浅谈合作学习对大学生英语学习的影响

【摘 要】英语是中国学生在校学习的第二语言。它一直占据着第二语言学习的首要地位，而合作学习是众多学习策略中的一种。大学生拥有较高的认知能力和情感水平，大学生活相对更自由，更丰富。本文针对大学生的英语学习现状，探索大学生英语学习过程中，合作学习对其产生的影响。

【关键词】合作学习；现状；影响

【Abstract】 English is the second language for Chinese students. It ranks the first of second-language learning except our mother tongue. Cooperative Learning is one kind of learning strategies. College students own much higher cognitive ability and EQ. College life is relatively freer and richer. Based on college students’current situation of learning English， this thesis is to research the influence that Cooperative Learning have during their process of English learning.

【Key Words】Cooperative Learning； Situation； Influence

College life is the most beautiful journey in one's life. College students are basically grown-ups. They are energetic and active. There are a great number of excellent professors and advanced facilities to equip students with solid theories and practical ability.

一、Cooperative Learning

1.1 What is Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning has a long history. It can date back to the first half of 20th century. Based on the idea that four heads are better than one， American famous educators John Dewey put forward "Project Approach in Learning". After that the concept and approach of cooperative learning became popular in western countries.Another America well-known scholar J.R Guskey said that cooperative learning is essentially a teaching method which requires students in a group with two to six people learning together to complete teachers' assignment.

Cooperating means a group of two or more than two working together to make out a project."Cooperative learning is a teaching strategy in which small teams， each with students of different levels of ability，use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn， thus creating an atmosphere of achievement."（Lin Li，2007：127） In order to complete common tasks， there is a clear division of responsibilities of mutual learning. Cooperative learning encourages students to harmonize members' interest and individual interest and work together to complete a common task in the process of achieving their goals.

1.2 The basic factors of Cooperative Learning

In successful cooperative learning， there are five basic factors：

① Positive Interdependence

Each member of the group has their own small task and have to work together to complete their big task. In this process they need to depend on each other， help each other and also encourage each other.

② Face to Face Interaction

The groups communicate and discuss face to face. Explain to the rest of members what each individual know about.

③ Individual Responsibility

In the end， their marks are graded by the performance of not only the whole group but also each member. So each individual is responsible for the task.

④ Interpersonal communicating skills in group

The cooperation between students needs social ability and competence including leadership and decision-making ability.

⑤ Cooperating Process

In the process each group makes a fixed time to complete their common goal together. And every group has to build a effective working relationship between each member.

二、The Situation of College Students' English Learning

In recent years， the passing rate of English test has decreased in college especially the PEST4 and PEST6. Most of college students do not have an clear learning goal in English learning except for passing the CTE4 and CET6. While for English majors they have another goal， that is to pass TEM4 and TEM8. They just know that if they have passed the TEM4 or TEM8， it would be much easier for them to find a good job.

A small part part of college students do not have a sense of making studying plans.Though some students do have their own plans， they can not ensure that they would carry them out persistently. A great number of college students feel bored about the English test and they have no choice but to take it. And they become much more slack than they are in high school. There are several common phenomenon about English learning in college：

① The teaching by professors in college is boring with only one single form， that is ， teachers do monologue alone. Teaching and learning split off.

② The English learning in college is no longer what it is like in middle school or high school. Teachers are not supervisors now and they won't keep watch on students' vocabulary， grammar or reading. Most of students can not control themselves when they enter college. Among them， some students can not speak English well and some are with local accent. They are adults now. They do not want to lose face in class. College students hardly stand up to answer questions.

③Before the final-examination， college teachers will ask students to underline what will appear in the test. So college are not awe English examination. As for the homework， a big part of students download what they need from Internet.

三、 Cooperative Learning Makes Influence on College Students' English Learning

Traditional teaching classify students according to their grades. Selecting and picking out excellent students is the best way to guarantee the quality.However， now education need new teaching model. The college brings up students to be those who are equipped with profound knowledge and practical ability by digging out their potential.Cooperative Learning is an effective teaching method which is easy to implement and is inexpensive.Below is an comparison between cooperative learning group and traditional learning group.

Cooperative Learning Group

Traditional Learning Group

Positive interdependence

Non-interdependence

Individual responsibility

No personal responsibility

Different types of students exist

Similar types of students

Share leadership

One appointed leader

Focus on tasks and relationship btween each member

Focus on tasks only

Teach social skills directly

Ignore social skills

Teachers direct in each group

Ignore groups

Grouping process

No grouping process

According to the comparison above， Cooperative Learning is much better than traditional learning in groups. In traditional learning group， students do not need to communicate face to face. Whereas the non-interface position emphasizes the importance of communication and minimizes the importance of the code， the interface position asserts the contribution of the code.（Rod Ellis， 1999：244） In college Cooperative Learning can improve academic achievement through positive and active learning， improve behavior and attendance through individual responsibility， increase self-confidence and motivation through sharing leadership， and increase enjoyment of school and classmates through their interaction face to face. What's more， all of the students will have a stong sense of collective honor which is better for class construction.

While it also has shortcomings. College students all has their own life. Some are busy in doing part-time jobs，others are busy dealing with affairs in class or Students Union. They do not have an suitable time to do cooperative learning. So parts of them can not achieve good fruits. Besides， when do cooperative learning in class， it seems like that they are cooperating actively but sometimes they are talking about other things which have none business with the topic. Such phenomenon can not be avoided in cooperative learning.

四、Conclusion

Cooperative Learning is a very effective teaching strategy. English， as a second language for us Chinese students， is not easy to acquired. Especially in college， students face too much free space， and most of them can not engage themselves in learning English. In the cooperative learning small groups， each with students of different levels of ability， use all kinds of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Cooperative Learning can improve academic achievement， improve behavior and attendance， increase self-confidence and motivation， and increase enjoyment of school and classmates. However， if not well used or controlled， students can not achieved their goals in essence.

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