The Application Of Discovery Learning To Senior High School English Teaching

English teaching in senior high school stage is an irreplaceable procedure to cultivatethe English language quality of students. It must not only satisfy the demands for students’mental and emotional development and senior high school graduates’ career prospects inthe future, but also meet the requirements of the cultivation of innovative talents foreconomic construction and the development of science and technology in our country.According to the characteristics of the cognitive development level and academiccompetency of senior high school students, English courses should develop students’comprehensive ability of using English to obtain information, processing information, andanalyzing and solving problems. English courses ought to focus on improving the students’capability of thinking and expressing in English to lay a good foundation for the futuredevelopment and lifelong learning. Since the implementation of the new curriculum reform,English teaching in senior high school has made some achievements. However, there arestill many problems in the English teaching practice, for instance, students’ interest inlearning English is not high, English learning motivation is not strong, and students’competence in exploring, autonomous learning ability, and capability of transfer andapplication of English knowledge need to be improved.Discovery learning is also called “the discovery method”, which is a kind of methodfacilitating students to learn proactively and independently, to discover and solve problems,and to develop scientific learning strategies. It emphasizes that students should searchinformation available and utilize materials recommended and provided by the teacher tofind a way to solve the problem and draw out conclusions through their own independentthinking. It’s not until the1990s that many researchers in China have set out to devoteattention to discovery learning in different aspects, such as, the nature of discoverylearning, the teaching process of discovery learning, and the effect of discovery learning.Discovery learning could be applied to senior high school English teaching. Indiscovery-learning based English teaching and studying in senior high school, students can take the initiative to analyze and solve problems through self-exploration, and improvingautonomous learning ability and learning how to learn. Discovery learning is conduciveto building students’ capacity for finding and solving problems and creating necessaryconditions for students’ further study and development.This thesis is an empirical research of the application of the discovery learning theoryto senior high school English teaching. On the basis of describing the basic concepts andfeatures of discovery learning, the paper makes an analysis on the implementation ofdiscovery learning to senior middle school English teaching. It aims at enlighteningstudents about autonomous learning ability and effective English learning strategies,promoting the development of senior high school English teaching theory and improvingsenior high school English teaching. Both quantitative and qualitative researchmethodology are used in this paper. And it’s hoped that this research can shed some newlight on English teaching in senior high school.This study consists of five chapters. Chapter one briefly states the background of thisstudy, the purpose of this study, the significance of this study, the content and methodologyof this study. Chapter two is literature review, and it elaborates on the origin of discoverylearning, the theoretical basis of discovery learning, the teaching procedures of discoverylearning, and the overseas and domestic research of discovery learning. Chapter threemainly discourses upon the application of the discovery learning theory to English teachingin senior high school. It expatiates on the characteristics of discovery learning, thepossibility and necessity of applying discovery learning to senior high school Englishteaching and the teaching procedures of discovery learning. Chapter four is researchmethodology. Research objectives and research hypothesis of the research are put forwardfirst; then participants in this experiment, research methods and teaching materials used arediscussed; detailed teaching procedures of the experiment are elaborated; finally, theresults of data collection and conclusions are analyzed. The purpose of the study is toexplore how to apply discovery learning to senior high school English teaching andimprove the efficiency of senior high school English teaching and enhance students’language skills and autonomous learning ability through the teaching mode of discovery learning. Chapter five is the conclusion, which mainly expounds the theory achievementsand the application value of this research and reflects on the shortcomings of the study.