EFL Students’ Perceptions towards Cooperative Learning in Writing Skills at a University in the Mekong Delta

Abstract

The cooperative learning approach to writing skills has been found to be effective in many different contexts, as evidenced by many studies. That shows us the interest of researchers in the importance of writing and the cooperative learning approach. This paper aims to review EFL students' perceptions of cooperative learning in writing skills. The participants in this study were fourteen junior non-English major students from a university in the Mekong Delta. The primary qualitative analysis reported in this paper is to show how the students perceive their learning progress in cooperative activities. The result backs up the advantages as well as disadvantages of using cooperative learning in the classroom. The participants primarily acknowledge the benefits of cooperative learning. The atmosphere for learning is made more dynamic, participative, and exploratory via cooperative learning. Responsibility at a high level is the second prerequisite for cooperative learning. Thirdly, weaker foreign language students do better when grouped with strong students. Despite the benefits, participants admitted that it would be challenging to reach a consensus when working in small groups if they had divergent or opposing ideas.