The advantages of pair work and small group work
- Gives learners more speaking time.
- Changes the pace of the lesson.
- Takes the spotlight off you and puts it onto the children.
- Allows them to mix with everyone in the group.
- Gives them a sense of achievement when reaching a team goal.
- Teaches them how to lead and be led by someone other than the teacher.
- Allows you to monitor, move around the class and really listen to the language they are producing.
Pitfalls and how to avoid them
- You could lose control of the class. Set up a signal before you start, like a visual time out with your hands, so that they know when to stop. Don't shout for them to stop as they will just shout louder!
- You are not able to listen to everyone at once and hear what they are saying – set up groups of three where A and B talk while C monitors. Then swap roles. They are producing language; you just want to make sure the language they are producing is English. Have a fun system of every L1 word you hear, the monitor must stand up and then stay standing. The activity stops if all monitors are standing. This will make them aware of using English as much as possible and using their first language as little as possible.
- The classroom will get very noisy. This is ok, as long as they aren't shouting. Move them into different places in the room so that they can hear themselves speak.
How to set up pair and group work
- Be sure to fully explain the procedure before splitting the class up.
- Always demonstrate, either yourself or with the help of a volunteer, exactly what they have to do.
- Ask them to tell you what they have to do before they do it (in L1 if need be) to check their understanding.
- Have fill in activities ready for the quick finishers – but be sure that they have completed the task correctly first and haven't just finished early because they misunderstood what they had to do.
- Don't forget to have feedback time after pair work so that the children don't feel that they have been wasting time. It's important to share their work as a whole group although this doesn't have to be systematic.
- Set a clear time limit.
- Control who works with who so children aren't always being dominated or dominating others.
Activities which lend themselves to pair work
- Roll the ball
This can be used to practise any language that requires a question/answer pattern. They can roll the ball to each other and have to say the appropriate sentence as they roll the ball. E.g. 'Hello.' 'Hello.' 'What’s your name?' etc. Remember the sentences they practise should be fairly short. - Information gap
Give each pair a picture. The pictures should be nearly the same with two or three elements missing from each picture. Without showing each other the pictures, they should describe the missing objects. They will practise colour, prepositions of place, and adjectives such as big, small, etc. Then they can compare their pictures. - Telephone conversations
Sitting back to back they can practise simple exchanges that don't have to be connected to the telephone itself. Sitting back to back should arouse their interest and help train them with listening skills. It's a challenge, but a fun one!
Activities which lend themselves to group work
- Posters
Used to practise categorising skills, reviewing colours and names of toys. The children can be in charge of finding pictures of toys and grouping them in terms of colour or type of toy and displaying their work. - Cuisenaire rods
If you can find a set of these wooden, colour coded rods, you'll find they come in handy for a whole host of activities. Give a random selection to the small groups. Together they must imagine a scene and build it to then describe to the class. - Weather dressing
Bring in a selection of items of clothing. You can ask the children to bring in one item each the week before, but bring a few extra yourself to account for those who forget. Put the items in four piles around the room to make access easier and to avoid a scramble on one pile. The class should be in four groups – one for each season. They have a few minutes to collect a certain number of items that they could wear in that season. Everyone must have at least one item. But no-one in the group must have the same item as their other group members. The language they use can be describing to their group what they're wearing, using colours and clothing vocabulary, and saying in what weather conditions they would wear the item. The other group members can say if they think it's appropriate for their season or not.
Comments
I personally like working on…
I personally like working on my own or with really small, efficient groups. I feel like this way I can finish faster and express my ideas better
working in pairs
My favorite kind of classroom interaction is pair or group work because sometimes I need someone to explain the topic from a different point of view to fully understand it.
Pair Work and its importance
Before reading the text, I honestly thought that pair work and group work were just a way for teachers to make classes more fun or to save time. I didn’t really think they had an actual purpose behind them. But after reading the text, I realized that working in pairs or small groups helps students in a lot of ways. It gives everyone more chances to talk, learn from each other, and feel more confident when reaching goals together. I also liked how it teaches leadership and teamwork skills, not just language. I hadn’t thought about the challenges either, like noise or losing control.
Classroom Interaction
Individual because it's easier to express my own ideas and finish faster. Also it is a good way of maiking the class quiet.
Group Work
Working in pairs could really help those students which have trouble speaking in front of the class during those exercises involving all the class. They can participate and elaborate the topic better
Working in pairs and groups
These are great ideas! Not only fun but so useful and easy to practice!
Importance of pair work
This kind of interaction is very useful, as students get to work togeher and help each other if they need it. It is a class dynamic that definitely helps them to stay engaged with the class and actively work together.
Pair work
It is often seen as a time loss when kids work together, because the class may seem noisy and people might not be active when working without the teacher's supervision; but this text shows that it can be a great idea and helpful to the students to work in pairs or groups. This strategy helps them share their thoughts and knowledge with others, as well as it gives them a sense of independence when being part of a group that does not involve an adult.
Favorite kind of classroom interactions
My favorite kinds of classroom interactions are individual and pair work because they are easier to organize, and I feel that I work more efficiently this way. When working in large groups or teams, it’s harder for me to concentrate and to achieve a good grade. Pair work also has its advantages, such as helping with brainstorming and allowing us to solve doubts together.
Working Together in Class
Pair and group work is really helpful because it gives students more time to talk and practice instead of just listening to the teacher. The activities also make lessons more fun and interactive. Even if the class gets a bit noisy, it’s worth it since students can share ideas and actually learn from each other.
“Effective Use of Pair and Group Work in the Language Classroom”
This activity clearly shows how pair and group work can make lessons more engaging, interactive, and student-centered. The advantages, pitfalls, and solutions are well explained, which gives teachers practical strategies for classroom management. I especially like how the examples of activities (like roll the ball, information gap, and weather dressing) are simple but very effective in building communication skills. The section on setting up pair and group work is also strong, as it highlights the importance of clear instructions, demonstration, and feedback. Overall, this approach encourages teamwork, active participation, and a fun learning atmosphere while still keeping the teacher in control.
Be involved
The educator's prompts allow for effective control and guide learners. It lessens disruptive behaviours in the classroom also.
this was really good at…
this was really good at getting the children to speak to each other and using words to describe objects in the photos
PAIR AND GROUP WORK
These are excellent ideas to put into practice with my students.
Monitoring pair work
I never thought before that a student who played a role as monitor could help the teacher to see the consistence of using English only in their dialog practice done by many pairs.
Working in pairs and groups
Hello everyone!
These are excellent ideas to put into practice with my students.
Thanks!
Working in pairs or groups…
Working in pairs or groups promotes collaboration. It further fosters creativity, innovation and teamwork amongst learners.
Covid 19 resources
Hi GWT Tora
We are building up a range of resources to help teachers with the move to teaching online. We have a series of webinars which you can access here:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-online-supporting-mentoring-teachers-remotely
You might find this webinar particularly interesting as it deals with how to use breakout rooms online, ideal for pair or group work: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-online-using-your-coursebook-ideas-breakout-rooms
You can also find information about support clinics and some online lesson plans here:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/support-teachers-teacher-educators
Hope that helps,
Best wishes,
Cath
TE Team
How to do pair and group work during pandemic
Any ideas on how to continue fun and communicative activities during the current pandemic would be greatly appreciated.
My favorite kind of classroom interaction is pair work because it gives students more speaking time and helps them feel confident using the language. It also teaches them to cooperate, listen, and share ideas. Pair work makes lessons more active, fun, and helps students learn to use English naturally.