The cooperative learning in the second and the first language acquisition in the first triad of the primary school

The introduction of the cooperative learning into the first and foreign language instruction in the first triad of the primary school was based on action research. Teachers were presented with some of the cooperative structures through workshops prior to their introduction in the classroom. The research focused on different aspects of cooperation. Firstly, relevant cooperative structures were identified that are appropriate for the first triad of the primary school in both languages, then best applicable school subjects were selected and finally, students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards cooperative learning compared with frontal and individual teaching approaches were examined. Furthermore, various effects of cooperative learning in the interpersonal relations among students were investigated and language proficiency in listening and speaking of the students who were introduced to the cooperative learning was tested. English language acquisition is context based. Its language goals are completely submitted to the academic goals of the subject that English lesson is immersed into. Thus, team work is of paramount importance. The action research study shows that teachers expressed positive attitude toward cooperative learning although this demands more of their time to prepare for lessons. As teachers lack time for such preparation, the quality of the cooperative learning performances suffered. However, teachers believe all the introduced cooperative structures are appropriate for the first triad in the first language classroom but not all are suitable for the specific English immersion approach. The results have shown that the children liked group work more than the frontal approach or individual learning. However, cooperative learning had no statistically significant impact on the interpersonal relations among the students. English language comprehension of easy texts is fairly good, while speaking performance is mostly limited to on one-word responses.