A Study On The Application Of Situational Teaching To English Grammar Teaching In Junior High Schools

Grammar is very important in English learning for junior high school students.In traditional English grammar teaching,teachers may explain grammatical rules,and students just take notes and listen to the teachers passively,the teaching effects as a result are not satisfactory enough.According to English curriculum Standard in Compulsory Education,the purpose of English teaching in junior high school is to cultivate students' language abilities and communicative competence in authentic situation.Situational language teaching enables students to grasp the form,the meaning and the usage of grammatical items by creating authentic situations,therefore,applying situational teaching to grammar in junior high school is of great significance.On the theoretical bases of Situated Cognition Theory,Life Value Teaching Theory and Constructivism Learning Theory,the researcher conducted a one-term teaching experiment in two natural classes in Grade Seven in Xingguo Middle School,Qin'an County,Gansu Province,aiming to answer the following two questions:1.Is situational language teaching more effective in improving the grammar scores of students in junior high school than the traditional teaching method?2.Can situational language teaching change students' attitudes towards grammar learning?To answer the above questions,the research adopted traditional teaching method in the control class and situational language teaching in the experimental class.Before the experiment,a pre-test was conducted in two classes,after the experiment,a post-test was carried out in two classes.Two questionnaires were also handed out before and after the experiment,two interviews were conducted in the experimental class before and after the experiment,through three instruments of grammar tests,questionnaires and interviews,the researcher collected the data,then the researcher analyzed the data through SPSS13.0.At last the researcher finds that the situational language teaching can enhance students' grammar achievements and improve students' attitudes towards grammar learning.Their learning interests can be aroused and their language abilities can be trained through the situational language teaching.Because of the time limitation,lack of the researcher's teaching experiences and other uncontrolled factors on the subjects,there are some limitations in the research.The researcher also gives some suggestions to English teachers to use the situational language teaching in their classes to improve grammar teaching effect.