However, in China, even among the big cities, personalized English teaching is not well applied. Based on the studies, the main barrier for personalized English teaching is that there exists no feasible teaching pattern for teachers to learn. Although educators can learn something from western methods, they still need to invent a personalized English teaching pattern which matches Chinese national conditions. Besides, current educational environment is another factor that affects the carry of personalized English teaching. Though focusing on the Quality Education more than ever before, under the pressure of competence, few reforming strategies are well implemented. What’s more, there are few teachers who have the cognition of carrying personalized English teaching and learning. So as to say some of them lack the abilities of conducting hierarchical teaching, which requires more updated teacher training programs.

1.2.2 Purpose

The thesis mainly studies the current situation of the application of personalized English reading in junior high school in China. Through collecting and analyzing the current studies of the application of personalized English reading, with the analysis of existing English reading materials from textbooks, exams and other extra-curricular reading materials, and possibly collecting the data from physical classes by questionnaires about the outcomes of personalized English reading and hierarchical teaching, certain convincing information can be collected and analyzed to reach certain conclusions that there are possible improvements for the current application of personalized English reading and hierarchical teaching in junior high school in China. With the help of those suggestions, the application of personalized teaching can be improved and the standards of English materials classifying in China can be more detailed and feasible.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Personalized Learning

2.1.1 The Definition of Personalized Learning

The use of the term “personalized learning” dates back to at least the early 1960s, but there is no widespread agreement on the definition and components of a personal learning environment. Even enthusiasts for the concept admit that personal learning is an evolving term and doesn't have any widely accepted definition. In 2005, Dan Buckley defined two ends of the personalized learning spectrum: “personalization for the learner”, in which the teacher tailors the learning, and “personalization by the learner”, in which the learner develops skills to tailor his own learning. This spectrum was adopted by the (2006) Microsoft's Practical Guide to Envisioning and Transforming Education. As stated above by the 2017 United States National Education Technology Plan, “personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized to meet the needs for each learner” (National Education Technology Plan, 2017: 9).

2.1.2 The Similar Concept of Personalized Learning-Differentiated Learning

Differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation (also known as differentiated instruction and assessment) is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing different students with different avenues to learning (often in the same classroom) in terms of: acquiring content; processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability (Tomlinson, 2001). Differentiated instruction, according to Carol Ann Tomlinson , is the process of "ensuring that what a student learns, how he or she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he or she has learned is a match for that student's readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning” (quoted in Ellis et al., 2008: 32).

2.2 Different Viewpoints towards Personalized Learning

Ever since “personalized learning” was put forward, it has been in hot debate. As a thousand people have a thousand Hamlets, perse people hold various viewpoints towards personalized learning. Some experts are very supportive of personalized learning while others may think that it needs deeper consideration before putting into practice.