The Application Of Problem-based Learning To English Reading Teaching In Junior Middle School

Although previous researches on improving students’ critical thinking skills in English classrooms have proved that problem-based learning(PBL)can effectively improve students’ critical thinking skills,few in-depth studies have been conducted to explore the effectiveness of PBL in junior high school English reading classes.In view of this,this study attempts to apply PBL to junior high school English reading instruction based on constructivism theory and cooperative learning theory,aiming to investigate the effects of PBL on junior high school students’ critical thinking skills and English reading performance in English reading.This study seeks to address the following three research questions:(1)What effects will PBL have on junior high school students’ critical thinking skills in English reading?(2)What effects will PBL have on junior high school students’ English reading performance in English reading?(3)Will PBL have different effects on critical thinking skills of junior high school students with high,middle and low English levels?92 participants were recruited from two parallel classes in the first-year of a junior high school in Yuexiu District of Guangzhou,Guangdong Province.Both the experimental and control classes were taught over a period of four months,with the experimental class(n=47)instructed with PBL method and the control class(n=45)receiving conventionally practiced English reading instruction.Data were collected using critical thinking skills questionnaires and English reading tests before and after the experiment.Then the collected data were entered into SPSS 27.0 for statistical and analytical purposes.At the same time,a semi-structured interview was also used to examine the effects of PBL in English reading instruction in depth.The main findings of this study can be summarized as follows:(1)PBL can help enhance junior high school students’ critical thinking skills.Specifically,students’ sub-skills of explanation and evaluation are improved more significantly,while the improvement in the sub-skills of analysis and reasoning is not obvious.(2)PBL can help improve junior high school students’ English reading performance,especially in the scores of the items measuring the sub-skills of explanation and evaluation.(3)PBL can help enhance the overall critical thinking skills of junior high school students with different levels of English proficiency.More specifically,students with high and middle English levels have significantly improved their sub-skills of evaluation and explanation,while students with low English level have improved their sub-skills of analysis and reasoning.In summary,the teaching of English reading in junior high school based on PBL has exerted a positive impact on junior high school students’ critical thinking skills and significantly improved their English reading performance.The results also suggest that PBL in English reading has effectively enhanced critical thinking skills among junior high school students with different English levels.Therefore,the application of PBL in English reading teaching is feasible.