| Homework refers to tasks assigned by teachers that completed by students during extra-curriculum time. Homework is a supplement for classroom teaching and a way of efficient feedback and evaluation of teaching, which is a bridge of education between school and family and an efficient way for cultivation of comprehensive ability of English using. It is also an important component of English curriculum. Homework has been studied for many years abroad, concerning topics such as homework time, homework amount, homework type, homework design, and the relationship between homework and achievement, etc. However, most of the studies concentrate on the subjects of math and science, and extremely rare studies on foreign languages. English as a foreign language teaching and learning in China interests many scholars, educators and learners, but they have not fully recognized the importance of English homework. At present, China is fully implementing quality education and curriculum reform, committed to developing overall development of students. Nevertheless, how these initiatives impact on teachers and students'views about English homework and their practices is unknown at present. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate and analyze English homework practices in middle school, in order to give full role's play to English homework, and improve our English teaching and learning.The present study mainly adopts the literature method, comparative method and questionnaire investigatory method. By collecting and rearranging, summarizing and analyzing the literature related to the theme both at home and abroad, the theoretical framework of the present study comes into existence based on the existent research fruits. The investigatory questionnaire of the present study consists of a teacher questionnaire and a student questionnaire. A total of 15 English teachers and 242 students of Grade 8 in Qianjiang Middle School participated in the study. The present study mainly investigates the teacher's homework behavior, such as homework design, homework assignments, homework assessment, and homework attitudes, etc. and student's homework behavior, such as homework attitudes, homework time, homework effort, and learning strategies employed in dealing with difficult tasks and so on. The study also examines the effects of English homework in the view of teachers and students.Major findings are advanced in following points. Firstly, most teachers and students hold a positive attitude towards the present English homework, and agree that English homework is an important and indispensable component of teaching. Secondly, teachers and students basically come to a common consent on the amount, the difficulty degree and type of present English homework, except for homework contents and homework assessment on which they hold different opinions. Thirdly, teachers and students agree that most of the positive effects of English homework play certain active roles in their teaching and learning, but they overweight the effects of knowledge consolidation. Among the negative effects, the two cases that occur quite often are, students are overburdened with homework assignments and denial of access to leisure-time and community activities. The present study finds that the present situation of English practices has ameliorated in middle school from the perspective of previous researches.In sum, the current situation of English homework practices in Qianjiang Middle School is well-developed on the whole, in which teachers and students hold positive attitudes toward the English homework, but some different views on homework content and style, homework assessment, etc. still exist. The present study indicates that teachers can assign better homework and assess homework more efficiently only if they know the needs of students, which make the students benefit considerably from the English homework. Teachers and students should be fully aware of the value of English homework, not only in the academic spheres but also in the nonacademic spheres of life.
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