| English reading is an essential part of language learning.However,the overall situation of English reading teaching in senior high school is not optimistic.In the traditional reading class,students receive knowledge passively rather than constructing meaning actively,which seriously affects their interest in learning and allows them fewer chances of exploration and innovation.Therefore,it is necessary to change traditional English reading teaching methods in senior high school.English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School(2017 Edition)advocates inquiry-based learning.In order to improve students’ English reading proficiency and thinking quality,the researcher conducted an action research on the application of inquiry-based learning into English reading class.One class with a total of thirty-five students in grade one from one senior high school in Liaoning Province were selected as participants in the three-month study.This action research was conducted for two rounds,aiming at discussing the following three questions:1.What are the effects of inquiry-based learning on students’ English reading learning?2.What are the effects of inquiry-based learning on the development of students’ thinking quality?3.What roles does the teacher play in the application of inquiry-based learning?This action research adopted several instruments to collect data such as questionnaires,tests,interviews and reflective journals.SPSS software 22.0 was used to analyze the descriptive statistics of the whole items on questionnaires and the paired samples t-test on tests,and a thematic analysis was conducted on the datacollected by interviews and reflective journals.The major findings show that,firstly,to a large extent,the implementation of inquiry-based learning contributes to students’ reading learning,which can be manifested in improving their reading performance,reading motivation,class participation,reading habits such as pointing reading and vocalizing,and efficiency in choosing appropriate reading methods.Moreover,the students’ personal knowledge such as reader role,self-recognition on strengths and weaknesses in reading,and goal of reading can also exert influence on their reading learning.Secondly,it facilitates students’ development of thinking quality.Thirdly,the teacher’s roles are not static.They change with the requirements of inquiry-based learning in different stages,which mainly reflect in classroom management,activity design and students’ performance feedback.It is hoped that the suggestions presented in this research can assist the teachers in senior high school to carry out the further researches on inquiry-based learning.Moreover,some further studies,such as the application of modern information technology,the cultivation of thinking quality in other class types,the ways of evaluation,are still in need. |
