论文总字数：30760字

摘 要

初中英语阅读教学是英语教学中一个非常重要的组成部分, 培养和提高学生的阅读理解能力是阅读课的主要目的。《英语课程标准》已经在全国普遍推行，它倡导任务型语言教学,即把语言运用的基本理念转化为具有实践意义的课堂教学方法。任务型语言教学强调以“做中学”来激励学生，挖掘学生的学习潜力。本文首先综述了任务型语言教学的相关理论以及任务型教学法研究的现状。接着，本文介绍了目前初中英语阅读教学的特点以及存在的问题。此外，本文以阅读过程模式为基础,阐述了任务型教学法在初中英语阅读中的应用，同时对初中英语阅读教学提出了一些建议。

关键词：任务型语言教学；任务；应用；英语阅读

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

2.1 The Definition of a Task and TBLA 2

2.2 Previous Researches on Task-Based Language Approach 3

3. Brief Introduction to Reading Teaching in Junior Middle School 4

3.1 Features of Reading Teaching in Junior Middle School 4

3.2 Problems of Reading Teaching Existing in Junior Middle School 5

4. Application of Task-Based Language Approach in Reading Teaching 5

4.1 Teaching Mode in Task-Based English Reading Class 5

4.2 Application of the Teaching Mode 7

4.3 An Example of Teaching Plan in a Junior Reading Class 10

5. Pedagogical Implications for Reading Teaching 12

6. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

In China, the vast majority of students begin their formal systematic studies of English in junior middle school. It goes without saying that the period of junior middle school is of paramount significance. Reading learning plays a important role in English study in junior middle school. It can help students get skilled at reading and enlarge vocabulary to improve their ability of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Reading can also give students a chance to gain a sight in Western culture. In junior middle school, there are common phenomena that students have slow reading speed and poor comprehension in English class. Most of them find difficulty in getting the main idea of the context. Only few of the students have a good habit in English reading.

At present, many countries such as Canada, America have adopted Task-based language approach in reading class. In China, Hong Kong first used task-based language approach. The Hong Kong education department compiled English outline of primary and secondary school mainly based on Task-based language approach in 1996. In 2001, the New Curriculum Criteria has been carried out throughout the country and task-based approach of teaching and learning are advocated. From these arrangements, we can know that task-based language approach are more widespread and get more social recognition. However, a lot of teachers still do not use task-based language approach in practical English reading class. They only focus on the examination instead of developing students’ ability of using language.

According to the New Curriculum Criteria, reading comprehension is an important part in the process of learning English. On the purpose of promoting the development of students’ reading abilities of English, this thesis introduces the outline of the Task-based language approach. Then it makes an attempt to explore mode about how to teach in English reading class with TBLA effectively, design the appropriate reading tasks and find out the mode of task-based reading teaching in junior middle school. Based on the mode of the reading process and the principles of task design, the thesis offers a teaching plan designed in reading classroom to show an example of Task-based language approach in reading teaching of junior middle school and gives teachers some advice in reading class.

2. Literature Review

2.1 The Definition of a Task and TBLA

the word “task” entered into the applied linguistics literature in the 1980s, and it is a popular word in language teaching literature. Linguists understand and explain it in the different way, such as “ all the classroom activities which are helpful for achieving all the overall language learning target can be as a task, including simple short grammar exercises and complicated time-consuming collective classroom activities.” (Branden, 2013: 60) But Nunan claimed, “in general, I too will consider the communicative task as a piece of classroom work which involves students in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form. The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stay alone as a communicative act in its own right.” (Nunan, 1999: 21) Although the definitions are different, they all imply that tasks involve communicative language use in which the user’s attention is focused on meaning rather than on linguistic structure.

Many scholars also give their viewpoint on the definition of Task-based language approach, such as “Task-based language approach is an English teaching model that focuses on the meaning of language teaching, it aims to develop students’ communicative ability during finishing tasks.”(Liao Xiaodan, 2012:8) Jane Willis thought that “task-based language approach (TBLA) is an approach to language teaching which makes use of authentic materials in communicative tasks.”(Willis,1998: 3) In brief, Task-based language approach offers practical ways to make students learn by some tasks, and they can develop their skills of using English with different tasks. In task-based class, it is designed to engage students in the practical and functional use of English for meaningful purposes, and students learn English by doing all kinds of things which are likely to happen in real life. Based on their interests, students are willing to learn English through discussion and cooperation.

2.2 Previous Researches on Task-Based Language Approach

The English educationist Prabhu carried out the earliest practice of task-based language approach in English class in Bangalore in India. He thought that “Task is an activity which requires learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which slows learners to control and regulate that process.”(Prabhu, 2001: 111) He only focused on the theory instead of the practices, especially the process of teaching based on TBLA. However, Jane Willis offered three steps of Task-based language approach: Pre-task; Task-cycle; Language focus, and they are essential part in English teaching and they are inseparable.

In recent years, domestic scholars and teachers make an attempt to integrate task-based language approach into reading instruction. They have been supporting and inspiring the application of task-based language approach to English reading class. From Wu Hualan’s point of view, “meaningful tasks are real to students’ life, learning experience and social practice.”(Wu Hualan, 2011:6) So TBLA motivates students well and evokes their enthusiasm in learning. Therefore, TBLA can lead to their reading performance improvement. Reading classes become more interesting for both students and teachers. And Zhang Helan put forward that “in the TBLA reading class, teachers takes specific learning or teaching tasks as the motivation, students are provided with a number of opportunities to do things in English in all kinds of activities.”(Zhang Helan, 2007:8) With more and more studies on TBLA, teachers and writers in China have learned a lot about task-based language approach.

The previous studies both at home and abroad show that further studies on task-based language approach to English reading class still remain to be done. The present studies mainly pay attention to the effect of task-based language approach on the development of students’ ability of using English. In this thesis, with the analysis of the problems about reading teaching in junior middle school and relevant theory, it offers the application of Task-based language approach in reading classroom of junior middle school and gives teachers some advice in reading class.

3. Brief Introduction to Reading Teaching in Junior Middle School

Reading is a very important part in the process of learning English, but we may not understand the certain meaning of reading. According to Bamford, “reading is the construction of meaning from a printed or written language.”(Bamford, 2004: 299) In other words, reading is an individual activity that learners can combine the information in the text with their own knowledge to have a profound understanding. Therefore, more and more importance is attached to the training of reading comprehension, which is regarded as one of the four basic language skills in English learning.

3.1 Features of Reading Teaching in Junior Middle School

Middle school is the basic stage for reading teaching. In this stage, reading teaching focuses on inspiring students" interest in reading and helps students to master the general cognitive skills, and preliminarily form the ability to use reading strategies and obtain information through text.

There are not so numerous themes in English reading texts of first-year junior middle school, and their contents are simple. But in the initiation stage of students" reading, students" actual learning ability and psychological characteristics are well combined with the characteristics of materials. The task that the training of the students" reading skills and good reading habits is very important. This stage reflects the interest and interactive communication of reading.

Reading in second-year junior middle school fosters students’ image thinking ability during the process of reading. Teachers train students’ ability of inferring the meaning from context, and let students have a preliminary understanding of the amount of information that different kinds of articles have. Teachers cultivate students" fast reading consciousness and the sense of cooperation, stimulate emotion and exchange emotion in the interactive reading. In this teaching stage, teachers develop students" ability to guess words. Guessing the meaning of words is one of the students reading abilities. If students can understand the changeable meaning correctly according to the context, then they can truly understand the implications of the reading.

Reading in third-year junior middle school not only carries forward the advantages of teaching reading of the previous stage, but also reflects the different characteristics of the third-year junior middle school reading teaching, and lay the foundation for high school reading teaching. In this stage, students have much extra-curricular reading training. In reading teaching, teachers arouse student"s enthusiasm, initiative and interest in reading and emphasize the training of reading skills for students, such as fast reading skills.

3.2 Problems of Reading Teaching Existing in Junior Middle School

However, there are some problems in the current English class of junior middle school. In practical teaching class, teachers’ understanding of the text just floats on the top layer. They do not seek for a deeper understanding or evaluation stage. Based on the traditional mode, students only write down the translation and underline the language points under the guidance of teachers, which is not good for them to cultivate the reading habit, they can not also grasp the reading skills.

Although teachers have devoted a great deal of time and effort, the reading class is not ideal. When students have reading class, they feel very bored, so they are not willing to take part in the class actively. All these facts are resulted from the limitation of their good reading skills. Because teachers often tell students the language points, ignoring the methods of reading, teaching and learning are uncoordinated. Besides, teachers have to finish too much teaching contents, and they seldom cultivate students’ interest or develop their reading comprehension ability. They do not choose reading materials according to students’ reading comprehension ability and interest.

4. Application of Task-Based Language Approach in Reading Teaching

4.1 Teaching Mode in Task-Based English Reading Class

Willis put forward the three stages of task-based teaching method. That is the stage before the task, the stage in the task and the stage after task. The stage before the task is the stage to present and prepare for the task. The stage in the task is the stage to implement tasks. The stage after the task is the stage to accept and improve the task. “According to Willis’s task-based teaching method, in middle school reading teaching, class implementation steps can be divided into three stages, which is pre-reading stage, while-reading stage and post-reading stage. Different stages have different emphases; Therefore, the task design of each stage is not the same.”(Cheng Juan, 2011:26) According to the features of reading teaching in junior middle school and Task-based language approach, the thesis offer a teaching mode in Task-based English reading class, and in junior middle school reading teaching, teachers should consider the goal of reading, the difficulty of the reading materials, the students" knowledge level and other factors to design real tasks or tasks combined with the real life in the three stages.

During the stage of pre-reading, students can be familiar with the text and learn the new words and phrases. Besides, it is designed to build background knowledge. Teachers can show pictures or personal experience to introduce the topic and enlighten the useful words and phrases. In addition, students may read the text after the tape. All the questions asked can serve to focus student’s attention during reading as well as prepare students to engage in English reading sufficiently.

There are many tasks that students must finish in the form of individual or groups in the phase of while-reading. With these tasks, students can not only build full comprehension of the text but also make progress in the ability of expression and cooperation. In the meantime, when all the tasks come into action, students become more and more confident in learning English.

In the stage of post reading, it includes reviewing information from the text, discussing information not in the text and evaluating information in the text. In addition, students present their achievements to their classmates with the purpose of practicing their ability of speaking. Teachers can make each group give a brief review to the whole class. Then the others have a discussion on the review and address their own concerns. It includes student self-assessment, peer reviewing and teacher evaluation.

4.2 Application of the Teaching Mode

Take Oxford Junior Middle School English Text Books 8A Unit5 “Giant pandas” as an example to illustrate the specific implementation process of the teaching mode in Task-based English reading class. The teacher will assign the task, and students complete these tasks in groups of 4 or 5. Meanwhile, in Task-based English reading class, there are basic phases during the process of the teaching mode.

4.2.1 Pre-reading

At the first stage, teachers can arrange the total article in accordance with the content of this unit. This stage mainly activates the reading interest of students and specifies reading requirements, purposes and effects to be reached. Firstly, it naturally introduces the new lesson, makes the necessary introduction of background knowledge for the article and assists students to be familiar with materials.

The title of this article is “Giant pandas”, and the teacher can play a quiz game and put forward the following statements when introducing the theme: (1) It has a long neck and long legs. It feeds on leaves. (2) It jumps with its baby in his pocket. You can see it in Australia. (3) It is a sea animal and looks like a large fish. It is very clever and often plays some games for us in the zoo. (4) It is the largest animal on land and its nose is very long. (5) It is small and lovely, but has a long tail. It likes nuts. (6) They are beautiful black and white animals. They look like bears. They live only in China. Their favourite food is bamboo shoots and leaves. Students will develop the discussion on these statements in the form of group, which causes the attention of students.

This process can perfectly cultivate the communication ability of students. After students answer questions, the teacher can cause several relevant subjects by pictures and videos and trigger the discussion by two to three questions. Pictures and videos selected by teachers should involve topics that students like, and they can cause mostly open questions, trigger discussion and arouse interest easily. For example, students can participate in the discussion of this problem: Describe your favorite animal. By participating in this task, students discuss, communicate and share with other classmates in accordance with their experience. These tasks can help them memorize words and phrases needed in the process of main activities and learn some new words and phrases important for the completion of this task. In a word, the task design at this stage should dominantly activate the reading interests of students and teachers should diversify tasks in accordance with text contents.

4.2.2 While-reading

The early task stage is the basic intermediate task stage of task-based learning, which is the stage for further learning and strengthening memories. At this stage, teachers should properly guide students to distinguish major and minor relations and focus on more important information and learn correctly; Besides, teachers also need to help students to convert knowledge points, turn complicated sentences or phrases to phrases or words containing similar meanings without affecting the thinking expression of the article, abbreviate the content of the article and sort out the context for convenience of students to memorize, understand, master and apply vocabularies, grammars and beautiful statements. The teacher can apply effective teaching methods scientifically. For example, they can make students read articles with questions without the requirement of mastering the meaning of every vocabulary, but master the general idea of the article generally and answer the questions arranged by teachers approximately. When students are reading with questions, their thinking is usually more concentrated. Therefore, this kind of purposeful reading can improve the reading comprehension ability and level effectively.

In this lesson, students first have a fast reading, they are required to read the passage quickly, and answer 2 very simple questions:

1. What is the name of the panda? What does it mean?
2. What will happen to giant pandas if we do nothing?

The above questions are not very difficult, students can get the main idea of the passage by skimming but not the details, and their overall reading comprehension ability can be improved.

Next, teacher can raise some deeper issues to let students read the text once again with problems. This time, students are required to do intensive reading and be able to divide paragraph of the text, clarify level and summarize the meaning of each paragraph, help students understand the meaning of the text effectively and gradually master task reading skills. For example, in this lesson, students will have the following task: read and match the part with the main idea

Part 1 (para1-3) The problems Xi Wang may have in the future

Part 2 (para4) The actions we can take to protect the giant pandas

Part 3 (para5-6) The growth of Xi Wang

After finishing this task, students are familiar with the structure of the text, which is beneficial to further understanding about the text.

Then, the teacher would like students to read for details about Xi Wang by themselves. It includes: The weight of Xi Wang. Things she eats. The growth of Xi Wang. The problems of Xi Wang. During this period, the teacher and students analyze the text with various classroom activities, which can help the students have a better understanding of the reading material. At this stage, the teacher can organize grouping to communicate and discuss about the text to make students further understand deeply the content of the text in the course of discussion, if it appears that the student mastery of the text is not enough, you can also make them raise questions by themselves after communication and organize cross Qamp;A to find out all the issues.

4.2.3 Post-reading

At this stage, designs of tasks should focus on the expansion and development of reading comprehension of students. Teachers should guide students to express their comprehended knowledge with their own words, and the stage can be also called language focus stage, which contains language analysis and practice. The importance of activities is transformed from language meaning to language form. “In task-based reading class, under the guidance by teachers, students make an analysis on language phenomenon and then summarize its features, afterwards strengthen training by practices designed by teachers, improving accuracy and fluency of language application on themselves.” (Gong Yafuamp;Luo Shaoqian, 2006:78) On the occasion, teachers can invite students to discuss in groups, retell the text and finish the after-class practices. In this lesson, first, retell the text. The teacher will let the students introduce giant pandas according to the structure of the passage. As the passage is a bit long, students may have difficulty in retelling the whole passage by themselves. Therefore, the teacher will divide the students into 4 groups and let them retell different parts of the passage. This kind activity can not only foster the students’ ability of summarizing a passage, but also practice their spoken English. Second, group work. The teacher would like to show a picture and put forward the following questions: 1.Why is Xi Wang crying? 2. What actions can we take to protect wild animals? The purpose is to help the students to activate what we have learned and develop the awareness of protecting wild animals.

During this period, it involves important vocabularies and sentence patterns in the class which can be applied by students automatically, moreover, teachers should provide enough time and space for students to solve problems by themselves, even assign the unfinished tasks of grammatical analysis as homework, simultaneously, feedbacks can be provided by teachers on students’ performance in the classroom.

4.3 An Example of Teaching Plan in a Junior Reading Class

Oxford English 8A Unit 5

Giant pandas

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