An Application Research Of Students' Critical Thinking Ability In English Reading Class In The Senior School

Critical thinking means the process of forecast, analysis, query, summary and estimate. Critical reading means during the reading, students who have learned the basics predict the main idea, infer the author's tone, doubt the author's view, summarize the main idea and form their own opinion. Critical thinking ability is one of the essential part of innovative talents, and in recent years, many educational researchers are interested in critical thinking. College students are the main target in experimental research. In contrast, only a small number of application and empirical studies concentrate on developing high school students' critical thinking ability.In this research, Ji Gang Senior High School is the experimental school, which is located in Jinan, Shandong Province. 122 high school students in class 1509 and class1510 take part in the critical reading application research. And the English teacher who teaches class 1509 and class 1510 is an active participant, cooperating and helping the research. The critical reading experiment lasts three months. This research focuses on developing students' critical thinking skills and strategies in English reading, and effects of the critical reading experiment.Three questions are answered in the research. The first question is whether high school students can increase English reading accuracy obviously after the experiment.The second question is whether high school students can use critical reading strategies actively after the experiment.The the third question is whether high school students have developed critical thinking ability significantly after the experiment.The test papers,questionnaires, observation, experiment and interview are used to collect and analyze the research data.Before the experiment, SPSS22.0 was used to do independent sample T-test to analyze the first monthly exam. And the result showed that class 1509 and class 1510 had the same number of students, their average scores were close and there was no significant difference. Therefore, class 1509 was the experimental class and teacher used critical reading teaching methods in the class. And class 1510 was the control class,where the teacher used traditional teaching methods. At the same time, the pre-test questionnaire data were analyzed, which helped the researcher grasp the situationof students' critical reading strategies use. And it was also helpful for the critical reading experiment to be conducted.During the experiment, I observed and recorded the experimental class and control class' 15 reading lessons respectively. The content of the class, the steps and classroom activities were the main points. Through observations, we could know how the critical reading class was conducted, the situation of students' feedback and the condition of students' critical thinking ability's cultivation. A month later, the data that were about the second exam and reading accuracy were collected and analyzed, which helped the researcher grasp the situation of the second exam and read accuracy.After the experiment, the post-test questionnaire data was conducted to learn experimental class' students situation of using critical reading strategies. Then, the data that were about the third exam and reading accuracy were collected and analyzed, which helped the researcher grasp the situation of the third exam and read accuracy. In order to prove the critical reading teaching in the experimental class was effective in improving students' reading accuracy, post-reading accuracy in experimental class and control class were collected and analyzed. In addition, through interviews with the teacher and students participants, I have further learned the students' critical thinking abilities and find the existent problems of the critical reading experiment.The results of critical reading experiment show that students in experimental class make remarkable progress in reading accuracy and their monthly test scores improve apparently after they take part in the critical reading experiment. Especially with the help of the teacher, students' awareness of using critical reading strategies are highly raised.And students' critical thinking ability has also developed.All in all, the critical reading experiment perform successfully. It is not only good to improve students' reading accuracy, but also helpful for developing students' critical thinking ability. What's more, it provides references for English education practice in high school.