An Action Research On The Influence Of "Think-pair-share"(TPS) Teaching Model On Junior High School Students' English Speaking Proficiency

Speaking plays a very important part in foreign language learning and it plays an essential role in improving students' English language skills,and in examining students' comprehensive language proficiency.The aim of this study is to describe the effects of “Think-Pair-Share” model(TPS model)on junior high school students' English speaking proficiency.TPS model is a cooperative teaching strategy that includes three components: thinking,sharing with partners and sharing back to a larger group.With the input hypothesis,output hypothesis and cooperative learning theory,the present study investigates these two research questions: 1)Does TPS model have positive effect on learners' English speaking proficiency? 2)How does TPS model influence the lexical complexity and the richness of content on students' English speaking proficiency?In the action research,32 students in the Junior Two from Ziyouren Garden School in Huadu District of Guangzhou participate in the research.The research lasts for 14 weeks,and both quantitative and qualitative methods are used.Before the first cycle of research,classroom observation,interview and speaking pre-test are conducted for students' speaking proficiency and speaking study problems in order to make the plan for the first cycle.The first cycle of action research lasts for 6 weeks,and has mainly studied the influence of TPS model on lexical complexity of students' speaking performance.Based on the comparison between pre-test and mid-test results and the analysis of classroom observation,field notes and interview,the author reflects the teaching method in order to make a revised plan for the second cycle research.The second cycle lasts for 5 weeks,and has mainly studied the influence of TPS model on richness of content of students' speaking performance.By analyzing the quantitative data with SPSS 19.0 and discussing all the qualitative data,the conclusions are drawn to answer the research questions: 1)TPS model has a positive effect on learners' English speaking proficiency;2)By providing students enough time for independent thinking and pair discussion,TPS model influences the lexical complexity and the richness of content on students' Englishspeaking proficiency.The research concludes that the application of TPS model in speaking class can be feasible and effective in improving junior high students' speaking proficiency,and it provides some enlightenment to junior high school English teachers.