An Experimental Study Of Literature Circles Model In English Extracurricular Reading In Junior High Schools

As a basic language ability,reading plays an important role in inputting language knowledge.Reading includes classroom reading and extracurricular reading.However,teachers and students prefer the former to the latter.A large quantity of experimental studies have shown that students,through extracurricular reading,can promote their comprehensive capability of language,including linguistic knowledge,linguistic skills,learning strategies,emotional attitudes and cultural awareness.Therefore,the function of extracurricular learning in language acquisition should not be ignored.As a reading model,Literature Circle has been in widespread use in western countries' language teaching and reading education.The model is the integration of independent learning and cooperative learning,of reading,writing,listening and speaking.Based on input hypothesis,cooperative learning theory and reader response theory,this study conducted a semester of experiment on subjects two parallel classes in Grade Three of a junior high school in Shihezi City,Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.There are 44 students in experimental class,41 students in control class.This study explores the feasibility and effectiveness of the model in extracurricular reading education,and verifies the model's improvement and promotion of subjects' receptive vocabulary,reading comprehension,and reading attitudes.There are three researching questions in the study.1.What impact does Literature Circle have on subjects' receptive vocabulary? 2.What impact does Literature Circle have on subjects' reading comprehension? 3.What impact does Literature Circle have on subjects' reading attitudes? In the process of studying,the methods of experiment,questionnaire survey,and tests are adopted.The results are as follows: 1.Subjects in experimental class have gained more receptive vocabularies than those in control class.That is to say,Literature Circles can increase subjects' receptive vocabulary.2.Subjects in experimental class have got more scores in reading comprehension than those in control class.It means that Literature Circles can enhance subjects' reading comprehension.3.Subjects in experimental class have more positive attitudes towards reading than those in control class.It tells that Literature Circles can change subjects' attitudes towards reading.The study has the following suggestions to the implementation of Literature Circles: 1.The first and important step is to choose reading materials.The effect of carrying out this model depends on whether materials are suitable to students.Therefore,teachers are supposed to choose appropriate materials in full consideration,including students' English proficiency,materials' length,complexity and educational enlightenment.2.The role of teachers in Literature Circles is different from traditional classes.They play a role of facilitators and participants under this model.3.In order to assure efficiency of discussion,teachers should check students' role sheets before they discuss the reading material.The researcher hopes that this study can provide useful guidelines and references for future studies,promote teachers to place great emphasis on extracurricular reading,and to apply Literature Circle to extracurricular reading education.