A Research On The Application Of Cooperative Learning To Art Majors In English Teaching

Various approaches and methods in English language teaching have been introduced and applied in China since the early 1980s. No one can say for sure which one is the best since different methods focus on different objectives and the students always vary. However, most language teachers agree that the teacher-centered classroom pattern should be shifted to a student-centered one, which provides more activities that engage the learners in more meaningful and authentic language practice and use, and only in this way can the students be active learners and learn well.A lot of studies and researches have been done in China on university and college students of English or non-English majors. However, little attention has been paid to students of art majors, who are a special group in colleges. These students, including students majoring in music, dance, fine arts, stage performance, etc., in comparison with other majors, maintain lower interest, less confidence and weaker willpower in study, and they are more likely to fall into frustration, for after the six or more years of English learning, many of them have made very little improvement. Therefore, it is really challenging for EFL teachers to teach these students well, and also urgent for the teachers to find an effective way to better organize the class, get students more involved, help them build up interest and confidence, and gain them more sense of fulfillment so as to turn them into active and efficient learners.This thesis attempts to find out the effectiveness of cooperative learning approach on art majors in English learning, aiming to be of some help to those involved in teaching English in art colleges. Based on cooperative learning theory, students-centered notion, motivation theory, constructivism, language and language acquisition theory, four research questions are put forward as follows:a) What is the current situation of English learning in class of art majors?b) What are the students and teachers' respective attitudes towards cooperativelearning?c) Is the cooperative learning strategy effective in enhancing English competence of art majors'? d) What can influence the effectiveness of the cooperative learning?The first two questions are answered by using questionnaires and interviews. The results show that the current situation of English learning for art-majored students is not satisfying. On the students' part, the entry level is low as a considerable percentage of the students enter the college at a very low English score. Most of the students lack good learning strategies and maintain low interest and confidence in learning English. Most students are not satisfied with the current learning environment in class. They show an expectation on their teachers to arrange more group activities and offer more opportunities to promote their communicative competence. On the teachers' part, although they try to change the traditional teaching approaches, they are still the center of the class as an authority and a message sender. Too much emphasis is laid on the teaching material instead of the learner. Cooperative learning approach is recognized by them as a useful teaching approach, but it is not frequently and effectively used in class.Questionnaires, class observations and language tests are used to answer the last two questions. A teaching experiment is made in two classes the author teaches. The data collected reveal that cooperative learning activities, when properly arranged, can have a significant promotive impact on students' English competence. In cooperative group activities, students feel less stressed and can get more interesting and comprehensible input. Their participation in the learning process is greatly increased. The results from questionnaire II indicate that cooperative learning has a positive effect in reducing anxiety of the class, activating students' motivation in learning English, developing greater confidence, and creating more positive relationships among students. Therefore, cooperative learning is a teaching and learning approach that is highly feasible for college students of art majors.Discussions are also made on the factors that might influence the effectiveness of cooperative learning, followed by the author's suggestions on maximizing the effectiveness.