The Application Of Cooperative Learning To English Reading In Senior High Schools

Reading is a prerequisite social and cultural skill for people to live and develop in modern society. It is not only an important language skill but also a main approach for obtainning the input of languages. Professor Huang Yuanshen tells us that learning languages well needs a large amount of reading materials. So generally speaking, one who is good at English should also be absorbed in reading. Conversely, only by reading a lot can one really learn English well. So one's volume of reading decides his English level. By reading a lot, students can both enrich their speech feeling and enlarge their vocabulary so that their ability of English thinking, comprehension and presentation skills are improved,which for sure leads to the promotion of their comprehensive language abilities. Meanwhile, students also acquire a large quantity of social and cultural knowledge in the English-speaking countries, learn the differences in culture, emotion and attitude and then adopt correct social values. In other words, the importance of reading is prominent in China where there is no authentic English surroundings. As Professor Gong Yan put it,"No authentic English is taught without English reading teaching; No genuine English is learned without English reading learning. Researches of cooperative learning have shown that cooperative learning can increase the opportunities to intake comprehensible inputs and product functional output in a supportive and communicative environment in which the students help each other and progress together, thereby, a purpose of stimulating the students'interest in learning and improving their grade is accomplished.The present paper attempts to explore how to put the cooperatvie learning theory into practice of promoting the students'reading ability and English language proficiency in senior English teaching and what are the students'attitudes to cooperative learning in English reading. In order to find the answers, the author applied cooperative learning to the English reading classes in Class 15 and 16,Senior Grade Two of Gaoqing No.1 Middle School in Zibo city from March to July, 2010. A pre-test and post-test were conducted to find the changes in students'language proficiency and reading ability. The software SPSS was used to analyse the data. At the same time, questionaires and interviews were also adopted to know the students'attitude towards the cooperative learning. The result reveals that the students'reading ability has been obviously improved and the polarization is changed. Meanwhile, the students develop a sense of taking active part in group activities. They become brave enough to speak out their opinions and more willing to help each other. So the class is no longer what it used to be. It is lively and interesting and students learning becomes more organised. Furthermore, they have also fulfilled their ability of seeing problems from different angles. The thesis consists of six parts. Part One is the introduction, which includes the importance of reading in learning English and present status of English teaching, followed by the purpose and significance of the study. Part Two gives account of the definition of the cooperative learning and the previous study in this regard at home and abroad. Part Three presents the theoretical basis of cooperative learning. And in Part Four, the objectives are proposed with subject and instrument following them. And the most important part—the procedure of the study is described carefully. Part Five is the collection and analysis of data where the positive effect of cooperative learning on students'reading is elaborated. Part Six is concerned with the discussion about the findings acquired from the study and the limitations and suggestions for further study.