In the article, Weber classifies the development and growth of the group into three stages by observing four dimensions in each stage.
A specific feature of a language learning group is that the group has been built on multicultural settings. Focusing on a language learning group, the characteristics of the group will be: 1) small discussion groups, 2) group in the class, 3) between the class and the teacher, 4) among the class, teacher, and the wider community.
He emphasizes the role of leadership as an important element for the group. Reading his essay, I concerned about how we can achieve appropriate leadership as a teacher. We will view an authoritarian aspect inherent in a group, in which authority resides solely in the hands of a person who has power. If the teacher doesn't provide the right leadership, there will be a risk that collaborative learning might prevent students from fulfilling their potential for their language proficiency and maximizing the ability to use their grammatical knowledge.
Since language learning group consists of students who have different cultural backgrounds, I believe that knowing the difference of each student is important. When a teacher can manifest his/her leadership in a proper way, students' personal ability will not be impaired by a group in collaborative learning, but the individual can rather contribute to the entire class.
I think that the development of individual's idea is inspired by social knowledge of the group, and it eventually returns to the individual as one's acquired skills; it keeps improving with the repetition of this process. Thus, Weber's investigation for a cycle of the group from its birth to death represents the process of the growth and development of teamwork in a group.
