ANALYSING THE CADENCE OF GROUP CONFLICTS ACROSS GENDER DURING ONLINE LEARNING

Authors

  • Noor Hanim Rahmat Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
  • Norhartini Aripin Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
  • Zarina Razlan Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Johor, Kampus Segamat, Malaysia
  • Mazlen Arepin Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kampus Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Eliyas S. Mohandas Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
  • Mok Soon Sim Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejoe.v6i2.3886

Keywords:

face-to-face discussions, online group discussions, group formation, group conflicts, communication skills

Abstract

It has been two years since the world has been forced to cope with doing things online. Even in normal face-to-face group discussions, participants face difficulties and conflicts, and now online learning has not made it any easier. This study explores the ups and downs in group discussion. 72 participants responded to a survey to find out how they perceive the conflicts in group formation. The findings in this study revealed that there were significant differences the norming stage and also performing & adjourning stage. In addition to that, the total mean score showed interesting differences across gender. Not all group formations with different genders go through conflicts. Not all team members with the same gender are conflict-free. Sometimes discussions/some activities are more difficult to carry out because of conflicts across genders are not properly addressed. Then again, not all group conflicts are negative. Conflicts are good in several ways. The conversations improve the communication and negotiation skills of the team members. In addition to that, defending for one’s point helps to sharpen critical thinking skills. The findings in this study cannot be generalized for all situations in group work. This study can be a springboard for more group formation and group conflicts research.

Author Biographies

  • Noor Hanim Rahmat, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
    Noor Hanim Rahmat has taught in the university for over 26 years. Her research interests are TESL, Educational Psychology, Academic Writing and Academic Reading.
  • Norhartini Aripin, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
    Norhartini Aripin has taught in the university for more than 6 years. Her research interests are TESL, Academic Writing, and Writing Anxiety.
  • Zarina Razlan, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Johor, Kampus Segamat, Malaysia
    Zarina Razlan has taught in the university for more than 10 years. Her research interests are TESL and Academic Writing.
  • Mazlen Arepin, Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kampus Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
    Mazlen Arepin has taught in the university for more than 15 years. Her research interests include English Literature, TESL.
  • Eliyas S. Mohandas, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
    Eliyas S. Mohandas has taught tin the university for almost 10 years. His research interest is TESL, Reading, and Critical Thinking.
  • Mok Soon Sim, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
    Mok Soon Sim has taught in the university for almost 20 years. Her research interest is teaching Mandarin as a foreign language, Task Based Approach, and Collaborative Learning.

References

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Published

2021-08-08

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Articles

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