Perceived effects of peer cooperation on motivation in the Japanese university EFL classroom

TL;DR: This article explored whether low achievers in EFL at a Japanese university perceive peer cooperation in cooperative learning contexts to be effective in improving their levels of expectancy, motivation and ultimate attainment in the L2.

Abstract: The main aim of this study was to explore whether or not low achievers in EFL at a Japanese university perceive peer cooperation in cooperative learning contexts to be effective in improving their levels of expectancy, motivation and ultimate attainment in the L2. The main findings in this study pertain to the relationship between peer cooperation and L2 classroom motivation. The relationship involved several perceived routes which mainly indicated that the learners felt that peer cooperation had had a positive influence on their levels of motivation. The perceived routes linking peer cooperation to motivation can be roughly divided into two types; 1) the two routes which were mainly focused on in this study: through expectancy alone or a combination of levels of English and expectancy; and 2) other routes identified during the course of the study: through group cohesion and/or cohesion-generated factors (a sense of responsibility for their peers and having fun in class) or through factors related to status ordering or hierarchy among students (feelings of superiority/inferiority to their peers).