When Friendship Matters in Math

Group and pair work can help students to grow academically and socially. The chance to work together allows students to learn from each other, growing their social skills, and to improve their own subject knowledge through discussing and explaining ideas. However, for English Language Learners (ELLs), who they work with can influence how they solve the problem.

Dr. Miwa Aoki Takeuchi, a Werklund post-doctoral scholar, studied how newly-arrived refugee and immigrant students participated in group work during math lessons. She compared how these students engaged in groups that were teacher-assigned, pairing the ELL with students the teacher thought of as leaders and strong at math, and student-selected, when the students opted to work with students they considered to be their friends.

In friend-groups, the ELLs offered more ideas, engaged in more discussions, and were seen as more competent by others members overall. They brought their knowledge forward and shared more in the group's work. The ELL students were also able to communicate their difficulties more freely, given the sense of security and understanding in the friendships.

In contrast, the other students in teacher-made groups often took on leadership roles, proposed more ideas, and were less likely to accept the ideas of the ELLs. This left the ELLs in a passive role, and they were more likely to depend on their peers to solve problems.

Since engaging in discussions and explanations can lead to better content knowledge, and promote social and identity development, the ELL students in this study gained richer opportunities to learn in friend-groups, rather than teacher-made ones. The amount of participation tends to decide who benefits more from group work, and may perpetuate learning gaps between ELLs and other students.

For Teachers

Teachers may wish to consider how students engage in different groups, and the effects of different peers on their group work. This research does not claim that friend-groups always work. Rather, it suggests supporting ELLs in engaging and contributing to group discussions is central to their identity development and mathematical understanding. Allowing ELLs opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge in groups, as well as to learn from other students, is an important balance. This speaks to the need to prepare all students with the skills and knowledge to perform effectively in group work tasks.

*This work was supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (12J02927). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agency*