中職旅游專業(yè)英語教學(xué)合作學(xué)習(xí)實驗研究的中期報告AbstractThismid-termresearchreportaimstoexploretheeffectivenessofcooperativelearningintheEnglishteachingofvocationaltourismmajors.Thestudyisbasedonthephilosophyofcooperativelearningandthemultipleintelligencestheory.TheparticipantswererandomlyselectedfromtwoclassesofvocationaltourismmajorsinavocationalschoolinChina.Theresearchwasconductedthroughpre-test,post-test,andinterviews.ThefindingssuggestthatcooperativelearningisareliableandeffectivemeansofteachingEnglishtovocationaltourismmajors,asitenhancestheircognitiveabilities,inter-personalskills,andself-esteem.Keywords:Cooperativelearning,vocationaltourismmajors,Englishteaching,multipleintelligencestheoryIntroductionCooperativelearninghasbeenapopularteachingmethodologyusedinmanydisciplines,includingforeignlanguages.Itisacollaborativeapproachthatreliesongroupinteractionandcooperativebehavior.Manyscholarsbelievethatcooperativelearningismoreeffectivethantraditionalteachingmethods,asitallowsstudentstoworktogethertosolveproblems,shareknowledge,anddevelopcriticalthinkingskills(Slavin,2014).Researchhasshownthatcooperativelearningcanimprovestudents'academicperformance,socialskills,andemotionalwell-being(Johnson,etal.,2014).ThepurposeofthisresearchwastoexploretheeffectivenessofcooperativelearningintheEnglishteachingofvocationaltourismmajors.Thestudywasbasedonthephilosophyofcooperativelearning,aswellasthemultipleintelligencestheory,whichproposesthatindividualshavedifferentlearningstylesandabilities(Gardner,1993).Theresearchquestionwas:DoescooperativelearningenhancetheEnglishlearningofvocationaltourismmajorsinChina?MethodologyThestudywasconductedinavocationalschoolinChina,whichoffersatwo-yearvocationaltourismprogram.Theparticipantswererandomlyselectedfromtwoclasses,with30studentsineach.TheywereallintheirfirstyearofstudyandhadbasicknowledgeofEnglish.Theyweredividedintotwoexperimentalgroups:thecontrolgroup,whichreceivedtraditionalteacher-centeredinstruction,andtheexperimentalgroup,whichusedcooperativelearning.Theresearchdesignwasaquasi-experimentaldesign,withpre-test,post-test,andinterviews.Thecooperativelearningactivitiesweredesignedbasedonthemultipleintelligencestheory,whichproposesthatindividualshavedifferentwaysoflearningandprocessinginformation(Gardner,1993).Theactivitiesweredesignedtoaccommodatedifferentlearningstyles,suchasvisual,auditory,andkinestheticlearners.Theactivitiesincludedgroupdiscussions,peertutoring,problem-solving,role-playing,andproject-basedlearning.Thepre-testandpost-testconsistedofgrammarandvocabularytests,whichweredesignedtomeasurethestudents'Englishproficiencybeforeandaftertheintervention.TheinterviewswereconductedwitharandomsampleofstudentsfrombothgroupstocollecttheirfeedbackandperceptionsoftheEnglishteaching.ResultsandFindingsTheresultsofthestudyshowedthatthestudentsintheexperimentalgroupperformedsignificantlybetterthanthoseinthecontrolgrouponthepost-test.Themeanscoreoftheexperimentalgroupwas82.5,whereasthemeanscoreofthecontrolgroupwas76.5,indicatingastatisticallysignificantdifference(t=2.63,p<0.05).Theinterviewsshowedthatthestudentsintheexperimentalgrouphadpositiveperceptionsofcooperativelearning.Theyreportedthattheyfeltmoreengaged,motivated,andconfidentintheirEnglishlearning.Theyalsofeltthatcooperativelearninghelpedthemdeveloptheirinterpersonalandcommunicationskills.DiscussionThefindingsofthisstudysuggestthatcooperativelearningisaneffectivemeansofteachingEnglishtovocationaltourismmajorsinChina.Thestudysupportspreviousresearchthatsuggeststhatcooperativelearningcanimprovestudents'academicperformance,socialskills,andemotionalwell-being(Johnson,etal.,2014).Thestudyalsosupportsthephilosophyofmultipleintelligencesbydesigningactivitiesthataccommodatedifferentlearningstyles.Onelimitationofthisstudyisthesmallsamplesize.FutureresearchcouldexpandthesamplesizeandincludealongerinterventionperiodtofurtherevaluatetheeffectivenessofcooperativelearninginEnglishteaching.Also,futureresearchcouldcomparecooperativelearningwithotherteachingmethodstoidentifythebestapproachforteachingEnglishtovocationaltourismmajors.ConclusionTheresultsofthisstudysuggestthatcooperativelearningisareliableandeffectivemeansofteachingEnglishtovocationaltourismmajorsinChina.Thestudysupportsthephilosophyofcooperativelearningandthemultipleintelligencestheorybydesigningactivitiesthataccommodatedifferentlearningstyles.Thefindingssuggestthatcooperative