AWEJ Volume.4 Number.1, 2013 pp. 48 – 63
Using Group Learning Strategies to Enhance the Acquisition of English in Saudi Arabia
Khadijah Bawazeer
King Abdelaziz University
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
This research is an attempt to promote using group learning strategies in the Saudi classroom. The article reports a qualitative case study of the use of group learning strategies in an English-Arabic, Arabic-English translation class in King Abdelaziz University/ Women Campus during the first semester of the year 2012-2013.The test group is composed of 14 female students between the ages of 19-21of various English language abilities. The researcher aims to identify best practices for group work application in Saudi Arabia and to investigate the inhibiting factors and limitations against its use in order to create awareness of the validity of using group work strategies as a learning model. By doing so the research hopes to suggest ways to make group work operative and proposes some application models including specific worksheet models.
Key words: Group Learning, involvement, motivation, enhancement, learner-centered approach