Learning Through Inquiry: A Case Study On Basic English Course

This study aims to explore the formation, implication and significance of inquiry-based learning in Basic English course for English majors in Foreign Language College in ZJN University. Specifically, this study attempts to explore the following three questions: 1) why is inquiry-based learning adopted in Basic English course of English-majored students? 2) how does inquiry-based learning unfold in Basic English course? 3) what are the impacts of inquiry-based learning on students' English learning and all-round development?The study, which lasts for 12 months, is conducted in Basic English for freshmen, Class 075, taught by Mrs. Ying, a professor in Foreign Language College in ZJN University. The research methods adopted in the study are ethnography, narrative inquiry, case study, observation and interview, etc. The data include classroom records, after-class interviews, students' portfolio, my field notes, textbooks, and so on. Based on analysis to these data, stories of two research groups are formed.Based upon the review of pedagogical theories with great philosophical implications, such as Constructivism of J.Piaget and Vygotsky, Discovery Learning of Bruner, and Dialogical Theory of Freire, the author elaborates the theoretical base of inquiry learning as constructive and dialogical. Researches on inquiry-based learning both at home and aboard are analyzed to explore the achievements that have been got and problems that still exist in this field.The author has developed a circulative-rise mode of inquiry learning based on the data collected. In the first place, it is argued that inquiry constructs dialogical relationship within student, between students and students, between the teacher and the students, and among the teacher, the students and the text. In the second place, the teacher in this study weaves the students, their life world and the teacher's experiences together through inquiry. The students have learned how to learn and how to relate life with their study, making inquiry as stance.The main findings show that inquiry-based learning has enriched students' knowledge structure, broadened their view, and challenged their perspectives in seeing their life and the society. The teacher and the students seem to have developed their highest capacities through co-constructing knowledge together through inquiry-based learning. It suggests that the instructors need to reshape their beliefs in teaching, learning and the concept of knowledge bases, which may bring about the shifting of their beliefs in the students from knowledge consumers to thinkers, researchers and knowledge generators, and the teachers from knowledge possessors and transmitters to learning supporters, inquiry promoters and knowledge co-constructors. Meanwhile, the study illuminates the means of training and developing English majors in College.