A Study on Students’ Perspective towards Cooperative Learning in the ESL Classroom

Abstract

In this era, there are varieties of approaches to teaching English as Second Language (ESL) learners, and there have been many types of research done to test the effectiveness of these approaches. This research aimed to examine the students’ perspectives on cooperative learning in the ESL classroom. Cooperative learning refers to various instructional practices that encourage students to work together as they apply course material to answer questions, solve problems, or create a project. Therefore, cooperative learning is different from the traditional learning approach because it expands the second language acquisition by providing room for both language input and output. This study employed the quantitative approach where 107 Diploma students from Sultan Idris Education University who underwent a compulsory English course were requested to participate in a survey after completing the activities, which incorporated cooperative learning. The questionnaire was adapted from previous research to ensure reliability in collecting data. Then, the data were tabulated using SPSS software. It focused on the students’ perspectives on learning experience, comprehension, and interaction. The findings revealed that most students had a positive perspective toward cooperative learning in the ESL classroom.