The Effectiveness of Using Collaborative Learning to Improve Descriptive Paragraph Writing of ESL Learners

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of using collaborative learning to improve descriptive paragraph writing skills of students of English as a second language. The aim was to determine whether students who were involved in collaborative learning produced better written descriptive paragraphs in terms of content, organization, grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics than students who wrote individually. An experimental research design was implemented in the study as data was collected through a pre-test and a post-test. A convenience sample of 40 Grade 12 students (28 female and 12 male students) who learn English as a second language participated in this study. These students were randomly assigned to two groups. 20 were assigned to the experimental group and were asked to write paragraphs collaboratively, while the other 20 were assigned to the control group and were asked to write paragraphs individually. The same descriptive paragraph writing lessons were taught for both groups within the four weeks of time period. In this study, it was found that the significance value of the t-test is 0.000 (pvalue=0.000 < 0.05). Hence, it revealed that using the collaborative learning technique has an obvious effect on the students’ levels of descriptive paragraph writing skills in favour of the experimental group who did all the activities collaboratively. This study serves ESL practitioners by adopting an effective approach, such as collaborative learning in teaching language skills, to solve existing problems in the teaching sphere.