Study Of Application Of Task-Based Instruction To Rural Junior Middle School Students In English Reading Teaching

The researchers and those of second language acquisition researchers proposed Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) in 1980s. It is another influential language teaching and learning theory and model that emphasizes"learning by doing". Today, TBLT is adopted in syllabus in many countries and regions in the world, such as the USA, Canada, Singapore, HongKong and so on. In China, the new National English Curriculum Standard (2001) for Middle Schools explicitly stipulates that"TBLT should be advocated"and requires that"teachers should avoid using simple teaching methods to teach language knowledge, they need to adopt TBLT as possible as they can". Under the situation of present English reading teaching, the author is going to study if TBLT is effective in English reading in rural junior middle school.Based upon Willis'model for TBLT, an experiment has been done in Grade Three in Wananzhen Junior Middle School of Li County from September 2007 to January 2008, which is aimed to testify if TBLT is effective and operative in English reading teaching in rural area. The author only advances on the use of TBLT in English reading teaching in rural junior middle school. The comprehensive analysis both in qualitative methods will be made on the use of TBLT in English reading in rural area through tests and questionnaires. By doing so, the author is expecting to get some substantial conclusion from the analysis, which can be beneficial to improve the students'English reading ability in rural junior middle school.The thesis is made up of six chapters. Chapter One gives a brief account of the background of the research concerning with this topic. It also gives a short description of the problems of English reading teaching for rural junior middle school students and the significance of the research. In the end, it provides the structure of the thesis.Chapter Two is a literature review on task-based language teaching, task and reading. This chapter first overviews the theoretical basis of TBLT, which includes the definitions of task and task-based language teaching, features, components, task types, the principles of using TBLT; the frameworks of classroom implementation of TBLT; the previous study of TBLT in English teaching field both abroad and at home. Then it gives a brief review of reading theory, including the definitions of English reading, reading competence, and description of reading process and reading models. At last, it simply gives an introduction to the theory of text-based tasks.Chapter Three is about the research design. The purpose of the current paper is to support the hypothesis that task-based teaching method can be used in reading class in rural area effectively and it can enhance students'learning interest and improve their reading ability. The current thesis tries to get the approval by means of carrying out task-based reading experiment in Wananzhen Middle School, in Li County of Baoding City, with two classes (Class 5 and Class 6) in Grade Three from September, 2007 to January, 2008. At the beginning of the experiment, the students in the experimental class and the control class were required to take part in the pre-test. The test will be carried out at the same time for the students in both experimental class and control class under strict exam discipline. The purpose of the pre-test is to check whether there is significant difference in English reading competence between the two classes. The result of the pre-test is collected and recorded for later analysis. At the end of the experiment, all the subjects in two classes will take the post-test. The test will be also carried out in the same way as the pre-test, and the result is collected and recorded for later analysis. The purpose of the post-test is to check whether there is significant difference in improvement of students'reading competence between two classes. Also two different teaching plans using TBLT and traditional PPP method are presented.Chapter Four presents the results and analysis of the research. First the author analyzes the results of the pre-test and draws the conclusion that the two classes are almost of the same level before the experiment. Then the author gives an analysis to the results of the post-test of the two classes, and gets the following findings: the reading speed of the students in the experimental class is improved a lot compared with that of speed of the students in the control class. Before the experiment the students'reading speed is 40 words per minute, while after the experiment it reaches 60 words per minute. And their mean score in reading comprehension rises by 6.9. The results of the questionnaires and the classroom experiment indicate that the students show greater interest in English classes. This shows that task-based teaching method is practical and effective in reading class so long as the tasks are designed properly. Therefore, the task-based language teaching method can be used in English reading class in rural area effectively.Chapter Five is the reflection of implementation of task-based language teaching in rural junior middle school, including major findings, pedagogical implications and comments on the implementation of task-based language teaching in rural junior middle school. The result of the study indicates that TBLT model really plays a more effective role than PPP model in promoting learners'reading comprehension in rural junior middle school.Chapter six is the conclusion of this thesis. Based on this theory on task-based language teaching, the author did experiment, which has proved that this approach is effective. At last, some limitations involved in this study are pointed out and some suggestions for further research are put forward too.