4.1.1 The Students Benefit from the Awarded-mark System of Group Cooperation 17

4.1.2 The Teachers Benefit from the Awarded-mark System of Group Cooperation 17

4.2 The Problems Exist in Present System 17

4.2.1 The Problems Exist in the Present Awarded-mark System of Group Cooperation 17

4.2.2 Way to Improve the Application of Awarded-Marks for Group Cooperation 17

5.Conclusion 19

References 20

Appendix 1: The Datum of Experiments 1

Appendix 2: Questionarire 4

Appendix 3: Interview Questions: 4

1. Introduction

Thanks to the reform and opening-up policy, English has become the very essential part of students’ school life, especially when today’s globalization has become irreversible. English can be a very powerful tool which provides us a window to get more information about the outside world, not mention that English nowadays has been regarded as the universal language. There is no doubt that English has been a part of people’s comprehensive qualities, to promote the English teaching has become the common strategic recognition to the whole world, and that is why teaching methodology should be up-to-date. As can be seen in the past decades, reform and innovation has been done in English Curriculum. With the New English Curriculum, the English teaching in middle school has stepped up to a new level, which in need of a series of new teaching methods to adapt to this changing circumstances.

In china, affected by the examination-oriented education system, English teaching used to be done in a traditional way, with the teacher talking and the students taking notes, at the meanwhile, the evaluation of the students used to be done in a straight way which reflects in their grades. However, the traditional English teaching paid little attention to students’ ability of flexible using of the language. It emphasized the standard of the language yet neglected the inpidual’s difference. Nowadays the methods of teaching and evaluating have changed and student centered methodology is prevailing. Students got used to work in pairs or even in groups at English class and got involved in different tasks together with their group members. Still, there are some problems in middle school English learning. One of the biggest one is that students are afraid of speaking in English. They may do well in written work, yet not so well in oral English. Therefore, how to make students open their mouths willingly has become a problem need to be solved. 

In my first day being a practice teacher in Fengtan middle school, I was shocked by the students’ willingness of involvement in English class which was showed in their very frequently hands-up. It reminded me of the English class I have attended when I was in that age which was always silence and everybody would bend their head into the drawer if they could. From head-down to hands-up, it is a big twist! I couldn’t stop wondering what made it happen. Under my observation, I noticed that in Fentan middle school, every class is pided into several groups, and in front of every classroom, there is a student mark board which recorded the score each group had reached, so that every group member’s behavior would have a great impact on the total scour of the group. I believe that the award marks system may contribute to the students’ enthusiasm for the class. 

Therefore, in order to check whether the awarded marks for group cooperation contributes to the willingness of middle students to be involved in class, what kind of role it plays, and to which extend it effects the students, I try to study the application of awarded marks for group cooperation, taking the case of Fengtan middle school in junior two as the sample.