A Comparative Study of Thinking Quality Between Chinese and American Junior Middle School Students From the Perspective of Key Competences of English Subject

Abstract

The globalization and information tide in the 21st century have promoted the new demand for talents in social development, and the key competences education came into being under such an era. Subsequently, the “key competences” became the key word of the global educational reform under the background of the new era in the 21st century. The key competences documents promulgated by many countries have obvious consistency and similarity, but they are not completely identical. There may be some problems worthy of reflection behind the differences. As the largest developing country and the largest developed country in the world, the educational views of China and the United States have a profound impact on the world civilization and pattern. As far as English subject is concerned, although English education is foreign language education in China, not native English education or non-native English education in the United States, it is combined with the reality of English education in China. Comparing the similarities and differences in the field of thinking quality between Chinese and American junior middle school English education can promote the reform of domestic English education and improve its quality. Also, many teachers only pay attention to the cultivation of students’ language knowledge and skills in the English classroom at present, neglecting the cultivation of students’ thinking quality, so it is difficult to improve students’ thinking ability and thinking personality traits. Based on this, the paper aims to cultivate and develop thinking quality of junior middle school students from the perspective of key competences of English subject. Through a comparative study of the consistency and difference of thinking quality between Chinese and American junior middle school students by using the methods of literature research and comparative analysis, the paper pays more attention to the problems of thinking quality of junior middle school students in China. As a result, the corresponding solutions are discussed. The paper is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction. The research background, research purposes, research significance, research problems and research methods are briefly described. The second chapter is the literature review. It covers the research status and research trend of thinking quality at home and abroad. The third chapter is comparative study. This part briefly introduces the framework of Chinese and American key competences, discusses in detail the consistency and differences of Chinese and American junior high school students’ thinking quality in the three dimensions of logic, criticism and innovation, and points out the similarities and differences. The fourth chapter explores the essence of differences. From the perspective of English curriculum, this paper explains the reasons for the differences in thinking quality between Chinese and American junior high school students, including classroom teaching, reading and writing. The fifth chapter is a reflection. It discusses the limitations of the cultivation of thinking quality of junior middle school students in China, draws lessons from useful experience, and initially explores the methods of cultivating thinking quality of junior middle school students, in order to enhance the comprehensive strength of the key competences of junior middle school students.