The Application Of Problem-based Learning To English Writing Teaching In Senior High School

Problem-Based Learning emerged in the Western medicine field in the1960s,and was applied to various fields of teaching quickly. It was introduced into China inthe1990s and attracted more and more researchers’ attention. PBL is different fromthe traditional teacher-centered teaching method. It emphasizes on giving play to thestudents’ initiative and enthusiasm, and students acquire knowledge and developabilities in the process of solving problems together.Writing is an important embodiment of integrated language ability. However,English writing has always been a weak point for students. Therefore, the teaching ofwriting is not only a key teaching point, but also a difficult point. In the traditionalEnglish writing class, the common English writing teaching model is as follows:teacher assigns subject—students write compositions—teacher corrects compositions—teacher comments on compositions. This writing teaching leads to some problems,such as lack of motivation and confidence, existence of fear, etc. For the presentEnglish writing teaching condition in the high school, this study combined PBL withEnglish writing teaching in order to build a high school English writing teachingmode through empirical research: writing activities—correct compositions—findproblems—put forward hypothesis—solve problems—reflect and summarize. ThisEnglish writing teaching model is learners-centered, and teachers play the role ofhelper, organizer and facilitator. The author studies the PBL theory and teachingdesign, then chooses two parallel classes in a Jinan senior high school as the researchobject, and carries on the four months teaching experiment in order to explore thefeasibility and effectiveness of applying PBL into high school English writingteaching. The PBL teaching is used in the experimental class, while regular writingteaching is used in the comparative class. The author conducts English writingcondition questionnaire surveys, English writing tests and interviews before and afterthe experiment. Finally, the author analyses data, then makes the followingconclusions:1. The PBL teaching can improve students’English writing scores. The results of the writing tests show that compared with the pre-test, the scores of the post-test in theexperiment class improve obviously, while no obvious changes in comparative class.Through the independent sample T-test, there is no difference in the pre-test results oftwo classes. However, there is a significant difference in the post-test results. Thescores of students in the experimental class are significantly improved.2. The PBL teaching can change students’ attitudes towards English writing. Thequestionnaire surveys’ results show that after PBL teaching, students in experimentalclass are more interested in English writing, more confident in improving Englishwriting, and less afraid of English writing.3. As an English writing teaching model, PBL teaching has many advantages. Itcan improve students’ interest and motivation, develop innovative thinking ability,enhance students’participation, and train team cooperation, etc.As a result, it proves that PBL is practical and effective in promoting Englishwriting teaching in senior high school. PBL highlights the principal role of students,stresses solving the practical problems existing in English writing. It has certainpositive significance in the development and promotion of English writing teaching insenior high school.