An Investigation Into The Application Of Mind Mapping To English Reading Teaching In Junior High School

Mind mapping,as an effective thinking tool,has long been applied abroad in the field of education.Studies show that mind mapping has a great effect on improving students' self-learning ability,logical thinking ability,and problem-solving ability.In recent years,domestic education also pays more and more attention to the use of mind mapping in the cultivation of students' thinking ability.However,although mind mapping is widely used in some developed cities such as Beijing and Shanghai,its application in the central and western regions is unsatisfactory.This study investigates the application of mind mapping in junior high school English reading teaching of Henan province.The study intends to answer the following three questions: What is the current situation of mind mapping application in English reading teaching in junior high school of Henan province? What are the factors that affect the application of mind mapping? How can teachers use mind mapping in English reading teaching to improve teaching efficiency?The study takes junior high schools in the three districts of Zhengzhou,Luoyang and Gongyi as the subjects.In the study,a total of 210 English teachers were selected and did the questionnaire;three teachers and three students were interviewed.Besides,the teaching process of one teacher who can use mind mapping frequently was observed and recorded.The data shows that the application of mind mapping is unsatisfactory in Henan province.42% of the teachers can apply mind mapping in their English reading teaching frequently or occasionally because they have received some systematical training about it or have studied it by themselves.And 58% of the teachers seldom or never use it because they have not learned mind mapping,or they have difficulties in drawing the maps or some other reasons.Among the subjects,80% of them recognize that mind mapping can help improve teachers' teaching skills,and students' ability of finding and solving problems.And they all express their willingness to receive some systematic training in using it.The classroom observation shows that,during English reading teaching,the teacher tends to use mind mapping to show the whole-part relationship of texts for the purpose of saving teaching time and helping students organize information and discover the topic of materials quickly.Based on the research results,it is suggested that teachers should receive systematic training and strengthen their skills of mind mapping use.