Application Of Task-based Language Teaching In English Reading Class In Rural Junior High Schools

Task-based language Teaching(TBLT) put forward in 1980s refers to a type of language teaching approach which is based on a large amount of research and practice by foreign language teaching researchers and second language acquisition researchers. It is another influential language learning theory and model that emphasizes" learning by doing".Today,it has been verified that TBLT plays an important part in arousing students' interest,developing their capabilities and enhancing their comprehensive competence.Many countries,such as America,Canada,Singapore,Hong Kong,have all proposed Task-based Approach in their "English Curriculum Standard".At the turn of the century,Task-based Language Teaching(TBLT) was introduced to China gradually.In March 2001,our "Junior English Curriculum Standard" recommends implementing Task-based Approach in English teaching to foster students' comprehensive competence by using the language.And then different editions of English textbooks have all been rearranged.Although many experts at home and abroad have done a great deal of empirical research on TBLT,the study about how to use TBLT effectively in rural junior high schools is far too little.In response to the status quo,the author first intended to study whether TBLT is effective in English reading teaching in a rural junior high school,and then hoped,if it is effective,TBLT will be widely used in English reading classes in rural junior high schools in the future.Based upon Willis' model for TBLT,the author has done experiment in grade nine in Wenquan Center Middle School of Anhui Province from September 2008 to January 2009 to testify if TBLT is effective in the teaching of English reading.The author makes some suggestions on the use of TBLT in English reading teaching in rural junior high schools.The comprehensive analysis both in qualitative and quantitative methods is made on the use of TBLT in English reading teaching in a rural junior high school through the students' scores,questionnaires,interviews and classroom observations.By doing so,the author is expecting to get some meaningful conclusion from the analyses,which can be of some benefits to the improvement of the students' reading ability in a rural junior high school.There are five parts in this thesis.Part One introduces Rural Junior high School English teaching in China.It covers the general situation,the problems found in English teaching in Rural Junior high Schools and the difficulties junior English teachers are faced with.Part Two concentrates on a survey of literature about reading models and TBLT which provides theoretical support for this thesis.Part Three is the implementation of TBLT in an English reading class which focuses on the designing of tasks and the experiment.Part Four discusses advantages and disadvantages of TBLT in English reading teaching in rural junior high schools and gives some suggestions about its application there.Part Five is the conclusion.The result of the experiment proves that the TBLT approach is suitable for the Junior English reading teaching in rural areas.It not only arouses rural students' interest in reading but also improves,to some extent,rural students' reading comprehension ability in the junior high English reading class.