EFFECTIVENESS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING COMMUNICATION SKILLS: ESP LEARNERS? PERSPECTIVE

The present study aims to record the effectiveness of cooperative learning techniques in teaching English communication skills to engineering students. When communicating in English during various activities in and out of the class, engineering students are observed having various inhibitions which affect their performance. Cooperative learning is an instructional technique developed to increase academic achievement of students through social and interpersonal skills development. It is widely recognized as a pedagogical practice that promotes socialization and learning among students. One hundred first year Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) students from a private University in Maharashtra are the subjects of the present research. Two cooperative techniques viz. Role Play and Jigsaw were used to teach two units Communication Process and Report Writing. Students' performances were video recorded. The findings showed a remarkable development in the students' understanding and implementation of various terms in communication process. Moreover, selected students learnt how to write and present technical reports effectively. After the experiment, a questionnaire was developed and administered to the subjects to know their views on effectiveness of cooperative learning techniques. Present paper analyses and discusses the students' views on use of cooperative learning techniques.