Applying Cooperative Learning To The Students With Learning Difficulties To Improve Their English Reading Abilities In Senior High School

As we all know, Cooperative Learning (CL) has been one of themost important teaching strategies in the educational field throughoutthe world. In the middle schools and high schools of China, CL, whichhas been listed in the New Curriculum Standards for Senior HighSchool, has made great contributions to improving our teaching. However,there are too many students in junior and senior classes in China, inwhich there are more than60or70students in one class. Under thepressure of the College Entrance Examinations, many teachers prefer touse traditional teaching methods, rather than train all the students’cooperative abilities, especially in high schools. Many students graduallylose their interest of learning, so they become the students with learningdifficulties (LDs).In English learning, there are many students having LDs. Thesestudents with LDs have difficulty in vocabulary, grammar, reading andwriting. Many people have been concerned about how to help thesestudents with learning difficulties out of trouble, so the author wants totry to apply CL in senior English classroom to transform this group ofstudents. Nowadays, in senior English class, Reading is regarded as asufficient way to get the knowledge. The improvement of reading abilityis not only a way for the development of logic but also the rise ofcommunication ability. So we say reading is one of the most importantparts in senior English teaching, and it’s also the most difficult for bothteachers and students. In terms of College Entrance Examinations readingcomprehension in the English paper is increasingly hard to handle inrecent years, which makes up26.7%in the total marks.Although the LDs are lack in vocabulary, grammar and writing, ifgiven them correct instruction and right training, they can still getsatisfying marks in reading. Based on the theory of CL and LDs andreading comprehension, the author uses tests, questionnaires and aninterview to explore the transformation LDs’reading comprehension byforming small groups. The author did an experimental research into theapplication of cooperative learning to the students with learningdifficulties’reading comprehension in senior high school, the subject ofthe experiment was the students from two contrast classes taught by theauthor (Class One and Class Two Grade One in Juyin High School inWuhai City). Class One was the experimental class with40students, andClass Two was the control class with42students. Before the experiment,the author tested two classes on their reading ability (Five readingmaterials,40marks) as a pre-test, the results showed that their English reading achievements were similar, so the two classes were comparative.During the experiment, the author applied CL in the experimental class,while traditional teaching method in the control class. After16-weekexperiment, the author tested two classes on their reading ability (Fivereading materials,40marks) as a post-test, and compared the results ofthe two classes. The mean score of post-test in the experimental class was18.45while their score of pre-test was13.25; the mean score of post-testin the control class was12.19while their score of pre-test was10.29. Theresults indicated that the achievements in the experimental class wereimproved; in addition, the results of the questionnaires and the interviewshowed that the students’learning interest in the experimental class wasimproved.The study has indicated that the application of CL in teachingreading can have a positive effect on transforming the English LDs’reading and arouse the colleagues’ concern and interest about thetransformation of LDs.