Chapter One IntroductionTwo are better than one, because they have a good reward for toil. For ifthey fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when hefalls and has not another to lift him up... And though a man might prevailagainst one who is alone, two will withstand him a threefold cord is notquickly broken.Ecclesiastics 4:9-12
The human species seems to have a cooperation imperative: from cradle to gravewe cooperate with others in family, work, leisure, and community by working jointlyto achieve mutual goals; from conceiving a child to sending a rocket to the moon, oursuccesses require cooperation among inpiduals.
Cooperative learning (CL) requires pupils to work together in small groups tosupport each other to improve their own learning and that of others. Dating back toEcclesiastics of Bible, the saying that "two are better than one" indicates cooperationof great importance in learning, for even there is the failure awaiting you, "one willlift up this fellow" and encourage each other.
From that, it is obvious that CL has been around a long time, and will probablynever go away. Its rich history of theory, research, and actual use in the classroommakes it one of the most distinguished of all instructional practices.
This thesis intends to discuss the implementation of CL in EFL class in Chinaand study Chinese high school students' beliefs on CL. In Chapter I，the backgroundinformation of CL, especially in China, significance of this thesis as well as the layoutwill be explained.
1.1 Background
With the fast-changing society where technology has been developing rapidly,human-beings start to enter the 21 st century characterized by an information andknowledge-based environment that is much more open, more competitive and full ofmore opportunities. Only through cooperation can we survive in this new age. As Dr.Yang Zhenning, the Nobel Prize winners in physics, puts it that "Unlike the past inwhich inpiduals may be able to winning Nobel Prize by themselves withoutcooperation, it has been impossible to create any great inventions alone since 1980thwhen modern information technology has been pervading human society deeply",cooperation does become an inescapable fact of life.
Social psychological research on cooperation dates back to the 1920s (Slavin,1995), but research on specific applications of cooperative learning to the classroomdid not begin until the early I 970s in America. From then the research of cooperativelearning greatly accelerated, and continue unabated today. Ellis A. K. and Fouts J., thefamous American educational critics pointed that (1997), "Cooperative learning is themost reformational action in educational reform." Slavin(1995) proposed that it isone of the greatest educational innovations of recent times. At present, researchers allover the world are studying practical applications of cooperative learning principlesand manv CL methods are available.
In China, with the gradual deepening of the New Curriculum System in recentyears, CL has become one of the main three learning methods (independence,cooperativeness and inquisition) and been an important subject in modern teachingtheoretical field. Nevertheless, there is no denying that the implementation of CL inChinese classroom is not an easy way considering the lack of cooperativeconsciousness among Chinese students which leads to the low-efficiency issues in CL.As a remarkable factor in the process of CL, students' perspectives on CL definitelyaffect the carry-out of CL. The three parts will be elaborate in the following.
References
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一项关于中国高中生对英语合作学习所持信念的个案研究
摘要 5-6
Abstract 6
Table of Contents 7-10
Chapter One Introduction 10-17
1.1 Background 11-15
1.1.1 The Role of Cooperative Learning in Modern Teaching Field 12-13
1.1.2 The Low-efficiency Issue in Cooperative Learning 13-14
1.1.3 The Key Roles of Students' Beliefs on Cooperative Learning 14-15
1.2 Significance of the Research 15-16
1.3 Structure of the Thesis 16-17
Chapter Two Literature Review 17-32
2.1 Research Gap 17-20
2.1.1 Research on Strategies of Cooperative Learning 17-18
2.1.2 Research About Specific Subjects on Cooperative Learning 18-19
2.1.3 Research About Teachers on Cooperative Learning 19-20
2.2 Cooperative Learning 20-24
2.2.1 Definition of Cooperative Learning 21-22
2.2.2 Theoretical Basis of Cooperative Learning 22-23
2.2.3 Strategies and Methods of Cooperative Learning 23-24
2.3 Learning Belief 24-29
2.3.1 Definition of Belief 24-26
2.3.2 Basic Elements of Belief 26-29
2.4 Students' Beliefs on Cooperative Learning 29-32
2.4.1 Cognitive Belief on Cooperative Learning 30
2.4.2 Emotional Belief on Cooperative Learning 30-32
Chapter Three Research Methodology 32-39
3.1 Research Design 32
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Chapter Four Results and Discussion 39-65
4.1 Motivation and Objectives on Cooperative Learning 39-44
4.2 Methods and Strategies of Cooperative Learning 44-50
4.3 Affective Experience of Cooperative Learning 50-53
4.4 Valuation of Cooperative Learning 53-55
4.5 Environmental Factors of Cooperative Learning 55-59
4.6 Discussion 59-63
4.7 Limitations of the Research 63-65
Chapter Five Conclusion 65-68
5.1 Findings 65-66
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