A Practical Study On Layered English Assignments In A Rural Middle School

Homework is an important part of English teaching, and it plays an important role inthe teaching process. In recent years, researchers have increasingly discussed ways toimprove English homework designing. However, studies on hierarchical Englishhomework assignments have not attracted enough attention. The layered approach toassignments is based on the idea that there are individual differences among students intheir ability and appropriate measures should be taken accordingly. This approach is anattempt to optimize the traditional homework designing and requirements. It aims toimprove the effectiveness of homework and class assignments for different levels ofstudents and to promote their learning efficiency and help them develop confidence. Inrural middle schools, many teachers ignore the differences among students in designingassignments. They usually assign too much work and increase academic burden onstudents as a result of simple assignment contents and unified requirements. They deviatefrom the concept advocated by the New English Curriculum. Therefore, it is necessary todo more researches and enquire more into hierarchical English assignments for rural juniormiddle schools.On the basis of the theory of multiple intelligences, the zone of proximal development,individualized and multi-level communication theory as well as analyzing hierarchicalhomework and class assignments at home and abroad, the author of this thesis adopts themethods of literature review, questionnaire and experimentation to investigate and analyzethe current situation of English assignments for rural middle school students and come upwith the idea of a layered approach. The students were dynamically grouped andhierarchical homework and class assignments were implemented. Meanwhile, the authordesigned some specific layered assignment samples, and discussed the hierarchical taskrequirements. The results of the research indicate that students are able to consolidate anddeepen their knowledge with the help of an appropriate assignments designedhierarchically which makes all levels of students achieve the most significant progress anddevelopment. Also it is a new way to improve the quality of English teaching. To sum up, this research aimed to explore the methods of hierarchical assignments,improve the students’ habit of doing assignments in a rural middle school, and reducestudents’ heavy burden. However, the limitations of this research should be avoided andsome application and efficiency issues need more research in the following teachingpractice.