从英语新课标要求角度浅谈中学英语阅读教学方法

论文总字数：31680字

摘 要

自从中国改革开放以来，英语教育的紧迫性就被提上了日程，英语已变成我们日常生活中的一部分。然而，当前的英语教学现状还是不能满足中国经济和社会发展的需要。在英语学习中，阅读对提高学习者语言综合能力的作用是不言而喻的，然而传统的英语阅读教学过多强调语法和词汇的重要性，从而忽视了对学生积极思维能力的培养，也限制了他们对论文的分析理解能力。本文从英语新课标的角度类探讨英语阅读教学策略，本文将重点讨论以下三方面内容; 新课标要求介绍, 英语新课标下的英语阅读教学以及英语阅读教学策略应用。

关键词：英语新课标; 英语阅读教学; 培养; 能力; 策略.

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1The National English Curriculum 1

2.2The purpose of English reading 4

3. The Problems of English Reading Teaching in Middle School 5

3.1The present situation of English reading teaching in Middle School 5

3.2 The reasons for the poor English reading teaching 7

4. The application of the strategies of English reading teaching 9

4.1The principles of English reading teaching 9

4.2The models of English reading 9

4.3 The application of the strategies .................................... 10

5. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 15

1. Introduction

As we all know, there are four English skills in English learning, namely Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, among these, Listening and Reading are input while the others belong to output. There will be no output without input, so reading is the first step towards the way of mastering English. English reading is a comprehensive process of understanding the discourse, the acquisition, and processing of information. So in general, English reading is a basic skill that students need to grasp to read for communication. However, the traditional reading teaching over-emphasizes its role as the carrier of information, while ignoring the cultivation of students’ positive thinking, their deep understanding of the author’s intention and their comprehensive language competence.

This paper will discuss the English reading teaching from the perspective of The National English Curriculum ,which promotes quality education (as opposed to exam—orientated education) and the all—round development of the students.Faced with the new requirements and aims of the Curriculum, teachers should change and improve their teaching method.If some basic theories or skills,such as mentioned in the following discussion, are noticed, it will be of great help for those who are teaching English to improve their students’ reading efficiency and communicative competence.

2. Literature Review

2.1The National English Curriculum

2.1.1 The background of The National English Curriculum

In today’s English teaching, there still exists a tendency of over—emphasizing the transmission of knowledge and the explanation of vocabulary, while neglecting the development of students’ actual language performance. Under such situation, The National English Curriculum comes into being. Following the international practice, the curriculum divides its general objectives into different ability levels. When designing these nine levels, consideration was given to the following four aspects: the nature of language development, the different needs of different age groups, the needs of different ethnic groups and areas, and the economic imbalances that exist in China. (Cao Yamin 2)

According to the situation of China’s economic and social development, the Curriculum design requires that all primary schools should start the English class in Grade 3 (those school students equipped with enough educational funds and education resources should learn English in Grade 1). When students are in grade 6, their English level should reach level 2, which is the required standard for the end of primary school. Similarly, level 5 is the required standard for the end of junior middle school. And level 8 is the required standard for senior middle school graduation, while level 9 is an extension level for specialist schools and able students. These ability levels are standards to judge and improve learners’ language competence and they also provide criteria for teachers to find the learning problems and weaknesses of their students.（Cao Yamin 10）

The reforms aim to establish a curriculum that develops students’ comprehensive language competence, motivate students, promote task—based teaching methods, involve students in experiential ,practical, participatory and cooperative learning and develop students’ positive attitudes, thinking skills, practical abilities, cultural awareness and autonomy through the language learning process. (The National English Curriculum 2011: 4 )

2.1.2 The nature of The National English Curriculum

According to The National English Curriculum, the meaning of “learning English” has undergone some significant changes: at the very first beginning, it simply implied the comprehension and grasping of daily words and grammar rules in order to handle the English tests. That is to say, the practice of listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and the mastering of certain basic language knowledge matter most. Then, with the economic and social development, some educators advocated that English should at least serve the means of communication, that is to say, the purpose of English learning should also involve the accomplishment of certain level of comprehensive language competence and the ability to use language for real communication. In those days, the most frequently used words are “saying goodbye to deaf English and speak it loudly”.

According to The National English Curriculum, learning of English should also serve students’ all-round development, provide them with opportunities to strengthen their interest in studying English, grow in self-discipline, perseverance and self-confidence, improve their cooperative, investigative and thinking abilities, develop their memory, imagination and creativity, adopt good study habits and effective learning strategies, develop as autonomous and lifelong learners, build moral integrity and a healthy outlook on life ,establish both national spirit and an awareness of and respect for cultural differences ,broaden their horizons and enrich their life experience, take part in cultural life, and develop as individuals.(Cao Yamin 27)

2.1.3Basic principles of The National English Curriculum

There are basically six general principles of The National English Curriculum.

To begin with, the Curriculum promotes quality education (as opposed to exam-orientated education) and the all-round development of the students. To promote quality education particular attention must be paid to valuing each student’s feelings, stimulating students’ interest in studying English, and helping students gain a sense of achievement and self-confidence. (The National English Curriculum 5)

Besides, the fundamental aim of the new English curriculum is to develop students’ comprehensive language competence. This aim is broken down into five general objectives. These objectives are then divided into nine ability levels with descriptors provided for each level. The five general objectives are: Language Skills, Language Knowledge, Attitudes to Learning, Learning Strategies and Cultural Awareness. （Cao Yamin 4）

What’s more, students are put at the centre of the curriculum and individual differences are respected. When implementing the curriculum each student must be allowed to develop individually under the guidance of the teacher.

Fourthly, the curriculum promotes activity-based methods, experiential and participatory learning. In order to improve their ability to use language for real communication, students should also be able to adjust their learning strategies and control their emotions and form positive attitudes towards learning. （The National English Curriculum 2011: 5 ）

Then, the curriculum recognizes the important role of formative assessment in promoting student’ development and the assessment system should combine formative with summative assessment because both formative assessment and summative assessment are important parts of the English teaching. (Cao Yamin 25)

Last but not least, the curriculum expands the range of learning resources and opportunities available. The curriculum should strive to use and develop resources whose content is realistic, close to the students’ lives, contemporary, healthy, rich and varied.（The National English Curriculum 2011: 4)

2.2The purpose of English reading

English Reading is actually a process in which readers interpret the meanings hidden in the reading materials by using their own relevant or non-relevant knowledge, experience and their instincts. English knowledge refers to the necessary knowledge needed to understand a language, such as: phonology, vocabulary, grammar and relevant background knowledge. While non-English knowledge refers to the sum of direct or indirect knowledge and experience readers acquire through the practice of English. When learners start learning a new language, their storage of relevant information is a total blank, if they want to comprehend the meanings of the authors, they have no choice but to read, that is to say, reading is a process of input. Input is the foundation of output, the more input the students get, the more they can output.

As an essential link in any stage of any language teaching, reading is a necessary foundation to improve students’ language behavior and ability, as well as the major means to obtain information. Generally speaking, in our study and daily life, we never read with a blank of mind. When reading, we need a purpose to find something out, whether the consciousness is recognized or not. We always read with questions or wonders in mind. Understanding what has been involved in the process of reading, the following questions about the same one event may be good examples.

The 3.8 Malaysia flight disappearances have puzzled and worried many people. Carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, it went missing early Saturday while flying from the Malaysian capital to Beijing. Until now, forty ships and twenty—two planes have been scouring a portion of the South China Sea for any sign of where the flight may have gone down. The Malaysian government has officially declared that the plane has crashed and the disaster has claimed the lives of all the passengers aboard. When reading this piece of news, common people may feel sorry for those passengers and wonder what has exactly happened on the plane; the relatives of those victims may still wish that the passengers were alive and some day they would be back again; related governments may take national interests into consideration and wonder whether this event is an accident or an intended plot; while international organizations may attribute the disaster to those terroristic organizations and may see it as a warning of the weakness of international safety.

As seen above, when we read a passage, an article, a piece of news or a text, we are always reading with some questions and for some certain purposes. So the reading goal is to read for meaning or to recreate the writers’ meaning, from reading students will know the present countries and the past civilizations, from reading students will cultivate the sense of discourse analysis, from reading students will have plenty of opportunities to use the language and reading can also improve students’ understanding of beauty and art.

3. The Problems of English Reading Teaching in Middle School

3.1The present situation of English reading teaching in Middle School

In Middle School, although reading has attracted the attention of teachers, the teaching effect is not that satisfactory, the reasons are various, whether it’s because of teachers’ not mastering the correct reading strategies, their not updating of knowledge and information, or the inappropriate adoption of some learning strategies by students.

English teaching can be further classified into the teaching of pronunciation, the teaching of vocabulary, and the teaching of grammar. While these three aspects of English teaching mentioned above are related to the input, English teaching should also pay attention to the result of output, to make it more specifically, the actual use of English and the writing competence. More attention has been paid to the practice of basic knowledge and skills, while neglecting the importance of reading materials. When confronted with the requirements of admission, teachers often find themselves in a state of worrying about students’ English performance, thus they tend to spend more time on vocabulary, grammar and drill exercise, instead of guiding students to enjoy the beauty of English through reading, and time spent on reading is on a declining trend. Even when there is a reading class, teachers prefer to assess students’ mastery of this article by requiring them to memorize the article, to translate it or to ask them some questions related to the article, rarely do they take discussion teaching method.

What’s more, the quality of teachers also influences the quality of reading teaching. The English book published by the Oxford Press (7A) covers a wide and large vocabulary, which puts forward higher requirements for teachers. If a foreign language teacher pays no attention to learning, having no sense of Anglo American countries, their local customs or practices, the cultural background and the accumulation of a certain culture, he will not be able to make his reading class lively and vivid. For example, in the reading part of Unit 5, which introduces Halloween in 7A, it is an article dealing with history, sociology, religion and other knowledge. If an English teacher just processes the reading material from the angle of language, then his teaching effect will be single, unable to meet the demands of quality education. On the other hand, if a teacher usually pays attention to the accumulation, then his class will be exciting and active.

Besides, some students may not grasp the appropriate methods of learning English. They do not treat English as a communication tool, instead, they see it as boring and complex drill practice; they don’t have enough patience to comprehend the beauty of English, instead they just want to free themselves from the grammar rules of English; they don’t apply English in real life in order to realize its utmost role of a communication tool, instead they just do large amounts of exercise to improve their test scores.

3.2 The reasons for the poor English reading teaching

3.2.1 Students’ limit of vocabulary

Many students believe that vocabulary is the greatest obstacle in learning to read and this has already been pointed out by Grabe(1988:63). Vocabulary to English reading is what stones to building construction. When learning a language, whether it is the mother tongue or a second language, the first step for us is to learn words, thus vocabulary plays an essential role in language learning. According to Wang Qiang(117),the most common way for Chinese learners of English to learn vocabulary is through memorization of a list of words and their Chinese equivalents with a lot of oral repetitions of each word. But many learners find this method ineffective as they may not have enough patience to memorize these words, or even when they have memorized these words, they may still have trouble in applying these words in their composition.

Vocabulary is important, it is the cornerstone of any language, a language speaker may have a poor accent or an unorganized grammar structure, but he may at least have a chance of being understood only if he can say the words he really wants to say. On the contrary, if a language speaker has a limited vocabulary, then his expression is definitely limited by the vocabulary.

3.2.2 Students’ lack of background information

In any stage of any language learning, the storage of relevant background information plays an important role in understanding that language. However, background knowledge can not be entirely got from textbooks,while the lack of certain background information may bring you great misunderstanding.

There is a very famous motto in the Old Bible and it goes that “Don’t you see words in on the wall?” The majority of students simply translate it from the superficial angle, unfortunately, it is a motto derived from Daniel of the Old Bible. It is said that when Belshazar, king of Babylonian was junketing the officials in his palace, .a mysterious finger appeared and it left four words on the wall. When the king saw these words, he was confused and terrified, so he asked the criminal who was actually a Jewish seer, the seer told the king the words are “MENE”, “MENE”, “TEKEL” and “UPHARSING”, and the appearance of these words is simply a warning of the misfortune of the king. The seer was right, at the very night, the king was killed and was replaced by a new king. Since then, this sentence has a totally different meaning rather than the simple meaning of the words themselves.

So, from the example above, there is no denying that background information does play an important role of English learning, otherwise, it may be quite difficult for people to understand the text.

3.2.3 Teachers’ inappropriate adoption of teaching strategies

According to the National English Curriculum,its fundamental aim is to develop students’ comprehensive language competence. And this aim is broken down into five general objectives,which are: Language Skills, Language Knowledge, Attitudes to Learning, Learning Strategies and Cultural Awareness.（Cao Yamin 4）Thus English teaching should improve students’ ability of using English for real communication,.

However, in today’s English reading teaching class, a majority of teachers still over-emphasize the importance of transmission of knowledge and the memorization of vocabulary. And the reasons are also various, some teachers complain about the pressure of high school admission, some teachers complain about the low efficiency of experiential and participatory learning in their class and some teachers are just not qualified for today’s English teaching standards.

All in all, reading ability is directly affected by the interest in reading, so teachers should develop students" interest in reading, to ensure that students will keep reading, which is the basic guarantee to improve students" reading abilities.

.4. The application of the strategies of English reading teaching

4.1The principles of English reading teaching

On the teaching of reading, Harmer (2000: 6) put forward six principles: (1) reading is not a passive skill ; (2) the selected reading materials should care to students’ interests; (3)students should be encouraged to pay attention to the content of reading rather than just see it as a form of language; (4) prediction should play an important role in reading; (5) the task should be designed to match the topic; (6) excellent teachers should be able to make full use of the reading materials.

Torgesen (1998: 27) once proposed a principle, which held that teachers should strive for the best quality of teaching by adopting proper teaching mode and grasping the proper level of teaching difficulty at the right time, in the right way. Rod Ellis (91) said: "teachers’ not providing learners with natural communication opportunities in teaching activities will discourage learners from getting the main source of exposure to the language materials, and then hinder language acquisition ." This requires the change of the teacher —centered teaching mode in classroom teaching, so as to maximize the mobilization of the enthusiasm of students. In the classroom teaching, simply asked questions by teachers are not enough for today’s active learners. Instead, students should be encouraged to explore the questions by themselves from a multi-level and multi-angle. The teacher has become the guide and leader in the class, who sets certain tasks for students and helps them achieve the purpose of reading in the process of completing the task.

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