On The Application Of Task-Based Teaching Approach To English Writing In Rural High School

As one of the four language skills in English learning,English writing is also one of the main objects tested in allEnglish examinations,which means that English writing is an important item in senior high school teaching.However,English writing is an item which tests students' comprehensive ability of English language including vocabulary,sentence structure,passage organization and others,which means that English writing is a difficult item for both teaching and learning.For students in rural high schools,doing English writing is much more difficult.This study analyzes present situation of English writing in senior high schools,it explores major problems appeared in senior high school students and the causes of these problems.In order to improve the efficiency of English writing teaching and promote students' English writing abilities,this study defines writing as well as writing ability and analyzes differences of English and Chinese thought patterns and their impacts on writing,this study also introduces several methods of English writing teaching including Product-oriented Approach,Process-oriented Approach and Content-oriented Approach,most importantly,this study mainly studies the efficiency of Task-based Teaching Approach applied in rural high school English writing teaching.The Task-based Teaching Approach was developed in 1980 s,and it was advocated by the new English curriculum criteria for high schools(2003).Quantities of researches have been made to demonstrate the efficiency of the Task-based Teaching Approach applied in English teaching in China.However,there are still few researches on whether the Task-based Teaching Approach is available to be applied in English writing teaching in rural high schools.Based on the current situation of English writing teaching in rural areas,the writer has done this studyin Yaxi middle school,Zunyi county,Guizhou province.In this study,the writer intends to answer the following questions:1.Can Task-based Language Teaching Approach be effectively applied in English writing teaching in rural high schools?2.Which aspects of improvement in students' English writing performance and abilities would take place when Task-based Language Teaching Approach has been applied in English writing teaching?The researcher compared scores of a pre-test which was hold in class 3 and class 9 of grade 1 with the help of SPSS software,the analysis results shows that students' writing performances in both classes are at the same level.Based on the result,class 3 is randomly assigned as the experimental class and class 9 as the control class.The experiment was started in September,2015 and was fulfilled in July,2016,during which Task-Based Teaching Approach was applied in the experimental class,and the traditional writing teaching method was used in the control class.Relevant experimental data was collected through a pre-test,a post-test and was analyzed with the help of the excel spreadsheet and SPSS software.Questionnaires were conducted in this research to get a general knowledge of the present situation of English writing teaching in rural high schools,and to know students' writing strategies used in English writing andchanges of students' attitudes toward English writingbefore and after the experiment.By contrasting the data,it can be seen that the average score of English writing in the experimental class boosts 4.5 points,while the average score of English writing in the control class boosts 1.86 points.What's more,students' interests in English writing and students' English writing strategies in the experimental class have been largely improved.The results from the research illustrated that the Task-based Language Teaching Approach can be applied in English writing teaching and it is efficient to improve the English writing abilities of students in rural high schools.However,there are many shortages in the designing of tasks and questionnaires because of the limitation of researcher's experience in teaching and doing research.In order to better fulfill the curriculum reform,the writer should develop the capacity of life-long learning and communicate with experienced colleges and predecessors in the future teaching and research,combining advanced educational philosophy with students' practical conditions,maximize the stimulation of students' learning motivation and the development of students' English learning interests,and improve the level of teaching.