An Empirical Study On The Application Of Problem-based Learning To English Reading Teaching In Senior High School

English reading teaching is the most important part in senior high school English class.However,in traditional English reading teaching,teachers pay more attention to students' reading scores than their comprehensive reading ability.Although students are able to pass the exams,they are not able to apply knowledge to real-world situations,which no longer meets social needs nowadays.In order to attempt to change this situation,this study applies problem-based learning(PBL)to English reading teaching in senior high school.The research questions in this thesis include:1.Can PBL improve senior high school students' critical thinking disposition?2.Can PBL enhance senior high school students' English reading proficiency?This study is carried out from September,2017 to January,2018 in Longjin Senior High School in Jinzhou,Liaoning Province.82 students from two classes in Grade Two take part in the experiment.Class 1 is regarded as experimental class(EC),while Class 2 is considered as control class(CC).Different teaching methods are adopted in EC and CC.PBL is adopted in EC,while the traditional teaching method is adopted in CC.Research instruments include reading tests and questionnaires.After the experiment,the data are collected and analyzed.According to the analysis of the data,the study results show that PBL can improve senior high school students' critical thinking disposition in the four subordinate dimensions:truth-seeking,analyticity,inquisitiveness and maturity;however,students' critical thinking disposition does not appear to show significant improvement in relation to open-mindedness,systematicity and self-confidence.In addition,PBL cannot enhance senior high school students' English reading proficiency obviously.