The Application Of Cooperative Learning In Teaching English Reading In Junior High School

Reading,as one of the main means of language input among listening,speaking reading,writing and one of the most effective approaches of improving English grades,has always been a great number of educators' and learners' concern.However,the fact is that,English learners often feel reading extremely difficult,for the current English reading teaching in Junior High Schools is easy to become tedious and students tend to be uninterested in reading classes.Therefore,applying cooperative learning which is regarded as one of the most creative,effective and successful teaching reforms in recent years in teaching Junior High Schools' English reading is really imperative.This research,taking No.13 Junior High School in Xining as an example,mainly focused on the application effects of cooperative learning in teaching English reading.The author went great lengths to investigate into three perspectives: the current reading teaching situation of the school,the effects of applying cooperative learning and the feasible measures that can be adopted by teachers to maximize the effects of cooperative learning.In this research,41 students from Class Two Grade 8 and 40 students from Class Ten Grade 8 of the school were selected as research participants.According to the pre-test on reading,the author determined Class Ten whose reading test grades were lower as the experimental class and Class Two whose reading test grades were higher as the control class.The author carried out a comparative study over a period of four and a half months.The traditional lecture method was used as usual in the control class while cooperative learning method was adopted in teaching reading in the experimental class.Four types of instruments: classroom observation,questionnaires,tests,and interviews are employed to complete the research.In the early stage of the experiment,the participants answered the pre-questionnaire on the current situation of reading teaching.What's more,the participants took a pre-test on reading in the limited time in order to better understand the reading teaching and students' reading learning.At the end of the study,the author concluded the application effects of cooperative learning in teaching English reading and how teachers promoted cooperative learning in teaching English reading in a more effective way by collecting and analyzing the data of classroom observation,post-questionnaire,post-test and interviews.Results show that: 1)cooperative learning is not widely adopted in teachingEnglish reading in the school under the pressure of catching up the teaching pace,saving time inside class,finishing teaching tasks and promoting test scores.2)After applying cooperative learning in teaching English reading in the experimental class,though there is serious dependence of underachievers and the excessive cooperation ignores the independent learning of students and the leading role of teachers,nevertheless,to a great extent,not only classroom atmosphere,students' learning capability,interpersonal skills,and cooperative skills but also their good reading habits are all prompted.3)It is cooperative learning that shortens the gap of reading facility and competence between the control class and the experimental class: the experimental class is superior to the control class in students' reading competence;it is especially salient for boy students.Therefore,it is both workable and meaningful to adopt cooperative learning in Junior High School English reading teaching if teachers can set up reasonable groups and adjust members from time to time,meanwhile,they can selectively devise teaching activities from the actual perspective of reading materials and students as well as they can play an active role in cooperative learning.