Cooperative Learning And The Improvement Of English Writing Abilities In Senior Middle School

Cooperative learning originally started in the United States of America in the 1970s and made substantial improvement in the mid 1970s and 1980s. It is called the most successful teaching revolution in the latest 10 years. Cooperative learning mainly focuses on the team goal and individual responsibilities. According to the cooperative learning theory, team work is totally unnecessary if there is not a team goal for the students. Meanwhile the team's success depends on nothing but every student's great effort. When working together, the students should not only be responsible for themselves but also for their teammates. Cooperative learning also requires that classroom teaching be student-centered and the group activities be the basic teaching method.The author tries to apply the cooperative learning theory to the teaching of English writing in senior high school, hoping to improve most of the students'writing skills and the classroom teaching effectiveness. To start with, the author deals with the relevant theories about cooperative learning. Then the author moves on to the common English-writing teaching methods and the present problems existing in teaching of English writing in senior high school.Under the guidance of the cooperative learning theory, the author carried out a study on cooperative learning in English writing. The whole study is divided into 4 parts - the design, the preparation, the implementation and the analysis of the outcome. By analyzing the numerous data collected from the two questionnaires, the pretest, the posttest and the interviews, the author finally draws the following conclusions:1. Cooperative learning helps improve the students'writing attitude and writing techniques. Traditional teaching methods are dull but the teaching methods mentioned in our study are creative and interesting, which arouses the students'great interest in English writing. Meanwhile, students are lucky enough to learn some writing techniques during the cooperative learning. 2. Cooperative learning helps promote the students'writing abilities. The discussion of the cooperation broadens the students'horizons of writing. Besides, the students can learn a lot from others by correcting and enjoying each other's English writing.