The Effects Of Problem-Based Learning On Senior High School Students’ Critical Thinking In English Reading Teaching

In recent years,the cultivation of critical thinking in English reading teaching has received a great deal of attention in the field of education both at home and abroad,and how to effectively integrate the cultivation of critical thinking into English reading teaching has become a heated research topic in the field of foreign language teaching today.However,up to now,there are no very mature and widely available teaching methods or models for teachers to promote students’ critical thinking.Problem-based learning(PBL),as a problem-oriented and student-centered teaching model,is considered to be the most innovative teaching model for developing critical thinking.It is a good container for the development of critical thinking.Many studies at home and abroad have already shown that the application of PBL teaching model in English reading teaching is very effective in developing students’ critical thinking.But most of the relevant studies have focused on the development of college students’ critical thinking,and few studies have explored the effects of this model on the critical thinking of senior high school students in English reading teaching.In view of this,this study aims to explore the following two questions:(1)What are the effects of problem-based learning on senior high school students’ critical thinking skills in terms of analysis,inference,and evaluation in English reading teaching?(2)What are the effects of problem-based learning on senior high school students’ critical thinking dispositions in English reading teaching?For the sake of addressing the two research questions above,101 students from two parallel classes in one senior high school in Lanzhou were selected as the research participants.They were randomly set as experimental and control classes for a 12-week teaching experiment.As the experiment started,the pre-test paper and the Critical Thinking Disposition Questionnaire were conducted in the two classes to measure whether students’ critical thinking was basically similar in both classes.During the experiment,the experimental class was treated with the PBL teaching model,while the control class was taught by the PWP teaching model.And at the end of the experiment,the post-test and the post questionnaire were conducted in the two classes to examine the effects of the PBL teaching model on the students’ critical thinking skills and critical thinking dispositions.Then,all the data collected were statistically analyzed by SPSS 25.0.The results of the study showed that compared to the PWP teaching model,(1)PBL teaching model has its significant effects on senior high school students’ critical thinking skills in English reading teaching,especially for analysis and inference skills.(2)PBL teaching model can effectively promote senior high school students’ critical thinking dispositions in English reading teaching,especially in the sub-dimensions such as Analyticity,Truth-seeking,Maturity,and Open-mindedness.However,due to the relatively short duration of the teaching experiment and the relatively imperfect testing instrument,the study still has some limitations.Therefore,in future research,extending the experimental period and improving the testing instrument should be taken into consideration so as to produce more accurate experimental results.