Introduction and Improvement of Team-Based Learning in an English Language Education Class:Effects of Assigning Roles in Group-Work

• Published in: ARELE: Annual Review of English Language Education in Japan Vol. 30; pp. 319 - 334
• Main Author: SEKITANI, Koki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japan Society of English Language Education 31.03.2019; 全国英語教育学会
• ISSN: 1344-8560; 2432-0412
• DOI: 10.20581/arele.30.0_319

This paper presents the author's attempt to improve learners' conceptual understanding and motivation in Second Language Acquisition Research classes, a university-level subject. Although the introduction of team-based learning (TBL) was found to be effective, the presence of an “uncooperative other” in group-work remained an issue. To resolve this issue, each member in the group-work was assigned roles, such as a moderator, first-presenter, and second-presenter. A quantitative analysis (Analysis 1) revealed that learners become more motivated and understand concepts better when a certain role is assigned in group-work. A qualitative analysis (Analysis 2) suggested that if a learner accepts his/her given role, he/she acts with a higher awareness of a contributor to group-work, resulting in inhibiting the emergence of an “uncooperative other.” A new version of the paradigm model was proposed to explain the process of how learners' conceptual understanding and motivation are fostered.