THINK–PAIR–SHARE VERSUS TRADITIONAL TEACHER-CENTRED INSTRUCTION: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF READING COMPREHENSION AMONG UNDERGRADUATE ESL STUDENTS IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study examined the comparative effectiveness of the Think–Pair–Share (TPS) cooperative learning technique against traditional teacher-centred instruction in developing reading comprehension among undergraduate English as a Second Language (ESL) students in Karachi, Pakistan. Grounded in Vygotsky's social constructivist theory, the study employed a quasi-experimental, pretest–posttest, nonequivalent control-group design. Participants were 71 sixth-semester BS English students enrolled in two intact sections of a 19th Century Poetry course at a public-sector university, assigned to a TPS group (n = 36) and a traditional-instruction control group (n = 35) across a 14-week instructional intervention. Both groups improved significantly from pretest to posttest, but the magnitude of change differed sharply: TPS produced a very large within-group effect (t(35) = 27.23, p < .001, dz = 4.54), compared with a large effect in the control group (t(34) = 7.72, p < .001, dz = 1.31). Groups did not differ significantly at pretest (t(69) = 0.30, p = .764, d = 0.07), confirming baseline equivalence. On the posttest, TPS students scored significantly higher than control students, with a very large effect, t(69) = 14.07, p < .001, d = 3.34, and gain scores were significantly greater for TPS than for the control group, t(69) = 10.52, p < .001, d = 2.50. These findings confirm the theoretical prediction that structured peer collaboration, mediated through the Zone of Proximal Development and positive interdependence, enhances reading comprehension more effectively than lecture-based instruction, even though TPS is structurally the least elaborate cooperative learning technique. The discussion situates these results within international cooperative-learning and sociocultural literature and considers why a low-complexity, high-fidelity technique may outperform theoretical expectations in a context with limited prior exposure to cooperative pedagogy. Implications for ESL pedagogy in Pakistani higher education and comparable under-resourced EFL/ESL contexts are discussed, alongside limitations and directions for future research