COLLABORATIVE TEACHING: CO-TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS WITHIN ENGLISH-ONLY CLASSROOMS

The instructional method of collaborative teaching has recently been proposed to meet the challenging needs of English language learners. However, research on the academic effectiveness of co-teaching is sparse. This study sought to address this research gap through an experimental design to evaluate the impact of collaborative instruction in a co-taught environment with English language learners and English-only students. In addition, a semistructured interview was conducted with a teacher engaged in co-teaching to assess their perception of collaborative instruction, and a questionnaire was administered to explore the experiences of students exposed to a co-taught environment. Differences in the co-teaching mindset of students who received collaborative instruction and those who did not were also compared. Results suggested that co-teaching has a positive influence on the reading performance of learners, with students introduced to a co-taught environment reporting higher Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills scores than students exposed to solo instruction. Similarly, the teacher and students who were engaged in co-teaching held particularly positive attitudes toward this teaching method. Finally, both students who received collaborative instruction and those who did not display a growth mindset toward co-teaching. Consequently, collaborative instruction is considered a promising intervention, and implications along with recommendations are discussed