EXPLORING CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING TO ENHANCE ESP STUDENTS’ FORMATIVE KNOWLEDGE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF BANKING

Tóm tắt

Bridging the persistent gap between classroom knowledge and its application in professional contexts remains a central challenge in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This study investigates the effects of co-operative learning in enhancing the formative knowledge of ESP students at the Ho Chi Minh University of Banking, focusing on the relationships between co-operative learning, pair work, group work, and formative knowledge. Quantitative analyses, including correlation and multiple regression, were used to examine the predictive effects of pair work and group work on learning outcomes. Structured co-operative learning techniques, specifically pair work and group work, were implemented within authentic ESP tasks to facilitate interaction and knowledge construction. The results show a significant enhancement in students’ formative knowledge through cooperative learning compared to traditional instruction (p < 0.001), with a large effect size. While both pair work and group work positively predict learning outcomes, group work emerges as the stronger predictor (β = 0.351, p < 0.001) suggesting its superior role in promoting deeper cognitive processing and collaborative knowledge construction. This study advances ESP research by providing empirical evidence on the differential impact of cooperative learning structures, offering both theoretical contributions and pedagogical implications for the design and implementation of cooperative learning activities in higher education ESP classrooms.