1.1 Introduction of the Thesis

The thesis aims to make a research on the use of constructivism in English reading teaching in high school and get a better understanding about the actual reading teaching methods. According to the analysis of the results, some existing problems in English reading teaching are discussed and some suggestions are put forward. It is expected to be helpful to improve teaching quality and promote the creativity of English teaching in high school. 

The thesis develops mainly into five parts. The first part is the brief introduction of the aim and structure of the thesis as well as some theories of constructivism. The second part, literature review, presents some researches of this topic domestic and overseas. It aims to help readers to get some information about constructivism. The third part is a short introduction of methodology, containing questionnaires of students and interviews with teachers. Its purpose is to prove the objectivity and scientificity. The forth part is based on observation and survey. It describes the present situation about English reading teaching and the use of constructivism in high school. It demonstrates some existing problems in English reading teaching in high school and gives some suggestions according to constructivism. The last part is mainly about the conclusion. 文献综述

1.2 Introduction of Constructivism 

Constructivism is a theory with various contents, but the core can be summed up as student-centered. It emphasizes the initiative of students to explore, discover and construct knowledge, rather than get information directly from teachers like traditional English teaching. It criticizes that students take notes according to teachers’ lecture. Student-centered classes stress students’ learning, while teacher-centered classes stress teaching. The essential conflict pushes forward the development of constructivism. 

1.2.1 View of Knowledge

Knowledge is not just reflection of reality. It only represents a kind of assumption people use to explain the real world. It is not the final answer. Therefore, it is always reformed and sublimated and new assumptions will come into existence. Certain knowledge cannot be used properly all the time. It should be reprocessed and recreated to fit particular situations. Moreover, the understanding of some knowledge constructs according to our own experience or background. It is also affected by particular situation in the process of learning. In other words, even the same information can cause different understanding. 

1.2.2 Role of Student and Teacher

Students have formed their own experience and views about anything in daily lives and learning process. So teaching doesn’t mean inculcating from outside any more. Students should be led to generate new knowledge from the original and get promoted from the old experience. They ought to actively learn to handle and transform information by their own. According to constructivism, students are expected to make researches on some problems through collaboration. Because of students’ different background and understanding about knowledge, they can exchange and share information during the exploration, and finally gain the new knowledge. 

In constructivism, the role of teacher can be a supporter, a leader and an assistant of constructing knowledge. They are transformed from the authority of knowledge in traditional teaching mode into a friend or a partner of students. Teachers should provide more complex questions and encourage students to solve them from different angles, which is similar to the theme of creativity cultivation. Teachers ought to create a learning atmosphere in which students can make experiments, conduct researches inpidually or learn from team work. Teachers should generally reduce outside control and increase students’ self-control. Besides, teachers are supposed to rise up students’ interest and keep their motivation. They’d better give clues of the relations between new and old knowledge, and create contexts for students to explore and construct knowledge.