On The Influence Of The Task

Recent research regarding teaching English as a foreign language suggested that, Asian students, especially Chinese students are passive and silent learners in class. Students in English class are not willing to express their views or actively participate in various classroom activities and even remain silent. This learning phenomenon has become a widely discussed issue. Many researchers attributed such phenomenon to students’ factors, such as personality, education, and cultural background. Other researchers suggested teachers’ questioning skills result in students’ silence and passive participation in class. However, this phenomenon has seldom examined from a teaching method perspective. That is, the traditional English teaching methods such as mechanical translation teaching has impeded students’ active learning in class.Previous research has investigated the reasons why students remain silent in English classes, and proposed various approaches to address this issue. However, the effectiveness of such propositions are not adequately tested or evaluated empirically. Therefore, based on previous research and relevant theories with regard to classroom silence and task-based teaching method, this thesis presented a two-step study to achieve a holistic understanding of this phenomenon, propose appropriate strategies, as well as provide validations in a subsequent empirical study. Specifically, the author first conducted interviews, distribute surveys, and analyzed the results to yield explanations of secondary school students’ classroom silence. Secondly, this study empirically assessed a task-based teaching method to break the silence in class.652secondary school students participated in the initial survey. The results suggested that the main factors that impact student’s silence in English class are:students’ individual characteristics, lack of interest in learning, weak knowledge foundation of English, improper teaching method, and mundane questioning skills in class.In order to study the effectiveness and feasibility of a task-based teaching method, the authors conducted a follow-up comparison study that involves traditional English teaching methods as well. Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used, including classroom tests, questionnaires, interviews, and written exams. Following the principles of an experimental design, Students in Shangcheng High School of Henan Province were randomly divided into two groups (i.e., control and treatment group). All students’ English ability and classroom silence level have been examined. In the control group, only traditional English teaching methods were utilized. In the treatment group, only task-based English teaching is applied. Students’ English learning in the two groups were then compared to each other, as well as to their respective previous performance. Based on the results, the authors obtained several important insights. First, compared to the traditional teaching methods, task-based teaching can promote a more harmonious relationship between teachers and students, and in turn, a more interesting learning atmosphere. Students are more active in participating in class activities, and the silence problem is effectively relieved. Secondly, compared to the traditional teaching methods, task-based teaching method can improve students’ English proficiency and competency more effectively. Discussion and implications are provided subsequently.