The application of small group and individual flipped model with WhatsApp to foster EFL learners’ cohesive writing skill
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-12-2018-0075 |
| Pages | 10-12 |
| Published date | 03 June 2019 |
| Date | 03 June 2019 |
| Author | Yudhi Arifani |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
The application of small group and individual
flipped model with WhatsApp to foster EFL
learners’ cohesive writing skill
Yudhi Arifani
Introduction
The existence of flipped classrooms
has attracted numerous EFL and ESL
teachers to investigate many aspects of
English skills and elements such as
listening, speaking, reading and writing,
vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar
(Ahmed, 2016;Jehma, 2016;
Suranakkharin, 2017 and Unruh et al.,
2016. Flipped classroom in an EFL
teaching context is defined as EFL
teaching and learning activity using
electronic media during out of class as
well as in-class teaching and learning
activities (Herreid and Schiller, 2013).
During out of class activities, learners
watch and listen to the video and learn
essential notes from it. During out of
class activities, they deal with task and
problem-solving autonomously through
the individual and group work learning
model (Afrilyasanti et al., 2016).
Meanwhile, during classroom teaching
and learning, learners are involved
interactive classroom discussion
(Bishop and Verleger, 2013;Schmitdt
and Ralph, 2016). Suranakkharin
(2017) wrote that flipped classroom’s
practicality and efficiency can empower
learners to grow up and develop their
English mastery if it is compared with
the traditional classroom model.
Struthers et al. (2013) have
developed a checklist to minimize the
subjectivity of assessing cohesion so
far, but it has not been developed yet for
cohesion in EFL setting. Further,
Mortensen et al. (2009) define cohesion
as lexical and grammatical structures
that maintain the formulation of
coherent paragraph writing.
Establishing cohesive writing for EFL
learners is very challenging because its
subjectivity and as a dilemmatic area
for learners in producing good writing.
Thus, the present study sets out to
investigate whether small group flipped
model via WhatsApp with small group
writing activities can improve EFL
learners’ cohesion than the individual
flipped model via WhatsApp with
individual writing activities.
A clear definition of cohesion is
shown from the work of Halliday and
Hasan (1976), which divides cohesion
into five distinguished elements:
reference, substitution, ellipsis,
conjunction, and lexical. He elucidates
the term “reference” as the use of
pronouns, articles and demonstratives.
Substitution refers to the ability to
replace superfluous words. Ellipsis is
the elimination of unessential words.
Conjunction refers to the use of
an additive, causal, adversative,
continuative and adverbial phrases
across phrases and sentences. Lexical
cohesion covers word reiteration, super
ordinates, synonyms, and collocations
or word friends. Cohesion in writing is
one of the determinant factors supports
the quality learner’s writing. Cox et al.
(1990) indicate that cohesion
significantly correlates with EFL
learners’ writing quality and helps
teachers pinpoint a learner’s difficulty
in composing a well-written paragraph.
The fast growth of technology and its
positive influence in language teaching
and learning brings flipped classroom
more popular in EFL/ESL contexts
(Ahmed, 2016;Bishop and Verleger,
2013;Ling, 2015). Within the context
of the flipped model, the role of a
teacher is devoted to classroom
discussion and group activities to
enhance learners’ engagement in
learning. Meanwhile, the learners are
discussing a certain topic from online
videos such as from YouTube or other
relevant sources outside of the
classroom for interaction and
enhancement. In a conventional writing
class, the teacher explains writing
materials to the learners, asks them to
practice writing afterward and
emphasizes writing errors made by the
learners. In the flipped writing model,
before attending the class, learners
watch and learn writing concepts from
videos outside class time. Then, they are
engaged in interactive classroom
discussion (Arnold-Garza, 2014;Chou
and ChanLinh, 2015;Slezak, 2014).
The flipped model is relevant because it
offers a consistent framework for
teachers and librarians.
Without neglecting the merits of
traditional teaching method, the
implementation of collaborative
teaching has mushroomed among EFL/
ESL teachers in their classroom
instruction. Muslem et al. (2017)
revealed that small group learning has
significantly helped EFL learners
enhance their speaking performance.
Also, as long as learners interact with
the member of a group in meaningful
ways, collaborative learning also fosters
their critical thinking because it offers
to share idea during small group
discussion (Raja and Saeed, 2012).
Hyland (2000) and Liang (2010)
reported that small group activity in
writing class became limited because
learners collaborated only at the pre-
writing activity meanwhile at post-
writing they tended to rely on peer
correction. Consequently, the objective
of collaborative writing through small
group was not practical.
The term individual learning is
sometimes called “autonomous
learning” or “independent learning”
or “learner-centered learning” or
“teacher-less learning,” which
accentuates on optimizing learners’
English competency rather than the
groups’ target attainment. If it is
compared with small group learning,
10 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 4 2019, pp. 10-12, V
CEmerald Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/LHTN-12-2018-0075
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