Application of Interactive Approach to the Teaching of English Reading in Rural Junior High School

王玲

【Abstract】This study shows that the application of interactive approach and the training of interactive reading strategy in rural junior high schools can help the students to improve their reading competence and it is worth to explore further such an approach.

【Key words】rural junior high school； English reading teaching； interactive approach

1. Introduction

In most rural junior high schools nowadays， traditional teaching methods which over-emphasize explanation of vocabulary and grammar are deeply rooted， ignoring the teaching of background knowledge and reading skill training and failing to effectively foster and improve the students reading competence. Therefore， it is badly needed to study how we can improve the quality of reading teaching in rural junior high schools.

Based on the above-stated motivation， the author intends to investigate the current situation of English reading teaching and learning in rural junior high schools guided by the modern education theory and especially theory of reading teaching. This research also aims to explore the application of interactive approach to English reading teaching in rural junior high schools in order to improve the students reading competence and level.

2. The interactive reading strategy

Reading strategies refer to the problem-solving techniques readers employ to get meaning from a text （Barnett， 1989）. While in interactive reading strategy， “interactive” refers to the interaction between information obtained by means of bottom-up decoding and information provided by means of top-down analysis， both of which depend on certain kinds of prior knowledge and certain kinds of information-processing skills （Carrell， 1988）. Therefore， interactive reading model holds a great promise for readers to understand the complex reading materials， especially as it occurs in second language and culture.

3. Analysis of current situation

The relevant studies in China now mainly take university students and senior high school students as study objects， seldom aiming at the students in rural junior high school. The author considers that there are some shortcomings existing in the studies carried out by Chinese scholars， teachers and other research fellows.

Firstly， the author finds that the main problems existing in the English reading classes in rural junior high schools are the prevailing of traditional teaching methods and the low level of students reading capacity. The reasons for the phenomenon may be manifold， but it is closely connected with the shortage of awareness and application of reading strategies， especially the interactive strategy.

Secondly， the present research also finds that students in rural junior high schools have strong desire to discuss in groups with each other so long as the teacher provides a quite good reading environment and guide them properly. They have acquired certain strategies through English study， especially reading， but they are lack of systematic knowledge of reading strategies.

Therefore， interactive approach is quite necessary to be applied to improve students reading performance. To sum up， it is necessary for the teacher to carry out the interactive reading strategies in EFL reading teaching effectively.

4. Pedagogical implications

The following suggestions are given to improve both the teachers teaching competence and the students learning level in EFL reading.

Firstly， interactive approach plays an important role in improving students reading abilities. The teacher should transform the teaching attitude and methods. They should take a turn from explaining words， phrases and grammar to introducing the relative background knowledge and training the reading skills in order to enhance the students reading proficiency.

Secondly， the teacher should pay more attention to foster the students reading interest and to activate their reading enthusiasm and initiation.

Thirdly， the teacher should provide the students enough chances to use the interactive strategies consciously， while the students should form a quite good reading habit and improve their self-dependent competence in English reading.

References：

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