1、AcknowledgementsId like to express my greatest and foremost gratitude to my beloved supervisor, prof. Liu Xiaoying ,through whom Ive got invaluable guidance, constructive suggestions and thought-provoking comment. This thesis couldnt have been finished without her patient help and impressive kindnes

2、s.Also, I want to thanks other teachers and classmates who gave me much help. Thank you all!AbstractThis study is based on cognitive development theory and motivation theory. The paper mainly studies the influence of cooperative learning on the transformation of the students with learning difficulti

3、es in primary school. Starting from the current situation and the reasons for the existence of those students, it explores how to use cooperative learning to transform them effectively. In the teaching process, cooperative learning method is used. Through the literature study, questionnaires and ind

4、ividual interview, the author shows us that cooperative learning has a positive effect on the students with learning difficulties. It can improve their interest and attitude in learning English and promote their sense of cooperation, which provides some enlightenment for English teachers in primary

5、school and also provides a better way for students to learn English well.Key Words: cooperative learning; students with learning difficulties; learning motivation摘 要本研究以認知發展理論和動機理論為指導，主要研究合作學習模式對轉換小學英語學困生的影響。本文從小學英語學困生的現狀和成因開始研究，探索如何利用合作學習來有效轉換這類學生。在教學中，運用合作學習的教學模式，通過文獻資料法、問卷調查法和個別訪談法，并對獲得的數據進行了比較和分

6、析，筆者向我們展示了合作學習對學困生確有積極影響，能提高其英語學習興趣，改善其學習態度，并積極促進其合作意識。這為日后其他從事小學英語教學的教師提供一定的啟示，也為學生提供一些學好英語的方法。關鍵詞：合作學習；學困生；學習動機The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Students withLearning Difficulties in Primary School1. IntroductionAt present, our country is in a critical period from examination oriented educa

7、tion to quality education. Quality education is to cultivate all-round, multi-level people of ability to adapt to the cause of socialist modernization. It is for all the students so that they can get a comprehensive and harmonious education. This requires that the basic education must be for each st

8、udent and provide equal opportunities and conditions to the development of physical and mental integrity of all students. As a result, the whole society as well as every family has attached great importance to childrens education, especially the importance of English learning. In order to adapt

9、 to the trend of the reform of younger English learning age and lay a good foundation for students to learn English, China has set off a new curriculum reform “open English course at grade 3 in primary school in advance” .Although the English curriculum of primary school has accumulated a lot of suc

10、cessful experience since its establishment and it has also formed a number of distinctive teaching methods, at present, many schools adopt the class teaching system, which is based on the collective teaching, causing the phenomenon of “the teacher speaks too much and the students participate little”

11、. Whats worse, some teachers ignore the cultivation of innovative thinking and the spirit of cooperation, so many students lost their interest in learning English, and finally in a passive state of acceptance, they show the difficulties of learning English. In the initial stage of English teaching i

12、n China, there are a lot of students with learning difficulties. They lack the motivation and interest in learning English, and they dont have good learning methods, which leads to the lack of English achievement in the long term.The author taught English of grade 4 in Xianyang Changqing Zidi s

13、chool from September,2016 to January,2017. In this paper, the current situation of the students with learning difficulties in primary school is analyzed from five-months teaching practice.This study follows the cognitive rules of primary school students, mainly to study the impact of cooperative lea

14、rning on the students with learning difficulties in English by the motivation theory and cognitive development theory. The author makes full use of pupils lively nature, by creating a relaxing and harmonious environment of cooperative learning in primary school. By combining questionnaires with indi

15、vidual interview, the author hopes to explore the students changes of motivation, emotion and cognition in English learning through the relevant data collection and analysis after cooperative learning, which accordingly, can improve the learning process and results of the students with learning

16、 difficulties and discuss the methods and measures to promote their conversion.As the old Chinese proverb says, ”A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. ” English teaching in primary school is the initial stage of learning English, which determines the improvement and development o

17、f students English learning in the future. Therefore, this study has some constructive significance for the prevention and transformation of students with learning difficulties. In addition, cooperative learning plays a more and more important role today. From the point of view that education is to

18、cultivate the people that the society needs and to promote the all-round development of the individual, it is not only of great teaching significance, but also of far reaching practical significance to introduce the teaching concept of cooperative learning into teaching.Literature ReviewLev Vygotsky

19、, a former Soviet psychologist, put forward the “zone of proximal development”, that is “the distance between the actual level of development determined by solving the problem independently and the potential level identified by the guidance of an adult or the cooperation by a stronger partner.” From

20、 his theory, the main two factors to promote students cognitive development are the teachers and the cooperation between partners. The role of teachers has been paid much attention to, but the cooperative learning between peers is often ignored. Therefore, we can see the importance and rationality o

21、f cooperative learning(Zhang 18-25).From the point of view of motivational person, the cooperative goal structure creates a situation in which the group members can achieve individual goals only through group success. In order to achieve their personal goals, team members must work hard to help othe

22、r members do anything that contributes to the groups success, and perhaps the more important thing is to encourage them to do their best. Johnson, D.W. & Johnson ,R.T. also think that learning motivation is generated by the process of interpersonal communication, and its essence reflects a posit

23、ive and dependent relationship that built through interpersonal interaction(Wang 105-112).2.1 Definition of Students with Learning DifficultiesThe concept of students with learning difficulties was first proposed by Morgan, a British ophthalmologist in 1896. He found in the work that children can re

24、cognize some words but they dont know the meaning of the words, which is so-called “word blindness phenomenon”, so he put forward the concept of learning difficulties from a medical point of view(Chen and Hu 40-1).In 1962, the famous American special educator, Samuel Kirk, defined the students with

25、learning difficulties as incompetent. He pointed out that leaning difficulties is a problem or obstacle in language, speaking, reading and social skills(113-43).In 1988, the United States Association pointed out that learning difficulties is a general term. From the individual level, learning d

26、ifficulties refer to the individual who shows various abnormity to obtain and use in listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning and mathematical ability in facing difficulties(Niu and Zhang 357-58).According to Wang Luping the so-called learning difficulties refers to those who has normal inte

27、lligence and in normal teaching environment, but in the same group ,their learning level is low and even less than the requirements of the national syllabus(18).Lu Hongming holds the view that in addition to the disabled students, due to differences in intelligence, poor behavior, teaching discomfor

28、t ,psychological barriers, lack of interest and adverse social environment, those whose study results are obviously lagging behind the level of the syllabus requirements, whose learning habits are difficult to develop and continue to be in a difficult state, can be called students with learning diff

29、iculties(32-8).Wang Fei thinks that the students with learning difficulties refer to those poor academic students who have the normal scope of intelligence, but for different reasons, they failed to meet the academic level(42-5).Based on the definition of the students with learning difficulties at h

30、ome and abroad, the author thinks the students with learning difficulties are those who have normal intelligence but poor grades. In fact, at present , researchers at home and abroad mainly distinguish the learning difficulties by the students academic performance and teachers comprehensive impressi

31、on. In this paper, the students with learning difficulties, as the participants of the study, also depend on the above criteria.2.1.1 Studies of Students with Learning Difficulties at Home and AbroadAs early as 1960s, many foreign scholars began to pay attention to the problem of students with learn

32、ing difficulties. By the end of 70s, the research focused on the cognitive process under the influence of cognitive psychology. Since 1980s, more and more different fields have been involved in the study, such as Pedagogy, psychology, sociology, medicine and so on.Babansky, in 1985,conducted a large

33、-scale investigation of poor academic results and he analyzed 3000 students(including 2000 repeater,1000 for bad grades) of 260 schools. He found out the biggest cause of academic difficulties, is the defects in three aspects ,cognitive development, basic learning skills and practical knowledge(67-7

34、4).Domestic research on learning difficulties began in1986. We can see that the situation of learning difficulties in China is very serious. In China, research mainly focuses on the characteristics and influencing factors of children with learning difficulties. In resent years, the research has been

35、 the discussion on how to improve the learning state of students with learning difficulties through educational intervention.Zhong Qiquan, in his book The Psychology and Education of Poor Students , from the perspective of cause diagnosis, treatment, teaching theory, character analysis and preventiv

36、e education, investigated and revealed the concept of children with learning difficulties and put forward the corresponding teaching strategies(23-6).Li Yingrui investigated the learning motivation of the junior high school students with learning difficulties. She proposed stimulating and cultivatin

37、g the students motivation to achieve the transformation of them(32-5).2.2 Definition of Cooperative LearningCooperative learning is a creative and effective teaching theory and strategy system in many countries in the world. One of the main representatives of the cooperative learning, pro. Slavin of

38、 Johns Hopkins University thinks that cooperative learning is the classroom teaching technique that enables students to engage in learning activities in the group, and to receive rewards or recognition based on their groups results.Johnson, D.W.& Johnson, R.T. , in the Cooperative Learning Centr

39、e of American Minnesota University, think cooperative learning is the use of groups in teaching so that students can maximize their own study and others through cooperative activities(323-29).The famous educational psychologist, Dr. Sharan, S. of Tel Aviv University in Israel defines coope

40、rative learning as a general term for the organization and promotion of classroom teaching. Cooperation among students in the learning process is the basic characteristics of all these methods. In the classroom, the cooperation between peers is organized by the students in the group activities and t

41、he group is usually composed of 3-5 students. The group acts as a social organization, where students learn through interaction and communication between peers, as well as through personal study(61-5).Wang Hongyu, a Chinese scholar, thinks that cooperative learning is the main form of classroom teac

42、hing, which encourages students to learn in heterogeneous groups so as to make use of cooperative interpersonal communication to promote students cognition and affection according to certain cooperative procedures and methods(21-5).Wang Tan believes that cooperative learning is a kind of teaching st

43、rategy system which aims at promoting the students to cooperate with each other in the heterogeneous group to achieve the common goal of learning and the rewards was based on the overall score of the group(33-6).2.2.1 Main Factors of Cooperative LearningAlthough most of the cooperative learning

44、 researchers around the world have their own understanding of the basic elements of cooperative learning, from the current research literature, Johnson & Johnsons five factor theory is a widely accepted one. Here are some brief introduction.1. Positive InterdependenceIn cooperative learning situ

45、ations, it is important for students to realize that they are not only responsible for their own study , but also responsible for their peers study. Once the relationship is established, the group members will realize that everyone has an obligation to contribute to the group. This is the core of co

46、operative leaning, and there is no cooperation without such a positive interdependence.2. Face to Face Promotive interactionPromotive interaction refers to the efforts of students to encourage and support each other to achieve good results, to complete tasks, to get conclusion and so on. The advanta

47、ge of this is that the learning group is a supportive system of both learning and personal emotion.3. Personal ResponsibilityPersonal responsibility is that each student must undertake certain learning tasks and at the same time he must master the assigned tasks. Group performance depends on the com

48、pletion of the groups overall task, while team score will affect individual performance records. This double evaluation system can eliminate the inertia of the group members and arouse the sense of responsibility of each other, so it can ensure the smooth progress of the group cooperation and make e

49、ach member an outstanding individual.4. Interpersonal and Group SkillsInterpersonal and group skills are key to the effectiveness of a group. In cooperative learning, students should not only learn the corresponding learning tasks, but also the work effectively as a team. This requires students to m

50、aster some of the group cooperation skills and interpersonal skills. These skills include leadership, decision making, trust building and communication skills and so on. With these abilities, they can successfully complete learning tasks and team work.5. Group Self-evaluationGroup self-evaluation is

51、 also called group self processing, group reflection, etc. The group should regularly evaluate the previous group activities, including the completion of learning tasks and the teams cooperation. Group members can sum up experience and learn lessons to improve the effectiveness of the group in achie

52、ving common goals and better cooperation.2.2.2 Basic Methods of Cooperative LearningSince 1970s, foreign scholars have done a lot of teaching practice and extensive research on cooperative learning. They have developed eight cooperative learning methods, including Team Assisted Individualization(TAI

53、); Student Teams-Achievement Divisions(STAD); Teams-Games-Tournament(TGT); Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition(CIRC); Learning Together(LT); Group Investigation(GI); Jigsaw; Academic Controversy(AC).Among them, Dr. Slavin improved the Jigsaw, forming a fixed type called Jigsaw II. In this

54、 approach, students learn in a group of 5-6. The teacher assigned a part of the study content to each student. All students have to read the same content first. Next, each student has to learn his part very well. Students who study the same part gather together to discuss, then they come back t

55、o the group and teach the members what they learned. Finally, the scores of the group members can be combined to form a group score, which, if meets a certain criteria can be recognized or rewarded. The practice of cooperative learning in this paper is based on the Jigsaw II method(98-102).2.2.

56、3 Studies of Cooperative Learning at Home and AbroadCooperative learning is an old concept of education practice. In the west, as early as the first century, the Quintilianus of ancient Rome pointed out that students can benefit from mutual teaching. The Czech educator Comenius believed that student

57、s can not only acquire knowledge from teachers but also from teaching other students. About the beginning of the eighteenth century, the British clergy Bell and Lancaster advocated the use of a common group teaching, which was introduced into America in the early nineteenth century. Since then, with

58、 the help of Slavin, Kagan and so on, the concept of cooperative learning has developed into a series of principles and strategies(Wang 2-8).As far as 2000 years ago, the Confucian masters in China have attached importance to the cooperation in the teaching practice and applied it to the teaching si

59、tuation. It mentioned in the Records of Education “Who learns alone without friends will be ignorant.” Confucius has also proposed “In the company of three, one can always find a teacher.” All of these advocate that learners should learn from each other and exchange their learning experience in the learning process.Johnson, D.W. & Johnson ,R.T., they were the first in the United States to study the theory of cooperative learning and apply it to classroom practice. They have done lots of experiments and established