A Study On The Application Of Language And Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching To English Reading In Senior High Schools

For senior high school students,English reading comprehension is the core ability of language competence and a key test component in the College Entrance Examination.Guided by Sociocultural Theory and Language and Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching proposed by Sun Youzhong in 2019,this research aims to boost students’ English reading interest,reading grades and critical thinking abilities.It intends to explore three questions:(1)What influences does Language and Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching have on students’ English reading learning interest?(2)What influences does Language and Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching have on students’ English reading grades?(3)What influences does Language and Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching have on students’ critical thinking abilities?The author conducts the teaching experiment in two parallel classes in Xiong Yue Senior High School in Liaoning Province,from September to December in 2020.In Control Class(CC),the author has applied the traditional English teaching method.In Experiment Class(EC),the author has applied Language and Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching.This research has used the research instruments combined with questionnaire,the assessment tool of critical thinking ability,English reading test paper,interview and class observation.The research results show that EC students’ English reading interest has improved significantly especially from the aspects of emotion and behavior compared with CC.Their English reading grades and critical thinking abilities have also improved higher than CC.This proves that Language and Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching can facilitate students’ reading interest,reading grades and critical thinking abilities.This research contributes to improving the current situation in senior high school English teaching,such as teacher’s dominance of the class,students’ low participation in class,and students’ absence of critical thinking.Language and Critical Thinking Integrated Teaching also sets higher demands for English teachers’ own critical thinking abilities and teaching abilities.Teachers should locate their teaching in students’ ZPD,increase teacher-student and student-student interactions,and create a harmonious and democratic learning atmosphere for students.In the meantime,teachers should be able to update their teaching concepts constantly and insist lifelong learning.However,due to the limitations of the author’s personal research ability,teaching ability and the other objective conditions,the research still deserves further improvements in the aspects of research time,sample size,and the design of teaching activities,etc.