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Results  from  this  study  suggest  that  implementing             The Claim

                 ‘structures’  is  not  enough.  The  students’  conception  of  what        about the
                 constitutes ‘good’ university teaching needs also to be addressed.           Current

                 If  the  tutorial  is  essentially  considered  a  small-scale  lecture  in   Result
                 which information is passed from expert tutor to novice student,

                 then any ‘structure’ may potentially increase student interaction,
                 however, not necessarily the depth and quality of the interaction.

                         If cooperative learning is to make sense to these students,            The
                 they need to see how engaging in discussion with peers makes a  Influencing

                 difference to their own achievement; thus, cooperative learning              Factors
                 activities need to be aligned with examinations and assessment

                 criteria.  Finally,  the  cooperative  learning  literature  hardly
                 addresses the role and the impact of the teacher. Nevertheless,

                 the  students’  attitudes  toward  cooperative  learning  were  highly
                 dependent on the tutor. Future research might address in which

                 ways  teachers  might  affect  students’  attitudes  to  cooperative
                 learning.



               Language Focus

                        In  the  above  discussion,  there  are  some  underlined  words  showing
               uncertainty or speculation. It is important to be able to distinguish uncertainty and
               speculation  from  fact.  Uncertainty and  speculation  can  be  expressed using  the

               following expression:

               a.  Modals such as may, could, or might
                   e.g. Cooperative principle may create a more empathetic student.
               b.  Verbs such as believe, claim, think, hope, seem, assume etc.

                   e.g.  The  lecturer  believes,  there  is  a  connection  between  the  students’

                   achievement and their engagement.
               c.  Adjectives,  adverbs,  or  nouns  showing  uncertainty  such  as  likely,  possible,
                   possibly, possibility, and assumption

                   e.g. It is possible that the cooperative activity does not necessarily promote

                   active learning.








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