[优秀毕业设计精品]基于任务型英语教学的实验研究

1、硕 士 学 位 论 文(专业学位)论文题目 基于任务型英语教学的实验研究an experimental study on task-based english teaching in vocational high schools作者姓名 指导教师 _ 学科(专业) 教育硕士 学科教学（英语） 所在学院 外国语言文化与国际交流学院提交日期 2007.4.20 table of contentsacknowledgements.iiiabstract.iv摘要.vichapter 1 introduction11.1 research background.11.2 comparison bet

2、ween traditional syllabus and task-based syllabus.31.3 significance of advocating task-based learning (tbl).31.4 structure of the thesis.5chapter 2 literature review.62.1. task-based learning/teaching.62.1.1 definition of task.62.1.2.components of tasks.92.1.3 good learning tasks102.1.4 principles a

3、nd characteristics of task-based learning/teaching . characteristics of tasks. features of tbl. principles of designing tasks 132.2 teachers roles in tbl.152.2.1 controller152.2.2 assessor.162.2.3 organizer.162.2.4 prompter.172.2.5 participant172.2.6 resource-provider.182.

4、3 theoretical basis of task-based language learning.182.3.1 language acquisition theory.202.3.2 social constructivism.202.3.3 curriculum development theory.212.4 willis(1996)s model of tbl222.5 the present model.23chapter 3 methodology.263.1 research questions263.2 participants.263.3 research instru

5、ments.273.4 procedures.28chapter 4 results and discussion.334.1 results334.1.1 experimental data analysis334.1.2 results of the questionnaire.344.1.3 results of the interview.364.2 discussion.384.2.1 tbl and students motivation .384.2.2 tbl and students self-confidence394.2.3 tbl and students learni

6、ng ability .39chapter 5 conclusion435.1 research findings.435.2 implications for tbl in teaching english.435.3 limitations of the study.445.4 concluding remarks.45bibliography.46appendix i task-based learning of english questionnaire49appendix ii the post-test examination paper50acknowledgements i a

7、m greatly indebted to my supervisor, prof. ma bosen, for his valuable suggestions and assistance in writing this thesis. thanks also go to all my teachers: dr. wu zongjie, prof. zhang jianmin, prof. ding jianming, dr. he huibin, mr. cheng gang and mr. sui hongsen, for their effective instruction on

8、how to engage in research and write academic articles. i also wish to extend my thanks to the library assistants who supplied me with reference materials of great value.my gratitude also goes to my friend, george wilson and margaret, a couple of australian teachers, for their kindness of giving me s

9、ome suggestions and correcting my research paper. i also want to thank my colleagues, especially mr. tang liangbin and mr. zhang jianmin, for their prompt help with my statistics analysis using spss.10 when i was in trouble.in addition, i would like to express my gratitude to all the participants du

10、ring the course of the research. these eithty-eight students, who are from different parts of fuyang, are all enthusiastic and trustworthy.finally i would like to take this opportunity to thank my husband and my parents, and my little son, for their continued patience and loving support. abstractsin

11、ce the innovation of the english teaching in china, teachers of english have been exposed to different teaching styles. the textbooks have been changed several times and the teaching methods have also altered. in order to avoid confusion brought about by implementation of the new policy, chinas new

12、revised curriculum for middle schools explicitly stipulates that “task-based language learning” approach should be advocated to develop students comprehensive abilities in using a language. the emphasis on task-based language learning is found not only in china but also in some other countries and r

13、egions, such as the usa, canada, singapore, hong kong and so on.up to the present, many problems still exist in the teaching of english in vocational schools. one of the main problems is that most of the teachers are still using traditional methods, such as drill and repetition, learning word lists,

14、 choral response etc. to teach students the language points and expressions because they want to increase the students store of language. as a result, students find the lessons boring and consequently they have little interest in learning english. this paper proposes a task-based learning (tbl) mode

15、l based on jane willis (1996) framework. it can be theoretically explained from the perspectives of language acquisition theory, social constructivism, and curriculum development theory. according to language acquisition theory, learners actually need opportunities to practice language in different

16、contexts, they also need to use these established expressions in different situations and settings, so that their own language system can be developed. social constructivists regard learning as a social and collaborative process. curriculum theory emphasizes the interdependence of knowledge and valu

17、es and stresses the importance of learning as a social process. all these approaches were proposed in task-based instruction. the literature review shows that although task-based learning has been advocated in academic circles, the relative research on classroom research, especially in vocational sc

18、hools appears very sparse. in view of this, this paper carried out an experimental research on task-based learning in vocational schools to establish whether tbl helps to build up the students motivation and self-confidence, to improve the students learning ability, and whether task-based learning i

19、s effective.the research instruments adopted in this paper were pre-test/post-test design with an experimental class and control class, a questionnaire and an interview. a pre-test was given to the seven classes in senior grade one in fuyang teachers training school. then, two classes, whose english

20、 proficiency and listening, speaking, reading and writing exhibited no significant difference, were chosen as the participants, one as the experimental class and the other as the control class. the study was conducted over a six-month period, and at the end of it, a post-test was held and the observ

21、ation was again made. the post independent-samples t test indicates great significance appeared in the learning quality between the two classes. paired-samples t test proved that task-based learning brought about significant changes in the students listening, speaking, reading and writing. in additi

22、on, the questionnaire and the interview showed that the participants hold a positive attitude towards task-based learning. the research suggests that tbl is effective in arousing students learning interest, to improve students self-confidence and learning ability. based on the findings of this proje

23、ct , it is worth extending.key words: task-based learning; english teaching; vocational school摘要自从我们国家实施新课改以来，教师和学生都经历了一轮又一轮的新课程改革，我们的教材也在逐步地改进和完善，英语教学也是如此。“任务型”教学(tbl)就是根据我国新形势下对英语的社会需求和英语学科在基础教育中的价值定位，汲取了国内外英语教育理论家的研究精髓的基础上提出来的。英语课程标准(实验稿)明确指出“倡导任务型的教学途径，培养学生综合语言运用能力”。目前，许多国家和地区，如美国、加拿大、新加坡、香港等地的教

24、学大纲或课程标准都提出了“任务型语言学习的模式”。任务型教学的目的是给学生提供实践的机会，通过设计的任务活动使他们能在口头、笔头上参与到真实的以意义而不是以形式为目的的语言实际操练之中。目前，在职高英语教学中，教师采用的最主要的教学方法还是以讲解语言知识点为主的传统方法，导致学生对学习缺乏兴趣，学生的学习效率也不高。本文作者根据jane willis 的任务型教学理论框架，提出一个基于任务的职高英语教学模式。这一模式可从语言习得理论、社会建构理论以及课程发展理论等角度来解释和理解。语言习得理论认为，学习者实际上不仅需要有在不同情境中反复实践的机会，还需要在不同情境中使用这些固定的表达方式，从而

25、发展自己的语言系统；社会建构主义者认为，学习是一个社会交互的过程；课程发展理论则强调知识和伦理价值之间的关系，强调学习是一个社会化的过程。所有这些都是任务型教学理论所倡导的。然而文献综述表明，虽然学术界提倡任务型教学，但是针对课堂，尤其是中职英语课堂的相关研究还很少。鉴此，本文进行了一项基于任务的职高英语教学实验研究，目的在于：检验这一教学模式是否有助于激发学生的学习兴趣、增强学生的学习自信心，能否适用于职高英语的教学，能否提高学生的学习效率。作者采用了问卷调查法、访谈法和实验法等多种研究方法，采用前测后测实验组和控制组的方法，尝试性地把任务型教学模式具体实施应用到了中职英语课程的教学中。实验

26、前对富阳学院高一年级七个平行班的英语进行了前测，结果表明其中两个班级在英语总体水平和听、说、读、写上不存在显著性差异，可以作为实验对象：一个为实验班，一个为控制班。整个实验持续半年。后测独立样本t检验表明实验班和控制班的总分出现了极其显著的差异，配对样本t检验表明基于任务的学习模式使实验班的学生在听、说、读、写方面也产生了显著性差异。问卷调查和访谈表明：实验班学生基于任务型学习模式对学习动机、学习自信心和学习能力等方面均持肯定态度。该实验表明基于任务的职高英语教学有助于激发学生的学习兴趣，有助于增强学生的学习自信心，有助于提高学生的学习能力和效果，值得我们推广。关键词：英语教学；任务型教学；中

27、等职业学校； chapter 1 introduction1.1 research backgroundfor several decades, english teaching in china has been aimed at teaching to pass exams. students were trained to remember the words and grammar in order to participate successfully in the exams. under this teaching situation, some students might w

28、rite english perfectly, but most of the students listening, speaking and reading skills were not well developed. many excellent students could get very high scores in graduate record examination (gre), test of english as a foreign language (toefl) and international english language testing system (i

29、elts). but it was said that when these students went abroad, they couldnt get used to the new environment. they couldnt communicate with the native people because they couldnt even understand the language although they could write very well. their english was called “deaf and mute english”. but lang

30、uage is used for communication. educators in china also saw the shortfall. so they began to focus their efforts to change the situation. reforms of english teaching were then put into practice. since the innovation of the english teaching in china, teachers of english have experienced different teac

31、hing styles. the textbooks have been changed several times and the teaching methods are also different. in order to avoid confusion brought about by implementation of the new policy, chinas new revised curriculum for middle schools explicitly stipulates that “task-based language learning” approach s

32、hould be advocated to develop students comprehensive abilities in using a language. the textbooks now aim at real communications, and there are many more chances for students to practise english in the four macro-skills of listening, speaking , reading and writing. through this type of teaching mode

33、l, current students should be able to use english much better than those who studied previously. but up to the present, there still exist numerous problems in the teaching of english in chinese vocational schools. it is true that most of the vocational school students failed to be selected by normal

34、 high schools. many of these students are not good at study, especially at english. they have few english words, they cannot use english to express ideas, they cannot understand what the teachers say, they cannot read english and write. so all these often lead them to the failure in their exams. thi

35、s failure creates a loss of self esteem and less motivation to learn the language. often they quickly lose interest in their study of english. some of them even refuse to learn english and this influences their general learning confidence and ability. facing this type of students, most of the teache

36、rs in vocational schools are still using the traditional methods to teach them the language points and expressions because they wish to increase the students store of language. as a result, the students become bored with the lessons. it is therefore necessary for the english teachers to find an effi

37、cient way of teaching to try to change this attitude and thus help the students.according to the syllabus for secondary vocational schools, english teachers are required to focus on the cultivation of students communicative ability in english and their interests in learning. the duty of english educ

38、ation, as the chinese ministry of education has stated, is to inspire and foster the students interest in learning; help them clarify the aims of english learning; develop their abilities of self-learning and cooperation; form their effective english learning strategies; and develop their integratin

39、g skills of using english. the reform of the new curriculum advocates using tbl (task-based learning) to help students with their english learning. this approach, as noted in the english curriculum for senior middle school (state education commission,2001), states clearly: “under teachers guidance,

40、students should achieve the task goals and experience success through perception, practice, participation and cooperation. schools should adjust students learning strategies and emotions in the process of learning, help them form the active learning attitude, and improve their language competence”.

41、task-based approach has become more and more popular since 1980s. the core of tbl is “ learning by doing ”. as one of the later developments of the communicative approach, it proposes that students learn to use english by fulfilling real life tasks. task-based approach can therefore be used as a gui

42、deline for the teaching of english in the vocational schools. as will be seen completing a task can stimulate students learning desire. from this point, tbl also suits the characteristics of the vocational school students.1.2 comparison between traditional syllabus and task-based syllabusit is well

43、known that the traditional syllabuses, based on the hypotheses that there is an correlation between what is taught and what is learned, always focus on the end products or results of the teaching process. so, it is always teacher-centered. language teaching aims to engage the learners in mastering t

44、he knowledge of the target language rather than the language itself and traditional syllabuses place emphasis on the forms of the language, for example, to learn the grammar and sentence structures. as a result the grading and sequencing of the syllabus items are usually carried out according to lin

45、guistic principles. however, the task-based syllabus focuses on the process of learning and the experience in itself and is centered in the constructing and communicating of meanings rather than the forms. it focuses on arousing learners interests and participation. in addition, the tasks are always

46、 selected, graded and sequenced according to the cognitive and performance demands made upon the learners. therefore, the language teaching of the task-based syllabus always focuses on the solving of problems connected with the learners real life, learning experience and society. thus, learners are

47、always the dominants of the language classroom (i.e. it tends to be more student-centred).1.3 significance of advocating task-based learning (tbl)as school education is being reformed and receiving more attention, the quality of education is being emphasized rather than an emphasis on tests; exposin

48、g students to and educating them in a wide range of real-life contexts and by the use of relevant pedagogical activities such as groupwork and discussion. task-based language teaching /learning (tbl or tblt) approach has been advocated to develop students comprehensive abilities of using a language.

49、 the emphasis on tbl is reflected not only in china but also in some other countries and regions syllabuses and curriculums including the usa, canada, singapore, hong kong and so on . it has been proved that tbl is an important and useful approach to develop and improve students comprehensive abilit

50、ies of using a foreign language (gao ge, et al. 2001; lu ziwen, 2002; lu li, 2002; liao xiaoqing, 2001. etc.)the core of tbl is “ learning by doing ”. the present situation of vocational students shows that in general their english is very poor: they have few english words; they cannot understand wh

51、at the teachers say; they cannot use english sentences to express ideas nor to write; they even cannot read and write english and they often get poor results in their exams. their experience of failure in learning english causes them to lose motivation in learning and this also influences their inte

52、rest, confidence and learning ability. facing this type of students, teachers need to find an efficient way to help try to change their attitude. how can teachers encourage them to communicate in english to complete a specific task or solve a problem? unfortunately, many teachers still think that “

53、learning by doing ” does not suit vocational students because of their limited english. rather, they believe “learning before doing ” is a better way. can tbl be feasible in vocational english teaching? does task-based learning of english help to arouse students interest and build up their self-conf

54、idence in learning english? does task-based learning improve students learning ability? what will the results be? these questions highlight a real need for research in this area.in consideration of the above, this paper offers a task-based teaching model in a vocational school by using of which, the

55、 students will be offered an opportunity to share their experiences and collaborate with peers during the process of learning. this methodology is helpful to improve students confidence in learning english. an additional factor is that most of those who are now vocational school students may have been neg