The Application Of Problem-based Learning To The Teaching Of English Practical Writing At Senior High Schools

Practical writing is a kind of practical style in people's daily life,study and work,which has the characteristics of wide range,high frequency and broad coverage.With the increasing contact with the global world,English practical writing becomes an indispensible tool in daily work routine.According to National English Curriculum Standards for General High School(2003),the students at senior high schools should be equipped with English practical writing skill.They are required to master letter,notice and note writing skills,these so called three writing styles of English practical writing,whose topic covers apology,communication with pen-pals,consolation,introduction,application,gratitude and congratulation.The essence of English practical writing is practicality and connection with their daily life.Therefore,the cultivation of this writing ability becomes an important topic for senior high schools teachers.The teaching method of Problem-based Learning(PBL),which is student-centered and teacher-directed,can put the teaching of English practical writing class in a meaningful and complicated problem context.It inspires students to explore the real writing problems in groups,develop problem-solving skills and apply knowledge to solve the problems in groups.The characteristics of PBL can improve students' interest and change their attitudes toward English practical writing.More and more researchers pay attention to PBL at home and abroad,especially in higher education,elementary and secondary school education.But these applications are mainly focused on science subject.Few studies are applied PBL to the teaching of English practical writing.This study aims to explore the application of PBL to the teaching of English practical writing at senior high schools,mainly trying to answer the following questions:1.After the application of PBL to English practical writing class,will there be significant change on students' attitudes toward English practical writing at senior high schools?2.After the application of PBL to English practical writing class,will there be great improvement on students' writing ability at senior high schools?3.How should PBL be applied to the teaching of English practical writing atsenior high schools?The experiment is implemented at a senior high school of Jiangmen City.The author chooses two parallel classes as research subjects and there are 50 students in each class.The teaching method of problem-based learning is applied to the Experimental Class,while the traditional teaching method is applied to the Control Class.Both of these classes are taught by the same English teacher.The experiment lasts for one term and combines qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis.In the process of the experiment,a pre-test,a post-test,two questionnaires,an interview and classroom observation are conducted and the statistical software SPSS22.0 is applied to analyze the relevant data.Based on the results of the experiment,the research arrives at conclusions as follows:1.PBL can change students' attitudes toward English practical writing.Based on the results of questionnaires,PBL is found to be able to make students relaxed and reduce their anxiety.Students show great interest and confidence in English practical writing,and they gradually like English practical writing.2.PBL can improve students' English practical writing ability.Based on the results of the writing tests,students' scores of the pre-test show no difference between the Experimental Class and the Control Class.But great difference is shown in the post-test and the scores of students in the Experimental Class are improved much more greatly than those in the Control Class.Therefore,the research proves that PBL is practical and effective in the teaching of English practical writing at senior high schools.Placing the teaching of English practical writing in the real problem setting,teachers can facilitate students to master the writing skills,stimulate students' learning enthusiasm,and strengthen their initiative in a comfortable and relaxing environment.PBL enhances the relationship between teachers and students and changes the situation of lack of communication among them in the writing class.Furthermore,PBL develops the team spirit and finally improves students' writing ability of English practical.