협력학습이 초등학생의 영어 쓰기 능력과 사고 과정에 미치는 영향

The effects of collaborative learning on elementary school students’ English writing ability and thinking process

The purpose of the study is to explore the effects of collaborative learning on English writing ability and thinking process. One hundred and thirty-seven fifth grade students at an elementary school in Seoul participated in this study. Students were divided into two groups - experimental and comparative. Students in the experimental group engaged in collaborative learning for writing instruction. The comparative group experienced only individual or pair activities. The data of the study included written tests and artifacts, self-assessment sheets, questionnaires, and individual interviews. The results of the study identified that collaborative learning has a significant effect on the development of writing accuracy and fluency. The experimental group of students were able to encounter various ideas through interaction, which led to an increase in the number of words and sentences used in their writings. Moreover, the mutual feedback in heterogeneous groups was effective enough to improve students’ writing accuracy. Lastly, the experimental group of students were able to generate a greater number of genuine and authentic ideas and organize them more systematically. The results offer an alternative approach to the one-way teaching method, most commonly used today. Through in-depth studies, educators may learn the significant benefits of collaborative learning in writing instruction.