A Study Of The Status Quo,Effects And Problems Of Private Tutoring In English For Junior High School Students In Xiamen

As a compulsory course in the junior high school curriculum,English is regarded as an increasingly important subject.There is a generally visible phenomenon of students participating in the English private tutoring.This study takes the junior high school students,their parents and the English teachers of the tutorial institutions in Xiamen as the subjects of the study,adopting the methods of literature review,questionnaires and in-depth interviews.It tries to answer the following questions:(1)What is the status quo of the private tutoring in English for junior high schools?(2)What are the effects and the influencing factors of the private tutoring in English for junior high school students;(3)What are the problems of the private tutoring in English for junior high school students?Through the analysis of questionnaires and interviews,there are some finding of the study.Firstly,the private tutoring in English for junior high schools has the following aspects:(1)The higher grade of junior high school students,the more take part in the English private tutoring;(2)Though most of the students are under high pressure,they are quite interested in learning English.The number of participating in English private tutoring is mainly once a week,and the length of the time is mainly around one year;(3)Most parents have a low educational level and spend a lot of money that is approximately between 10,000 yuan and 19,000 yuan on the English private tutoring;(4)the degrees of teachers are above bachelor's degree,but the period of practical teaching is generally short.The level of teachers is uneven and the teaching contents are inaccurate,which leads to the low teaching quality;(5)Students,patents and teachers have different expectations on the English private tutoring: most parents and students hope to improve the academic performances through the English private tutoring,while teachers would like students to find appropriate learning methods and modeling their learning attitudes;(6)Most students and teachers are more satisfied with teaching results than parents.Secondly,the following are the effects and the influencing factors of the private tutoring in English for junior high school students: the English private tutoring causes both positive and negative effects,and the influencing factors are different.On one hand,the factors accounting for the positive effects include students' higher learning initiative,parents' understanding and the effective home-schoolcommunication,etc.On the other hand,the factors accounting for the negative effects include the individual development level and students' incorrect learning concepts,parents' conformity psychology and so on.Finally,the main problems existing in the private tutoring in English for for junior high school students are:(1)Students' English private tutoring effects are insignificant and the academic burden and psychological pressure are great;(2)Students lack motivation in learning and independent thinking ability;(3)Parents' investment in the English private tutoring is more utilitarian,the evaluation of English private tutoring effects is one-sided;(4)the teachers' level of remedial institutions is uneven,and the quality of teaching can not be guaranteed.To promote the healthy development of the private tutoring in English for junior high schools students,this study puts forward the countermeasures:(1)Parents,students and teachers should change the traditional educational epistemology and cooperation with each other to promote the full development of students;(2)Tutorial institutions should constantly improve their own constructions who should be loyal to the essence of the education,seek educational innovations and create a good reputation of themselves;(3)the educational authorities,on one hand,should strengthen the monitoring of the market of the private tutoring in English for junior high school students.On the other hand,they should support the development of the high-quality English private tutoring,which aims to support the English education in mainstream schools;(4)Effective mechanisms for dialogue should be established between different subjects.We have collected the data of the English private tutoring from different angles,and examined the problems existing in the English private tutoring in details.In addition,the study focuses on the private tutoring in English for junior high students,expanding the scope of the previous studies that mainly pay attention to the English private tutoring in primary schools,which is a beneficial supplement to the study of the private tutoring.Furthermore,the study reveals the negative effects of the English private tutoring and the related factors.Finally,corresponding suggestions on the healthy development of the English private tutoring in junior high school students are proposed which is of practical significance to the English learning among students in junior schools.