Task-based English Reading Teaching In Junior High School: Task Design And Classroom Practice

The teaching of reading in junior high schools is an essential part of English education. The main object of reading class is to cultivate and improve the students'comprehension of English texts. Our National English Curriculum for Compulsory Education recommends implementing Task-based Approach in English reading teaching to foster students'communicative competence. Although many experts at home and abroad have done a great deal of empirical research on Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), the study on how to use TBLT effectively in junior high schools is very limited in the literature. Therefore, this study is intended to draw on insights from the task-related theories, discuss how to design tasks in junior high school English reading classrooms and investigate what advantages TBLT has compared with the 3P teaching model (Presentation, Practice, Production) when put into the reading teaching practice in junior high school.Under the guidance of TBLT theory and reading theories, this thesis discusses the application of TBLT in English reading classrooms in junior high school. First, it summarizes principles of task design based on the needs analysis of junior high school students, and illustrates the use of the principles with a concrete lesson plan. Then it reports an experimental study in which TBLT and 3P teaching models are practiced in the experimental class and the control class respectively. Test results before and after the experiment, questionnaires and interviews are used as research instruments. It is found that students in the experimental class are superior to those in the control class in English test results, motivation and interest, and learning strategies. Both the feasibility and superiority of TBLT are thus proved in the English reading class in junior high school. Finally, suggestions are offered as to how to apply TBLT in English classrooms.