A Survey On Application Of The Lead-in Methods In Junior High School English Teaching Of Reading

Lead-in activities,though not taking much time at the beginning of English reading teaching,may affect the quality of the teaching greatly.An effective lead-in not only attracts students' attention,mobilizes their enthusiasm and stimulates their interest in learning,but also helps to create a relaxing and pleasant learning atmosphere and shorten the distance between teachers and students.Nowadays,the application of lead-in has been widely used in high school English teaching.The question arises as to whether the lead-in method used is effective in the English reading teaching class.Therefore,it is necessary to conduct a study to investigate the current situation of the use of the lead-in methods in junior high school English reading class.This present research aims to answer the following three questions:(1)What is the current situation of application of lead-in methods in junior high school English reading teaching?(2)What effect do the lead-in methods have in junior high school English reading teaching?(3)What are the problems in the implementation of lead-in methods in junior high school English reading teaching? The research is carried out in eight classes of Zhengzhou No.47 junior high school.The questionnaire is conducted among 8 English teachers and 200 students in Grade 9.In addition,4 English teachers and 4 students are selected as the interviewees.Based on the classroom observation,questionnaires and interview with teachers and students,the data are collected,analyzed and discussed,and the conclusions are presented as follows:(1)Most English teachers are aware of the important roles the lead-in activities play in teaching,and they often employ the lead-in methods at the beginning of the class.Among the lead-in methods,free talk lead-in method,multimedia lead-in method,direct lead-in method and background knowledge lead-in method are the most frequently used by teachers in English reading classes;next are the question-answer lead-in method and review lead-in method;situational lead-in method,play games lead-in method and the humorous lead-in method are the least used by teachers.In addition,it has been found that teachers employ different lead-in methods for different genres of texts.As for the narration,teachers often use multimedia lead-in method.In terms of argumentation,teachers often use free talk lead-in method.In exposition,teachers often use background knowledge lead-in method.(2)In general,most of the students approve the lead-in methods employed by their teachers in English reading classes.They hold the view that the lead-in methods designed by their teachers can stimulate their learning interest and help them understand the reading materials.However,some of the lead-in methods designed by their teachers cannot meet their needs and learning style.As a result,they cannot participate in the lead-in activities fully and learn the corresponding knowledge.(3)The major problems in the implementation of the lead-in are as follows:(1)The allocation of the lead-in time is not appropriate.(2)The lead-in methods are relatively fixed and lack of innovation.(3)The content of the lead-in is inconsistent with the text content.(4)The design of lead-in lacks the corresponding theoretical support.Therefore,it is suggested that teachers should not only pay attention to the problems in the lead-in,but also apply effective lead-in methods to improve the quality of English reading teaching.