13. Cooperative LearningUsing a language is a social activity. When learning a new language, situations must becreated so that pupils have as many opportunities to interact with each other in order tomake sense of and create meaning in the new language. Engaging in cooperative learningputs the responsibility for learning on the pupils and fosters important social skills such aswillingness to listen and help each other.Heroes provides a multitude of such opportunities through the games that can be played inpairs or in teams and through the activities in the Course Book. Teachers should let pupilswork in pairs when doing the activities so that they can learn from each other and help eachother solve any problems they might encounter when completing the tasks. Even if theyspeak in L1 when completing the task, the ultimate response to the activity will be in theEnglish language. The materials also provide opportunities for the pupils to present originalwork to the class, at the same time giving others a chance to manage a discourse with thepresenter by asking relevant questions.Group activities can also be done by adapting the games into group competitions. Differentorganizing devices for grouping pupils can be used in order to make sure that there is amixed ability population in each group. One good technique is to use colored chips and handthem out to the pupils, then have them sit in groups according to their chip color.14. Language EnvironmentTeachers are encouraged to create a language-rich learning environment in the aural/oralstage (Guidelines 2019). Surrounding pupils with language-related materials motivates thelearning process and visually exposes them to the language throughout the lesson. Thus,four vibrant classroom posters are provided as part of the Heroes program. Teachers shouldutilize them during the lessons in order to review vocabulary and lexical chunks or invokediscussions inspired by the images. Along with the posters, teachers are advised to hangpupils’ work on the wall of the classroom or bulletin board in order to praise and celebratethe progress they are making.15. Use of First LanguageAs exposure to natural use of English is important, lessons are conducted in English. In orderto create a positive atmosphere and comfortable learning environment, the pupils’ firstlanguage (L1) can be used to ensure comprehension (Laufer, Meara, and Nation 2015),reinforce important teaching points, and reduce anxiety. In addition, L1 is useful for creatingdiscussions around concepts and ideas emerging from the stories and encouraging pupils toshare their personal experiences. Furthermore, instructions can be repeated in L1 to helppupils know what is being asked of them. As pupils become more competent in the languagethe need for L1 will diminish.15
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