APPLYING COOPERATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING TECHNIQUES IN IRANIAN ELT CONTEXT

This study attempted to investigate the possible effects of applying cooperative learning techniques in Iranian context. Hence, 60 female and male English learners were selected as the study’s participants and have been randomly put into two groups of experimental and control. Each class contained 30 English learners of both genders. Before applying the cooperative techniques of language learning, a pronunciation proficiency test along with a general English proficiency test was given to the participants of both groups. After gaining certitude about the homogeneity of the study’s participants, the study’s treatment was applied. The experimental group was taught through cooperative techniques of language learning (e.g., the three-step interview, round-table, think-pair-share, solve-pair-share and numbered heads) while the learners of the control group were taught through the Grammar Translation Method as the traditional approach of teaching English in Iran. An achievement final exam and the same pronunciation test were used as the post-tests at the end of the course and the mean scores of both groups on these tests were compared. The results showed that cooperative teaching of English as a foreign language had a significant effect on the overall achievement and their pronunciation proficiency of experimental Iranian English learners of both genders. As the pedagogical implication, it has been found that learning English as a foreign language in a student-centered cooperative context where the cooperative language learning techniques were employed and peer-correction was established, let to an improvement in acquisition of the course-book’s contents in addition to the learners’ pronunciation proficiency.