A Comparative Study Of English Teaching To Low-graders Between Urban And Rural Primary Schools

In the 21st century, as a result of basic education curriculum reform, English education starting from grade three has been introduced in every province, though in such cities as Changchun it starts from the first grade. At present, among all the subjects taught in schools, English has undoubtedly had the largest number of learners including students in the universities, high schools and primary schools. It is estimated that there are nearly 1 billion pupils in China learning English.English teaching in primary schools is the first step to help students master some basic elements of English learning, cultivate their attitudes and interests , develop their ability to learn English well. The teaching goal is multivariate, comprehensive and unified. In the primary school English teaching process, low-grade stage (grades 1 and 2), is the most important. This stage is not only the starting point and the foundation of learning English for the pupils but also the important key to stimulating the interests, establishing the confidence and emotion of the pupils.Through the literature review, the writer finds that there are numerous documents and researches for high schools English teaching but there are rare practical studies for primary schools, especially for low-graders. In addition, the researches on rural primary schools'English teaching are getting on but it is rather less on the comparative studies between the urban and rural English teaching. Considering the young pupils'psychology, characteristics of study, and English method, the writer analyzes English teaching of the urban and rural primary schools. Based on the classroom observation, the writer introduces the differences of teaching English to low-graders between urban and rural primary schools, from the perspective of lead-in, lecture and questioning. The writer points out that there are both advantages and disadvantages in English teaching to low-graders in urban and rural primary schools, but there are more obvious drawbacks in the latter. The writer tries to find out the reasons which results in the differences and suggests how to improve English teaching in terms of school environment, teachers, teaching facilities and students.The thesis consists of five parts. At the beginning the writer introduces the study background. Then the first part elaborates the literature review. The second part is to describe the research objects, methods and data collection. In the third part the writer compares the English teaching between urban and rural primary schools. It contains the similarities and differences. In the forth part the writer analyzes the reasons which results in the differences. Finally the writer gives some suggestions and sums up the whole thesis.