Action Research On Integration Of Reading And Writing In English Unit Teaching In Junior High School

With the in-depth development of new curriculum reform in China,the cultivation of students’ comprehensive language skills is increasingly emphasized in junior high school English teaching.Based on Constructivism Theory,Schema Theory and Transfer Theory,this study explored the specific path of using IRW teaching activities in unit teaching to enhance students’ English writing proficiency,aiming to provide a reference for the development of students’ English literacy skills at the basic education in China.Thirty students from H junior high school in Jiangsu province were invited to participate in this action research.Writing tests,classroom observations and interviews were used as instruments to collect data.The action research was carried out in a 6-week cycle with 2 rounds.Before the action research,specific problems in junior high school students’ English writing were identified by use of interviews and writing tests.After the action research,interviews,writing tests and classroom observations were conducted to collect data to compare with the first-round action research.The study attempts to address the following question:how to use IRW in unit teaching to improve the junior high school students’ English writing proficiency in terms of structure,content and language?After two rounds of action research,the findings were presented as follows:Overall,the implementation of IRW in unit teaching improved junior high school students’general English writing proficiency.Teachers stimulated students’ background schemas through thematic guidance during the reading process,so that students assimilated and conformed to the information in the reading as they learned to understand and internalize it,preparing for the transfer from reading to writing.Subsequently,writing tasks were designed in the writing process to ensure that they were relevant to students’ experiences and the characteristics of the reading text,so that students could use the information gained from the reading in their writing to complete the transfer of innovation in their final writing.Specifically,the implementation of IRW in unit teaching had a positive effect on improving junior high school students’ English writing proficiency in terms of structure,content and language.In terms of improving the structure dimension of writing,teachers developed students’ ability to summarize the structure of discourse in the process of reading teaching,so that students’ ability of generalization and global view were enhanced.At the same time,the application of mind maps to sort out writing ideas enabled students to master the structure of the reading text and produced a structural mapping effect to complete the transfer of structure.In terms of enhancing the content dimension of writing,teachers stimulated students’ original schemas in the process of teaching reading,allowing students to enrich their own schemas in the process of adapting and assimilating old and new ones,so as to build a better knowledge structure and lay the foundation for the transfer of writing content.As for the linguistic dimension of writing,teachers enhanced students’ sensitivity to the differences between English and Chinese thinking through classroom activities and exercises.Students’ linguistic errors were reduced,and their ability to use language in context was consolidated in classroom lessons through retelling,role-playing and other activities to achieve internalization and transfer of language.This study had some implications for the English writing teaching in junior high schools:firstly,teachers should make clear about the connection point between reading and writing and assign writing tasks according to the type of reading material to ensure the transfer from reading to writing;secondly,in the teaching of IRW,teachers’ teaching activities should be focused and they should take the structure,content and language of writing into account.