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Article Title: Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning in Teaching English as an Elective Course for Non-Specialized Students
by Khalid Mohammed Alwahibee

Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of using a cooperative learning strategy with students studying English as an elective course in the Arabic College. The study sample consisted of 38 male students divided into two equal groups; an experimental group and a control group. The control group was taught by using the traditional way of teaching in which the teacher is the center source of information, while the experimental group was taught by using the cooperative learning (CL) (Jigsaw) strategy. Both groups had an achievement pre and posttest to check their English language level. An Independent Sample T test and a paired T test were used to analyze the results. The results of the study favored the experimental group. English-language skills were highly improved for the experimental group. This indicates the effectiveness of the jigsaw strategy, which was one of the cooperative learning models. The purpose of this study is to show English teachers for the non-specialized students that they can encourage their students improve their English by using group work tasks. Group work or cooperative learning is significantly considered beneficial for the students to overcome the difficulty of studying individually. Therefore, the impact of this study is expected to be absorbable on students learning. This study recommends that this model and other models of CL be used in teaching English to nonnative English speakers. It also suggests further studies to be conducted to confirm the results of this study.

Keywords: cooperative, effectiveness, elective, jigsaw, technique, model

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