Peer Assisted Strategies - Essay Example

Role play is very effective in a situation where the teacher is confronted with students who are very shy and uncomfortable in using the target language. For instance, the teacher may suggest to two learners to imagine a situation where s/he is asking for direction from a stranger in a new place. The two learners while enacting a situation try to think of various forms of communication that help them seek the information. Thus, as the learners practice and get used to act in the classroom they will be able to communicate without inhibitions in real social life.

Peer tutoring: Peer tutoring is defined as an approach where a good learner teaches or guides another learner who lacks knowledge in the area. Since, as peer tutoring involves the learner take the role of a teacher or imitate a teacher, the learner tends to learn the subject well so as to make sure that s/he is teaching correctly and performing effectively. The learners can inter-change their roles that encourage peer cooperation and improve peer relationships. Peer tutoring motivates the learner to acquire the language skills and inculcates reading habit because the learner attempts to fine tune her/his subject knowledge before taking the role of a teacher.

Further, the learner who takes the role of a student feels less inhibited with a peer as a tutor in place of a real teacher. Peer tutoring is most appropriate in situations where a set or group of students who are weak in a particular skill. Therefore, the tutor is not merely acting as a teacher but trying to help his peer in understanding the subject. Reciprocal Teaching: This approach helps in improving the comprehension abilities. In this technique the teacher as well as the learner takes an active role.

While reading a text this technique calls for four important stages: summarizing, questioning, clarifying and predicting. This technique is most suitable in a situation when the text is difficult to comprehend and the goal is to encourage peer collaboration. One way of doing this is allocating the four stages to four different students or four groups, while the teacher is reading the text, each student assigned to a specific group would accordingly take the initiative. Simultaneously, the teacher and the students discuss and have a dialogue over the topic.

Thus, this technique facilitates group participation or equal participation amongst peers and the teacher as well. Cooperative learning: This technique encourages learners to work together for the benefit of the entire group. Since, the groups are heterogeneous it allows them to learn from each other and get along with those who are different from themselves. The teacher is helping the learners not only to acquire the language but also learn to collaborate, be responsible and accountable, which is very important in social circles