Group Formation: The Native Language Tendency Cure

I am almost certain that ESL instructors are well aware that often times, students tend to team up with other classmates who speak their native lange or are from the same geographic region. Such was the case in my classroom until I tried the following:
1. I created a list of my groups prior to the start of class. I teamed the students by mixing the languages in each group.
2. To save time, I wrote their names on the board and let the students find with whom they had been paired on the list.
3. If I had more than one group activity, I produced a new listing of groups. Again, the student languages differed in each group. Switching the students around allows to know one another better and to continue working with individuals whose cultures differs from that of their own.

Anastasia Charalambakos