LCB Teachers Training College Rodrigo Rouco

Taller Didáctico p. la Enseñanza de Inglés en N. Medio

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Managing Pair Work

Class: 1st year N° of learners: 13 Age of learners: 13

Length of lesson: 40 min. Level: Intermediate Teacher observed: M
_____________________________________________________________________________________

During the lesson

Sub-skill Observation Comment

a) i) Organising groups, T asked sts to ask & It was clear she meant w/
Moving seating, etc answer qs ‘in pairs’. each person’s neighbour. No
into an need to change partners or
activity arrange a different seating
for the activity.
ii) Instructions ‘You’re going to discuss T showed which qs she
these qs w/ your partner. meant by showing the book
In pairs, ask & answer page to sts. Clear, to-the-
these qs. Take a look at point instructions, though no
the prompts.’ checking. She then had to
re-explain instructions to
some individual pairs.
b) i) Monitoring T walked around the T was very active and
Monitori pairs, listened into the involved w/ sts’
ng pair conversations, performance.
work prompted/fed language,
answered sts’ qs, asked qs
herself.
ii) Verbal contact At first, T had to re- T always helpful and at
explain instructions to hand (roles: helper,
some pairs who hadn’t prompter, resource). She
understood. She interacted a lot w/ some
prompted pairs to use the pairs. In that case, she may
‘Useful phrases’ & ‘Adjs have become the ‘centre’ of
to show your opinion’ the conversation.
from the book. She asked
qs and got engaged into
the talks, corrected
mistakes, prompted self-
correction.
iii) Teacher’s voice, Lower tone of voice than Tone: appropriate to
position, etc the one used to address informal talk style.
whole class. She stood up
facing/next to the pair -
no crouching or sitting
down.
c) i) Signalling & re- T said (louder voice) to
Moving orienting whole class: ‘Well, OK!
out of an Let’s see. Now, we stop
activity w/ this.’ She walked
towards the front of the
class and stood up there.
ii) Reporting back T: ‘J is going to tell us
what P did last Saturday.
You tell us what you
found out about P.’ T
asked other sts: ‘Could
you listen to your mates,
please? / Please,
cooperate.’
Very clear signalling. Sts
were able to see and hear
her, they made silence, and
stopped talking.
She listened to J, prompted
self-correction as she spoke
and asked him to give more
info as the st ran out of
comments.

After the lesson

1) Sub-skills when moving into and out of an activity (& their purposes)

Moving into:
Organising groups/seating: to decide who works with whom (according to friendship? level of ability?
at random?); to decide whether some moving about is required (of sts/desks) and how long and / or
chaotic this may be - all this takes on significant consideration for the teacher of a large group.
Engage sts: to motivate them into sth worth doing, fun, enjoyable, interesting, etc so that they feel
enthusiastic about it and profit from it.
Instructions (giving and checking): to give a clear / careful explanation of what sts should do and aim at.
This can involve a mere verbal explanation, a demonstration, paraphrasing, repeating, asking a st to recap,
re-explain, two sts to demonstrate, everyone doing the first item together, etc. This ensures sts are certain
about what they are supposed to do.
Timing: helpful to give sts a clear framework to work with. Also, we should usually stick to the time
allotted.

Moving out of:

Signalling to stop: for sts to go back to the ‘whole-class’ mode and be able to listen to other pairs in the
next step. The teacher can stand at the front of the class, raise his/her voice, clap hands to call for
attention, etc.
Organising feedback: it can involve the teacher asking general questions to the whole class (opinions,
conclusions, reactions…) or individual sts/pairs at random. Depending on the task, we can ask for self-
 correction, peer-correction, or the teacher can correct (on the spot or more delayed feedback). We can
ask partners to compare their results, choose their favourite… Bear in mind the effect of positive,
constructive feedback as more powerful and motivating than negative one. Language mistakes is only
one part. Focus on how successful sts have been at conveying meaning.

2) Teacher intervention (statements based on Brown 1988:9)

a) ‘A teacher monitoring a group is there to listen, help and monitor, but not to teach.’ Partially True. It
is true that we shouldn’t interrupt sts and let them try to communicate as much as they want /can so that
they develop their ability to manage on their own. We can, of course, help, prompt if our assistance is
required. But, if a pair is stuck at sth critical, we can teach them sth that can help them solve that problem
- the typical ‘How do you say…?’ However, even listening, helping and monitoring are part of teaching.
b) ‘Any teacher comment must be preceded by the teacher listening closely to the group to find out how
they are getting on.’ True. If you’re going to contribute with sth, it should be as a response to the sts’
comments, opinions, questions, doubts - first we listen to them and, if need be, we add.
c) ‘Any interaction must be initiated by the group or its members but not by the teacher.’ Partially True
(but more True than False!). Again, you would but in after listening to them. But, in some cases, you may
find a pair who are not making as much progress as expected, or aren’t certain about how to explore the
topic, so you can start interacting so as to guide them and involve them in the discussion.
d) ‘The teacher must give equal time to the groups.’ Mostly True. To be fair, of course. But it often
happens that some groups may demand more time than others because they need it or ask for it. Others
may be doing quite well without much of our intervention, so we may not spend as much time with them.
In any case, the time we devote to different pairs may also vary from class to class.
e) ‘ The teacher must give equal time to individuals within the groups.’ Mostly True. The same as point d).
We should try to balance our attention in a fair manner so that more able / confident / sociable sts don’t
take up too much of our time in detriment of less able sts. But sometimes we should pay more attention to
those who may profit from more personalised assistance, may need more encouragement, etc. Again, this
should be catered for evenly throughout different lessons.
f) ‘The teacher must sit or crouch down so that he or she is at the same height as the students.’ Mostly
True. This is advisable so that you are at the same eye-level as your sts and you don’t show a very
commanding, authoritative presence. If we want to mirror a real-life communicative experience, it is more
common in a talk for people to share the same ‘power’ and be equals. Anyway, this may be an issue if
learners feel a bit detached from the teacher and see the teacher just as an evaluator looking for mistakes
and not really interested in what they want to say.
g) ‘Proxemics, eye contact and tone of voice in group work are necessarily different from those in full
class activities.’ True. When you’re talking to the whole class, you will be raising your tone of voice and
may stand up further away from individual sts so that everyone can see you, and your eyes will move
about more often and focus on particular sts for less time. For teachers and sts, pair work gives them the
chance to discuss topics in a more everyday, ordinary communicative situation.

3) Ease with which members of each pair were able to:

Communicate: As this was pair work, each st was given ample opportunities to discuss their opinions
with a partner. Pair work greatly maximises the chances for output.
Relax, feel comfortable: In general, I noticed that sts were quite engaged and relaxed while talking to
their close partners. Working in pairs takes off some of the pressure of addressing a big crowd, so some
shier sts may welcome this opportunity, especially if they work with someone they know and feel closer
to.
Concentrate on the activity: In this lesson, some sts were highly ‘on task’ until the very end - when the
teacher wound up the activity. Some girls who sat at the back quickly finished talking and started chatting
in L1 about other matters. Perhaps one of the disadvantages (?) of pair work is that it relies heavily on the
student’s responsibility and motivation to carry out the task. If the topic doesn’t raise sts’ interest much,
they won’t have much to say, and the teacher won’t be there for all the pairs to guide them and sustain
their interest. That’s why some sts may finish off soon, get bored, or wander off to a different topic - often
in their L1.
See the board: In this case, there was no need for sts to look at the board as prompts and useful language
were provided in their textbooks. Depending on the seating arrangement, the sts should always have the
chance to see the board for useful language available there. See/hear the teacher: The teacher would
approach pairs as she walked about the classroom. So every st had (some) moments when they could get
full teacher’s attention. However, the only minor difficulty which may have arisen was that, as everyone
was talking and the classroom had become noisier, teacher and sts talking to each other may have had
some trouble hearing.
Work silently: As this was a speaking activity, there was no need to work in silence. The whole purpose
was to get sts talking. Pair work will necessarily render a noisier classroom.
Be included as an equal member: Pair work provides ample chances for sts to work with their partners
in equal terms of responsibility and contribution. In this lesson, it seemed that, as sts worked with their
neighbours of choice, I assume they were those whom they got on well with. They all chatted comfortably
and in a friendly manner. The only disadvantage may be when one of the partners is more talkative or
dominant than the other and may not let the other speak much. That’s why pairing based on friendship
tends to be the most profitable organisation - so they feel at ease.

4) Ways of organising report-back (will depend on the form of production required by the task)

One member (‘the leader’) of the group presents their conclusions, while the rest of the class can
comment on these.
If it was a dialogue, some pairs can perform for the class ‘live’.
Instead of all the class listening to one or two people, we can make sts move to other groups and
presents and compare ideas with their new groups. One advantage of this is that everyone gets more
opportunities for talking and participating. A possible disadvantage is that some valuable and / or critical
points / ideas / mistakes may go unheard of by the rest. Another risk is that recapping again in groups may
render the whole task too long or repetitive - just check how much sts are interested in the topic and
enjoying the discussion.
If the work lends itself to a written presentation, you may choose to ask the pairs to present the work I
written form and pass it round the class for others to assess it.
If you and your sts can make use of new technologies, you can propose sts recording a briefing of their
discussion or a performance of their role-play with their mobiles / MP3 players and then they can upload
it to a (class / personal) blog, for instance. An advantage of this is that everyone can appreciate
everyone’s work whenever and wherever they can. On the other hand, some sts may feel reluctant to be
themselves or their just voices recorded and to appear online. Here the role of the teacher as reassuring
and generating enthusiasm may play a vital role to encourage learners to take up new possibilities.

Reflection
Of the various skills covered in this observation, I feel that the three steps (moving into, monitoring, and
moving out of pair work) need reviewing in my own practice, but with increasing consideration as the
activity moves to the end. For example, as for monitoring, I would like to find better ways through wich I
can assist my sts when they work but without neglecting others. As I mentioned before, the time I devote
to different sts when they work among themselves usually varies during a whole course: sometimes I stay
longer helping, contributing with some sts, sometimes I do that with others. So not everyone gets the
same attention every class. But I try to distribute my help throughout. What is more, it’s happened that
some sts have welcomed my assistance and wanted to ‘hold’ me for longer time, while others preferred
me not to intervene - they felt ‘observed’ and self-conscious. And I can’t help thinking that my rapport
with them may have had something to do. It’s very difficult ot have the same kind of relation with
everyone, but if that affects how confident my sts feel at doing sth… well, that’s something I’d like to
improve…
As for the moving out of the activity, my questions have to do with the report-back phase. How to
everyone equal opportunities to share with the whole class? How not to linger at this phase? How to make
it look as a different stage (with a new and useful ‘flavour’) and not make it sound repetitive?