The Effects Of Lead-in On Student’s Classroom Engagement In Junior High School English Reading Classes

As the first stage of junior high school English reading classes,lead-in takes up less time,but it plays an important role in reading teaching.The well-designed lead-in in English reading classes can attract students’ attention quickly,stimulate their reading interest and motivation,clarify reading objectives of this lesson,supplement relevant cultural background knowledge to clear reading obstacles,and become a bridge connecting new and old knowledge to promote students to enter the reading state better and participate in reading activities actively.Although the current research on classroom lead-in and student engagement is relatively rich,few scholars have studied the effects of different kinds of lead-in on student’s classroom engagement in terms of methods,means,subjects and content,meanwhile few studies explore the specific lesson type such as reading class.Therefore,this study combines the lead-in of English reading classes with junior high school students’ classroom engagement,aiming to investigate the effects of lead-in of junior high school English reading classes on student engagement,in order to arouse teachers’ awareness of lead-in in English reading classes,guide them to design and implement lead-in activities scientifically and reasonably,so as to improve student’s classroom engagement.Taking a junior high school in Chengdu as an example,based on Schema Theory,Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and Affective Filtering Hypothesis,this study adopts a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.Through classroom observation,questionnaires and interviews,current implementation of lead-in and its effects on student engagement can be found,so as to analyze the factors that affect student’s classroom engagement in English reading lead-in parts through the survey results.The purpose of this study is to explore following three questions: 1.What is the current situation of lead-in in junior high school English reading classes? 2.What is the effect of current lead-in on student’s classroom engagement in junior high school English reading classes? 3.What are the major factors influencing student’s classroom engagement in lead-in of English reading classes?The research shows that,first,the current means and methods of lead-in in English reading classes are single,with multimedia as the main means,questions-asked lead-in and review lead-in as the main methods.The subject of lead-in is solidified,and nearly half of classes are conducted with teachers as the main subject.In addition,some leadin content is outdated and deviates from the reading theme.Second,according to data analysis,lead-in parts in English reading classes play a positive role in promoting students’ behavioral engagement,cognitive engagement and emotional engagement,and different types of lead-in parts have different effects on student’s classroom engagement.Third,the factors that affect student engagement in lead-in parts include teachers’ design and implementation of lead-in activities,students’ own academic achievements,learning habits,psychological characteristics,and the degree of difficulty of discourse and its relevance to students’ lives.Through this study,the following enlightenments can be obtained: First,teachers should pay more attention to lead-in parts in English reading classes,strengthen theoretical study in this field,and combine relevant theoretical knowledge of lead-in with English reading teaching;Secondly,teachers should design the lead-in parts scientifically and reasonably in English reading classes based on students’ learning situation and reading materials with the consideration of lead-in elements,such as diversified lead-in methods,dual lead-in subjects,life-oriented lead-in content,and the combination of traditional means and multimedia means in lead-in parts.