Learning by Teaching An Innovative Practice in English Language Teaching

Abstract

This study was conducted to support the belief that while we teach we learn, and to find out whether the learning by teaching practice can produce a positive impact on English language teaching. The context of the study is an English grammar classroom at tertiary level where 31 students majoring in English were assigned to teach their classmates grammatical topics. This activity was called the “iLearn & Teach” project. A questionnaire, reflective writing and focus group interviews were used to investigate students’ opinions toward this pedagogical practice. A grammar test on the topics taught was also used to discover the extent to which students were able to answer questions on the topics they were assigned to teach. The results showed that most of the students found this activity stressful, but challenging and beneficial. In addition, the test results indicated that the majority of the students were able to do well on the grammatical topics they had taught. The findings also show evidence of students’ full involvement in their learning process.