Efficient Measures of Senior Middle School English Reading Teaching

Xiaoying+Hu

【Abstract】New Curriculum Standard requires special attention should be paid to training the students reading ability. Based on great numbers of hindrances in reading practice， this paper reports the seven measures I have taken to raise my students reading efficiency. Grasping the measures will help the students not only achieve satisfactory reading effect but also develop good self-taught reading ability.

【Key words】English reading； the writers path of writing； PSOR phases； models of reading

Introduction

As New Curriculum Standard states， the focus of senior English teaching is to train the students ability to gather information， deal with it， analyze problems and solve them by using English and also the ability to think and express themselves in English； reading， as one of understanding skills， is one of the important ways of information input， and cultural awareness is part of the students overall language-using abilities.

With the arrival of Information Age and the actualization of New Curriculum Standard， many high school English teachers have realized that greater emphasis should be laid on reading， one of the important ways of information input and also one of understanding skills. However， despite the massive efforts made by both teachers and students， the students reading results are， on most occasions， far from satisfactory. Perplexed by the ineffective training activities， not only are the students bored with reading practice but also some teachers tend to doubt whether on earth any effective teaching methods of English reading actually exist.

Based on this phenomenon， I started my consideration of the perplexity and have been searching for effective ways to raise my students reading level. Now I would like to present what has been attempted in my reading teaching practice.

Ⅰ. Strengthen extensive reading

The New English Curriculum Standard requires Level 7 out-of-class reading words to be over 300，000. Obviously， the reading materials provided by our textbooks， are far from enough. Therefore， supplementary reading materials should be planned for the students.

Newspaper reading is an effective way of English learning. In recent years， many teachers in foreign countries have introduced newspapers into classrooms. Available to my students are such newspapers as China Daily， English Coaching Paper， English Weekly， and 21st Century. In order to enrich the students reading materials and add reading variety， I group the students， let each group choose one type of newspaper in English and exchange them in reading. By reading newspapers， the students gain a great deal of information about news at home and abroad， the local conditions and customs in Western countries， and different cultures in different counties.

Besides the papers， my colleagues and I， who joined in the experimental research on authentic English reading， suggested our students buy the set of famous classical literary works， which have whipped up the students enthusiasm for reading and also raised their literary accomplishment.

The limited class teaching time makes it impossible for the extensive reading to be conducted in class. So one period a week is spared for extensive reading and twenty minutes a day is required of the students to do supplementary reading practice. In the very first period of a week， I check my students reading work in the past week in different ways. For example， get them to work in pairs or groups telling each other the main information they have read， get individuals to report their accumulated information to the whole class， ask individuals to analyze the writing style and the text structure， encourage them to give opinions of the reading material， the characters or the writers and offer them opportunities to give presentation of culture shock， or just report the cultural differences. Often do I give out written papers for them to translate important expressions in the reading materials， either from Chinese into English or from English into Chinese. Sometimes I suggest them reciting well-written paragraphs and do writing by imitation. In the very first period of a week， I also give the students guidance on the following weeks reading activities.

Moreover， some of my students， in their spare time， follow the programmes of BBC， VOA and CRI by reading the written materials online.

While intensive reading enables the students to know some reading techniques， lay the foundation of their vocabulary and grammatical knowledge and make them realize the importance of culture understanding， it is extensive reading that gets the students to apply the reading techniques learned in class to more reading practice， widen their vocabulary and enrich their ways of expression， increase reading speed， approach variety of culture and form the ability to gather more information on their own initiative.

As you can see from the above， by intensive reading， the students overall language-using abilities have been improved including their cultural awareness. They know language is the carrier of culture and that， on some occasions， language itself is part of culture. They come to realize that there are no absolute “rights” and “wrongs” implied in cultural behaviours， but only cultural differences or similarities. What is appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another culture. The more we learn about other culture， the more clearly we see our own. Thus， it is important and necessary to train their ability of cross-cultural communication.

Ⅱ. Guide the students in retracing the writers path of writing

The writers path of writing facilitates the readers reading. To help the students understand a written material， we teachers should encourage them to retrace the writers path of writing. A writer usually forms the writing by means of TMS， that is， he begins with a topic， then establishes a main idea about the topic， and then develops support for the idea through details. In order to find the main idea of a passage， the students should be instructed to discriminate “the umbrella idea” from “the specific ideas”. An umbrella idea includes the lesser ideas that fit under it. All the details fall under the umbrella statement. Furthermore， the students should know where a writer is likely to state the main idea， which often appears at the beginning and ending. However， sometimes the main idea is not stated directly but only hinted at. In such a case， the students can only try to follow the writers train of thought and infer what the material adds up to.

Moreover， the writer often “points” at the major details or sections with “signals” or “transitions”. He doesnt just throw all the supporting details at the reader but develops the main point according to one or more recognizable patterns.

Peter Elias Sotiriou and Anne G. Phillips summed up 11 common writing patterns， namely Examples pattern， Time-sequence pattern， Cause-and-effect pattern， Reasons pattern， Process pattern， Problem-solution pattern， Compare-contrast pattern， Spatial-geographic pattern， Definition pattern， Classification pattern and Description pattern. Being aware of the structure of a passage helps the students unlock the meaning of the written material. In dealing with reading materials， we teachers should keep an eye on the organizational structures and outline the structures on the blackboard together with the main signals. To deepen the impression， the students are supposed to write a composition by imitation after the reading activity.

Ⅲ. Analyze reading process

To effectively conduct English reading， we teachers should be fully aware that letting students know what happens in the course of reading plays a great role in raising English reading efficiency. Our students did do large quantities of reading allotted by us， but they just took blind action and never noticed what really happens in the reading process. As English reading teachers of middle schools， we are supposed to study the reading process， and grasp essential reading-related theoretical knowledge to guide our students reading practice and also direct our reading teaching.

Alice Omaggio （1986：22） said， “To plan lessons that will appeal to students interest and needs， teachers need to ask students for their input and involve them in shaping instruction.” In order to help the students avoid making wrong guesses and predictions to the uttermost extent during their reading process， we teachers， together with the students， should spend time reflecting on rationale and make appropriate theoretical preparations for the reading course beforehand to the effect that the students are necessarily preparative for the forthcoming reading activity. We should also reinforce the study and research of methodology of teaching during our reading teaching process so that our practice may conform to right theory and not wander away from the correct course.

The following are requisite points for theoretical guidance on the understanding of English reading process in our middle schools.

1. What goes on while reading

We are supposed to let students know what goes on in the brains in the course of reading. Reading is actually and essentially a continuing series of predictions about the text. As the reader reads， he is predicting meanings to be symbolised by the words on the page. The readers eyes scan the words to discover whether they are compatible with his expectations. If not， the process falters. Then comes the time when the reader has to search the text more carefully for cues which will help him to find the right meaning by scanning backwards. After that the normal flow of reading goes on. We can describe reading， which involves the reader， the text and the interaction between the reader and text， as a conversation between the reader and the text. The reader puts questions to the text expecting to get answers， which goes on below the level of consciousness most of the time. In the light of the questions he puts further questions， and so on. The conversation is inaudible except when mismatch occurs between expectations and meaning， as a result of which the reader becomes aware of it.

For lack of uniform recognition of reading， there are quite a few misconceptions of reading among our middle school students. To some， reading is just recognizing the meanings of isolated words； accordingly， reading means memorizing a large vocabulary， in which case as long as the reader remembers enough words， he is sure to do reading well. To others， reading is no more than a passive process in which the reader expects the meaning of the written material takes shape naturally and automatically. The misconceptions affect the comprehension.

2. The PSOR phases of a passage reading comprehension

The PSOR phases shows the necessary aspects of a passage reading， which consists of defining the purpose， choosing strategies， identifying the outcome and doing review. The students should be acquainted with the four mutually related phases of purpose， strategy， outcome and review. Purpose is the No. 1 thing to be considered. When reading a passage the reader should first set his purpose adequately， then choose and use reading strategies appropriately. The reading strategy， the way to approach the reading material， should vary according to purpose. The mark of good reading is to vary the strategy properly. Outcome， the result of reading， provides the criterion of reading effectiveness in the end. Review points to the operation of checking outcome against the original purpose， which may generate a wholesale appraisal of all phases of the reading process. After reading the passage through， the reader should be clear about his reading outcomes and check them against purpose. The reader should also review carefully the whole operation of reading. Besides， the process needs to be seen as a cyclical one， for re-clarification of purpose may lead to a different choice of strategy， hence outcome and so on.

The above phases provide the students with a whole picture of what to do in comprehending a passage. Only after the students know the aspects can they know how to deal with a specific passage.

3. The chief models of reading

Barnett （1989） summarized some researchers models and put forward 3 main models： Bottom-up， Top-down and Interactive Mode.

·According to Bottom–up Model， the reader constructs the text from the smallest units（from letters to words to phrases to sentences， etc） and that the process of constructing the text from those small units becomes so automatic that readers are not aware of how it operates.

· Top-down Model argues that readers bring a great deal of knowledge， expectations， assumptions， and questions to the text and， given a basic understanding of the vocabulary， they continue to read as long as the text confirms their expectations.

· Interactive Model insists that both top-down and bottom–up processes are occurring， either alternately or simultaneously. That the process moves both bottom-up and top-down depends on the type of text as well as on the readers background knowledge， language proficiency level， motivation， strategy use and

As reading teachers， we should first develop the ability to analyze the models before teaching the students reading. By beginning with our own reading processes and understanding how they operate， we will eventually be able to anticipate the types of processes and potential problems that our students will experience. In this way， we can teach the students more efficiently.

We should also， in our reading teaching process， choose appropriate reading materials to illustrate the use of the 3 models so that the students can readily follow them in their reading activities. Generally speaking， when we come to difficult sentences with complicated structures， we tend to use Bottom–up Model first and then Top-down Model. From my teaching practice， I have found many students are weak in using Top-down Model. They often see the individual trees but not the whole forest， because they like to begin their reading with specific words， paying too much attention to the details and neglecting the gist of the reading material. Therefore， we teachers should get them to know “Every act of comprehension involves ones knowledge of the world as well.” （Richard C. Anderson et al 1977）. What the reader brings to the text is often more important than what he finds in it. Students who are very knowledgeable are often more tolerant while reading. Therefore， the students should be taught to try to widen their range of knowledge and use what they know to understand unknown elements.

Ⅳ. Share common reading techniques with the students

Effective reading cant stay away from reading techniques. Students can be well instructed in reading when they are familiar with the common techniques as follows.

· Skimming： Reading a passage quickly to grasp the main idea. It is a crucial first step in all efficient reading. It gives the reader a unified view of reading material， a sense of the whole， well before he plunges into its details. With Skimming the reader sees the forest before the individual trees. During this period， the reader looks at things like the title， subtitle， photos， graphics， short summary in italics or large print at the beginning， introduction， the author and so on. The reader should time himself in case he should not read every word slowly or carefully. Besides， he should consciously direct his eyes to the key areas only.

· Scanning： Reading a passage quickly to find specific information. If the reader wants to pick up some important details， he neednt read through the whole passage but refers to the relevant paragraph.

· Making inferences： Reading between the lines. As we know， sometimes the written material contains deep-seated implications or the writer likes writing in a round-about way. As a result， the reader has to make reasonable judgements by following the writers thread. In this case it wont work if the reader expects to get the answers by understanding the material literally and superficially.

· Using the eyes efficiently. A slow reader tends to fixate on every single word across the line. Yet the average eye span on the printed page is about 1.5 inches. By fixing on one point， the reader can identify many words above， below， and to the sides of the point. This is called using the peripheral vision. Fixating less often on a printed line causes less eyestrain. It also guides the reader towards fast reading， reading the ideas on a page instead of the individual words. To test the eye span， the reader may mark a small x in the middle of this paragraph， and draw a circle around it about 1.5 inches in diameter. Then he tries to see if he can identify most of the words within the circle without moving his eyes off the x.

To improve the eye span， the reader needs lots of practice. Here two points are very important. First， he should soft-focus as he reads， but not peer tensely at the words. He should relax his eye and face muscles by letting the peripheral vision do more of the work， look slightly above the line of print and let the eyes float down the page. Second， he should use shortened margins. He shouldnt fixate on the first and last word of each line， but fixate about a half inch from each margin， letting the peripheral vision pick up the words to the side.

However， the best eye span and soft focus technique will not by themselves make a good reader， they are just the ways to high reading efficiency. Reading takes place in the mind， not in the eyes.

· Using time pressure. Reading practice has proved some tension helps the reader concentrate on the reading. Whats important is that the reader should be confident that the mind can handle print faster than he can talk or read aloud and that he should be physically relaxed but mentally active in reading. Therefore， the reader should time himself， have someone else do the timing， or work up a little competition with peers.

· Using a crutch at the beginning. For a reading beginner， a crutch is very useful. He can use an index card as a portable shutter. Place the card at the top of each page and move it down quickly. The card prevents the reader from regressing to previous lines of print. Also， by using the arm and hand to move the card down the page， the reader is more physically engaged in the reading.

Ⅴ. Make scientific use of questions in reading comprehension

Questions can act as advanced organizers of reading， so both reading teachers and readers are expected to make good use of them. In training the students reading ability， we teachers can raise well-designed questions and arrange them in levels of difficulty to focus the students attention on their reading purposes and comprehension skills. In doing reading comprehension， the students can ask themselves proper questions to direct their attention.

When we evaluate comprehension questions we should find whether they conform to the reading purposes， whether they go from easy to difficult and whether the question-answerers need different levels of mental work.

Reading purposes can be arranged in levels of generality to form a kind of hierarchy. The following presents a purpose taxonomy， derived from Bloom and Barrett （Bloom，1956； Barrett，1968）， showing a systematic classification of the comprehension skills which relate to different purposes for reading.

· Literal → Identification and remembering of details， ideas， facts， opinions， concepts， instructions， examples， inferences， criticisms and “signposts”.

· Reorganisation， analysis and synthesis → Identification of ideas and their restructuring into summary or abstract. Classification of ideas. Paraphrase. Interpretation of viewpoint.

· Appreciation → Appreciation of style， mood， nuances. Structure of text， choice of words. Metaphors， analogies， similes. Quality of rhetoric images. Range and nature of argument. Aesthetic response.

· Evaluation → Appraisal of opinion， arguments. Judgements of main theme， details. Assessment of messages importance value.

· Extrapolation → Inferences beyond the text. Implications in other situations. Creative divergence from authors ideas. Use of imagination. Putting forward a hypothesis.

In designing reading comprehension questions， we teachers can use the above systematic classification as guidance so as to raise the question quality. In observing middle school reading classes， we often find the questions for the first reading， second reading and third reading belong to the same level of difficulty， which affected the training of reading ability. With teachers correct guidance， students can also gradually learn to put forward selective questions for themselves while reading.

Ⅵ. Hold proper reading activities

Accompanying reading comprehension are varieties of reading activities， which both teachers and students should be familiar with. Effective reading activities can both test the students on reading and motivate them to carry out more reading practice.

· Providing a title. After reading a passage without a title， the students add a proper title to the passage， which needs thorough understanding of the passage.

· Matching titles to extracts. Different extracts are given with different titles and the students tell which titles fit which extracts.

· Completing sentences. Students finish sentences after reading a passage.

· Sequence events in a narrative. Students order the actions in a passage after reading it.

· Summarising. Students condense or squeeze down the content of a passage into a shorter form after reading it.

· Continuing. Students have to add a reasonable ending to the passage after reading it.

· Prefacing. Students have to suggest what might have been said before the passage they have read.

· Writing from a characters perspective. Students， after understanding a characters personality， take his or her point of view and write something.

· Role play. Students take on different roles from the passage and create or act out mini dialogues.

· Gapped text. Students fill the gaps at the end of the text after reading the rest parts.

· Discovering mistakes. Students find the mistakes designed by the teacher on purpose in a rewritten passage after reading the original one.

· Comparison. Students note points of similarity or difference between two passages on a similar topic， after reading the passages.

· Responding. Students respond to the letter or provocative article after reading it.

· Reading and running. A copy of the passage is put up on the wall. Students are divided into pairs. One student runs to the wall， reads and memorizes a short part of the passage before going back to their partner who listens to the content and writes it down. At the end of the activity， each group reads aloud their writing and the others check it against the original writing. This activity is very good for getting students to focus on accuracy and spelling.

The above activities can increase the students interest in reading and improve their reading quality. Knowing some reading activities makes it easy for the students to predict reading tasks. We teachers can choose from them in the daily reading teaching practice.

Ⅶ. Encourage learner initiative in reading training practice

Reading is a long， on-going process. It is not something that can be achieved by just sitting in class and following the lesson. It has to be reinforced and extended through outside practice over a long period of time. The point of teaching reading in school is partially to develop the ability to learn from books. One learns to read in order to read to learn. Reading to learn is something that nearly everyone does in his life. So it becomes a necessity in peoples life. A learners role in reading practice can be perceived in “Unless the individual takes responsibility for his own reading， it wont improve” （Sheila Harri-Augstein et al 1982）. In the whole process of reading training， the students should participate actively and take responsibility for their own reading efficiency and not just depend on their teachers.

In our country the middle school class size is too big， up to more than 60 in some places， a distinct contrast with the maximum class size of 30 in British primary and secondary schools， which hinders effective reading teaching in class. The students should consciously form good reading habits by following the above items and overcome bad reading habits like sub-vocalizing （forming the sounds of the words you are reading and even murmuring them aloud ）， finger-pointing （moving the finger along the lines while reading） and regressive eye movements （the eye moving back to check previous words instead of sweeping steadily forwards）. Practice makes perfect. We teachers should constantly remind the students that lots of reading practice， in which they take an active part， is needed before their reading ability is greatly improved. Grasping reading strategies will help the students to achieve self-development in their lifelong study. Lets strive to help raise the students reading level to meet the requirements of New Curriculum Standard！

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