A Research On The Application Of Mind Map To The Teaching Of Enlish Reading In Senior High Schools

Mind Map is a thinking tool that was put forward by Tony Buzan,a British scholar in the 1960 s.Buzan(1993)indicated briefly that mind map could utilize some key words as well as images to show information.It can also invoke learners' cognitive schemata in their mind,thus creating the learner's consciousness of creation and innovative thinking.Based on the potential problems in senior high schools during the current teaching process of English reading,this study focuses on using mind map in the teaching of English reading aiming at exploring the problems and causes in the process of using it in senior high schools and explore efficient ways to enhance students' capacity of English reading comprehension in senior high schools through the implementation of the action research.This study employed tests,questionnaires,teaching journals,learning journals,interviews,classroom observations and so on.From September,2015 to January,2016,sixty students in Class 5,Senior Grade 1 and some of the English teachers from Luoyang No1 senior High School took part in this research.Students have experienced the training of mind map during this period.The author found that compared with the traditional English reading class dominated by teachers,most students who are ready to answer questions actively in the reading class in which the strategy of mind map was used increased significantly.Some of the students who are introverted are ready to join in the class activities actively and interact more with the teachers.Thus the whole class will have a more active classroom atmosphere.The majority of the students are able to develop a rich imagination concerning a topic,thus getting a great comprehension of article.Students' radiation thoughts and creative thinking will develop well in this way.The procedures of teaching is more fruitful.Students' learning motivation as well as interest in English have been improved significantly.At the same time,their comprehensive language application ability was enhanced to a large extent.Students do not just focus on literal meaning and language points but have a more thorough understanding and comprehension.In conclusion,the usage of the strategy of mind map will have a positive impact on promoting the students' reading comprehension.