CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING FOR A REAL STUDENT- CENTERED CLASSROOM 1 [Type text] Cooperative Learning for a Real Student- Centered Language Classroom

Cooperative learning, which includes pair work or group work, is an integral part of language learning behavior of communicative methodology. This paper tries to prove how cooperative learning can be applied as a good strategy to make classroom teaching student centered. This is considered as a part of classroom management which can be very motivating and effective for the learners as they actively participate in the learning situation and as there is more interaction between the teacher- learners and the learners-learners. Since students exchange and share information and ideas in the classroom and the success or failure in the learning is shared by each of the members of the group, students feel less test anxiety. As a result, their level of performance increases. To make the process of cooperative learning a success, the teacher needs to form the groups properly, design the tasks and assign them to students equally, explain activities to them clearly, plan every stage elaborately and evaluate and grade learners accurately. Though there are some drawbacks of cooperative learning, it can be successful if it is applied thoughtfully and skillfully to a classroom situation which allows its proper function. Cooperative learning (CL), as defined by Kagan (1994) is a teaching arrangement that refers to small heterogeneous groups of students working together to achieve common goal. It is widely accepted as a range of concepts and techniques that enhance student-student interaction and thus promote effective thinking skills and creativity. When students interact with their peers to brainstorm, explain, question, disagree, persuade and problem solve, they actually ge