Reconsidering The Application Of Cooperative Learning In College English Classroom Teaching

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the cooperative learning method on college English classroom teaching in terms of the non-English major students' achievement, oral production, and improvements in students' attitude towards English learning. This study sought to discover whether cooperative learning could better help technological university students in the process and outcomes of English learning. The participants who were from Kunming University of Science and Technology with intermediate and lower-intermediate English level took part in the fifteen-week teaching experiment. Data collected from questionnaires, interviews, and videotapes made in the experimental classes were used to qualitatively evaluate the students' interactional patterns, attitudes towards cooperative group learning. The scores of the oral tests before and after experiment were also compared quantitatively.Results showed that cooperative learning could improve students' English skills in college English classroom teaching. Students indicated a preference for this teaching method both on the questionnaires and during the interviews. The implication arising from the results of this study suggested that English acquisition might be enhanced through the interaction among students. Since the teaching experiment was conducted for a limited period of time, the results and analyses of this study may not be suitable to other advanced or English major students. Additionally, it is hoped that this study could be reference for those teachers who are contemplating the incorporation of cooperatively structured group activities in their classroom.