May 2007, Volume 5, No.5 (Serial No.

44) US -China Foreign Language, ISSN1539-8080, US A

Application of CL in teaching college English writing

LUO Yu-jiao
(Zhongshan College, University of Electronic Science & Technology of China, Zhongshan 528402, China)

Abstract: This paper analyzes the problematic situation of college English writing teaching in China and
points out that a cooperative approach is a solution to these problems. Finally, it proposes four teaching strategies
for employing cooperative learning in college English writing teaching.
Key words: cooperative learning; English writing teaching; teaching strategies

1. The Problematic Situation of English Writing Teaching in China ’

s Colleges

In spite of the fact that most college English teachers invest a great deal of time and energy marking, grading
and commenting on the students’work, the result of English writing teaching is still unsatisfactory. Many serious
problems still exist in the current college English writing teaching which are seriously impeding the improvement
of students’writing ability. The fact is that many English teachers do not understand the essence of teaching
English writing and seldom examine the teaching approaches and strategies thoroughly. According to the author’s
personal teaching experience, the typical problems in the teaching methods of English writing may be listed as
follows:
(1) Laying inadequate stress on English writing
For a long time, as a result of the concentration on the traditional approaches, the teaching of English writing
was neglected. This is partly due to the influence of the linguists who treated spoken language as of primary and
written language as of secondary importance (Brooks & Grundy, 2000, p. 10). As stipulated in our English
teaching syllabus for college students, the emphasis is laid on reading among the four basic skills of listening,
speaking, reading and writing. Compared with the other three skills, neither the teaching methods nor the result of
teaching is satisfactory. The only time when writing is much stressed is when the College English Test, Band 4
(CET-4) is drawing near, and that limited practice is designed for nothing but for memorizing some useful
expressions and sentences and testing tricks , instead of improving English writing as a whole.
(2) Emphasizing the product, neglecting the process
In the traditional teaching of English writing, students’compositions are judged by teachers according to
their final products. The planning, drafting and revising of the writing process fall into neglect. Just as TENG
Chun-hong (1993) said, “In the domestic teaching of English writing, grammar structures are emphasized too
much, but the practice of writing as a whole is not given enough attention.”
(3) Teacher -centered and wearisome teaching methods
In typical English writing classroom, the teacher, as the center, normally assigns a writing topic, gives
lectures and explanations, and then asks the students to complete the writing task individually within a given time,
finally the students submit their papers to the teacher for evaluation or scoring. This approach stresses the

LUO Yu-jiao (1969- ), male, M .A., lecturer of Foreign Languages Department, Zhongshan College, University of Electronic
Science & Technology of China; research field: English language teaching and research.

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 Application of CL in teaching college English writing

language factors but neglects the authenticity and practicality of writing activities, especially neglecting the
students’affective factors. It is no wonder that, in the end, writing becomes a frightening headache to most
students.
(4) Outmoded, one-way correcting model
The teachers always spend a lot of time and energy in correcting students’compositions, but mainly focusing
on the language forms (such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) rather than the quality of the language
content (such as plotting and thoughts, etc.), while students, who seldom pay attention to the mistakes and the
comments, only care about the marks given by the teachers. As a result, the same mistakes may appear again in
their following compositions.
The above situation, to a great extent, results from our current education system. Currently, in China, the
orientation of education is examination and competition rather than all-round personal development. Due to an
insufficiency of education and employment opportunities in China, the students have to pass various examinations
to further their studies or to seek a decent job after graduation. The serious consequence of this situation is that
those college graduates who have been studying English for more than ten years and have passed CET-4 or CET-6
are not able to communicate effectively in English with others and lack necessary awareness of cooperation and
social skills. Therefore, they cannot meet the social needs of the outside world. To change this situation,
cooperative learning, which emphasizes communication and cooperation, may be reverted to as a solution to the
current problems existing in China’ s English teaching.

2. Cooperative Learning (CL)

In recent years, many advanced methods of English writing have been introduced into China. Among them,
process writing is considered as one of the most effective approaches, in which learner-centered activities are
emphasized and writing tasks are completed through small-group discussion, peer evaluation and communication
between teachers and students. Cooperative Learning (CL) is considered as a suitable approach or strategy to
make process approach work effectively in English writing classrooms. Although CL has been widely used abroad
and has been shown to be effective in students’achievement, in China it only has a short history. Many teachers
have cognizance of it only in terms of its form but not the soul. Their application of it is chiefly blind and
inflexible. They still have many problems in effectively operating cooperative learning in English classroom.
Cooperative Learning (CL) is defined as “students working together in a group small enough that everyone
can participate in a collective task… without the direct and immediate supervision of the teacher”(Cohen, 1994,
cited in Dale, 1997). CL is strongly advocated by constructivists who believe that knowledge is negotiated and
acquired through social interaction. According to social constructivists, language learning is a process of
socialization, not merely cognition. Language learners with their prior knowledge and experience are active
participants, and teachers are co-constructors of the meaningful interactions. Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T.
reported a meta-analysis of 122 studies of cooperative learning done between 1924 and 1981. The results show
that, compared with competitive learning, the use of CL tends to help students obtain more materials, promote
academic achievement, increase confidence and motivation to learn, decrease dependence on the teacher, have
greater competence in critical thinking, possess more positive attitudes towards their studying, exhibit greater
competence in collaborative activities, have greater psychological health, and accept differences among their peers
(Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T., 1989, 1999).

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 Application of CL in teaching college English writing

3. An Overview of CL in Writing Classroom

As process approach is gradually playing a leading role in writing teaching, CL certainly is increasingly
involved in it. Many scholars have done research on the use of CL in writing teaching and they, from various
angles, demonstrate the effects and effectiveness of the application of CL in teaching writing.
Chrissie Boughey (1997) drew a conclusion from his experiment, “although the group writing experiment
was not without problems, it provided an invaluable experience…a group writing experience could be an
important means of introducing many good writing and learning practices to students who might not be otherwise
not be exposed to them because of the large size of their class.”
Zammuner (1995) concluded from his study that, in comparison with individually written drafts,
cooperatively written ones exhibit higher text quality: more informative and better semantic richness of clauses.
In China we can also find some research on writing in a CL framework. GAO Feng-ping (1999) and CHEN
Yu-ling (2001), from their respective studies, concluded that group writing tended to be more effective to provoke
students’enthusiasm and led to greater involvement and consequently improve students’writing ability.
However, knowing that CL can have a powerful effect when properly employed in teaching and learning
practice does not mean that all the CL activities will be “effective or equally effective in maximizing
achievement”(Johnson & Johnson, 1999). We still need to design and implement teaching strategies to make it
the most effective approach in our practical situation.

4. Teaching Strategies of CL in Writing Classroom

In view of the defects of traditional English writing teaching, the following teaching strategies of CL in
teaching English writing are designed according to the actual situation of our college English writing classroom.
Its dominant ideas are: to bring language learners into focus and give full play to teachers who will act as
organizers, conductors, helpers and facilitators; to create favorable writing environment for students so as to
arouse their writing fervor; to provide cooperative conditions and opportunities for students in order to develop
their cooperative awareness; to give full wing to their creativity and imagination and finally to improve their
writing ability.
4.1 Creating a favorable writing environment
According to the CL theory proposed by Johnson brothers, the first step is to have a definite purpose. As an
organizer, the teacher first should choose a suitable writing topic according to the students’life experiences so that
they will feel eager and easy to express themselves. Then the teacher should provide students with written
materials and pictures, etc. to arouse their interest to be actively involved in group activities. Through group work,
students can share information, collect materials and define the writing framework. By then, prewriting is
complete.
4.2 Allowing students to conceive independently and experience actively
Independence does not mean refusing to look for help from others or use relevant material resources. On the
contrary, the students with strong independence, when in need, are inclined to refer to books from libraries or turn
to teachers or friends for help. CL focuses its attention not only on those independent students but also on the
students who are too shy or quiet to participate in the interactive activities. The teacher should concentrate on
developing the students’ ability of conceiving and exploring independently, encouraging them to actively
experience the writing process in order to make them master writing techniques and improve their writing. After

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 Application of CL in teaching college English writing

the pre-writing stage, students should conceive the draft on their own according to their experiences and feelings,
and to draw up the outline, and then to complete the first draft. Over this process, their abilities of analyzing and
solving problems on their own would be improved. Successful and active personal experience not only provides
them with a strong motivation of action, but also helps them gain a good attitude towards their studying and
strengthen their self-confidence.
4.3 Creating a relaxed atmosphere for students to alleviate their anxiety in writing
As writing is a complex mental cognitive process, most students are worried and uneasy about writing. So
they will probably undergo a so-called block period at the beginning. In order to meet students’psychological
needs, CL focuses particularly on students’emotional factors. In a cooperative group, different ideas of group
members are accepted, valued and encouraged. Group members communicate, interact and respect each other
with tender feelings and friendship. Everyone has the chance to express his opinions or state his views. At the
same time, they are willing to listen to others. So they are cheerful and relaxed to work together. Consequently,
their anxiety in writing is decreased and alleviated.
4.4 Active assessment & self-evaluation
Social psychologists emphasize process or group self-evaluation during and after group activities, just as
Cohen (1986) states, “…never grade or evaluate students on their individual contributions to the group product”.
Cooperative learning has built up a new concept and model of assessment in which every member is assessed in
terms of his progress rather than his success and this is the criterion of the final assessment.
As we know, the traditional assessment is generally conducted like this: when the teaching of a certain
subject is coming to an end, a two-hour examination is given to the students, and then the papers are marked and
scores are reported to them. All the work is done alone by the teacher, with no participation from the students,
while the ongoing assessment is part of the teaching activities which is usually conducted several times: before,
during and after the learning activities. The traditional assessment, which is competitive and summative, only
focuses on results of examinations, judging “success”by scores, thus, making students know nothing about their
progressing process and decreasing their learning motivations, consequently ruining their desire for learning.
However, the ongoing assessment consists of a succession of authentic learning activities that are closely
connected with students’academic objectives. After the first draft is finished, a series of activities of discussion,
giving feedback and assessment would be conducted immediately, focusing on the content and viewpoints rather
than only language points. With the experience of their progress and achievements in their studies, students are
eager to listen to the opinions of others. Then they will rethink and find out their own strengths and weaknesses
and therefore heighten their confidence to make greater progress.

5. Conclusion

To summarize, cooperative writing incarnates a shift of language teaching “from an emphasis on

teacher-centered to learner-centered classrooms and from transmission-oriented to participatory or constructivist
knowledge development”(Crandall, cited in Arnold, 2000). Applying CL in writing teaching can change to a great
degree the awkward situation mentioned above and solve many problems of college English teaching in China,
but it is not a cure-all remedy. We must combine it with other teaching approaches in terms of China’s actual
cultural and educational context and make it work at its best in our language teaching.

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Brookes, A. & Grundy, P. 2000. Beginning to write. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
CHEN Yu-ling. 2002. Cooperative learning theory in teaching English writing. Journal of Hebei University, (4).
Cohen, E.G. 1994. Reconstructing the classroom: Conditions for productive small groups. Review of Educational Research, (63).
GAO Feng-ping. 1999. The use of group work in teaching writing for English majors. Weinan College Journal, (4).
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(Edited by Bony, Jessica and Doris)

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