The Use Of Cooperative Learning In Process Writing In Large Junior English Classes

Writing is not only a cognition behavior,but it is also a social behavior.For most junior school students,writing is the most difficult task.They have less confidence and interest in English writing.Most of them do not plan,draft or revise.The problem of writing instruction confronts teachers.Some of them do not think writing needs be taught since they believe it cannot be taught.Others think writing instruction is as important as the other four skills,but they have no effective way to teach it.They spend lots of time and effort correcting students' work,while students just put it aside without even giving a glance.Why they did not enjoy writing? Why they did not correct their own mistakes? How to change the situation?—those questions puzzled the researcher.Based on theories of cooperative learning and process writing,the researcher carried out a 12-week action research aiming at improving the situation and enhancing their writing competence.The researcher defined the targeted writing competence as:pre-writing strategies,while-writing strategies and post-writing strategies.The subjects involved were 100 Junior Two students from two parallel classes in a middle school in Beijing. The researcher intends to answer the following two questions:a) Can the cooperative process writing help students build confidence in writing and enjoy writing? If so,in what degree?b) Can peer revision help improve students' competence in writing? If so,in what degree?To accomplish this research,the researcher applied the following research methods:To see whether these two groups were at the same level,one pre-test was applied at the beginning.To see whether cooperative process writing can improve the students' writing proficiency,if so,in what degree,the post-test and students' assessment form for 10-week writing practice were applied.To know whether students had confidence and interest in English writing,what their experiences in it were,and in what degree they can be increased by the approach,two questionnaires were applied(one at the beginning,the other at the end of the study).With the help of SPSS,the results will be analyzed.By the analysis of data obtained from two questionnaires,it is found that the students became more confident and motivated in English writing;by analyzing the data from students' weekly composition assessment,it is found that they made fewer mistakes,wrote longer and more meaningfully,and better recognized their errors.By analyzing data from extra items in the second questionnaire,it is found that students felt it easier to write in English,they knew different stages of writing,and their motivation increased.Through interview,the researcher found students loved writing class better,and enjoyed writing more.The researcher found that students started asking her for help,requesting her to revise their third or even fourth drafts.The following conclusions can be made from the research.First,cooperative process writing can greatly arouse students' interest and build confidence in writing. Second,collaborative learning can help create harmonious and cooperative writing atmosphere.Third,peer revision can greatly improve students' writing competence.