A Study On The Effectiveness Of Cooperative Learning Method In College English Reading Class

There are some problems existing in college English teaching, such astoo many students in one class which decreases the efficiency of English teachinggreatly; inactive attitude of students towards English study; and the dull atmospherein English class and so on. Therefore, the traditional teacher-centered teaching modelcan not reach the society demand of students’ English level. College English teachersshould try to find out some new teaching models or ways to increase the efficiency ofEnglish class. In such background, this research proposes the application ofcooperative learning method to college English reading class, which aims to explorean effective way to improve students’ reading skills. Studies on cooperative learningin China began in1980s, but most of the studies focused on the application of thismethod in primary or middle schools and the application of cooperative learning incollege teaching especially in college English teaching is just a few. Consequently,this study hopes to have some new findings in this field.For that end, the writer conducted a teaching experiment which lasted a semesterto test the application of cooperative learning to college English reading teaching.There are two hypotheses:(1) the achievement of non-English major college studentswho participate in cooperative learning groups in College English reading course willbe superior to the achievement of students who learn solely through teacher-directedmethods;(2) cooperative learning experience will have a positive influence onEnglish class and students’ attitudes towards English reading or study. The study was conducted with two groups of students at Xi’an Polytechnic University. Theexperimental class worked on the exercises in four-member teams with cooperativemethod, and the control group worked as a whole class with the traditionalteacher-centered teaching model. The experiment began in September,2010, lasting16weeks. To begin with, there was a questionnaire and a pretest on students’ attitudeand level on English reading. Then cooperative learning method was applied intocollege English reading teaching. In order to help students increase their interest inEnglish study and master some skills and techniques of English reading, the writerconducted a series of teaching activities which were based on cooperative learningmethod. Finally, there was a posttest and an interview with students to test whethercooperative learning method could help students to increase their English readinglevel.The results of the research show: by contrast to the control class, students in theexperiment class showed great interest and an active attitude towards English studyand made great progress in English reading. Besides, in order to complete the grouptask, each member of the group in the experiment class took part in the class activitiesactively and cooperated very well with other students. Based on these findings, theresearcher concludes that it is feasible to apply cooperative learning to collegeEnglish teaching. It not only enhances the reading ability of students, cultivates thecooperative ability of students which but also has an active influence on collegeteaching.