The Application Of Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode To Oral English Teaching In Senior High School

With the rapid development of globalization,English,as one of the most widely-used official languages,plays a significant part in the communication in various fields.The oral English Teaching in senior high schools is faced with many problems,such as students' showing no interest,and lack of diversity,depth and difference in oral English expression.English Curriculum Stardard for Senior High School aims at developing students' ability to self-study,cooperate,and inquire in practice and activities.The application of Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode to oral English Teaching in Senior high school puts emphasis on inspiring students' interest in oral expression,creating cooperative and interactive atmosphere,focusing on students' individuality and personal experience,emphasizing the combination of class and after-class learning,so that students are more willing to communicate in English.The whole learning process actually becomes the process of students' practising using language and acquiring oral skills.This study intends to explore how to apply the Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode to oral English Teaching in senior high school and examine its effectiveness.The study mainly addresses the following three questions: 1)How to carry out the Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode in oral English class in senior high school? 2)Can the adoption of Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode improve students' willingness to communicate in English? 3)Can the adoption of Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode help improve students' oral English achievement?The subjects of this study are 78 students from Jiading No.1 Senior High School,with 39 students in each class.They are divided into the experimental group and the control group.Twenty weeks' experiment was conducted during which the experimental group applies Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode to oral English class while the control group employs traditional teaching approach.In the process,oral English tests,questionnaire survey and interview were employed.After the experiment,the data collected were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively.The findings of the study reflect that Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode enhances students' willingness to communicate in English,especially in the aspects like interest in oral English communication and communication among students.Theme-basedInquiry Teaching Mode is effective in facilitating students' performance in oral English,with improvement shown in vocabulary and grammar,fluency,content and communicative skill but no noticeable improvement in pronunciation.The result of the interview indicates that students welcome and hope to use this teaching mode.Theme-based Inquiry Teaching Mode is a feasible and practical method which can be applied to oral English Teaching in senior high school.