A Study On Appreciation Education In English Teaching In Senior High School

Traditional English teaching is teacher-centered, characterized by chalk and talk. This method of teaching is usually monotonous and ignores students’ emotions. Students take pains to learn in a passive mechanical way while teachers work hard to no avail. To meet the requirements of English curriculum reform, and more importantly, to develop students’ ability of comprehensive language application and positive emotional attitude, this thesis aims to explore whether the teaching method of appreciation education is superior to traditional teaching method. The author took two parallel classes of Grade Two in senior high school as the subjects. In the experimental class, the author adopted the method of appreciation education, whereas in the control class, the author still used the traditional teaching method. This experiment aims to exam three questions:whether high school students need appreciation education; how to apply appreciation education to English teaching in senior high school; whether application of appreciation education in English teaching in senior high school is effective. The experiment lasted for one year. The study found that in the experimental class, students showed great interest in learning and established a self confidence as the teacher respected them, recognized their individual differences, taught them in accordance with their aptitude, and above all appreciated their advantages timely. Besides, they were encouraged to learn cooperatively and participate in flexible and diverse activities in English teaching and obtained a sense of achievement in English learning. In the control group, the traditional teaching method, to a certain extent, damped the enthusiasm and initiative of the students’ English learning. The results of the experiment shows that appreciation education in English teaching in senior high school is better than the traditional English teaching method in developing students’ interest in English learning, establishing their self-confidence in English learning and improving their performance of English course. This illustrates that high school students need appreciation education; the practice of appreciation education in the experiment is feasible; application of appreciation education in English teaching in high school is effective.