A Case Study On The Stratified English Reading Teaching In Junior High School Based On Activity Theory

According to the English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022 Edition)(hereinafter referred to as the New Curriculum Standard),English reading,as an important receptive skill and one of the fundamental ways of language input,is an essential way for students to acquire language knowledge and cultural information,as well as a significant medium to develop their core competence.However,according to the relevant literature and survey analysis,it has been found that there are still some problems with the current English reading teaching in junior high schools.For instance,English reading activities have a single form and lack stratification and relevance among activities.Assessment and feedback for students are simple and uniform,which lack pertinence and differentiation.English reading homework emphasizes "practice"rather than "expansion",etc.Given all this,the author attempts to conduct a semesterlong experiment on English reading stratified teaching and proposes related strategies.Stratified teaching is tailored to the different characteristics of every student,and aligns with the values of student-centered and personalized development advocated by the New Curriculum Standard.Stratified teaching includes explicit and implicit stratified teaching.Implicit stratified teaching is more conducive to protecting students’self-esteem than explicit stratified teaching,which lets students know that they are divided into different levels of learning.Furthermore,the New Curriculum Standard also encourages teachers to put the concept of English learning activity into practice,stating that English learning activities are the basic organizational form of English teaching.Reading activities,on the other hand,play an important role in achieving the objectives of English reading teaching.Activity Theory emphasizes activity as the core to explain human mental development clarifying that activity is an important form of learning and development,and highlighting the hierarchical character of activities.And its ideas are consistent with the concept of English learning activity,providing a new theoretical perspective on the stratified design of English reading activities.Based on Activity Theory,a clear research procedure on stratified English reading teaching is well-designed,combining the students’ learning situation in Class B,Grade 8 at A Middle School Attached to Sichuan Normal University.The following 3 research questions will be addressed in this study.(1)How students can be stratified and grouped before implementing English reading stratified teaching?(2)How the stratified reading teaching is implemented in junior high school English classes based on Activity Theory?(3)What are the effects of stratified reading teaching based on Activity Theory on junior high school students’ reading literacy?This study employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods to answer the 3 research questions above.The research participants are 48 students from Class B,Grade 8 at A Middle School.The experimental data are gathered through questionnaires,interview,and tests,and analyzed by Excel and SPSS26.0.Specifically,students are divided into three levels A,B,and C under the principle of implicit stratified teaching with the comprehensive analysis of their pre-test English reading scores and the results of the pre-questionnaire.And based on the grouping standard of"homogeneity among groups and heterogeneity within groups",students from each level are further divided into 12 groups of 4 at a ratio of 1:2:1 for cooperative group learning.Additionally,the specific implementation process of stratified English reading teaching is demonstrated through the presentation of a teaching sample from“Go for it,Grade 8,Book 2,Unit 7 Section B 2a-2e.”Moreover,based on the analysis of students’pre-test and post-test English reading scores,pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire results,and the interview results,it has been discovered that stratified English reading teaching is conducive to improving students’ reading literacy.The results of the study show that stratification and heterogeneous grouping of students with a comprehensive integration of intellectual and non-intellectual factors can contribute to enhancing students’ sense of cooperation and improving their learning confidence;that "in-class stratified reading teaching",“after-school homework",and“extra-curricular reading" are mutually integrated and work together during the implementation of stratified English reading teaching;in addition,students’reading literacy is significantly improved in all aspects with students’ reading experience,reading habit,reading comprehension,and language knowledge most significantly improved,proving the feasibility and effectiveness of stratified English reading teaching in junior high school based on Activity Theory.However,due to the small sample size of the experimental subjects,the short experimental period,and some other objective factors,this study also has some limitations.For this reason,the author provides some suggestions at the end of the thesis for future scholars to better carry out stratified English reading teaching and research.