Effect Of Constructivist Approach On English Reading Instruction In Senior Middle School

Constructivist learning theory, as a branch of cognitive learning theory, has become prevailing in America and Europe since the 1980s'.The theory holds the view that learning is not passive acceptance of knowledge but an active process in which learners construct their own meaning by anchoring new information to preexisting knowledge. The theory which puts emphasis on the learners and the learning process can help develop the learners' capacity for autonomy and creativity. Many educational experts and scholars at home and abroad have been attempting to apply the theory to the teaching practice and promote educational reform.Currently English language teaching in senior middle school is confronted with great difficulty which has mainly resulted from the traditional teacher-centered grammar translation method. The senior middle students in the middle school are lack of English learning interest, lack of reading strategy and lack of capacity of autonomy. In order to solve these problems, this research is going to explore the effect of reading instruction method that is based on Constructivist theory, learner autonomy and schema theory. The thesis attempts to investigate the following three questions:(1) Would the application of CLT help to improve the students' EFL reading competence?(2) Would CLT help to develop the students' reading strategies?(3) Would the training based on CLT help to cultivate the learners' capacity for autonomy?The author recruited 100 Senior One students from two classes from Nayong No.1 middle school as participants. One served as the control group which was taught in the traditional grammar translation teaching method. The teaching was focused on explanation of the reading materials and language points; the other is the experimental group which was instructed in Constructivist approach in which students were trained to construct their own meaning in the learning process. The experiment covered a period of fifty weeks which was divided into four stages for different purposes: developing learning interest, training learning strategies, cultivating capacity for autonomy and testing reading competence. The data of reading tests, questionnaires, interviewing were processed by SPSS 11.5.The results of the study showed that Constructivist approach has obvious advantages in the following aspects: (1) it helped to activate the learners' interest and to encourage their desire for reading;(2) it helped to develop learning strategies and reading skills; and (3) it helped to promote students to utilize modern technology and make full use of learning resources to develop their capacity for autonomy. The findings in this study reveal that it is feasible and beneficial for English teachers to apply Constructivist approach to the teaching of reading. The study has great significance to promote the English reading instruction.