According to research, group learning is an effective way of language learning and improving fluency and language proficiency. Group learning is a novel technique of education that lends people their knowledge on the concepts under discussion to small groups or teams. However, despite its tremendous advantages, group learning has its fair share o disadvantages and drawbacks in acquiring a new language.
Below discusses are the disadvantages of enrolling in group language courses
1. Teachers attention is divided
Unlike personal one-to-one online classes, group language courses will mean that the teacher will have to split attention to all the group members. Simple math says that if you share your teacher’s attention with a group, you won’t get nearly as much of it. Furthermore, some pupils will push for more than their fair share. For instance, some students are attention seekers and will want to be the center of the sessions getting all the attention from the teacher. This may leave the rest f you uncatered for and may deter your language learning process. Moreover, in such a setup, you cannot ask as many questions as you would want for the sake of other group members and sometimes out of fear. Some people tend to be shy when they have their peers around, which may affect their learning as they may be unable to ask questions about anything they do not understand.
2. Weaker students may hold you back
When learning as a group, you have to work at a pace that accommodates everyone and leaves no one behind. Additionally, a group has various individuals who have varying competencies in language acquisition. This means that while some may understand a concept with one try, another may need a few more tries to catch up. However, some students will drag you behind due to their lack of commitment and self-discipline. For instance, those that don’t do assignments or submit them late. Also, the ones that don’t seem to follow the most precise instructions may require extra attention from the tutor disadvantaging and dragging the rest behind. Therefore some types of students may drag you behind due to various factors. Such students will hold back learning progress, requiring more attention from tutors and dragging the rest of the group behind.
3. There is no scheduling flexibility
When working as a group is different from when working as an individual. As an individual, you can fix a lesson time o your convenience and according to o your schedule. However, working as a group, you will have to have a fixed time to help accommodate everyone.
4. The quality of the language that students hear will vary.
When compared to instructor input, the quality of the language students hears may vary, sometimes incorrect, and almost certainly deficient. Therefore, getting comprehensible input at the appropriate level is crucial to the acquisition cannot be ensured.
Notably, Not all pupils enjoy working in pairs or groups. Some students choose to work with their professional teacher one-on-one. Therefore group works may not be beneficial to them.