A Survey on Teachers’ Strategies of Lead—in inMiddle School English Class

【Abstract】Lead-in is the first step of teaching process， and it is also an essential part of class teaching. Although the time of it is limited， it still plays an important role in a class. If lead-in is attractive， the whole class teaching can go on smoothly. Otherwise， if it is boring， students attention cannot be drawn and the class teaching effect cannot be guaranteed.

【Key words】Lead-in； English curriculum reform； class teaching； teaching effect

【作者簡介】田瑞，渤海大學。

1. Introduction

Lead-in is an activity which is used to introduce the content of a class to students， draw their attention and make preparation for class teaching activities. In the step of lead-in， generally speaking， teachers usually introduce what teaching aims， main content， teaching difficulties， teaching importance and key points are， how the class can improve students grades and what teachers expect students to do. All of these can facilitate students to master the context of class and know the connection between this class and classes which they have had before.

II. Research Design

2.1 Subjects

The subjects of the research consist of two parts. The first part is 30 students in Mudanjiang No.15 middle school who come from Grade 7 and Grade 8. There are 4 classes in Grade 7 and 2 classes in Grade 8. 30 students are chosen from these 6 classes and 5 students are chosen from each class randomly. The students include both boys and girls. Through the questionnaire， some points are studied to students， such as their views to the step of lead-in； the time of lead-in designed by teachers； the ways of lead-in used by teachers and the effects of lead-in to learning.

The second part is 6 teachers who teach English in Grade 7 and Grade 8 in Mudanjiang No.15 middle school. All these 6 teachers have taught English in middle school for more than 5 years. 5 teachers are female， and 1 teacher is male. The interview mainly studies teachers views on the step of lead-in， including whether they design the step of lead-in carefully； the ways of lead-in they use in class； the difficulties they meet in the step of lead-in and how they solve these problems.

2.2 Instruments

The instruments of the research are questionnaire and interview. The advantages of questionnaire are convenient and time economy. Documents can be organized and arranged easily. Sometimes， it is anonymous questionnaire that can get valuable and worthy information. Also， interview is a simple and flexible way. Through the interview， interviewer and interviewee can communicate directly， and the information is real and available.

There are 10 questions in each questionnaire， including 8 multiple choice questions and 2 short-answer questions. For each multiple choice question， there are four suggested answers.

There are 4 questions which are prepared for English teachers in the interview. Question one is to show teachers views to the step of lead-in. Question two is whether teachers can design the step of lead-in carefully. Question three is to introduce the ways of lead-in which teachers use in classes. Question four is to show the difficulties they meet in the step of lead-in and how they solve these problems.

2.3 Research Procedures

To know about the current situation of teachers strategies of lead-in in middle school， the writer uses the opportunity of interning to make the research. During the first two weeks of interning， the writer often listens to the teachers in middle school English classes. At the other two weeks of the first month， the writer designs and hands out 30 questionnaires. During the second month of interning， the writer recycles the 30 questionnaires and analyzes the answers. Through the data analysis， the writer gets some findings. During the last month of interning， the writer interviews 6 English teachers， and through the interview， the writer knows teachers attitudes to the strategies of lead-in and ways they use in English class.

III. Results and Data Discussion

3.1 The Analysis on the Questionnaire

There are stud10 questions in each questionnaire. 1 to 8 are multiple choice questions， and 9 and 10 are short-answer questions.

Through this question， it is known that 76.7% students think the step of lead-in is very important and it is a key to the whole class teaching. In 20% students views， the step of lead-in is important and it directly affects their learning interests. 3.3% students think lead-in is unnecessary. This shows that most of the students recognize the importance of lead-in in the whole class teaching.

According to the answers to this question， 56.7% students think their English teachers have the step of lead-in in every class. 40% students think their English teachers have lead-in in most classes. 3.3% students think their English teachers hardly ever give a lesson with the step of lead-in. This shows that most English teachers have the step of lead-in in a class.

From the answers to this question， it is known that 40% students think English teacher spends one to three minutes on the step of lead-in. 36.7% students think English teacher spends three to five minutes. 23.3% students think English teacher spends five to seven minutes. English teachers spend different time on the step of the lead-in. Most teachers have the step of lead-in within three minutes， and some teachers control the step of lead-in within three to five minutes， and there are some teachers who spend more than five minutes on the step of lead-in.

Through the answers， it is easily seen that 53.3% students like the lead-in which is designed by English teacher very much. 26.7% students almost like the lead-in and 20% students like the lead-in a little. Most students are fond of the step of lead-in which is designed by their English teachers.

Though the answers， it is shown that 63.3% students think the step of lead-in can motivate learning interests. 36.7% students think sometimes the step of Lead-in can motivate learning interests. It concludes that most students think the step of lead-in can motivate their learning interests.

According to the answers， 66.7% students think the step of lead-in which is designed by English teacher can make class atmosphere active and relaxing. 33.3% students think sometimes the step of lead-in can make class atmosphere active and relaxing. Most students think the step of lead-in is helpful to the class atmosphere.

Through the answers to this question， it is shown that 3.3% students think the step of lead-in can waste class teaching time. 10% students think maybe it can waste class teaching time. 76.7% students think it cannot waste class teaching time. 10% students have no idea whether it can waste class teaching time. Most students do not think the step of lead-in can waste class teaching time.

From the answers to this question， it is known that 33.3% students are willingly engaged in the step of lead-in in English class. 66.7% students sometimes are willingly engaged in it. Most students are willingly engaged in the step of lead-in in English class.

For the 2 short-answer questions， the students also answer them carefully. The first question is to illustrate the ways of lead-in which their teachers use in class briefly. Students show many ways of lead-in which their teachers use in class， such as revising， analyzing the title， making suspense， telling funny stories and humorous jokes， showing pictures， playing videos， designing amusing activities and so on.

3.2 The Analysis on the Interview

For the interview to 6 English teachers， 4 questions are prepared. The first question is to show teachers opinions to the step of lead-in. All teachers think the step of lead-in is essential. The second question is whether teachers can design the step of lead-in carefully. 3 teachers say they can design the step of lead-in carefully， and 2 teachers say some strategy of lead-in which they use in class is designed by other teachers or they copy from the Internet or books. 1 teacher thinks that the step of lead-in can exist as an independent part and she is not willing to spend time on the design of lead-in. The third question is to introduce some ways of lead-in they use in class. The fourth question is to show the difficulties teachers meet in the step of lead-in and how they solve these problems. Some teachers say the information of the step of lead-in sometimes is too much and students cannot know which information is crucial. To solve this problem， teachers use pictures and videos that are slightly related to teaching aims and teaching importance when designing the step of lead-in. They also make sure the activities of lead-in are short but available and directly related to the points. Some teachers say students cannot express ideas in English because the activities of lead-in are too difficult. To solve this problem， teachers can fully consider students learning levels before they design the activities to make sure students can express ideas correctly in English.

IV. Conclusion

4.1 Major Findings of the Thesis

Through the questionnaire to students and the interview to teachers， the paper shows some major findings. First of all， the step of lead-in is essential and helpful to class teaching. Both teachers and students recognize the importance of the step of lead-in in the whole class teaching.

Secondly， some English teachers have been aware of the importance of lead-in， but they do not design the step of lead-in carefully.

Thirdly， the time spent on the step of lead-in is sometimes not proper. Through the questionnaire， most students show that some teachers can control the step of lead-in within three to five minutes， and most teachers have the step of lead-in within three minutes， and there is some teachers who spend more than five minutes on the step of lead-in. If the English teachers spend too much time on lead-in， the students will be bored and not clear about what they are going to learn.

4.2 Implications of the Research

According to the research of this paper， some suggestions deserve teachers attention. Firstly， the English teachers should flexibly choose appropriate ways of lead-in according to different teaching content and the students need. Therefore， the English teachers should flexibly choose appropriate ways of lead-in in class teaching. Different ways of lead-in can be used according to different teaching content.

Secondly， the English teachers should integrate the step of lead-in with the practical English class teaching. Most of the English teachers recognize the importance of lead-in， but not all teachers design the step of lead-in carefully and apply it into practice. Therefore， the English teachers should integrate the step of lead-in with the practical English class teaching and design the step of lead-in carefully.

Thirdly， the English teachers should control the time of lead-in well. The proper time of lead-in should be about 5 minutes. Too mush time on lead-in will affect the process of the English class teaching. Too little time on lead-in will affect students comprehension to the new content. As a consequence， the language that the teachers use should be brief and direct. It should make the students understand easily.

4.3 Suggestions for Future Researches

First of all， the author hopes that in the future researchers can spend sufficient time in doing study and get some more profound understandings on teachers strategies of lead-in and put forward more valuable suggestions.

Secondly， future researches should enlarge the number of samples as possible.

Thirdly， more instruments of the research can be used to make the study more objective.

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