In the Cooperative Learning ... learning is dependent on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in groups each learner feels responsible for his or her own learning and motivated to increase the learning of others (Olsen and Kagan 1992: 8)

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development The lower limit of ZPD is the level of skill reached by the child working independently. The upper limit is the level of additional responsibility the child can accept with the assistance of adults or more-skilled children.

Objectives of Cooperative Language Learning approach To foster cooperation rather than competition To develop critical thinking skills To develop communicative competence through socially structured interaction activities

5 principles of cooperative nature of language learning (Richards and Rodgers, 2001, p.193) Humans are born to talk and communication is generally considered to be the primary purpose of language. Most talk/speech is organized as conversation.

Conversation operates according to a certain set of cooperative rules or ‘maxims’. One learns how these cooperative maxims are realized in one's native language through casual, everyday conversational interaction. One learns how the maxims are realized in a second language through participation in cooperatively structured interactional activities.

Q: What are the advantages of Cooperative Language Learning?

1. Providing the Chances of Input and Output Group interaction assists learners in negotiating for more comprehensible input and in modifying their output to make it more comprehensible to others (Crandall, 1999; kagan, 1995).

2. Creating Effective Climate Time to think and receive feedback from group members, and the greater likelihood of success reduce anxiety and can result in increased participation in learning language (Crandall, 1999). Therefore, more participation will inevitably increase learner’s self-confidence and self-esteem.

3. Increasing a Variety of Language Functions Students may find themselves involve in requesting, clarifying, making suggestions, encouraging, disagreeing, negotiating of meaning, exchanging conversation during group work.

4. Fostering Learner Responsibility and Independence Students become more autonomous and self- controlled and less dependent upon outside authority, and over time, they will gradually move from interdependence to independence (Johnson & Johnson, 1991).

Q: Are there any problems of Cooperative Language Learning in Korean EFL context?

Some students do not like working in cooperative groups. Korean Students have been trained to be competitive and work individually, so they lack cooperative skills. Aggressive students may try to take over, bright students may tend to act superior, and loners may find it hard to share answers. In the crowded classrooms, because of the numbers of the students, it is not easy to try the activities.