An Experimental Research On The Application Of Constructivist Theory To Senior Middle School Students' English Reading

The core of senior English instruction is the teaching of reading, which is an important channel to develop senior students' English competence. However, the results of the reading teaching in senior high school are not so satisfactory at present(Liu Bing, 2003). As for the students' learning, the existing problems mainly lie in the following aspects: poor comprehension, low speed, undeveloped reading strategies and the lack of cultural background knowledge, etc. As for the teacher's teaching, the main problems are as follows (Cheng Jie, 2004): Reading class is still dominated by the traditional teaching methods; Classroom reading is not centered on students, situation creation and meaning construction are overlooked, and moreover, students are poor in collaboration, autonomy, communication, participation and exploration in the course of language learning; Reading strategies is neglected, etc. The constructivism-based reading teaching approach is an effective way to solve the above problems.Constructivism is one of the most influential theories in the western educational psychology. It has become an important guideline for all the countries in the world to undertake their educational reforms(裴新宁, 2003). Constructivism advocates student-centered learning under the guidance of the teacher. It is focused on students' self-exploration, self-discovery, and self-construction of knowledge. Constructivism aims to foster students' abilities and to help them learn how to learn. Reading classroom teaching from the perspective of constructivism can effectively innovate in the traditional teacher-centered teaching model, and set up a teaching model which lays emphasis on student-centeredness, on acquiring direct experience, on solving problem, and on cultivating students' initiative and practical abilities, which is quite concord with the new curricula. Therefore, it is of great significance to probe into an effective reading teaching model which is feasible, practical and suitable to local"environments" for senior English reading instruction from the constructivist perspectives of learning and teaching in order to organize the teaching of reading effectively, to improve the students' reading proficiency, to promote their use of reading strategies, to arouse their interest in English learning and to cultivate their ability of autonomous and cooperative learning, and furthermore to lay a solid foundation for their"sustainable development", which are also the main contents of the author's present study.Will the application of the constructivism-based reading teaching activities into senior English reading class be more efficient to facilitate the students' reading proficiency than that of the grammar-translation reading teaching method? This thesis mainly attempts to answer the question by carrying out an experiment between an experimental class and a controlled class for half a year. The present study is a qualitative study. The instruments used in the experiment were three examination papers and a questionnaire. The examination papers had the same style as the NMET and they were made by the specialists in groups. The questionnaire was made by revising and complementing the questionnaires used by three other researchers, and its reliability was tested by computer. The students in the experimental class were trained by the constructivism-based reading teaching approach. The controlled class had the grammar-translation teaching method. The results of the questionnaire and the marks of the three examinations were collected and analyzed by SPSS 11.0 to find out whether the students' reading proficiency, reading strategies as well as their attitudes towards reading class were improved by applying the constructivist-based reading teaching activities into senior English reading class.There are six chapters in the thesis. Chapter 1 includes the background, the objectives, and the significance of the present study. Chapter 2 mainly includes a general introduction to the reading teaching models, and the status quo of the research on constructivism at home and abroad. The foreign language (reading) teaching researches relevant to constructivism are stated in detail in this chapter. Chapter 3 deals with the constructivist perspectives on learning, teaching and reading. Chapter 4 discusses the feasibility of designing the constructivism-based reading teaching activities, the characteristics of the constructivist reading teaching activities, the compositions of the design, the procedures of the application, and a detailed reading teaching sample is also given. Chapter 5 provides some information concerning the design of the experiment, research hypotheses, subjects of the experiment, experimental instruments, procedures of the experiment, teaching methods, and data collection and analysis. Chapter 6 is about the pedagogical implications and limitations of the present study.The results of the present study show: the application of the constructivist-based reading teaching activities into senior English reading class is effective and feasible. It can help to improve senior 3 students' reading proficiency, to promote their employment of reading strategies, as well as their attitudes towards reading class.