Grouping Strategies and Writing Achievement in Cooperative Learning

Abstract

Along with a growing reliance on cooperative learning in language classrooms, a key question is how effective different grouping strategies (i.e. homogeneous and heterogeneous) are. Such an issue seems innovative when considering the long-accepted tradition of heterogeneous grouping of learners in cooperative activities. To reach this aim, present study set out to investigate the effect of grouping in terms of language ability and gender of the Iranian EFL learners on their written performance. Two elementary-level male and two elementary-level female intact classes were selected and randomly assigned to either homogeneous or heterogeneous groups. The treatment sessions lasted 9 weeks of instruction with a special emphasis on developing the skill of writing. Learners were pre-tested and post-tested through a free writing measure. Analyses of variances indicated that learners in homogeneous groups outperformed those in heterogeneous ones, though it did not reach any significance level. Language ability of the learners did not make any difference and only the gender made a significant difference between the groups. A more focused analysis of the five components of writing (i.e. content, organization, grammar, mechanics and vocabulary) revealed the same pattern as that of the learners' whole composition in the two grouping formats. The obtained results were a confirmation of a new strand of research which has questioned the long-dominant heterogeneous grouping in cooperative learning settings to design groups in a way that promotes learners' achievement to the extent possible.