Abstract:
The objective of this study was to assess EFL teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards and
practices of cooperative learning strategies and its challenges in relation to speaking skills
Grade 10 students at Hidassie Secondary School in focus. To this end, a descriptive research
design was used. The total population of the study was two hundred students and two teachers.
The samples were determined by using a simple random sampling technique for students and a
availability sampling technique for EFL teachers. Instruments employed in this study included a
questionnaire, semi-structured interview, and classroom observation. Quantitative and
qualitative method of data analyses were employed to triangulate the data. The quantitative data
was analyzed with SPSS (version 26) in descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage,
mean, and standard deviation. Data gathered from interviews and classroom observation was
described qualitatively. The findings indicated that both the teachers and students have positive
attitudes towards cooperative learning strategies in relation to speaking skills. However, the
teachers and the students did not practice Cooperative Learning adequately due to lack of clear
guideline, shortage of time, lack of training on Cooperative Learning, and etc. so, based on the
above findings, the researcher recommended that the EFL teachers of Hidassie Secondary
School have to get clear guideline and training on CL. Both the EFL teachers and studentsof the
School have to give due attention to improve the practices of Cooperative Learning in EFL
speaking classes.
