I小組合作學(xué)習(xí)在初中英語寫作教學(xué)中的應(yīng)用ApplicationofCooperativeLearningintheTeachingofEnglishWritinginJuniorHighSchool.IntroductionEnglishwritingisoneofthebasiclanguageactivities,whichisavitalpartincultivatingtheabilityofstudents.Injuniorhighschool,EnglishWritingSyllabusrequiresstudentstowriteabout100wordsinEnglishcomposition,whichincludescoherentcontent,fluencyinartsandnoseriousgrammaticalorstructuralerrors.The100wordsaregenerallywell-achieved,butthescoringrateoftestsisfarlessthanthatofotherquestiontypes.Therefore,itisnecessarytofindagoodwayforteachingEnglishwriting.Unfortunately,theclassroomEnglishteachingofwritingisunsatisfactory.Inthepast,teachersusedindoctrinationteachingmodelthatignoredstudents’interestsandtheirabilitiesofpracticalapplication.Theywrotelanguage

pointsontheblackboardtoteachwordsandgrammarthatcanbeusedforwriting,whichdidn’tgetthevisualeffect.Inrecentyears,theapplicationofcooperativelearningtoEnglishwritingteachinghastakenplacearoundtheworld.Thismethodhelpsteachersrelievethedullnessoftraditionalteachingandstimulatesstudents’interestsandmotivations.Nowadays,cooperativelearningisapowerfulguaranteeofachievingtheteachinggoalofEnglishwriting.Andit’sbeingusedasfaraspossibletoimprovethequalityofteachingandlearning.Thisthesisconsistsoffivechapters.Thefirstchaptergives

abriefintroductiontotheEnglishwritingsyllabusandEnglishwritingstatusinjuniorhighschool.Thesecondchapterdealswiththedefinition,basictheories,andmainprinciplesofcooperativelearningandEnglishwritingteaching,aswellasthecurrentstatusoncooperativelearningandEnglishwritingteachingathomeandabroad.ThethirdchapterproposestheproblemsbyanalyzingtheteachingconceptofEnglishwritingand

modesofteachingandlearning.Thefourthchapterestablishescooperativelearninggroups,transformstheroleofteachers,anddesignssuitablewritingtasksforgroupcooperativelearning,thenittellsstudentstoexplore,modify,andimprovetheirownworksbeforewriting,duringwriting,andafterwriting.Thefinalchapteristheconclusionaboutthewholethesis.2.AnIntroductiontoCooperativeLearningandEnglishWritingTeaching2.1CooperativeLearning2.1.1TheDefinitionsofCooperativeLearningCooperativelearningisausefulmethodaswellasakindofinnovativeandeffectivepedagogicalteachingtheory,whichhasbeenusedinmanycountriesbecauseoftheactiveatmosphereintheclassroomandstudentsacademicachievementsbyapplyingit.Differenteducatorshavedifferentdefinitionsofcooperativelearningasfollows:ProfessorSlavindefinesthatCooperativelearningisakindofclassroomteachingtechnology.Itnotonlypromotesinteractionsbetweengroups,butalsoimprovescommunicationsbetweenteachersandstudents.Finally,teachersgiveencouragesbasedonachievementsoftheentiregroup.(Slavin,R.E,1999)TheJohnsonBrotherswhocomesfromUSA,regardCLasateachingartthatmaximizetheabilityofgroupmemberstolearnfromothersgroups.(Jhonson.D.W&Jhonson.R.T,1993)InChina,oureducatorWangTangivestheCLasateachingstrategysystemwhichisaimedtopromotemutuallearningamongstudentsanduseteamperformancesasanevaluationcriterion.(WangTan,2001)ItcanbeseenthatalthoughChineseandforeignscholarshavedifferentdefinitionsofcooperativelearning,theirconnotationsareessentiallythesame:learningisbasedongroupactivities,andteammembershavethesamegoals.Studentsmakeprogresstogetherbyachievingthegoal.Teachers

act

asthe

dominant

roleto

guidethe

studentswho

act

asthe

importantrole

to

learn.2.1.2TheTheoreticalBasisofCooperativeLearning(1)CognitiveDevelopmentTheoryTheconstructivetheorythinksthatlearningisaprocessthatlearnersacquirenewknowledgebasedonwhattheyhavealreadyknownandtheirownexperiences.Itaimstogetthenewknowledgeandexperiencewiththeexistingknowledge.Inthecooperativelearning,students’learningisnotpassive.Teachersshouldgivefullplaytobegoodleaderswhoknowhowtocreatesituations,guidestudentstothink,andcompleteconversationaltasks.NeedTheoryMaslow,anAmericanpsychologist,findsthatindividualsinsocietyhavedifferentlevelsofneedsthataresafe,physiological,respectful,andself-actualized.Intheschool,theestablishmentofcooperativelearninggroupssatisfiesstudents’needs.Itnotonlystimulatesstudents'activelearning,butalsoenhancesstudents’initiativeandenthusiasmforlearning.Thepurposeofcooperativelearningistohelpstudentstoacquiretheconditionsneedsforgrowthanddevelopment,enablestudentstosolvepracticalproblems,andknowhowtocareaboutothers.MotivationalTheoryMotivationaltheoryasksmembersofgroupstohelptheirpartnerssucceed,sothattheynotonlytrytheirbesttodotheirownbusiness,butalsoencourageotherstomakegreateffortstohelpthegroupmembers.Studentsrealizethattheircontributionsareirreplaceableandtheyareproudofthemselves.Tosumup,groupcooperativelearningmakesthemtaketheirresponsibilityanddevelopagoodrelationshipbetweenthemthroughhelpingeachother.2.2EnglishWritingTeaching2.2.1TheDefinitionsofWritingWritingisamediumforhumancommunicationwhatrepresentslanguageandemotionswithsignsandsymbols.Itisalearningactivitythatstudentscreatetheirownessaysaccordingtoguidanceofteachersfordevelopingandimprovingtheirwritingability.Writingcanbedefinedasthemutualinfluenceofallkindsofcharacter’sformsanddegreeswhichhappensbetweenpersonandpersonincertainsocialbackgroundandparticularsituation.(Arnold,1992:160)Inreallife,wehavemanywritingtasks.Forexample,notes,letters,reports,journals,menus.Andweusewritingtoconveymessages;tokeeparecordofwhatisinourmindandtoexpressourideas.Writingistheuseofapenasatransformationtospeak.2.2.2ClassificationofEnglishWritingTeachingViewsofEnglishWritingTeachingarecommonlydividedintothreeaspects:productapproachmethod,processwritingmethod,andgenrebasedteachingmethod.Productapproachmethodemphasizestheresultsandhopesthatthestudentswillcompletethewritingtaskswithintheprescribedtime.Theteacherwillfirstdemonstrateitandletthestudentsimitateit.Thiskindofwritinghelpstoconsolidateknowledgeinashorttimeandallowsstudentstopracticemore.However,italsohasgreatflaws.Forexample,thewritingmodeistoorigidandlackscreativity.Comparedwithproductapproach,processwritingismorefocusedonwritingprocess.Processwritingmethodemphasizestheaccumulationoflifeandoutputsintheprocessofwriting.Firstly,studentslistcluesandfinishthefirstdraft.Afterthat,studentsmodifybetweeneachotherandgiveadvice.Finally,studentsmodifycompositionbythemselves.Butthismethodofwritingtakesalongtime.Genrebasedteachingmethodrefersthatteachers’writingtaskisbasedonthegenreofcompositionsoastoimprovetheirwritingability.Themainstepsofthegenreteachingmethodincludeanalysisofessaywriting,imitativewritingandindependentwriting.Whenstudentsareskilledinusingthismethod,theycanfindthatwritingisregular.2.3ThePrinciplesofCooperativeWritingNewEnglishCurriculumStandardsforjuniorhighschoolsaysthatthemainprinciplesofEnglishwritingarestudent-centeredprinciple,interactiveprinciple,authenticprinciple,cooperativeprincipleandtheprincipleofgradualimprovement.(2011)Student-centeredprincipleregardsstudentsaslearningcenter.Teachersallowstudentstoparticipateinactivitiesasmuchaspossibleandencouragestudentstobegoodatexpressingtheiropinionswhenwriting.Ifnecessary,teachersshouldgivestudentssomeadvice.Theprincipleofinteractionisthatwritingisnotjustcompletingteacher-specifiedpropositions,butlearningtocommunicatewithreaderstomakethewritingmoremeaningfulonthebasisofwritingknowledge.Authenticprincipleprovidesatruecontext.Itgivesfullplaytostudents'imagination.Thisprinciplecanenablestudentstoexpandtheirwritingmaterialsaccordingtotheirlivesandreducetheanxietycausedbylackofmaterials.3.TheCurrentSituationofStudents’EnglishWritingTeachinginJuniorHighSchool3.1TheConceptsandMethodsofTeachingEnglishWritingThecurriculumreformofbasiceducationhasbeennearlytenyears,butthetraditionallanguageteachingconceptsandmethodsarestillrooted.Teachers’teachingwayshavebeeninfluencedbytraditionalteachingthoughtsforalongtime.Theyalwaysusepatternthatis“writingtask--student’spersonalwriting--teachers’correcting--revisingessays”.Teachersemphasizestudents’writingresults,butignorewhatkindsoflearningmethodsareadoptedbystudents.“Task-basedlearning”,“Communicativelearning”and“cooperativelearning”methodsaimattrainingstudents’abilitiesfromthenewcurriculumreformidea.However,It’sjustawaythatteachersareusedinpublicclasses.Ithasnotbecomeadailyteachingmethod.3.2TheCurrentSituationsofEnglishTeachingandLearningPatternsIntheprocessofteaching,teachersonlylimitthecultivationofknowledgelevel,butneglecttheoveralldevelopmentofstudents.Afterstudents’compositionsarehandedin,teachersonlypickuptheerrorsormistakes,andthenreturnthepapers.Thisprocessdonothavecommunicationsbetweenteachersandstudents.Ingeneral,mostteachersfocusonthevocabularyaccuracy,grammarandstructureofessays.Fewofthempayattentiontocoherenceofthecompositions.Intheprocessoflearning,studentsseelearningasasimplecourseofinputsofknowledge.Studentsdonotknowhowtosurpassteachingmaterials,butonlyrelyonthem.Itistheonlywayforstudentstogethighmarksbydoingalotofexercisesandgettinglanguagepoints.3.3ProblemsofCooperativeLearningintheTeachingofEnglishWriting3.3.1Teachers’ProblemsinEnglishWritingTeachingTeachersarelackingPersonalStyle.Theyfocusonknowledgeandgrammar,lackingin-depthresearchonwritingteaching.Fewteachershavetheirowncompleteteachingplansbasedonthecharacteristicsoftheirstudents,whichleadstotheuniformityandrigidityofstudents’writing.Teacherfailtoprovideeffectiveguidancetothestudents’groupcooperativelearningandcan’tcorrectwritingproblemsintime.Althoughstudentssittogetherintheclassroom,theydon’tmakefulluseoftheinteractionandcommunicationofthegroup.TeachersarelackingofexperiencesondesigninggroupcooperativelearningactivitiesDuringtheteachingofwriting,teachersdonotknowhowtoorganizegrouplearningmodel.Firstly,theyoftenpresentaproposition.Secondly,studentswillwriteaccordingtotheirownideas.Next,teammembersmodifygrammaticalmistakesbetweeneachother.Finally,studentsrevisemistakesandsubmittheiressays.However,thiskindofpracticedoesnotactuallyimprovestudents’writingskills.3.3.2Students’ProblemsinEnglishWritingTeachingFirstly,studentsarelittleinterestsinEnglishwriting.Teachersassigncommunicativetaskstogroups.Althoughsomeofstudentsknowanswers,theyarenotactiveandneglectteamwork.Itdoesnotattractstudents’intereststhatteacherssimplygivethetopicofwritingandaskstudentstowriteaccordingtoafixedformofwriting.Therealwritingconnectwithrealityandsolvepracticalproblems.Teachersshouldtrytochoosewritingtopicsthatareclosetostudents’lives,sothatstudentscanhaveabundantwordsandmaterials.Andtheycanletstudentschoosetheirowntopics,whichwillstimulatestudents'interestsinwritingSecondly,studentshavelittlecognitiononhowtoLearnfrompartners.CooperativelearninghasnotbeenwellappliedinEnglishwritingteachingbecausestudents’cognitionofcooperativelearningisnotenough.Asforthetopicofwriting,theydon’tknowhowtoexpresstheirideastotheirpeers.Studentsoftenexpresstheircontentsbysomephrasesorsentenceswithoutacompletetrainofthought.Thisprocessisnotaneffectivecommunication.ChineseEnglish.StudentsLastbutnotleast,studentsareinsufficientknowledge.(1)Chinglish.Studentsareinterference

withtheirmothertongue,andtheyfirstlyconsideristhemeaningofChinesewhenspeakingEnglish.Forexample,Chinesestudentwillsay,“goodgoodstudy,daydayup”.(2)Lackofvocabulary.Studentsoftenmisspellwords,orconfusebetweensingularandpluralwords,misuseadjectivesandadverbs.Therearesomeexamplesasfollows.Somestudentswrite,“Desertisakindofsweetfood.”Theymisspellthedessertintothedesert.Andstudentswillwrite,“Ilikeeatingbanana.”Theydon’trealizenoun’splural.Theymayalsowrite,“Heisaverykindly.”Sometimestheymisapplyadverbs.(3)Contextconnectionslacklogicalrelationships.Sometimesitmayresultindigressingfromthesubject.(4)Littlewritingpractice.Inadditiontotheusualclasspractice,studentsdonothaveanyextrawritingexercisesaftertheclass.4.TheApplicationofCooperativeLearninginEnglishWritingTeachinginJuniorHighSchool4.1SettingupCooperativeLearningGroup4.1.1GroupDistributionCooperativelearningisalearningmethodandstrategybasedongroups.Therefore,thefirstandmostimportantthingistohaveareasonablegroupinordertoconductcollaborativelearning.Thenumberofteamsisequal,andtheirstrengthisnoobviousdifference.Theyshouldinspire,helpandrespectfromeachother.Ontheonehand,cooperativelearninggrouphelpthemtosupporteachotherandgainthejoyofsuccess.Ontheotherhand,italsoreducesthenegativeimpactoffailure.4.1.2SelectingGroupMembersTherearemanyfactorsthatneedtobeconsideredwhenteacherschooseteammembers.Firstly,teachersshouldbalancetheproportionofmenandwomeninthegroup,thenumberofextrovertedandintrovertedstudentsandtheleveloflearners’academicachievement.Secondly,groupmembersaredividedintoleaders,supervisors,speakers,andrecorders.LeadersshouldchoosestudentswhoaregoodatEnglishandarewillingtohelpothers.Theleaderthattestsaperson'sleadershipabilityisthekeytodrivingagroup.Finally,teachersassignresponsibilitiestoothermembersofthegroup,sothateveryonecandohisdutywelltopromotegrouplearning.4.2ChangingTeachers’RoleinEnglishWritingTeachingTeachersarenotthecontrollersofstudentsbutthepromotersoflearning.Theydefinestudentsasthecenterintheprocessofgroupcooperationlearning,andtrytopromotetheinitiativeofgroupmemberstolearn.Teachersarenotindividuals,butarethegroupmemberswholistentostudents'expressionandideas.Teachersarenotsupervisorsoflearningbutinstructorsoflearning.Theynotonlypayattentiontogoodperformancesofstudents,butalsocarestudentswithlearningdifficulties.Thisapproachreflectsthedemocraticnatureofteachingandenablesstudentstoachievethebestclassroomresults.4.3HowtoDesignaGroupCooperativeLearningActivityonWritingInordertocooperate,themembersofthegroupmusthavethesamegoalandmakesureeveryoneknowstheirresponsibilitiesclearly.Beforewriting,teachersorganizeactivitiesthatenablestudentstoexperiencereallife.Throughactivities,studentscancollectwritingmaterials,andpromotecommunicationingroups.Groupcooperativelearningmustbeclosetolifeinordertomakethisactivitymeaningful.4.4TheTeachingProcedureofApplyingCooperativeLearningtoEnglishWriting4.4.1ThePreparationBeforeWritingNewmediacanprovideaactiveplatformforteachingwritinginandoutofclass.Teacherscreatesituationstostimulatestudentmotivation.Whentheygetwhatstudentsarefondof,theyattractstudents’attention,sothatstudentswilllistenmorecarefully.Groupmemberscollectinformationandmaterialsthroughactivities,andtheydiscusstoformabrainstorming.Then,teachersgivestudentsenoughtimetolistinformation,findusefulinformationthroughcooperation,andmakeuptheseinformationastheirownusefularguments.Atthesametime,teacherscanalsoanalyzethemodelessay.Thetargetedparadigmswillinspirestudentstothinkandprovideenoughformatstandardsfortheirarticlestructure.4.4.2TheCreationDuringWritingAfterfinishingtheactivities,theleadersofeachgroupshouldtaketheleadingroletodrivethestudentstocommunicateactively,andlettherecorderscarefullyrecordgroupmembers’opinions.Duringthecommunication,thesupervisorstrytocontroleveryone’sspeechintime.Whensomeonespeaks,someoneelseshouldn’tspeak.Aftereveryonehasexpressedtheiropinions,therecordersmakeasummary.Finally,speakersareselectedtorepresenteachgroup.Whenstudentsfinishtheirviews,teachersoughttogivetheirgroupspraiseintime,whichdevelopstudents’confidenceinlearning.Studentsneedtobuildacompositionoutlineandunderstandthecontent.Theycollectmaterialsbeforewriting,andthentheyarefreetousetheirknowledgeandgrammarintheircompositions.Bylinkingthelogicalsequenceofmaterial,theyexpandsentencestomakeitscoherence.4.4.3TheFeedbackAfterWritingWritingfeedbackisdividedintoteachererrorcorrectionandpeerfeedback.Inthecooperativelearning,compositionshouldbeapprovednotonlybyteachers,butalsobystudentswhoaretherealreadersofstudents.Teacherscanlistthefollowingcriteriatoallowstudentstocorrecteachother.WhetherthearticleisrelevantWhetherthestatementissmoothWhetherthesyntaxiswrongWhethercontentiscoherentWhetherpunctuationiserrorThen,theteacherandhisclassmatestalkabouttheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofthearticle.Peerfeedbackcanexpandstudents'thinkingandmakestudentsdevelopthestrongpointsandavoidtheweakpoints.4.4.4FurtherRevisionofWritingAftercorrectingwriting,studentsarerequiredtowritethesecondmanuscriptsandsubmitthem.Thistime,teachersshouldcorrectstudents’writingerrors.Afterall,someerrorswillbeomissionsinstudentcorrecting.Teacherssortoutthemistakesandgivethestudentsfurtherexplanationinclass.Atlast,studentsreviseandfinalizethefinaldraft.Undertheclass,teachersarrangegracefulEnglishtextsforthestudents,sothatstudentscouldaccumulatetheirvocabulariesbyreading.Onthesecondday,thegroupleaderleadthemembersofgroupstodiscussexperiencesandknowledgefromtexts,andtherecorderhastotakenotesabouttheaccumulatedknowledge.4.5Students’AttitudesTowardsEnglishWritingafterGroupCooperativeLearningLeaderssetuptaskswithconfidencetoteammembers.Afterclass,leaderswillworkhardertoreadsomearticlesforexpandingtheirknowledge.Inclass,theyactivelyhelpstudentswhohavedifficultiesinlearning.Supervisorslearntocontrolthemselvesbynotspeakingandtoshowrespectforotherpeople'sperformance.Atthesametime,theyweremoreseriousincorrectingtheirgroups’homework,whichwaswellreceivedbythestudentsinthegroup.Thespeakeroriginallydidnotlistentootherpeople'sopinions.Nowtheyknowhowtodrivethemembersofthegroup.Intheclass,everyoneactivelyspokeanddidnottalknonsense.Therecorderhadlittlemotivationinlearningbefore.Now,inordernottoinfluencethegroupperformance,theyactivelymemorizeexcellentmodelessaysandaremoreconfidentinclass.4.6EffectsofGroupCooperativeLearningonStudents’WritingStrategiesCooperativelearninghastransformedEnglishwritinglessonsintoadynamicEnglishactivity.Thestudentshelpeachothertoachievethesamegoal.Inthepastwritingclass,thestudentsdidnotcommunicatewitheachother.Thecooperativelearningmethodenablesstudentstoworktogethertocompleteanessayandaccumulatebeautifulsentencesfromothers.Studentsalsopaymoreattentiontotheuseofgrammar,wordspelling,andotherissueswhenwriting.Themainimportantpointis,throughcooperationandcommunication,thatstudentsareinterestedincooperativelearningandnolongerfeelthatwritingisaboringthing.5.ConclusionApplicationofcooperativelearningisaneffectivewritingmodelintheteachingofEnglishwritinginjuniorhighschool,whichleadstoasharpincreaseinstudentcooperativeactivitiesandarousesstudents’interestsinEnglishwriting.Beforewriting,studentsarefamiliarwiththetopicsofwritingaccordingtocooperativeactivities,andexpandtheirthinkingandimagination.Intheprocessofwriting,cooperativelearningnotonlycultivatesteamworkabilities,butalsopromotesstudents’comprehensiveapplicationabilitiesoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting.Studentscorrectandhelpeachotherwithinateam.Afterwriting,students’self-reflectionpromotestheintegrityofwritings.Teachersfurtheramendsoastoensurethewritings’accuracyandfluency.Forteachers,cooperativelearningmodelrequiresthemnotsimplytobeknowledgetransfers,buttobeconductors,consultantsandfriends.Theyneedtobeflexibletocontroltheclassroomwritingprocessinthelimitedtime.Andtheyshouldreflectandreviseteachingplansintimeaccordingtothestudents’currentwritingeffect.Forstudents,groupcooperativelearningrequiresstudentstohaveacleardivisionofroles.Membersinthegroupcandiscusstopicsvigorously,andbeunitedtofacevariousdifficulties.ThecooperativestudyingroupsencouragesstudentstolearnfromeachotherandenrichesthecontentoftheirEnglishwriting.Tosumup,thegroupcooperativelearninghasreduceddistancesbetweenstudentsandteachers,improvedteachers’teachingcapabilities,andstrengthenedstudents’Englishwritingabilities.GroupcooperativelearningisindispensableandeffectiveinEnglishwritingteachinginjuniorhighschool.致謝光陰似箭，四年的大學(xué)生活即將圓滿結(jié)束。在大學(xué)四年中，我得