英语论文合作学习.doc

Cooperative Learning and Its Application to Senior Middle School English TeachingThesis statement: Cooperative learning, adopted in senior middle school English teaching, must entail teachers organizational strategies, instruction as well as arrangement, and it should be applied in more ways.Outline: .Introduction.The study of cooperative learningA. The definition of cooperative learning B. The organizational strategies of cooperative learning1. The key elements that teacher should pay attention to 2. The role that teacher plays3. The process of cooperative learning.The application of cooperative learning to senior middle school English teachingA. Usage of cooperative learning1. Usage in preview and after-class activities2. Usage in class3. Usage in task-based approach4. Usage in evaluation B. The activities of cooperative learning1. Role-play2. Discussion3. Cooperative writing4. Cooperative problem-solvingC. The assessment of the activities D. The significance of the activities.Conclusion Cooperative Learning and Its Application to Senior Middle School English Teaching AbstractWith the development of society, many socialists hold the view that cooperation will be more important by far than competition in the future society. Modern psychology research also makes us know that students cooperation will have more important effect on their understanding to the new knowledge. So, in the modern teaching, advocating cooperative learning will adapt to social needs and development more and more. Nowadays, even though New Course Standard voices that the 21st century is a period when information globalization and international economic integration occur, “learning to cooperate with others” has been one of the four pillars of global educational reform, the teachers teaching approach, in recent teaching, fails to meet the different levels of students in English and many real linguistic activities cannot be carried out flexibly. Without question, many students in English learning are discouraged. Moreover, in English class, some teachers are inclined to instruct linguistic knowledge, neglecting the training of students linguistic behavior, which easily enable them to become passive receivers of knowledge. In this case, the introduction of “cooperative learning” which is good for carrying out a thorough linguistic activity makes up for this embarrassment and surely plays an important part in English class. In addition, cooperative learning not only can impel students relationship harmonious and friendly, make them help each other, but also can improve individuals with different levels together. As far as Senior English For China (SEFC) text is concerned, in particular, warming-up, speaking and pre-reading should be done cooperatively, and its unique design and life-related content is attractive to students and makes students eager to communicate, but it is beyond some teachers power to organize these parts effectively and bring students cooperative learning ability into full play.Taking into account of these factors above, in this essay, the introduction of cooperative leaning and its application to senior middle school English teaching will be interpreted.Key words: cooperative learning; group; activity; discussion 合作学习及其在高中英语教学中的应用摘要随着社会的发展，很多社会学家认为合作在以后的社会中将比竞争更重要。现代心理学研究表明学生相互合作对他们对新知识的理解有着非常重要的影响。所以，在现代教学中，合作学习将会越来越适应社会的要求与发展。现在，尽管新课程标准提出21世纪是信息全球化和国际经济一体化的时代，“学会与他人合作”已经成为全球教育改革的四大支柱之一，但是在目前教学中，教师的英语教学模式不能满足英语水平参差不齐的学生们，并且很多真实的语言活动不能得到灵活自如地开展。毫无疑问，学生学习英语的兴趣会受到挫伤。而且在英语课堂中，老师喜爱传授语言知识，而忽视了对学生语言行为的训练，这样极易使学生成为语言知识的被动接受者。在这种情况下，一种有利于学生全面开展语言实践活动的教学方式“合作学习”的引进无疑弥补这一不足，其在英语课堂教学中必然起着举足轻重的作用。除此之外，合作学习不但能促进学生关系的和谐友善发展，促使他们互相帮助，而且还能共同提高水平参差不齐的个体。就高中英语课本而言，特别是热身、说和阅读前等部分必须由学生合作才能很好有效地完成。其独特的设计和密切联系生活的内容能够激发学生的兴趣以及交流的欲望，但是部分教师不知道如何有效地组织此部分的内容和促使学生合作学习的能力得到全面发展。 因此，在本篇论文中，作者将介绍合作学习及其合作学习在高中英语教学中的应用。关键字：合作学习；小组；活动；讨论 theintroduction“Without the cooperation of its members society cannot survive, and the society of man has survived because the cooperativeness of its members made survival possible” Obviously, cooperation, an important element in the society, cannot be separated from the English class, either. But, in the traditional approach to English teaching, most class time is spent on the teachers instruction and the students watching, listening and writing. Students work individually on assignments and cooperation is discouraged. Such teacher-centered instruction methods have repeatedly been found inferior to instruction that involves cooperative learning, in which students work in groups on problems (David and Roger Johnson 54). The value of cooperative learning has been recognized throughout human history. Organizing individuals to work in support of one anther and putting the interests of the group ahead of ones own are abilities that have characterized some of the most successful people of our time. Group learning, with its roots in ancient tribal customs, has traditionally been a part of educational practice. Its effectiveness has been documented through hundreds of research studies (David and Rogue Johnson177; Kagan 186; Slavin 46). Nowadays, cooperative learning is now widely recognized as one of the most promising practices in the field of education. Overwhelming evidences proved that cooperative learning is effective. According to David and Rogue Johnsons studies in 1989, cooperative learning was compared to more traditional forms of instruction, using group productivity as an outcome measure. In over 50% of the cases, the cooperative learning was more effective than the more traditional forms of instruction, while in 10% of the cases, competitive or individualistic approaches to instruction produce higher productivity. Regarding attitudes toward cooperative learning approach produced greater interpersonal attraction in 60% of the comparisons and that competitive and individualistic approach produced higher levels of interpersonal; attraction in 3% off the cases (David and Rogue Johnson 254).Taking into account of all above, cooperative learning in English teaching is of great importance. It is necessary to know what are the cooperative learning and its organizational strategies and how it works in senior middle school English teaching. The study of cooperative learningA. The definition of cooperative learningCooperative learning emerged in 1970s in America first introduced and carried out by David Koonts (孙钱兔56). Cooperative learning is a structured, systematic instructional strategy in which small groups work together toward a common goal. Within cooperative activities individuals seek outcomes that are beneficial to themselves and beneficial to all the other group members. Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each others learning. Class members are organized into small groups after receiving instruction from the teacher. They then work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members gain from each others efforts (your success benefits me and my success benefits you), recognizing that all group members share a common fate (we all sink or swim together here), knowing that ones colleagues (we can not do it without you), and feeling proud and jointly celebrating when a group member is recognized for achievement (we all congratulate you on your accomplishment!). In cooperative learning situations there is a positive interdependence among students goal attainments; students perceive that they can reach their learning goals if and only if the other students in the learning group also reach their goals (Deutsch 62; David and Rogue Johnson 87). Cooperative learning offers teacher ways to respond to students who represent a wide range of abilities. It provides a structure for providing content support for students of different English levels. It gives students opportunities to learn from one another rather than receiving information from the teacher or text alone. Appropriate cooperative tasks stimulate students to high-level thinking and help English learners develop the language skills. They not only learn much more effectively, but also gain valuable thinking and communicative skills that will stand them in good state in their lives B. The organizational strategies of cooperative learningFrom the general idea of cooperative learning above and its practicality has been introduced. But whether it can be carried out effectively all depends on the designers organizational strategies. Therefore, in this part, the key elements that the teacher should pay attention to, the roles of the teacher and the process of cooperative learning will be specified1. The key elements that teacher should pay attention to In order for cooperative activities to be successful, teacher needs to pay attention to the following key elements:a. Group size For many cooperative activities, group of two are favorable, with the number of group members increasing in proportion to the complexity of the activity. For the first time, teacher let students select their own groups. In order that the greatest potential for benefit occurs in heterogeneous grouping, adjustment must be made, with the teacher assuring a balanced mix of different groups, female and male, extroverted and introverted, high-level and low-level in English. b. Group functions Students may work in groups on any of the assignments they would ordinarily do alone. They may meet to collaborate on solving a problem, to discuss an issue without direct leading by the teacher, to brainstorm for new ideas or summarize what they have learned previously, to formulate concept out of information and facts they have been given. c. Group norms Teacher needs to proceed slowly and with patience to introduce cooperative learning to students. It is not enough to rearrange the seating but also to develop a “culture” of group work, regarding noise level and atmosphere of trust, equal participation and willingness to help one another. d. Group skills Students need to be taught procedures and given practice opportunities for arranging the classroom space, moving quietly into groups, responding to teachers signals for attention. It is important for them to receive explicit instruction and regular practice in the interpersonal skills that include: teamwork, support, acceptance of differences, active and reflective listening positive feedback, reach consensus coaching and tutoring others.e. Group goals and roles Clear instructions, goals, and time lines for group activities are essential to successful cooperative learning. It is also important that each member have a specific function within the group: recorder, reporter, monitor, observer and so on. Roles should be changed frequently, so that group members have opportunity to practice new roles, and should be designed to fit the groups particular tasks ( Howard Community Colleges Teaching Resources).These elements are interacted with each other. No greater achievement will be acquired unless they are taken into account. To structure lessons so that students work cooperatively, teacher should have a good understanding of these elements that make cooperation work.2. The roles that the teacher playsIn planning cooperative learning, teacher plays several roles. First, organizer. Teacher makes pre-instructional decisions about grouping students and assigning appropriate tasks. Second, monitor. Teacher should be able to explain the clear task and the cooperative structure to students and then must monitor and intervene if necessary. Third, coach. Teacher functions as a coach or helper rather than an expert dispenser of knowledge in class. He is more like a friend, structuring the learning environment so that students are more interactive with one another and with him. Thus students are expected take more responsibility for their own learning than they would in traditional class. Finally, teacher is also the one who is responsible for evaluating students learning and effectiveness of each groups work (高启山).3. The process of cooperative learningApart from being familiar with the cooperative learning elements and the roles that the teacher takes, the fact that effective implementation of cooperative learning methods depends much on the teachers careful instructing students and giving them feedback on their process in language acquisition should be known. Here are three phases of cooperative learning:Phase1: Students are placed into groups.Phase2: Individuals are allocated roles within the group. They go to collect necessary materials for activities, record group responses, ask other members questions and finally share group responses with the rest of class.Phase3: Organize the activity in a number of ways. For example, instruction could be given to students on a rational basis with a time limited (莆田一中). .The application of cooperative learning to senior middle school English teachingA. Usage of cooperative learning groups1. Usage in preview and after-class activitiesTeaching effect will be influenced by the preview. As teachers, it is easy to find that students who have done enough preview at home will be more active in class. And if they receive praise from teachers, then they feel successful, which can encourage them to do more and more and keep this good habit of preview. But limited by the practical conditions, some preview cannot be fulfilled by only one student. For instance, when talking about the western festival, Halloween, students are asked to search the materials about it. Because of lack of books, or computers, or helping of parents, some students cannot finish this preview. What can they do? It is very useful to work together with classmates when this case occurs. A group gets together in one members home who has a computer or many books about Halloween. They search the materials and discuss together. In this procedure, everyone attends preview actively and vigorously, and they can learn a lot. It will also get satisfying result in next days class. Cooperative learning also can have a good effect on after-class activities. Take the same example, after talking about Halloween, students are required to have a Halloween party. In order to prepare the party well, they ought to make pumpkins, lanterns, and act as witches or pirates together. Only through cooperation can they prepare the party quickly and effectively, resulting in happiness through their success by cooperation. 2. Usage in classThe usage of cooperative learning in class is the most extensive and wide-ranging. As English teachers, using group work or pair work is deeply needed. It, on one hand, is decided by the specialty of language learning. On the other hand, it is also determined by the aim of senior school English teaching. The target of opening the course of English in senior school is to develop students language skills. Students like activities in English class, such as role play, interview action, and so on. But these activities cannot be finished by only one student, and it needs cooperation with others. As we all know, students in each group have different levels of ability and intelligence. If those who have high level of ability and intelligence want to show themselves and get the chances to practice, they have to encourage and help poor members in their groups so that they can cooperate with them. It can form the class atmosphere of working together and improving together. It, to a certain extent, also can lighten teachersload.In senior school English class, teachers often hold all kinds of competitions and games. For a large class with over 50 students, it is very difficult to control them. But if teachers regard a group as one entirety, and it will become easier.3. Usage in task-based approachTask-based approach means students are given a task to perform and only when the task has been finished does the teacher make correction and adjustments. The task can be formed by a variety of activities, which can foster students ability to make things work cooperatively.Recently, task-based approach has been carrying out in senior school English teaching. Cooperative learning serves as a very important role in task-based approach. One of the difficulties of carrying out task-based approach in senior school English class is to manage the degree of tasks. If the task is a bit difficult, students cannot fulfill it, and if the task is too easy, it will lose the meaning of practice. It is very difficult for teachers to control the degree of the tasks. So, at the first step of task-based approach, it is better for the teacher to use cooperative learning group to do one task. First, divide the task into several parts. Each member in the group undertakes one of the parts. Then, combine all of the parts organically. Through this way, students not only can get the chance of independent learning, but also the experience of cooperative learning. The combination of independent learning and cooperative learning is advantageous to individuals development. For example, at the end of a unit, students are given a task of shopping. Each group sets up a stall. They could sell the things that they could express in English, just like school things, toy animals, foods and so. This task should cover the topics of colors, size, numbers and price. This task maybe has a bit difficult for one student. But after division, it becomes easier. Some members in the group prepare for