Rationale for Heuristic Approach in Reading Lesson

Abstract： Considering reading comprehension， students seems to be demotivated with its boring and cramming teaching style. A new way of teaching in reading lesson is on the rise. This essay will combine the task-based exercises with collaborative approaches so as to facilitate students interests and participation. Possible activities and suggestions will be discussed with detailed examples.

Key words： collaborative； heuristic approach； reading lesson

I. Introduction

Reading as the basic receptive skill attracts growing attention in the field of English language education. With the concern of student-centered teaching mode， a rationale for heuristic approach in reading class will be discussed in this essay， based on four parts in the lesson involving linguistic input， pre-， while- and post-reading stages （Hedge， 2000）.

II. Linguistic input—vocabulary

The vocabulary input consists of two parts： the vocabulary revising in the pre-reading section and meaning-guess in the while-reading stage. Brainstorming is adopted to revise students prior knowledge about specific vocabulary related to the topic （Brunner， 2012）. The sharing of information is achieved by exchanging these vocabularies in groups so that students have a chance to engage in vocabulary input. In addition， vocabulary also can be guessed through reading content （Farrell， 2009）， which at the same time practices students gist reading， followed with skimming exercise.

III. Pre-reading and while-reading activities

Apart from linguistic input， students own experience and prior knowledge can assist their reading comprehension. Pre-reading discussion is designed to facilitate students to get familiar with the reading topic and build interests （Watkins， 2005）. Feedback provides students opportunities to accept multi-faceted opinions （Brunner， 2012）.The practice of skimming and scanning skills is the essential focus through the while-reading process. Re-check questions， gap fillings， along with visuals and diagrams aim to simplify the tasks. Time limit will be stressed in the skimming task to control the reading speed （Hedge， 2000）.

IV. Post-reading activities

As Farrell （2009） points out， the following activities will focus on checking students comprehension and the further discussion of the topic. Story-retelling activity is designed to show an effective way to fulfill purposeful and active reading （Brunner， 2012）. On the other hand， games are set up to achieve role shifting. Students are pushed to the center of the learning process and asked to design reading questions by themselves. Creating questions and peer responses as interactive practices encourage students participation and interests.

V. Conclusion

To sum up， in order to elicit students interests in a reading class， teachers should employ both task-based instructions （e.g. multiple choices） and communicative activities （e.g. group discussion）. Pre-reading session emphasizes on facilitating students prior knowledge to lead in the reading topic， whereas while- and post- reading sessions highlight the practice of skimming and scanning skills via various types of exercises. Teachers should learn to balance the proportions in terms of students individual learning conditions to achieve heuristic teaching.

Reference：

[1]Brunner， J. T. Now I get it?。?differentiate， engage， and read for deeper meaning. Lanham： Rowman & Littlefield Education， 2012.

[2]Farrell， T. S. C. Teaching reading to English language learners： a reflective guide. Thousand Oaks： Corwin Press， 2009.

[3]Hedge， T. Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford： Oxford University Press， 2000.

[4]Watkins， P. Learning to teach English. Peaslake： Delta Publishing， 2005.

作者簡介：

李婧雅（1990- ），女，河北灤南人，在讀研究生，碩士（英國），（英國）格拉斯哥大學(xué)英語教育專業(yè)，職稱：在讀研究生，研究方向：英語教育。（責(zé)編 張亞欣）