An Investigation Of Group Cooperative Learning In English Classroom Teaching In Junior High School

Group cooperative learning is a new teaching mode and in recent years it has been widely used in foreign language teaching.Group cooperative learning attaches more importance to the studentcenteredness,highlighting the dominant role of the students in the classroom.Efficient group cooperative learning is conducive to stimulating students’ interest,meeting the real needs of students,making them become active learners so as to ensure the full development of teaching communication.In the process of English teaching reform,the application of cooperative learning in English teaching has also become a trend.Therefore,this study attempts to investigate the application situation of group cooperative learning in English classroom teaching of junior high school and aims to find out the existing problems in the application.This research is conducted on the basis of social interdependence theory,constructivism theory and humanistic learning theory.The major methods adopted for this research include classroom observation,questionnaire and interview,taking the students in Grade Seven at Luohe Foreign Languages Middle School as research subjects.This study tries mainly to answer three questions:(1)What is the current situation of the application of group cooperative learning in English classroom teaching in junior high school ?(2)What are the major problems regarding the application of group cooperative learning in English classroom teaching in junior high school ?(3)What are the main causes of the problems regarding the application of group cooperative learning in English classroom teaching in junior high school ? In this survey,39 English classes in Grade Seven of Luohe Foreign Languages Middle School are observed,20 English teachers and 190 students are selected for questionnaire investigation,5 English teachers and 10 students are interviewed,and the dates of survey are analyzed and discussed.The research findings are as follows.(1)The overall situation of adopting group cooperative learning in class can be described in the following ways.Firstly,the high quantity and low quality of teachers’ classroom application.Most English teachers can realize the importance of group cooperative learning and can apply it to English classroom teaching activities.But at the same time,the frequency of teachers using various forms of grouping in the classroom is relatively low,and the group members are basically fixedwhen they have group activities.Secondly,the students are lack of professional knowledge and skills regarding cooperative learning.They have a strong interest in group cooperative learning and expect to have more communication and cooperation with their peers,but they lack relevant knowledge and skills.Finally,evaluation problem exists in the application.Teachers do not do well in the process of evaluation and can not be affirmed by students.(2)The major problems regarding the application of group cooperative learning in English classroom teaching in junior high school mainly include: Inadequate preparation before group cooperative learning,unreasonable group formation in English classes,unclear rules for cooperation and incomplete evaluation system of group cooperative learning.(3)The main causes of the problems regarding the application of group cooperative learning in English classroom teaching in junior high school are as follows: Some teachers are not familiar with the theory of group cooperative learning.The supervision and guidance of teachers are not yet in place.In addition,teachers do not do well in the operational aspect and so on.Some students do not have a strong sense of group cooperative learning.Junior high school students lack self-control ability and cooperative learning ability.The total number of students in the class is too large.Finally,the quality of students always varies and so on.This study provides suggestions for the effective application of group cooperative learning in English classroom teaching in junior high school.The English teachers should actively learn the relevant knowledge of group cooperative learning,and accurately position their roles as well as take students as the center in the whole process of cooperation,and as a result,act as a guide,organizer and promoter to play the role of regulation and guidance.