Abstract

In senior high school English teaching, reading teaching has always been the focus of English teachers to explore. At the same time, how to improve students’ reading comprehension is one of the most important goals in English teaching. Task-based language teaching emphasizes "learning by doing", and it takes the task as a means to create a learning environment for students to cultivate their creativity, imagination, and thus enhance their ability of language expression and application. This study illustrates the term of task, the principles and steps of Task-based Teaching theory and its application in reading class. A case study, classroom observation and interview are the main research methods adopted to collect data, aiming to answer the three following research questions: First, how should apply TBLT to reading teaching in senior high schools? Second, how does the application of TBLT in English reading classes conductive to improve students' interest and cooperation ability? Third, what are the difficulties in the application of TBLT? The research showed that TBLT can be applied to teaching reading in senior high schools. To some extent, it can improve the students’ interest and cooperation ability. But there still are some problems that we should pay attention in the application of TBLT, such as the difficulty of the task, individual differences of students and so on.

Key words: Task-based language teaching; English reading teaching; Tasks

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

1.1 Research Background-1

1.2 Significance and Purpose of the Research-2

1.3 Structure of the Dissertation-2

2 Literature Review-4

2.1 Theories about Task-4

2.1.1 Definitions about Task-4

2.1.2 Task Classification-6

2.2 Previous Researche on TBLT at Home and Abroad-7

2.3 The Application of the Task-based Approach in English Reading Teaching-8

2.3.1 The Basic Principles of Designing Task-based Activities-8

2.3.2 The Basic Steps in Task-based Language Teaching-10

3 Research Methods and Data Collection-12

3.1 Participants-12

3.2 Research Methods-12

3.2.1 Case Study-12

3.2.2 Classroom Observation-14

3.2.3 Interview-14

3.3 Data Collection-15

4 Data Analysis and Findings-16

4.1 Result Analysis-16

4.2 Findings on the Research-17

4.3 Findings on TBLT-18

5 Conclusion-19

5.1 Conclusion and Implications of the Research-19

5.2 Limitations of the Research-19

Appendix-21

Appendix ⅠSecond interview questions for students-21

Appendix Ⅱ Interview Questions and Answers of Two teachers-21

Appendix III A Sample Lesson Plan-22

Bibliography-28

Acknowledgements-29