A Comparative Study Of English Academic Burden Of Grade7 Students Between Public And Private Middle Schools

In a long time,the heavy academic burden has been widely concerned by the community.Relevant comparative studies about academic burden are mainly concentrated in urban and rural areas.However,there are few comparative studies between public and private middle schools.Through a comparison of similarities and differences in Grade 7 students' English academic burden between public and private middle schools,the author hopes to get some inspiration from the research for reducing students' English academic burden.Therefore,this paper focuses on the following three research questions:(1)What is the general situation of Grade 7 students' English academic burden in public and private schools?(2)Are there any similarities of Grade 7 students' English academic burden between public and private schools?If there are,in what aspects are they same with each other?(3)Are there any differences of Grade 7 students' English academic burden between public and private schools? If there are,in what aspects do they differ from each other? Questionnaire survey method is adopted in this research.Through the questionnaire,the author survey 320 Grade 7 students,160 of whom are from public school and the rest of 160 from private school.In addition,4 teachers and 6 students are interviewed,including 2 teachers and 3 students from each school respectively.Through this research,the author draws the following conclusions.(1)The general situation of academic burden in public and private middle schools is not satisfying.Students have more English classes per week and frequent English tests.Students spend more time finishing their English homework.In addition,not a few students attend English tutoring classes.What's more,students' negative academic emotion is rather high.(2)Whether in public schools or private schools,the number of English classes and the average time of doing English homework exceed the quantity stipulated in varying degrees.Meanwhile,teachers prefer to assign memory-related English homework.And,the frequency of English tests is relatively high and many students are afraid of English exam in different degree.In addition,many students attend English tutoring classes after school.(3)There are differences between public school and private schools in the English academic burden.From the objective aspect,private school students have more English classes per week and higher English tests frequency than public school students.And private school students need more time to finish English homework.In addition,when teachers assign English homework,private school teachers prefer to assign the memory task but pay less attention to students' speaking ability and application ability.From the subjective aspect,public school students have more positive emotional experience and less negative emotional experience than private school students.Based on the above conclusion,the author thinks public and private schools should reduce students' academic burden from the following aspects:(1)Schools should carry out some extracurricular activities,ensuring the rationalization of students' English study time in school.Especially in public school,teachers should help students use their time more reasonable and effective to balance learning and life.(2)Schools should combine exam evaluation with developmental evaluation not evaluate students by their academic performance simply.(3)Schools should carry out parent education,guiding parents to treat English tutoring classes rationally and make use of online sources.(4)Teachers should design typical homework,avoiding simple and mechanical exercises.Especially in private school,teachers should pay more attention to assigning different types of English homework,strengthening students' speaking and listening ability.And,private school teachers should pay more attention to students' learning feeling.They should help students develop a positive attitude and increase students' positive emotional experience by encouraging students.(5)Teachers should pay attention to students' learning interest and design teaching activities related to students' life,making them participate in the class actively,so as to increase their positive learning experience.