Comparison of the effectiveness of cooperative learning and traditional teaching methods on Taiwanese college students' English oral performance and motivation toward learning

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cooperative learning (CL) and traditional teaching methods on Taiwanese college students' English oral performance and motivation toward learning. The total experimental period was eight weeks of instruction. The subjects were administered a pretest and posttest, using the intermediate-level, speaking component of the GEPT (General English Proficiency Test) as well as the MIQ (Motivational Intensity Questionnaire) as a pretest and posttest in this study.;In this study, 60 Taiwanese college students from two intact classes were selected and randomly assigned to the traditional and CL groups. One-way ANCOVA was used in this study to analyze the speaking component (intermediate level) of the GEPT scores and MIQ results. Data collection and analysis explored the effects of CL on the Taiwanese college students in terms of English oral performance and motivation to learn. The first hypothesis, CL is significantly more effective in improving Taiwanese college students' English oral performance as compared to traditional teaching methods, was rejected in this study. The second hypothesis, CL is significantly more effective in enhancing Taiwanese college students' motivation for learning oral English as compared to traditional teaching methods, was also rejected in this study.;The results of the study were somewhat different from other research studies in Taiwan on the effect of CL for ESL learners. That is, CL is not significantly more effective in improving Taiwanese college students' oral performance and increasing their motivation toward learning oral English as compared to traditional teaching methods. However, this study can provide educators with an alternative perspective on the effectiveness of CL. The researcher suggests that combining CL and the traditional teaching methods in ESL classrooms may create a third pedagogical method to benefit ESL students' oral proficiency and motivation toward learning. The application of CL and traditional teaching methods may solve some teaching problems and deserves particular attention in future research.;This research was a quasi-experimental design to compare both CL and traditional teaching methods to answer two research questions: (1) In Taiwanese college samples, will cooperative learning produce more effective English oral outcomes as compared to traditional teaching methods? and (2) Will cooperative learning improve Taiwanese college students' motivation to learn oral English as compared to traditional teaching methods?...