An Empirical Study Of The Application Of The Cooperative Learning Approach In Elementary EFL Class

The New National Standards of English Course (Experimental Edition) advocates experience, practice, participation, cooperative and communicative learning style and task-oriented approach based on learners' interests, life experience and cognitive level, aiming at developing learners' comprehensive abilities.In such a big background, cooperative learning has become one of the most focused areas in the field of education. In brief, cooperative learning is working together to accomplish shared learning goals. Yet it was not until the early 1990s that some Chinese educators began to carry out some studies on this teaching approach. The study reported in this thesis attempts to assess the effects of cooperative learning in Elementary English class and tries to explore practical applications of cooperative learning principles.Two classes from Haidian Experimental Primary School participate in the experiment. Class 13 Grade 3 is the experimental class and Class 10 Grade 3 is the control class. The experimental class is exposed to cooperative learning approach for one semester. The control class is taught with the traditional instruction.The targets of the research convey the following aims:1. Is cooperative learning approach more effective in increasing the students English achievements score in elementary school?2. Is cooperative learning approach more effective in the peer relationships in elementary school?3. Is cooperative learning approach more effective in English learning affection and attitude in elementary school?4. Is cooperative learning approach more effective to students with learning difficulties?The following conclusions are drawn from the research:1. The English academic score in experimental class is a little bit higher than that in the control class (although this difference is not statistically significant: t=0.341,p>0.05).2. About peer relationships, both the degrees of acceptance and the degrees of being accepted increase greatly through cooperative learning.3. The students have more positive attitude to English learning through cooperative learning.4. To the students with learning difficulty, cooperative learning has a significant difference in their academic score and the degree of being accepted while there is no significant difference in the degree of peer acceptance.