Research+Rationale

This is the page for the rationale of my research
This research rationale is a "living document" that will continue to change as the research evolves.

__My backgrounds__
In school year 2000/2001 I carried out an action research project about Cooperative Learning in a second grade class. I used the Learning Together cooperative method. Since 2001 I started to improve my knowledge of this interesting methodology through readings, attending workshops on CL and searching information on the internet. I co-founded an Italian professional association (A.R.I.A.C) which aims to support teachers who want to start using CL in their class. Last year I took part in a CLIL project regarding oral participation promoted by University of Ca' Foscari in Venice and IRRE Veneto (Istituto di Ricerca Educativa Regionale Veneto.I could experiment Kagan cooperative structures with the help of experts. The results were quite encouraging so I decided to try to increase the use of cooperative tasks in my lessons.

__Introduction__
Cooperative learning is a teaching arrangement that refers to small, heterogeneous groups of students working together to achieve a common learning goal and a collaborative relationship among participants (Rich, 1993; S. Sharan & Hertz-Lazarowitz, 1979). In this learning arrangement, small groups of students discuss topics and learn to take charge of their own learning. Team spirit, rather than individual competition, is stressed as students work together. Positive interdependence is the goal of cooperative learning. The success of the group depends on each member attaining both the group learning goal and his or her individual learning goal (Putnam, 1993). (Marilyn W. Goodwin ) "For many years teachers of English as a second language have been using cooperative learning strategies to great advantage; indeed, in many countries they have been at the forefront of the development of cooperative tasks and activities. The match between cooperative learning strategies and teaching ESL is easily understood. After all, one of the main purposes for learning a language is comunicate, and learning in small groups of pairs enables comunication from the start. Discussing, exchanging ideas, practicing together, asking and answering question, reaching conclusion - all are language promoting activies central to the cooperative learning (CL) classroom. That is not to say that there is no value in teaching rules or "recipes" only that we must keep in mind that taking part in a social activity goes beyond the __reproduction of__ of correct grammar and syntax. CL activities allow for the practice and __production__ of language patterns in a setting as colse to a natural one as classroom allows. Learners can be active participants in their learning, rather than only performing according to rules on cue" (Yael Sharan, workshop in Venice October 2007)

__Research Questions__
What kind of cooperative tasks could be more effective at promoting oral communicative competences in a monolingual Italian class of 9 year-old students? What social skills do I need to teach and how? How do students use their mother tongue in group activities? How long do students interact orally using English as main language in one lesson?