An Action Research Of Inquiry-based English Homework In Senior Middle School

Through theoretical and practical considerations of English homework, this thesis aims at the creative designing and evaluation of Inquiry-based English homework for senior middle school students according to the newly promulgated Senior Middle School English Curriculum Criterion, trying to explore new learning strategies in English language teaching (ELT) in Chinese secondary schools and improve the quality of ELT.English homework is an organic part of ELT in senior middle schools. It is the continuing and deepening of classroom teaching and can make up for the limitations of classroom teaching to a large extent. Besides, it can provide more opportunities for contextual practice. Moreover, it has the features of variety, fun and flexibility, which help the teachers to teach students in accordance with their own aptitude, cultivate their interest and enable them to give full play to their skills.With the development of psycholinguistics and teaching methodology, and the extensive application of the Task-based Theory and Inquiry-based Theory in English teaching in high school, most of articles about English homework only deal with the categorization and listing of the various types of it. On the other hand, many teachers lack comprehensive and profound understanding of English homework and have little experience in practice. Hence there is still much room for more comprehensive and deeper study on how to design and evaluate English homework in ELT.This thesis begins with an introduction to the newly promulgated Senior Middle School English Curriculum Criterion, which advocated cultivating the students' ability about collecting and dealing with the information, the ability about obtaining new knowledge, the ability about analyzing and settling the problems and the ability about exchange and cooperation. Then the author gives a brief introduction to the basic features and the importance of English homework.Then the author carried out an investigation in an ordinary high school in Beihai city. The investigation shows that most of the students'English homework still remains the same as the traditional styles, such as copying, reciting, answering question, filling in the blank, translation etc. The assessment ways are also very simple: giving a score or grade by the teachers. These are far away from the request of the new curriculum criterion.The Inquiry-based Learning Theory provides theoretical basis for English homework designing and assessment. The inquiry-based learning grows from the philosophical foundations of John Dewey as well as the psychological underpinnings of constructivism. Problem-solving model is one of the main approaches of the inquiry-based learning mode. In order to make the new course used successfully and improve the students' abilities of inquiry and application of language, a new teaching approach -- Inquiry-based Teaching Mode was being tried by some English teachers in high school. The inquiry-based homework refers to the homework that is of a task-based nature, and the task in task-based approach in ELT is a teaching activity whose aim is to achieve a successful communication rather than the successful manipulation of linguistic forms. Thus the inquiry-based homework is content-based in the present thesis. It is different from the traditional homework which is form-oriented.Action research is a systematic self-reflective inquiry activity. It seeks to bring the practice classroom teacher into the research process as the most effective person to identify problems and to find solutions. By implementing an action research, by private reflection-on action, language teachers can gain professional development. The basic approach of my research method is action research method. By implementing the action research, the author explores the ways of designing and assessment English homework. The major concern of the present thesis is to apply the inquiry-based learning approaches to guiding the English homework that may be suitable for Chinese high school students. The subjects are 66 students in senior one from an ordinary high school in Beihai city. During 10-week's instructional intervention, the author carried out a research to guide the students to do English homework in her own class. Three instruments were used in the research: two questionnaires related to doing English homework attitudes and beliefs; an unstructured interview and teacher log. By analyzing the collected data and reflected the action, the researcher found: 1) after the action the students gained interest in doing English homework. They were more confident in it than before. Their attitudes and beliefs towards English homework changed in some degree. 2) By implementing the action research, by private reflection-on action, the author found more ways to assign, guide, revise and evaluate English homework and helping the students learn English more efficiently and effectually.In conclusion, English homework is a useful supplement to classroom. It is hoped that this thesis will help the Chinese high school English teachers to have a better understanding of the Inquiry-based learning and the English homework.