On A Cooperative Learning Model In Vocabulary Teaching

In the foreign language teaching (FLT) environment, vocabulary teaching and learning carries a big weight. Though it has undergone some rise and fall with the shifts of teaching approaches, vocabulary teaching again gains more and more attention in recent years. There are numerous studies on vocabulary teaching strategies and how to improve vocabulary teaching and learning in the FLT field. But it's a pity that the main acts are played in college. Similar researches in middle schools relatively lag behind and are not far from the start. So we are trying to find an efficient way for vocabulary teaching in secondary school.Cooperative learning (CL) has attracted worldwide attention for its remarkable achievements in the past 2 to 3 decades. It also becomes one of the focuses of China's new curriculum reform. Now, there appear lots and lots of studies on CL in language teaching, but few of them concern vocabulary teaching. Only Zhang Yonglan conducted a CL experimental research in vocabulary teaching at college level. Though it does not meet all essential elements of CL, the results of which are encouraging. We think a suitable comprehensive cooperative learning method will surely generate more beneficial results than existing teaching approach. After a thorough study of CL and related investigations, considering our actual conditions, we designed a new combined model: Heads Together Achievements Division (HTAD). It is a creative combination of Student Teams Achievements Division (STAD) (Slavin 1978) and NHT by Dr. Kagan (Putnam 1997:142).We illustrate the feasibility of our model from its structure and theory. Then, in order to test the practical results, we carried out teaching experiments at 5 different schools in Zhuzhou successively. We selected similar parallel classes as our subjects. The new model was implemented in experiment classes while existing teaching method remains in control ones. The road to success was pavedwith efforts/sweat. The experiment classes all met different problems at the early stage. But none of our experimental teachers was willing to stop halfway. They all gained pleasing results by their diligence and intelligence: all the experiment classes have surpassed the control ones by different degrees. In order to know other outcomes as well, a questionnaire was administrated to the subjects in Tiantai Middle School, which also demonstrates that the implementation of our model produces obvious positive change in class climate. Lastly, the comments of teachers and some students are recorded as complementary data. All the results show that our model is practical, operative and of multi-effects, which can be popularized in similar situations in China.Though the studies of our model have made some fine outcomes, we should not ignore the defects with it. Teachers lack training and students are quite slow to adapt to it under realistic conditions and backgrounds;the assessment system does not conform to the existing one so well;the bigger the class the more difficult for the teacher to control the general situation. We hope our research could play the role to throw a brick to attract a piece of jade, and more practical studies will really improve our foreign language teaching.