Breaking Language Barriers: The Impact of Cooperative Learning on Oral Fluency in ELF Erasmus

Abstract

[eng] This dissertation explores the use of cooperative learning (CL) in study abroad programs among non-English speaking countries to improve the oral production skills of secondary school students. Cooperative learning centers the learning process on students, allowing them to collaborate and learn from each other (Li and Lam, 2013). This methodology promotes motivation in students and it has been rightfully gaining popularity (Bećirović et al., 2022; Jhonson and Jhonson, 2009; Tran, 2019). Furthermore, it improves oral production even when it has only been applied for short periods of time (Namaziandost et al., 2020), making it an ideal candidate to implement in study abroad programs for secondary school students. Study abroad programmes, such as Erasmus, are becoming more frequent by the day (European Commission, 2023) as their accessibility rises. These programmes are widely believed to motivate students and provide a perfect context to practice their oral communication skills in an international setting (Alcón-Soler, 2015). The aim of this dissertation is to present a teaching proposal that will help students develop their oral skills in study abroad programs. Special emphasis will be made to foster the notion of Enlgish as a Lingua Franca, which operates on the basis of enabling effective communication among speakers who are non-native speakers of English. This is particularly relevant since Erasmus actions among non-anglophone countries are more frequent than Erasmus to anglophone countries. There are mixed views on student’s motivation about going on Erasmus programs with non -English natives, (Kimsesiz, 2024). Thus, cooperative learning is applied as a means to increase interaction and socialization which will improve the chances of success in motivation and in turn, oral fluency. Therefore, a teaching proposal for 4th of ESO level is made with the objective to improve the learners’ oral skills through cooperative learning, incorporating speaking activities both prior to and during the Erasmus experience. This dissertation provides a framework for organizing an international Erasmus program with non-anglophone natives based on Cooperative Learning as a way to make sure that they are increasing their performance in English speaking. Furthermore, this research hopes to contribute to the field by providing a teaching proposal that provides practical applications for teachers and organizers