An Action Research On Hierarchical Guidance In High School English Reading Based On Input Hypothesis

Stratified reading instruction refers to a teaching model,in which learners are,firstly,stratified systematically based on their own individual features in terms of reading ability and other learning conditions,and,then,are assigned different text reading tasks of moderate difficulty for each stratified group respectively,for the purpose of enhancing all the learners' reading ability.According to Krashen's “i+1” optimal language input hypothesis in his Monitor Theory,learners' linguistic competence can be elevated only through the way that they completely perceive and understand the language materials that are slightly higher than their own current level.Therefore,the effectiveness of reading class depends directly on whether students at different levels can receive layered guidance with targeted objectives.This study,based on classroom teaching practice,Krashen's “i+1” input hypothesis theory,and previous research results,taking 100 students as the research subjects from two paralleled classes of the first grade taught by the author herself,carried out a well-planned five-month action research on stratified reading instruction,step by step,supplemented by the methods questionnaire and interview.The study was designed to discover problems and solutions to the problems in reading instruction through action on layered guidance,aiming to answer the following two questions:(1)What is the layered instruction process suitable for high school English learners?(2)In what aspects can the layered guidance of English reading help high school English learners at different levels?The results of the action research show that:(1)Stratified reading instruction guided by the“i+1” language input hypothesis,could effectively improve learners' reading achievement scores,with prominent effect of promoting language learning,and helped to form a complete set of specific procedure for layered guidance of English reading.The procedure included several steps:the establishment of teaching goals,lead-in of reading passages,reading strategy training during reading and post-reading task assignment,in which layered guidance was conducted respectively.What is worth noticing that during the reading strategy training process,how to give layered guidance was especially described with specified real instances.What is followed are specific operating instances of classroom reading instruction with layered guidance,including those from the stages of before-reading,while-reading and after-reading,for an explicit explanation of stratified reading instruction steps in high school English reading classroom.(2)Through the analysis of the testing scores before and after the action research on stratified instruction,learners' reading achievements had been greatly improved by receiving layered guidance.The results of questionnaire and interview show that under the influence of layered guidance,learners' reading interest and motivation at different levels had been fully aroused,their reading speed had been significantly accelerated,the effectiveness of reading strategy training had been greatly improved,and their vocabulary had been greatly expanded.On the whole,the action research had totally confirmed the advanced hypothesis that layered guidance in reading classroom instruction has obvious positive effects on improving learners' comprehensive reading ability at all levels.This research is an attempt to improve the reading instruction effect,for the shortcomings of the traditional reading classroom instruction model.In general,it has achieved the expected goals in that it has not only successfully answered the two preset questions,but also had satisfactory gains and discoveries.Although with the number of research objects limited and lack of comprehensiveness,the study could help to promote further optimization of high school English reading classroom teaching model,both theoretically and practically.Based on the specific instances of how to use the stratified reading instruction method,it could also put forward some beneficial suggestions for future teaching and research.