A Study On English Homework In Junior High Schools

Nowadays, English learning has become an important part in the phase of national education development. Being a part of basic English education, English in junior high schools has received extensive attention by researchers at home and abroad. However, more attention has been paid to English classroom teaching while English homework in junior high schools is somewhat neglected. As an important link of junior high schools teaching, English homework, playing an important role in teachers’ teaching system, is the extension of English teaching in class. Therefore, it is worthwhile to make a research and to find its problems in junior high schools.In this paper, firstly, according to some literature materials about English homework in junior high schools, the author, on the one hand, summarizes its definitions, classifications and functions, on the other hand concludes principles for its designing in junior high schools based on some theories (such as multiple intelligence theory; constructionist theory; task-based teaching theory; and humanism theory). Secondly, on the basis of its research achievements by researchers at home and abroad, the author concretely summarizes the homework from five aspects:the finishing time of homework, the contents and forms of homework, the purposes of homework, the attitudes towards homework, and the assessments of homework. Thirdly, the author adopts the methods of questionnaires, interviews and sample analysis to study the problems of English homework in junior high schools in the 5 aspects and analyze the reasons for the problems.The study shows that there mainly exist 3 problems:1) some students are still not sure the finishing time of homework; 2) the designing forms of homework are monotonous and unpractical; 3) the homework assessments are always made by teachers, and the students and their parents have seldom taken part in the assessment. The main reasons for the problems are:1) students have different difficulty degree of the homework, and some of them feel it is hard to finish on time; 2) teachers have to arrange more consolidation homework under the pressure of students’entrance examinations; 3) teachers worry about the assessment faults made by students and parents, which are bad for students’English learning. Based on the study, some implications for homework designing are put forward:1) English homework should be less but well-prepared; 2) its forms should be more diverse; 3) students and parents should be more involved in assessing the homework.