The Application Of Group Cooperative Learning In College English Class

Group cooperative learning got its popularity in the United States in the early1970s, and made substantial progress from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties, andgradually became a kind of creative and effective teaching theory and strategy. In theearly1980s, there existed the researches and experiments of group cooperativelearning in China, and good results and attainments were achieved. Nowadays, groupcooperative learning has been accepted and welcomed by a majority of teachers andstudents, for it changes the former teaching method that gives priority to teacher’slecture in the classes and students passively accept it. In the classes of groupcooperative learning, the teacher and students establish mutual cooperativerelationship, and the teacher guides students through group cooperation in acomfortable and friendly environment on the basis of mutual trust between them.Group cooperative learning emphasizes students’ principal role in the class; itmobilizes students’ intrinsic motivation; it highlights the cultivation and developmentof students’ personality and places emphasis on the protection of the uniqueness of thestudents; it cultivates the students’ self-esteem and sense of responsibility. In Englishclasses, group cooperative learning changes the traditional teaching mode, and injectsnew vitality into the classroom, and provides students with opportunities tocomplement each other, and to communicate and interact with others; it arousesstudents’ interest and increases their confidence in English learning. This study aimsto explore the application of group cooperative learning in college English class andits advantages and existing problems.Based on the theories of Hymes’ communicative competence, Krashen’s monitorhypothesis and affective filter hypothesis, as well as social interdependence theory,constructivism and cognitive elaboration theory, the thesis studied the applicability of group cooperative learning in College English classroom, and answered the followingquestions:(1) What are the advantages of applying group cooperative learning incollege English classes?(2) How to solve the problems existing in the classes ofgroup cooperative learning?To ensure the validity and credibility of the research’s results, the author carriedon empirical study. The author and the7English teachers and105freshmen inChangchun Normal University participated in this empirical study. All of the seventeachers teach College English, and adopt group cooperative learning in the classroom;they all use New Horizon College English, published by foreign language teachingand research press, as the textbook. The105students are non-English major freshmenfrom three classes in the university and have been exposed to group cooperativelearning method in the first half of the semester. The thesis mainly collected relevantdata through carrying on the questionnaire towards the students. The questionnaireswere delivered to the105non-English major freshmen, and102effectivequestionnaires were returned. There were29questions in the questionnaire, whichwas divided into two parts: the first part was multiple choice items; the second partwas the short-answer questions. The questionnaire mainly studied the influence ofgroup cooperative learning on students’ English study, the effects of groupcooperative learning on students’ cooperative capability and spirit, and the influenceof group cooperative learning on students’ interpersonal communication, as well asthe positive and negative effects of group cooperative learning on the students in theirview. Meanwhile, the author carried on the classroom observation in the threenon-English major classes and randomly listened to the three classes’ college Englishcourses for a month. The author observed and recorded the condition of theimplementation of group cooperative learning in college English classroom throughattending lectures, and communicating with the instructors about the observer’sfeelings, and used observation table records to carry on analysis and reflection. At last,the author interviewed the7non-English major teachers respectively and got theirunderstanding and evaluation on current state of the application of group cooperativelearning in College English classes. Throughout the interview, the author used the voice recorder to record the content of the interview. In order to get accurate, detailedand comprehensive materials and results, after the interview, the author immediatelysorted the raw material out according to the recording data.Through sorting out and analyzing the records of classroom observation, theresults of the questionnaire and the contents of the interviews, the author concludedthe advantages of applying group cooperative learning in college English classes, thatis,(1) Group cooperative learning can improve students’ English proficiency, learningability, initiative and enthusiasm of learning English.(2) Group cooperative learningis beneficial to cultivate and improve students’ cooperative ability and interpersonalcommunication ability.(3) Group cooperative learning establishes and thinks highlyof students’ principal position in the class.(4) Group cooperative learning canimprove teacher-student relationship and student-student relationship. Then the authorput forward the problems of adopting group cooperative learning in College Englishclass, namely,(1) Teachers and students lack the awareness of group cooperativelearning.(2) Students’ cooperative method is not scientific.(3) We lack effectiveevaluation standard and method. Finally, the author put forward the correspondingcountermeasures to solve these problems:(1) Teachers and students should study thetheory of group cooperative learning.(2) Teachers should divide cooperative groupsscientifically, and make clear individual responsibility.(3) Teachers should giveappropriate guidance on students’ cooperative skills.(4) Teachers and students shouldestablish a reasonable evaluation mechanism of group cooperative learning.The author hopes to improve the effectiveness and quality of group cooperativelearning through the application and empirical study of group cooperative learning incollege English classroom. Meanwhile, the author also wishes to provide effectivelearning strategies and methods for non-English major college students, and improvetheir interest, enthusiasm, initiative and confidence in learning English.