A Case Study on the Employment of Cooperative Learning Approach in Culture Teaching in ESL 合作式學(xué)習(xí)法在英語(yǔ)文化教學(xué)中的應(yīng)用案例分析

YANG Lia-hua

【摘要】The aim of this cross-sectional research is to explore whether the employment of cooperative learning strategy， in the process of culture teaching in College English Integrated Course can enhance students learning. This research involved 62 students from Grade 08， Class 33 in a pilot in which cooperative learning strategy was employed. In this research an eclectic method was used. Through sampling， questionnaires and focus group interviews both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Triangulation was also adopted in the research to validate the results. Data analysis indicates that the application of cooperative learning strategies can not only optimize the effectiveness of teaching but also can promote deep learning and enhance students learning. Although there are still some improvements concerning statistical measure aspects need to be made， the findings indicate that employing cooperative learning strategy in teaching cultural background is worth recommending and disseminating.

【中圖分類(lèi)號(hào)】G642.4 【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識(shí)碼】A 【文章編號(hào)】2095-3089（2014）10 -0118-05

【摘要】The aim of this cross-sectional research is to explore whether the employment of cooperative learning strategy， in the process of culture teaching in College English Integrated Course can enhance students learning. This research involved 62 students from Grade 08， Class 33 in a pilot in which cooperative learning strategy was employed. In this research an eclectic method was used. Through sampling， questionnaires and focus group interviews both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Triangulation was also adopted in the research to validate the results. Data analysis indicates that the application of cooperative learning strategies can not only optimize the effectiveness of teaching but also can promote deep learning and enhance students learning. Although there are still some improvements concerning statistical measure aspects need to be made， the findings indicate that employing cooperative learning strategy in teaching cultural background is worth recommending and disseminating.

【中圖分類(lèi)號(hào)】G642.4 【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識(shí)碼】A 【文章編號(hào)】2095-3089（2014）10 -0118-05

Context

Language is a part of culture. Language and culture are inseparable. Indeed “to be bilingual， one must be bicultural”. Politzer suggests that “if we teach language without teaching at the same time the culture in which it operates， we are teaching meaningless symbols or symbols to which the student attaches the wrong meaning…”（Politzer， 1959， P.100-101）.

According to the syllabus for non-English majors issued by Ministry of Education of China （2004）， college English teachers should conduct culture teaching along with the routine teaching of English language itself in order to improve students communicative skills， cultural awareness and cultural competence. At present the culture teaching for non-English major students mainly center around the teaching of cultural background. Cultural background： the historical background， customs， practice， religions and beliefs which appear in every unit of the textbook. Cultural background plays a crucial part for students to understand the texts. However， due to the lack of teaching resources， systematic training， tight schedule and heavy workload， the cultural background teaching for non-English major students hasnt yet been emphasized. As far as Im concerned， I work in a professional context where teacher-centered model is reinforced （both subtly and blatantly） by institutional reward systems that favor limited engagement in teaching， and give greater recognition to research. Achievement for teachers and students alike is assumed to be a scarce honor， which one works for alone， in competition with peers.（Smith， et. al， 1992） In my routine teaching I mostly employ teacher-centered， surface learning strategies to emphasize the coverage of the culture teaching at the expense of depth. The only culture in this kind of learning environment is competitive and individualistic. As a result， my role is primary information giver and evaluator. While students act as audience， passively receive cultural background uncritically and attempt to store them as isolated， unconnected items. After all， “the teaching of culture is not akin to the transmission of information regarding the people of the target community or country—even though knowledge about （let alone experience of） the “target group” is an important ingredient” （Nostrand， 1967， P. 118）.

In order to change the state quo， I administered a diagnostic questionnaire （see appendix 1） to investigate students evaluation on my cultural background teaching. The target respondents were 62 students from Grade 08， Class 33. 62 questionnaires were distributed， all of them are valid.

According to the findings of the questionnaire （see appendix 2）， more than half of the students were not satisfied with teacher-centered strategies. The majority of them held that they gradually lost interest in learning cultural background due to my teacher-centered strategy.

It is obviously that there are still many aspects concerning teaching strategies need to be changed. Therefore my research issue is to explore whether the employment of cooperative learning strategy in the cultural background in College English Integrated Course can enhance students learning. This research issue is worthy of research because it will not only save my lecture from dullness and boredom but also it will provide other practitioners in the similar context with a new perspective and reference to help students to learn cultural background effectively and to obtain some cognitive progress in performance and achievements.

My research questions are：

1.What are students opinions on the employment of cooperative learning strategy in teaching cultural background？

2.What do the quiz scores indicate？

Literature Review

This review of the literature aims to provide theoretical framework relating to applying cooperative learning strategy to the cultural background teaching. Zhu （2009） considers constructivism to be the theoretical framework for culture teaching. Because constructivism emphasizes student-centered teaching strategies and stresses that teachers should help students to construct the basic theory framework. This is to ensure that teachers guide and assist students enter a particular learning situation in which students gradually separate themselves form the ‘scaffold to solve problems and construct knowledge independently. Meanwhile， constructivism holds that human generate knowledge and meaning from their experiences. It claims that the purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning， not just memorize the “right” answers and regurgitate someone elses meaning. Moreover， constructivism also argues that social cooperation can promote learning. The interaction between learners and surrounding environment plays a vital part in understanding the learning content. Jeff Golub （1988 ） points out， cooperative learning has as its main feature a structure that allows for student talk： students are supposed to talk with each other---- and it is in this talking that much of the learning occurs. Kramsch （1993） also proposes that culture should be taught as an interpersonal process and， rather than presenting cultural facts， teachers should assist language learners in coming to grips with the ‘other culture. Base on Brooks et al.s theory of constructivism， educators focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to student responses and encourage students to analyze， interpret， and predict information. （Brook et. al， 1999） This opinion is in line with Byram， et. als （1994） concept that teachers， the main implementer of culture teaching， play important roles in choosing appropriate teaching strategies.

Zhu （2009） mentioned that cooperative learning strategy is an effective and practical way to conduct culture teaching. He emphasizes that cooperative learning can enhance students cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity. Spencer （1994） also explored that cooperative learning is a successful 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. Students may work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. Bruffee （1985）， also advocates that in cooperative learning 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. In this regard， cooperative learning echoes with Vygotskys “zone of proximal development” （ZPD） and instructional concepts ‘scaffolding in which a teacher or more advanced peer helps to structure or arrange a task so that a novice can work on it successfully. （Vygotsky， 1978， P. 57） According to Voygotsky， ZPD is “a level of development attained when children engage in social behavior.” （Vygotsky， 1978， P. 57） He states that full development of the ZPD depends upon full social interaction. The range of skill that can be developed with adult guidance or peer collaboration exceeds what can be attained alone. （Vygotsky， 1978， P. 57） The teaching pattern of the cooperative learning and Voygotskys ZPD and ‘scaffolding are in accordance with each other. When students communicate and contact within their group members， students can continuously complement and revise their feelings and experiences toward knowledge. This opinion agrees with Exley and Dennicks concept （2004） that when students are participating in small group they have an opportunity to develop their communication skills and group working skills. Cooper， et al. also hold that if cooperative learning activities are well planned， clearly organized， and obviously relevant to the course objectives， most students find team learning an enjoyable and highly involving activity. （Cooper， et. al， 1990） Involvements in learning， involvement with other students are factors that make an overwhelming difference in student retention and success in college. In cooperative learning， the development of interpersonal skills is as important as the learning itself. The development of social skills in group work-learning to cooperate is crucial to high quality group work. （Johnson， et. al， 1990）Meanwhile， through the impact of ‘scaffolding， students intelligence can also be enhanced to a higher level. In doing so， students potential development can be transformed into realistic development and can create greater development. Research has shown that cooperative learning techniques have the following benefits：

· promote student learning and academic achievement

· increase student retention

· enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience

· help students develop skills in oral communication

· develop students' social skills

· promote student self-esteem

· help to promote positive race relations

Nevertheless， Spencer （1994）， claims that only under following five conditions： positive Interdependence， face-to-Face Interaction， Individual？& Group Accountability， Interpersonal &Small-Group Skills and Group Processing that cooperative efforts may be expected to be more productive than competitive and individualistic efforts. Gillies （2007） also argues that while using cooperative learning strategy to conduct classroom activities， there is a important principle need to follow： it is important to do a contact activity to ensue that the group has a basis for comfortable communication and feel open to one another. Cooperative learning represents a significant shift away from the typical teacher-centered or lecture-centered milieu in college classroom. In cooperative classrooms， the lecturing/ listening/ note-taking process may not disappear entirely， but lives alongside other process are based in students discussion and active work with the course material. （Smith， et. al， 1992）

From the present research on culture teaching， a couple of researchers （Zhu， 2009； Gao et. al， 1997） have concerned about the role of cooperative learning in culture in the foreign language. However， to date， very little research has been done to test the feasibility and effectiveness of cooperative learning strategy in the culture teaching. Thus， I decided to apply cooperative learning strategy to my cultural background teaching to test its effectiveness. However， what really has propelled me into cooperative classroom is the desire to motivate students by getting them more actively engaged.（Smith， et. al， 1992）

In the cooperative learning process， I will ‘trap my students in engaging the cooperative learning activity， but paradoxically leaving them free to construct their knowledge their way. （Biggs， 2003） In this process， “teaching is seen no longer as being mainly about telling or transmission： it is about dealing with students， and above all about making them busy， using a set of efficient procedures to cover the ground” （Ramsden， 2003， P.110）. This theory echoes with Smith et. als perception that teachers who use cooperative learning approaches tend to think of themselves less as expert transmitters of knowledge to students， and more as expert designers of intellectual experiences for students-as coaches or mid-wives of a more emergent learning process. （Smith， et. al， 1992） In this paper， I will explore whether the employment of learner-centered cooperative learning strategy， in the process of culture teaching can enhance and motivate students learning to provide other practitioners with a reference.

Research Design

The objective of this research is to explore whether the employment of cooperative learning approach in the process of culture teaching in College English Integrated Course can motivate and enhance students learning. With this objective in mind， I designed my exact research ‘onion. （see appendix 3） （Saunders et. al， 2003）To be an effective educational researcher， Bassey believes that “one must be clear on the personal significance of educational research and on the purpose of the research itself， does it inform professional understanding or promote professional change.” （Bassey， 1991 pp.37）

An eclectic approach method was employed to “bring together the differing strengths and nonoverlapping weaknesses of quantitative methods （large sample size， trends， generalization） with those of qualitative methods （small N， details， in depth）.” （Patton， 1990） to best understand those research questions which I posed in context section. A decision tree for this mixed methods design criteria for timing， weighting， and mixing is in appendix 4. （Creswell， Plano Clark， et al， 2003）

Deductive reasoning was involved in this research. My research starts raising a hypothesis that the employment of cooperative learning approach can enhance students cultural background learning. I conducted a pilot to justify this hypothesis and deductive theory that the employment of cooperative learning approaches in teaching cultural background can enhance and motivate students learning.

As to the research strategy， case study is suited to this eclectic method. Adelman et al claim that case study is “the study of an instance in action.” （Adelman et al， 1980， P.73） In my research， the ‘instance is an innovation in which cooperative learning approach was applied.

This is a cross-sectional case study because it was chosen to capture students opinions and attitudes towards the employment of cooperative learning approach in the cultural background teaching at a particular point in time. In this research， data collecting instruments： questionnaires， focus group interviews and quiz are chosen to uncover students views on their cooperative learning experience.

Procedures and Implementation

The pilot involved 62 students from class 33， Grade 08. This sample size was based on Cohen， et als theory that “a simple size of thirty is held by many to be the minimum number of cases if researchers plan to use some form of statistical analysis on their data.” （Cohen， et. al， 2000， P.93） The sampling strategy used in this pilot was non-random sampling in which I deliberately selected these classes as the subjects.

In the pilot process I changed my role as a dominator by stepping out of the center and acted as a facilitator by engaging students in cooperative learning activities to help them obtain some cognitive progress in performance and achievements. The detailed implementation procedures for this pilot are in appendix 5.

“Tests can reinforce leaning by providing students with indicators of what topics or skills they have not yet mastered and should concentrate on.” （Cowan， 2006， p.239） In order to appraise the effectiveness of the pilot， a quiz （see appendix 6） was utilized to check whether the learning outcomes have been achieved. The quiz includes twenty-five multiple choices and twelve judgments. In order to ensure the validity and reliability two peer reviewers were invited to pilot the quiz.

After the pilot was completed， students were required to complete a questionnaire （see appendix 7） containing seventeen statements on Likert Scale and a multiple choice intending to investigate students' attitudes towards the employment of cooperative learning strategy in cultural background teaching. The reason for choosing questionnaire as the data collecting instrument is that “Questionnaires are useful in collecting a large amount of general data and opinions from a large number of people. Questionnaires tend to elicit responses that fit into broad categories with little opportunity for respondents to express complex emotional feelings in response to impersonal questions.” （Burton et al， 2005 P. 101）

Before administering the questionnaire， a pilot test was also conducted on ten students and five peer reviewers to find out how long it took to complete the questionnaire， whether the instructions were clear and whether the questions were unambiguous. Their valuable feedback included： removing ambiguity to improve clarity； replacing doubled-barreled questions with two separate questions； and simplifying the questionnaire to a more user-friendly format. The pilot study sharpened and refined the questionnaire. In order to avoid bias， tow peer reviewers helped me administered the questionnaire. Due to the appropriate timing for distributing the questionnaires， the respondent rate for this questionnaire is 100%.

In this research semi-structured focus group interviews were also conducted to explore students perceptions towards the employment of the cooperative learning and get in-depth and comprehensive information to validate the quantitative data. Focus group interview allows me to explore unexpected issues and encourages interaction among participants. Hedge believes that “the focus group interview allows discussion to develop and to gather the views of a wide range of individuals； to stimulate response--- there is more to react to， more diversity of opinion which often helps people to analyze their own attitudes， ideas and beliefs and behavior more penetratingly and more vividly than they could easily do if just alone with the interviewer” （Hedges， et al， 1985， P.73）

There were two open-ended questions for the interview （see appendix 8）. Open-ended questions are more useful because they allow participants to tell their story in their words and add details that can result in unanticipated findings （USAID Center for Development Information and Evaluation， 1996）. Based on Kruegers concept “the size of the focus group must be small enough for everyone to have opportunity to share insights and yet large enough to provide diversity of perceptions.”（Krueger， 1994） I randomly sampled 18 students and divided them into 3 groups with 6 students in each group. This random sampling allowed all the students to have an equal chance of being selected thus bring unbiased statistics. Before conducting the focus group interview， I piloted the questions with peer reviewers and revised accordingly. Questions were distributed to the students before the interview to allow them enough time to think about these questions. In order to avoid bias， two colleagues helped me execute the interviews. Their task as an interviewer is “to facilitate a comprehensive exchange of views in which all participants are able to speak their minds and respond to the ideas of others.” （Walker， 1985， P.5） Each group was interviewed for 20 minutes. All the interviews were conducted in Chinese and tape-recorded， transcribed.

During the course of the research， I tried to avoid ethical dilemmas by following the ethical guidelines produced by the British Educational Research Association （BERA， 2003）. These guidelines as follows：

· Consent of those involved.

· Honesty and openness.

· Access to findings.

· Anonymity of those involved.

Reliability and Validity

The using of validating quantitative data model （Creswell， et. al， 2003） （see appendix 9） played a key role in ensuring the validity of this research. In this research the validity of this research is achieved through the following aspects：

· The juxtaposition of quantitative and qualitative data；

· Rigour；

· Cross-checking；

· Piloting；

Triangulation

In order to avoid misunderstanding and language barriers， the questionnaire was written in Chinese and the focus group interviews were also conducted in Chinese. Moreover， the methods used were appropriate and relevant to the research aims. The instruments measures what it purports to measure.

The reliability of this research is also ensured because of its consistency and replicability. Whats more due to the size and nature of the participants the findings of this research can be generalized to a much larger set of circumstance or population in similar professional context.

Strengths and Limitations of the research

This research design appears thoughtful and appropriate. The design lends itself to a thorough， in-depth， intensive examination of students perceptions on the employment of cooperative learning approach in cultural background teaching. The strengths of this research design lies in that every step of this research were carefully devised and closely reviewed. The participants were not randomly sampled there may be sampling bias. However， sample can be argued to reflect a reasonable representation of the population of interest. This sample included a diversity of participants from different majors， different ages， different genders， different provinces， and different interests. Besides， in this research， both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were employed to show distribution of data and allow me to demonstrate the probability that the results in a sample are to be found in the population.

As to the limitations of this research， I was not quite sure whether the questionnaire was “accurate and whether they were actually measuring what they are intended to measure” （Golafshani， 2003， p. 599）. Although some of the ideas were from some distinguished researchers in this area， most of the ideas were my personal views； therefore there were a great chance that these personal perceptions would be theoretically unreliable and invalid in other contexts.

Data Analysis

1. What are students opinions on the employment of cooperative learning strategy in teaching cultural background？

The quantitative data analysis （see appendix 10） shows that the overwhelming majority （97%） of the students expressed that using group work to sort out， collect and synthesize data on cultural background items embodied the principles of individualized and independent learning. Surprisingly， 90% of the students stressed that using cooperative learning can improve their learning actively and continuously. It is very excited to know that 98% of the students determined that by using the cooperative learning approach to learn cultural background enable them to actively involve in their group works and involve with their group members. Cooper， et al. hold that if cooperative learning activities are well planned， clearly organized， and obviously relevant to the course objectives， most students find team learning an enjoyable and highly involving activity. （Cooper， et. al， 1990） Meanwhile， all the students emphasized that using cooperative learning can enable them to be more responsible for themselves， their group members and their group products. This opinion echoes with Bruffees concept （1985）： in cooperative learning 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. Satisfactorily， 100% of the students thought that using cooperative learning in cultural background teaching can improve their communicative skills and social skills. This idea is in line with Johnson et. als suggestion that in cooperative learning， the development of interpersonal skills is as important as the learning itself. The development of social skills in group work-learning to cooperate is crucial to high quality group work. （Johnson， et. al， 1990） It is very encouraging to find out that a large proportion （98%） of the students held that only when they were greatly motivated， the effectiveness of the cultural background teaching can be optimized. Moreover， 97% of the students proposed that their English teacher could adopt appropriate teaching strategies according to students learning situation. ”Whats more， 90% of the students believed that the effectiveness of cultural background teaching can only be realized by students active involvement. This opinion agrees with Exley and Dennicks concept （2004） that involvements in learning， involvement with other students are factors that make an overwhelming difference in student retention and success in college. The large proportion of the students （98%） implied that this student-centered learning was very good. Not surprisingly， 92% of the students suggested that during the cooperative learning process， they were greatly inspired by their group members. This concept is in accordance with Vygotskys theory that when students communicate and contact within their group members， students can continuously complement and revise their feelings and experiences toward knowledge. （Vygotsky， 1978. P. 57 ） 100% of the students considered that using cooperative learning approach in learning cultural background can promote deep learning. All the students also stressed that they found themselves enjoying cultural background and even had some satisfaction and fun in doing their group works. They all mentioned that they had learned much， definitely more than in conventional courses having the same length. 95% of the students advocated that using cooperative learning approach in cultural background teaching can promote high-level cognitive processing.

Qualitative data analysis indicates that the majority of the students indicated that cooperative learning can enhance their cultural background learning. 16 of 18 students from focus group preferred employing cooperative learning strategies in learning cultural background. They thought that this learning activity was more motivating than just listening to a teachers explanation. Some indicated that although group work was time-consuming， it was beneficial and rewarding. Only 8 of 18 students preferred the teacher-centered method. Negative opinions include mostly some group members were only spectators； having problems searching on the internet； requiring more efforts and time etc. Besides students also mentioned that during the learning process some unintended outcomes also achieved. For example， students communicative skills， social skills， team-building skills， group management skills， ability to handle technology and sense of responsibility have been improved. Moreover， friendships among students have also been enhanced. The interview data suggest that interviewees， as a whole， held a positive attitude to the employment of cooperative learning approach.

From the qualitative data obtained from students focus group interviews， it is obvious that the results were in line with the results which obtained from the quantitative data analysis. The qualitative study supported the quantitative result. This result agrees with what Spencer （1994） states： cooperative learning is a successful 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. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. It embodies what Zhu and Gao et als ideas （Zhu， 2009； Gao et. al， 1997） that cooperative learning strategy is an effective and practical way to conduct culture teaching.

2.What do the quiz scores indicate？

Appendix 11 indicates that the result of the quiz is encouraging. The pass rate of the class was 90.6%.The mean and the standard deviation is 28 and 4.909 respectively. Therefore， we can confidently say that the learning outcomes have been achieved. Since teacher variables， learner variables and curriculum variables were controlled， students were taught by using cooperative learning approach it was believed that this has led to a satisfactory performance by students. This result indicates that the employment of cooperative learning techniques can increase students mastery of course content.（Cooper， et. al， 1990）

Conclusion

From the above mentioned data analysis results we can see the aims of this research have been met. The results follow from the arguments presented. The research methods employed are appropriate and relevant to the research. The research design is feasible and authentic. The research questions are responded satisfactorily. Both qualitative and quantitative data contribute to enhancing theoretical insights， and validity. This research indicates that the implementation of cooperative learning techniques in cultural background teaching can enhance students learning. More importantly， it increases students involvement in learning， enjoyment of the learning process， mastery of course content and enable students to be more responsible for themselves and for others. By using cooperative learning approach， students learning and hands-on ability and social ability have been enhanced. Students were more dynamic and energetic in engaging in learning activities and found that the lectures were more intellectually challenging and stimulating. Furthermore， as teachers facilitate the implementation of cooperative learning strategies， they gain in process， professional development， moving them toward a truly learning-centered practice. As they internalized and share their experiences， we will all benefit. （March， 2004）

Because the experience has been trialed just a single time and the pilot was a small scale one， it could be argued that some aspects of this pilot still need to be improved and examined. However an in-depth exploration of all these aspects is certainly beyond the scope of this paper. The obtained results have suggested that this pilot is worth recommending and disseminating. I recommend those colleagues or practitioners in the similar professional context who havent conducted cultural background teaching due to tight schedule or heavy workload or those have not find an effective way to teach cultural background to adopt these teaching techniques in their cultural background teaching.

In addition， so far there are not any assessment requirements on non-English major students cultural competence in the culture teaching in China. Biggs observes， “a good teaching system aligns teaching method and assessment to the learning activities states in the objectives， so that all aspects of this system act in accord to support appropriate learning.” （Biggs， 2003， P.4）Therefore， further research may be dedicated to exploring the effective ways to assess the cultural background teaching and learning in China.

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