The Application Of Cooperative Learning In English Reading Class In Baotou Railway No.5High School

Reading is a good means of obtaining information and learning foreign languages. According to the New English Curriculum Standard, the purpose of high school English is to develop students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing ability and mainly to develop reading ability.Our school is an ordinary high school and students’ English level is very low. For a long time, teachers still adopt the old teaching model in English reading class, in which students just act as "listeners". As a result, the overall teaching efficiency of reading is low and many students lose interest in reading, some of whom even give up English learning. Therefore, it is necessary to try new teaching mode in English reading. The author attempts the implementation of cooperative learning in English reading class in Senior2of our school.Cooperative learning is a kind of teaching process in which students work together to finish the common goals within the group to acquire knowledge. This is complied with the New Curriculum Standard, which advocates students’ experience, practice, participation and cooperation in teaching activities.The whole thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter gives a brief introduction of the purpose and the significance of the research and the structure of this thesis. The second chapter reviews the literature related to cooperative learning for the present research, which includes the research at home and abroad. Then it lists the theoretical basis, the concept and five key elements of cooperative learning. Chapter3presents the research design including the objectives, hypothesis, subjects, the instruments and the process of the experiment. Chapter4collects and analyzes the data from the tests and questionnaire. Chapter5reports findings, the conclusion and gives some implications.This article is about the application of cooperative learning in English reading class in high school. The subjects are94students from two classes in Senior2in Baotou Railway No.5High School. One is chosen as the experiment class in which cooperative learning model is used, while the other is chosen as the controlled class in which traditional teaching method is used. They are at similar level. Before cooperative learning, students were not interested in English reading. In the pre-test, students’ total scores and reading scores were quite low. The experiment lasted one school semester. At the end of the term, the students were given a post-test and a questionnaire. And the author collected and analyzed the results of the experiment class in the post-test, finding that students’ reading scores have been improved by36.3%.Students’ average total score in the experiment class is30%,much higher than that in the controlled class. The questionnaire shows that the number of the students who are interested in reading has increased by16%.The conclusion of the experiment is that cooperative learning is more effective than traditional method. Cooperative learning makes reading class more effective and improves students’ reading ability and integrated ability of language using. Not only have students’ reading achievements been improved but also their interest in English reading class has increased. Moreover, students become more active in English learning and their cooperation consciousness and team spirit have been enhanced. To conclude, cooperative learning is suitable and helpful for English reading class in Baotou Railway No.5High School. Therefore, it is worthwhile to do further study on cooperative learning.