The Application Of Jigsaw Method To The Teaching Of English Reading In Junior Middle School

The jigsaw method,as a kind of cooperative learning method,was put forward by Aronson and its colleagues.In the jigsaw reading,each student is indispensable.Just like a jigsaw puzzle,it will not be complete if one piece of it is missing.Each student should be responsible for the final product of their groups,which allows students to realize their importance in their groups and then propels them to take an active part in the group activities.The jigsaw method can not only arouse students' interest towards English learning,promote their participation in the class activities,but also enhance their interpersonal skills so as to have an all-round development.However,at present,almost all the scholars focused their attention on the college and vocational students.Few scholars have researched the application of jigsaw method to the English teaching in the junior middle school.Therefore,the author attempted to apply the jigsaw method to the English reading teaching in the junior middle school,aiming to explore how the jigsaw method can stimulate the students' interest in English learning and how the jigsaw method can improve students9 reading proficiency.In order to answer the above mentioned questions,the author carried out an empirical research.In the experiment,96 students of Grade Two from Chao Nan Mingde School in ShanTou were chosen as the research subjects.The two classes were divided into the Control class and the Experimental class.In the control class,the author used the traditional teaching method while the jigsaw method was applied to the experimental class.The experiment lasted for 16 weeks,using tests,questionnaires and interviews as the research method.The pre-test and post-test were carried out in the control class and experimental class to prove how the jigsaw method can improve the reading proficiency of students.The questionnaire and interviews were designed to analyze students' attitudes towards English learning and their views on the application of the jigsaw method in the English reading class.The results of the experiment reveal that the jigsaw method has a positive effect on the improvement of students' reading abilities.This is mainly manifested in the following two aspects:First,the jigsaw method can stimulate junior students' interest in English reading.Second,the application of the jigsaw method to the teaching of English reading in junior middle school can enhance their reading abilities and reading scores.