An Investigative Study On The Effectiveness Of English Homework In Senior High School

With the implementation of the new English curriculum reform,instead of only focusing on student' comprehensive language proficiency,the English curriculum objective has grown into the cultivation of core quality,including linguistic competence,cultural awareness,thinking quality,and learning ability.As an indispensable part of English teaching in senior high school,homework is not only a necessary means to consolidate knowledge,but also an important way to cultivate students' core quality.However,even though there is a great improvement in English classroom teaching,English homework has not been given adequate attention.Based on the theoretical frameworks of constructive theory and humanistic theory,this paper aims to probe into the current situation of the application of different types of homework and its effectiveness in cultivating students' learning from the following two aspects:Question 1.What is the current situation of different types of English homework applied in senior high school?Question 2.To what extent is the effectiveness of the application of different types of English homework in cultivating students' learning ability?The author randomly selected 203 students of Grade 2 from 2 senior high schools in Haicheng Country,Liaoning Province as the subjects investigated,and collected data from study instruments of questionnaire and interview.The results were analyzed by SPSS software.The findings are as follows: firstly,according to the frequency of the application of different types of English homework,the order from high to low level should be exercise homework,mechanical homework,consolidation homework,creative homework and performance homework successively.Secondly,based on the four dimensions of English learning ability – learning interest,learning habits,classroom performance and learning plan,a conclusion can be drawn that among the five types of homework,the performance homework comes to be the most effective one to improve students' English learning ability,while the mechanical homework is the lowest one.Above all,this paper puts forward the enlightenment and suggestions,hoping to contribute to senior high school English teaching and relevant research in the future.