The current situation and Countermeasures of English Reading Teaching Based on Text Interpretation in High School

【Abstract】Reading teaching is a common type of lesson in high school English teaching. In reading teaching， students’ reading ability can improve their English comprehensive ability. The new curriculum standard also puts higher requirements on students’ reading ability. In reading teaching， text interpretation is vital and it determines the depth and width of reading comprehension. However， in the current English reading teaching， the interpretation of the text by teachers is superficial， resulting in a series of problems， which are mainly reflected： single teaching method， disconnection of input and output， and neglect of the cultivation of students’ emotional value. This paper attempts to put forward the relevant suggestions and countermeasures for the teachers who have difficulty current English reading teaching in senior high school .

【Key words】reading instruction； text interpretation； suggestions and strategies

【作者簡介】李彥龍 ，貴州師范大學外國語學院。

1. Background

In the entire English teaching of high school， reading teaching is a much more popular course type than other course types. Whether open classes or seminars， reading teaching is the first choice for most English teachers to share and discuss. Reading is an rather important means for students to absorb English language materials， increase language knowledge and expand their vocabulary smoothly. Moreover， the improvement of students’ English reading ability can not only lay a good and solid foundation for their oral English communication skills and English writing ability， but also make them learn the true meaning and value of learning English and experience the joy of learning English. Of course， it can’t be ignored that the improvement of students’ English reading ability lay a solid foundation for them to build their confidence in learning English， too.

2. Problems Following the Inaccurate Text Interpretation

By reviewing the roles of English reading and the requirements of The New Curriculum Standard， we can find the teaching of English reading is very of importance， but because interpretation of the text of some teachers’ is far more superficial， a series of related problems which have an terrible influence on students’ English learning will appear. These induced problems are mainly manifested in the following aspects：

2.1 Single Teaching Method

Because interpretation of the text of some teachers is not deep enough， the subject matter of the article cannot be correctly grasped by them， resulting in all the English reading classes being treated by adopting the same and simple teaching mode. Once reading lessons are mentioned， the old-fashioned and customary teaching method involves the following steps： Firstly， lead-in by showing several related pictures. Secondly， a lot of time is given to the students to read the text. Afterwards， ask all the students to work out all the questions following the reading materials without taking it consideration that different students have different abilities. Even they don’t consider the degree of difficulty of all these questions following the text. Finally， a topic discussion is held among the students.

2.2 Disconnection of the Input and Output

Because some teachers can not interpret the text deeply， they can not correctly grasp the author’s writing intention and writing background. Therefore， when they carry on English reading teaching， they will not make the three-dimensional target accurate or targets made by them are too generalized and empty. Inaccurate teaching goals lead to deviations from the correct instructional model in the teaching design and the use of teaching strategies， thereby further resulting in some deviations from the input of students. However， at the end of the reading， students’ output are required to meet the goals required by the syllabus. Obviously， such a requirement is not fair because such input and output are disjointed， and the students’ output is certainly not ideal.

2.3 Ignorance of the Cultivation of Students’ Emotional Values

Because some teachers can’t often interpret the text correctly， later， they will overlook the cultivation of students’ emotional values in the formulation of teaching goals. In the preparation of many teachers’ lesson plans， the emotional goal of the three dimensional goals is often very casual and are not reflected in the actual classroom. The author of the text hopes to enhance students’ reading interest， cultivate students’ reading ability and innovation ability better， and further cultivate students’ related emotional values by these originally interesting texts. However， some teachers， instead， treated these live texts as rigid， formatted reading tools and the simple background of language knowledge processing. The reason for this is that they have not conducted an in-depth interpretation of the text， and have not interpreted the sentimental value orientation behind the author of the text.

3. Suggestions and strategies

In order to promote the effective English reading teaching better in high school， the author of this paper attempts to put forward the following related suggestions and strategies for teachers who have problems in the teaching of reading， especially in the of interpretation of the text in depth， hoping these related suggestions and strategies can benefit them in some way.

First of all， the teacher should dig into the theme and background of the text when reading the text at first（Wu Jingying， 2017）. According to the different topics of the texts， different corresponding teaching strategies are made to fully implement the matching of texts and teaching strategies， reflecting the diversity of teaching methods.

Second， when teachers interpret texts and grasp the core contents of the text， they must have a deep understanding of the background knowledge and intent behind the text. Only if the teachers have a deep understanding of the background knowledge of the text and the intention of the author’s writing， they can clearly define what they have to say， what they will teach students， and what the students must learn in reading teaching.

In addition， in English reading teaching， teachers should also pay attention to learning to reflect self and their own teaching process after-teaching. At last， English teachers should learn the steps to interpret the text. In short， in the process of the interpretation of texts， there are four steps for teachers： overview the text， perceiving text highlights； appreciate the text in reading， building text highlights； taste the text in reading， highlighting text highlights； and comprehend the text in reading， locking the text highlights.

4. Conclusion

Teacher’s interpretation of the text is very important， and it can play an important role in improving the quality of reading teaching in high school. Correct and in-depth interpretation of texts can guide teachers to customize teaching objectives better and use correct teaching strategies to input knowledge to students better so as to better achieve students’ output （Skehan Peter， 1998）.

References：

[1]Jack，C.R.and Theodore，S.R.Approach and Methods in Language Teaching[M].Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000.

[2]Nuttall，C.1982.Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language [M].上海：上海外語教育出版社，2002.

[3]Skehan Peter.A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning[M]. Oxford，UK：Oxford University Press，1998.