An Exploration Of Cooperative Learning In Senior English Teaching

Since 2001, a new curriculum reform has been carried out throughout China. The object of this curriculum reform is to develop students' abilities on all sides so as to make them grow to be whole-persons. Thus the style of teaching, learning and assessing is required to be changed. And the related New Course Standard for English subject regulates that the primary goal of English teaching is to stimulate and foster students' interest in English learning, get them into proper learning habit and strategies, develop their active and independent learning abilities and cooperative social skills so as to help students grow academically, physically, and psychologically healthy. However, the present situation of senior English and learning is far from being satisfied. Such problems as teacher-centered and traditional grammar-translation English class, students' inactive learning and reluctant involvement in classroom activities, the teacher's more concern about language knowledge than language using abilities and the test-oriented assessing of students' learning still exist. In order to better this situation, the author suggests using a new teaching and learning approach, that is, cooperative learning.Cooperative learning, as a new teaching model, has been used at all student levels, in many subjects all over the world, because of its extraordinary outcomes derived from experts' research. The results from many relative attempts all prove that using cooperative learning in English classroom can result in greater achievement, positive relationships, and psychological health on the part of English classrooms. The promotive interaction cooperative learning provides can result in more comprehensible input which is helpful for students' language acquisition in a communicative environment, thus resulting in the advance of language teaching and learning. Motivation is an important factor for effective language learning. And the motivational theory proves that cooperative learning can promote students' learning motivation. While the language acquisition theory supports that learning cooperatively provides comprehensible input which is helpful for students' English learning. Based on these...