A Study On The Application Of Cooperative Learning In Independent College English Teaching Of Listening And Speaking

To meet the need of the country and society for qualified college students in the new era, new requirements (2004) have been proposed for college English teaching by Education Ministry:reforming the existing unitary teaching-centered model to students-centered; developing students’ language competences all-roundly, especially in speaking and listening. Cooperative learning, as an effective way of learning foreign language has become the main concern of many college English teachers. As an English teacher of independent college, the author is fully aware of the specialties of students in it: comparatively low English level; without interests and confidence towards English learning. In a long time, the author tries to find an appropriate teaching model for improving students’ listening and speaking abilities and developing their learning interests. It is widely acknowledged that cooperative learning is an efficient way.In order to inspect the influences of cooperative learning in listening and speaking class in independent colleges, the author conducted this study in two classes of the City College of Wuhan University of Science and Technology, with one control class and one experiment class for one semester. In the study, data were collected by means of tests、 questionnaires and interviews. Based on the analysis of these data, positive results were found——compared with the controlled class, students in the experimental class had a more active attitude towards learning, and more willing to speak English with confidence improving.It’s indicated in this study that cooperative learning does have positive influences on listening and speaking class in independent colleges, and it’s feasible and practical. Because of a limited period of time and the author’s ability, the analyses of this study may not be suitable for other students with higher English levels. Based on the finding of this study, the author proposes some suggestions about how to implement cooperative learning model in independent colleges, hoping this study would be a reference for future researches on college English teaching in independent colleges.In all, there are five chapters in this thesis. Chapter one is the introduction of the background of the current situation and problems, the possible causes as well as the significance of the study. Chapter two is the theoretical frame work of cooperative learning and previous studies at home and abroad. Chapter three is about the samples of this research, including the research hypothesis, subjects and teaching material, instruments and procedures. Chapter four describes the data collection in details and analysis of the empirical study, embracing both the implications and recommendations of this empirical research. Chapter five concludes the whole thesis.