Study of Junior High School English Reading Teaching on Project-based Learning

Abstract

The overall objective of the compulsory education stage is described in China’s English Curriculum Standards: to enable students to develop initial comprehensive language skills, promote mental development and improve comprehensive humanistic qualities through the study of English. However, in the reality of junior high school English reading teaching, English teachers emphasize lecturing rather than competence, resulting in students not being able to understand the main idea of the text and limiting the development of students’ thinking skills and independent learning abilities. The project-based learning is a student-centred approach to completing projects through individual or group work, based on communicative teaching method and Dewey’s do-it-yourself theory. This study attempts to apply project-based learning to the problems that have arisen in the teaching of English reading in junior high school, and ultimately to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of project-based learning in the teaching of English reading in junior high school. Can project-based learning be effective in improving junior secondary students’ English reading skills? It is the core question of this study. This research was carried out in a secondary school in Sichuan Province with a total of 60 students in two classes in the second year of junior high school. The study was conducted in the form of an experimental class and a control class for 12 weeks. The experimental class adopted the project learning approach, while the control class adopted the traditional reading teaching approach. The students’ reading skills were compared through pre-tests and post-tests, questionnaires, SPSS analysis of the project implementation process and results, as well as interviews and observations. The final conclusion is that the use of project-based learning in junior high school English reading classes can effectively improve students’ reading ability and level, stimulate their interest in reading, and improve their interest in learning English.