| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 英語學系 === 95 === The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cooperative learning instruction on motivation, self-efficacy, and achievement amongst fifth-grade elementary school students studying English in Taiwan. Different from most studies of cooperative learning whose participants are high school and college students, the focus of this study is on elementary school students. A quasi-experimental study was set up to further this research. The participants came from four classes in the fifth year of elementary school. Two classes from two different elementary schools participated. One class from each school became the experimental group which underwent cooperative learning instruction. The other class in each school was the control group, which received grammar translation instruction.
Pre-tests were given to both the experimental group and the control group before the experiment started, and post-tests were given after six weeks of participation. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the motivation and self-efficacy situation before and after the students received cooperative learning instruction. The tests assessed students’ motivation, self-efficacy, and achievement in learning English. An independent sample t test was used to check for any significant difference between the control group and the experimental group.
The results of this study provided some interesting insights into the use of cooperative learning instruction at elementary school level. It showed that cooperative learning instruction helped to improve these fifth grade elementary school students’ motivation, achievement, and self-efficacy in learning English. The results corroborated previous studies showing that cooperative learning can have positive effects on students’ learning English.
Some pedagogical implications are provided. Teachers in elementary schools should be encouraged to use cooperative learning instruction to improve their students’ motivation, achievement, and self-efficacy in learning English. It is suggested that educational authorities should hold more seminars to increase teachers’ familiarity with the concepts and implementation of cooperative learning.
Key words: cooperative learning, motivation, self-efficacy, achievement
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