How to Teach English Reading Effectively

Zhou Mozhu

【Abstract】The level of the reading comprehension has a direct impact on ones ability about listening， speaking， reading and writing. Therefore， English reading plays a vital role in todays English teaching. This paper mainly introduces the reason why reading is important and some strategies for reading comprehension.

【Key words】English reading； reading methods； reading strategies

1. Reading is a Vital Part in English Learning.

There are many other reasons why letting students to learn reading is an important part of the teachers job. At first， “many of them want to be able to read texts in English either for their careers， for study purposes or simply for pleasure.”（Jeremy Harmer， 2000， 68） Second， reading texts also provided some good models for English writing. Third， “reading texts can also provide opportunities to study language： vocabulary grammar， punctuation， and the way we construct sentences， paragraphs and texts.” （Jeremy Harmer， 2000， 68） Last， reading more texts can provide some interesting topics and enrich the students spiritual word.

2. Strategies for Reading Comprehension

In general， there are some traditional strategies we can apply to classroom techniques： Identify the purpose in reading； Skimming； Scanning； Guessing； Vocabulary analysis； Distinguish between literal and implied meanings.

Well in todays classroom teaching， some specific methods for reading comprehension are necessary very well.

2.1 Combing the Intensive Reading with the Extensive Reading

Reading comprehension consisted of the intensive reading and extensive reading. Todays English teaching focus more on the intensive reading to develop students reading ability and strengthen their language knowledge. The disadvantages of this way are the students are lacking of the vocabulary and the speed of reading is slow. So we can see， this method can not satisfy the requirement of the entrance examination. Therefore， it is very important for teachers to combine the intensive reading with the extensive reading.

2.2 Bringing Teachers Superiority into Full Play

First， Helping Students to Maintain Good Mentality

The improvement of reading ability is a long process， and the learners must face a lot of difficulties. The teachers should let students face the difficulties in a right attitude， build their confidence， and they also need have great patience and a good mentality. After all， most of the students are all teenagers， and they are not very mature when they deal with issues. So the teacher will play a very vital role in helping them.

Second， Helping Students to Form a Habit of Taking Notes When They Read Texts

Teacher can let students take some notes when they find some good， useful or interesting words and sentence. And then review them frequently. After a while， students will realize that they truly mastered the new skills and knowledge. In this way， the top students will be better， and the backward students are encouraged to make progress.

Third， Helping the Students to Form a Habit of Adhering to Write the Reader Response

As a teacher， except strengthening the ideological education on the students， they can let all the students make summarize on the reading materials， write down some book reviews to the literature， and answer some questions such as “what do you think of the book/ the story/ the characters？” and so on. The students will read seriously and achieve the expected effect by this task-based reading，

Conclusion

Learning is an endless process， in the English teaching， the ultimate purpose of teaching and learning is to improve the students reading comprehension ability. By these all methods， the students would get practical training in reading comprehension skills， and at last， their reading ability must get improved. Today some problems and difficulties still exist in the English reading teaching， but with the hard work and cooperation among teachers and students for a long time， they can all be solved.

References：

[1]Harmer，J.（2000）.How to Teach English.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[2]ZHOU Feng.The Thinking and Practice of the English Reading Methodology in High School.（周楓.高中英語閱讀教學法的思考與實踐）.Retrieved from http：//www.doc 88.com/p-0344340285471.html.

[3]QIAO Ying-hua.（2007）.How to Teach English Reading Effectively.（喬英華.如何有效地進行英語閱讀教學）.Retrieved from http：//www.docin.com/p-56315752.html.