Enhancement of Learners’ Attentiveness in ESL Classroom with CGW Using Web 2.0 Tools: An Intervention Study

Abstract

Students’ attentiveness in the classroom especially in ESL classrooms is an inevitable alignment of effective learning as well as teaching English as a second language. However, students are erratic in their attendance, and even when they do show up, they lack their attentiveness and are not focused on the lessons taught in the classroom. As a result, their ability to learn is being hindered more than ever. This is a significant issue in teaching and learning in tertiary-level education at most colleges and universities around the world. The research aims at reducing the lack of learners’ attention to learning in ESL classrooms and enhancing students’ attentiveness through the intervention of collaborative group work (CGW). The study was conducted in a mixed method that included a questionnaire survey, observation and some previous relevant Content Analysis (CA). The settings of the research were the departments of English of a College of the National University in Bangladesh and three colleges of the King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia. The study found that before an intervention, 62.75% of students were not paying attention, while only 31.75% were paying attention in their ESL classroom. But after the intervention, 63.50% of ESL students were more attentive, while 32.50% were no longer attentive. This indicated a significant change. So, the study successfully proved that if the collaborative group work (CGW) using web 2.0 tools were well performed among the students in the ESL classroom, the present and future learners could be capable of enhancing their attentiveness in the classroom and flexibly learning English as a Second Language than before.