An Experimental Study Of The Flipped Classroom In An English Reading Class At A Junior High School

As one of the most important components of language ability, particularly regarding English as a second/foreign language, reading plays a critical role in each student’s individual development. It not only promotes a student’s thinking ability but also improves his or her personal holistic qualities. The traditional way of teaching English reading does have some disadvantages. One reason is that teachers themselves do not know clearly the different goals and objectives of reading skills, so their teaching of reading lacks effectiveness and pertinence. Another reason is that some of the teachers choose the conventional method to teach English reading, which means they give the priority to explain the grammar rules with translation practice. The previous way of teaching reading ignores the cultivation of students’ reading capacity. Thus, the innovational teaching approach of the flipped classroom emerged at the right moment. The flipped way of teaching is used first to instruct students in reading. Afterwards, teachers and students meet face-to-face for reading instruction. In the flipped method, students receive several learning materials, such as short videos and mini-lectures, with which they can learn to read by themselves first. And in the class, with the teacher’s instruction, they take part in several reading activities and discussions in which they can interact with their classmates and share their own opinions.By reading a large number of documents and combining the successful flipped way of teaching classes at home and abroad, the writer discovered that the flipped classroom does have some advantages. For students, especially the “poorly performing students”, it provides them a personalized learning environment in which students are able to reduce their frustration and enhance their self-confidence. Moreover, teachers can teach students in accordance with their aptitude by organizing teacher-to-student and student-to-student activities and discussions in order to make teaching and learning more effective. The advantages of the flipped classroom can make up the deficiency of the traditional English reading teaching. Thus, the author has applied the flipped classroom to junior English reading teaching for a whole semester.The experiment was carried out at an ordinary junior high school in Hefei, Anhui Province. The author chose 102 students in Grade 7 as the participants. According to the results of the application of the flipped classroom in an English reading class at the junior high school, it shows that:(1) The flipped classroom could improve students’ interest in reading English materials.(2) The flipped classroom could help students get higher scores in English reading test.(3) It also played a positive role in training students’ reading skills and promoted their development in critical thinking. However, the research also found that the flipped classroom did not help the students whose ability of independent learning was weak got higher scores in English reading test; instead, their score were even worse. What is more, the research showed that preparation before class, appropriate guidance, and supervision of students’ learning ensured the implementation of the flipped classroom. Based on the above, this thesis further elaborates the characteristics of the flipped classroom, which may help to clear up the misunderstanding of it, and it has significance for the localization of this teaching approach.