Application Of Problem-based Learning Method To Teaching English Reading In Junior High School

At present,some English reading classes are teacher-centered and students’ classroom learning engagement is low.A lot of studies show that implementing Problem-based Learning(PBL)method into English reading class could overcome the disadvantages,like teacher-centered and low engagement,which makes students find,discuss,and solve problems.However,in these studies,PBL method is mostly used in college and middle school.Therefore,this thesis aims to explore the effect of PBL method on students’ English reading achievement in junior high school.Therefore,two research questions are put forward: What is the effect of Problem-based Learning method on students’ English reading achievement? What is the effect of Problem-based Learning method on learning engagement in English reading class?To solve two research questions,students who come from two parallel classes in Grade Eight of a school in Lintao are selected as research subjects.Two classes are randomly chosen as experimental class and control class.Experimental class is Class 5,in which PBL method is used.Control class is Class 6,in which Lecture-based Learning method(LBL)is used.Research instruments include tests,questionnaire,and interview.Tests including pre-test and post-test are used to explore the effect of PBL method on students’ English reading achievement.Questionnaire and interview are used to explore the effect of PBL method on students’ learning engagement in English reading class.The process of research divided into three phrases.Before experiment,questionnaire is distributed to students in control class and experimental class and the data of questionnaire and reading achievement of last term are collected and analyzed,which aims to see whether students’ reading achievement and learning engagement of two classes are at the same level.In the process of experiment,LBL method is used in control class and PBL method is adopted in experimental class.After experiment,questionnaire is distributed to experimental class again.The data of questionnaire in experimental class and reading achievement in final term in control class and experimental class are collected and analyzed to see whether students’ reading achievement and engagement have improved.Then,interview is adopted to prove the second research question again.The data is analyzed by SPSS.24.0.Two results can be drawn from this thesis:Firstly,the implementation of PBL method can improve students’ reading achievement.Students’ reading achievement of questions of reading for main idea,details,reference,and word guessing made progress,especially in reading for details.Therefore,PBL method has a positive effect on students’ English reading achievement.Secondly,the implementation of PBL method in English reading class can improve students’ learning engagement in English reading class,which is reflected in behavioral,affective,and cognitive engagement.Behavioral engagement includes three aspects.They are cooperative learning,interaction between teachers and students and interaction among students.Interactions among students changed the most,followed by interactions between teachers and students and finally cooperative learning after the application of PBL method in English reading class.Affective engagement includes positive engagement and negative engagement.Students’ negative engagement is becoming weak.Cognitive engagement has meta cognition and deep cognition.Deep cognition changed more greatly than meta cognition.Interview also proved that students’ learning engagement has improved.