An Empirical Study on the Application of Cooperative Learning to Comprehensive English Classes in a Chinese Independent College

This research investigated a comparison between the effect of cooperative learning and lecture teaching on Comprehensive English classes in a Chinese Independent College. An empirical study for two semesters was carried out in the forms of pretest, posttest, questionnaire and interviews. While control class was taught in the conventional way, experiment class was instructed based on cooperative base groups with positive interdependence structured on purpose. Compared with traditional instructions, cooperative learning as pedagogy can improve students’ performance on course exams, but not necessarily their language competence as shown in national English competency tests taken before and after the experiement. Test results also indicate students from experiment class who excelled in competency test outnumbered those from control class, revealing that cooperative learning has positive impacts especially on students at a relatively higher academic level. Questionaire results show that students are most inclined to agree they have more chances to practice the language in a cooperative environment.