On The Teaching Of Task-based English Reading In High Schools

It is strongly advocated that the Task-oriented Teaching Model for English Language is based on 20 years'foreign language teaching practice in the"New Standards for Middle School English Curriculums". This Model proposes learning through experiencing, practicing, participating, communicating and cooperating by training the students'overall abilities of using the language in learning process, and finally realizes the goals of tasks. It emphasizes"learning by doing", in which students are engaged in naturalistic learning through participating in communicative activities and accomplishing language learning tasks together with their teachers.The thesis is an attempt to study TBRT in a reading class in Chinese middle schools by beginning with the introduction to the theories of reading and task-based language teaching. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter one includes the research question, the purpose and significance of this research in a reading class in Chinese middle schools. Chapter two is devoted to the theories of reading and three reading models. Chapter three discusses the notion of a task, the traits and advantages of TBRT and theoretical considerations on the characteristics and principles of designing reading tasks. Chapter four attempts to discuss the actual practical TBRT in a reading class in Chinese middle schools, which includes the procedures, types of reading tasks, an experimental research on task-based learning, and the roles of teachers. At the beginning and at the end of the training period, two surveys were done. From the two surveys, the writer got some datum. By comparing the datum, the writer made some conclusion about the effect of the English reading learning strategy training on the students. The research showed that the English reading learning strategy training was helpful for improving not only the activeness and effectiveness of reading learning but also the strategy awareness. In addition, students of different levels were affected more or less by the training. Chapter five mainly discusses the author's teaching reflections and some suggestions on the improvement in teaching reading.