A Study On The Application Of Cooperative Learning In The Junior Middle School English Listening And Speaking Classes

Cooperative learning is one of the major prevailing trends in English language teaching and learning both domestic and abroad. By cooperative learning, it means an approach to teaching and learning in which classrooms are organized for students to work together in small cooperative groups, aiming at improving students’ learning and cooperative ability. Cooperative learning is a classroom environment where students interact with one another in small groups while working together on learning tasks to attain a common goal. The evaluation of the students’ performance is based on group behavior instead of their single individual endeavors. Studies on cooperative learning abound both at home and abroad, but few such empirical studies focus on English listening and speaking classes in Junior Middle Schools.The thesis is based on the theories, such as, the constructivist learning theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. This study tries to explore the effects of implementing cooperative learning in English listening and speaking classes in Junior Middle Schools, answering three specific questions:(1) Can cooperative learning improve students’ listening abilities?(2) Can cooperative learning improve students’ speaking abilities?(3) Can cooperative learning develop students’ cooperative abilities?To answer the three questions above,86 Grade 8 students from Chongde Middle School, Changde, Hunan Province were asked to participate in this nearly six-month experiment, during which the research methods like pre-test, post-test and questionnaire were conducted to collect the data.Results show that the application of cooperative learning in English listening and speaking classes can evoke students’ positive attitudes toward English learning, cultivate students’ motivation and interest in learning English, and finally improve students’ listening, speaking and cooperative abilities.Given the limited sample and time, this thesis still has some shortcomings.