The Application of Cooperative Learning Theory in Vocational College English Reading Teaching

伍楊

【Abstract】In China， every civilian must learn English for many years， but it is still difficult for us to communicate fluently with foreigners. Maybe the reasons are multiple. But the immediate cause I think is we have not made good use of the reading class. This thesis will introduce a newly developed class pattern—cooperative learning. Cooperative study is a kind of learning pattern advocated by modern teaching theory. Cooperative learning， adopted in vocational college English teaching， must entail teachers organizational strategies， instruction as well as arrangement， and it should be applied in more ways.

【Key words】English reading teaching； cooperative learning pattern； vocational college

I. Introduction

Present situations

Cooperation is ubiquitous in our social community. Without the cooperation of its members society cannot survive. The simplest and most obvious example is that human beings multiply by right of the cooperation of a man and a woman. We can learn from it that cooperation is very important to our society， so is it in English teaching. When talking about English teaching， we know that in the traditional English teaching class， most class time is spent on the teachers instruction and the students listening and taking notes. Such teacher-centered instructions have repeatedly been found inferior to instruction that involves cooperative learning， in which students work in groups on problems. The value of cooperative learning has been recognized throughout human history. Group learning， with its in ancient tribal customs， has traditionally been a part of educational practice （Johnson， D.W， &Johnson， R. T， 1986； Kagan， 1986； Slavin， 1988）. Nowadays， cooperative learning is now widely recognized as one of the most promising practices in the field of education.

II. Definition and Function of Cooperative Learning

2.1 The origin and definition of cooperative learning

Cooperative learning emerging in 1970s in America first introduced and carried out by David Koonts.（孫錢兔， 2002） Cooperative learning is a structured， systematic instructional strategy in which small groups work together toward a common purpose. Within cooperative activities individuals seek outcomes that are beneficial to themselves as well as 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. （James， L. Cooper， Pamela Robinson， Molly Mckinney， 2001）Class members are divided into small groups after receiving instruction from the teacher. They then work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. （Cohen， E.G.， 1986）endprint

2.2 Advantages of cooperative learning

Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members gain from each others efforts. 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， 1962； Johnson， D.W， & Johnson， R.T， 1989）. Cooperative learning offers teacher ways to respond to students who are not at the same level of English learning. It provides a structure for providing content support for students of different English levels. Appropriate cooperative tasks stimulate students to high-level thinking and help English learners develop the language skills.

Cooperative learning is an effective and feasible new way of study which is advocated by New Curriculum. Moreover， it plays a positive role in cultivating students mutual emotion exchange， driving each other， making progress together and stimulating students initiative in study. Advantages of Cooperative learning can be listed as follows：

Firstly， students learning initiative and enthusiasm are enhanced. They begin to participate in class actively and the learning situation will change from“l(fā)et you learn” to“I want to learn”.

Secondly， cooperative learning can benefit multilateral aid in teaching process so that every student can receive equal chance to participate in class. It increases the chance of communication between students and students， and then students can get more opportunities to perform than in the traditional teaching method. In addition， it can correct the students timely who have got the wrong answer through careful thinking and improve the efficiency and accuracy of students study.

Thirdly， cooperative learning can teach students in accordance with their aptitude and make up the shortcoming which teacher could not be aware of because of the large scale of class. In this learning process， every student can get successful experience and realize the purpose of practice and development. （Sheng Qunli， 2005）

III. The Poor Performance of Vocational College Students in English Reading and Its Cause

3.1 The Students poor performance in English reading class

English reading is a ceaselessly learning process of communication， exploration and improvement. Only when teachers teach the students in accordance of their aptitude， stimulate the interest of reading and make them master the skills of reading， will the students improve their competence of reading comprehension. It is very essential to advance the ability of students reading comprehension. However， many instructors are prone to neglect the differences of individuals and the rule of English reading. It is really harmful to students. They teach students in their own way which results in the inefficiency in English reading class. （Zheng Shiqiang， 2003） The students poor performances in college English reading class （especially in rural areas） are as follows：endprint

Firstly， students always have a unilateral understanding instead of a comprehensive one of the whole passage. They are used to reading the passage word by word and ignore the understanding of context which is not efficient to English reading. Because of the lack of cooperation， their mistakes cannot be corrected in time. The reading method that many students used to read the passage is not correct. That will not only greatly reduce the reading speed， but also make the overall understanding of the article become more difficult. For instance，“pick up” in the sentence“Mary picked me up on my way home.”（Yang Yuhua， 2011） According to the specific situation of context， the meaning of“pick up” should be“give sb. a ride”. But in the dialogue“you speak English quite wel1.”“Oh. I just picked it up.”，“pick up” should be understood as“just have learned”. If you only think that“pick up” means“pick something up”， it will inevitably lead to the misunderstanding of the whole sentence. Students in their English study always have this kind of experience—he can understand the meaning of all words when those phrases are separated， but once those phrases are put together， they will become“familiar stranger” to the students.

Secondly， students cannot control the time when they are reading an English passage. They usually read the passage over and over again and never limit the speed or the time of reading since there is no one supervises them. That is to say the students will read the passage repetitively after failure to understand the meaning. In the learning process， the use of such repetitive reading skills directly reduces students reading speed. As time goes on， in consequence， the students will feel boring， lose self-confidence in English learning.

Thirdly， students pay too much attention to details but neglect the overall understanding of reading materials. Such a situation often occurs in the process of learning：after reading the whole passage， students can tell the characters， events and plots of the passage， but they have no idea about the central idea of the article， what information the author wants to convey to the readers and what questions have been put forward to think about. That is because they have no group member who can put up questions from the passage before reading and find the answer together after reading it.

3.2 Reasons for Students Poor Performance

From the above analysis， we have known that the poor performance of the students in vocational college is largely caused by lack of cooperation. Because of teachers misleading and lack of cooperation， students have few chances to master the reading skill， not to mention understand the whole article thoroughly. Lack of cooperation is the major reason of students poor performance. In addition， the teachers have not realized the important role of cooperative leaning method played. Besides this， there are some other reasons for the students poor performance in English reading class， limited accumulation of vocabulary， lack of grammar knowledge and lack of interest in reading comprehension.（Gao Xiangbin， 2000）endprint

IV. Application of Cooperative Learning in Vocational College English Reading Teaching

4.1 Application before the class

Teaching effect and efficiency will be largely influenced by preview of the passage which is done by students. As teachers， it is easy to find that students who have done enough previews before class will be more active in class. 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 information 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 house that has a computer or many books about Halloween. They search the materials and discuss together. In this procedure， everyone attends the preview actively and vigorously， and they can learn a lot.

4.2 Application During the Class

The 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 vocational college English teaching. The purpose of opening the course of English in vocational college 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 they have to cooperate with them. It can form the class atmosphere of working together and improving together. It， to a certain extent， also can lighten teachers load.（Gao Yan， 2001）

In vocational college 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 can divide them into small groups， it will be easier to control the whole class.

4.3 Application after the class

Cooperative learning also can have a good effect on after-class activities. During the class time， students have had a general understanding of the English article through teachers analysis. Still， some content of article can give students a chance to cooperate after class so that they can fully master the essence of the article and find the interesting part of English culture. By participating in those activities， not only can students enjoy themselves and have a good time together， but also their interest to learn English can be stimulated.endprint

Take the same example， after talking about Christmas in class； students are required to have a Christmas party after class. In order to prepare the party well， they ought to prepare Christmas trees， ornaments， and act as Santa Claus. Only through cooperation with each other， can they prepare the party quickly and effectively， resulting in happiness through their success by cooperation.（Sun Zhaoxia， 2010）

V. Conclusion

To sum up， cooperative learning is an incredibly effective way of learning. It can bring some new elements to our English class and make up the shortcomings which result from the large scale of class. It improves academic achievement and social development. It prepares students for increased interactive workplaces. Moreover， it can stimulate students interest in learning English and enjoy their English class instead of rejecting this course and even being hostile to their English teacher. And this theory also contributes to the students ability of teamwork.

Due to the limitation of research approach， restrict of knowledge and the authors lack of experience， this thesis still has some deficiencies. For instance， there is a narrow understanding to the reason for students poor performance in English reading. The author will do more research on this theory in future to have a wide understanding about the cooperation theory.

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