The Influence of Participatory Teaching Approach on English Performance in a Chinese Primary School under BOPPPS Model ()
1. Introduction
1.1. Research Background
1.1.1. Theoretical Background
BOPPPS is an acronym representing the various components of an active learning lesson plan, which stands for bridge-in, outcomes (objectives), pre-assessment, participatory learning, post-assessment and summary ( Pattison & Russell, 2006 , see Section 2.1 for details of BOPPPS model). Throughout the world’s education, BOPPPS model is very popular in foreign countries. According to some surveys on the outcomes of teacher-centered traditional teaching, the proportion of knowledge that students can master is not much (i.e., 10% by teachers’ lectures, 15% by autonomous reading, 25% by auditions and 30% by demonstration). Only when students really participate in learning and interact with teachers, students can they master more than 50% of knowledge. With the implementation of the New Curriculum Standards for Elementary English (2011 edition) of the Ministry of Education, elementary English is not only a compulsory course in the elementary education stage, but also an important part of the new curriculum reform of elementary education in China. General speaking, the existing problems in English teaching in primary schools include, but are not limited to, not obvious teaching and learning effects due to the popularity of cramming teaching methods, relatively simple classroom teaching activities, which cannot stimulate students’ interest in English learning, and different levels of participation in classrooms led by teachers in primary schools in China, which lead to different learning experiences, etc.
Therefore, in order to improve the quality and effect of primary school English teaching and enhance students’ interest and enthusiasm in English learning, teachers should also continuously improve their professional quality, knowledge and skills through independent learning, practical research, training and practice. The BOPPPS model, known for training teachers’ skills, can enhance the teaching outcome as purpose, so it can be combined with the primary school English teaching design, and it is more compatible with the Chinese primary English teaching practice to guide the teachers’ classroom teaching activities. Thus, it is undoubtedly one of the options for Chinese primary English teaching based on practice and reform.
1.1.2. Realistic Background
Although English education in our society has made great progress for decades, there are still some outstanding problems. According to Hmelo & Ferrari (1997) , the traditional teaching model is no longer suitable for modern teaching, because traditional teaching methods place much emphasis on the leading role of teachers while neglect students’ subjectivity and the importance of students’ participation in teaching. Therefore, an in-depth innovation is needed.
One of the consequences of traditional teaching methods is insufficient attention to the importance of students’ participation in class. Teachers are more likely to teach the contents or language points of the course rather than teach the method of learning, and students prefer to listen to teachers rather than take part in the class. This teaching method seems to be common since students cannot master the knowledge independently. But over time, teachers and students will form poor teaching methods and learning habits, which would exert a negative impact on educational development in China. Meanwhile, for decades, the application of traditional teaching methods ignores the individual differences of students. Teachers use the same methods to teach all the students; some active students can take part in the teaching activities, but some silent students are often ignored.
From all the drawbacks of traditional teaching methods, the importance of adopting different types of methods in English primary education is necessary. The new curriculum reform requires that teaching methods should fully reflect students’ subjectivity and initiative.
According to the constructivist learning theory, real understanding can only be constructed based on learners’ own experience background and depends on the learning activities in a specific situation. Otherwise, it is not regarded as understanding but as passive copy of learning. As Piaget (1952) mentioned, everyone understands certain aspects of things in their own way, and teaching should enhance the individual participation of students. Therefore, the constructivists pay much attention to the participative learning and cooperative learning. Teachers are the guides of teaching, and the responsibility to participate in and explore learning is also shifted from teacher-oriented to students-oriented, and this should also be the direction of development in the teaching method reform.
1.2. Research Objectives and Significance
The purpose of this paper is to compare the difference between traditional education method and the method of participatory approach under the BOPPS model. An empirical study was conducted. Two primary classes were used as the control class and experimental class for the study, and the same English teacher adopts different teaching methods for these two classes. The effects of different teaching methods on students’ language performance were tested through the examination in the end. Based on the findings, the implications of the study are generated so as to reform the primary English teaching methods, improve the teaching ability of teachers, and then improve the learning level of students.
The study has some practical significance, especially for the introduction of the participatory approach in primary English classroom teaching and shed some new insights to the reform of primary English teaching in China.
1.3. Structure of the Paper
The main structure of the paper consists of the following sections. Section one is an introduction of the paper, which includes the background, the purpose and significance as well as the overall structure. This is followed by literature review, which introduces the definition of the core concepts in this paper and reviews the relevant studies at home and abroad concerning BOPPPS and participatory teaching approach teaching method. Section Three is the research design, mainly describing the research questions, method and process. Section Four presents he data collected by the research subject and then analyze the data and discuss about the results. The last section wraps up the paper with conclusion and implication.
2. Literature Review
This section will first introduce the definitions of BOPPPS Model and participatory teaching approach, then review some relevant studies on BOPPPS Model and participatory teaching approach at home and abroad. It also illustrates the theoretical influence of BOPPPS model on participatory teaching approach.
2.1. Definition of Core Concepts
2.1.1. Definition of BOPPPS Model
BOPPPS teaching model is widely used in North American teachers’ skill training, which has strong practicality and operability. Compared with the traditional teaching model, BOPPPS teaching model highlights the participatory learning process, highlights the dominant position of students in classroom teaching, and has clear teaching steps, which has important reference value for teachers. It is composed of six modules: bridge-in, objective, pre-assessment, participation, post assessment and summary ( Pattison & Russel, 2006 ).
Firstly, the role of “bridge-in” is to help students focus on or connect with the course content to be introduced. Secondly, the role of “outcome” (or “objective”) is specific and clear, and can be observed or measured. Objectives include the following two categories: first, teachers’ teaching objectives, where teachers first need to know what they want to teach, and then need to prepare rich teaching materials resources, which must include many different knowledge points, so as to form a broad goal. Second one is students’ learning objectives. Here, teachers should know: 1) what should students learn? 2) What is the amount of information that students can absorb? 3) What is the most effective way for students to absorb this information? 4) What is the most impressive thing that students can take away? Moreover, the function of pre-assessment is to understand students’ interests and abilities, focus on the purpose of the class, provide students with the information they need to express, review or clarify, and help teachers adjust the depth and choice of content. Participation includes two types, namely, learning between teachers and students and learning between students. The specific way is divided into questioning and discussion. The function of post assessment is to find out what students have learned and whether they have achieved their learning goals.
2.1.2. Definition Participatory Teaching Approach
Participatory teaching approach refers to the educator’s active and creative involvement in every link of teaching activities under the guidance of clear teaching objectives and using scientific methods in a democratic and loose classroom environment, so as to receive education, acquire knowledge and develop ability. Teachers and students participate in teaching activities as equals. Therefore, participatory teaching is a teaching form in which teachers and students jointly promote teaching. It is a method of teaching, training and discussion widely advocated in the world. The implementation of participatory teaching requires new ideas and new things. Teachers should study teaching materials consciously, learn through the network, study in practice, and constantly strengthen the internal work, enhance the foundation. From the recording of lectures, analysis and feedback, it is possible to discuss teaching methods and solve problems in teaching, and find teachers with innovative ability as the key training objects.
2.2. Relevant Studies of BOPPPS Model and Participatory Approach at Home and Abroad
2.2.1. Research of BOPPPS Model at Home and Abroad
Foreign scholars carried out the research on BOPPPS teaching model earlier, but most of the research focused on the concept of the teaching model and how to promote the improvement of teaching quality through the teaching model. The BOPPPS model was originally developed by Instruction Skills Workshop (ISW) (Canadian teacher skills training seminar) was established on the basis of teacher qualification certification in British Columbia, Canada, and is mainly used for teacher skills training. Giustini (2009) introduced the concept of BOPPPS model in detail, focusing on the basic components of BOPPPS, namely bridge-in, learning objectives, pre-assessment, participatory learning, post-assessment and summary. He believes that BOPPPS Model can promote teaching and improve teaching efficiency, and also stresses the importance of participatory teaching. In foreign countries, most scholars focus on the BOPPPS teaching model itself, and most of the research on each component of the teaching model. For example, Nemeth (2014) emphasized the importance of pre-assessment in the teaching process in 2014. Stubley (2018) made a more in-depth study on the teaching process of BOPPPS teaching model and believed that the teaching process should pay more attention to the two components of pre-assessment and post-assessment. At the same time, some scholars have also studied the relationship between teachers and students under this teaching model. Wunderlich (2015) stressed that this teaching model has greatly reduced the social distance between teachers and students in the classroom, greatly promoted the communication between teachers and students and promoted students’ learning in the classroom. In addition, some scholars made a detailed introduction to the institution that proposed this teaching model. Foxe, Frake-Mistak and Popovic (2016) introduced the structure ISW and the BOPPPs model in great detail and expressed their sincere thanks to this institution.
Chinese scholars’ research on BOPPPS model has a relatively short history, and the research direction is different from foreign scholars, and one of the differences is that Chinese scholars pay more attention to the differences between BOPPPS teaching model and traditional teaching model. Zhang and Zhu (2016) put forward constructive suggestions, mainly to set up a flipped classroom in the BOPPPS teaching model and let student study independently before class so as to reduce the pressure of classroom knowledge and strengthen the depth of knowledge learned in the classroom. Subsequently, Wei, Bai, Liu and Jiang (2018) also put forward the idea of integrating flipped classroom and BOPPPS teaching model. In addition to the research on the combination of BOPPPS teaching model and other teaching methods, many scholars have also studied the advantages and disadvantages of BOPPPS teaching model. For example, Cao and Yin (2016) introduced BOPPPS model in detail, and analyzed the similarities and differences between this teaching model and traditional teaching model in teaching design, such as teaching objectives, teaching subject, etc.
To sum up, foreign studies on BOPPPS teaching model mostly focus on each component of the teaching model, and domestic studies mostly focus on the comparison between the teaching model and the traditional teaching model.
2.2.2. Research of Participatory Teaching Approach at Home and Abroad
The participatory approach was first produced in the 1950s, but it was not used in the field of pedagogy at that time. It was only used as a way of interpersonal communication in sociology. Subsequently, Freire (1973) first proposed to apply the participatory approach to the field of education. At the same time, he also pointed out that dialogue, communication and problem-solving are good ways to promote students’ language learning. In 1980, the participatory teaching approach was gradually applied to pedagogy, which gradually changed the perspective of classroom teaching from teachers to students. Foreign scholars’ research on participatory teaching approach mostly focuses on the activities and methods that can start participatory teaching. There are various ways to carry our participatory teaching, such as cooperative group working, brainstorm and so on. In 2001, Cowie and Berdondini (2001) proposed interpersonal interaction take place during participatory work cooperative group work has an impact on the expression of some emotions.
In 1999, the Ministry of education implemented a series of science education projects such as the Sino-British cooperative Gansu basic education plan, so as to improve the educational development level of remote rural areas in Northwest China. In this process, the concept of participatory teaching was introduced to China. For the definition of the concept of participatory teaching, Xu (2006) believes that participatory teaching method is a teaching concept. At the same time, he has the same idea as the foreign scholar Birch and Ladd (1997) , and divides participatory teaching methods into emotional, behavioral and cognitive participation. More specifically, Chen (2012) gives a detailed interpretation of participatory teaching:
“Participatory teaching is not only a teaching concept, but also a teaching method. Conceptually, participatory teaching advocates student-centered learning, emphasizes the equal participation of teachers and students in the teaching process, so that students with different learning backgrounds, different knowledge and experience, different personal affinity and different types of intelligence can learn effectively. In methodology, participation teaching means that teachers participate in teaching activities, discuss problems in learning together, and realize the mutual growth of teaching and learning and the interaction between teachers and students in teaching activities. ”
To sum up, the research on the participation teaching approach at home and abroad mostly focuses on the research subject, specific implementation methods and applications. With the further advancement of teaching reform, participatory teaching has been developed in teacher training and school management. Participatory teaching has not been popularized and applied on a large scale in China’s compulsory education stage and middle school education stage. The research on the application of participatory teaching in primary and secondary schools is still relatively scarce, which is closely related to China’s educational conditions at this stage. Therefore, this paper takes primary schools as the main body to carry out research, in order to better use participatory teaching methods in future teaching.
Based on the previous review of relevant studies on BOPPPS model and participatory teaching at home and abroad, it can be seen that few studies have compared the participatory approach under the BOPPPS model with traditional English teaching in primary schools in China. Therefore, this gap provides a potential area for exploration. This study compares it with the traditional teaching model by taking the key teaching component of BOPPPS model—participatory teaching as the main body. In order to find out whether this teaching component can better promote the development of students’ second language performance compared with the traditional teaching model.
3. Research Design
3.1. Research Questions
The research questions of the paper are as follows:
1) To what extent do the effects of traditional teaching methods and participatory teaching approach under BOPPS differ in terms of Chinese primary school students’ second language performance?
2) What are the implications of participatory teaching approach under BOPPS modal for Chinese primary school English teaching?
3.2. Research Participants
The participants of the study include 60 pupils from Grade Three in Moganshan Road Primary School in Hangzhou, China. It is a public primary school with a history of over 100 years. Rationales for choosing these two classes are explained in detail in the analysis of pre-assessment results in Section 4.1.
The third-grade English PEP edition textbooks and matching audio textbooks were used in the teaching. Two classes both learn the same lesson. Both classes had similar levels of learning and had been taught by the same teacher. The study then used the PEP edition of May 3 Daily English Exercises for the students’ pre-assessment and post-assessment. Both classes use the same textbook and test papers, but the teacher makes courseware and designs class activities according to different ways of class.
3.3. Research Procedures
3.3.1. Pre-Assessment
The survey (Figure 1) was conducted in two classes of Grade 3 at Moganshan Road Primary School in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, with 30 pupils in each class. An experimental group and a control group were divided, and the learning level of students in the two groups should not be too different, otherwise the validity of the experiment cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, the paper selected two classes with similar learning level as the experimental group and the control group by using the method of pre-assessment before the experiment in class. All the third-grade classes do the same test paper, and select the classes with similar overall scores and the number of students in different grades to conduct the experiment.
3.3.2. Teaching Students in Two Classes with Different Teaching Methods
In the class of traditional teaching method, the teacher carries on the teaching
according to traditional teaching method, mainly the 3P method model (Presentation, Practice, and Production). For example, the teacher systematically shows the colors required to master in the book, and teaches the sentence patterns of the colors. Then repeat recitation and train games to master the pronunciation and spelling of the words. Finally, let the students practice independently and produce independently. In this teaching process, the teacher plays a leading role, students’ participation is insufficient and it is difficult to arouse students’ interest. In general, teacher teaches students in usual way.
In the class of participatory teaching approach based on BOPPPS model, teachers follow the six steps mentioned above in the teaching process. Teacher first analyze students’ learning interests and needs, do the students like the material and what else do they want to know about what might be raised. Analyze the existing cognitive level and ability of students, what do students already know that they can solve on their own. Analyze the difficulties and problems that students may encounter in learning, where and what help do students need. Analyze various learning strategies that students may adopt in the learning process, for example: the rational generalization ability of the lower grade students is not strong, so the question design cannot start from the rational generalization problem.
Then, teacher introducing the content of this teaching, attracting students’ attention, using the way of brainstorming, let students observe the ice and point out the colors in the classroom, students can speak freely, in the normal teaching order cannot raise their hands to answer the question. After the activity, the teacher needs to clarify the teaching objectives, tell the students the key points of the lesson, and know what they can do to learn the knowledge of colors. Then, let the students participate in class activities, lead the students to take the initiative to learn, using the method of creating a scene, to create a scene with the color of the students (such as flowers), let the students in the scene to master different colors. This kind of practice method has the communicative function close to life, and can change the monotonous and mechanical sentence pattern drill into lively and vivid communicative practice.
Later, in the last few minutes of the class, the teacher gives the students a short question and answer to check whether the teaching objectives of the class have been achieved and what the students have learned, and feedback the learning effect. Finally, the teacher needs to take stock of the lesson and reflect on what he or she has learned and what is missing from the lesson.
3.3.3. Post-Assessment
After the teacher teaches the whole unit, the post-assessment is conducted for the experimental group and the control group. The purpose is to test the mastery and absorption degree of the knowledge of the same unit by the students in the two classes under different teaching methods. The content of the post-assessment is the knowledge learned in class. From comparison and analysis of the differences between students’ scores in the pre-assessment and the post-assessment, it is feasible to get a general idea of students’ ability to acquire knowledge and reflect students’ level of mastering different knowledge.
4. Results and Discussions
4.1. Results and Analysis of Pre-Assessment
In order to ensure the validity of the experiment, the paper selected two classes with similar English scores to carry out the teaching experiment through the pre-assessment, and analyzed the distribution of students’ scores in the two classes. For the pre-assessment, teacher tested students’ knowledge about prior knowledge and some unlearned knowledge.
From Table 1, it can be seen that the English level of class 302 and 305 is relatively similar (with mean score of 78 and 77 respectively), and from Table 2 below, it can be seen that the scores at each rank were distributed similarly too so these two classes were chosen as the experimental group and the control group. Class 302 served as the experimental group, and Class 305 served as the control group.
4.2. Results and Analysis of Post-Assessment
It is obvious from Table 3 that the two classes have different degrees of knowledge of the same unit. The average score of Class 302 is 86 points, 7 people with 90 to 100 points, 6 people with 80 to 89 points, 12 people with 70 to 89 points, 4 people with 60 to 69 points, and 1 person with a lower score of 60 points. The highest score of 302 pre-assessment is 100 points, and the minimum score is 57 points. The average score of Class 305 is 74, 2 with 90 to 100, 8 with 80 to 89, 11 with 70 to 89, 6 with 60 to 69, and 3 with less than 60. The highest score of Class 305 is 97, and the lowest score is 54. Whether judging from the overall average score or the number of people with different scores, the degree of post-assessment of Class 302 is better.
The post-assessment contains ten questions, which have three different types, namely listening, written test and situational communication. The first to fourth part is the listening section, the fifth to eighth part is the written section, which consists of single choice and spelling questions, and the ninth to tenth part is the
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Table 1. The average score of pre-assessment of different class.
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Table 2. Distribution statistics of the pre-assessment.
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Table 3. Distribution statistics of the post-assessment.
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Table 4. The scores of different questions in class 302.
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Table 5. The scores of different questions in class 305.
practical section, which consists of situational conversations and sentence completion questions. It can be seen from Table 4 and Table 5 that the scores of listening and situational dialogues of the students using participatory teaching approach in BOPPPS model are higher than those using traditional mode of teaching. However, the two teaching methods have little influence on the written test, and there is no significant difference in the results of the two classes.
4.3. The Influences of Two Teaching Methods in Post-Assessment
SPSS 23 software was used to analyze the data, and a null hypothesis was first for the data. That is, there will be no difference in the scores of classes with different methods. As shown in below Figure 2, the data distribution of the two groups of data is significantly different, where the p-value is 0.202, greater than 0.05, so the two groups of data are comparable. Then, it can be clearly seen in the table that the p-value of the average of the two groups of data is less than 0.001, and the difference between the two groups of data is very significant. Therefore, the classes with different teaching methods have very significant differences in scores.
Besides, according to the scores of post-assessments, traditional teaching methods have a greater and better impact on pupils’ vocabulary and syntax. Through teachers’ repeated practice in class, pupils can memorize words and important sentence patterns mechanically. But traditional teaching methods fail to greatly improve the primary school students’ listening ability acquisition and situational communication ability, and students will simply read and memorize words and sentence patterns, but they cannot use English in the real situation. Therefore, once the words fill up the topic into scene communication types of topics, the students’ scores are generally low. In the traditional teaching method, the whole
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Figure 2. Two teaching methods in post-assessment.
teaching process revolves around the teacher, the teacher mostly completes the teaching task on the platform. This teacher-centered teaching method objectively limits the full play of students’ potential. The role of the teacher is mainly reflected in the teaching process, each teacher through his vivid language, he has mastered the knowledge to pass on to the students.
In the participatory teaching approach under BOPPS model, the teacher guides the student’s activity is the main form of teaching. This modern teaching method puts forward new requirements for teachers, and teachers do not impart knowledge as their only task, but mainly to prepare the teaching situation, create a learning atmosphere, organize and guide the teaching process. In contrast, BOPPPS model of participatory teaching approach of teaching methods greatly influence primary school students’ communicative competence and the improvement of listening ability, and this kind of teaching method by creating and matching the classroom teaching content enables the student in the corresponding scenario to learn vocabulary and syntax, making students not only can recite words and syntax, also can flexible use of English in real scene, but not being limited by topic, the ability of second language performance both in listening, written and situational communication got obvious improvement.
5. Conclusion
5.1. Major Findings
From the analysis in the previous section, it is obvious that there are significant differences in terms of the effects of traditional teaching methods and participatory teaching approach under BOPPS for Chinese primary school students’ second language performance. More specifically, the influence of traditional teaching on students’ English performance and the influence of participatory teaching method on students’ English performance are illustrated as follows:
On the one hand, the influence of traditional teaching on students’ English performance lies in the following aspects. Teachers often get answers through explanation or the easiest way for students to remember. “On the surface, it looks like exploration, but in fact it is explanation”, which fails to reach the level of thinking ability that students personally invest in. So look for the independent, cooperative, inquiry learning with the right combination of PT, participatory teaching is a kind of theory and practice, after all, bold attempt, but it does not say that is independent, cooperative and inquiry learning mode of specimens, many teachers have deeply realized that, the classroom teaching, necessarily needs to organize the student to carry on the cooperative learning activities, and as an important way to reflect the concept of new curriculum. Whether cooperative learning can be effectively implemented in the new curriculum depends on whether the basic connotation of cooperative learning can be scientifically understood. It is imperative to continue to explore and unremittingly explore in practice. Traditional teaching method is unable to stimulate the potential of students, so that students’ learning is always passive, can improve the average score of the class but cannot select top students, so that students’ imagination cannot be fully played.
One the other hand, the impact of participatory teaching method on students’ English performance is obvious. In particular, the application of BOPPPS teaching model is helpful for new teachers to better grasp the teaching content and control the class. Modularization of the teaching content is the necessary prerequisite for the effective implementation of this teaching model. After the course content is divided into small blocks, through participatory learning, post-assessment, summary and other links, it is easier to control the time, to eliminate the phenomenon of where to calculate. New teachers have a relatively poor control of class time, so they worry that they will not finish their lectures when the bell rings, and more importantly, they worry that they will not finish their lectures before class is over. The BOPPPS teaching model can effectively plan, estimate and control the time, and at the same time exercise the ability to master the classroom skillfully, so that the classroom teaching becomes a complete process with post-assessment and summary, and avoid anticlimactic.
Participatory learning emphasizes the important role of students, learning and interaction in teaching, which can be divided into teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction. The teacher-student interaction refers to the interaction between teachers and students, which requires teachers to use teaching methods and means to form interactive learning of the core content of the curriculum. Teachers can create problem situations according to teaching objectives and teaching contents, and make students understand the teaching objectives and tasks and think about deeper sub-problems through reasonable questioning and guidance. It is suggested that participatory teaching tasks should be arranged pertinently, and students should be allowed to think about the examination with the characteristics of verification, planning, expansion, integration, confrontation and creation. It can adopt many kinds of teaching strategies, such as turning class, teaching system, item teaching, question driving, small group research and discussion, student demonstration, situation scene method, color exchange of teacher and student Angle, exploration type, cooperative type, asymptotic type and recursive type, so that the classroom has the characteristics of interest, openness, sharing, practicality and innovation. Student interaction refers to students working together in groups to complete goals and tasks and explore a specific problem together. Students in the whole teaching process to return, evaluation, total knot, feedback, form the interaction, after the group discussion bundle to summarize, by the group representative report the results of discussion. Teachers should keep track of students’ participation and learning, and supervise and guide the discussion process. Participatory learning enables students to acquire new knowledge through independent experience, learning and exploration. The higher the degree of participation of students, the deeper the knowledge they will learn. At the same time, participatory learning fully mobilizes and gives play to students’ independent learning ability, so that students can be in practice.
5.2. Implications of Participatory Teaching Approach under BOPPS modal for Chinese Primary School English Teaching
As to the implications of participatory teaching approach under BOPPS modal for Chinese primary school English teaching, the question of “how to achieve real participatory teaching” is discussed in detail. The teacher, the student and the teaching material are the three elements of “participatory” teaching. The teaching material is the intermediary and plays a vital role in “teaching” and “learning”. “Participatory” teaching is guided by innovation, development and change. With “student-centered, activity-oriented, equal participation” are as the basic concepts. Advocate the close combination of teaching of all subjects with social life and practical experience. This advanced teaching method should be put into practice in the design and operation of the classroom. The important symbol is that the teacher is not “teaching” the textbook but “designing” it.
Firstly, “Well begun is half done”. The success of a class activity is closely related to the introduction. According to different teaching content, design different import method. Second, appropriate situations and exercises should be designed according to the content taught. The purpose of the exercises is to let students master and consolidate the knowledge they have learned and improve their ability to solve problems comprehensively. Therefore, teachers should be in the practice of careful design, in order to achieve good results.
However, this study has some limitations. Since it is a small-scale study within a limited phase of time based on two classes, the results may not be generalizable to other subjects. But this detailed study does offer a good starting point. Future studies can extend this area to incorporate more participants and check the influence of other factors such as grades, gender, teachers’ teaching experience, and so on.
The study has some practical implications, especially for the English teachings in Chinese primary schools. Since results show that participatory teaching approach in BOPPPS model can promote primary school students’ second language performance more effectively than traditional teaching methods, it offers English teachers in primary schools a more effective alternative approach to improve students’ English language acquisition abilities. Moreover, participatory teaching is not only a teaching method, but also a teaching concept. In the specific implementation process, the organization of participatory teaching activities and the application of teaching strategies are not invariable. Therefore, teachers need to flexibly adjust the teaching content according to the setting of syllabus and the arrangement of teaching materials. It is hoped that this study would arouse the awareness of this teaching concept in English teaching in primary schools in China.
Funding
This work is supported by a fund for postgraduate student project of Shaoxing University ([2021] No. 253).