The distribution of instructional time and its effect on group cohesion in the foreign language classroom: A comparison of intensive and standard format courses

This paper argues for the influence of the distribution of instructional time on group cohesion in the foreign language classroom and postulates that concentrating classroom time enhances group cohesion. To test the hypothesis, a comparative classroom study of two groups of Spanish learners in their second year of learning, one following an intensive course and the other a standard format course, was carried out in an Austrian school context over the period of one semester. The actual amount of contact time per semester devoted to Spanish remained the same for both course formats. Group cohesion is analysed by recording the verbal behaviour of group-building utterances of the classroom members. It is suggested that the higher the degree of group-building utterances by peers in relation to group-building utterances by the teacher, the more cohesive the language learning group. The quantitative results state a positive relationship between intensive language settings and group cohesion. The qualitative analysis points to a remarkable variety of group-building utterances.