硕士论文合作学习在高中大班英语阅读教学中的应用研究

1、yl406201 单位代码：10065 学 号= 又冲彡f 太f研究生学位论文论文题目 ：The Application of Cooperative Learning to Large-classReading Teaching in Senior Middle School学生姓名： 申请专业名称： 研究方向：合作学习在高中大班英语阅读教学中的库用研究李春英 申请学位级别：硕士 同等学历英i吾教学法指导教师姓名：路荣 专业技术职称：副教授 提交论文日期： 2008年7月AbstractReading is an important way to get language input and

2、 a foundation for the other three language skillslistening, speaking and writing. Similarly, senior high English reading teaching plays a vital role in English learning. However, the increase of Chinese population and the popularization of Senior Middle School Education have made the class size larg

3、er and larger, which inevitably has a negative influence on language teaching and learning. Meanwhile, the traditional teacher-centered teaching methods have resulted in more problems in large-class reading teaching like students' passive learning situation and negative attitudes to the reading

4、class, their poor reading abilities, and the fewer language practicing opportunities. Due to such a situation, English teachers are faced with great challenges, and it's a must to attempt new reading teaching methods. Therefore, the author carried out the experiment of replacing the traditional

5、teacher-centered English reading teaching with the approach of students-centered cooperative learning.This research attempts to find out the effects of cooperative learning on students' reading competence and their attitude towards English reading class. During the experiment, the author made th

6、e following contributions, which are also the innovative points of this thesis. Firstly, cooperative reading teaching was performed in large class. Secondly, cooperative learning activities were modified to improve classroom teaching efficiency in a large class during a limited time.After the establ

7、ishment of the experimental class and the control class for the experiment, cooperative learning was implemented in the experimental class whilethe control class was instructed with the traditional whole-class teaching method. After the implementation of cooperative learning in the experimental clas

8、s for a 17-week term, data were collected by means of tests, questionnaires and an interview. Data analysis shows that the experimental class significantly outperformed the control class in the reading comprehension. And it is evident that most of the students in the experimental class had a positiv

9、e attitude towards English reading class. It is proved that cooperative learning does help improve students' English reading competence and encourage positive learning attitude towards English reading class in a large class. This research has confirmed the feasibility of cooperative learning in

10、large-class reading teaching.Key Words: cooperative learning, large-class, reading teaching, positive interdependence, individual accountabilityOriginality Research Statement 论文原创声明In light of the principles of academic morals and ethnics, I hereby declare that this thesis represents the original re

11、search effort that I have made on the advice of my academic supervisor. To the best of my knowledge, no portion of this thesis has been cited without being properly referenced, and whoever has contributed to this thesis is explicitly identified and appreciated in the acknowledgements section. I am f

12、ully responsible for any breach of the copyright law that might arise.根据学术道德规范，本人承诺如下：本论文由本人在导师的指导下独立完成。据本人所知，本论文所引用部分均 已注明出处，对论文有帮助的人员均已在鸣谢部分阐明，不存在侵犯知识产权的 文字。本人对本论文导致的任何违反知识产权的情况承担全部责任。签名 Signature： 日期Date: 2008年7月AcknowledgementsFirst of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supe

13、rvisor Professor Lu Ying, who has constantly guided and helped me, and without her illuminating suggestions and careful revisions, this paper would have been impossible to take shape,I am also deeply grateful to Professor Zhao Lizhu, Dr. Chen Zhijie, Professor Liu Jianmei, Professor Xue Ying and Pro

14、fessor Qi Xin, whose skillfiil instruction of postgraduate courses is of great value for both my intellectual and professional development.My thanks also go to my colleagues and friends who have given me insightful advice and instructions. I also owe my thanks to all my family members, especially my

15、 mother and my husband, for their love and encouragement during the entire period of my research.Chapter I Introduction1.1 Research backgroundWith the development of China's economy and her integration into the globalization, people are spending more and more time learning English in order to fa

16、cilitate their life, work and communication in this information technology era. Thus the importance of learning English has become undeniable.Reading plays a vital role among the four basic language skills of English learning, which not only provides students with wide-ranging language context but a

17、lso helps them overcome the difficulties caused by the differences between backgrounds and cultures. And reading efficiently is helpful for the further study of English learners. So at any stage of teaching, reading should attract great attention in language learning process. And senior high English

18、 reading teaching is no exception.However, the increase of Chinese population and the popularization of Senior Middle School Education have made the class size larger and larger, which inevitably has a negative influence on language teaching and learning. At present, most senior schools keep classes

19、 of more than 55 students in each one, which prevents teachers from carrying out some appealing activities in class. As the proverb goes, "practice makes perfect". The goal of language learning is to use language in real life. Under this goal the most useful method should be the one of lea

20、rning a language by using it. But there is no such environment for our students to use the language for there are too many of them in a class and there is too little time in a period (only 45 minutes). In this case, it is difficult for the teacher to supervise and help every student in need,which ad

21、ds to the difficulties of teaching.Meanwhile, the traditional teacher-centered teaching methods have resulted in more problems in large-class reading teaching like students' passive learning situation and negative attitudes to the reading class, their poor reading abilities, and the fewer langua

22、ge practicing opportunities. No matter how hard both the students and the teachers have tried, with the traditional teaching methods, there still exist quite some lingering problems in large-class English reading teaching.First of all, the students are too "quiet" when the lesson is going

23、on, while they are rather "noisy" during the break. It is a recurring scene that only the teacher is speaking while the students are only in the position of audience. However, it is not that the teacher is willing to monopolize most of the time in reading class, but that the students thems

24、elves abandon the communicative chances by lowering their heads when it is their turn to express, which hinders the development of students' communicative and interactive competence.Secondly, the students are somewhat "uninterested". Many students complain that the fixed classroom arra

25、ngement of their seats in rows all facing the teacher limits them in carrying out some interesting activities and diminishes the interaction among them. In a word, they are complaining that teacher-centered method is so monotonous that they have lost interest in English reading class.Thirdly, the st

26、udents are rather "competitive". Facing the harsh challenge of the college entrance examination, they have to focus on their individual study with minimal communication between them. They seldom talk about the ways they findeffective while learning English and seldom exchange the reading m

27、aterials they are using. The lack of cooperation between them and the "competitive" learning atmosphere makes the process of reading teaching and learning less efficient and harmonious and interferes with the development of students' social skills. 1.2 Significance of the researchWith

28、the negative influence of large class and traditional teaching method, every English teacher is being challenged and troubled by the following questions: How can a teacher manage well so large a class and teach well so many students? How to create a diverse learning environment? How to enhance learn

29、ing efficiency? How to involve students actively in the .learning process? How to improve students' attitudes towards English learning?The active use of cooperative learning offers teachers an answer to the above questions. Educators are incorporating cooperative learning to improve students'

30、; academic achievement, create positive relationships among students, and promote students' healthy psychological adjustment to school. As a newly emerging mode of teaching, cooperative learning can bring about many possible advantages to large-class English reading teaching. First, it can promo

31、te interaction between teacher and students, and between students and students. Secondly, it can help the teacher reform and improve the teaching model to build up a diverse class teaching and learning model. Thirdly, it can help achieve the function of making the reading class a fascinating experie

32、nce so as to help all students develop harmoniously. Finally, it can help foster students' cooperative, competitive abilities and creative thinking.Therefore, with the belief that cooperative learning can benefit English reading instruction and enhance students' participation regardless of t

33、he large class size, the author was motivated to attempt a research project on cooperative learning in English reading teaching to explore how cooperative learning improves students' reading competence and helps cultivate their positive attitude towards English reading in a large class.1.3 Organ

34、ization of the thesisThis thesis is intended to present the research project with six chapters. Chapter one introduces background, significance and organization of the research; chapter two gives an account of the theoretical basis underlying this project; chapter three presents the literature revie

35、w from three perspectives; chapter four elaborates the experiment design covering hypotheses, subjects, instruments and research procedures; chapter five deals with data analysis and discussion; and chapter six brings a conclusion.Chapter II Theoretical BasisCooperative learning draws insight from m

36、any theories such as cognitive development theory, social-cognitive theory, humanistic learning theory and Krashen's hypotheses. 2.1 Cognitive development theoryThe main conception of Piaget's cognitive development theory consists of the process of assimilation, the process of accommodation

37、and the process of equilibration. The individuals are engaged in a process of assimilation when they use the existing schema to understand the new information, that is, by relating this new information to what is already known in the mind. But when the individuals can not assimilate the new stimulus

38、, the disequilibrium occurs. Then it is necessary to alter or adjust the existing schema to make sense of the new information or experiences, andtthus the process of accommodation is engaged, which results in the restoration of the cognitive equilibrium or cognitive balance. In other words, the proc

39、ess of the cognitive development takes on a spiral cycle of creating new schema, expanding the existing schema by assimilating new stimulus, and adjusting this schema through accommodation to adapt to the new information that can not be assimilated to reach a higher level of equilibrium.According to

40、 Piaget, cooperative learning has a major role in constructive cognitive development (Piaget 1928). He suggested that cooperative learning is effective because it stimulates students to develop new cognitive structures by providing them with opportunities to interact with peers or knowledgeable othe

41、rs. Byway of peer interaction in the cooperative learning, the differences in their perspectives can lead to the cognitive conflict (disequilibrium) which is necessary for the individual intellectual development. When they are trying to solve these conflicts, the peers have to explain to and discuss

42、 with each other. During the process, the conflicts are clarified and the knowledge is actively constructed (equilibrium). Thus the students leam from both the peers' explanation and their own explanation. 2.2 Social-cognitive theoryConsistent with the social-cognitive theory, cooperative learni

43、ng attempts to build an environment that fosters mutual aid, and in which the students work or interact with one or more peers to solve an existing problem or to arrive at the same learning goal. The core of Vygotsky's social-cognitive theory is the relationship between social interaction and th

44、e individual cognitive development. He believes that learning is a cooperative process or a social product. Vygotsky (1978: 85，86) brought forth his famous idea of "ZPD" (Zone of Proximal Development). He pointed out two developmental levels: The level of actual development is the learner&

45、#39;s already established state of mental development at which the learner is capable of solving problems independently (the level of independent performance); the level of potential development (the level of assisted performance) is the level of development that the learner is capable of reaching u

46、nder the guidance of teachers or in collaboration with peers. And the zone of proximal development is the distance between these two levels. So at the second level, the learner is capable of solving problems that they can not at the first level. He maintained that the level of potential development

47、is the level at which learning takes place. And the cognitive structures can only mature under the guidance of or in collaboration with others.Firmly based on Vygotsky's social-cognitive theory, cooperative learning is socially constructed by means of interactions and activities with others. In

48、the process of cooperative learning, students can model their more competent partners' patterns of reasoning, strategies of thinking, skills of problems-solving and modes of communication. As a result, students in the environment of cooperative learning can internalize knowledge, competence and

49、skills from each other by way of solving the problems or attaining the same goal cooperatively, which leads to their cognitive development.2.3 Humanistic learning theoryCooperative learning also draws insight from Rogers' humanistic learning theory. Rogers (1969, cited in Huitt 2001) believes th

50、at students leam best in a non-threatening environment. He lays great emphasis on the influence of the learning atmosphere on students' learning. They will not make much progress in their learning if their performance is probable to expose their own defects in front of the whole class, that is,

51、they are threatened during the process of learning. So if the students can understand and support each other in the learning environment, such kind of threats from the worrying and dread of being laughed at by the classmates can be eradicated. According to Rogers, one of the most effective ways to f

52、acilitate learning is to ask the students to experience directly the actual problems, the existing social problems, the personal problems and the studying problems by means of designing all kinds of scenes involving the students into role playing or project fulfilling. Rogers also believes that it w

53、ill facilitate learning when the students take part in the learning process with responsibility, which is also what the cooperative learning advocates concerning the students' mutual accountability. In addition, Rogers' discussions on the essence of peer-teaching and facilitator-learning gro

54、up and the encounter group also accord with what the cooperative learning advocates. He maintains that all these activities are impressive personal experience leading to the student-student interaction and the understanding of both the self and the others to promote the students' significant lea

55、rning. 2.4 Krashen's hypothesesStudents' active participation in cooperative learning not only brings about a much relaxing atmosphere which lowers their anxiety but also produces a lot of comprehensible input beneficial to the language acquisition. From the perspective of second language ac

56、quisition theories, cooperative learning is firmly based on Krashen's hypotheses.Firstly, Krashen once distinguished the different roles acquisition and learning play in the process of developing language ability. He maintains that acquisition is a subconscious process while learning is a consci

57、ous one. And language is usually produced by means of the acquired linguistic competence while conscious learning only acts as a "monitor" to check the correctness of the language output. While in cooperative learning situation the foreign language learners in the heterogeneous group have

58、to communicate, discuss, deliberate and explain to each other to solve theproblem and overcome difficulties, thus providing a natural environment for language acquisition and is itself a natural process of acquisition to foreign language.Secondly, Krashen's "Input Hypothesis" mainly fo

59、cuses on the effects or the functions of "comprehensible input" in the language acquisition. He holds that language acquisition occurs when we understand the messages containing aspects of language that we are developmentally ready to acquire but have not yet acquired (Krashen 1991: 1-7; 1

60、997: 3). In other words, we can only acquire the language when we obtain the "comprehensible input" which is further explained in his "i+1" interpretation. He refers "i" to the learner's current state of linguistic competence and "i+1" to the stage beyond his current stage of linguistic competence. So with the help of the previously acquired linguistic competence, as well as extra-linguistic knowledge, the learner moves from "i&