Applying The Method Of Cooperative Learning To The Teaching Of English Writing In High Schools

Writing is one of the basic skills and the most challenging task in English learning. As such, English writing has become one of the most important contents and, paradoxically, the weakest link in high school English training. Some problems and shortcomings exist in the traditional method for teaching writing. Though a lot of teachers spend much time and energy on English writing teaching, their hard work does not bring much effects. Hence, there is a need for innovation in English writing teaching in order to improve the students' ability in English writing. My thesis searches for an alternative approach to the teaching of English writing, aiming to find an effective way to address the problems in this area of foreign language teaching.To this end, I turn my attention to the general approach known as "cooperative teaching," and seek to find out whether it could be effectively applied to the teaching of English writing in China's high schools. By adopting research methods such as experiment, questionnaires, interview and observation, and by comparing cooperative teaching with the traditional way of teaching a writing class, my project explores the real effects which may result from the new method. The findings show that, among other things, cooperative learning can change the teacher-centered, classroom-centered, and book-centered situation and promote the cooperation and communication between the students and the teachers. Cooperative learning can embody the learner-centered principle, facilitate the students' enthusiasm for and interest in foreign languages, build up their confidence and reduce their anxiety in English writing, foster and improve their writing ability in general.