THE PERCEPTIONS OF LIBYAN EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TOWARDS THE USE OF GROUP WORK IN THEIR SPEAKING CLASSES

Authors

  • Imad Waragh Dr., University of Al-Zintan, Libya
  • Hamdi Suwaed University of Subratha, Libya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v6i3.3595

Keywords:

meaning of group work, benefits of group work, and drawbacks of group work

Abstract

Group work is believed to be one of the possible solutions to the problem of dealing with large number of students within one speaking class. However, how students perceive group work in their EFL speaking classes is an area that needs to be researched. This study looks at how students perceive group work in their speaking classes and their preference of being given a specific role in a given speaking task that involves working in a group. A questionnaire has been distributed to 42 students to highlight their perceptions towards group work. Results from this study revealed that EFL students seem to like the idea of working in groups in their speaking classes as they reported a number of benefits that they gain when they work in groups, for example, they feel more independent, they have a chance to share ideas, and they speak English in most of the time in the class. However, a number of drawbacks have been also reported by the students, for example, the domination of one student in the group, some students find it difficult to work in a group of mixed gender, and low level students sometimes feel frustrated to work in group.

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Author Biographies

  • Imad Waragh, Dr., University of Al-Zintan, Libya
    Dr. Imad Waragh is a lecturer at the University of Al-Zintan and he has a PhD in TESOL from the University of Sunderland, UK. emadwaragh@gmail.com
  • Hamdi Suwaed, University of Subratha, Libya
    Hamdi Suwaed is a lecturer assistant at University of Subratha and he has Master in Education from Glasgow University, UK. suwaed2014@gmail.com

References

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Published

2021-02-22

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 3 (2021)

Section

Articles

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