Group Work to Increase Oral Participation in High School Students

Abstract

In a globalized society, proficiency in the English language has become a crucial aspect for the future of young learners worldwide (John, 2020). The results displayed in the English Proficiency Index (Education First, 2020) conclude that Ecuador is the least proficient country in spoken English in the Latin American region. While working at a private institution from this nation during the 2019-2020 school year, one particular issue was identified: students were able to understand English, but they did not want to speak it during class. There is a particular line of thinking which suggests that psychological factors may be at play in this situation (Newkirk, 2017); embarrassment of mispronouncing words and fear of being made fun of by classmates, for example. Internationally, research conducted by authors such as Harmer (2007) and Hess (2001) suggests that group work (GW) has shown to have positive results when it comes to creating a harmonious learning environment, in which students feel more comfortable when interacting with each other in the L2. In Ecuador, the work of Bustamante (2019) showed promising results when it comes to the benefits of collaborative work amongst students in Writing; could this be applied to Speaking as well? This idea will be tested in the aforementioned local school. A 10-hour lesson plan which relies on GW during English class will be developed. This two-week program will have a strong emphasis on activities that require interaction between the learners, such as: discussions, debates and informal conversations.