A Research On The Application Of Cooperative Learning In Senior High English Reading Class

The consciousness and ability to cooperate are the basic diathesis of modernists.Cooperative learning (CL) is regarded as one of the most efficient teaching strategiesand also a popular trend of modern high school English teaching. Cooperative learningis a kind of teaching theory and strategy system based on group work. The theory ofcooperative learning which is applied in English reading class in high school can changethe traditional teacher-centered teaching type. Cooperative learning as a breakthroughand complement against traditional classroom instruction is an efficient teachingapproach, which can promote learners'cognitive ability and improve their competenceto use the language. The aim of the thesis is to explore the effects of the application ofcooperative learning on students'reading abilities and emotional attitude in Englishreading class. Research questions included: 1.In what way can cooperative learning beadopted to train students'reading skills in reading class? 2. What are the effects ofcooperative learning on students'reading skills? 3. What are the effects of cooperativelearning on the academic achievements of the students of different levels in groups? 4.What are the benefits that students can obtain through cooperative learning in terms ofemotional attitude?The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one gives a brief explanation on theresearch topic and the outline of the whole thesis. Chapter two offers literature reviewthat provides theoretical support for the thesis. Chapter three reports researchmethodology conducted by the author. Chapter four offers the results and data analysis.Chapter five is a conclusion to the whole thesis.The study is quasi-experimental in design. It was conducted in senior two atMiddle School Attached to Beijing Technology University in the autumn semester of2008. Class 4 was experimental group while class 5 was control group. Forty students ineach class participated in this study. The two classes are taught by the present researcher,use the same textbooks and are tested in the same way. The mode of cooperativelearning was applied in the experimental class while the conventional teaching methods are adopted in the control class. Detailed analysis was conducted in the reading class bymeans of questionnaires, tests and interviews. By using SPSS for Windows, a commonlyused tool for managing, analyzing, and displaying data, the analysis of the tests wasconducted; at the same time, an analysis was also done in order to verify the quality ofthe questionnaires on students'emotional aims and cooperative attitude.The analysis indicates that by using cooperative learning methods such as Jigsaw,STAD, Learning Together and Group Investigation in the reading class, it can helpstudents use reading skills and strategies more efficiently, which helps improve theirreading competence and academic achievements especially for the average students butit doesn't work effectively for excellent students. Cooperative learning can also enhancestudents'interest and self-esteem, improve their studying habits and cultivate theircooperative ideas and motivation. At the end of the thesis, limitations of the study andsuggestions for future research were discussed.