The Task-based Approach To Junior Middle School English Learning And Teaching: An Empirical Exploration Of Its Effective Implementation

As orthodoxy in foreign language teaching, task-based approach (TBA) is one of focuses in current academic world. The theory about TBA has been fully developed over the past thirty years. Now foreign researchers are focusing on evaluating language output in TBA from complexity, accuracy and fluency of language. In China, TBA has been widely complemented in English teaching and learning since the issue of English Curriculum Standards in Compulsory Education (Experimental) and Normal High School English Curriculum Standards (Experimental). Recently academic papers and works about TBA emerged one after another. However most of these researches just studied one particular TBA class and lacked universality in subjects and typicality in results. In addition, those studies just stayed at the practical teaching and learning level without theoretical analyses and promotion. There are fewer researches about the effective implementation of TBA in the Confucian-heritage context.Taking questionnaire and interview as the main research methods, the thesis investigated the English teaching and learning situation of 13 junior middle schools in Shaanxi province to find the effective way to implement TBA in the Confucian-heritage context. When the author analyzed the quantitative data of questionnaires with SPSS 17.0, the learner variables in Bialystok's (1980) Second Language Acquisition Model were taken as the predicative independents to test the significant influence of learner variables on the English learning in TBA and optimize the implementation of TBA in Confucian-heritage context. The major findings of the quantitative study are the bellowing. Age of learners plays a negative role in their English speaking and writing performances. With the growth of age, the learner might have a lower confidence in the performances of English speaking and writing. Learning motivation acts as a key positive factor in the learner's language development. Learners with higher motivation might have higher confidence to their English learning and their performance on English learning might be better. Learners would have higher confidence to their reading competence, if they get more functional practicing. In learners' eyes, more functional practicing would be helpful to their speaking and writing skills as well as reading skill. The teacher questionnaires show that more formal practicing in listening activities might decrease students' listening level.During the interview with in-service English teachers in the 13 middle schools, the author found some conflicts between TBA and English teaching and learning practice in China. The major conflicts exist in the following aspects. For teachers, grammar instruction takes an important place in teaching and learning. In TBA teachers seldom instruct students directly but induct them to find the rules after enough language experience. Compared with the public examinations, the internal examinations are bigger impediments to the TBA implementation. Teachers reject too much emphasis on oral tasks in TBA and suggest highlighting reading and writing tasks.