Activity-Based Approach in Junior High School English Reading: A Practical Case Study

Abstract

The Activity-Based Approach serves as a pivotal strategy for fostering core competencies, transforming learning methods, and achieving subject-oriented education in English language teaching. Under the guidance of thematic contexts, students engage in a series of English learning activities encompassing learning and understanding, application and practice, as well as transfer and innovation, thereby advancing their linguistic knowledge, refining language skills, and enhancing learning strategies. Reading, as an interactive process between language and thinking, plays a critical role in cultivating students’ core competencies in English. Nevertheless, the effective integration of the Activity-Based Approach into junior high school English reading teaching remains a challenging yet worthwhile issue to explore. This study unfolds through a novice junior high school English teacher’s collaborative lesson planning and two rounds of trial teaching with the teaching and research group, focusing on reflective practice to align the Activity-Based Approach with reading instruction. The findings illuminate the comprehensive, interconnected, and hierarchical nature of the Activity-Based Approach, offering novel perspectives for English education postgraduates and frontline junior high school English teachers to understand and implement this pedagogical framework, while providing practical insights for English teaching innovation.