A Study On The Influences Of Cooperative Learning Of English On Junior High School Students’ Affective Factors

As we all know, learners’ affective factors can lead to their differences in foreign language learning. Humanistic psychologists believe that if the emotional problems can be solved well, it can not only improve the effects of learning for foreign language learners, but also promote the comprehensive development of foreign language learners. However, in the current foreign language teaching in junior high school, there are still emotional illiteracy problems.Cooperative Learning is an instruction that involves students learning in teams to accomplish a common goal. At present, cooperative learning as a kind of advanced teaching strategy has been increasingly applied to English class in which the students are regarded as the main body of the class. It becomes a kind of supplement to the traditional teaching. Many researches have been shown that cooperative learning improved learners’ academic achievement in a large scale and foster the development of their social skills.Based on the literature review at home and abroad and The English Curriculum Criteria, the thesis is intended to illustrate that the application of cooperative learning approach can change the traditional English teaching situation which easily leads to students’ high anxiety, low motivation and other negative affective factors. In the meantime, the author holds that cooperative learning can affect learners’ affective factors positively.This thesis starts firstly with an introduction to the significance and background of the research. Based on the theories of humanistic education, the social constructivist theory and communicative approach, the thesis tries to provide evidence for the hypothesis that cooperative learning can develop the promotion of learners’ affective factors through questionnaires、interviewing and observation of classroom.The research was conducted from September 2013 to January 2014 in MuDanjiang No. 14 Middle School where the researcher works. 113 students of Grade 8 were enrolled in the research. Conventional competitive and individualistic learning methods were used in one class, while in the other class, cooperative learning procedures were followed. The primary objective is to determine whether cooperative learning could have positive effects on learners’ affective factors. The author mainly explores the relation between cooperative learning and language anxiety, risk-taking, attitude, motivation and empathy. The findings of the research can be summed up as follows:(1) cooperative learning could reduce English learners’ high anxiety;(2) cooperative learning could increase their risk-taking ability;(3) cooperative learning could promote students’ positive attitudes to language learning;(4) cooperative learning could raise students’ motivation;(5) cooperative learning could encourage learners’ empathy.This thesis includes five parts. the first part is the brief introduction part, which includes background, significance and organization of the thesis;The second part gives a critical literature review related to cooperative learning and effect;The third part is the detailed description of the research, which includes questions, subjects, time, instruments, procedures and data collection;The fourth is the data analysis and discussion;The fifth part draws a conclusion to the research, and points out the limitations and implications.