A Study On The Application Of English Homework Design In Junior Middle School In The Context Of “Double Reduction”

The “double reduction” policy(2021)requires further reducing the homework burden of students in compulsory education and the burden of training outside of school.The policy points out that the quantity of homework should be reduced and the quality of it should be improved,while teachers should carefully correct homework and provide timely feedback.The overall requirement of the “double reduction” policy to strengthen homework management is “reduce the total amount,control the time,adjust the structure and improve the quality”,which opens up a whole new way of thinking about homework design.The Compulsory English Curriculum Standards released in 2022 also suggests that teachers should have a deeper understanding of the educational function of homework evaluation and insist on being ability-oriented and literacy-oriented.According to the results of existing research on homework,the quality of homework is directly related to the design of homework,which should be conducive to the consolidation of students’ language knowledge and skills,as well as to the promotion of students’ effective use of strategies,enhancement of motivation and improvement of learning attitudes.Therefore,it is necessary to strengthen the practical research on the design of English homework in junior middle school under the background of the “double reduction” policy.This paper will focus on three issues:1.What is the current situation of English homework in junior middle school?2.How do teachers design junior middle school English homework?3.Is the model of junior middle school English homework design effective? If so,what are the effects?Based on the research results of homework and homework design by experts and scholars at home and abroad,this paper theoretically constructs the basic principles and the model of homework design for junior high school English based on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives,the Compulsory English Curriculum Standards(2022)and the“double reduction” policy.This study is conducted through a questionnaire survey of 252 students in Grade 7 of a middle school in Chongqing,interviews with five English teachers in this grade,and analyzes students’ homework list to figure out the current status of English homework design in middle school.The author takes Class 9 and Class 10 as the experimental subjects,with Class 9 as the control class and Class 10 as the experimental class,to explore the design of English homework for junior middle school.The analysis of the results of questionnaire 1,the content of the teacher interviews and the students’ homework list reveal that(1)The amount of homework is blindly reduced,without appropriate additions or deletions according to the actual situation of the students in the classes which teachers are teaching;(2)The purpose of homework is too single and narrow,focusing only on consolidating classroom knowledge,without guiding students to extend what they have learned to the classroom;the test-taking nature of the purpose of homework is significant;(3)The difficulty of homework is inappropriate,lacking hierarchy and individuality and ignoring students’ emotional factors;(4)The form of homework is single and lacks interest,only focusing on the teaching materials and matched exercise booklet or test papers;(5)The principal of homework evaluation,the direction is single,the principal and way of correction are too single,and the use of correction symbols is not humanization enough,which weakens the guiding nature of homework feedback.In order to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical model proposed in this study,a two-month application study is conducted,supplemented by questionnaires and teacher evaluations to test the effectiveness of the junior middle school English homework design model.This study finds that the homework design model of junior middle school English based on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives is scientific and feasible and can help junior middle school English teachers design homework scientifically and reasonably to promote teaching.Moreover,the content of the homework design model is more in line with students’ needs,which can effectively reduce students’ learning burden,improve students’ attitudes toward English homework,and enhance students’ learning effectiveness.Based on the main findings of this research,the following suggestions are put forward for the design of English homework in junior middle school:(1)Designing the right amount of homework to coordinate all subjects;(2)Clarifying the purpose of homework to improve learning efficiency;(3)Enriching homework types to stimulating learning interest;(4)Setting layered homework to adapt to students’ development;(5)Allowing students to participate in homework design to activate learning initiative;(6)Diversifying homework evaluation to promote students’ self-orientation;(7)Driving the four positions(teachers,schools,the teaching and research department,the education department)to seize the educational function of homework.