Greetings! I have been studying my research on "Fishbowl Strategy to Improve Speaking Skill for Senior High School Students" in my region. I still struggled on finding the definition of Fishbowl Strategy. Some studies claim it as a CLT and some also claim it as Collaborative Learning. Which one of them are true? Well, if those two are true, can i also get some detailed explanation why such the case? Thank you!
Hi Ahmad, nice to meet you, it’s an interesting question and It’s very common to see this confusion.
The Fishbowl Strategy, as I understand it, is a structured discussion format where a small group talks in the center while the rest of the class listens and observes. Participants switch roles, so everyone gets to speak and listen actively. This technique encourages respectful dialogue, listening skills, and critical thinking.
👉 Is it Collaborative Learning?
Yes — the Fishbowl is definitely a collaborative learning activity because students co-construct knowledge by interacting, reflecting, and sharing ideas together.
👉 Is it part of CLT (Communicative Language Teaching)?
Also yes — when used in language classes, the Fishbowl supports CLT because it creates real, meaningful communication practice, especially for speaking and listening skills.
So, both labels are true — Collaborative Learning describes how students interact, and CLT describes the broader approach when teaching languages through authentic communication tasks. The Fishbowl is a good example of both working together.
You may find these references useful:
• Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2012). Discussion as a Way of Teaching. Jossey-Bass.
• Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by collaborative learning? In P. Dillenbourg (Ed.), Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches. Elsevier.
Good luck with your study, and feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss it further!
@AhmadDefaMaulana, For me, Fishbowl Strategy is an interactive method of discussion, which promotes critical thinking, student engagement, and at the same time, active listening.
It is a bit confusing, but the big difference between the two is that collaborative learning is focused on a shared goal or task that the students solve together. Fishbowl is more CLT as they are working on discussion strategies and speaking skills.
Kelly Cory Thank you, Ma'am. If you don't mind, could you tell me if there are related theories/reference I can find? Thank you again!
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