Research On English Assignment Design In Senior High School

Assignment is an indispensable part in the process of teaching. Moreover, it is animportant way to understand, consolidate and use knowledge we have learned in class. It isalso an effective form to cultivate and raise students’ manipulative ability and self-studyability. Similarly, English assignment of Grade One in senior high school plays animportant role in English teaching. However, there still exist a lot of problems in Englishassignment design. Furthermore, the research on English assignment of Grade One insenior high school will not only make teachers change the traditional teaching conceptsand mode of English assignment, but also change students’ attitudes towards Englishassignment and take the initiative to finish assignment so as to improve their linguisticcompetence, laying the foundation for life-long learning. Therefore, it is necessary to studythe English assignment design.The definition of assignment, the researches on assignment at home and abroad andtheoretical bases are elaborated. The questionnaires, interviews, and case collection areused to to find the current situation of English assignment of Grade One in senior highschool. This investigation starts with the amount, form, content and function of assignmentto find the following problems. First of all, the amount of English assignment is large andthe difficulty lacks control. Secondly, the form and content is not rich. Finally, the value isnot realized.According to the problems existing in the English assignment design, combining thetheory of Constructivism, the theory of the Zone of Proximal Development and theNational Senior High School English Curriculum, a new mode of English assignment isexplored. The research hypothesis is that changing the English assignment design willimprove the effect of assignment. According to this, the content and form of Englishassignment are reformed. Based on the theories, six principles of English assignmentdesign are put forward. They are principle of fun, typicality, hierarchy, diversity,development, cooperation. Two parallel classes of Shuicheng senior high school ofLiaocheng are selected as the experimental class and the controlled class. In the experimental class, the six principles are followed to design the form and content. While inthe controlled class, the traditional assignments are assigned. After the experiment, theresults of pre-test and post-test are compared. The excellent rate, pass rate and the averageof the experimental class are higher than that of the controlled class. Students of theexperimental class improve greatly both in learning motivation and autonomy. It provesthat the new mode of English assignment is effective.In a word, some enlightenments are provided for English assignment design on thebasis of the study. Moreover, not only are the six principles of English assignment designput forward, but also some suggestions are put forward for English teachers. Thesuggestions are as follows. Firstly, as for the amount and difficulty of English assignment,it must be systematic and autonomic. Secondly, in terms of the form of assignment, it mustbe comprehensive and rich. Thirdly, as for the function, it must be practical and innovative.It is hoped that English teachers will improve the quality of English assignment so that theburdens of students are reduced and students’ interest and motivation are improved. Mostimportant of all, students’ ability of autonomous learning will be improved. Students’innovation spirit and cooperation consciousness will be cultivated. In this way,comprehensive ability for language use of students will be improved.