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

English assignment plays an important role in English teaching, and senior middle school education is an important process of Fundamental Education. Since senior middle school students are under pressure of College Entrance Exam, homework from teachers are highly test-oriented, focusing more on intensification training and memorization, with very few focusing on practice and exploration. Based on Senior Grade 3 English teaching, the author conducted researches on current status of assignment from perspectives of amount of homework and students' approval of English assignment, with the following findings revealed: rigid and monotonous content of homework fails to inspire students' interest in English study; lack of stratification in assigning homework is not good for students' individual development; with homework paying more attention to teaching of grammar and vocabulary, students' practical ability of using language is neglected, which is not good for cultivating students' learning capability. To address these issues, combining modern education theories and guiding ideas of new course theory, in this paper the author made an attempt on innovative design of English assignment for senior students with the project-based learning framework, and explored new learning methods of English, aiming to improve English teaching quality.Project-based homework refers to inter-disciplinary activities conducted in the formats of observation, investigation, exploration, demonstration, and sharing. Project-based homework requires teachers to appropriately determine content and formats of homework design based on students' language levels and learning interest. This requires students to conduct some self-motivated language practice activities which are closely related to classroom teaching and real life; it also requires students to apply after-class acquisition to classroom study to enrich classroom content and expand language information. Based on Shanghai Senior Grade 3 English teaching material (New Century version), this thesis designed project-based homework, with arrangement of projects of each unit taking into consideration the students' specific situation and stratification of difficulties. At the same time, the design of the content focuses on unit expansion, with theme-related projects selected. This paper follows action research methodology, which is applicable to actual education-related issues instead of theoretical ones, and targets at actual scenarios in English teaching.In a word, the author made attempts to offer preliminary research findings to help senior middle school English teachers better understand and implement "project-based learning", hoping to develop well-designed homework assignment to allow for individual development of students under the guidance of "project-based learning" and "multi-intelligence theory", and to provide some basis and reference for senior middle school English teachers to prepare full-range and complete teaching plans.