| The value of cooperative learning has been recognized throughout human history. Organizing individuals to work in support of one another and putting the interests of the group ahead of one's own are abilities that have characterized some of the most successful people of our time. Its effectiveness has been documented through hundreds of research studies. Cooperative learning is now widely recognized as one of the most promising practices in the field of education.In order to explore whether the learners who have received cooperative learning instruction can perform better than learners in control groups in their academic achievement, oral ability and attitudes towards learning, the researcher implemented cooperative learning method into English teaching in a vocational school (Grade One, Class 1 and 2). The experimental class received the cooperative learning while the control class was given the traditional frontal instruction method.The experiment lasted one semester; Altogether 70 students were involved in it. Through the analysis of the data collection, which including two English proficiency tests, two questionnaires, two oral tests and tape scripted. The researcher find out most students benefit a lot from cooperative learning method. The research questions in the thesis included:1. Will the cooperative learning result in the same amount of gain in academiclearning as traditional learning in vocational school?2. How will students who are used to studying independently of other students respond to activities requiring them to teach each other and learn from each other?3. How does cooperative learning affect the social skill of high-school students?4. Will the cooperative learning promote students' oral performance in large class? The thesis is composed of six chapters. Chapter One gives a brief instruction on the research topic and the outline of the whole thesis; Chapter Two offers literature review that provides theoretical support for the thesis; Chapter Three reports research methodology conducted by the researcher. Chapter Four shows the experimental results and data analysis; Chapter Five Points out the problems and make recommendations; Chapter Six gives a conclusion to the full text.Based of the findings drawn from the data analysis, the researcher points outsome problems in implementing cooperative learning and gives some reasonablesuggestions for future research. |
