Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch

The Effect of Teaching English through Cooperative vs. Competitive

By: Manije Pourhassan

Instructor: Kobra Tavasoli Ph.D.

Autumn, November, 2023

Background and Purpose

Writing is a productive skill which is one of the most important communicative skills in English

language learning. Among the four skills of listening, writing, reading, and speaking, the writing

skill is considered less important by most EFL learners. As a matter of fact, less attention has

been given to writing skills by teachers in Iran. They just focus on other skills rather than writing

skills and they relegate writing to homework. But writing is the most prominent skill in the

academic world and becoming a professional writer is quiet challenging and it requires so many

efforts. To develop writing skill, we need plenty of practice, training, and techniques.

In fact, complexity, accuracy, and fluency are the major research variables that we can use them

to capture different aspects of second language learning. Time management specially in long

essay are integral in academic writing. Therefore, foreign language learners cannot express

themselves without being fluent on it. Writers must have the ability to quickly write something

which is quite comprehensible for the audience. A fluent writer has the knowledge of spelling,

vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar. Fluency is defined as a complex phenomenon and it is

about using the language smoothly, and rapidly (Crystal, 1987). Fluency is considered as a

process of language in real time and it is usually free from conscious attention (Schmidt, 1992).

But fluent writers need to be accurate. Accuracy refers to the level of correctness which the

writers need to pay attention to the details in order to convey ideas correctly. Finally, written

language is more complex than spoken language because it has longer words and usually

complicated grammar. Thus, the text must avoid ambiguity and it must be easy to read and

understand.

1
Although majority of Iranian learners prefer working individually which tend to be very

demanding, writing may need active working together. Traditionally, learners tried to use their

ideas to express themselves. But learners need assistance to be creative and motivated.

Therefore, teachers try to create small group of students which work and cooperate together. In

that case, students will learn how to communicate with their peers, how to help them, and how to

handle a group to achieve a common goal. In student-centered classes, learners need to work

together to enhance their own and their classmates learning, to solve their problem, and to be a

member of an academic community. This method, challenge students in various ways and it has

various elements. The first model is positive interdependence which students need to be active in

that group in order to achieve their shared goals. The second model is face to face interaction

which all learners must contribute if they want the group to be successful. Another important

model is the use of interpersonal skill. In this model, they must trust each other, build a

communication, and make appropriate decisions. The last model is group processing which the

member of groups must consider the factors that needs to be improved.

On the other hand, teachers believe that the most important aspect in language learning is that

learners need to practice the language regularly. They believed that cooperating with others

requires time and energy and all learners are not able to build a good rapport with their peers.

Most learners need to compete with other learners to be engaged in practicing the language. In

Iran, the teaching in EFL classrooms is typically based on competitive learning which the teacher

is the center of the classroom. Teachers allocate a lot of time to create a curriculum for their

classes. This method of teaching will have a huge effect on learners’ learning process. In that

case, learners have the opportunity to learn successfully from their teachers and they can solve

2
their problem under the assistance of their teachers and textbooks. Therefore, learners try to have

an individual effort in their learning process.

In a nutshell, writing skill is one of the most important factors in language teaching that requires

new techniques. In this study, teachers are going to implement two methods that are called

cooperative and competitive learning at EFL classes to examine the effect of them on writing

fluency, accuracy, and complexity.

1.1 Statement of the Problem and Purpose of the Study

In Iranian context, learners have the problem of expressing themselves because of lack of new

ideas about the topics. Some of the learners have the struggle with the editing their own work or

they may not be familiar with writing strategies. In addition, most teachers in Iranian EFL

classes use teacher-centered method to teach writing. In that case, students just rely on their

teachers. When they want to write about a new topic, they cannot express themselves fully. This

study can examine learners in these strategies to find a best way to improve Iranian EFL learners

writing ability. This study can bring a new teaching method to all EFL classes in order to have

learner-centered classes. Another problem is that teachers in Iran are not trying to teach writing

directly and they have a general tendency to focus on others skills such as listening and reading.

They focus on teaching grammar but they do not ask learners to use that grammar rule in

writings. In that case, they are not able to express themselves correctly.

Many researchers tried to examine cooperative and competitive learning on different aspects

such as speaking and vocabularies. But no researcher tried to examine these two strategies on

writing fluency, accuracy, complexity. The aim of the current study is to consider the effect of

cooperative versus competitive learning on writing development. The other studies in this area

3
focused on just the impact of using cooperative on writing performance. But this study is trying

to focus on the effect on both cooperative and competitive learning on advanced learners who are

done with studying English. Therefore, there was a gap which is that they did not consider the

effect of these methods on different aspect of writing such as fluency, accuracy, and complexity.

Thus, this study is aimed to fill these gaps.

This study aimed at stablishing teachers’ awareness of cooperative and competitive learning and

enhancing learners’ writing fluency, accuracy, and complexity. This research also aimed to find

an excellent way that let students use the language and master writing ability. Since the number

of research in this area is limited, more studied is needed to find the best method for teaching

writing. Therefore, the purpose of study is to examine the role of cooperative learning versus

competitive learning in the EFL classes to enhance the writing performance. The purpose of the

study is to explore the Iranian teacher perceptions on these two methods and implementing them

in EFL courses in order to teach writing skill.

As we mentioned, teachers usually do not teach writing properly. In traditional methods, writing

is not emphasized and learners are not able to generate new ideas freely. This study is aimed to

change the attitude and the method of teaching writing in Iran in order to bring new techniques

and methods that promote students’ writing skills. By using methods like cooperative and

competitive learning, writing can be taught directly in order to improve learners’ writing skill. In

that case, the aim is to reduce the basic mistakes in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and

organization and improve learners’ writing ability. Finally, the purpose of this study is to

encourage teachers to teach writing directly at class by the best technique or method. Therefore,

they will not just relegate writing to homework.

1.2 Significant of the Study

4
Writing is an important skill which learners must develop. But in Iranian classes, little attention

has been given to this skill. Most Iranian teachers are not able to teach writing in an appropriate

way. Therefore, it is difficult for EFL learners to express themselves appropriately. In EFL

classes, learners usually are not able to bring new ideas about the topic that they are going to

write. In that case, writing is the most challenging skill for EFL learners and they will not be able

to be successful in the academic world.

To this end, this research can help teachers to choose a best method to teach writing. This

research utilizes some intensive measurement data-data that have been collected across advanced

EFL learners-to compare their performances in both cooperative and competitive learning

methods. Because of these issues, we aimed to assess how closely cooperative and competitive

learning will affect learners’ writing fluency, accuracy, and complexity.

The current study is important for Iranian teachers who are concerned about their learners’

writing performance. This study is also important for individuals who are advanced in English

but are not professional writers. The findings across this study provide strong evidence for those

who want to have a great performance in writing skill. In that case, teachers can increase their

knowledge about how to teach writing in EFL classes because teaching writing is quiet

challenging. Previous studies did not focus on the three aspects of writing which are called

accuracy, fluency, and complexity. They just considered other skills like speaking and reading

and they did not focus on learners’ writing abilities which this study aimed to fill these gaps

because all these aspects should be taken into account.

1.3 Research Questions and Research Hypotheses

This current study is aimed to answer the following questions:

5
Q1. Does cooperative learning have any significant effect on EFL learners' writing fluency?

Q2. Does cooperative learning have any significant effect on EFL learners' writing accuracy?

Q3. Does cooperative learning have any significant effect on EFL learners' writing complexity?

Q4. Does competitive learning have any significant effect on EFL learners' writing fluency?

Q5. Does competitive learning have any significant effect in EFL learners' writing accuracy?

Q6. Does competitive learning have any significant effect on learners' writing complexity?

Q7. Is there any significant difference between cooperative learning vs. competitive learning on

advanced EFL learners’ writing fluency, accuracy, and complexity?

The following null hypotheses are formulated:

H01. Cooperative learning does not have any significant effect on advanced EFL learners’

writing fluency.

H02. Cooperative learning does not have any significant effect on advanced EFL learners’

writing accuracy.

H03. Cooperative learning does not have any significant effect on advanced EFL learners’

writing complexity.

H04. Competitive learning has significant effect on advanced EFL learners’ writing fluency.

H05. Competitive learning has significant effect on advanced EFL learners’ writing accuracy.

H06. Competitive learning has significant effect on advanced EFL learners’ writing complexity.

6
H07. There is no significant difference between cooperative learning vs. competitive learning on

advanced EFL learners’ writing accuracy, fluency, and complexity

1.4 Definition of Key Terms

Competitive learning has different definitions by different scholar that are related to teaching and

learning situation. According to Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, (2000) competition is “the

presence of a negative goal or reward interdependence”. Competitive learning is a kind of

learning that students try to work against each other to achieve good grades. So, one student

should achieve their goals and be successful, but another one is bound to fail. Thus, competitive

learning is inter-personal of inter-group (Johnson and Johnson, 1999). In order to implement this

method, students sit in a separate chair and they will listen to their teacher. All projects are going

to be done separately by students.

Engaging communication and cooperation in language learning is vital because it is necessary

for the learners to have the capability to improve in the specific language and also be able to

express themselves like they wish to do (Brumfit, 1984). There are different types of cooperative

such as jigsaw, learning together, academic controversy, group investigation, etc. (Kagan, 1992).

The idea of cooperative method is that learners work together in order to achieve a goal and they

are responsible for their own learning (Slavin 1990). Student team achievement division (STAD)

method is going to be implemented during this study. The main idea behind STAD is to motivate

students to encourage and help one another and master skills which are presented by their teacher

(Slavin, 1994).

STAD stands for student team achievement division and it is a cooperative learning strategy

which It was introduced by Robert Slavin and his associates at Johns Hopkins University

7
(Innovative Learning, 2009). According to Slavin (1994) "Students in STAD methods are

assorted with such variety of achievement levels, capabilities, talents, gender and ethnicity".

Some of the evaluations in STAD are group recognition, individual improving scores, lecture

presentation, and group study, (Slavin, 1995). According to Slavin et al., (1990) "STAD is one of

the simplest and most extensively researched forms of all cooperative learning techniques and it

could be an effective instrument to begin with for teachers who are new to the cooperative

learning technique". For implementing STAD, we focus on elements such class demonstration,

student presentation through role play, and group discussion. The class presentation will be done

by audiovisual presentations such as plying videos in order to improve learners’ performance.

Skehan (1996) claimed that accuracy concerns “learners’ capacity to handle whatever level of

inter-language complexity learners have currently attained”, this definition is regarded as in what

extend a produced language is similar to the target language. Skehan and Foster (1996) also

define writing accuracy as “the extent to which the language produced conforms to the target

language norms”. This research is going to use the profile of Larsen Freeman (2006) which is

considered as a reliable rating scale and it is an objective assessment. In Larsen Freeman’s

profile, she used a T-unit in order to measure writing proficiency. Hunt (1965) defined T-unit as

“one main clause with all subordinate clauses attached to it”. According to Larsen Freeman,

accuracy is measured by the proportion of error-free T-units to total T-units (in terms of lexical,

morphological, and syntactic errors).

Complexity is one of the many details of features of something that make it hard to understand or

deal with. This is also an effort that is required to understand a text. According to Skehan and

Foster (1997) complexity is “learners’ capacity to use more elaborate and complex target like

language”. Skehan (1997) defined writing complexity as “the stage and elaboration of underlying

8
interlanguage system.” Skehan (2009) also defines complexity as “challenging language”. In

order to measure complexity, we use Larsen’s freeman rating scale. According to Larsen

Freeman rating scale, for measuring complexity, total number of clauses are divided by the total

number of T-units.

Skehan and Fasten (1999) define fluency as “a language learner’s ability to produce language in

real time without inordinate pauses”. According to Skehan (2003) “finer grained analyses of

fluency require separate measures for (a) silence (breakdown fluency), (b) reformulation,

replacement, false starts, and repetition (repair fluency), (c) speech rate (e.g., words per syllables

per minute), and (d) automatization, through measures of the length of run”. He also sees

undisrupted chunks of text flow as an indicator of automatization. Fluency is going to be

measured by Larsen Freeman’s writing scale which is the average number of words per T-unit.

Writing is an approach that we can create language and express our thoughts, sentiments, and

suppositions, and writing includes arranging what we will compose (Harmer, 2004). Harmer

(2004) states that "writing urges students to concentrate on exact language use. it means that

students consider language use when they are trying to produce something". Writing is a type of

communication which we can convey thought or we can express inclination through composed

structure (Harmer, 2001). Therefore, writing is a productive process that we should find ideas,

thoughts or feelings and use them all during writing process. Nunan (2003) also claimed that

"Writing is the psychological work of developing thoughts, pondering to communicate them, and

sorting out them into articulations and passages that will be obvious to a reader". There are four

principles of writing such as planning, drafting, editing, and final form (Harmer, 2005). All these

four principles are going to be implement in this study. In planning stage, students need to

determine their purpose and they should consider their readers, and the reason of their writing. In

9
drafting stage, students start to write about their topics. After that, they should edit it and create

their final draft.

1.5 Limitations and Delimitations of the Study

This study aimed to imply these two methods in high school classes. But because of the small

amount of time for teaching English in high school, it is impossible. Writing skill is not

considered as an essential skill and most advanced students usually prefer to focus on improving

speaking and grammar skills rather than academic writing skills. For that reason, gathering

student in a writing class can be demanding. Because of the small amount of time, it is also

impossible to choose students in all elementary, intermediate, and advanced level.

Therefore, participants who need writing for the academic purposes are going to be select in this

study. Those who are willing to study English at university or those who are going to pass some

general tests are going to participate in this study. Thus, this study will have a small sample. In

this study, a certain book is going to be select and the teacher will follow a syllable during the

course. This study will focus on advanced learners who are familiar with basic writing strategies.

10