On An Integrated Approach To Reading--A Reform To English Reading Teaching Through Writing

It is self-evident that reading is more important than the other language skills (listening, speaking, writing, translating) because reading can assist and promote the development of other language skills, and function as an important source of obtaining various knowledge and information. This is the case for the non-English speakers who use English as a second or foreign language as well as for the native speakers. Therefore, English reading teaching is currently the focus of much concern, and there have been a lot of researches on reading at home and abroad. However, the results are not very satisfactory - many learners, after having learnt English for some years, often fail in comprehension when asked to read a passage.Krashen's Input Hypothesis emphasizes the role that comprehensible input plays in language acquisition/learning, but devalues the function of output in language learning, while according to Swain, output may serve as an effective way of enhancing fluency, causing noticing, testing hypothesis and developing metalinguistic knowledge. Therefore, we assume that both input and output are important and indispensable in language acquisition/learning, and the integration of comprehensible input and comprehensible output may be a more effective approach in language learning and teaching.The present study, taking Krashen's Input Hypothesis and Swain's Output Hypothesis as its theoretical bases, by means of empirical study, researched FL reading teaching from a new perspective attempting to test whether the integrating of output-based writing with the teaching of input-based reading can effectively improve FL learners' reading competence, writing competence and overall English proficiency.This thesis consists of six parts. Part One is an introduction focusing on the aims and significance of the study. This study attempts to carry out empirical research in the junior-level reading course for English majors in College of Foreign Languages and Literature of NWNU by teaching reading through writing to prove that the integration of writing and reading in Intensive Reading course benefits learners' reading, writing competence and effectively improves learners' target language proficiency. Part Two deals with literature review on theoretical and empirical researches on reading, writing and the combination of the two in China and abroad. Most studies focused on reading orwriting only, or aimed at improving learners' writing competence and language proficiency through writing freely and writing long compositions, but ignored the combination and integration of reading and writing. Part Three introduces Input Hypothesis and Output Hypothesis in details, and discusses the relationship between the theories and the present study, which construct a theoretical frame for the study. Part Four elaborates the experiment itself, mainly including the hypothesis of the present study, the procedures of the experiments, data collection and analyses. The experiments in the present study were carried out in the first term of the academic year of 2002-2003 in two intact classes of junior English majors in the course of Intensive Reading, with one class as the experimental group and the other as the controlled one. In the experimental group the subjects were required to read with writing tasks related to the assigned reading materials, while in the controlled group the subjects were required to read without writing tasks. The data of the experiments came from three tests and one interview with the subjects in the experimental group, and all the data were entered into SPSS 11.5 for analysis. The discussion and the results come in Part Five, which show that the integrated approach to reading is effective and significant in improving students' reading, writing and overall English proficiency. Part Six mainly presents the conclusion, the implications and the limitations of the present study.The findings of the study demonstrate that the integrated approach to English reading for English majors is an effective way in...