The Application of Cooperative Learning in English Reading class

強萍

【Abstract】Cooperative learning is a creative and effective teaching theory and strategy system， in which some teaching methods like Group Investigation and Jigsaw can effectively help the English teaching. It provides more opportunities for students to balance input and output of the English reading learning.

【Key words】Cooperative learning； English Reading class； Application

1. The necessity of using cooperative learning in reading class

In English reading class， the most important part is text learning. In traditional reading teaching， the teacher always translates the reading text word-by-word from the beginning to the end. While cooperative learning involves the learner-centered characteristics and the focus on cooperative efforts of students. When students learn together in groups， they will share the information and help each other to learn the text.

2. The application of cooperative learning in English reading class

2.1 Pre-reading stage

In pre-reading stage， students preview the text and make full preparation before they learn together in classroom. The goal of the pre-reading stage is to accumulate vocabulary and background knowledge for the future reading. The students who know grate number of vocabulary and background information； they can read faster and more easily. The teacher asks each group to prepare for the reading. Then， the group members with different tasks under the help of the group leader start to prepare materials and information.

Example： Students Book 1 Module 5 Nelson Mandela-a modern hero

Question I. who do you think is a great person？ Give your reason.

Question II. Find out the differences between a famous person and a great person.

Question III. How many parts can the text are divided into？

After the teacher offers the questions， students are divided into several groups to find the answer to the questions and every group selected a reporter and a recorder for their presentation. When the students answer the question II and question III， they discuss each other and the recorder writes down the information and the different answers on the paper. Finally， the teacher choose different group to answer different question. The class atmosphere is very lively and the students are more active than before.

The cooperative learning used in pre-reading can help students evaluate what prior knowledge they have being taught and establish their purpose for reading. It shows that the students are able to search for resource materials and that Group Investigation model is effective in finding the background information.

2.2 While-reading stage

With the preparation made in pre-reading stage， with the help of the teacher， the students are guided to grasp the whole text entirely in while-reading stage. It is well-known that while-reading is the center of reading comprehension. In while-reading stage， the teacher intends to make the students comprehend the whole text completely， master reading skills and strategies. When a new reading text is learnt， the teacher always asks student representatives to present their groups topic before the class. There have several cooperative activities for students to do in the process of reading. Learning with partners makes the activities more interesting and useful. The activities are as follows.

Activity one： Students read the text orally to their partners. And then the partners take turns reading each paragraph aloud.

Activity two： During partner reading， the students are asked to do some skimming and scanning reading to master the reading content and discuss together to get the main idea of each paragraph.

Activity three： Careful reading is for the further comprehension of the texts. The students are given exercises that focus on comprehension of the text. These exercises consists true or false questions， wh-questions and retelling. During the process of careful reading， the teacher will give some explanations， check the teams answers， point out mistakes， and evaluate the group performance.

Example： Student Book 4， Module 2 The Olympic Games

At first， the teacher divides the class into several groups， each group consisting of six members. Each student is responsible for learning one section of the reading text and presenting the outcomes to the other group members. Students who learn the same section of the reading text get together to form the “expert group”. Then they return to their own cooperative group to teach the other members what they have learned. In order to help the students understand the reading text comprehensively， the teacher offers some questions about the Olympics Games. The questions are all related to the Olympic Games. The students should grasp the culture and background information of the Olympic Games. Cultural factors are important for students to learn reading text and help students have a right understanding of the text. Therefore， students will be dividing in to small groups and complete the tasks together.

Through the cooperative learning， each group member masters one part of the reading text about the Olympic Games in detail. It is very helpful for students to reach an understanding of the whole text. After returning to the original cooperative group， each member is responsible to teach the other members what he or she has grasped by retelling and discussion between the group members. Through this learning method， every student can learn the knowledge and make contributions to the group work.

2.3 Post-reading stage

Post-reading stage is the expansion of the reading texts. And in post-reading stage， the students are encouraged to connect what they have learnt with their own experiences and knowledge， and then they are asked to write a composition through imitating the texts. Post-reading activities are designed for students to practice output （in forms of discussion and summary）， which are related to the learned text. The post-reading activity like discussion and role-play are involved.

Activity one： The teacher gives some topics related to the learning texts and asks students to express their ideas on the topics through discussion. The students learn in groups are allowed to choose one of the topics to discuss together and express themselves freely. At last， they delegate one person to state their agreements and disagreements to the classmates.

Activity two： Acting out a real situation is helpful for the cooperative groups to improve their communicative ability. Therefore， role-play is an acceptable activity for student to complete the text learning. Meanwhile， face-to-face interaction and positive interdependence are practiced.

Example ： Module 3 in Students Book 3 The Million Pound Bank-Note

Suppose a journalist in London heard this incredible story. A millionaire had a meal in a small restaurant. The journalist thought it might make a top article， so he rushed into the small restaurant and interviewed the boss， the hostess and the waiter. Now work in groups of four， and prepare to act out the interview. The students who act as the journalist should prepare some good questions. The students who act as the boss， hostess and waiter should prepare the excellent answers for the questions.

Students in groups not only perform the play but also evaluate the other groups performances. The teacher designed evaluation criterion and an evaluation sheet， which is in order to choose the best performance group. Each group was instructed to evaluate the other groups according to the evaluation criteria.

Cooperative learning used in post-reading stage helps students deepen their understanding of the content， build further connections and expand their prior knowledge of the subject.

3. Conclusion

At present， cooperative learning is popular in many western counties. The cooperative learning also provides a good opportunity to improve students relationship and provides an environment for students to do face-to-face interaction. In Cooperative Learning， most students do not afraid to complete the learning tasks alone. While learning in cooperative group， the students may act different roles and they need to communicate with other group members. As a result， their communication skills improve a lot.

References：

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