An Action Research Approach To The Application Of Inquiry-Based Learning In Primary School English Teaching

As a new teaching mode,inquiry based learning cultivates students' learning enthusiasm which encourages students to ask questions.Under this teaching mode,students will work with other students in the group to find out the solutions.Different from the traditional teaching mode,inquiry based learning focuses on improving students' autonomous learning and problem solving abilities.With the continuous improvement of China's comprehensive national strength there are many international schools were set up.Compared to our public schools,there are many aspects we need to learn from such as teaching mode,school themes,especially,in English teaching.According to the characteristics of international students,the author carried out an action research which implements inquiry-based learning in English teaching.In this research,38 students from Grade 3 in Yew Wah International School of Yantai were taken as the research participants and interviews,questionnaires and class observations are used as research instruments.There are two questions were mainly discussed: How can we promote primary students' engagement in English classes based on the inquiry-based learning? How can we improve primary school students' autonomous learning abilities in English learning based on the inquiry-based learning?After five months' research,through analyzing the collected data,we find that under teachers' effective guidance,students ask questions according to the teaching objectives,search and collect information based their questions,present their achievement and evaluate themselves.After adapting to the inquiry based learning steps in the first semester,students' class engagement and autonomous learning abilities have been improved.Therefore,the author expects this research to provide primary English teachers with effective way of English teaching.This research can be applied to the classroom of English learning,not only providing students with a more effective learning method,but also providing teachers with a new type of teaching method to help teachers and students learn English together and improve their own abilities.