An Exploratory Study of Cooperative Learning of English Language Learners in a Mainstream Classroom

This paper explored the implementation of cooperative learning to twelve English language learners in a Science unit on weather and climate for six weeks. The study investigated what happened when English Language Learners (ELL) were assigned specific roles, when they engaged with one another, the ways ELL took responsibility for the learning of other students and how cooperative learning affected student motivation. A variety of methods was used to gather data. An initial assessment was given to assess prior knowledge of the Science content, anecdotal records were taken during the cooperative learning sessions, self-assessments were given to students at the end of each session and another assessment was given at the end of the unit to measure for growth. Results showed that cooperative learning made a positive impact in each of the areas explored.

This paper explored the implementation of cooperative learning to twelve English language learners in a Science unit on weather and climate for six weeks.