Application of Cooperative Learning in English Reading Class of Senior High School

Nowadays, the education of elementary and secondary school over-stresses competition, yet neglects cooperation. Students form a sense of competition which is distorted, and an egocentric behavior which is corresponding with it. They establish their own successes on others’ failure, lacking in the sense of cooperation, the basic function which they get along and communicate with others, and behaviors benefiting others. This condition doesn’t correspond to the information times, which needs the sense of cooperation and social sills. The researches and experiments of cooperative learning, which are conducted in foreign countries in recent years, are active response to the above problems.During cooperative learning activities, a group of students create an environment where they actively engage in the learning activities by sharing insights and ideas, providing feedback, and supporting assistance to one another. Major reviews of cooperative learning research have shown that cooperative learning leads to common progress, higher academic achievement, better communication skills, increased motivation toward learning, higher self-esteem and self-confidence. The heart of cooperative learning is student-centered , advocating teachers to be good “directors” and students to be good “actors”. Cooperative learning activities can increase the opportunities to intake comprehensible inputs and produce functional output in a supportive and communicative environment, thus making language learning move a step forward.This paper first introduces the theoretical basis of cooperative learning, and then attempts to explore the effects of the application of cooperative learning in English reading class. Forty-eight students of class 6 as the experimental class and