A Research On Applications Of Picture Word Inductive Model In Senior High School English Reading Classes

English reading teaching plays a very important role in senior high school. The New English Curriculum Standards emphasizes strongly on developing students'reading abilities. However, some teachers still use the traditional methods to teach English reading. They always focus more on dealing with the words or phrases of the reading passage than on the reading process which cause the students lack of interest in English. Thus, the students always encounter lots of troubles and difficulties in reading comprehension. For this reason, the students can not reach the requirements of English New Curriculum Standards.Calhoun has used the picture word inductive model since 1976, which was an inquiry-oriented language strategy that used pictures containing familiar objects and actions to elicit words from children's vocabularies. Calhoun's empirical study has proved that the picture word inductive model can promote the students' reading levels. It can not only arouse students' reading interest, but also can improve students'reading abilities. Therefore, the thesis studies the application of the picture word inductive model in the senior high school reading classes. The author tries to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional teaching methods and improve teachers' teaching ability and students'reading abilities.The author conducted an experiment in a key senior high school which was lasted six months in Shenzhen. The author collected the data through a questionnaire, an interview, a pre-test, and a mid-test and a post test. The data were analyzed by SPSS11.0. The author got the students' general information and English proficiency from the questionnaire and pre-test before the experiment. The results showed that there were nearly no differences between the controlled class students and the experimental class students before the training. Both of the two classes' students also had some problems about the reading comprehension. For instance, they didn't like English reading and didn't like teacher's teaching methods, either. They were eager to improve reading competence, although they had some difficulties in reading comprehension.During the experiment, the controlled class students were under regular instructions in class while the experimental class students got carefully training. Both of them had the same amount of time and experimental surroundings during the whole process of the experiment. The students took a mid-test two months later. The results showed that most of the experimental students' scores were higher than before after two months training. But there were no significant differences between them. The students took part in the post test after six months training. The results were as followed. Firstly, the scores of the experimental class students had improved greatly. Secondly, there had significant differences between the controlled class students and the experimental class students. Thirdly, the scores of the experimental students who were failed in the pre-test have been improved greatly and there had significant differences after the training. The author chose ten experimental students randomly to join in an informal interview after the training. It revealed that most of the students had changed their reading performances and became more active in reading class. They could apply the method to other language skills. In a word, the research has proved that the picture word inductive model improves learners'reading competence.