Application Of Problem-based Learning In Senior Middle School English Reading Teaching

Reading is one of the basic skills and one of the most important aspects in senior middle school English learning. With the increase of reading proportion in College Entrance Examination in China, reading begins to play an increasingly important role in English teaching and the reading teaching mode deserves more and more attention. The research on the theory and practice of Problem-based Learning (PBL) becomes popular at home and abroad, but still rarely applied in senior middle school English reading teaching.As an international popular teaching approach, PBL is a problem-solving teaching mode, which is based on problems. Students learn to think and solve problems in the teaching; they understand, grasp and use knowledge. PBL plays a guiding role in the teaching and learning process. It initiates and mobilizes the enthusiasm of the students; it emphasizes the students’active involvement in analyzing, thinking, exploring and finally solving the problems. Through solving the problems, students learn to think, cooperate, evaluate and complete the task and then improve their reading abilities. PBL is also an effective method of improving reading teaching.On the basis of understanding PBL and other related English reading teaching theories, the author has applied PBL to reading lessons of Senior two in Number 1 Middle School of Liuyang from September 2012 to June 2013, aiming at improving students’ reading level. In the study, questionnaires are delivered to 45 English teachers and 320 students in Senior two. To monitor and prove the effect of the study, two classes are chosen (the experimental class and the control class) to conduct the teaching experiment for a period of one year. Through some tests, questionnaires and interviews, the researcher collects and analyzes the data and information. Then, the conclusion has been made:compared with the traditional reading teaching, PBL can stimulate the students’ interest in English reading and improve students’ English reading level more effectively.The introduction of the thesis includes the relevant research background and the necessity of applying PBL to English teaching at senior schools. Chapter one reviews the recent development and achievements of PBL in theory and practice at home and abroad, and puts forward the feasibility of applying of PBL in teaching of Senior English reading. Chapter two focuses on the inherent relationship between PBL and constructivism, PBL and critical thinking, which is the theoretical basis of this study. Meanwhile it also makes an overall review of PBL and introduces definition and characteristics of PBL, Chapter three is a detailed report of the empirical study, covering research subjects, instruments, and data analysis, and case study is also employed in the study. Chapter four shows the result and major findings of the experiment and some specific suggestions for English reading teaching are put forward.The study shows that it is an effective way to apply PBL to English reading teaching, which is of great significance to improve the ability of students’ reading comprehension. PBL can not only meet the requirements of the times, but fit the thinking characteristics of high school students. Besides, PBL can also help to stimulate students’ interest in reading, improve students’ autonomous learning ability, reading comprehension and English thinking ability. The author really hopes that this research can provide some reference and guidance to the new era of senior middle school English reading teaching.