The current situation shows the importance and urgency of reforming English reading teaching in China. Various factors must be considered in this process, including students’ attitudes, interests, strategies and self-study abilities. Mind Mapping, which makes full use of words, images, numbers, logic, rhythms, colors and spatial awareness, can be an efficient way to enhance students’ reading abilities.

Mind Mapping, originated by Tony Buzan in 1970s, is a powerful graphic technique which can unlock the potential of the brain. So far it has been applied in various fields such as brainstorming, memorization, taking notes and so on to improve learning and clearer thinking. This research attempts to apply Mind Mapping to English reading teaching and learning. By designing a series of maps, students can read with more relaxation and enhance their initiative and motivation in English reading. It is also helpful to develop reading strategies and self-study abilities in the process.

1.2 Significance of the Research

    With the advancement of society, people’s living conditions in China have improved a lot. As a result, the need for better education is even much greater. What’s more, English plays a more important role in our life, without which we may confront a lot of troubles. So it is urgent to improve English ability. As the main approach to improve students’ language ability, reading plays an important role in cultivating language skills like listening, speaking, reading and writing. Therefore, to work out new methodologies and improve students’ reading ability is of vital importance. However, the teaching methodologies teachers adopt still remain at a relatively low level. Reading class is full of teacher-centered analysis and overemphasized language knowledge, which will constraint students’ creativity and learning interest. At present, experts and teachers are making great efforts to work out new methods. Mind Mapping is one of them. By putting Mind Mapping into use of reading teaching, the students can improve their reading abilities and regain learning interests. 

Up to now, however, there have been only a few studies related to using Mind Mapping in English teaching, let alone studies about English reading teaching. Therefore studies related to it are of great need, no matter theoretical or practical.

1.3 Purpose of the Research 

The objective of this thesis is to explore the effectiveness of Mind Mapping. By analyzing the studies before and doing an experiment in a middle school, this thesis attempts to study whether mind mapping serves to promote junior middle students’ reading abilities and the differences between the experimental class and the control class.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Previous Foreign Researches on Mind Mapping

Generally speaking, Mind Mapping aims to offer people an excellent and comprehensive tool, which can help people make a good self-analysis, solve problems, remember things, write something or organize something. With the popularization of Mind Mapping, studies on it are on a steady rise. Since Mind Mapping was initiated from abroad, foreign researchers have a deep understanding of it. From documentary research, it seems that Mind Mapping, with its unique advantages, has been widely used in many fields in foreign countries. Tony Buzan is the originator of Mind Mapping, in his book The Mind Map Book, he came up several applications, namely, the application on oneself, the application on family, the application on education, the application on business and so on. These areas are where Mind Mapping mostly used. In spite of it, studies of Mind Mapping applied in language learning are relatively few, among which studies the direct are relevant fewer, while most of the previous foreign researches the researcher had actually could be summarized and listed chronologically as follows.