A Feasibility Study On The Application Of Two Cooperative Learning Methods (STAD And NHT) In The Rural Junior English Classroom

Over the years, the challenge of teaching English and learning English has been one of the general problems facing the English teachers and students from the rural junior high school. Compared with the city junior high schools, in the rural junior high school, the students'enthusiasm of learning English is much lower and their English test scores are thus lower, too. Some students even give up learning English. What causes all these? As one of the main ways of learning English, classroom English teaching plays an important role for the rural junior high school students. But the traditional English classroom teaching is teacher-centered and the students learn English passively. Most of the students'activities are limited and their learning enthusiasm is not high. Students need to be exposed to appropriate learning strategies to raise their interest and achieve success in English learning. For many years, educators and teachers also work hard to seek mew and effective methods to reform the traditional teaching mode.Cooperative Learning is generally considered a successful teaching strategy. It is recommended and supported by some domestic and foreign experts and it is even described as"the most important and successful teaching reform in the last 10 years"(Vertmette, 1994). In the small groups with students of different language levels and abilities, a variety of learning activities are used to improve their understanding of a subject. Each group member is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping group mates to learn, thus creating an atmosphere of cooperation and achievement. Students work through a task until all group members successfully understand and complete it. On the other hand, the"English Curriculum Standard"(2001) describes clearly that"This English curriculum reform lays emphasis on the development of curriculum on the basis of student's learning interest, their experience of life and cognitive levels, It also advocates task based teaching approach and the learning styles of experiencing, practicing, participating, cooperating and communicating to develop students'overall ability to use the language."And"The primary task of the English curriculum in elementary education is to stimulate and develop the students'interest in learning English, to build up students'confidence, to help students form good learning habits and use effective learning strategies, and to foster their independent learning abilities and the spirits of cooperation."All these show the importance of Cooperative Learning in junior English teaching.Based on the theories of the Cooperative Learning and the requirements of the English Curriculum Standard, the author believes that Cooperative Learning strategies are consistent with the requirements and rules of the second language learning, and it might be one of the feasible ways to improve the rural junior English classroom teaching.Even though the Cooperative Learning is highly recommended and supported by some domestic and foreign experts, will it be feasible to apply the Cooperative Learning methods of STAD and NHT to the rural English classroom with the students who have poor knowledge basis and poor learning conditions? Are the methods efficient in improving the students'English learning enthusiasm and the students'test scores? Those are the main research questions of the thesis.Based on the cognitive theories and SLA theories of the Cooperative Learning, the author conducted a 3-month teaching research (two stages) in the rural junior high school—the Huhhot No. 20 Middle School in July, September and October, 2007. The methods of STAD (Student Team and Achievement Divisions) and NHT (Numbered Heads Together) were used in the rural junior English classroom. The data were collected by means of tests, questionnaire surveys, and forms of group information etc, followed by data analysis and discussion. The results that the author obtained through the research are that compared with the control class, the English learning enthusiasm and the scores of the students from the experimental class both get higher. That suggests that the application of the methods of STAD and NHT are feasible in the rural Junior English classroom teaching and learning.