An Empirical Study On Constructivism-based ESIA In English Listening Teaching Of Junior High School

Constructivism emphasizes the initiative of the learner, believing that the construction of new meaning and the understanding of new knowledge are based on the learners’ previous knowledge under the social and cultural interaction. Teaching is not simply transferring knowledge from teachers to students. Learning of any discipline for the learners is to understand and construct new knowledge system by acceptance and integration of new knowledge based on learners’ previous knowledge.This study attempts to combine constructivist teaching and learning ideas with English listening teaching of junior high school, helping students to actively participate in classroom activities. Therefore, this study proposed the ESIA English Listening Teaching Mode based on Constructivism. This teaching mode includes four parts: E stands for exploration-based learning, S stands for situation developing, I stands for interaction among teachers, students, teaching materials and multi-media, A stands for assessing effectively. The study aims to answer the following questions:(1) Can ESIA teaching mode enhance students’ interest in English listening?(2) Can ESIA teaching mode reduce students’ anxiety during their English listening?(3) Can ESIA teaching mode improve students’ English listening achievement?The study was carried out for a semester, using a contrast class form. There are 87 students in Grade Two of a junior high school as participants in this teaching practice. 43 students in the experimental class were taught by the constructivism-based ESIA English listening teaching mode, while 44 students in the control class were taught by the traditional English listening teaching mode. Questionnaire, listening test were used to collect data. SPSS software was to analyze the obtained valid data. The results show that constructivism-based ESIA English listening teaching mode has a significant advantage in improving students’ listening proficiency. It plays a positive role in enhancing students’ interest in listening and reducing students’ anxiety during the listening.The significance of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of using Constructivism-based ESIA mode in English listening teaching for junior high school students. It helps to deeply understand the ESIA listening teaching mode, and enlighten the curriculum design of listening teaching.