1、1农村中学生合作学习的可行性研究摘 要：在农村中学英语教学一直以来都是学生和老师所面临的最大挑战之一。在这篇论文中，作者想证明合作学习对改善目前农村中学生英语学习有很大的帮助。 关键字：合作学习；英语；农村中学 1. Introduction 1.1 Present situation of English learning and teaching in the rural classroom With the rapid development of science and technology in the modern society， the economic globalizati
2、on is unavoidable and the cultural communication is getting more and more frequent. English， as an important tool， is playing a more and more significant role. High quality English talents are urgently needed. English has been one of the most important subjects in the rural junior high schools. Howe
3、ver， the challenge of English teaching and learning has been one of the general problems facing the English teachers and students in the rural junior high schools. The classroom English learning is the most important way and even the only way for the rural junior high students to learn 2English. As
4、a matter of fact， at the very beginning of English learning， English is the most popular subjects among students， as it is new and interesting. Gradually， the amount of the vocabulary increase， still the grammar becomes complex， so more and more students begin to lose interest in learning English an
5、d some students even give up learning. Then why does this situation happen？ What should we do to improve the current situation？ These questions keep being pondered over by many language teachers and researchers. They all try to find a good learning strategy to solve the problems. Good surveys of thi
6、s field are provided by Ellis （1994） and Oxford （1990）. In fact， most of the teaching patterns are teacher-centered in rural English classroom instead of student-centered， because they usually focus on teachers teaching rather than students learning. In rural middle school class， you can find a stra
7、nge scene： the teacher is writing and explaining from the beginning of the class to the end， while the students are listening and taking notes. According to the authors teaching experience， if the students dont take an active part in the process of learning， nothing can be learned. For a famous prov
8、erb says that “tell me and Ill forget， 3show me and Ill remember， involve me and Ill learn”. It is reasonable to believe that a student-centered strategy would be more helpful to increase students enthusiasm of English learning and improve their learning effect in the rural junior English classroom.
9、 Cooperative learning has a history of many years in both theory and practice， but there is still not a concise and accurate definition. Jo Ann （Jodi） Crandall （1999） summarizes： “Cooperative learning requires social interaction and negotiation of meaning among heterogeneous group mates engaged in t
10、asks in which all group mates have both something to contribute to and learn from the other members.” Mostly， a cooperative group is consisted of 4-6 students. They work together in groups to reach common goals. Within cooperative learning， students benefit from sharing ideas rather than working alo
11、ne. Students help one another so that all can reach some measure of success. In this educational approach， students and teacher are in a state of dynamic cooperation and together build up an intimate learning and social atmosphere in the classroom. The textbook and the teacher are no longer the only
12、 source of information. Cooperative learning has been emphasized in many countries， and it has become one of the 4mainstreams of contemporary theories and teaching strategies.The practical results of cooperative learning are remarkable in improving the social psychological atmosphere in classroom， i
13、n raising a large number of students academic scores and in promoting students to form a good non-cognitive quality. It is even described as “the most important and successful teaching reform in the last 10 years.”（Vertmette， 1994）The author wants to show that cooperative learning is not just the “p
14、et” of the city students， but also fits to students in rural schools； not only is helpful to “good students”， but also good for “poor students”. 2. The advantages of cooperative learning Cooperative learning is gaining broad acceptance in a multitude of language learning classrooms， principally beca
15、use of its contributions to improving the overall climate of the classroom and its potential for proving supportive and expanded opportunities for learners to use the language. Cooperative learning， like other group work， creates a more positive affective climate in the classroom， while it also indi
16、vidualizes instruction and raises student motivation. Some of the benefits of cooperative language learning are examined below. 52.1 Reducing anxiety Fear of failing or appearing foolish is a constant threat to interaction in the language classroom， especially when teachers ask questions， which only
17、 a few students can answer. Others are just onlookers. With time passing by， students lose the interest of English learning. They do not want to learn it， because they think that learning English well is not the thing that they can do. Gradually， there is none of their business in English class. How
18、ever， his debilitating anxiety or fear is reduced when the possibility of providing a correct or acceptable answer is increased and when learners have had an opportunity to try out their contributions with each other before being asked to offer them to the entire class. Time to think， opportunity to
19、 rehearse and receive feedback， and the greater likelihood of success reduce anxiety and can result in increased participation and language learning. Cooperative learning as a classroom procedure can lower anxiety in the language in the language classroom. 2.2 Increasing self-confidence and self-est
20、eem By encouraging group interdependence， cooperative activities build greater learner confidence and self-validation is dependent upon a continuing need to demonstrate success. 6With cooperative integrated reading and composition structures， which integrate oral language development with reading an
21、d writing in bilingual instruction， bilingual students developed greater self-confidence in public speaking and in participating in classroom discussion， confidence most threatened for most language learners. An increase in self-confidence and self-esteem will lead to increased learner effort in lan
22、guage learning and a greater willingness to take risks or to continue attempting to make ones views understood. 2.3 Increasing motivation Learner motivation in language classroom can lead to more extensive use of the language and the development of greater language proficiency. Peer support can be a
23、 powerful motivator for shy， insecure or even uninterested students. In cooperative groups， individuals know that they can get feedback and assistance in making their contributions as clear， relevant and appropriate as possible. This， in turn， can motivate them to continue to try， especially when pe
24、ers encourage and support their contributions. It is also found that group work increased student motivation. Cooperative learning involves task or reward structures， which better ensure that all members of the group will participate and do so 7at their own level of proficiency. Resource， goal and r
25、eward interdependence contribute to motivation， and enjoyable activities encourage participation， as well. 2.4 Enhancing students competition sense and the sense of group honor Cooperative learning enhances students abilities of cooperation and solving problems together. In discussion and dialogue p
26、laying， their spirits are high. Form teachers assessment， they know learning English isnt individual activity. It concerns the whole group. Their learning is inter-linked. When theres a member lagged behind， other group members will offer help enthusiastically. They will solve problems together and
27、share the happiness of success. Then their teamwork quality trained and the sense of group honor become stronger. 3. Conclusion According to the discussion above， we find that cooperative learning does help in many aspects. We have enough reason and confidence to believe that cooperative learning is
28、 an efficient strategy to improve junior students English learning in rural middle schools. 【References】： 8【1】Ellis， R. The study of second language acquisitionM，Oxford： Oxford University Press 1994. 【2】Oxford， R.L. Language Teaching strategies： What Every Teacher Should KnowM， New York： Newbury hou
29、se 1990. 【3】Crandall， J. A. Affective Factors in Language Learning. CambridgeM， MA： Cambridge University Press 1999. 【4】Vermette， P. Four Flaw： Avoiding the Common Mistakes of Nonice Users of Cooperative Learning J，The Highschool Jounal-Feb/March 1994. 【5】Davies， P.， Pearse， E. Success In English TeachingM， Shanghai： Foreign Language Education Press 2000. 【6】David W. Johnson， Roger T. Johnson， Learning Together and AloneM， NJ：Prentice Hall 1987.
