Critical Analysis Of How Micro-lectures Aid Primary School English Education In Rural Areas

The study of English in primary school has a significant impact on the future development of students.It can help students expand their visions,form cross-cultural awareness,and establish a solid foundation for comprehensive language application.Moreover,the study of English in general will be beneficial for learning frontier science and technology.This could potentially give students more opportunities when applying for higher education and make them more competitive candidates in job markets of the future.The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition)has pointed out that English educational resources should be more deeply examined;English teachers should understand the educational targets and the actual situation of students.English teachers should reasonably apply modern education techniques to enrich the teaching processes and contents,forging this subject into a real communicative tool,and eventually to improve students’ efficiency of study.Since 2011,the discussion on Micro-lecture has gradually become a popular subject,raising attention in domestic English education.Micro-Lecture has also been widely put into practice both in China and further afield.There is in-depth and diverse research in this field of study.Study shows Micro-lecture can stimulate students’ interests and motivations,improve understanding and better consolidate knowledge.This will lead to an improvement in their academic performance.Although,evidence shows Micro-lecture has some benefits,its limitations seem to be unavoidable.To be more specific,existing unbalanced teaching resources,the difficulties of families to provide support,the difference in studying conditions between students in rural areas and in urban areas.Therefore,further research is required regardless of issues surrounding rural primary students.For instance,there is difficulty in securing sufficient English-studying hours,learning resources.Rural students might have poor engagement or low interest in English as a subject itself.This research explores the positive role of using Micro-lecture as a supplement to English education in rural primary school.As well as gathering data to ascertain the most effective way to use Micro-lecture,for example before or after lessons.The dissertation aims to answer the two following questions:1.Does Micro-lecture play a positive role when used as a supplement to English education in rural primary school,for instance does it improve students’ attainment,interest,and achievement motivation of studying English?2.If the same Micro-lecture is used both before and after learning,what kind of impact will it have on students’ attainment,interest and achievement motivation?To understand the main issues in the English education of rural primary school students,as well as to draw attention to the current environment of employing English micro-lecture in English education,the author has conducted interviews with English teachers in the school where a teaching exchange program has taken place.This allows the author to produce or seek out more suitable Micro-lecture resources.It also leads to a more efficient micro-lecture teaching experiment.Focusing on two main research questions,the author has conducted an experimental study in three classes of Grade 4 of X Rural Primary School in Haicang District,Xiamen City.Before the start of the study,the author evaluated the fourth grade English test paper of the end-of-primary quality inspection in the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year in Haicang District,so as to ensure that the English academic level of the students in the three classes was balanced.By collecting students’ pre-school data through a questionnaire survey,on the premise of ensuring that students’ English learning interest and learning achievement motivation levels of the three classes are essentially the same,two classes were selected for the experiment Class E1 and Class E2,and the other class was used as control(Class C)to analyze the effect of micro-lecture application opportunity on rural primary school students’ English learning.While the control Class C uses traditional English teaching methods,online video course resources for each unit of knowledge points of English subject are distributed in two experimental classes via Ding Talk platform before or after the new class.The experimental Class E1 watched the micro-lecture after the new class,while the experimental Class E2 watched the micro-lecture before the new class.This study has adopted a double factor variance analysis to conduct an 18-week micro-teaching experiment(one academic semester).This research has three key measuring factors: interest in learning,achievement motivation,and academic performance.According to the result of double factor variance analysis,there are several findings of this research.1.After micro-lecture used in English education,students’ English learning performance,learning motivation and interest have been improved.2.The same micro-lecture content is applied to pre-class learning and after-class learning respectively.When applied to after-class learning,English learning performance,learning motivation and interest of rural pupils are more positively affected.3.Watching the micro-lectures after class has positive effects on students’ English language learning of all levels.The results show that micro-lectures have more significant benefits for students at either advanced or beginner level and less beneficial for those who are at intermediated level.In the future,teachers should consider using Micro-lecture according to students’ aptitude and combine the characteristics of students and classes to make after-class micro-lecture play a greater role in promoting students’ attainment.This study has not further analyzed the promotion effect of micro-lecture on different English types(listening,speaking,reading and writing),which will be one of the areas for further discussion and research in the future.In the follow-up research of the project,we will focus on in-depth and specific research on the application strategies of micro-lesson,to explore the micro-lesson teaching mode suitable for rural primary school students,and further to improve the guiding role and practical value of the research result.