A Survey On The Application Of Knowledge Visualization In High School English Reading Teaching

In the context of the new media era,multi-modal discourse consisting of verbal language,images,sounds and other visual graphics has become the main feature of modern text.To meet the requirements of the new era,the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China has put forward requirements for the development of students’ “visual literacy” in the General Senior High School Curriculum Standards(2017 Edition and 2020 Revision).“visual literacy” refers to students’ ability to understand the meaning conveyed by non-textual visual symbols such as images,tables and videos in multi-modal discourse.Since knowledge visualization tools can transform complex,abstract and incomprehensible texts into graphs and charts,it can help students to understand the content of texts at a deeper level and promote the development of their “visual literacy”.Therefore,it is of great theoretical and practical importance to investigate the application of knowledge visualization in high school English reading teaching.This study selected 279 students and 30 teachers from S High School in Huaibei City,using questionnaires,classroom observation scales and interview outlines as research tools to investigate the following three questions:(1)How do high school students and English teachers perceive knowledge visualization tools?(2)What is the use of knowledge visualization tools by high school English teachers in reading teaching?(3)Are there any problems with the application of knowledge visualization tools in high school English reading teaching? How can this tool be further applied in reading teaching?By analyzing the data,the research conclusions are as follows: First,the knowledge of knowledge visualization tools among high school teachers and students is at a moderate level,and most of them have some understanding of it but not deeply enough.Second,teachers’ use of knowledge visualization tools in reading instruction is not satisfactory,and the following are the results of the specific dimensions:(1)Frequency of use,teachers use different kinds of visualization tools in reading instruction,but the frequency of use is not high.The focus is more on static images,while the use of graphical visualization is relatively infrequent and needs to be improved.(2)In terms of the use of scenarios,teachers preferred to use visualization in the introductory and while-reading stages,and relatively less frequently in the pre-reading and post-reading stages.(3)In terms of the purpose of using visualization tools,teachers generally agreed with the following statements: the purpose of using visualization tools is to motivate students’ interest in reading,activate students’ background knowledge related to the reading topic,clarify the clues of the text,and explore the thematic meaning of the text.(4)As for the effectiveness of use,most teachers and students agreed that knowledge visualization tools helped improve their interest in reading and reading comprehension.Finally,it was concluded from the interviews that teachers’ lack of theoretical understanding related to knowledge visualization and the low frequency of using knowledge visualization tools in some reading stages are the main problems in the application of knowledge visualization tools to reading teaching.Based on the findings,this study makes the following suggestions on how English teachers can better use knowledge visualization tools in teaching: schools can hold visualization-related teaching training to enhance awareness;collective lesson preparation to summarize strategies for using visualization tools according to different reading sessions.It is hoped that the above suggestions can provide practical references for front-line teachers and promote the use of knowledge visualization tools in reading teaching for both teachers and students to improve students’ reading level.