Cooperative learning in EFL reading classes at Lam Dong Minority Boarding School: Master of TESOL

Abstract

Learning depends on teaching. Therefore, a teacher must think of ways and means to stimulate and encourage learning. In teaching reading, teachers might place emphasis on Cooperative Learning as an effective instructional method in which students of all levels might work together in small groups to achieve a common goal. Hence, this study examines the effect of cooperative learning with respect to EFL learners in reading comprehension at Lam Dong Minority Boarding school, and it investigates students’ attitudes towards cooperative learning. The total population of the study was 61 students in Grade 11 at Lam Dong Minority Boarding school.. To answer Research Question 1, a quasi-experiment was conducted over a period of 8 weeks. Firstly, a standardized pre-test was given to the participants in both the control and experimental groups, and the results were analyzed. The experimental group adopted a cooperative strategy while the control group did not. After analyzing, another standardized post-test was conducted. Finally, an Independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test were conducted to examine whether there were significant inter- and intra-group differences in reading comprehension. To answer Research Question 2, a questionnaire and semistructured interviews were carried out for 31 members in the experimental group. Content analysis was utilized to analyze experimental group reflective reports regarding CL. The results of the study revealed two things. First of all, when preand post-tests were analyzed, cooperative learning helped students achieve significant progress; they easily outperformed students in the conventional learning group with respect to English reading performance. Secondly, the findings also revealed that the students in the experimental group expressed highly positive attitudes towards the use of cooperative learning in EFL reading classes.