TeachingEnglish Radio

An Introduction to Teacher Development

An Introduction to Teacher Development

Programme 5: Pair and Group Work in Practice – teacher support worksheet

In the previous programme we heard how getting our students to work together in groups can provide lots of simultaneous
practice, which is very helpful when we have a large class. Pair work and group work can be used for many different activities in
the classroom. Today we consider different ways to put our students into pairs or groups, and then we’ll follow the stages of a
lesson which uses ‘whole class’, ‘pair work’ and ‘group work’. While you listen to the teachers from many countries who
contribute to our series, think about your own classes and what would work best for their learning and practice.

First, at what stage should we start to introduce pair work and group work? Kazimierz, a teacher who has worked in many
countries including Poland and Malaysia, says:

‘The thing about pair work and group work is to get students used to doing it from ‘day one.’

To introduce a dialogue or a role play, you can first demonstrate yourself, and then ask two confident and able students to
try it out while the whole class watch and listen. Then it is their turn. The simplest way to set up pair work is to ask students
to pair up with the person who happens to be sitting next to them – this is often a friend!

Kazimierz says:

‘Students working with their favourite student has all sorts of advantages: they gain confidence, everyone
likes to talk to somebody they know, they get used to that person’s voice, their partner’s voice, and it’s
comfortable to be with them.’

Setting up pairs or small groups with the students immediately in front, behind or to the side is the simplest and quickest
arrangement – no-one has to move, which is helpful in a crowded classroom. But students have different abilities and you’ll
often have a good reason to combine better students with weaker ones.

Dario, a teacher from Argentina, says:

‘When it comes to group work, sometimes I let them choose their own group members, but most of the time I try
to arrange the groups in such a way that you’ve got mixed ability within the group…so that they help each other.’

He sees organising pairs or small groups as an opportunity to mix up your students’ levels.

‘That gives them the chance to participate and to learn more, but sometimes I tell the strong ones that they
need to give the other members of the group the chance to participate. That they could be sort of
‘facilitators’, and help them develop their own skills rather than taking the lead within the group.’

Georgina, a teacher from South Africa, suggests a different way to organise the pairs or groups:

‘Sometimes there are activities where it would benefit students to be with somebody of their own level,
where you pair up the weaker students together and the stronger students together. That way the stronger
students may work more quickly and may finish before the other students, but you can give them other
activities to keep them busy.’

So there are three options – pairs or small groups of students who are sitting close together - which is less threatening for
them - then new combinations of weaker and stronger students where the stronger help the weaker ones, or separating
weaker and stronger students so they can all work at their own pace. Variety in these arrangements keeps your students on
their toes but it means clever planning and organisation from you, the teacher!

Over to you!
How do you organise pair and group work in your classes? Do you always organise it the same way?
Make some notes on the methods you use.

TeachingEnglish Radio | Series 1 An Introduction to Teacher Development © British Council 2011 1

 TeachingEnglish Radio
An Introduction to Teacher Development

An Introduction to Teacher Development

Sahar, from Egypt, is going to introduce ‘verbs and nouns that are used together’ – also called collocations – such as ‘book
a flight’, ‘rent a car’, ... she has designed a lesson using something called a ‘running dictation’! The lesson starts with Sahar
addressing the whole class, and as she talks Sahar writes up the key words on the board...

Teacher:

‘What noun can we use with the verb ‘listen’? We listen to what? (students: music.. radio.) OK.. Listen to
music, listen to radio.. (starts to write on blackboard).... Can I say I watch music? .(No!) . . No, we say we
watch....(TV) or we listen to.......? (music).. Great!’

Once the teacher has established the concept of combining the right verbs with nouns she moves onto the main activity.
This is about making arrangements for guests who are going to attend a wedding – where and how to travel, where to stay
and how to get to the event. She is going to first use pair and later group work. She puts the class into pairs and gives each
pair a set of questions. They look at their questions, then each student ‘A’ asks ‘B’ to go and find the answers in ‘emails’ that
she has posted on the classroom walls. B rushes off to read an email which has the answers in it, remembers the answers,
and then comes back to tell A, who writes down the answer. Finally, the students get together in groups of four. Now they
share and compare the information they have collected.

How should teachers deal with the problem of noise? Most classrooms are close together and have thin walls…so it is
important to make sure your neighbours are not badly disturbed.

Mirany, from Madagascar, found a time when the next room was empty. Some teachers take their students outside if the
weather and conditions allow. Others fix a time when noise and even laughter will happen and be tolerated! After all this is a
language class and some noise from discussion or even games, should be accepted.

Here for example is Kazimierz, talking about working in Malaysia:

‘I never had anyone come from a neighbouring classroom complaining, because usually they are saying
that’s an English language classroom, and English language requires speaking and ‘wow’ there’s a lot of
speaking and laughter and enjoyment going on.’

Programme Summary: Setting up pair work and group work with our classes can be done from the very start – and can
give everyone lots of practice. You have lots of choice in how you organise your class. You can put students together with
their usual classmates, you can match weaker and stronger students, or set up pairs and groups so that students are
working with others of the same level. Be ready to help the weaker ones and give extra challenges to the stronger ones.

Fixed desks, noisy floors and thin walls all mean you have to consider the impact on other classes. Remember that some
pair and group activities can be silent – or nearly so.

We heard how a teacher gave clear instructions to the whole class. She made sure everyone understood the language
they were practising and then how the activity – a running dictation – was to be carried out. They did this in pairs and
later groups and worked enthusiastically together.

Ask a colleague!
Talk to other teachers about the ideas in this programme and keep a list of useful ideas.

TeachingEnglish Radio | Series 1 An Introduction to Teacher Development © British Council 2011 2