An Action Research On The Application Of PAD Class Model In English Writing Teaching In Senior High Schools

As a new classroom teaching model,the Presentation-Assimilation-Discussion（PAD）class model,proposed by Professor Zhang Xuexin in 2014,combines the advantages of both the lecture class and discussion class.It divides the class into three sections: presentation,assimilation,and discussion.The class time is mainly divided into two equal periods,allocating half of the time for presentation and the other half for discussion.The time between presentation and discussion is staggered so that students have time for both autonomous learning and internalization of what they have learned.Ensuring students’ dominant position,this model focuses on students’ interest in learning,their communication skills,and their abilities to learn independently,which results in the improved teaching efficacy.The PAD class model is applied in this study to investigate the following issues in the senior high school English writing class:（1）In what aspects does PAD class affect senior high school students’ English writing proficiency?（content,structure and language use）（2）Can PAD class exert a positive effect on senior high school students’ attitudes towards English writing,and cultivate their abilities of autonomous learning and cooperative learning?Taking the 51 students of a second-grade class at a senior high school in Meizhou City,Guangdong Province,as the subjects,two rounds of action research on writing instruction based on the PAD class model are conducted in this study.The whole teaching experiment lasts for nearly a semester.After analyzing the relevant data collected from questionnaires,tests and interviews,the study comes up with the following findings.First and primarily,the PAD class model can help high school students develop their English writing proficiency.In particular,it can enrich and innovate the writing contents,make structure reasonable and coherent,and make language use clear and accurate.Second,the PAD class model has a positive effect on students’ attitudes towards English writing and it can increase their interest in writing.To be specific,students are no longer worried about their English writing but instead they feel more confident in their writing.In addition,the assimilation in class helps to increase students’ autonomous learning ability,and the discussion with their classmates can raise their cooperative learning ability.In conclusion,this action research reveals that implementing the PAD class model in high school English classes helps to enhance students’ writing proficiency,and it also positively affects students’ attitudes towards writing,inspires their interest in learning,and develops their autonomous and cooperative learning abilities.However,as there are still some deficiencies in the present application of the PAD class model in class,more researchers should continue to innovate English writing teaching methods so as to improve the quality of English instruction.