An Action Research On Developing Middle School Students' Critical Thinking Ability Through Extended English Reading Classes

The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2011 edition)clearly states that language is both a tool for communication and thinking.It requires teachers to focus on language practice as well as developing students' ability to use the language.Teachers should promote the comprehensive development of students' cognitive ability and thinking ability through language practice activities inside and outside the classroom.And according to the newly issued English Curriculum Standards for High School(2017 edition),it is urgent to develop students' thinking quality which refers to the ability and level of thinking expressed in terms of logic,criticism and innovation.Reading is a good approach to cultivating middle school students' critical thinking while extended English reading classes can serve as a desirable platform rather than traditional reading classes.Based on Bloom's Classification Theory of Educational Objectives and Piaget's Constructivism Theory,this study carried out the action research on the cultivation of students' thinking ability through extended English reading classes in a middle school,and explored the current situation of developing middle school students' critical thinking ability in English reading classes;whether the extended English reading classes can improve students' critical thinking ability;and how to train middle school students' critical thinking ability in reading teaching effectively.This action study was carried out in two rounds.The first round of the reading design follows RMP(Recognition-Manipulation-Production),which aims to develop students' critical thinking through reading activities in read classes.However,in the first round of action research,the students' thinking level was not fully developed inthe course of reading activities.In view of this,a Reflection and Reinforcement part was added on the basis of the original RMP reading design model,and the reading design framework of RMPR(RMP-Reflection/Reinforcement)was implemented.The Reflection and Reinforcement part aims at encouraging and deepening the development of the students' thinking ability through reading activities.From the questionnaires and interviews before and after the study,it is found out that the action research has achieved the expected results.The extended English reading class can encourage students to read in depth and think actively,and promote the development of middle school students' critical thinking ability.