Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Small-group Discussion (2)


Note: The following information is reprinted from my book Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris, 2004.

Question: What roles do people play when participating in small-group work?

Answer/Quote: David M. Litsey suggests 18 roles that people can play in a group enterprise. He divides these roles into three categories: ‘Maintenance,’ ‘Task Roles,’ and ‘Self-Serving Roles.’

Task Roles
1. Initiating. Proposing tasks or goals; defining a group problem; suggesting a procedure.

2. Information or opinion seeking; requesting facts; asking for suggestions and ideas.

3.Information or opinion giving: offering facts; stating a belief; giving suggestions or ideas.

4. Clarifying or elaborating: interpreting or reflecting ideas and suggestions; clearing up confusion; indicating alternatives before the group; giving examples.

5. Summarizing: Pulling together related ideas; restating suggestions after the group has discussed them; offering a decision for the group to accept or reject.

6. Consensus testing: Checking with the group to see how much agreement has been reached.

Comment: Attempts at clarifying and reaching tentative conclusions. Again, positive attitude. RayS.

Next blog: Self-Serving Roles

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