如何提高中学英语阅读理解能力

孙晓文

摘 要：本文论述了一种在新课标要求指导下的教学方法，即采取一系列有趣的活动让学生走进英语，有计划地扩展学生的英语阅读范围，通过母语的帮助和逐渐的积累，让学生对英语的语言规律产生感性认识，同时再传授给学生一些基本技巧，以提高其英语阅读理解能力。

关键词：阅读；母语；技巧；能力；训练

1. Value reading in teaching.

Reading is a kind of language communicative activity which uses written form to make materials clear and carry the information. Reading texts cover the high proportion in different kinds of language texts. In English test， reading comprehension is still the students “obstacle”， that is to say， the level of reading comprehension is decided by the result of the English， therefore， teachers and students have been paid more attention to the reading attack， however， enhancing the ability of reading is not solved in once or twice， the training is very important through all times.

1.1 Read aloud everyday.

Using is an important way of learning language. There is a saying “practice makes perfect”. The teachers should require the students to read words， to recite texts， and to make plan. Although it seems as the mechanical memory， reading without thinking. Actually， students can benefit a lot from it： Firstly， the students should get used to reading on average because reading loudly leads students to concentrate on the content， and it also can stimulate students brain， let them get a better grasp of the new words， and even improve students oral-English. Secondly， it is beneficial for students to improve their reading skills as well as to enable students to make a deeper understanding about the grammar rules and customs.

1.2 Combining intensive reading and extensive reading can improve the ability of thinking and understanding.

Using intensive reading to strengthens students understanding of grammar， vocabulary， to expand the vision of reading. Using extensive reading to promote the language and the culture， enhance the English knowledge， and thus improve the perceptibility of reading.

Intensive reading and extensive reading both have differences， and similarity. Intensive reading is the foundation and premise of extensive reading. Extensive reading is evolved gradually by the intensive reading. The intensive reading requests the students to understand thoroughly， grasp and utilize the glossary， sentence pattern and grammar of reading materials. The extensive reading refers to teach students to read widely， massively， fast. The English reading education of middle schools should take the text material knowledge spot as the perusal core， as far as possible launch the teaching activity of the extensive reading， pay special attention to English quality basic training of students， expand the view of the knowledge and enhance the perception， sharpen the ability of reading comprehension.

Each unit of middle school English teaching material has one or two reading texts. The exercise book has some short written work and the entire book also has the supplement reading materials. Regarding these reading texts， teacher must transform all means by the teaching way， coach students to develop the activity of intensive reading and extensive reading. Students should understand thoroughly， grasping the request of grammar， glossary and sentence. Student acts according to the meaning of paper， as possible as widely， massively and fast. Pay equal attention to the quality and quantity， enhance the reading skills， expand the reading and sharpen the ability of reading.

1.3 Choose reading materials carefully.

Choosing reading materials is plays the influential role in the reading effect. If the improper reading material is chosen， it will affect students reading interest. Therefore， try your best when you choose the reading material which has the health idea and the strong ideology. When students develop the ability of reading， they have received the influences of ideology. Moreover， the reading material chosen must have wide content， kinds of style and theme， plain and vivid language， so student like to read and this can strengthen students interest. The most important is that the material should be suitable to students level. Control the new words in 2% to 3%. The difficulty is quite familiar with the text that makes students read happily. Obtain the knowledge in the joy. Strengthen their confidence to do the reading comprehension well.

The reading materials must be suitable to the actual request and students actual level and they can stimulate students interest， enrich the reading experience in the reading， and thus enhance the ability of reading. The reading materials may be the celebrity anecdote， the historical fable， the folk accident， the fable， the humorous sketch， the reportage， the history general knowledge， the popular science article and so on. It requests nimble and diverse， vivid and interesting， suitable length， rich connotation， moderate difficulty and few new words.

Where there is some freedom of choice， interest will be a key criterion in selecting texts for learners. Many teachers， in the situation where there is English language material in the learners community， have experimented successfully in asking learners to find texts themselves which they think will interest class. It is also possible to discover the reading interests of learners through ‘Reading interest questionnaire which asks learners about the genre they like to read in their first language， for example， non-fiction， thrillers， or romance.⑴

2. With the help of the mother tongue， train the awareness of language.

The process of studying English is the process that students receive the English knowledge. The process of English teaching must train the one-sided teaching of grammar or information. People who study English first must depend on the mother tongues help. Teachers must lead students to use the correct way to learn English， Using this kind of psychology can set up a relationship between the English and the mother tongue. Using this way can improve students English ability.

In English teaching， use English as often as possible， but does not repel to use the suitable mother tongue. When students have first to study English， the customs of mother tongue must influence their study. In English teaching， we must regard the mother tongue dialectically. The mother tongue has the disturbance in learning English； it also has the useful face in learning English. In the English teaching process， teachers can use the mother tongue in the following three aspects.

2.1 Contrast between English and Chinese， enhance the foresight and the pointed in English teaching.

The teacher may foresee the students difficulty， and use the suitable method to solve the problems， thus enhancing the teaching effect and saving the teaching time. For example， on the difference of expressions between English and Chinese， students may feel difficult to control. Teachers should pay more attention to it and do more exercises. By now， translate English into Chinese and contrast them. Students can overcome the disturbance of Chinese； also conform to the custom of studying English. The place of pronunciation， word and grammar are similar in English and Chinese， and the English is easily to disturb in Chinese codes. Even in the different places， it is difficult for students to study. Now the teacher needs the suitable method to solve the problem， overcome the Chineses disturbance. For the same places， it is easy for students to study. By now， students Chinese custom can shift to the English study with the help of teachers.

2.2 Use Chinese as the teaching media.

Explain the abstract words or the complex sentences， and it helps students to understand； When we explain the elementary knowledge of the language for the fresh English learners， we may use Chinese to point out the pronunciation method， the stroke order of writing and the point of grammar and so on； we may use Chinese to check the students understanding in English words， sentences or reading materials.

2.3 Treat translation as a kind of practice form.

Translation can be used for the teachers to check， to explain， to consolidate and to develop the ability of students using language. But， this kind of practice is only used， especially in the primary stage， and we should have control to use it.

In English teaching， if we can not treat English and mother tongues relations very well and only want to make it easy， much more English must affect the quality of English teaching. The English class of middle schools has the limited time； in the class， teachers spend all of the time on the English drills. If teachers use more mother tongues to teach， they cannot get student have the sufficient time to contact with English. Moreover， we should use much time to translate， and when they understand or express in English， students must have translated it first， and it is bad for students to study English in this way. Actually， it is easy to form some bad habits： When hearing or speaking， he or she must take action slowly， and cannot follow the normal speed of language； when reading and writing， they must translate English into Chinese or translate Chinese into English， then understand the words， the sentences， or the paper truly. Thus， the speed of reading has not raised high， and students do not write the typical sentences. This shows that the mother tongue has a strong disturbance to study English.

In summary， in the process of English teaching， teachers must let students contact English， remove the disturbance of mother tongue； but we do not repel to use the mother tongue in some special times. Use the useful factors of mother tongue in the process of learning English， and then the students can study English faster and easier than before. Maybe we can say： If students understand what teachers said in English， teachers do not need to say Chinese； if students can express in English， teachers should not allow students to speak Chinese again.

3. Teach the essential skills and prompt the ability of English reading.

Reading comprehension includes the speed of reading and the accuracy of reading. If students have these two kinds of abilities， they can achieve the goal of reading. Teachers must teach students correct methods and some practical reading skills that can sharpen the English level of students.

3.1 Speed reading， overall assurance.

When students are reading， teachers must correct two mistakes： Firstly， the speed reading can affect the accuracy of information； secondly， if students do not understand all of the new words， they cannot understand the text correctly. This causes many students to read the text again and again， look up in a dictionary， peruses the material， and loses much time and energy. This not only influences the reading speed， but also interrupts the mentality. If students can not understand the text completely， they do not have the total perspective. Therefore， teachers must teach students to embark from the whole， do speed reading， jump the new word， not entangle the new words and the difficult sentences， but they should read quickly and find out the key words， the main sentence and the main idea.

3.2 Screen the article and find out the useful information.

First， let the students read the text quickly firstly， and grasp the general idea of the whole text. Then read the article again according to the request， and search the specific information， they may read 2 or 3 lines for one time. Read it carefully again and find the answer. It is normal to meet the new words in the reading； do not fear the difficulty. The important point of reading is to extract the information， sometimes， the new words are the “the camouflage”， and they will not affect to screen the information. Students must read carefully， grasp the meaning， jump the difficulty word， check the useful information， read again and find the lost point.

3.3 Correct the bad reading habit.

Most of the bad reading habits of students just come from the motion of the mouth， the eyes and the hands. If we want to enhance the reading speed， we must correct the bad reading habits.

3.3.1 Overcome the habit of reading in the heart and read silently.

Middle-school students are influenced by the habit of reading aloud. They have already established the relationship between the writing mark and the sound inherent. When they see the letter， the word and the sentence， they will make the corresponding sound. Although some students do not make the sound， actually they are reading aloud in his heart. The speed of silent reading is quicker than the speed of reading aloud， because when we read aloud the eyes， the brain， the mouth and the ears work together； But the silent reading only use the eyes and the cerebrum. If they overcome the habit of heart reading and the silent reading， students can improve the reading speed.

3.3.2 Overcome the point reading.

The majority of students have formed a habit of reading a text word by word， or reading the word with the figure or a pen. Pay more attention to the individual words and phrases； lose sight of the whole phrases meaning. Reading word by word does not make students understand the whole text. Teachers must teach students to read a line or many lines. The eyes should move cleverly in the page， but do not need fingers or other things help. Teacher may demonstrate the correct reading posture and the correct method， request student to pay more attention to the habit of point reading. In the reading training， teachers should look carefully when student does the reading comprehension， once they discover the phenomenon of point reading， teachers should help students correct the habit.

3.3.3 Overcome the habit of back sight.

When reading the text the students often worry the omission detail， the point content， or the reading materials that surpass themselves knowledge level. Often back sight causes student to lose the continuity and the integrity， so students must overcome the habit of the back sight. If we lose the point reading in the first reading， we must train ourselves. After reading the whole text， we can read the text one time or two times again.

4. Train the students ability of reading.

Sharpen students reading ability， besides the central attack before the exam； it also needs to do some exercises in the ordinary time. Carefully design in the class and guide the student to think. For example， in order to raise the ability of students reading speed， teacher may establish the summarizing inquiry. Request students to discover the main sentence from the article， and summarizes the rule： Most of the subject sentence of syllogistically article are in the head of the section， most of the subject sentences of induction article are in the end of the section. When the subject sentence is in the middle of the text， it must have a transition word. Moreover， to overcome the pass of the new word， teacher may change the new word into an easy word， and then guides students to guess the meaning of the new word. Doing like this can stimulate students to read and enhance their self-confidence.

4.1 Establish the scenes and stimulate students interest.

Student has the choice， to make every effort happily to close or explore certain things to carry on the study of the psychological trend. If the student has the interesting in learning the foreign language， then he must be positive to the related thing. We might obtain from the textbook； to find some interesting things in the text. For example， SB2 Unit2 the Olympic Games， this text are talking about the Olympic Games in history. The teacher may draw a flag of the Olympic Game on the blackboard， and let the student guess the meaning of the flag， the meaning of the sports. Then using the interest to guide students to review on several Olympic Games grand occasions， and talk about 2008 Olympic Games that will be held in our country. Teachers should teach the students not only have the strong interest on the text， but also introduce the moral education into the teaching； it is helpful to students full scale development. Students thought will become active， and the reading may transform from the passive to the impassive.

4.2 Take students as the center， and publicize their individuality.

English new curriculum standard requests teacher to put the ability of using language in the teaching process， avoid teaching the knowledge purely. Advocate the experience， the practice， the participation， the exchange and the cooperation in the learning process， let students feel successful. But students in the activity have become a practitioner from the beginning to the end. Take students as the center， train students interest and the deep love， and cause students to regard the language study as the intrinsic need. Students role transform from the receiver into the assayer and the inquirer.

4.3 Develop extra reading activities.

It is not enough for students to improve the reading and study ability only by training students to learn speed reading. On calculating 1000 words a week， students can only complete the quantity of 1—15000 words. And students can not gain the skill of independent English reading. Therefore， we should not only train the speed reading but also carry on extra reading activities to increase the quantity of our reading. We should provide more short reading materials and ask the students to exchange the different kinds of materials and read a short text about 600 words every day. Thus， we can both increase the reading quantity and broaden students reading view. This kind of method also can improve the interest of reading.

In brief， so long as we are good at catching the opportunity of training and practicing more， we can improve our teaching strategy and method， and students reading level certainly reaches a new level. It is also advantageous to enhance students skill of language， power of thought and ability of human relations. But to enhance the overall quality of students is a process of sustainable development， and it also needs everybodys help and working together.

Notes

[1] Tricia Hedge. Teaching and Learning in the language class [M].shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2002. p.206 .

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