Research On The Application Of Cooperative Learning In English Writing Class

The ultimate goal of ELT (English Language Teaching) is to help learners acquire communicative competence. Yet writing as one of the most important ways of communication has been a weak point in CET (College English Teaching). It is expected that research on promoting English writing achievement through cooperative learning would provide helpful implications for ELT.This paper first describes some problems in College English Writing and analyzes the causes. Then it traces the development of education under new circumstances and points out that cooperative learning-a learner-centered approach-is a way out in educational reform. Based on theories of motivation, cognition and etc., the author of the thesis advocates that cooperative learning is applicable in the area of language teaching and learning. When used in writing class, it can make students actively involved in writing activities, stimulate their writing motivation and change attitude toward writing. By providing authentic readers and in time face-to-face interaction, it can also increase the sense of audience, develop communication strategies for the purpose of successful communication.In addition, a 14-week quasi-experimental research was carried out. The non-equivalent control group design was adopted and the 66 subjects from second-year non-English majors were involved. Variables were under control during the course of the experiment. The experimental group was treated by cooperative learning models: STAD and Jigsaw. Data were analyzed though t test. The results showed that writing achievement of the experimental group had improved significantly.In short, both theory and practice show that cooperative learning is an effective teaching approach. As long as it is utilized properly, much better teaching effects can be attained.