Cooperative Learning And Foreign Language Anxiety Of Low Achieving Learners Of EFL-An Experiment Study

In recent research abroad, cooperative learning (CL) and foreign language anxiety are gaining much attention. Researchers of CL have succeeded in constructing different models of CL and its benefits have also been explored. It is widely acknowledged that CL creates a more positive affective climate in the classroom. To be more specific, it is of great importance in reducing anxiety, promoting interaction, increasing motivation, increasing self-confidence and self-esteem and providing comprehensible input and output, etc. Meanwhile, researches focusing on the damaging effects of foreign language anxiety also indicate that CL as a classroom procedure can lower anxiety in the language classroom.Although the research abroad has suggested that CL has positive impact on reducing foreign language anxiety, researchers in China have not attached much significance to it, and relatively little empirical research has been done in the field. What's more, with the expansion of enrollment in universities of China, the number of college students who are vulnerable to English learning has been ever increasing. Therefore, an experiment study aimed to apply two types of CL methods in classroom to reduce foreign language anxiety of the low achieving English learner was conducted.Twenty four low achieving learners of EFL (those who failed to pass English test of the College Entrance Examination, College Placement Test and the final examination in the first semester) participated in the experiment. They were assigned to either a control group receiving traditional instruction or an experimental group receiving CL instruction according to variables such as number, gender and major. A 33-item questionnaire was used as an assessment of foreign language anxiety level while .EFL proficiency was assessed using scores from the winter test of CET-4 2002. Meanwhile, classroom observations were made to identify the causes of foreign language anxiety. Learners in the experimental group manifested lower level of foreign language anxiety after the experiment. What's more, their EFL proficiency was found to be improved.The implication of CL was discussed and two suggestions were made to helpthe instructors deal with the low achieving learners with anxiety. First, they can help them leam to cope with the existing anxiety-provoking situation; second, they can make the learning context less stressful.