Group Work: B2+ - Patrick McMahon

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       Tips

       If you are unhappy about your group membership, try to make it work before asking to move.

       You should talk to your tutor or lecturer if you still feel uncomfortable in your group after a period of time.

       Getting to know each other

      It is very important for you and the other group members to get to know each other so you can work together effectively. If you have some basic information about them, you will quickly find shared interests and start to understand how they think and work.

      The activities in Exercises 2, 3 and 4 are just some of the ones you might choose in order to learn something about the other members in your group. Your lecturer is unlikely to use such activities, but will assume that the group takes responsibility for organizing and carrying out this process.

      

Exercise 2

      Look at the form below that a student has completed after meeting a new group member. The information is very basic. What follow-up questions can they ask to get more interesting information?

       Nice to meet you!

       Work in pairs. Take it in turns to ask each other the following questions. Make notes of the answers.

      1 Full name: Narantuya Bayarmaa

      2 Name to be used in the group/Nickname: Natalie

      3 Nationality: Chinese

      4 First language: Mongolian

      5 Languages you can speak: Mongolian, Mandarin, English

      6 Currently living: Shanghai

      7 Course: Mechanical Engineering

      8 Reasons for choosing this course: China needs engineers

      9 Hobbies: Horse riding, swimming, travelling and learning about new cultures

      10 Plans following this course: Return to China and work in the field of developing renewable energy

       When you have finished come together as a group and introduce your partner to the rest of the group. Partners should give more information, correct the information being given, and ask and answer more questions. This will generate a rewarding ‘getting to know each other’ session.

       Now check the key for answers and comments on this exercise.

      A skills audit (see Exercise 3) is a useful way of finding out about the strengths and weaknesses of the various group members. It is very useful to exchange this information with your group so that you can decide who is best suited to each task.

       Glossary

      skills audit A skills audit is a thorough check or examination of a person’s skills and abilities.

      

Exercise 3

      Read the skills audit form below and rate your skills. Write 1 if you think your skills need improvement, 2 if they are adequate and 3 if they are good.

Skills audit
Skills Rate your skills 1 / 2 / 3
1 Written communication skills in English: able to write fluently in English without making serious grammar mistakes
2 Spoken communication skills in English: able to discuss things in English, give points of view and justify opinions
3 Pronunciation skills: having good enough pronunciation so that people can easily understand you when you speak
4 Presentation skills: able to give an adequate formal presentation in English in front of others
5 IT skills: able to carry out a range of practical tasks using a variety of computer programmes such as word processing, digital presentations and making posters
6 Numeracy skills: good with numbers when carrying out tasks such as costing, budgeting and keeping accounts
7 Teamwork skills: able to work together with other students, negotiate compromise and share ideas
8 Reading and note-taking skills: able to read long texts quickly and easily, understand them and take useful notes that can be understood later

       Now check the key for comments on this exercise.

      Ice-breakers (see Exercise 4) are a useful type of activity to use when a group meets for the first time as they will help to make all the group members feel at ease with each other. In other words, they help to break the ice.

      

Exercise 4

      Look at the ice-breaker activity on page 20 and answer the questions.

      1 How easy would it be to complete?

      2 How interesting would it be to use?

      3 How useful would it be in terms of getting to know others?

      1 Think about something you learned to do recently, e.g. driving or speaking another language.Was it a good learning experience, or not?What made it a good or a bad learning experience?

      2 Think about a really good teacher that you had when you were at school.What made this teacher special?How did this affect the way you worked?

      3 Think about a subject that you did not like at school.What made you dislike the subject?Could anything have been done to make it better?

      4 Have you ever worked in a group before? If so:What made it a good experience?What did you learn from it?

      5 Think about something you have done that needed courage and took you out of your comfort zone, for example, doing something for the first time, or doing something you did not like or did not want to do.How did you face your fear of doing it?What did you learn from it?

       Now check the key for comments on this exercise.

      It is important to make use of the various information you gather about the members of your group during any ice-breaking activities. It would therefore be useful to complete a table similar to the one below.

       Glossary

      distribute If you distribute things, you hand

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