An Action Research On English Reading Teaching In Junior High School Based On 5E Inquiry Method

Traditional English reading teaching plays an important role in helping students expand their vocabulary and master the basic knowledge of English,but when teaching text knowledge,it neglects students’ exploratory learning of reading materials,so some students are not highly motivated to learn English reading and lack certain reading learning strategies.The 5E inquiry method emphasizes students’ deep understanding of the reading text as well as promotes the construction of new knowledge and the development of independent inquiry skills,which divides the teaching process into five closely related stages,namely Engagement,Exploration,Explanation,Elaboration and Evaluation.Therefore,this study aims to explore how to apply the 5E inquiry method to junior high school English reading classes in order to implement more effective reading teaching.This study revolves around the following three questions:(1)What is the effect of the 5E inquiry method on junior high school students’ interest in English reading learning?(2)What is the effect of the 5E inquiry method on junior high school students’ choice of English reading strategies?(3)What is the effect of the 5E inquiry method on improving junior high school students’ independent inquiry skills in English reading?This study designed a 5E teaching program suitable for this research based on He Pengfei’s(2022)5E reading teaching model,which was combined with the English Learning Activity View.The program integrates inquiry-based teaching into the activities of English reading teaching,trying to let students apply their linguistic and cultural knowledge to practice,as well as transfer and innovate their knowledge in reading activities.Based on this,the study conducted two rounds of action research in Class A of Grade 7 in an experimental middle school in Nanyang for 16 weeks.The study mainly used questionnaires,interviews and classroom observation records to collect data,and SPSS 27.0 was used to do statistical analysis of the questionnaire data.After analyzing the data from the questionnaires,the results of the interviews,and the records of the classroom observations,this study found that:(1)Reading teaching based on the 5E inquiry method had a positive impact on students’ English reading interest.This was demonstrated by students’ awareness of the importance of English reading learning,their increased concentration in class,and their increased motivation to participate in classroom activities.(2)Reading teaching based on the 5E inquiry method had a facilitating effect on students’ selection and use of reading strategies.The results of the post questionnaire and interview indicated that the reading strategies used by students,such as prediction and inference,were significantly increased and optimized after the implementation of the 5E inquiry teaching,as well as better comprehension of the texts.However,no significant improvement was seen in guessing the meaning of words based on the context of the texts.(3)Reading teaching based on the 5E inquiry method had an overall positive impact on the improvement of students’ independent inquiry skills in reading learning.Students were able to find out and explore the problems on their own initiative,put forward their own opinions about some ideas in the reading texts,and apply what they had learned to solve practical problems.The following pedagogical implications can be obtained from this study: in reading teaching,teachers should pay attention to the cultivation of students’ independent and autonomous learning consciousness,and constantly stimulate students’ interest in reading and class participation initiative;in addition,teachers should pay attention to the diversified assessment of students in the teaching process to promote students’ comprehensive development.