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CHAPTER 5

Implementing Cooperative Learning

George M. Jacobs and Stephen Hall

INTRODUCTION
In the last decade there has been a growing interest among ESL/EFL teachers in using
cooperative learning activities. With cooperative learning, students work together in groups
whose usual size is two to four members. However, cooperative learning is more than just
putting students in groups and giving them something to do. Cooperative learning principles
and techniques are tools which teachers use to encourage mutual helpfulness in the groups
and the active participation of all members.
These principles can be seen in the cooperative learning technique Numbered Heads
Together (Kagan, 1992) that can be used, for example, in an ESL/EFL reading class. There
are four steps in doing Numbered Heads Together:

1. Each student in a group of four gets a number: 1, 2, 3, or 4.

2. The teacher or a student asks a question based on the text the class is reading.
3. Students in each group put their heads together to come up with an answer or
answers. They should also be ready to supply support for their answer(s) from the
text and/or from other knowledge.
4. The teacher calls a number from 1 to 4. The person with that number gives and
explains their group’s answer.

Numbered Heads Together encourages successful group functioning because all

members need to know and be ready to explain their group’s answer(s) and because,
This is a slightly revised version of the article that appeared in English Teaching Forum, 32 (4) (October 1994),
2–13.

52

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Implementing Cooperative Learning 53

when students help their groupmates, they help themselves and their whole group, be-
cause the response given belongs to the whole group, not just to the group member
giving it.
A good deal of research exists in other areas of education suggesting that cooperative
learning is associated with benefits in such key areas as learning, self-esteem, liking for
school, and interethnic relations (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1993; Slavin, 1995). In
second and foreign language learning, theorists propose several advantages for coopera-
tive learning: increased student talk, more varied talk, a more relaxed atmosphere, greater
motivation, more negotiation of meaning, and increased amounts of comprehensible input
(Liang, Mohan, & Early, 1998; Olsen & Kagan, 1992).
However, implementing cooperative learning is not like waving a magic wand: Just
say a few magic words, and whoosh! everything is working great. In fact, in planning and
executing cooperative learning, teachers have many decisions to make.
In the planning stage of cooperative learning, there are many philosophical ques-
tions to think about, such as whether to stress intrinsic or extrinsic motivation (Graves,
1990), how much choice to give students in such matters as how, about what, and with
whom they will collaborate, and how tightly to structure activities to help encourage
effective cooperation (Sapon-Shevin & Schniedewind, 1991). These questions demand
the attention of all teachers interested in cooperative learning. However, the focus of
this article is the more mechanical aspects of actually executing cooperative learning in
the classroom.
From our experience doing workshops and courses for teachers about cooperative
learning, we have chosen ten of the most commonly asked nuts-and-bolts questions. The
suggestions listed come from our own ESL and EFL classes, ideas from colleagues and
from the teacher participants in our cooperative learning workshops and courses, and books
and articles in the field.
This article presents a wide range of options. Readers will want to choose those options
which match their own teaching styles and their learners’ backgrounds and needs. You may
well come up with ideas not mentioned here. (If so, please send them to us. We will add
them to our list.) If cooperative learning is new to you and your students, remember that
you all may need time to adjust. We suggest that you explain to students why you are using
cooperative learning; start slowly, be patient, and be persistent.

HOW BIG SHOULD GROUPS BE?

1. Even two people are a group.
2. Generally speaking, the smaller the group, the more each member talks and the less
chance there is that someone will be left out. If time is short, smaller groups can
usually do an activity more quickly. Smaller groups also require fewer group-
management skills. Thus, when starting with cooperative learning, groups of two or
three may be best.
3. Larger groups are good because they provide more people for doing big tasks,
increase the variety of people in terms of skills, personalities, backgrounds, and so on,
and reduce the number of groups for the teacher to monitor.
4. Many books on cooperative learning recommend groups of four. For example,
Kagan (1992) suggests foursomes and uses many cooperative learning techniques in
which students first work in pairs, and then the two pairs of the foursome interact with
one another.

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54 George M. Jacobs and Stephen Hall

HOW SHOULD GROUPS BE FORMED?

1. Most experts on cooperative learning suggest that teacher-selected groups work best,
at least until students become proficient at collaboration. Teacher-selected groups
usually aim to achieve a heterogeneous mix. Such a mix promotes peer tutoring, helps
to break down barriers among different types of students, and encourages on-task
behavior.
2. In creating teacher-assigned teams, factors to consider include language proficiency,
first language, sex, race, and diligence.
3. An effective way to set up mixed-proficiency groups is to band the learners’ names
into, say, four proficiency clusters from high to low and then select randomly from
within each band so that groups will involve learners with a range of proficiencies.
Other criteria, such as sex, race, and diligence, can be considered when deciding
whom to choose from which band.
4. Random grouping is quick and easy and conveys the idea that one can work with
anyone.
5. Many ways exist for randomizing groups. The most common is counting off. Take the
number of students in your class, divide by the number of students you want per
group, and the result will be the number students should count to. For example, if
there are 56 students in the class and you want groups of 4, divide 56 by 4, which
is 14; so, students should count to 14.
6. Other ways to set up random groups include using playing cards, giving out numbered
pieces of paper, and distributing cards with different categories on them and letting
students group themselves according to the category. An example of the latter
procedure would be to have some cards with names of animals, others with names of
plants, others with names of countries, and so on. All the animals would find each
other and form a group, all the plants would look for the other plants, and so forth.
7. The number of students in the class may not fit evenly with the number of students
per group. For example, if there are forty-seven students in the class, and you want
groups of four, three students will be left over. It might be best to from eleven groups
of four and one group of three.
8. When students become good at cooperative group work, they can group themselves –
for example, by interests – for self-directed projects (Sharan & Sharan, 1992).

WHEN STUDENTS ARE WORKING IN THEIR GROUPS, HOW

CAN THE TEACHER GET THE CLASS’S ATTENTION?
1. A signal can be used to tell students that groups should quickly bring their
discussions to a temporary halt and face the teacher. One popular signal is the teacher
raising a hand. When students see this, they are to raise their hands also, bring their
discussion to a close, alert other students who have not seen the teacher’s raised hand,
and face the teacher. One way to remember this is RSPA (Raise hand, Stop talking,
Pass the signal to those who have not seen it, Attention to teacher).
2. Other possible signals include ringing a bell, playing a musical instrument, blowing a
whistle, snapping one’s fingers, and flicking the lights on and off. One teacher we
know starts to sing! Another puts two signs on the board, one to stop working and
face the teacher, and the other to continue but more quietly. She knocks on the board
to get students’ attention and then points to the appropriate sign.

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Implementing Cooperative Learning 55

3. Some teachers play music in the background as groups study together. In this case,
turning off the music can be the attention signal (Saeki, 1994).
4. When students lead class activities, they can use the same signal.
5. One student in each group can take the role of group checker with the responsibility
of watching out for the teacher’s signal and being sure the group responds to the
signal quickly. Many other types of roles can be used to facilitate group functioning
(Ilola, Power, & Jacobs, 1989).
6. If some groups are not responding quickly to the attention signal, rewards, such as
praise, can be given to encourage this component of smooth-functioning group
activities.

WHAT CAN BE DONE IF THE NOISE LEVEL BECOMES

TOO HIGH?
1. One student per group can be the noise monitor or quiet captain whose function is to
urge the group to collaborate actively, yet quietly.
2. The closer together students sit, the more quietly they can talk. Having students sit
close together not only helps reduce the noise level, but also helps foster cooperation
and minimizes the chance of someone being left out.
3. Along with sitting close together, students can use special quiet voices, for example,
“6-inch” voices or “30-centimeter” voices.
4. A signal similar to the one used to get the class’s attention (see the preceding section)
can be used as a sign to continue working but a bit more quietly. For example, for
“Stop working,” the signal might be hand raised straight up, and for “work more
quietly,” the signal could be hand raised with arm bent at elbow.
5. Kagan (1992) suggests stoplight cards. A green card goes on the desk of groups if
they are working together quietly. A yellow card indicates they need to quiet down a
bit. When a red card is put on their desk, the group should become completely silent,
and all should silently count to ten before starting work again.

WHAT IF A STUDENT DOES NOT WANT TO WORK

GROUP?
IN A
1. Discussing the advantages that students can derive from learning in groups may help
overcome resistance to group activities. These potential advantages include learning
more, having more fun, and preparing for tasks away from school in which
collaboration is necessary.
2. Students may look more favorably on cooperative learning if they understand that
talking with others is a language learning strategy that they can apply outside of class
as well (Oxford, 1990).
3. Students should realize that studying in groups is only one of several ways of learning
that will go on in the class.
4. Group games may encourage students to look forward to other group-learning
activities. Many enjoyable games also teach academic and social skills.
5. Start with pairs and tasks that require exchange of information (Nation, 1990).
Provide language support in terms of useful vocabulary and structures, so that

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56 George M. Jacobs and Stephen Hall

students are more likely to succeed (Richards, 1995). Success here will build
confidence in the ability to work in groups.
6. Students who do not want to study in groups can be allowed to work on their own.
In our experience, after a while, they will want to take part in the group interaction
and will ask to join a group.

WHAT IF SOME GROUPS FINISH EARLIER THAN OTHERS?

1. Check to see if the groups have done the assignment properly.
2. Have groups that finish early compare what they have done with other groups that
also finished early.
3. Have groups discuss how they worked together. Then, because sometimes
smooth-functioning groups can provide good models for others, you might want to
have exemplary groups explain their group process. This might help all groups work
together more efficiently.
4. Develop one or two “sponge activities.” Sponge activities are short activities, related
to the main task, that soak up the extra time between when the first and last groups
finish.
5. Set time limits to discourage groups from dawdling. These time limits are flexible. If
groups are working well, but need more time, the limit can be extended.
6. Ask students to help other groups that have not yet finished.
7. Groups that finish early can work on homework or other assignments.

WHAT IF A FEW STUDENTS ARE FREQUENTLY ABSENT?

1. Assign these students as extra members of groups. For example, if students are
working in groups of four, add such students as the fifth member of groups.
2. Assign tasks that can be accomplished in one class period.
3. Being a member of a group may give such students a feeling of belonging and a
reason to come to school that they did not have before. Groups may also help them to
be more successful in school, and thus to enjoy being at school more.
4. Coach students in how to use appropriate peer pressure to encourage frequently
absent members to come to school and to complete their portion of group tasks. (In
some cases, of course, absent students may have family obligations or other
nonschool reasons for missing class.)
5. If a group is working cooperative Jigsaw activities (Kagan, 1992), give the missing
piece to the whole group.
6. Make sure that groups have contingency plans in case members are missing. Learning
to make such plans is an important group skill, because absences are also a common
problem in groups outside of school.
7. In an ongoing activity, ask groups to update absent members when they return to
school. This encourages students to develop peer-tutoring skills.
8. Let groups be responsible for contacting absent members to inform them of what they
missed and to make sure that they know what the assignments are.
9. Be prepared to adjust grading if such students leave their groups in a lurch, giving
absent student a lower mark.

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Implementing Cooperative Learning 57

HOW LONG SHOULD GROUPS STAY TOGETHER?

1. Keeping groups together for fairly long periods, 4 to 8 weeks, gives them a chance to
become comfortable with one another, allows them to form a group identity and
bond, and gives them the opportunity to learn how to overcome difficulties they have
working together. This is where spending time during or after cooperative activities to
have groups process their interaction comes in handy (Dishon & O’Leary, 1993).
2. Groups that stay together for at least a few weeks facilitate long-term projects, such
as those using the cooperative learning method Group Investigation (Sharan &
Sharan, 1992).
3. Try to resist the temptation to disband groups that are not working well. Stress to
students that we need to learn to be able to work with all sorts of people, including
those whom we, at least initially, do not like. Use team-building activities and
instruction in collaborative skills to help create a spirit of togetherness in groups
(Kagan, 1992).
4. Forming heterogeneous groups according to such criteria as proficiency, sex, first
language, and personality is a lot of work for teachers. Therefore, one would not want
to do that too often.
5. Even while students are in long-term groups, short one-shot activities can be done
with different grouping configurations. This may add a bit of variety.
6. Avoid keeping groups together if they begin to become cliquish (Dishon & O’Leary,
1993).

HOW SHOULD GROUPS BE ENDED?

1. All groups can end with statements by learners and the teacher not only about the
content learned, but also about the learning process.
2. When long-standing groups are disbanded, there should be some kind of closure
activity for members to thank each other for their help and to sum up what has been
learned about working in groups. This can be in oral or written form.
3. Groupmates can write “letters of reference” to be given to members of the person’s
new group.
4. Group pictures can be taken.
5. Group products can be posted or published. This aids a sense of achievement and
gives credibility to the group’s work. Also, group products can serve as vehicles for
assessment by individuals, groups, and teachers.

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE TIME SHOULD COOPERATIVE

LEARNING BE USED?
1. No one suggests that the class be organized in cooperative groups all the time.
2. Many cooperative learning activities combine a group component with components in
which the teacher lectures or demonstrates, and others in which students work alone
(e.g., Slavin, 1995).
3. When students and/or teachers are unfamiliar with cooperative learning, it is best to
start slowly. Use one cooperative learning technique, such as Three-Step Interview or

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58 George M. Jacobs and Stephen Hall

Numbered Heads Together (Kagan, 1992), several times to allow students to become
accustomed to collaboration.
4. Discuss with students the whys and hows of learning together.
5. Making cooperation a content theme helps students tune in to working together.
For example, once we asked students to write individually about a successful
group experience in which they had participated. Then, groups were used to
provide feedback.
6. Interact with colleagues for support and ideas.
7. Find the right balance of teaching modes according to your philosophy of education,
your reading of the research (including your own research), students’ preferences,
and what seems to be working best. Students need to know how to cooperate,
compete, and work alone.

References
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creating more effective schools (rev. ed.). Holmes Beach, FL: Learning Publications.
Graves, T. (1990). Are external rewards appropriate or desirable in a cooperative classroom?
Cooperative Learning, 11, 15–17.
Ilola, L. M., Power, K. M., & Jacobs, G. M. (1989). Structuring student interaction to
promote learning. English Teaching Forum, 27, 12–16.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Holubec, E. J. (1993). Circles of learning. 4th ed. Edina,
MN: Interaction Book Company.
Kagan, S. (1992). Cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Cooperative Learning.
Liang, X., Mohan, B. A., & Early, M. (1998). Issues of cooperative learning in ESL classes:
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Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Language teaching techniques. Wellington: English Language In-
stitute, Victoria University.
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(Eds.), Getting started: Materials writers on materials writing (pp. 95–135). Singapore:
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