An Action Research On Teaching English Reading In High School Based On PBL Teaching Method

Traditional English reading teaching has a non-negligible role in developing students’ literacy skills,but there are still some shortcomings,such as some students’ low interest in reading,lack of certain reading strategies,students’ learning is more passive,etc.In addition,students are also accustomed to the traditional teaching mode,relying on teachers to use their mother tongue for reading teaching,and students lack the ability to analyze and solve problems in English.The PBL teaching method is a student-oriented teaching method that places emphasis on problem situations,encourages learners to work with each other to find answers to questions,and develops students’ ability to integrate and apply their knowledge.This study aims to explore how to teach English reading in senior high school based on the PBL teaching method and attempts to answer the following three questions:(1)What is the effect of applying the PBL teaching method to high school English reading teaching on students’ interest in reading?(2)What is the effect of applying the PBL teaching method to high school English reading teaching on students’ reading strategies?(3)What is the effect of applying the PBL teaching method to high school English reading teaching on students’ ability to analyze and solve problems in English?This study combines Qiao Yuling and Guo Liping’s(2011)PBL implementation process and English learning activity view to construct an instructional design suitable for this study.Based on this,the author conducts two rounds of action research in a high school in Xixian County for 15 weeks.The study uses the research tools of questionnaires,interviews and teaching logs to collect data,and SPSS 25.0 is used to analyze the questionnaire data.After analyzing the data from the questionnaires,interviews and teaching logs,the study finds that:(1)Teaching English reading based on PBL teaching method has increased students’ interest in reading.The data analysis of the pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires shows that students enjoy English classes more and will even take the initiative to read English materials outside of class,and students talk about their increased interest in reading English in their interviews.(2)Teaching English reading based on PBL teaching method has enabled students to master certain reading strategies.This can be reflected in the fact that students indicated in the interviews that they have mastered some reading skills such as general reading and skimming.It is also recorded in the teaching log that students can use different problem-solving strategies according to different types of questions.However,the results of the questionnaire show that the PBL-based English reading teaching does not have a positive impact on the students’ reading strategies of inferring the meaning of words based on the context.(3)Teaching English reading based on PBL teaching method in senior high school has generally had a positive impact on developing students’ ability to analyze and solve problems in English.Analysis of the data from the pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires shows that students use English more often in reading activities,actively discuss with their classmates and analyze and solve questions posed by the teacher in English.However,some students still lack the ability to analyze and solve open-ended questions posed by the teacher in English.Analysis of the teaching logs and student interviews shows an increased awareness of the use of English to engage in problem-solving activities.In this study,the following pedagogical insights can be drawn: in reading teaching,teachers should give students timely and effective feedback;when setting up problem situations,teachers should take students’ learning characteristics and cognitive level into account;teachers actively use English in the process of reading teaching to develop students’ English thinking.