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Last year, I had a practicum at school 4 in Turakurgan, Namangan.

As I started my first lesson there,most students seemed active and engaged at the lesson. However,when I organised the groupwork activities,some of them were not actively engaged. Perhaps,talkative and outgoing students could not leave a chance for others to express their opinions that might be seen as being inactive during groupwork activities.

While reflecting, I had many questions :

• Why are some students not engaged and do not collaborate with their peers?

• What are the reasons behind that?

• How can I make them engaged in the tasks?

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•My own perception :

What am I doing now to enhance my students' teamwork skills and overall engagement in the groupwork activities?

•My students' perception:

What do my student about groupwork activities? Do my students support and respect each others' opinions when they are doing groupwork activities?

•Students' behaviour :

What makes some of my students less active, attentive or even passive during groupwork activities?

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The first chart shows that there are 11 students(84,6%)who enjoy groupwork activities, while 2 students(15.4%)are not really into them.

It can be seen that all students feel excited when they are doing group work activities.

The third chart shows that 11 students (84,6%)support each other during the activity. However, the rest of them were found not to agree with others.

It has been found that nearly all participants like teamwork activities. What is more, they get excited and motivated when engaging in such activities, collaborating with each other.

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My name is Nozima Biltiraliyeva.

I'm a 3rd year student at Namangan State Institute of Foreign Languages. I am also working at the language learning centre as an English teacher.

Since my school years, I have had a huge passion for teaching that has led me to start my career early.

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This is my teaching context, according to my previous practicum:

School: 4th secondary school in Turakurgan, Namangan.

Occupation: student-teacher

Participants: grade students; 8 boys and 8 girls

Language level : A1+/A2

Subject: English

Resources: textbooks, workbooks, speaker, a ball and some basic school items

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It has been found from observation notes that all participants enjoyed the activity as they talked mostly in Uzbek during the groupwork, but they did quiet discussions. My observation teacher mentioned that "This does not mean that they are not collaborating well, it is probably their general character". Some participants did not listen to the teacher's instructions carefully. Consequently, they asked further questions during the activity. As a teacher, I have to check whether my students understand the instructions well before letting them start activities. In addition to this, I also have to work on my time management skills to organise the lesson.

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•My own reflection

•Questionaire

•Observation notes by my teacher

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There are some important things I've investigated during the exploratory stage that I have to implement during my lessons:

•add groupwork activities;

•assign roles for each participant during group work;

•ask instruction questions to check whether students they understand fully or not;

•observe them passively while they are doing the activity;

•work on my teaching skills(time management).

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My own perception:

📝 Reflective journaling

Students' perception:

📋 Interview with students

Students behaviour :

🎥 Video recording and random shots from the lesson

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Since I reflect and do self-analysis as a teacher after each lesson, I started to submit a daily report about the whole lesson for my boss and discuss it together. In this way, I rethink my teaching strategies and change some of them. Additionally, I learn new approaches and techniques to improve my lessons, considering my students' personalities. These are my new teaching strategies that I apply:

• Structured Roles in Group Tasks – Assigning specific roles (e.g., leader, story-maker, writer/note-taker, presenter) ensures balanced participation. For example, in a discussion activity, each student has a defined responsibility, preventing some from dominating while encouraging quieter students to contribute.

• Comprehension Checks Before Activities – To avoid confusion, I use the "Ask-Back" technique, where students restate instructions in their own words before starting the task. This helps identify misunderstandings early, ensuring that all students begin with clear expectations.

• Improving Collaboration & Teamwork – A Participation Tracker on the board helps monitor engagement, encouraging quieter students to contribute while balancing group dynamics. Gentle prompts guide silent students to participate without pressure.

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When I asked my students in the interview about the benefits of groupwork activities in the classroom,they said that they help to improve their soft skills such as critical thinking,creativity and communication skills.

Another thing I have found while interviewing my students is the usage of groupwork activities to teach English. The majority claimed that the teachers should implement them adequately in the lessons as they quite liked to put new topics into practice, while the rest of them mentioned that groupwork activities make the class more interesting and funny since they feel themselves in a free atmosphere.

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In the action stage, I've noticed some improvements in my students' behaviour for the language learning process. These are the most prominent ones:

• collaboration between group members

• enjoyment from the free discussion

• being proud of individual roles in the group work

• self-confidence among others

•supporting each other during presentations

• higher task completion than in previous lessons

More importantly, I start to evaluate their work as team,I'm just shocked that their vocabulary and grammar and writing skills are improved.

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In the early years of my teaching,I was full of passion but when I faced my very first challenges I felt terrible that I couldn't find a solution.Now I know how to reflect, collect and analyse data and other steps to tackle any problem in the classroom.

While doing Exploratory-Action research, there are some changes that has been investigated :

• My own perception- The biggest change I've ever noticed is that I mostly focus on challenges related to students' engagement rather than my own problems as a teacher.

• Students' perception- As I give my students Structured Roles ,they all are fully engaged to the tasks which make them both learn and have fun,additionally their self confidence is also higher whenever they perform.

• Students' behaviour - The most important changes I've had during this whole process are connected with me because I'm the one who takes control of my classroom.How my students thrive and why they struggle with something are fully my responsibility, thus it's a must to work on my teaching skills.

Last but not least,Exploratory-Action Research is to be applied to all the institutions that train language teaching but also any kind of teaching otherwise teachers may not find out why their classes are messy and how they can figure it out without this whole process,teacher research.

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When it comes to the research focus, I investigated how groupwork used during lessons can enhance students' soft skills. My research focuses on fostering student engagement during collaborative groupwork activities.

I have some reasons why I chose this topic:

I had difficulties with some students when I implemented group work

I would like to explore more about group work activities

Explore innovative approaches to ensure full engagement of all students

Foster students` soft skills

Develop their passion for the lesson