An Investigation On The Application Of Mind Map To The Teaching Of English Reading In Junior High School

English reading is a vital way for students to obtain information and English reading ability directly influences the overall language ability.However,the learning of English reading is time-consuming and ineffective for junior high school students.How to improve the English reading ability to improve the English reading efficiency by means of learning strategies has always been a research focus and hotspot.Meanwhile,mind map,a mind tool to visualize thoughts,combines the key words with different shapes,colors,graphics as well as other elements to help memory,organize and output information in a pictorial way so as to improve students' understanding and memory of the reading passage,thereby stimulate their creativity.It is illustrated from the literature review that many researches at home and abroad mostly concentrate on the effectiveness of mind map in the classroom teaching,but few investigations are on the application of mind map in the teaching of English reading in junior high school.Based on the constructivism theory,schema theory and knowledge visualization theory,this research attempts to enhance teachers and students' understanding and application ability of mind map,to achieve a better application of mind map to the teaching of English reading in junior high school.According to these objectives,this research put forward three questions which are as follows.(1)What is the current situation of the application of mind map to the teaching of English reading in junior high school?(2)What are the major problems of the application of mind map to the teaching of English reading in junior high school?(3)What are the main causes for these problems?The research subjects are the teachers and students from each grade in The Affiliated Middle School of Henan Normal University.Therefore,this study conducted a survey on the current situation,major problems and causes for the problems in the application of mind map to the teaching of English reading in junior high school through classroom observation,questionnaires and interviews.The research results show that(1)Most teachers are interested in mind map and are willing to apply mind map to the teaching of English reading.At the same time,they realize that mind map plays an active role in students' enthusiasm,interest in learning and reading ability.However,only a few teachers can proficiently draw a mind map and always use it in reading teaching.A majority of students hold positive attitudes towards the application of mind map while some of them cannot make a mind map in high quality and high efficiency.(2)The main problems in the application of mind map are as follows: teachers lack comprehensive understanding about mind map and they are insufficient with the application ability of mind map.Besides,students cannot draw a mind map efficiently and perfectly.(3)The reasons are concluded as follows: the first one is the influence of academic pressure on teachers,such as the heavy teaching task,the limited time and energy,the enrollment pressure.Moreover,teachers lack professional literacy in mind map and students are affected by their own limitations,such as a lack of comprehensive understanding about mind map and the restriction of mental set.Finally,based on the analysis and discussion of the results,this research proposes some suggestions on how to promote the application of mind map to the teaching of English reading in junior high school as follows:(1)Conducting the theoretical guidance and practical training about mind map on English teachers.(2)Conducting regular teaching and research activities to promote and update teachers' professional theory about mind map.(3)Increasing practices to promote the development of teachers' teaching expertise with mind map.(4)Instructing junior high school students to draw the mind map scientifically and improve their understanding and application ability of mind map.