吴干城
Abstract:ReadingisanveryimportantpartoftheEnglishlearningintheprimaryandmiddleschool,butmoststudentscan’tfindtheproperwaysofreadingeffectively.So,thisthesismainlydiscussestheproblemandputsforwardsomeusefulsuggestions.
Keywords:EnglishTeaching;ReadingAbility;SomeWays;Students
IReadingandreadingcomprehension
Readingisoneofthefourbasicskillsoflearning(theothersarelistening,speakingandwriting),therefore,itisveryimportant.Readingistryingtolearnorknowsomethingyoudonotknow.AsSotiriou(2000)expresses,readingistoreadeachparagraphcarefullyforsupportingdetailsandtransitions.AndGrellet(1981)statesunderstandingawrittentextmeansextractingtherequiredinformationfromitasefficientlyaspossible.Whenyouarereading,youshouldbeabletorejecttheirrelevantinformationandfindwhatyouarelookingfor.Atthesametime,youshouldrememberthatitisnotenoughtounderstandthegistofthetext;moredetailedcomprehensionisalsonecessary,forwesometimesspendtoomuchtimeongistinEFL.
IIWhyisdevelopingtheskillsofreadingimportantforChinesemiddleschoolstudents
Anystudentmuststudyatschoolorlearnknowledgewhenheorsheisundertheageofreceivingeducation.Thisisthecommonruleinallthenationsintheworld,itisthesamewiththestudentsinChina.Chinaisadevelopingcountry,anditsgovernmenthascarriedoutthepolicyofpayingmoreattentiontotheeducationofallthestudentsforthebenefitofthefutureofthecountry.
Whenastudententersaschool,heorshemustorhastositforexaminations.Thisistheusualpractice.ThestudentsinChinamustlearnEnglishastheircompulsorysubjects,andthentheywillbetestedorexaminedafterwards.
Accordingtotheteachingaimsof“EnglishCurriculum”forFull-timeHighSchoolinChina,specificrequirementshavebeenputforwardforreading,andtheproperdirectionhasbeenpointedoutclearly.Theimportanceofreadingcomprehensionhasbeenfullyconfirmed.Theassessmentofreadingabilityhasbeenproofedthroughouttheentirepaper.
AlthoughtheEnglishtestpapersoftheCollegeEntranceExaminationofthewholecountryarenolongerthesame,theimportanceofthemarksastudentgetsintheexaminationhasthesameinfluence.Ofallthecontentstested,readingcomprehensiontakesupmorethanfortypercentofthetotalmarks.TakeNMET(NationalMatriculationEnglishTest）2008(onehundredandfiftymarksintotal)asanexample,amongthewholetestpaperitemsrelatedtoreadingcomprehension(closetest---thirtymarks,readingcomprehension---fortymarks,shorterror---tenmarks)occupyasubstantialproportionoftheimportance.AnothertypeoftestpaperintheeasternprovincesofChina,JiangsuProvinceforexample,expressesanastonishingimage(theentiremarksisonehundredandtwenty,whileclosetest---twentymarks,readingcomprehension---thirtymarks,taskbasedreading---tenmarks).
ThepresentsituationofreadingcomprehensioninChinaisthatstudents,especially,middleschoolstudents,knowtheimportanceofreading,becausethefinalgoaloftheirstudyistopasstheCollegeEntranceExamination.Thoughtheyareeagertodeveloptheirreading,theydonotknowhow:theydonotknowhowtoimprovetheirtestmarksstepbystep.Theyareworryingabouttheirpoorsituationatpresentandtheyareanxiousabouthowtoimproveitwithinashorttime.
IIIWhatcausethedisgustingsituation?Themostcommonreasonsareasfollows:
Theyreadatextveryslow;theyhavelimitedvocabulary;theyknowlittleaboutthewordformation;theydonotknowhowtoguessthemeaningofanewly-metwordfromthecontext;theyneedadictionaryallthetimewhentheyarereading;theytakealongtimetogetthroughjustafewsentencesorlines;theyarealwaysstayinginthestagewheretheyunderstandalltheinpidualwords,butcannotunderstandthewholetextcompletely,andmostofall,theydonotknowwhattoread---theydonotknowhowtochooseapropertexttoread.
Allofthereasonslistedaboveleadtotheresultthattheycannotimprovetheirreadingspeed.Theyarealwaysinthebadhabitofconsultthedictionarywhenevertheycomeacrossanewword,orsometimes,theyjustpausetoguessortoaskforhelpfromsomeonetheycanturnto.Thus,theycannotfinishtheirtaskinthesettimeandtheycannotgettheirexpectedmarks.Theycannotenjoythepleasureofsuccessorachievement.Theyarealwaysunderthepressure.Gradually,theybecomelostinterestedinreading,andatlasttheydonotwanttoreadanymore.
IVHowtoimprovetheirabilityofreading?Howtodevelopreading?Howtochangethesituation?Twothingsshouldbedealtwith
a.Theyshouldlearntoknowwhattolearn,andwhatagoodreadershoulddowith.Readingcomprehensionisveryimportant.Youcancomeacrossdifferenttexttypes,andthetext-typelistedbelowcangiveyouanideabeforehand(TheyaretakenfromFrancoiseGrellet(1984),DevelopingReadingSkills).
-Novels,shortstories,tales;otherliterarytextsandpassages(eg.essays,diaries,anecdotes,biographies)
-Plays
-Poems,limericks,nurseryrhymes
-Letters,postcards,telegrams,notes
-Newspapersandmagazines(headlines,articles,editorials,letterstotheeditor,stoppress,classifiedads,weatherforecasts,radio/TV/theatreprogramme)
-Specializedarticles,reports,reviews,businessletters,summaries,précis,accounts,pamphlets(politicalandother)
-Handbooks,textbooks,guidebooks
-Recipes
-Advertisements,travelbrochures,catalogue
-Puzzles,problems,rulesforgames
-Instructions(eg.warnings),directions(eg.Howtouse…),notices,rulesandregulations,posters,signs(eg.roadsigns),forms(eg.applicationforms,ladingcards),graffiti,menus,pricelists,tickets
-Comicstrips,cartoonsandcaricatures,legends(ofmaps,pictures)
-Statistics,diagrams,flow(piecharts),time-tables,maps
-Telephonedirectories,dictionaries,phrasebooks
Knowingthese,astudentcangetwellpreparedbeforehand,andheorshecangivehisorhermoreconsiderationinhisorherroutinereadingandspecialreadingactivities.
b.Areadermustknowthecommonwaysofreading.Usually,theapproachesofreadingappearinthefollowingtypes:a)skimming,b)scanning,c)jigsawreading,d)intensivereadingande)extensivereading.Eachofthemplaysadifferentroleintheprocessofreadingandeachofthemshouldnotbeconsideredandusedseparately.Nowwecometotheexplanationsofthem,andafterthatyoucanhaveagoodunderstandingofthem,Iamsure.
Sotiriou(2000)explainsskimmingistoreadselectively,formainideasandspeedingupfororskippingmanyofthedetails.Thisvariablerateyieldsanoverallrateof700to800wpmandup.Theskimmerdoesnotstartoutwithaspecificquestion,asinscanning,butaimsfortheoverallstructureandcontent.Andheexplainsscanningistoprocessprintatahighspeed,lookingforanswerstospecificquestions.Onlypassagesrelevanttothequestionsareactuallyread.Scanningsearchesrangefromsimple---“whowrotethis?”---tocomplex----“Isthiswriterpresentingalloronlysomeoftheevidence?”AndScrivener(2006)givesaclearerstatement:skimmingmeansakindofreadingusuallydonequickly,withtheaimofunderstandingthegeneralmeaningor“gist”ofapieceoftext,orfastreadingfor:keytopics,mainideas,overalltheme,basicstructure,etc.Whilescanningisonekindofreadingwiththeaimoffindingoutitemsofspecificinformationorafastreadingwhichdealswithspecificinpidualpiecesofinformation.(eg.names,addresses,facts,prices,numbers,dates,etc.)
Thesetwoexpressthedifferentwaysofreading.Theyareusuallyusedwhenstudentsaretakingpartinintensivereading,whichisacarefulanddetailedreadingofsectionsofatextoraspeech.Thisisoftenseenwhenstudentsarehavinganewlesson,whentheycometoreadingpart.
Extensivereadingistoreadlongerpiecesoftextwithoutpausingandworryingtoomuchaboutdetails,usuallyforpleasure.Thisisusedwhenyouarejustreadingforfun.
Jigsawreadingisanactivityinvolvesdifferentgroupsofstudents(orinpiduals)readingtodifferentcontent.Whentheycomebacktogethertheycanreportbackandcomparewhattheyhavetolearn.Itisonewayofcooperativelearning(actuallyreading).Thoughthisisnotanexamtechniquebutaclassroomactivity;itisagoodwaytoadvanceyourreadingcomprehension.
Onlybyusingdifferentwaysand,sometimes,usingalloftheabovewaystogetherareaderwillimprovehisreading.Doingmorereadingistheusualstatement.Youcangetadvicefromyourteachersandotheradvisers.Itisbelievedthatagoodwayismoreimportantthananythingelse.
Themostimportantanddifficultquestionsyoushouldansweristofindthemainideaortopicsentenceofatext.Thiskindofexerciseisverycommoninmiddleschooltestpapers.Itiscommonbutitisreallynoteasy.Veryoften,onesentenceexpressesthemainideaofparagraph.Thekeyisusuallyavailableatthebeginningorattheendofeachparagraphofatextinmostcases.Whatyoushoulddoistorereadittofindthemain-ideasentence.However,onceinawhile,areadercannotgetthemainideadirectlyineitheroftheabovesituations.Whatyoushoulddoistoorganizeacompletesentenceaccuratelystatingtheimpliedmainideaofeachparagraph.Readthewholepassagecarefully.Theninoneortwosentences,youcansummarizeit.Asyousummarize,askyourselfifyouhaveconsideredthetopicoftheparagraph,themainidea,andoneimportantdetail,whenyoufirstidentifythesepartsofeachparagraph,youroneortwo-sentencessummaryshouldbeprovedaccurate,asSotiriou(2000)expresses.
Teachersplayanimportantpartindevelopingstudents’reading,sotheycandosomethingusefulandhelpful.Teachersshouldfindpropertextsonvarioussubjects.Andaskstudentstoreadeachonecarefullyforitsorganizationandstructure.Thesetextsmustbeinterested.Thequestionstobecheckedshouldincludeexamples,timesequence,cause-and-effect,reasons,process,problem-solution,compare-contrast,spatial-geographic,definition,classification,descriptionandalltheothersthatmightappearinthereadingcomprehension.Thequestionsmustbescientificandreasonable,andauthenticmaterialsarebetter.
Duringtheprocessofpracticingandimprovement,teachersandstudentsshoulddiscusswitheachotherandexchangelearningexperiencesasoftenaspossible.Bytheway,studentsshouldformthehabitofreadingeverythingathandhappily,justforpleasure,likeenjoyinganeasyreadingmaterialoranythingjustinhisorhernativelanguage.Remember:thisreadingmustbefastreading.Theyshallbuildconfidenceintheirabilitytoreadlightmaterialsatafasterrate.
VHowtoimprovereadingspeed?
Howtoimprovereadingspeedisatopicwidelydiscussedforalongtime.Assomepeoplesay:Firstly,startbyreadingabookorarticlethatyouhavealreadyread.Itwillbeeasiertoskipwordsandkeepupasmoothflowifyou’refamiliarwiththematerial.Secondly,whenusingyourhandorfingertoguideyoureyes,startslowly,butatachallengingpace.Evenifyoudon’tthinkyou’rekeepingupwithyourhand,keepgoingforapageortwoandthentestyourcomprehension.Withpractice,you’llbeabletomoveyourhandandreadfasterthatway.Thirdly,anindexcard,bookmark,orotherpage-widthitemmighthelpincreasespeedmorethanafinger.Byobscuringsurroundingtext,acardpreventsyoureyesfromwandering.Thesearegoodtipssuggestedbymanyauthorities,but“fithisorherownwayisthebestway”.
VIConclusions
Sotiriou(2000)sayswithpractice,mostofusdiscoverthatwecandoubleourreadingratewithnolossofcompression.Infact,comprehensionoftenimprovesbecausewearereadingfastenoughtoseethematerialasawholeandtofocusonthecontent.Readingundersomepressureactuallyhelpsustokeepourmindsactiveandinterested,ratherthanbecomepassiveandbored.
References:
[1]GrelletF.DevelopingReadingSkills[M].CambridgeUniversityPress(CUP),1981.
[2]Nuttall,C.TeachingReadingSkillsinaForeignLanguage[M].MacmillanEducation,2005.
作者单位：江苏省盐城中学
邮政编码：224001