Cooperative Learning In Oral English Classes Of Junior High Schools

Cooperative learning has been regarded as one of the most remarkable areas of theory and practice in education. So far much more attention has been paid to the use of cooperative learning in language learning. According to the Standard of New English Curriculum for Middle School in China"(SNECMSC), one of the goals of junior oral English teaching is to help students use English to exchange information and finish tasks with others cooperatively. However, a large number of students cannot use English for oral communication well even after three years'junior English education. The fact shows that oral English teaching in junior High Schools is not high efficient. Why does it happen? And how do we solve these problems? The author thinks besides the negative influence of the high school entrance examination, there are five main reasons:First, traditional oral English teaching classes cannot provide a positive affective atmosphere for students to use English freely. Second, owing to the big size of class in China, students do not have enough opportunities to practice English in class and for the same reason, teachers cannot offer equal participation for every student. Third, in traditional English classes, only teacher-student interaction dominates the whole class, but student-student interaction is seldom used, which is a waste of resources, as students can learn more from one another. Fourth, oral communication relies on some interpersonal skills. But in fact, many students lack cooperative skills, when communicating with one another. (5)groupwork in present-day oral English classes is low efficient.On the other hand, cooperative learning is proved to be a useful tool to enhance students'participation, interaction and communication in class and have positive effect on students'attitude, motivation, affect, et al. Nowadays even there are a lot of research which has been carried out about cooperative learning, but few has been concentrate on the use of cooperative learning in junior oral English classes systematically.Based on these ideas, the author implements cooperative learning in his junior oral English classes. Data collection devices include questionnaires, observation of some English classes, oral English tests, et al. According to his findings, the author comes to a conclusion that cooperative learning is a practical and efficient way to enhance the oral English abilities of junior students from the following points:1) Cooperative learning creates a more positive affective atmosphere in oral English classes.2)Cooperative learning promotes interaction, enhances participation and increases opportunities for students to use English in class.3) Cooperative learning helps students build up more social skills needed to communicate with other people. What's more, getting more social skills makes it much easier to orally communicate with each other.In this dissertation, we will talk about what cooperative learning is, its main theoretic basis, some classical methods of cooperative learning and then we will talk about the reasons why cooperative learning can act as an efficient way in junior oral English teaching. And we will talk about the principals of implementing cooperative learning in oral English classes of junior high school. Next, according to his own teaching experience, the author will share his ideas about how to implement cooperative learning in junior oral English classes. At last the author also lists some implications and limitations from his researches,such as, cooperative learning need to integrate with other teaching methods, then it can work better; Cooperative learning can not be accomplished in one move, however, a teacher need enough knowledge and teaching experience of cooperative learning, and the support from school leaders and parents is also necessary, et al.