Implementation-of-Cooperative-Learning-in-the-Coll

ＩｍｐｌｅｍｅｎｔａｔｉｏｎｏｆＣｏｏｐｅｒａｔｉｖｅＬｅａｒｎｉｎｇｉｎｔｈｅＣｏｌｌｅｇｅＥｎｇｌｉｓｈＴｅａｃｈｉｎｇ:ThisthesisfocusonthestrategiesforcooperativelearningintheEnglishteaching,includethink-pair-share,Jigsaw,groupinvestigation,studentteamsachievementdivision,roleplayandcooperativewritingandpeerresponse.Implementingcooperativelearningdoesnotmeanjustplacingstudentsingroupsandlettingthemstudytogether.Ifcooperativelanguagelearningistobesuccessful,bothteachersandlearnersneedtobeadequatelyprepared.Somestrategiescanbeemployedtofacilitatecooperativelanguagelearning.1.PreparingLearnersforCooperativeTasksAtheoryoflanguagelearningneedstoaccountforvariouselementsthatcontributetothelearningprocess.Themostsignificantelementofthelearningprocessisthelearner.Sincethelearneristhemainfocusoflearning,heshouldbemadeawareofhisroleasalearnerbeforeadoptinganewkindofteachingmethod.Perhapsthegreatestmistaketeachersmakeininitiatingcooperativelearningisfailingtopreparethelearnersforthenewapproachsincestudentshavegotusedtoteacher-frontedclassroomsandaknowledgedisseminationmodelofteachinginprimaryschoolandmiddleschool.Itisnecessaryandimportantforstudentstohaveexplicitpreparationandopportunitiestopracticeandreceivefeedbackonsuchskillsasturn-taking,activelistening,andpositivefeedback,beforetheycancomfortablytakeontheresponsibilityoffunctioningingroups,andnearlyallstudents,regardlessofage,needhelpinlearninghowtoprovideconstructivefeedbackonbothoralandwrittencontributionsmadebytheirpeers.2.ImplementingCooperativeActivitiesintheClassroomWithinthedefinitionofCL,thereisanenormousdiversityofcooperativeapproaches.Asamatteroffact,hundredsofcooperativeactivitiesareprovidedinanumberofbooksinthelastfewyears,whichhavebeendesignedeitherforthelanguageclassroomoreasilyadaptedforlanguagelearning.WhatfollowsisaselectionofcooperativeactivitiesthattheauthorthinksadaptabletoCollegeEnglishclassroomsandmosteffectiveandeasytomanage.2.1Think-Pair-ShareThemostbasiccooperativeactivityisthink-pair-share,developedbyKagan(1994).Thisisafour-stepdiscussionstrategythatincorporateswaittimeandaspectsofcooperativelearning.Inthisactivity,studentslearntolistenwhileaquestionisposedoranissueispresentedbyotherlearnersortheteacher,andlearnersaregivensometimetothinkandreflect,takenotesorengageinfreewritingbeforeturningtoanotherlearnerandsharingwhattheyhavejustthoughtandwrittenabout.Thentheypairwiththeirneighborstodiscusstheirresponse.Aftersharinginpairs,themembersofthepairsharetheirideaswiththelargergroup.Unliketheanxietyorterrorthatmayovercomestudentswhenteachersposequestionstothemwithoutallowingtimeforthoughtorrehearsal,withathink-pair-share,learnershaveseveralopportunitiestodeveloptheirideas,rehearsetheirlanguageandreceivefeedbackonbothlanguageandcontentbeforehavingtocommittospeakinginfrontoftheentireclass.2.2GroupInvestigationSharan&Sharan(1992)designedGroupInvestigation(GI)asacooperativelearningmethodtointegrateinteractionandcommunicationintheclassroomwiththeprocessofacademicinquiry.Asstudentsplan,research,developtheirreportsandmaketheirreporttoclass,theyengageinavarietyofsocio-affective,cognitiveandmetacognitivestrategiesandalsoengageinacademiclanguagedevelopmentthatismorecommonlyreservedfortheteacher.Theyalsobecomeincreasinglyresponsiblefortheirownlearning,movingfromdependenceupontheteachertomoreinterdependenceoneachother,andfrominterdependencetoautonomyasalanguagelearner.Groupinvestigationisalsolinkedtotheconcernwiththelearningprocess,whichhasbeenoneofthedrivingforcesbehindthemovetowardsmorelearner-centeredapproachestoteaching.Thistechniqueisoftenusedforstudentstoprepareanewunit(findingresourcesofbackgroundinformation),learningofdifficultsentencesofatext,doingvocabularyexercise(theworkofconsultingthedictionary),etc.2.3StudentTeamsAchievementDivisionSlavin(1983)isthedesignerofStudentTeamsAchievementDivision(STAD).Inthismodel,studentsshouldbeassignedingroupsmadeupoffourmemberswhoaretallyheterogeneous.Theteacherpresentsalessonandstudentsthenworkwithintheirteamstoensurethatallteammembershavemasteredthelesson.Studentsthentakeindividualquizzes.Successisbasedonimprovement,thatis,quizscoresarecomparedtopastaveragesandpointsarerewardedbasedonthedegreetowhichtheyexceedthosepastperformances.InSTAD,allstudents,whethertheyaregoodstudentsorpoorstudents,aremotivatedtolearnbecausesuccessisbasedonhowmuchtheyexceedthepast.Helpedbytheirgroupmates,thepoorhavemorecouragetoovercomedifficultiesinlearning.WithreferencetoCollegeEnglishclassroom,thismaybeusefulforgrammaticalformsaswellasvocabulary.Theformorvocabularywouldbeintroducedandtaughttotheclass.Studentswouldthenberesponsibleforensuringthattheyhavemasteredthematerial,withthehelpoftheirteammembers.Teamscouldbegivenworksheetsorothermaterials.Inthiskindofcooperativelearningactivity,studentswouldbelearningspecificgrammaticalformsorvocabulary,andinaddition,theywouldbegiventheopportunitytocommunicateinthetargetlanguage,thususingthelanguageinameaningfulway.2.4Role-PlayByrole-playwemeanthatstudents,inpairsorgroups,assumecertainrolesinacertainsituation,oractasthemselvestocopewithagivenprob