An Empirical Study Of Cooperative Learning In Senior High School English Reading Classes

In order to find a more effective English reading teaching model and changetraditional English reading teaching methods based on grammar-translation andknowledge transition, this thesis in the theme of an Empirical Study of CooperativeLearning in Senior High School English Reading Classes studied the followingquestions:1. how to apply Cooperative Learning(CL) approach to senior highschool English reading effectively to stimulate senior high school students’ readinginterests and improve their English reading performances?2. What kind ofcooperative learning strategies in reading class is more popular with the students, andcan promote students’ English reading comprehension ability more effectively?This empirical study lasted4months, choosing2parallel senior grade3classesfrom the middle school attached to Changsha College as research objects. K119is theexperimental class while K120is the control class. The experimental class were givenlessons by using cooperative learning teaching approach, while the control class byusing conventional teaching model. A pre-test and a post-test were conducted to findout the changes in students’ proficiency in reading. Moreover, questionnaires andinterviews were administered to investigate changes in students’ attitudes towardsreading and CL. The data from the results of the experiment were analyzed, and acomparison was made between the results before and after the experiment.Through the analysis of questionnaires, pre-test and post-test performances via theSPSS statistical analysis software and feedback of student’s interview, this researchcan draw the following conclusions:1. CL can promote students’ interest attitudes,and motivation in English learning significantly;2. Using CL in senior high schoolEnglish reading is more effective than conventional teaching. And application ofcooperative learning in reading classes can help to improve students’ reading andacademic achievement;3. There are3most popular CL methods among students:learning the new words together, understanding the common discourse structure, andfinding the background information together which common cooperation objectivesand tasks require. They can stimulate the students’ English reading interest in learning,improve their study enthusiasm, and motivate their ability of autonomous learningmore effectively than the traditional ones.Therefore, the empirical study proves that CL (cooperative learning)applied toEnglish reading teaching can not only improve the students’ reading proficiency, but also enhance the students’ enthusiasm of English reading, which is more beneficial toEnglish Reading Teaching in senior middle school than what traditional teachingmodel does.