Action Research On Reading-to-Write English Teaching At A Secondary Vocatuonal School

Based on Krashen’s Input Hypothesis,Swain’s Output Hypothesis and the constructivism learning theory,this thesis explores how reading-to-write approach can be better applied to the teaching of English writing at secondary vocational school through action research.The purpose is to improve its English writing teaching effectTwo questions are addressed in this action research(1)How can reading-to-write approach improve the students’ reading with an aim of benefiting the writing?(2)How can reading-to-write approach improve the students’ writing by relating it to the reading?In this study,55 third-year students from Class A and Class B of a secondary vocational school in Nantong were selected as subjects.The instruments employed include teaching journals,questionnaires,classroom observation and interviews.Two cycles of action research were carried out.The first cycle started with problem identification through questionnaire and interview,then followed by plan designing directing at the problems,and concluded by plan implementation in Class A.The second cycle started with reflections on deficiencies of cycle one,followed by corresponding plan revision,and plan re-implemented in Class B,and concluded by re-assessments and re-reflections.Two major findings yield from this studyFirst,with an aim of benefiting the writing,students’ reading can be improved via three strategies.The first strategy is to select reading materials that suit the students’ cognitive level and writing teaching purpose.The second is to draw students’ attention to language forms during the reading process.The third is to encourage deeper understanding of how the information can be organized.With three strategies properly employed,students can have meaningful reading centering around content,language and organization,which paves the way for better production in writingSecond,there are also three strategies that can improve the students’ writings relating to the reading.The strategies include:first,clear presentation of writing content with key words;second,innovative drafting of topic sentences with diversified language;and third,proper guidance of information organization with writing method.The use of these three strategies can bring about satisfactory improvement in students’ writing:from a quantitative perspective,the mean score goes up by 10.2 points in the end;from a qualitative perspective,there is a gradual growth in students’writings from "deficient content" to "sufficient content",from "repetitive language expression" to "diversified language expression",and from "haphazard information organization" to "logical information organization".In this way,reading-to-write approach contributes to the formation of a virtuous cycle:attention to content,language and structure helps generate better understanding in reading,which in turn promotes better writing,and again closer attention to the three elements in reading.The pedagogical implications of the study are as follows:Reading-to-write approach is proved to be a good way for secondary vocational school students.Interconnected and interchanged,students’ writing could be driven from appropriate reading and reading be facilitated by writing.What’s more,the principle of student-centeredness should always be observed and teachers need to be more fully prepared for teaching.