The Application Of Task-based Language Teaching To English Reading Teaching In Senior High School

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has attracted attention of experts and English teachers in China. It emphasizes the importance of organizing a course around communicative tasks that learners need to do outside the classroom, and facilities learners to do tasks required in language use. The essence of task-based learning is a process of "learning by doing", in which learners engage in naturalistic learning through experiencing and exploring language.The purpose of this thesis is to prove that task-based teaching method is effective in English reading class in senior high school, and it can enhance the students' reading interest and ability, and change SEFC students' learning styles from passive reception to self-access, cooperation and exploration. In order to confirm the point, the author carried out an experiment in two classes in Senior Grade One in No.3 High School of Lanzhou, Gansu Province. One class is the experimental class; the other is the control class. Task-based teaching method was employed in the experimental class, and traditional teaching method was employed in the control class. The experiment lasted for four months. A questionnaire was made at the end of the experiment.Based upon the analysis of the data, the students in the experimental class who take task-based reading training make more remarkable progress in English reading comprehension ability compared to the control class. The result of the questionnaire also proves that task-based language teaching in English reading class is feasible and effective, in which the students are less dependent on the teacher, in English reading class, the students are more active and gain more interest in English reading.The whole paper is made up of five chapters.The first chapter is an introduction, which states the background, purpose and significance of this study.The second chapter is about literature review, with the models of reading process and their limitations, definitions of task, its rationales and so on.The third chapter deals with the experimental design of this study. The experiment consists mainly of two parts. First, two tests were given to the subjects both from the EC and the CC. Second, a questionnaire survey was done to see whether the task-based approach was more effective or not than the traditional approach.The fourth chapter is assigned to data processing. The statistic SPSS was used. The result verified that the students in the experimental class had a better reading level than the control class. The results offered persuasive evidence to the hypothesis.The fifth chapter comes up with the conclusion about the advantages and limitations of TBLT, and also suggestions for further studies are given too.