A Study Of The Application Of Cooperative Learning Approach To English Reading Comprehension Teaching In Junior High School

Learning English can help learners develop their life-long learning ability, criticalthinking, problem solving skills, creativity and innovation, adapt themselves to the rapidchanges and development of society. Learning any language needs a lot of reading,learning English is no exception. Reading is an important part in junior middle schoolEnglish teaching. The main purpose of English teaching is to develop students’independent reading ability and the ability of using language. The new reform of foreignlanguage education emphasizes that teaching should be people-oriented, learner centered.Therefore, English teachers need to reflect on their English reading teaching, to find thesuitable reading teaching methods. And of all the teaching methods, cooperative learningmethod has been widely studied. Usually cooperation reading teaching is to divide studentsinto groups of4to6people to carry out English reading teaching activities. Its purpose isto let students complete the reading task under the guidance of teachers and through mutualcooperation. Meanwhile in the process of cooperation, students are expected to enjoyreading, master appropriate reading skills, develop good reading habits, so as to maintaintheir interest in English reading.The purpose of this study is to explore whether cooperative learning can facilitateEnglish reading teaching in junior high school. A total of60students are involved in theexperimental study. They are the students of Yanling Junior High School, whom the authorhas taught. The experimental class and control class each has30students. In experimentalclass the author applies cooperative learning to English reading teaching whereas theauthor employs the traditional English reading teaching method in the control class. Reading Materials are taken from textbook of compulsory education by Yilin Press.Research methods include literature review, questionnaire surveys, written examinations,teachers’ classroom observations and interviews. After four months of the experiment, thestudy finds the following:1、In the experimental class, the students’ English reading ability and their overallEnglish proficiency have improved.2、At the later stage of the experiment, students in the experimental class are moremotivated to learn.3、Students in the experimental class have learned to work together, to listen and wait,help and encourage each other.The study has achieved the expected results, but it leaves much room to be desired orfor further study.