The Cooperative Learning Method in Teaching EFL to Armenian Students Arus Markaryan, Naira Avakyan Yerevan State University T he challenge for any teacher is finding new teaching methods to hold their stu- dents’ interest. One of the best ways to get students involved in the class is through the method of Cooperative (Collaborative) learning (CL). The application of CL to classroom teaching finds its root in the 1970s when Israel and the United States began to design and study cooperative learning models for class- room context (Kessler 1992). Now CL is applied in almost all schools and, increasingly, in colleges and universities all over the world, and is claimed to be an effective teaching method in foreign/second language education. By far the most notable names associated with CL are the Johnsons and the Kagans. 1 CL is a technique in education based on the idea that two people learn concepts bet- ter together than alone. When students collaborate, they learn studying and comprehen- sion techniques from their peers. According to Johnson & Johnson (1998), CL is group- ing students together to accomplish shared learning goals. Students work in small groups of three or four to get the most out of their own learning and each other’s learning. They encourage and support each other to learn and are responsible for their own as well as their teammates’ learning. Unlike individual learning, people engaged in CL capitalize on one another’s resources and skills (asking one another for information, evaluating one another’s ideas, monitoring one another’s work, etc.). Teachers often frown upon the idea of CL. They feel students will waste their time talking more and studying less. Yet, research has indicated that discussing a topic that is being learnt leads to better retention. Students who study in solitude may have their own techniques of retention. But no one can remember vast amounts of information learnt in solitude; unless, of course, the learnt matter is put into practice.When studying in groups, students automatically put into practice what they learnt by speaking about the topics of study to fellow study-members. A discussion about a topic creates a lot of opinions among the group-members. They start to explain their version of the concept. At the end of it all, a student can actually take an exam without even reading a word. Ted Panitz lists over 60 benefits provided by CL (Panitz 1996). These benefits can be summarized into four major categories: social, psychological, academic and assessment. CL promotes social interactions; thus students benefit in a number of ways from the social perspective. By having the students explain their reasoning and conclusions, CL helps develop oral communication skills. Students develop and practice skills that will be needed to function in society and their workplace: leadership, decision-making, trust building, communication and conflict-management. Students also benefit psychologically from CL. Johnson and Johnson claim that CL experiences promote more positive attitudes toward learning and instruction than other teaching methodologies (Johnson and Johnson 1989). Because students play an active Armenian Folia Anglistika Methodology 104