










































English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

Vol. 5, No. 1, 2022, pp. 60-74  

       10.12928/eltej.v5i1.5822                                 http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index        eltej@pbi.uad.ac.id 

Collaborative learning and classroom engagement: A 

pedagogical experience in an EFL Chilean context  

Jessica Vega-Abarzúa a,1,*, Javiera Pastene-Fuentes b,2, Constanza Pastene-Fuentes c,3,  

Camila Ortega-Jiménez d,4, Tamar Castillo-Rodríguez e,5 

a,b,c,d,e, Universidad Adventista de Chile, Camino a Tanilvoro Km. 12 - Sector, Las Mariposas, Chillán, Ñuble, Chile  
1 jessicavega@unach.cl*; 2 javierapastene@alu.unach.cl; 3 constanzapastene@alu.unach.cl; 4 camilaortega@alu.unach.cl; 5 tamarcastillo@alu.unach.cl 

* corresponding author 

 

A R T I C L E  I N F O 

 

ABST RACT  (1 0 P T )  

 

 

Article history 

Received 8 March 2022 

Revised 19 April 2022 

Accepted 26 April 2022 

 In the context of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), there is 
growing attention towards collaborative learning and learners’ 
engagement. Despite the interest on these topics, there is little research 
in Chile, in the English classroom, about both collaborative learning 
and learners’ engagement at a school level. Therefore, this study 
emerged to explore and describe the impact of collaborative-based 
instruction on learners’ engagement during an intervention of five 
weeks in a private-subsidized school in the city of Chillan. The 
participants of the study were 62 female and 70 male students, aged 15 
to 17. Based on an action research methodology, the researchers used 
quantitative and qualitative techniques to collect data which comprised 
a Likert test (adapted from Alsowat, 2016) administered before and 
after the intervention, and unstructured observation registered in every 
lesson by means of field notes learnt from Efrat and Ravid (2020). Our 
results show that collaborative learning has a direct relationship with 
learners’ engagement, evidenced in our four classes where behavioral 
engagement was predominant. Future studies may investigate whether 
the use of collaborative learning tasks, over a longer period, would still 
maintain learners’ engagement in the EFL classroom as well as whether 
behavioral engagement is the most salient dimension among their 
students. 

This is an open access article under the CC–BY-SA license. 

    

 

 
Keywords 

collaborative learning 

engagement 

English 

high school 

EFL 

 

 

How to Cite: Vega-Abarzúa, J.,  Pastene-Fuentes, J., Pastene-Fuentes, C., Ortega-Jiménez, C., & Castillo-
Rodríguez, T. (2022). Collaborative learning and classroom engagement: A pedagogical experience in an EFL 
Chilean context. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 5(1), 60-74. 

1. Introduction  

Undoubtedly, English language educators pursue learners’ engagement in their lessons. This 
interest is not far from Chilean education where the school curriculum encourages EFL teachers to 
implement an active pedagogy not only to increase students’ interests towards English language 
learning but also to learn it meaningfully within a social context (Mineduc, 2016). However, engaging 
learners in a Chilean context becomes challenging when facing multiple educational issues. One of 
these problems has to do with the focus of the instruction, which in Chile seems to still dominate a 
teacher-centered practice. A study conducted by Alarcón,  Díaz and Vergara (2015) about identifying 
university students metaphors’ reveals that pedagogy students mostly played a passive role in their 
education. This view is completely opposed to the communicative emphasis declared by Chilean 
education. Muñoz Campos (2017) reports that the focus of the EFL classroom, at some point, diverted 
to standardized testing though in an ill-structured way because the national expectations of attaining 

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an intermediate user proficiency have not yet been met. Student-centeredness may be distant from the 
Chilean classroom since educators must tackle different problems, leaving no time and room to 
innovate. For example, research studies report that Chilean teachers face serious difficulties such as 
misbehavior and violence (Cid et al., 2008; Espinoza & Arias, 2020; Velasco-Cortés, 2014)  that 
threaten the optimal delivery of classes and therefore the implementation of strategies centered on the 
students. Another educational issue that may be hindering student-driven education is classroom size. 
In a study conducted by OCDE (2016), findings reveal that the average pupils per Chilean classroom 
is 24, being the maximum 45, which is a frequent number in Chilean urban schools. Acción Educar 
(2016) claims that it is vital to reduce large classes to improve the quality of Chilean education, 
classroom didactics and classroom management. Although the Chilean government asserts to have an 
ongoing class-size agenda, not to exceed 35 learners per classroom (Mayoría, 2013), no changes have 
yet occurred. 

The research site of this study was not an exception to the educational issues discussed above, 
specifically in terms of classroom size and teacher-centeredness. Therefore, for this study, it was 
imperative to i) take a reflective role in our teaching context to bring changes to the classroom, ii) 
promote learners’ engagement to meet the pedagogical orientations of the national curriculum, and 
iii) select an approach or method likely to be implemented in our context. In this endeavor, 
collaborative learning (CL), a student-centered method to reach a common goal (Laal & Laal, 2012) 
emerged from the literature review which has reported various benefits for the educational 
communities in different contexts. This method also matched our expectations to improve our teaching 
practices. 

Our study was exploratory in nature given the fact that we did not find similar investigations, at 
the time of the investigation, focusing on collaborative learning and learners’ engagement in a Chilean 
context. The research purpose was to implement an action plan, in this case basically translated into 
collaborative learning tasks, during five weeks to explore and describe its impact on the engagement 
of our high school learners in a school of Ñuble region, Chile. To attain this goal, we have posed the 
following research questions: Is there a relationship between collaborative learning and learners’ 
engagement? In what way would collaborative learning tasks impact learners’ engagement in the EFL 
classroom?  

 

1.1. Engagement  

For some, the concept of engagement is interchangeably used with the notion of involvement. To 
some extent this use is acceptable as these two concepts hold a positive connotation, for they imply 
an active participation. Nevertheless, beyond the ordinary use, researchers claim that engagement is 
broader than involvement as it comprises other elements such as feelings, meaning making and active 
participation (Harper & Quaye, 2009).  The broadness in the term has allowed a categorization to 
serve educational purposes, specifically at a school level. Thereafter, it is not uncommon to encounter 
studies and books addressing different types of engagement. Fredricks, Blumenfeld and Paris (2004) 
distinguish three dimensions of engagement in the literature: 

1. Behavioral engagement. It entails the active participation and engagement to successfully meet 
academic and extracurricular demands.  

2. Emotional engagement. It is characterized by affections, bonds and willingness to commit with the 
educational setting and actors.  

3. Cognitive engagement. It is marked by the level of participation and effort to thrive in learning and 
more challenging tasks.  

Not far from this appraisal, Hu and Kuh (2001) define engagement as “the quality of effort students 
themselves devote to educationally purposeful activities that contribute directly to desired outcomes” 
(p.3). Similarly, Coates (2007) asserts that engagement is “a broad construct intended to encompass 
salient academic as well as certain non-academic aspects of the student experience” (p.122). Although 
these definitions are more general, they relate back to the three dimensions of engagement in 
Fredricks, Blumenfeld and Paris’ work as they signal one or more elements, showing the interaction 
between the same.  



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Empirical studies on learners’ engagement and collaborative learning have revealed a favorable 
relationship between these two areas. Huang (2021) studied the effects of a smartphone-based 
collaborative project on EFL students’ performance and learning engagement during an eight-week 
intervention, where learners’ speaking performance and engagement increased. Blasco-Arcas et al. 
(2013) used a framework including interactivity, collaborative learning and engagement to investigate 
the use of clickers in the classroom, yielding positive results in favor of learners' performance. Myller 
et al. (2009) found a positive correlation between high levels of learners’ engagement and 
collaborative activities. In a more recent study, the researchers Qureshi et al. (2021) examined the 
social factors in the learning performance through collaborative learning and engagement, 
highlighting the importance of such elements on learners’ academic achievement. Clearly, the concept 
of engagement possesses various definitions and empirical evidence points at being beneficial in 
stimulating a classroom environment that facilitates learning. For the scope of this study, engagement 
will be understood as “a broad construct intended to encompass salient academic as well as certain 
non-academic aspects of the student experience” (Coates, 2007, p.122) . 

1.2. Collaborative learning  

In a nutshell, collaborative learning (CL) is understood as learning while interacting. Barkley, 
Cross and Howell (2012) define CL as “group work, avoiding solo projects to achieve goals of 
common interest” (p. 17). Gerlach (1994) maintains that learning takes place in learners’ interaction 
and negotiation. This socialization is facilitated by the attainment of a specific task (Gokhale, 1995) 
that allows learners not only to gain academic skills but also to develop group work abilities as well 
as affective benefits as they support each other. In other words, CL has an emotional implication (Laal 
& Laal, 2012) that enriches learners’ academic life (Brown, 2008) as learners convey, listen and 
respect different ideas and beliefs.  

While the concept of CL is interchangeably used with the one of cooperative learning, Barkley, et 
al. (2012) highlight a theoretical difference. In cooperative learning, students work in groups arranged 
by the instructor who maintains the role of authority and decision making as students make progress 
with their work and peers. Collaborative learning, on the other hand, implies students working on their 
own, finding and building their own learning as the teacher monitors and provides feedback on their 
tasks (Ibrahim et al., 2015). It might be concluded that whilst cooperative learning reinforces group 
work, led by the strong figure of the teacher, collaborative learning enhances teamwork from students’ 
own organization and decision making. In Gokhale’s words “the students are responsible for one 
another’s learning as well as their own'' (1995, p.1).  

Particularly, in implementing collaborative learning in the classroom as tasks, Barkley, et al. 
(2012) state that students have a crucial role. There is no gain in collaborative learning activities if 
just one student does all the work. Collaborative learning activities are successful when all the group 
members fulfill and take responsibility for a role (Collazos & Mendoza, 2009; Villa, Thousand & 
Nevin, 1994).  Proponents of CL assert that working collaboratively does not only entail developing 
social skills but also individual accountability (Collazos, & Mendoza, 2009; Johnson & Johnson, 
2017; Villa, Thousand & Nevin, 1994) as learners commit to a shared goal.  

It must be noted that teachers have a vital bearing as well, for they design, plan and create a 
cooperative environment that triggers motivation and involvement (Collazos, & Mendoza, 2009). In 
other words, collaborative learning has an ‘intentional’ implication given that “activities performed 
by students are specially designed by teachers for pairs or small groups” (Barkley, Cross & Howell, 
2012, pp. 17-18); affecting positively students’ learning experience. To enrich group work, educators 
must highlight the relevance of each student by assigning a role to all group members (Collazos, & 
Mendoza, 2009; Villa, Thousand & Nevin, 1994). Regarding this aspect, a research study exploring 
students’ perceptions on CL conducted by Brown (2008) showed that students had negative 
perceptions towards CL since some group members assumed most of the work. These findings lead 
to a major significance to group organization and role distribution to ensure active involvement and 
commitment in every student.  

Empirical studies reveal various other benefits of CL (see Table 1). There is evidence that shows 
that in collaborative-based work students no longer centered the attention to their grades but to self-
satisfaction as the result of group work in challenging tasks (Scager, Bonstra, Peeters, Vulperhost & 



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Wiegant, 2016). Furthermore, and considering the social nature of learning, many studies on CL 
address learners’ social abilities development and consolidation (Chen, 2018; Brown, 2008; Escofet 
& Marimon, 2012; Gómez Gutiérrez, 2018; Scager, Bonstra, Peeters, Vulperhost & Wiegant, 2016). 
Additionally, findings also highlight the improvement of higher levels of thought as seen in the study 
conducted by Gokhale (1995) where learners engaged in analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating tasks, 
revealing significant changes in higher other thinking skills after working collaboratively. One strand 
of research focuses on the impact of CL on teachers, finding positive results in broadening teaching 
competences. Sheldon (2002) pinpoints the importance of exposing instructors to the advantages of 
various teaching strategies in favor of students’ learning.  

Table 1.  Summary empirical evidence on CL. 

Authors Empirical evidence on CL Context  
Brown F. (2008) CL is interesting for learners in addressing 

academic and social skills. 

Higher education 

Cadavieco, Iglesias & Cabezas (2016) CL had a positive impact on teachers’ praxis. Higher education 

Escofet & Marimon (2012) CL exerted a positive impact on learners’ 

social skills.  

Higher education 

Gokhale (1995) CL fostered students’ critical thinking. Higher education 
Gómez Gutiérrez (2018) 

 

CL had enhanced group work skills such as 

respect and problem solving. 

Primary education 

Mulligan & Garofalo (2011) CL positive impact on learners’ writing. Higher education 

Scager, Bonstra, Peeters, Vulperhost & 
Wiegant, (2016) 

CL fostered responsibility and shared 
ownership. 

Higher education 

Source: personal elaboration 

Despite the advantages that CL poses for English language teaching, most of the research studies 
focus on tertiary education. Furthermore, it was evidenced that there is little empirical evidence on 
collaborative learning in Chile especially at a high school level. 

1.3. The EFL Classroom in High School Education 

In Chile, high school education starts approximately at the age of 14, undergoing 8 semesters in 4 
years. The aim of the EFL classroom at a secondary level is to use the language in communicative 
situations reinforcing primary school contents (Marco Curricular, 2009), which students begin 
mandatorily learning in 5th grade around the age of 9. In this context, at the end of the 4th semester 
of high school education, students are expected to attain a pre-intermediate level of English to 
eventually reach an intermediate level at the end of the 8th semester (Bases Curriculares, 2015). The 
Chilean curriculum outlines a progression of learning outcomes and linguistic complexity between 
grades summarized in Progresion de Objetivos de Aprendizaje. This transition requires a slow pace 
and time to consolidate and improve students’ English proficiency (Marco Curricular, 2009). In the 
development of the four abilities of the English language (reading, writing, listening  and speaking) 
with an average of three hours a week, students are expected to develop a communicative competence 
(Bases Curriculares, 2015). In a didactical and methodological field, the Chilean curriculum does not 
limit the different approaches, techniques and methods for English language teaching, yet it does stress 
the use of student-centered methodologies as well as the use of Information and Communication 
Technologies (ICTs) to slowly master the target language (Bases Curriculares, 2015). 

2. Method 

This exploratory study adopted an action research methodology using both quantitative and 
qualitative techniques for data collection. Given the fact that the researchers of this study were teachers 
investigating their work and deliberately intervening in their own classroom settings to seek 
improvements, the most adequate methodology to employ was action research. In particular, action 
research is understood as a type of inquiry led by teachers who become agents of change “in their own 
educational setting in order to advance their practices and improve their students’ learning” (Efrat & 
Ravid, 2020, p. 13). Furthermore, action research has a cyclical nature, which at the time is 
characterized by flexibility as a result of moving between action and reflection (Allan, Herbert, Peter, 
& Bridget, 2018). Considering this continuum, experts in the field of action research have suggested 



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different steps in the inquiry process. We arranged our study following the six-step put forward by 
Efront & Ravid (2020, p.8): 

1. Identify a problem 

2. Gather background information 

3. Design the study 

4. Collect data 

5. Analyze and interpret data 

6. Implement and share the findings 

The researchers were four preservice teachers of English in charge of the four class groups of the 
10th grade in a private-subsidized school in the city of Chillan as part of their pedagogical training 
program.  The researchers were in their 20s and received pedagogical guidance by their mentor, an in-
service teacher in her 30s with 8 years of teaching experience in English teaching in different 
educational contexts. Prior to the investigation, the researchers took some actions including the 
familiarization with the research site, detection of a pedagogical issue, and tailoring an action plan in 
response to the issue. After two weeks of observation, the researchers concluded that learners' 
engagement was an area to explore and likely to be targeted with collaborative-based instruction. 

The research site in which the study was conducted is located in a rural area of the city of Chillan, 
Ñuble region of Chile. The universe of students attending the school are from a lower- to middle-class 
socioeconomic community, mainly living in the schools’ surroundings. The educational institution, 
private-subsidized, is part of one of the Adventists schools of Chile and has approximately 640 
students in high school education.  

The participants of our study included 132 students, 70 male and 62 female, aged 15-17, divided 
into four class groups (A, B, C, and D). At the moment of the study, they were undergoing their fourth 
semester (10th grade) of high school education. The observed level of English was basic, implying 
that learners decoded messages and were able to communicate ideas with the help of the teacher; 
students’ behavior ranged from moderate to normal, and they had EFL lessons twice a week, one 
lesson of 90 minutes and the other of 45 minutes.  

2.1. Ethical considerations 

Before conducting the study and tailoring the action plan, the researchers socialized their 
investigation interests with the school’s director and teachers of English. After the school’s approval, 
the researchers introduced themselves to the four class groups and communicated their basic research 
plan that by then consisted of research site observation to plan an intervention. Once the researchers 
detected the pedagogical issue, they provided more details to participants, informing that they would 
take over the English lessons during five weeks where they would implement an action plan 
comprising four phases embedded in their regular lessons. The researchers also explained that they 
document the experience by collecting data to which participants could decide whether to participate 
or not. The investigation and intervention was also communicated through a written letter attached 
with a consent letter to be signed by the participants’ parents. These documents were distributed in 
Spanish to avoid misunderstandings.  

2.3. Intervention design 

Once we had problematized the issue and found background information, we moved to the third 
step of our research cycle, designing the study. This step underpinned a complex process because we 
needed to find a way to organize, share and present the detailed actions of the intervention with the 
schools’ stakeholders. Consequently, we design our own procedures to illustrate our action plan which 
basically comprises four phases as shown in Figure 1: Planning, Induction, Development and Closure. 
The Planning phase, executed by the researchers, encompassed administrative work and the validation 
of pedagogical material with the appointed teacher of English of the school so as to meet curricular 
and institutional requirements.  



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Fig. 1.  Intervention design 

The Induction phase, marked by the first interaction with the learners in instructional mode, took 
place with a threefold purpose carried out in two lessons where participants 1) explored the 
characteristics and major aspects of collaborative learning activities, 2) examined their assessment 
criteria to complete a portfolio, and 3) distinguished the importance of group work roles to ensure 
cooperation and commitment (Barkley et al., 2012; Collazos, & Mendoza, 2009) in every lesson. In 
this phase, learners took responsibility for the roles of organizer, speaker, assistant, summarizer, 
recorder and elaborator. Students themselves selected their roles and used sticky labels to remind and 
identify their roles throughout the intervention. Role importance and team organization were learned 
from Villa, Thousand and Nevin (1994).  It is worth noting that we excluded the role of ‘leader’ 
because it might have been thought as more protagonic or important over other roles. Regarding group 
formation, learners were grouped with their closest classmates not to alter classroom arrangement.  

In the Development phase, learners engaged in collaborative learning tasks tailored to their EFL 
curriculum and school’s guidelines during six lessons. Learners worked with the same teammates and 
everybody maintained their roles. In every lesson, learners and their groups completed challenging 
tasks that resulted in a product that was added to their portfolios. This phase also encompassed self-
assessment scales that were also added to their portfolios. 

The final phase, Closure, comprised two lessons. In the first lesson, learners reflected upon the 
various tasks of their portfolios and collaborative work, and in the second lesson, learners were 
individually tested using an end-of-unit written assessment.  

2.4. Data Collection 

As it may be seen in Figure 1, data collection happened in different moments that responded to the 
techniques employed. On the one hand, it was imperative to reach a large number of students in a 
short time, and it was also crucial to compare the initial engagement with the engagement after the 
intervention. Therefore, we decided to collect quantitative data, surveying participants’ engagement 
before and after the implementation of collaborative learning tasks using a Likert test (adapted from 
Alsowat, 2016). The instrument, administered by the investigators, displayed 19 indicators to which 
learners reacted in terms of totally agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, totally disagree, 
in a scale from 5 to 1. Consequently, we administered a pre-test to measure the engagement of learners 
prior to collaborative-based instruction, manifested for learners from the Induction phase to Closure 
face. Once we finished the intervention, we used the same instrument to gauge students’ engagement 
after our intervention.  

On the other hand, we wanted to keep a record of how collaborative learning was impacting 
learners in every lesson within a natural context. Therefore, we decided to employ a qualitative tool, 
observation, as in Efron and Ravid’s words it “provides a powerful insight into the authentic life of 
schools and classrooms” (2020, p.91). This observation process extended from the Induction to the 
Closure (see Figure 1). Given that we did not have a predetermined agenda to observe, we opted for 
unstructured observation, for it gives “an overall description of social settings and social dynamics in 



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the research site” (Lecompte & Schensul, 1999, p.19). The observation protocol was learnt from Efron 
and Ravid (2020), comprising the use of field notes to register descriptive and reflecting comments. 
We designed an ad hoc observation sheet, displaying the features of class group, time, date, observer’s 
name, sheet number and notes (See Figure 2). 

 

Class group  Date  Sheet Nº  

Observer  Time  

Notes ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

_____________________________________________ 

Source: personal elaboration 

Fig. 2. Sample observation sheet 

 

It is worth mentioning that, in every lesson, there were two researchers where one was in charge 
of the instruction and the other one was appointed to document the observation process during the 
classroom time and breaks.  

2.5. Data analysis and results 

This step involved analyzing data emanating from two different sources. Quantitative data, 
gathered with a Likert test adapted from Alsowat (2016), was analyzed using the software SPSS v23. 
In this test, engagement was measured regarding the frequency in reaction to 19 indicators ranging 
from totally agree to totally disagree, in a scale from 5 to 1 respectively.  

Table 2 shows the contrast between the scores obtained before and after the intervention, applied 
on a scale of 100 to measure learners’ engagement. The overall scores in all the class groups (A, B, 
C, D) were higher in the post-test.  

Table 2.  Overall scores of pre- and post-tests on learners’ engagement. 

 N Mean Low High 

Overall pre-test 132 66,69 39,05 87,62 

Overall post-test 113 70,72 42,00 95,00 

 

Figure 3 illustrates the overall results of pre-and post-tests in t test, showing a difference (p <, 000) 
between both tests. 

  



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Fig. 3. Overall scores of pre-test and post-test in t-test.  

Among the scores obtained per group as seen in Table 3, it was observed that Group B obtained a 
greater difference in scores; the mean was 68,80 in the pre-test and 75,95 in the post-test, increasing 
7,15 points. It was also observed that Group D maintained similar scores during the pre-test with a 
mean of 71,61 and 71,26 in the post-test, observing a small drop between the two tests. 

Table 3.  Overall scores of pre and post-tests by class group on learners’ engagement 

Class groups N Mean Low High 

Overall pre-test 

A 36 61,56 39,05 80,95 

B 29 68,8 45,71 84,76 

C 31 64,97 45,71 80,00 

D 36 71,61 46,67 87,62 

Overall post-test 

A 31 66,93 42,00 88,00 

B 24 75,95 47,00 95,00 

C 24 69,62 53,00 92,00 

D 34 71,26 46,00 88,00 

 

Qualitative data from our field notes yielded a total of 40 observations sheets. Before organizing 
the data, we examined the comments evaluating a possible way to sort them into categories. At this 
point, we received methodological guidance from an experienced professor who informed us that it 
was possible to use predetermined categories drawn from the literature review. Therefore, we 
manually divided our data into the dimensions of engagement as addressed by the authors Fredricks, 
Blumenfeld and Paris (2004). We designed a table ad hoc with the three categories or dimensions: 
behavioral engagement, emotional engagement and cognitive engagement. Table 4 shows an excerpt 
of the data organization per category.  



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Table 4.  Data division based on Fredricks, Blumenfeld and Paris’ (2004) dimensions of engagement. 

Data Dimensions 

arranging groups by their own initiative 

checking their notes prior to the lesson  

waiting for the teacher in groups 
raising their hand to answer 

participating  

communicative 

showing interest 
organizing group work 

asking questions to the teacher 

helping classmates 

distributing tasks 
willingness to participate 

behavioral 

curious  

glad at the arrival 
sense of making a contribution 

satisfied with their roles 

showing responsibility  

expressing satisfaction towards collaborative learning  

emotional 

different attempts to complete tasks 

attentive  
trying to use English to answer 

making extra efforts to complete tasks  

on time tasks 

cognitive 

 

After dividing our data into categories, we created a concept map since this allows researchers to 
establish the relationship among them (Efrat & Ravid, 2020). In this process, it was crucial to go back 
to our research questions and to the implementation design to establish the interconnections and have 
more grounded interpretations. We decided to present our interpretations by the engagement 
dimensions that grouped most of the data.  

Behavioral  

This dimension grouped the majority of the observed data. We believe that the Induction phase is 
directly related to the behavioral dimension of engagement. Observations including  actions such as 
distributing tasks, organizing group work, revising notes and grouping before the teacher arrived were 
actions spontaneously maintained and repeated throughout the lessons by learners in all the class 
groups. We believe that these common actions were the result of raising awareness on the implications 
of collaborative work on the first day of instruction. It might also be possible that learners reacted 
proactively to the methodological change from a traditional approach to a student-centered one. 

It can also be concluded that the behavioral dimension was more visible because it was evidenced 
from the first day of implementation, collecting more observable actions. Similarly, we reckon that 
behavioral engagement was more prominent because learners adopted the same or similar actions as 
they observed other groups. For example, the student organizer in one group asked their teammates to 
arrive a few minutes before the break so that she could make sure that everybody had their school 
materials and tasks. As other groups observed this type of organization, they followed it. 
Consequently, almost everybody was already in the classroom at the instructor’s arrival.  

Emotional 

This dimension was the second area of major impact. We observed and documented many actions 
that denoted an emotional engagement such as satisfaction to work in groups, curiosity towards the 
tasks, group commitment, enjoyment and pride.  After exploring the implications and duties of every 



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role, learners selected their own roles based on their skills and preferences which might have 
contributed to feeling motivated towards something they had chosen. For instance, there were 
participants who expressed that they had selected the role of speaker because they enjoyed 
communicating with their peers and teachers. 

We believe such role accountability contributed to peer acceptance as well as  group commitment. 
It was observed that before the intervention there were some learners that were at the margin of 
interacting with their classmates and were somehow uncomfortable when told to check their exercises 
with their peers. During the intervention, we observed satisfaction towards group work in those 
learners. Although these students kept introverted during collaborative work, they seemed to be 
enjoying their participation and contribution to their groups. It was also evidenced that students made 
an effort to comply with the duties of their roles. We observed different strategies that emerged from 
the same learners to comply with their roles. Some of them had a notebook specially designated to 
keep a record of what occurred during the lesson. Others used a checklist to monitor their teammates’ 
work while others used graphic organizers to make plans about the completion of tasks.  

Cognitive 

Making efforts to use English in the classroom as well as to complete assignments, marked the 
engagement patterns in this dimension. Although cognitive engagement grouped the least number of 
observable data, it must be considered that measuring cognitive engagement by means of observation 
methods in large groups might not be the best technique to employ. However, our observations before 
the intervention shed light on the actions that were notoriously different  such as students' effort to 
speak in English and time spent on the completion of their tasks. Moreover, and compared to the other 
dimensions, cognitive engagement was not substantially evidenced until the second and third week of 
intervention that corresponds to the Development phase.  

Conclusions  

The present study described the implementation of collaborative learning tasks and their impact on 
learners' engagement in the Chilean EFL classroom. Our results show a direct relationship between 
classroom engagement and collaborative work evidenced in our four class groups of large size where 
behavioral engagement was notoriously predominant. During this pedagogical experience, it was not 
expected that group organization and role accountability would have such relevance for the 
participants and the investigation.  

Quantitative data reveals a high engagement after the implementation of collaborative-based 
instruction. Our pedagogical experience showed an overall increase in learners’ engagement; 
however, there was a class group, Group D, that maintained the initial level of engagement, 71, in 
both pre and post engagement tests, presenting a slight drop reflected in decimals. A plausible 
explanation might be connected to the class prior engagement levels that once high, improvements 
turn more complex to be increased. 

Qualitative data also shows that collaborative work has an important bearing in learners’ 
engagement. We could evidence that engagement was maintained in every lesson and that behavioral 
engagement was the most salient dimension followed by emotional and cognitive engagement 
respectively. We believe that behavioral engagement is connected to one of the phases of our 
methodological design, the Induction phase that set expectations, organization and raised awareness 
on the implications of collaborative learning.  

We noticed that accounting for a specific role in the completion of collaborative tasks was 
paramount for the whole intervention. We had learnt from empirical studies that implementing CL 
without assigning roles may generate negative perceptions on students (Brown, 2008; Villa, Thousand 
& Nevin, 1994). Therefore, we included this indication in our methodological design applied to large 
class groups ranging from 31 to 36 students where they show satisfaction and willingness to work. 
Participants did not feel individually overwhelmed nor showed reluctance to work with their 
classmates. Therefore, our results match the favorable findings of CL implemented in other studies 
(Collazos & Mendoza, 2009; Scager, Bonstra, Peeters, Vulperhost & Wiegant, 2016; Villa, Thousand 
& Nevin, 1994). This fact leads us to conclude that collaborative learning, in its student-centered 
nature, helps learners gain meaningful knowledge and self-confidence. In this sense, literature broadly 



70 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 5, No. 1, 2022, pp. 60-74 

 Vega-Abarzúa, J., et.al (Collaborative learning and classroom engagement:…..) 

discusses that a student-driven instruction has the potential to develop and consolidate learners’ 
affective factors and social skills (Gokhale, 1995; Laal & Laal, 2012; Scager, Bonstra, Peeters, 
Vulperhost & Wiegant, 2016).  

In general terms, we are satisfied to have been able to provide an answer to our research question 
which is translated into a direct relationship between collaborative work and learners’ engagement. 
We could also determine that collaborative-based instruction had an impact on learners’ actions and 
attitudes in the classroom as they showed self-initiative and satisfaction towards collaborative work 
as well as proactivity in the completion of their tasks.   

It is worth noting that the final step to complete the full cycle of our investigation comprised the 
dissemination of our work. We shared our findings in a formal presentation held by the English 
language department of our faculty, and we also wrote the present report in the hope that it can be a 
contribution for our fellow pre-service teachers. Beyond doubts, the hard work to design and 
implement the action plan was worth it, for we enriched our teaching practices and were able to tackle 
an educational issue in our national and regional context. The next step is to take this experience and 
knowledge to our future classrooms.  

Recommendation  

This experience has allowed us to draw some recommendations for our fellow pre-service teachers, 
or in-service educators that teach English as a foreign language. First, in numerous classes, 
collaborative tasks are avoided to not trigger misbehavior or chaos. Yet, if collaborative work is 
planned ahead and learners are assigned roles, it is possible to have an organized learning environment 
(Collazos & Mendoza, 2009; Thousand & Nevin, 1994) that is likely to positively impact learners’ 
attitudes and perceptions about collaborative learning as evidenced in our study. Second, in groups 
showing a lack of engagement towards the English language, the constant incorporation of 
collaborative tasks that imply the execution of meaningful activities rather than being passive about a 
topic has the potential to motivate learners as they will not just listen but do. Our action plan comprised 
varied and challenging tasks to solve in groups in every lesson. Our field notes indicate that not in a 
single lesson learners showed boredom or lack of interest to complete their challenges. Third, 
collaborative work can be the stepping stone to strengthen learners’ autonomy since by establishing a 
collaborative routine where every student takes responsibility for a role is likely to bring an increasing 
level of proactivity in the whole class as we were able to experience with our class groups. 

Limitations and suggestions for further research 

It is worth mentioning that the significance of this study was limited due to time; therefore, our 
students could not further explore collaborative tasks on other topics. Consequently, it is expected that 
further studies are able to implement collaborative-based work over a longer period. Likewise, it 
would be interesting to know if the level of engagement decreases in this period, and whether it 
increases again. It is also expected that this study could be improved and implemented with large 
groups to determine whether the design plays the same importance as it occurred in this pedagogical 
experience and whether some phases are more determining than others. In the same trend, future 
investigators could use other instruments to collect data and thus bring more substantial results. 
Finally, it is expected that experienced teachers could test our methodological procedures since their 
expertise in teaching English could bring further areas or results that are worth exploring.   

 

Acknowledgement 

We would like to express our gratitude to the editor and anonymous ELTEJ reviewers for their 

constructive comments on the earlier versions of this paper.  

Declarations 

Author contribution:  Jessica Vega-Abarzúa led the research group, adapted and elaborated the 

research tools, analyzed the data and revised the final manuscript. Javiera 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 71 
 Vol. 5, No. 1, 2022, pp. 60-74 

 Vega-Abarzúa, J., et.al (Collaborative learning and classroom engagement:…..) 

Pastene-Fuentes, Constanza Pastene-Fuentes, Camila Ortega-Jiménez 

identified the research problem, conducted the literature review, 

intervention, and collected the research data. Tamar Castillo-Rodríguez 

identified the research problem and complemented the literature review.  

Funding statement   : The research is non-funded. 

Conflict of interest   : The authors declare no conflict of interest.  

 

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Appendix 

Questionnaire addressed to students 

Mark with an X the box that best reflects your perception considering the following criteria: 

• Totally agree = 5  

• Agree = 4 

• Neither agree nor disagree = 3 

• Disagree = 2 

• Totally disagree = 1 

No. Indicator Score 

5 4 3 2 1 

1.  Group activities are more attractive than traditional tasks.      

2. Group activities give me more opportunities to communicate with my 

classmates. 

     

3. I feel that group activities improve my understanding in the English 

language. 

     

4. It motivates me to learn English when working with my classmates.      

5. I listen carefully when I am in the English class.      

https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2021.1884886
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6. I show a job attitude when I am in the English class.      

7. I enjoy learning new things in the English class.      

8. I feel supported in group work tasks.      

9. I underline information we study in the class to help me study.      

10. I ask myself questions to make sure I understand the contents.       

11. Before starting a project or task, I organize the work with classmates to 

determine how we are going to do it. 

     

12. When I have a project or some homework for the English class, I worry a 

lot about that. 

     

13. I pay attention in the English class.      

14. I am interested in doing my tasks and activities in the English class.      

15. When I read in English, I ask myself questions to make sure that I 

understand the text.  

     

16. The assessment in the English class can evaluate in a good way what I am 

able to do. 

     

17. I do more than what I am required in the English class.      

18. I enjoy talking about the topics discussed in the English class with my 

classmates outside the classroom. 

     

19. The English class makes me want to learn the topics discussed more 

thoroughly. 

     

     


