Abstract:Homework is an essential part in subject teaching, which can further consolidate what students leran in class and provid effective feedbacks for classroom teaching. With an overview of articles in this special issue, the author finds, there exist some problems in designing homework currently. How to design English homework so that students can generate happy atmosphere when they do homework and make full use of time?
1. Students prefer homework designed in the form of Exercise Books for W.S.A. than traditional homework.
2. Content of homework plays a leading role in students’ performance and completion of homework, since students involved in Exercise Book of W.S.A. have better performances than those involved in traditional homework.
3. As their knowledge accumulates, students may become more and more prefer doing Exercise Book of W.S.A., which can be demonstrated by the feedbacks from grade 7 and grade 8 students.
Based on the research findings, the author suggests as following: 1) It is critical for teachers and educators to improve the design of homework so that all the students can be motivated, and more active in doing homework; 2) The content of homework should be paid attention to when teachers design homework. They should try to design homework with neither only one content nor too many contents; 3) Teachers should encourage students to try new types of homework, assisting students become more effective in doing homework and learning language.
Key words: design of English homework，Exercise Books for W.S.A.，traditional homework，content of homework
摘要:课外作业是学科教学必不可少的环节之一，对巩固教学效果具有独特的效果。当前初中英语作业存在作业量偏大、没有层次性、内容缺乏针对性等问题,现状不容乐观。如何设计英语作业，才能让学生拥有舒适的作业心情，实现课外时间的充分利用？
建构主义理论认为，学习者通过选择得到信息，构建他们所知道的意义。现代教育理论和新英语课程标准表示，英语家庭作业不等同于英语教材的课后练习。结合以上理论，本文采用问卷调查、对比分析的方法，试图探索学生在做“三块式”作业(湖南省祁东县第二中学周洁老师提出)与传统作业时的情感认知状态，发现并讨论引起差异的因素，以给老师和研究者提供一些教学方面的启示。
本文采用了认知情感变化调查问卷，是在Csikszentmihalyi & Larson (1984）的经验抽样问卷基础上改编而成。调查了淮安市淮海中学98名初一、初二学生。调查发现如下：
1．与传统作业相比，学生更喜欢“三块式”作业。
2．家庭作业的内容影响学生的作业完成度。做“三块式”作业的学生比做传统作业的学生表现更好。
3．在同样青睐“三块式”作业基础上，高年级学生比低年级学生更倾向于这种作业模式。
基于以上研究发现，笔者给中学英语教学者提出以下建议：1）积极改变家庭作业设计策略，设计能调动尽可能多学生积极性的作业；2）设计作业时，要尽量确保内容既不单调也不多变；3）鼓励学生尝试新的作业类型，帮助其找到适合自己的学习方式。
关键词：英语作业设计，三块式作业，传统式作业，作业内容
