A Study On The Effect Of Cooperative Learning On English Writing Strategies Of Senior High School Students

This study aims to explore the impact of cooperative learning on senior high school students’ English writing strategies.In the teaching process,the teaching of English writing occupies an important position,which can objectively and comprehensively reflect the students’ ability to use English.English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School(2017)emphasizes the requirements for students’ English writing application ability and writing strategies,that is,English teaching should focus on the practical application of students’ writing and improve students’ learning strategies.In the actual writing process,students may have problems such as lack of interest in English writing,lack of writing strategies,improper use of vocabulary and grammar,and inappropriate passage structure.Cooperative learning is mainly based on students’ interaction and embodies the students’ dominant position in the teaching and learning process.Teachers apply learning groups to the teaching process in order to guide students to cooperate,exert group strength,and enhance personal learning motivation and learning strategies.When used in English writing teaching,it can help students to learn independently,cooperatively,and inquiringly,thereby enhancing their English writing strategies.Currently,in the research of related fields,the research that combines cooperative learning with a specific aspect of students’ writing strategy is relatively scarce.This study aims to explore the impact of cooperative learning on high school students’ English writing strategies.The specific research questions are as follows:(1)What is the impact of cooperative learning on students’ writing strategies?(2)Which aspects of students’ writing strategies are most affected by cooperative learning?(3)What impact does cooperative learning have on the writing strategies of students with different writing proficiency?Based on Social Interdependence theory and the “zone of proximal development”(ZPD)",110 students(55 in each class)in two parallel classes of a senior high school in Shijiazhuang,Hebei Province,were selected as the subjects of this study.The two classes were randomly divided into an experimental class and a control class.During the experiment,the experimental class adopted the cooperative learning and the control class used the PPP teaching mode for the 12-week teaching experiment.Then the results were compared and analyzed to test the research hypotheses.The research instruments used in this study were mainly pre-test and post-test papers on English writing,writing strategy questionnaire,and interview questions.Pre-test and post-test papers were used to examine the influence of cooperative learning on students’ writing performance;the questionnaire was used to examine the effects of cooperative learning on students’ writing strategies,including the aspects of writing strategies that were most affected by cooperative learning and the differences in the adoption of writing strategies between high-score achievers and low-score achievers;interview questions were used to analyze the possible reasons why cooperative learning affects students’ writing strategies and students’ attitudes towards cooperative learning.The data were collected and analyzed statistically by independent sample or paired sample T test with SPSS 23.0.The specific analysis results are as follows:(1)Compared with traditional teaching methods,the cooperative learning can effectively improve the English writing strategies of high school students,and enhance their English writing performance.(2)Further analysis reveals that cooperative learning has positive effects on high school students’ cognitive,meta-cognitive,affective,and social strategies in high school students’ English writing strategies.(3)There are also differences in the use of writing strategies between low-score achievers and high-score achievers in writing.Compared with high-score group,low-score group makes greater progress in English writing strategies.At the same time,high level students are good at using memory and meta-cognitive strategies,while low level students are good at using affective strategies.This study hopes to enrich and perfect the writing teaching mode in high schools,get rid of the current dilemma in high school English writing teaching,and provide a reference for the research of cooperative learning in high school English writing teaching.