competitive learning

This quasi-experimental study investigated the comparative effects of two instructional approaches – cooperative learning and a hybrid model integrating cooperative and competitive elements – on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' writing proficiency. Participants (n = 23) were female EFL learners aged 16 to 45 (Mage = 30.5) selected through convenience sampling and homogenized based on their Preliminary English Test scores. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups. Both groups received pre- and post-tests. The experimental groups received instruction using either a cooperative learning approach or a hybrid approach incorporating both cooperative and competitive elements. Repeated Measures ANOVA was employed to analyze the data. Results indicated that the hybrid approach significantly outperformed the cooperative learning approach in enhancing learners' writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency. These findings suggest that integrating competitive elements within a cooperative framework can significantly improve EFL learners' writing proficiency, offering valuable pedagogical implications for educators and materials developers.

Ever since its introduction, the flipped learning approach has demonstrated promising results in English language teaching. To this end, the goal of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of flipped learning on speaking in two different cooperative and competitive EFL learning settings. To conduct the study, the researchers selected 60 learners through nonrandom convenience sampling and subsequently randomly assigned them into two experimental groups of 30 learners, namely the flipped learning cooperative and the flipped learning competitive groups. Both groups underwent the same flipped learning treatment; the point of departure, however, was the fact that in one group the learners exercised cooperative learning while the other group experienced competitive learning. Prior to the treatment, all 60 learners took a speaking pretest (a sample Preliminary English Test or PET) and after the treatment, a posttest (another sample PET) was administered to them. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was run on the two groups’ scores on the pre- and posttest. The result of the study indicated that the learners sitting in the flipped cooperative group outperformed those in the flipped competitive group. The implications of the findings of this study are elaborated in the paper.