A Comparative Study Of Task-based Approach And Plentiful Exercise Tactics

Reading is one of the most efficient channels to get information. In the learning process,reading ability can interfere with the learning of listening, speaking, writing, and translating.Therefore, reading teaching occupies an important position in language teaching and learning.In recent years, in Entrance Examination for Senior High School and the College EntranceExamination, reading comprehension accounts for a large proportion. It requires paying strictattention to cultivating students’ ability of reading.With the advocacy of the National English Curriculum, Task-based Approach isimplemented in classroom teaching. Since then, English reading teaching has been improved.However, Plentiful Exercise Tactics, which is a way of consolidation and criticized for manyyears, is still applied in many schools. Few comparative studies have been made on PlentifulExercise Tactics and Task-based Approach about their effectiveness in improving students’English reading ability.A complete literature review of Task-based Approach and Plentiful Exercise Tactics inChina and abroad is conducted. Based on theories of Constructivism, Interactionism,Task-based Approach, and Requirements of National English Curriculum, the research isdesigned to solve the following problems：Task-based Approach should be more effective in helping subjects to raise their Englishreading scores than Plentiful Exercise Tactics.Task-based Approach is more effective in improving subjects’ reading competence thanPlentiful Exercise Tactics.An experiment was carried out in an ordinary Junior High School in Hengshui, HebeiProvince. Class3is the experimental class; Class4is the control class. Each class has40students in this experiment. The control class was taught with Plentiful Exercise Tactics.Task-based Approach was used in the experimental class. At the beginning of the presentresearch, a pre-test was done in these two classes. At the same time, the same studentscompleted a questionnaire of reading competence. Then every four weeks, they wrote thesame questionnaire. At the end of the experiment, the students took the post-test and did the questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed four times during the experiment.The data obtained from the two tests and the questionnaire was processed by SPSS13.0.The results show that there is no obvious difference between Task-based Approach andPlentiful Exercise Tactics on improving level9students’ reading scores; from the results ofthe questionnaire, it is obvious that there is a visible effect on improving level9students’reading competence by implementing Task-based Approach.Through implementing Task-based Approach, the researcher summarizes the advantagesand disadvantages of it. Advantages: active classroom atmosphere, real life tasks and so on.Disadvantages: difficult classroom management, difficult evaluation and so on.