Group Dynamics on an MA TESOL Programme:
A Student Perspective
Dr Ahmad Nazari
London Metropolitan University
Ms Kim Willis
University of Sunderland
Introduction
 Context of the study: 20 international PG students on a
one-year MA TESOL programme, one of the north-east
universities, UK.
 Most have dual goal: learn to teach English to others and
improve their own English skills.
 Our motivation to investigate group dynamics: Social
dimension of (language) learning still neglected? Why are
some groups a pleasure to teach, others not? Does it matter
to the students? Interest in their perspective.
An awareness of group dynamics “can make
classroom events less threatening to teachers and
can help them develop more efficient methods of
classroom management and thus consciously
facilitate the development of creative, well-balanced,
and cohesive groups. All this, of course, has a
significant motivational impact.” (Dörnyei 2014: 527)
Group cohesiveness
 Group cohesiveness: ‘ the state of cohering, uniting, and sticking
together’ (Schmuck and Schmuck, 2001, p.114)
 Three components of cohesiveness: interpersonal attraction;
commitment to task; group pride (Mullen and Copper, 1994) – but do
they apply in our context? (‘You can choose your friends, but not your
family’)
 Cohesiveness can be negative too – e.g. ‘classroom counter-cultures’
(Ushioda, 2003, p.94)
 Cohesiveness correlated to student motivation, group productivity /
performance and learners’ autonomous beliefs and behaviours? (see
Chang, 2010; Clément, Dörnyei, & Noels, 1994; Dörnyei, 2007; Ehrman
& Dörnyei, 1998; Mullen & Copper, 1994)
Group leadership
 Role of teacher in group dynamics?
 Leadership styles:
- autocratic – leader dictates to members
- democratic - members take responsibility
- laissez-faire leadership – ‘anything goes’
(Lewin, Lippitt and White, 1938)
Intercultural dynamics
 ‘behaviour in language classrooms is set within taken-for-
granted frameworks of expectations, attitudes, values, and
beliefs about what constitutes good learning, about how to
teach or learn, whether and how to ask questions, what
textbooks are for, and how language teaching relates to
broader issues of the nature and purpose of
education.’(Dogancy-Aktuna, 2005: 99)
 Judy Ho and David Crookall’s (1995) study of Chinese
students: ‘relational hierarchy’, desire to maintain teacher’s
face, importance of the ‘ingroup’.
Method of the study
 Epistemology: Interpretivism
 Research Method: Qualitative
 Data collection tool: Open-ended questionnaires
 Data analysis approach: Principles of Grounded
Theory
Participants and cohort
Nationality
Chinese
Libyan
Iraqi
South
Korean
Belgian
Polish
British
Pakistani
Number
9
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
L1
Chinese
Arabic
Arabic
Korean
French
Polish
English
Urdu
Gender
Female
Male
Number
14
6
Age range: from 22 to 50 years old
Results and Analysis
Question 1
Questionnaire 1
Risk taking
Questionnaire 2
Risk taking
Being together for a long time
Length of time
together
Tolerance and respect
Tolerance and respect
Diversity
Individuals differences and similarities
Inclusion
The concept of the
Working as a family
The concept of the
Family
group as a family
Mutual understanding
group as a family
Leadership
Complementing each other
Friendliness
Sense of giving
Motivation
Mutual target
Motivation
Group cohesiveness
Cooperation/teamwork/soli
darity
Learning as a social practice Learning as a social
leading to individual
practice leading to
learning
individual learning
Cooperation/team work
Group cohesiveness
Question 2
Questionnaire 1
Imbalance in the group
Questionnaire 2
Lack of cooperation
Lack of leadership
Lack of mutual understanding
Lack of communication
Lack of democratic relationships
Lack of communication
Lack of diversity
Lack of team work
Lack of inclusion
Not supporting each other
Lack of tolerance and respect
Having conflicting view points
Uncooperativeness
Lack of common goals
Not sharing ideas
Lack of a mutual target
Lack of a sense of social
Lack of solidarity
Lack of a social milieu
Lack of cooperation
Lack of competition
Lack of motivation
Lack of motivation
Lack of friendliness
Lack of motivation
Lack of social practices and social learning
Silence
Silence
Vociferous group members
Silent group members
Dominance
Strong national identity
Small groups sticking together
Formation of cliques
Question 3
Questionnaire 1
Questionnaire 2
Sense of insecurity
Having apprehension about the
Sense of encountering difficulty
academic work
Sense of confusion
Having dissatisfaction with progress in
Sense of pressure
Sense of excitement and happiness about
diversity and learning new things
Sense of determination
Ambivalent feeling
academic work
Feeling more confident
Feeling happier
Feeling better
Ambivalent feeling
Question 4
Questionnaire 1
Social construction of
knowledge
Language learning
Questionnaire 2
Social construction of
knowledge
Subject area learning
Opportunities to practise the
English Language
Social construction of
knowledge
Sharing ideas
Sharing ideas
Cooperation
Enhancing group atmosphere
Receiving and giving
encouragement
The concept of family
Working as a family
Cultural understanding and
removing intercultural
miscommunication
Enhancing cultural
understanding
The students said they hadn’t had to give up anything.
Working as a family
The concept of family
Cultural learning
Enhancing cultural
understanding
Only one European student said she had to conform
to other nationalities’ expectations.
Question 5
Questionnaire 1
Questionnaire 2
Friendly
Warm and friendly
Optimistic
Encouraging to learn
Cooperative
Group relationship improved
Warm
A sense of closeness
Working as partners
Helpful
Feeling comfortable
Welcoming
Warmer than the beginning of the
term
Positive
generous
Cold
Quiet
Polite
A sense of closeness
One student said ‘Cold’
A sense of distance but
hoping for a positive
change of climate
Neutral (neither warm
nor cold)
Some students emphasised the role of the teacher and singled
her out as a person who contributes a lot to the classroom climate.
Some of the students seem not to see the whole class as a group,
because they used the phrases like ‘some are friendly and some
are cold’.
A sense of distance
Question 6
Questionnaire 1
Most students experienced no conflicts.
Some said there actually was a great deal of friendliness.
A couple of students said they sometimes heard inappropriate comments
and said such comments might have been due to little cultural understanding.
They said they look to the teacher to resolve conflicts.
Questionnaire 2: No conflicts were experienced
Question 7
Questionnaire 1
Questionnaire 2
Democratic style of teaching
because it
Democratic style of teaching
because it provides them with
freedom to express themselves
helps with expressing ideas
helps them with exchanging their
views
encourages cooperation
causes creativity
helps with practising the English
language
Preferring active to passive
learning
builds up a relaxed learning
atmosphere
encourages deep learning
is more effective
is more motivating
is more motivating
is more comfortable
causes independence and
autonomy
gives them more space to choose
Three students said they would
One student said it depends on the
like both teaching styles and
context.
balance between the two, because
they want organisation and
order.
Preferring active to
passive learning
Question 8
Questionnaire 1
Questionnaire 2
Some of the participants were satisfied with their
Most of the participants said they had performed better as far as the
performance. Two said that they were in a leadership
coursework was concerned. They also said they had been mixing
role.
socially as time went by.
Some of the participants, however, were tentative
Only three students said they were struggling with their learning
about their performance or believed they hadn’t
activities.
performed well. These students either took
responsibility for their bad performance or blamed
environmental factors, such as the change of their
environment. These students also seemed to be selfcritical and would like to perform better in future.
All participants believed that they have made an effort and were doing
their best.
Question 9
Questionnaire 1
Feeling comfortable
Interesting and exciting
experience
They have an overwhelmingly
positive emotional response
to the international
composition of the group.
Like it
Helps with learning
other/different teaching
styles
Helps language learning and
improves communicative
skills
Pleased
Valuable experience
They have a positive
attitude to the
international composition
of the group.
Not feeling lonely
They value the enhancement
of intercultural
communication.
Helps with learning
other/different teaching styles
Helps with learning other cultures
Helps cultural understanding
Helps with changing mind
about other people
Questionnaire 2
Positive
They value the necessity to
use the English language and
thereby to improve their
language skills.
Helps with practising the English
language
Being nervous and feeling
Some reservations coupled
Only one student mentioned
challenged due to not
with a willingness to engage.
being still stressed.
They value the necessity
to use the English
language as well as to
learn other cultures.
understudying others’ accents
and/or cultures. But they say
they want to learn and
improve.
One of the students expressed a desire for having more
compatriots in the cohort.
Question 10
Questionnaire 1
Origins
Questionnaire 2
More about their lives
Where they live now
More about their cultures
Hobbies
Personal information
Cultural background
More about their feelings
family
Their teaching experience
More about their teaching
experience
Their objectives and dreams
Their educational experience
More about their lives in the new
context
Sharing more personal
information
Course-related information
More about their learning
experience
Sharing more courserelated information,
especially their teaching
experience
Their ideas about the classes
and the course
Two students said they hadn’t shared more information
than before.
Question 11
Questionnaire 1
The multicultural background of some of the students helps
them to relate to the group.
The socio-cultural values of some of them, namely Africans
and Chinese, help them to relate to the group.
The background that some of them share with a certain
number of the students, namely Chinese, helps them to
relate to that subgroup.
Questionnaire 2
Their educational background, e.g. single sex education and
religious education, affects the way they relate to the course
and in turn affects the way they relate to the group.
Confucianism affects the way they relate to the group by
causing them to be modest and to not speak out loud.
One student said she felt left out due to her lower socioeconomic class.
Question 12
Questionnaire 1
Most said ‘no’, as the group members make allowances
for intercultural miscommunication and also share
common goals.
Some said ‘no’, as they didn’t enter cultural discussions
as such.
Questionnaire 2
The majority of the students said there had been no
intercultural miscommunication.
A minority said there had been minor cultural
misunderstandings and inappropriate assumptions
about sponsorship as they felt they might be judged
on this basis. A minority also said there had been
minor cultural misunderstanding about humour and
that it had sometimes been difficult to communicate
humour and it has become a bit serious. Some said
these hadn’t affected the way they related to the
group whereas others said they had.
Question 13
Questionnaire 1
Questionnaire 2
The participants prefer diversity in group work.
One student said extracurricular group social activities
They believe getting to know each other helps them to
form a group.
Having a leader is an important factor in shaping a
group.
The role of the teacher in shaping a group and creating a
good class climate is important.
The English language acts as a glue in forming and
shaping a group.
could help the group dynamics.
Another student said more intercultural contact would
be helpful for the group dynamics.
Another said she believed relationships were made more
intranationally than internationally.
Discussions
• Group as a Family:
S: “A group works as one family and helps each other.”
S: “We help each other. We support those who are weak or have a lack of experience or self-confidence. We work as a family.”
S: “In such a group, individuals’ differences complement the group as a whole.”
Cohesiveness
S: “I think in a good group, the team work together, are patient, cooperate with one another and have good communication and
discussions, because if everyone sticks to their own opinion and does not listen to others, then the group will be divided.”
“In cohesive classrooms students become more motivated to interact and this contributes to a creation of a positive group dynamic
that increases the effectiveness of lessons.” (Inozu 2010: 1061)
S: “I think a good group comprises highly motivated individuals.”
S: “With this international composition, I really guarantee I will learn a lot in this group and gain a great deal of experience.”
S: “If students are silent most of the time, it will not be good for an effective group.”
Motivation is a “socially mediated phenomenon.” (Ushioda 2003: 90)
Time
S: “Time makes a good group. The longer group members stay together, the better they’ll know each other.”
Formation of cliques
S: “I think that perhaps if the individuals are not open to other members and prefer to stay in their own little groups
(usually same nationality group), then a group lacks integrity.”
S: “Perhaps the perception of the Chinese students is completely different, because they are in a group, but for me as an
individual who doesn’t have any fellow students from a similar culture, the atmosphere in the class is neither cold nor
warm.”
S: “To be honest, we have a small group in a big whole group now. Sometimes that can be negative.”
• Group Development:
Students expressed a mixture of positive and negative emotions.
They also reported a sense of closeness and of distance, though the sense of distance seemed to fade as time went by.
S: “In fact, it was a good start even though I was afraid of the work that we were supposed to do. But now I feel comfortable
to work with my tutors and classmates.”
S: “In the classroom, we are friendly and warm. Students try to make others laugh and help others correct their mistakes.
However, after the class, we seldom see each other and communicate by email.”
S: “I am quite relaxed as well as frightened.”
S: “The classroom climate is generally warm and friendly. However, to be honest, we have a small group in a big whole
group now. Sometimes that can be negative.”
S: “At the beginning of the course, I felt uncomfortable because of these unfamiliar people. But when the course proceeded,
I found everyone in our class very nice and friendly.”
• Teacher as Mediator and Group Shaper:
S: “I do sometimes feel a little left out.”
S: “I think that perhaps if the individuals are not open to other members and prefer to stay in their own little groups
(usually same nationality group), then a group lacks integrity.”
S: “Perhaps the perception of the Chinese students is completely different, because they are in a group, but for me as an
individual who doesn’t have any fellow students from a similar culture, the atmosphere in the class is neither cold nor
warm.... The role of the teacher in a group is important because I think that teachers influence the group dynamics a
great deal.”
S: “A student made an inappropriate comment about race and it was quickly diffused by the teacher in a respectful way.”
“Studies report strong associations between achievement levels and classrooms that are perceived as having greater
cohesion and goal-direction, and less disorganization and conflict. Research also suggests that the impact of classroom
climate may be greater on students from low-income homes and groups that often are discriminated against.”
(Adelman and Taylor 2005: 89)
Students prefer a democratic style of teaching. The teacher should strike a balance between her roles.
• Intercultural Dynamics:
Positive attitude to the international composition of the group
Valuing learning English
Embracing the opportunity to enhance their cultural understanding
Confucianism
Religious and single sex education
Implications of the study:
For teachers: to be more vigilant about the formation of cliques.
Hadfield’s (1992) practical suggestions on how to improve classroom dynamics.
For students: further reflection on the intercultural dynamics of the group
For MA TESOL course developers:
“In an age when the U.S. is becoming increasingly multicultural and English is becoming an international language
(and numerous World Englishes), the field of TESOL can no longer equate teaching culture with teaching American or
British culture and can no longer assume that one way of teaching/learning is appropriate for all language learning
situations. It is the responsibility of masters’ programs in TESOL to “raise [graduate students’] cultural consciousness”
(Kumaravadivelu, 1994, p.40), and to train teachers who are effective intercultural communicators, who know about
and understand their students’ cultures, and who “envision their roles as mediators and ambassadors of culture, and
not as purveyors or disseminators, and never as imposers” (Nayar 1986: 13).” Nelson (1998: 28)
Limitations of the study:
The use of one data collection tool
Small group size
Recommendations for further research:
Role of the teacher and her power
Interviews with teachers and classroom observations
Role of the individual members
Distance learning cohorts (Ehrman and Dornyei’s (1998) ‘invisible classroom’)
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