A Case Study Of Learning Environment In Senior High School English Classrooms

Classroom learning environment generally refers to the sum of a variety ofphysical, social and psychological factors presenting in classroom which have madequite an impact on teaching activities, quality and effectiveness of classroom teachingprocess. Results from many researchers at home and abroad indicate that classroomlearning environment is closely related to students’ learning outcomes. Since Chinesestudents learn English as a foreign language mainly in classrooms, it’s of greatsignificance to make a study of learning environment in senior high school Englishclassrooms.The present study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods toinvestigate the current situation of senior high school English learning environment.The study focused on three aspects: characteristics of senior high school Englishlearning environment, perceptual differences of English learning environmentbetween male students and female students as well as perceptual differences betweenstudents of different academic achievements.343senior two students from6classesof one senior high school in Yunnan province were randomly selected as subjects forquestionnaire survey, and12students and7teachers were selected for the interview.The data collected from questionnaires were analyzed with SPSS11.5. Data analysesincluded reliability, descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test.Results from data analyses indicated that:1) Generally speaking, senior highschool students perceived their English classroom learning environment positivelyand favorably. They perceived Teacher Leadership and Equality as the most twosatisfactory factors.2) Teacher Innovation, Student Involvement and StudentResponsibility were ranked as less satisfactory factors.3) There was no significantdifference in the perception of classroom learning environment between male andfemale students.4) Female students hold more positive perception than male studentsin Student Cooperation, Teacher Leadership, and Student Cohesiveness.5) High-achievement students perceived the classroom environment more positively thanlow-achievement students, especially in Student Involvement, Teacher Leadership,and Student Cohesiveness.Based on the research results of the present study, in order to improve theEnglish classroom learning environment to facilitate students’ academic achievements,senior high school English teachers need to adopt new teaching methods, involvestudents in classroom activities, consider gender differences, and pay more attentionto low-achievement students in teaching. Accordingly, the limitations of the presentstudy and suggestions for further research were pointed out at the end of the thesis.