This document discusses group dynamics in classroom settings. It notes that students may be more interested in each other than lessons, hindering their performance. However, groups are important because humans are social and can support each other. For a group to exist, members must identify as part of it and it must be recognized by others. When groups first form, members may feel anxiety, uncertainty, and lack of confidence. Acceptance among group members is important and can be promoted through learning about each other, cooperation on activities, and common experiences. Icebreakers, moving around, and setting rules can help promote good group behavior.

1. GROUP DYNAMICS
OR GROUP DYNAMITE?
by Marianna Desypri, BA, RSA DipTEFL

2. Group dynamics?

3. “My students don’t seem to
understand what it means to
behave in class!”

4. “My students seem to be more
interested in each other than in
what goes on in the classroom, so
their performance is poor.”

5. “Success depends less on materials,
techniques and linguistic analyses, and more
on what goes on inside and between the
people in the classroom.”
Earl Stevick
Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways, 1980

6. Why groups?

7. • Prehistoric man lived, learnt, gathered, invented,
created, survived through working in groups
• Group work is in our DNA
• Man is a social animal
• A group has more resources than any single one of
its members
• A group can support its members both materially
and psychologically

8. What constitutes a
group?

9. “It exists when two or more people define
themselves as members of it and when its
existence is recognised by at least one
other.”
R. Brown
Group Processes: Dynamics Within and Between Groups, 2000.

10. Initial feelings

11. • General anxiety
• Uncertainty about being accepted
• Uncertainty about own competence
• General lack of confidence
• Inferiority
• Restricted identity and freedom
• Awkwardness
• Anxiety about using L2
• Anxiety about comprehending

12. The importance of
‘acceptance’

13. Promoting acceptance
• Foster learning about each other
• Proximity, contact, integration through
activities
• Cooperation among individuals
• Rewarding experience
• Extra-curricular activities
• Joint hardship and common threat
• Intergroup competition
• Teacher role-modeling

14. SAMPLE ACTIVITIES

15. Promoting Good Behaviour
• Learning names
• Icebreakers and rhythm-changers
• Moving around
• Setting norms and rules
• Effective facilitator
• Student-roles!

16. THANK YOU!