DiscussiononHowthePressReadingImprovesEnglishTeaching

【 Abstract】The press reading， a fresh teaching way， is introduced into the English class. It not only enriches teaching resources but also broadens channels of English learning and applications. Moreover， this kind of reading builds a bridge between study and ordinary life， thus optimizes the ultimate goal of teaching. This paper investigates how the high school English teaching practice makes progress in four aspects， in terms of listening， speaking， reading and writing， with the help of the press reading.

【Key Words】English Press； Reading； Importance； Advantage； Effectiveness； Habit Formation

【作者簡介】劉曉，廣東省高州市第二中學。

There are about thirty or so reading texts， including exercises and supplementary reading materials， in each text book under the current high school English teaching system. They mainly contain topics from the classics， history， science and geography. It is widely believed that the text book is an essential part of English curriculum resources. Although textbooks are being upgraded continuously， contents are relatively stable， so are the structures. At the same time， with limited resources， the textbook cannot play a role as an intermediate which is able to deliver vast of information. In this way， the content of textbook easily lag and cannot follow the pace of education development. Hence， reading teaching is difficult to incent students to learn.

I. Advantages of English press reading

With information rapidly established and widespread， it is very important to teach students how to get information quickly. The richness of the reading material greatly influences the speed that the information can be attained. It is demonstrated by the ordinary high school English curriculum standard （trail） that， the effective teaching requires utilizing and developing curriculum resources rationally and actively. Students should be provided with materials which are rich， practical， healthy and close to daily life. Reading English newspapers not only guides students to learn and to consolidate of the knowledge by exposing them to a large number of fresh expressions， but also makes students greatly enhance their information collecting and processing abilities， as well as understand more about the world. English newspapers is rich database with novel contents and updated new words and phrases， such as SARS， AIDS， information superhighway ， offs ， rip off， risk one’s fortune in business， job-hop， hi-tech and etc. In addition， some of places of interest and some well-known identifications can be found in these materials， namely Big Apple-New York， Wall Street-global finance center， Uncle Sam-people from the US government and etc. It has been proved students’ reading habits can be formed by this way.

II. Effectiveness of English press reading

It is once illustrated by Professor Xu Guozhang， only through reading， can you maximize your practice and really benefit. Reading brings you a new world. English press provides a lot of authentic teaching resources. Fully utilized these resources， students’ elementary language skills and comprehensive application abilities are well developed. At least， conditions and opportunities for such developments can be created. Hence， in the normal process of teaching， teachers are encouraged to share carefully selected articles with students once a week， and show them some reading techniques. Make students be willing to and love to reading， thus upgrade all four basic skills， in terms of reading， writing， listening and speaking.

1. Reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is a main form of testing students in university entrance examination. Questions about it involve gradually expanded knowledge， which reflects increasing greater importance and attentions. Normally students lack of sufficient practice and read too slowly. A good press reading habit can help the students improve reading speed， as well as remember expressions firmly.

2. Writing exercise. Reading and writing are always inseparable. Here are what old Chinese saying goes： write like god if read more than hundreds of thousands； one is able to recite poems though unable to create， as long as he is familiar with all three hundred Tang poetries. That is to say， language input is crucial for language output. Large vocabulary， extensive viewpoints and solid fundamentals for writing are available through reading. Apart from that， it is quite important that writing topics are close to daily life， and easy to open students’ word boxes. Teachers can select a topic appearing on the Press and make it discussed and wrote on weekly basis. In the case， all students with different levels will not be suck by ideas or words. They are likely attracted. Meanwhile， the whole class discuss and analyze one or two compositions， then summarize some essential writing skills. Excellent works are encouraged to be established， which makes winners more joyful.

3. Listening learning. Listening materials in the textbook cannot meet teaching needs. Also， students cannot benefit from the same pronunciation and intonation for more than decades. Getting clear the pronunciation， some students do not understand the whole sentence. 21st century is a good complement. It provides newspapers with tapes. Students can download freely and easy to use them for self-study. Of course， teachers can also them in class.

4. Speaking practice. Speaking after listening and reading is a compulsory part of college entrance examination. It requires a higher oral teaching level. Good command of speaking in vital in communications. Learning English is not just for exams， also， more importantly， for business and international activities. Reading materials in the press often reflect ordinary life. Only carefully designed and guided can these materials be transformed to interesting discussions and approachable speech topics. Students exchange their ideas and news in the class in preferred forms， such as dialogue， debate， cosplay， and recitation. Finally， the teacher gives a brief summary.

III. Habit formation of English press reading

Materials in the press tend to be concise and straight to the point. Different reading tactics should be used when reading various compositions with different styles. Here are examples. Time， place， person， event， cause and result are key clues in narrative reading. When reading science， the topic and logic relations of all sub-divided points need paying special attentions. Argumentation interpretations require seeing through viewpoints of the author， finding out persuasive evidence as well as drawing strongly supported conclusions. When reading skills being taught， various ways of brain storm are suggested to attract students to read.

Therefore， in the practice， how to help students form to good reading habits becomes critical. Below are aspects that need to be emphasized：

1. Form and keep the habit. English requires continuous accumulation， and sophistications are not attained one day or two. A good habit of reading offer great help to make progress. Furthermore， reading techniques should be well delivered： when reading， eyes should switch quickly and try to get the main point. Eyes are running sentence by sentence in the beginning， then change to jump across several sentences， even the whole paragraph. Silence and no turning back are other two requirements， Students are trained to transfer words between lines to voice in mind first， then process and interpret. After repeated practice， information input can operate much faster and students can concentrate as well as read efficiently.

2. Adhere to notes taking. Students in high school are not so competent in writing. They can improve by imitating nice sentences. If students keep marking down and reading beautiful sentences， they surely cultivate good language sense. Therefore， students are required to choose an article and write a short essay about it every week， Teachers comment on and share those essays. Further， students can paste excellent paragraphs in exercise books， compare what have been written with the excellence. They will notice differences between textbooks， excellent paragraphs on the press and what their write， and finally learn something useful as well as avoid something inappropriate.

3. Insist on writing comments. It is recommended to absorb and consolidate new knowledge by writing comments after reading. It is necessary if a certain amount of materials is accumulated. Share comments in the class and make a feeling of useful practice. All these greatly arouse students’ enthusiasm of learning English， build up students’ confidence and correct their learning purpose and attitude.

Ⅳ. Conclusion

English press covers a wide range of topics and is capable of meeting a variety of reading needs and interests. They greatly bring students’ attentions. With the constraint of different age and divergent cognitive level， students can screen reading materials， leaving those beyond their capacities. For grade one and two in high school， topics like leisure sports， campus hot issues as well as happy terminal are recommended. These articles， though with some new words， tell interesting stories close to real life. Students are willing to and able to finish. For grade three， in addition to articles mentioned above， essays about science， history， current affairs and other aspects of international issues are also recommended. The expended reading offsets the boring textbook in a good way.

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