An Empirical Study On The Effects Of Content-and-Language-Integrated Instruction On English Reading Ability In Senior High School:From The Perspective Of Embodied Cognition Theory

Second language reading is a complex,dynamic,multi-component,and multi-dimensional process involving the interaction between readers and texts.Through literature reviews,there are some problems in reading instruction in China,including ignoring the information expressed in reading articles,neglecting the cultivation of reading skills and reading ability but only focusing on the main idea of the article,ignoring the in-depth analysis of the text content,students’ low reading enthusiasm,which is a significant concern.Throughout past research on reading instruction in middle schools,although some achievements have been made,there are still shortcomings.The teaching method based on the integration of content and language can achieve the dual purpose of language knowledge and content knowledge teaching,but there is a lack of relevant empirical research.In addition,research on students’ reading engagement is not sufficient.Therefore,this study carries out teaching experiments to explore the impact of teaching based on Embodied Cognitive Theory and Content-and-Language-Integrated Theory on senior high school students’ English reading engagement and reading ability.Specifically,this study aims to address the following two research questions:1)What effects does Content-and-Language-Integrated Instruction under the guidance of Embodied Cognition Theory have on senior high school students’ engagement in English reading?2)What effects does Content-and-Language-Integrated Instruction under the guidance of Embodied Cognition Theory have on senior high school students’ reading ability in English?The subjects of this research are 98 students from two parallel classes in a high school in Heyuan.They participated in a 10-week teaching experiment.Among them,48 students in the experimental group adopted Content-and-Language-Integration Instruction from the perspective of Embodied Cognition Theory for teaching,and 50 students in the control group adopted the PWP method for teaching.Other experimental conditions are basically the same.The study uses tests,questionnaires,and interviews as research tools to investigate the effects of the reading teaching method.Finally,SPSS 27.0 is used to statistically analyze the relevant data collected.Based on the teaching experiment,the study can draw conclusions as follows:1)Firstly,Content-and-Language-Integrated Instruction,guided by Embodied Cognition Theory,has a more positive impact on senior high school students’ reading engagement when compared with the traditional PWP method.Specifically,it can improve their emotional participation,behavioral participation,and cognitive participation.2)Secondly,Content-and-Language-Integrated Instruction,guided by Embodied Cognition Theory,has a more positive impact on senior high school students’ reading ability when compared with the traditional PWP method.Reading ability includes students’ ability of recognition,comprehension,and analysis.Furthermore,this research provides some enlightenment for English reading teaching.Firstly,teachers ought to pay attention to students’ reading enthusiasm,instead of teaching knowledge to students mechanically.Secondly,teachers should pay attention to both the content knowledge and the language knowledge,instead of just paying attention to the language knowledge.