| We are in an era which is full of all kinds of jumbled information and the development of technology makes it extremely easy to acquire the information.Therefore,the ability to identify and process the information has become one of the most important abilities in modern society.With the continuous advancement of quality education in China and the incessant development of society,the demand for innovative talents is also soaring.In order to acclimatize the needs of social development and better meet the challenges of the era,the cultivation of students’ critical thinking ability has become an intensely popular topic of educational field in recent years.However,in today’s English teaching,most of the classes still focus on the explanation of vocabulary and grammar for the texts.Students learn in a relatively passive way.In the English teaching in remote areas,the cultivation of critical thinking ability is more difficult to be reflected in the ordinary teaching.This universal phenomenon has aroused the author’s thinking.After a full review of the relevant literature,the author found that there is still a gap in the existing research on students’ critical thinking ability in the English teaching in Hainan trilingual region,which needs to be filled urgently.In this background,in order to understand the influence and role of the discussion-based approach on the students’ English reading performance and critical thinking disposition in ethnic minority areas,and further determine its effectiveness,this study,based on the previous literature,combined the actual level and cognitive characteristics of students,formulated the corresponding research steps and plans,and proposed the following research questions:1)What are the effects of discussion-based approach on students’English reading performance?2)What are the contributions of the discussion-based approach to students’ critical thinking disposition?3)How does the discussion-based approach facilitate the students’ critical thinking disposition?The author adopted the research instruments of test,scale,interview,etc.,and made a study in Hainan province.This study took students of two classes in a senior high school in an autonomous county as the object,with the aim of improving students’ reading performance and critical thinking disposition,implemented the discussion-based approach in English reading teaching and carried out an experimental study that lasted for four-and-a-half-month.At the end of the experiment,the collected data were analyzed by SPSS 25.0.The results are as follows:(1)After the experiment,results showed that the discussion-based approach has significantly enhanced students’ English reading performance.(2)After the implementation of the discussion-based approach,the critical thinking disposition of students in experimental class has been greatly improved compared with the first time.In the eight dimensions of critical thinking disposition,students’confidence,openness,justice,analyticity and truth-seeking have made significant progress.(3)The discussion-based approach can help students form a good habit of thinking deeply.Students will pay more attention to the rationality and logicality of their own expression and become more tolerant and prudent to others’ opinions.(4)The discussion-based approach can not only help to cultivate students’cooperative learning ability and independent thinking ability,but also improve their interest in learning.It is worth noting that students with poor English level have lower recognition of this discussion-based approach and they need more guidance and help from teachers.Finally,according to the learning characteristics and teaching situation of students in minority areas,the author advocates that teachers should use discussion teaching method flexibly according to the actual situation,so as to enliven the classroom atmosphere,and improve students’ enthusiasm and confidence in English learning. |
