The Relationship Between Cooperative Learning, Perception Of Social Support, Alienation, And Academic Achievement

Cooperative learning refers to the instructional use of small groups in which learners work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. When learners work cooperatively in small groups, they divide labor and share resources among themselves in order to achieve common goals, ensuring that all members learn assigned material. As such, cooperative learning may be one way to promote social support (referring to the support from teachers and peers in classroom) within classrooms. This may also increase learners'academic achievement and decrease learners'feelings of alienation in a large class.This study investigated the relationship between cooperative learning, perceptions of classroom social support, feelings of alienation from class, and the academic achievement of university-bound learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). One hundred and twenty-five participants (110 males, 15 females), who enrolled in College English course at Huzhong University of Science and Technology participated in the study. The participants involved in various adapted cooperative learning activities such as Jigsaw, group writing and group presentation during three semesters of studying English. At the end of their third semester of study, each participant completed a questionnaire on learners'perceptions of social support, alienation from class and cooperative learning and then their responses were correlated with their academic achievement.Whereas the analysis of the data revealed that cooperative learning was positively correlated with achievement, learners'perceptions of social support and feelings of alienation from class were found to be uncorrelated with achievement. Likewise, the analysis indicated that cooperative learning was positively correlated with the perceived degrees of academic and personal support provided by teachers and peers, but not correlated with learners'feelings of alienation. Lastly, the results were discussed in light of previous research and with reference to the cultural context of the study.