Innovation in Language Learning

Reading in considered as a basic life skill and an important gateway to academic success and to professional development (Levine, Ferenze & Reves, 2000).  In fact, without the skills of reading comprehension and the motivation to learn, students’ academic progress is limited. Among the numerous instructional strategies advocated in the reading research is Cooperative learning (CL). It is assumed that CL aims to ease the burden on the part of individual students by grouping them to read and discuss the content without undue leaning on their teachers. Accordingly, this papers aims at exploring the contribution of CL in enhancing Business students’ reading comprehension. Students from the Higher Institute of Technological Studies, Mahdia took part in a CL treatment. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods was used.  A pre-test, post-test was administered to investigate the impact of CL on students’ reading comprehension. Classroom observations were also carried out. Students were interviewed at the end of the experiment to explore their perceptions towards the CL method. Findings revealed the positive contribution of CL method to the learners’ reading comprehension. Positive attitudes towards CL method were also noted. Learners perceived a better command of reading strategies and showed an increased interest in reading. It seems that the implementation of CL as a non-conventional method of teaching reading is a possible strategy to address comprehension in ESP classroom.

Keywords: reading comprehension skills, ESP, cooperative learning, social interaction, motivation; 

References:
Levine, A.  Ferenze, O.  Reves, T . (2000). EFL academic reading and modern technology: How can we turn our students into independent critical readers? TESL-EJ, 4(4). Retrieved from http: //www-writing.berkely.edu/TESL-EJ/ej 16 /al.html.