A Study Of The Effect Of Cooperative Learning On EFL Learning Outcomes

In our country, the students in Physical Education Institute have limited English knowledge. Most of students are lacking in enthusiasm and bored with English learning. Their English levels are far away from the demands of our country, even the future career. Therefore, in order to change this situation, we need to find a learning approach which is suitable to the students in Physical Education Institute.Constructivism, a psychological theory developing rapidly in recent years, originates from Piaget's Genetic Epistemology and Vygotsky's Historical Cultural Development Theory. Constructivism assumes that knowledge is constructed actively by learners'cognitive structure, and emphasizes the learning's activity and constructivity. Cooperative learning is a learning theory and a strategy which bases on constructivist theory, arosing in the United States in the 1970s. Cooperative learning is a system of learning strategies which emphasize student-centreness, take small groups as the basic form, require interacrtion among the students in the class. In this thesis, the author applies cooperative learning in learning English, forming a student-centered atmosphere and overalling climate of traditional English class. The aim is to arouse students'affective factors, and improve the results of English.In this research, the research design is composed of quantitative study, that is, the questionnaire and classroom observation, and qualitative study, interview. Research subjects include 80 students at Jilin Institute of Physical Education, who are studying in one grade and two departments. With the help of final text, questionnaire, interview and classroom observation, the research focused on the effect of cooperative learning in Physical Education Institute. The result of the research proves that cooperative learning approach can effectively change students'attitude, acquire students'confidence, improve students'communicative skills, advance students'English learning and knowledge construction. According to theory and practice, it indicates that cooperative learning approach is an effective method.This thesis is composed of five parts. Part One touches upon the purpose and significance of the research. Part Two deals with the literature review. The author expounds the theoretical basis and rationale of cooperative learning. Part Three is the methodology, which includes research questions, subjects, instruments and procedures. According to the questionnaire , interview and classromm observation, the author analyzes the affection changes of the students. Part Four is about the analysis and discussions. The group statistics and independent samples test are given to testify the two classes. There are no differences before the experiment, but the significant differences exist after the experiment. And the author expounds the interrelation between cooperative learning and affective factors from attitude, motivation and self-esteem. The author summarizes the advantages of cooperative learning. Part Five is the conclusion of the thesis. The author expounds the limitations of this research, and puts forward the suggestions.