A Research of Strategies to Improve Students’ English Reading Levels in Junior Middle Schools

ZhaiJiajia

◆Abstract：Reading is one of the four basic skills of English language， and cultivating students 'reading ability and improving students' reading level is one of the purposes of English teaching. In junior high school， English reading is not only an important teaching content， but also a main carrier of old and new knowledge， and an important means of cultivating students' comprehensive language ability. The improvement of reading ability also plays a very important role in students' lifelong learning. However， due to various factors， the current reading level of junior high school students is not optimistic. Based on this， the author uses research methods such as literature method， observation method， interview method， etc. On the basis of analyzing the problem to study the strategies for improving junior high school students' English reading level， which has certain theoretical and practical significance.This article is divided into five parts：The first part is the introduction， introducing the research background， research purpose， and research methods of this study; The second part explains the current situation of junior high school students' English reading level based on various research methods; The third part analyzes the main factors that affect the junior high school students ' English reading level; the fourth part combines specific cases to demonstrate the strategies to improve the junior high school students' English reading level; The fifth part summarizes the whole paper.

◆Key words：Junior high school student， Reading level， English Teaching

4 Strategies to Improve Students English Reading Levels

4.1 Extend background knowledge

Language and background knowledge are interrelated. Students are often troubled by background knowledge. When students read， they can read smoothly and know all the words， but they cant understand the content of the article. This is due to their lack of understanding of western social culture， system， religion， customs， etc. Therefore， students cant get the main idea， but can easily read. It is this kind of obstacle that restricts students study. Students are not used to using western language to understand the meaning of the article.

Next， let's take a look at the class of Mr. Zhang， Grade 7， No. 73 middle school in Zhengzhou.

T：Class， before our class， I will share you some interesting knowledge. Everyone knows the dog. How do you say it in English？

S：Dog！

T： Right. Do you know some things about dogs in different country？ The word of dog doesn't mean well to the Chinese. People often use dogs to describe people they hate. But in Britain， people's opinions on dogs are quite different. They think dogs are our friends. Dogs are loyal. For example： love me， love my dog. You are a lucky dog. So， the cultural background should be cared. Teacher can tell the students some background knowledge in normal class. When you talk about the article， you can also tell the students the background knowledge.

（1） Extend the background knowledge in text and words. We should know some western culture when we study English. Every language has its national history， culture and characteristics. If you dont know some Western cultural knowledge， you cant use this language well. The more you know the Western cultural background， the more you can understand English. Of course， the lack of background knowledge will have a bad impact on English learning. In English reading teaching， background knowledge should be taught. It is good for them to read. In the classroom teaching， besides explaining the text， the teacher also needs to explain some background knowledge that the students dont know and the relevant background knowledge in the reading article. When the teacher is explaining the words， he can also tell the background knowledge behind the words， which can help students learn the background knowledge， and remember the words more firmly. Students need to learn more cultural backgrounds through their efforts. After learning background knowledge， students can combine language information with non-language information.

（2） Extend the background knowledge in literary works. In English learning， literary works usually reflect certain cultural background. If we want to learn the cultural background in English， we can read some English literature works. It helps a lot. Reading literary works and understanding the cultural background behind the works can enhance English reading ability， and the English reading will be more fun.

（3）Summarize the background knowledge. While teaching， teachers can summarize some knowledge of cultural background. Vocabulary and idioms are OK. For example， the word “red” means celebration and joy in Western and Chinese. There is red-letter day in English. In China， red also means revolution. But red in English also means danger or anger. For example， "red flag "means something that makes people angry. In Business English，" in the red "means loss rather than profit.

（4）Cultural narration. Through language， can extend the background knowledge. There is a way to help extend background knowledge. This method is called cultural narration. For example， when explaining the reading articles of visiting， teacher can tell students the etiquette of visiting in China and West. When explaining the festivals， we can compare the ways of celebration between China and the west to let students know the origin of the festivals. This can increase students cultural background knowledge.

In short， in English learning， the extend the cultural background knowledge is one that students must do. This needs teachers and students to work together to overcome it.

4.2 Enhance reading skills

The English reading ability and efficiency can be improved by enhancing their reading skills. Teachers should know the reasons of students poor reading ability， and teach them some useful reading methods and skills. Students should overcome the bad habits in reading and form a correct reading method. Students can improve their reading level by this way. The follow is Mr. Li's class in Zhengzhou No. 57 middle school.

Paris

Paris is the capital of France. Here you will find many famous places of interest such as the Eiffel Tower. You can go to the Louvre Museum if you like art. The most famous street in Paris is the Champs-Elysees. This is the place to go if you want to visit some shops and department stores.” （Selecting from： the seven-grade，second volume. Unit 2 “France is calling”）

T：Class， this is an article about Paris. Now I'll give you ten minutes， read it quickly. There are several questions on the blackboard. You have to answer after reading. （Question 1， which country is Paris in？ Question 2. What is the name of the most famous street in Paris？ Question 3. What is the main idea of this article？）

In a few minutes

T： What is the main idea of this article？

S： The main idea is …….

………

In normal teaching， students can be trained to master reading skills gradually. To enhance reading skills into normal teaching.

We can guide students reading skills from the following aspects.

（1）Different articles and themes should use different reading skills. First， quick reference. Students should read with questions in their mind. According to these questions， they need get the information they need. Use the method of skipping to ignore the irrelevant words by choice. Leave only the information you are need. Second， skimming. Read the article at a faster speed. Then understand the type of article. When reading， you should look for topics in every paragraph， but don't look at the details. This has a clearly purpose. Students can know the topic of the article from the first and last paragraph， the first sentence of each paragraph. Students can find the key information they need by this way. So as to improve students reading speed. Third， intensive reading. Read the article carefully， and know the key points of the article. The author always uses a large number of facts and different statements to illustrate the article. In an article， every sentence is discussed around the central idea. They provide argumentation， contrast， and explain the reasons. Student should know the article well， and know how the author demonstrates the article. Use the ideas and information in the paper to find the details， and then know the author viewpoint.

（2）Finding key words and topic sentences. Students should care the title， boldface， italics， pictures， charts when reading the article. Because key words and topic sentences often appear in these places. Understanding key words and topics sentences can improve the speed and efficiency of students' understanding of sentences.

（3）Teach students to grasp the overall structure of the article， and understand the main structure of the article through the problems to be solved. Through the top-down and bottom-up two ways to deal with information， get the theme about the article， understand the intention of the composition. This method can help readers understand the full text. By doing this， the reading speed can be improved.

（4） Develop students reading skills of logical reasoning. Reasoning ability is very necessary for reading. Inference is that the reader infers the meaning expressed in the article according to his original knowledge and the key information in the article. As students increase their reasoning skills， they can know the deep meaning of writing. For example：Tom： Do you want to come to my party this Sunday？ Mary： I would love to. But I have to look after my little brother. Question： Will Mary go to the party？ Mary didnt give a positive answer whether she would go or not， but her last words implied that she couldnt go.

Finally， teachers can train more about reading strategies. For different styles of articles， students can use different reading skills and strategies. Including browsing， finding keywords， silent reading， extensive reading and other ways.

4.3 Improve reading habits

Changing bad reading habits and reading in the right way can improve reading efficiency. For middle school students， low reading speed will lead to low reading efficiency. Good reading habits is necessary to students. The follow is Miss Zhang's class.

Alice

Alice is my best friend. She is a tall girl with glasses. She often tells me jokes to make me laugh， but she never makes fun of others.15 Alice is a smart girl. She is good at Math. We often study and play table tennis together. I hope we will always remain friends.

-Joyce

（Selecting from： the seven-grade，second volume.  Unit 1 “People around me”）

T： Class， we have mastered the words of this lesson. Next， we will learn the text. Now， you can read the text. When you reading， I hope you can develop good reading habits. First， concentrate on reading. Second， don't point your finger at the sentence. Read quickly to find some information. Third， try to skip unimportant sentences while reading. Finally， remember what you read. I will ask questions in five minutes.

Five minutes later.

T： Does Alice wear glasses？

S： Yes.

T： Which course is Alice good at？

S： Math

…………….

Teachers can tell students some good reading habits in advance. Students will form good reading habits in class.

Good and scientific reading habits are as follows：（1） Skimming， a rough reading of material. The main content and general meaning of the reading materials can be obtained by skimming. （2） Skipping， reading with the purpose to find the information needed， ignore the unimportant content. Skipping is good for finding answers to detailed questions. Before reading， students can understand the questions and skip reading with questions. First of all， students should know the questions， and then find out the answers within the specified time. （3） Group reading， with the sense-group as the unit， group by group reading， should be understood at the same time. The number of times the eyes stay on the text should be constantly reduced; it will improve the reading speed. （4） Memory. Remember the important information in the article when reading it. If students read behind and forget the front， there is no way to understand the article well. In order to strengthen students memory ability， we can train students to recite key sentence patterns or important paragraphs. Give students a specific period of time to read an article and retell the main content about it. Through various methods to train students， such bad habits as looking back and rereading will disappear.

In normal teaching， teachers should help students form good reading habits. Then students reading ability and efficiency can be improved. Bad reading habits are also an obstacle in students reading.

4.4 Cultivate reading interest

Interest is the best teacher. So， we should cultivation students interest in reading. The teacher should help students to cultivate interest. With interest， Students will be willing to read. Teachers should take this as a goal. The following is Miss Li's English reading class in Junior High School of No.73 middle school in Zhengzhou.

“Linda： What's your favorite season， Li hui？

Li hui： I like spring best.

Linda： So do I. In spring birds are singing， and flowers are blooming.

Li Hui： Besides， it's a good time for outdoor activities. We often go for a spring outing. What about you， Li Jin？

Li Jin： I like summer better than spring.

Li Hui： What do you do in summer？

Li Jin： Well， we go sightseeing， go to the beach and swim in the sea. We have a lot of fun in summer.

Linda： I don't like summer because it's too hot. What about you， Julia？

Julia： Neither do I. I like winter best. It's snowy in winter in my hometown. We make snowmen and go skiing. Besides， we have a long Christmas holiday in winter.” （Selecting from： the seven-grade， second volume. Unit8 “What are their favorite seasons？”）

T： Ok， class. Before our class. Let's watch a short video. It is about the seasons.

In a few minutes

Class， let's discuss with our partner about our favorite season and why we like it. Then share with us.

In a few minutes.

T： What are your favorite seasons？

S1： I like spring best， because the flowers and trees are beautiful.

S2

S3

………

T： OK， Class， let's open our textbook to learn a new lesson.

Here， the teacher uses the interesting short video to relax the students' mood， make the class interesting， and stimulate the students' senses at the same time. Short videos are also an introduction to learning materials. Through the discussion， the students can tell their own interesting things， and the classroom atmosphere is great.

We can improve students interest in reading through the following aspects： （1） Choose the right reading materials. The selection of reading materials is very important. The teacher can choose some interest topics for students. Students reading enthusiasm will run high. If the material they are not interested， Students will tend to get tired of reading materials. Teachers should also diversify their reading materials. Students read different materials every day， so they wont feel boring. （2） Sensory stimulation. Now many schools use multimedia to teach. Teachers can use pictures and slides to stimulate students senses. Teachers can also make the knowledge more interesting by using some teaching aids. The teacher plays soothing music while the students are reading. This will relax their mood. When they are relaxed， they can enter the reading state faster. Students can have better reading effect when they enter into the artistic conception of the article. （3） Use read introduction. Reading introduction can improve students interest in reading. If students are curious about what they are going to learn， they can stimulate their curiosity. And they will can't wait to learn. If the students are interested in the article， the reading effect will be improved. In reading teaching， we can often use interesting reading introduction. For example， it can be imported in the form of performance， story， video， etc. （4） Praise students. Students who are often praised will have more interest. If students are praised by their teachers and succeed in the lessons they are not interested in， their interest in learning will be promoted. Teachers should know the situation of students， and give the tasks what they can complete. As long as students can get the chance of success， they will get a sense of success. The teacher should gradually increase the difficulty when assigning tasks. Getting a sense of success and a teachers praise at the beginning of the simple part will improve their interest in reading. Teachers can also set up awards for students.

Interest can provide students with great learning motivation. Interest can make them study actively. Only when they want to learn， their study will become efficient.

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