1.1.3 Requirements of the New Curriculum Reform

Entering 21st century, the New Curriculum Reform has been catching public attentions. As the New Curriculum Reform proceeding, great changes have taken place in primary school and high school. Traditional language-knowledge-oriented teaching mode is now being transformed into a new teaching mode, where students experience and explore the unknown world and cooperate with others under the guidance of teachers. The core strategy of this reform is to change student’s learning method, and cultivate their creative spirit and practical ability in a student-oriented way. Therefore, the final effect is not reflected on what teachers teach, but on what students learn. 

According to the New Curriculum Reform, curricula should not only be adapted to student’s real life, but also be related to the modern society, so the emphases should be drawn on the cultivation of student’s autonomous learning attitude, on the formation of their habits and experience, and on the training of their basic knowledge and skills.

1.2 The Purpose and Significance of the Study

As for the purpose of this thesis, it is aimed to prove the feasibility and effectiveness of Guided Learning Plan in EFL for Grade 7 students and to explore the role of Guided Learning Plan, including the definition, the design, and the application of Guided Learning Plan, etc. 

As Grade 7 is a very important period for students, the writer hopes that this study could put forward several efficient approaches for learning and shed light on more mature teaching model in practice. In the meantime, teachers or even school authority could explore more possibilities for teaching.

2. Literature Review

Guided Learning Plan refers to a newly emerged teaching and learning model explored and advocated by the front-line teachers. In this study, Guided Learning Plan is in accordance with teacher’s teaching plan. Based on thorough research about student’s learning condition, Guided Learning Plan is a supplementary material for autonomous English learning, which is designed on the basis of the national curriculum standards, students’ cognitive level and current knowledge level. By using learning plans, teachers can help lead students to autonomous and cooperative learning, ensure their subjectivity, realize their benefits to the largest extent, so as to build high-quality and efficient classroom. However, when implementing learning plans in real class, we can still find some misinterpretations of Guided Learning Plan because of the improper design and operation. For instance, some teachers wrongly regard learning plans as lists of knowledge points and exercises. In order to put it into better effects, the writer supposes that people should first have a correct and comprehensive understanding of Guided Learning Plan. So, the definitions, the theoretical basis, and the features of Guided Learning Plan will be discussed in the part of literature review.