Just for fun from a fact.) Sorry if it doesn't relate your subject. ;)
Your students are lucky to have such teacher.
Great, Masinissa!! I'm speechless...
Masi, I like the methods you mentioned here. When I used to be the student, we just memorized something without knowing how to use ti in the real life - talking in general. I think that students should be taught in interesting way which will attract them and if they are active and enjoy this all than the teacher succeded as for improving their knowledge in comparison to somebody boring who just blindly follow the book!!!
I do appreciate your comment Ohnie. It's more comprehensive. I like this: learning begins at home.
To sum it up, the task of modern education is to create people who are smart enough to accurately repeat what they're told and follow orders and dumb enough to think this makes them smarter than everyone else.
Very interesting article, Masi! Thank you for sharing. I do agree that students learn more effectively when they are given the opportunity to think on their own and explore within and among themselves (of course, under the supervision of their teachers), rather than allowing them to entirely depend and live off of someone else's knowledge and experience such as their teachers/instructors without even letting them discover for themselves what their minds can achieve. I believe that helping students arouse and develop critical thinking is one of the major roles of an educator but it should come with appropriate warnings and directions.
By the way, are you familiar with CSCOPE? Currently, this is what our public education system here follows. It's been under heavy scrutiny by concerned parents, teachers and citizens. Some experts say that the curriculum was designed to meet the government/state standards instead of the needs of the students. Many important values and facts were omitted in the materials and some were replaced by political correctness. And the saddest part is that teachers are forced to teach based only on this curriculum. What the teacher thinks about a specific topic is irrelevant or whether or not the class grasps the lesson is not much of a concern. The class should run along according to what's laid in the CSCOPE and its schedule. This system does not only bind and gag our teachers but also takes away their basic rights.
For this and other reasons, my family decided to home school. We may not be experts or teachers by profession but we, like other home schooling families, take education seriously. We want to encourage the kids to learn freely and not be limited by a certain curriculum or certain number of hours of learning. Not that we do not trust the teachers but we do not want to entrust our kids to a crooked institution that only serves itself. After all, learning begins at home, which extends outside...to school and community. As parents, it is our responsibility to instill basic/core values into these young minds such as the importance of family, respect for others, love for country, faith, sharing, kindness, hardwork, etc. Parents put their kids through school trusting that the teachers will help nurture and strengthen those values and hoping their children will become better people not puppets. However, if the teachers themselves are bound, then what else would become of our children and our future generation? If homes fail to educate their young ones, who else will?