1.3 Research Significance 

According to the English Curriculum Standards 2011, the overall goal is that by learning English, students format the comprehensive ability of language application, promote mental development, and improve the cultural literacy. The formation of that ability as comprehensive language application is based on language skills, language knowledge, attitudes and emotion, learning strategies and cultural awareness, which should be overall developed. With the foundation laid in primary school, middle school students (Grades 7–9) are at a higher level in their knowledge of English, as well as their learning skills. Curriculum for middle school is designed to support students to further develop English by building on what they have learned. Specifically, students are expected to achieve Levels 3–5 in proficiency as specified in the standards.

The new English reform requires innovation and development of education, requiring education should face to every students, promote their experience, and pay attention to their emotions in order to achieve more scientific, democratization, full, ecology and sustainable education. The traditional view of English homework assignment no longer meets the requirements of the new curriculum, and can not become a good self-mutual-aid class. It’s inevitable to get the homework assignment reformed which is as an important part of the new curriculum reform. While reforming, the past successful experience should be learned and innovation can be created. New English homework assignment modes suits to the middle school as well as reflects the changing times has to be explored, which needs relevant in-depth investigation.     

Students acquire knowledge from their lovely teachers and develop themselves, then using them in daily life, while their teachers try their best to cultivate students’ self-learning ability by textbook reading, teacher suggestion, classmates discussion, inpidual thinking and exercise consolidating. Students under the traditional cramming are just like robots to do what they are told. Homework, one of the most important way to gain self-learning ability, is the key to obtain knowledge. When doing homework, students are learning by themselves through reviewing, previewing and other tasks. If the homework is well designed, students will benefit a lot from it, for instance, students can be well prepare for the new lesson and better digest the previous knowledge. Moreover, doing effective homework can broaden their horizon, accumulate knowledge, realize the shift from book to real life and find out their best learning methods.  

For teachers, homework assignments are part of lesson plans. Most teachers focus on lesson designing and neglect the assignment of homework. They assign homework causally and repeatedly. Not only their students are bored of it but also themselves. Such kind of homework can not let teachers truly know about students’ learning and personal interests. But the homework that is scientifically and reasonably designed can reflects students’ learning difficulties as well as problems. Thus the teaching process and plans can be altered, which makes the teaching and learning go hand in hand.