A Study On The Application Of Problem-based Learning In English Reading Teaching In Senior High School

Reading is one of the four fundamental skills in English.Therefore,it is a significant part in English teaching,especially in senior high school.Problem-based Learning(PBL)is an effective way to improve reading ability.PBL is a teaching method,which uses problems to drive the learning process.In this process,students cooperate with each other to analyze,think and solve the problems,and finally achieve the aims of understanding and using knowledge.The purpose of this research is to combine PBL with English reading teaching and prove the effectiveness and feasibility of PBL in English reading teaching.This thesis is designed to study what the effects of PBL on students' English reading ability are as well as what the changes of students' attitudes to English reading are after the teaching based on PBL.The researcher applied PBL to English reading class in Grade Two in a senior high school in Shenyang from September 2016 to December 2016.The experiment includes two classes: experimental class(Class Two)and control class(Class One).In the process of research,the researcher guilds the students to finish various reading tasks based on the five basic processes of PBL: problem situation,problem analysis,problem solving,evaluation,summary and reflection.To find out the changes of students' attitudes to reading and their attitudes to PBL after the experiment,the researcher designs a questionnaire for the students.In order to test the results,the researcher designs pre-test and post-test to compare students' academic records.The researcher also designs interview to supplement the results of questionnaires.With the help of SPSS 17.0,the researcher uses independent samples test and paired samples test to analyze and discuss the data.The results of the experiment show that on one hand,applying PBL in English reading class in senior high school is effective to increase students' interests in English reading.Students take part in the learning process actively and they are accustomed to group work.On the other hand,PBL improves students' reading abilities including reading strategy,thinking mode,autonomic learning and reading quantity.