CONSTRUCTIVISM AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING: AN APPLICATION IN TEACHING INTERPRETING TO SENIOR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS ENGLISH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE–MARKETING

Abstract

The paper discusses the application of constructivism to teaching interpreting to senior students of Business English at the University of Finance-Marketing’s Foreign Language Department. In fact, the author depicts the classroom model, in which the constructivist approach in combination with cooperative learning is adopted in two empirical courses. The participant observation and questionnaire reveal that the students are really interested in and inspired by the constructivist approach to teaching interpreting at tertiary level, and the factor analysis of material preference, language proficiency, confidence, methods and the teacher through data statistics indicates that the students like and support the empirical courses, and the teacher is the most influential on students’ learning and the most satisfying factor.