A Correlative Study Between Junior High School Students’ English Class Participation And Their English Learning Achievement

As English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2011)advocated that students should conduct independent learning,cooperative learning and inquiry learning,students’ class participation has been widely and deeply studied both theoretically and empirically.Relevant researches mainly focus on the factors affecting students’ classroom participation,and there is still a large room for exploration on the correlation between students’ classroom participation and learning achievement.This study aims to understand the current situation of junior high school students’ participation in English class,analyze and discuss the relationship between junior high school students’ participation in English class and their English learning achievement,then put forward some strategies to improve students’ participation in class on the basis.This paper focuses on the following two issues:(1)What is the current situation of students’ participation in English class in the junior high school of county?(2)What is the impact of students’ class participation on their English learning achievement?Based on the constructivist learning theory,participatory learning theory and the three dimensions of classroom participation proposed by Professor Kong Qiping,the researcher first designs the classroom observation form and questionnaire,and then conducts a three-month English classroom observation in four ordinary classes of Grade Eight in a county public middle school in Xinyang City,Henan Province in order to further understand the situation of students’ participation in English class.After the English scores of the students in the three monthly exams of this semester come out,the average score is calculated and the questionnaire survey is conducted on the students,the purpose of which is to investigate the current situation of junior high school students’ English class participation and its influence on their English learning achievement.Finally,according to the results of observation and questionnaire,combined with the research questions,the interview outline is designed.Twelve students and four teachers are selected for the interview so as to understand the views of students and teachers on classroom participation respectively.A total of 188 students are surveyed,with 95.2% of the valid questionnaires.Through the use of SPSS26.0 to conduct descriptive statistics and correlation analysis on the survey data,combined with classroom observations,and the analysis and discussion of the interviews,this study draws the following conclusions: Firstly,junior high school students’ English classroom participation in the county is at a low and medium level,which needs to be improved.Among them,the degree of behavioral participation and cognitive participation is low,and the degree of emotional participation is relatively high.Secondly,there is a positive correlation between junior high school students’ participation in English class and their learning achievement on the whole,among which,behavioral participation and cognitive participation are significantly positively correlated with their English achievement,indicating that the higher the degree of behavioral participation and cognitive participation in English class is,the better their English achievement will be.Positive affective participation including sense of fun and sense of achievement is significantly and positively correlated with English achievement,while negative affective participation including anxiety and boredom is negatively correlated with English achievement.By comparing the correlation coefficient,it is found that the correlation between positive affective participation and English achievement is stronger.Based on the results of this study,this paper puts forward some suggestions to improve junior high school students’ English class participation: Guide students to establish a correct view of class participation;Change the teaching concept and improve the teaching method;Pay attention to the evaluation of teaching process to stimulate students’ awareness of participation;Stratified teaching and encouraging every student to participate in the class.