Group work and pair work should replace whole class teaching.

Among many years of the development of foreign language teaching methodology many interaction patterns were tested. As Harmer (2008: 161) states there are not any restrictions concerning grouping students. The teachers may choose from different patterns such as lockstep, pair work, group work and individual work. However, it is commonly believed that pair work and group work are those interaction modes that enhance speaking and students have an opportunity to develop their communication competence, whereas whole class teaching is believed to neglect communication. However, many teachers prefer using whole-class teaching for some activities because this interaction mode in addition of having some minor disadvantages has also some very prominent merits. Pair work and group work is simply dividing the whole class into pair or small groups and whole-class teaching involves the teacher working with the whole class as a team. As pair work and group work are commonly used by teachers there is a great number of advantages that can be listed, but there is also as many disadvantages of using these patterns. Although pair and group work may bring many benefits, whole class teaching cannot be fully replaced by them. First of all, whole class teaching strengthens the unity between students ( as cited in Harmer. 2008:161). It enables students to share many different kinds of emotions with the rest of the students. Moreover, they also share the same goals which makes them more unified, thanks to which friendly atmosphere is created and that lowers the possibility of the affective filter to take place. It also gives the opportunity to focus on the same points of the activity that learners are working on and at the same time to pay more attention to the most commonly made mistakes, which is less time consuming then discussing particular errors made by each student. According to Harmer (2008:161), language learning gives more pleasure to students if they are enabled to work as one team, which makes it more fascinating and involving. Secondly, while whole-class teaching there are less problems connected to relationships between students. On the contrary, while working in pairs there exists higher

probability that will be influenced by their feelings, for example if they dislike their partner, they will not be eager to work with this person. Whereas while using whole class-teaching as an interaction pattern relationships between learners are put aside (Andrews. 2003). Many of the learners prefer working in the lockstep and being controlled by the teacher because it helps them to feel the sense of security (Harmer. 2008:161). The next advantage of whole class teaching may be the fact that it is the best pattern that can be used for giving instructions. The teacher speaks to all of the students at the same time so that it is less time-consuming than explaining each student what to do individually. Many students also use the pattern for feedback sessions which seems to be very effective. (Andrews. 2003). On the other hand students who are more averse than others may not be willing to take part in the discussion. They may be discouraged by the fact of possible failure in front of the class while participating in the discussion. At the same time they may be overwhelmed by the students who are talkative and always take part in the class discussion. If the class is very big, each students may not have many chances to say something on their own (Harmer. 2008: 162) Another disadvantage of whole class teaching is the fact that it limits the amount of creative thinking, as students are exposed to the knowledge that the teacher wants them to know. At the same time it does not contribute to successful task achievement because of the limited communication. Students cannot keep an eye contact, use less formal language while speaking or talk to each other quietly. Sharing material or aids also seems to be more complicated than for example while working in smaller groups. On the other hand pair work and group work are those interaction modes that give even more benefits than whole-class teaching and it dramatically increases the amount of communication and enhance speaking. However, it must not be forgotten that despite having a lot of advantages, group work and pair work have some drawbacks as well. If we take into consideration group work, there exists a problem of how to divide students in order to make them work efficiently. The teacher has to create groups in such a way for interpersonal interaction between students to occurs. It is advisable to create groups not bigger than five people (Harmer. 2008: 165). Another fact that seems to stand in favor of using whole-class teaching is the probability that while working in groups or pairs students may be very noisy. Students no longer feel the authority of the teacher when they are working in smaller groups and it causes discipline problems. It is also frustrating for the teachers because while experiencing such problems some of them feel losing control over their pupils. According to Cohen (1994)

students may even start arguing over their opinions, unfortunately usually they use they native language in such situations. Switching into native language is another problem that occurs when students are working in group or pairs. Taking into consideration bilingual groups, especially those that use the same native language, it is inevitable that students will use their native language if they come across any difficulties with expressing themselves in the target language. It is very probable that instead of doing the task they will be absorbed with talking about their own issues (Cohen. 1994) The main disadvantage of using pair work or group work as an interaction mode is the fact that students may not feel comfortable while working with their peer. One more time emotions and relationships between students contribute to the effectiveness of work. If there are students who dislike each other put into one group or pair their cooperation will be very poor. That may be very problematic to teachers as they have to be very careful when creating groups (Harmer. 2008: 166). The next disadvantage of pair work and group work may be lack of immediate feedback. Contrary to whole-class teaching where immediate feedback is possible, it is not easy attainable. There are usually a few groups or pairs so the teacher is not able to control and monitor all of them simultaneously, that is why usually delayed feedback is use. Moreover, because of the lack of immediate feedback and of the occurrence of peer teaching among groups, many errors are likely to be fossilized by students. Another aspect that seems to support using whole-class teaching is the fact that organizing group work or pair work is very time-consuming. The teacher has to think of how to divide students into groups or pairs in order to make their work efficient. Moreover there is the necessity of some time spent on presentation of students work in order to enable teacher to give some feedback on their work (Harmer. 2008: 166) Finally, many students, as well as teachers, have rather conservative point of view and believe that the teacher is the only reliable source of linguistic knowledge. Such students prefer the feeling of being controlled and under the direct authority of the teacher. They do not like working in the non-threatening environment that pair work creates. They are also convinced that working with a partner that is linguistically as weak as they are will not bring any benefits.