An Investigation Of Intensive Reading Classes In College English Teaching

The final objective of English teaching is to enable the learners to acquire the ability of using English. Cultivating the learners'appropriateness in using English is of significance. But Wang Chuming(2000) holds that"we have been perplexed by the situation of high investment with low return; a long time involved in learning resulting in a few people proficient in English". Among these perplexities, one problem is particularly striking: the students are not able to communicate in English smoothly and appropriately. To solve them, efficient classroom instruction is to be taken into first consideration.In terms of function of language, Systemic Functional Linguistics is a far more mature and influential theory. Halliday's register theory and Hasan's GSP theory have offered the framework for researches. Halliday's contribution to language education lies in how to learn and teach the native tongue and the second or foreign language. His theories have inspired the emergence of some methodologies: the communicative teaching approach; methodology of teaching English for specific purpose; culture-based English teaching method; genre-based teaching approach; and new grammar teaching approach. In China, researchers have conducted studies applying register and genre theories to language teaching. Fan Yan et al.(2002:33-36) have developed the practical writing software by taking Hasan's GSP as the framework. In teaching reading, researches mainly focus on teaching English for Special Purpose and the discussion of generating texts.This paper investigates intensive reading classes in college English teaching through classroom observation from a genre and register perspective. It intends to find out whether and how the college English teachers handle the teaching of vocabulary, grammar and texts of different genres, the existing problems in college English teaching and offers some tentative suggestions instead of judging the teaching grade. The study is conducted among teachers from Changchun Institute of Technology in the form of classroom observation and questionnaire. The classes being observed are intensive reading classes. 30 teachers'classroom teaching is observed and the questionnaire is done among 60 teachers. Before observing classes, inventories are designed based on Hasan and Halliday's genre register theory and Labov and Hoey's model. They are the inventory of teaching narrative genre, inventory in teaching exposition/argumentation and inventory of teaching practical genre. The questionnaire is about the teachers'teaching conceptions, their command of Systemic Functional Linguistics and their attitude in applying SFL theories into their teaching practice. Passages of different genre and register are observed in order to get an overall understanding of college English teaching in vocabulary, grammar and texts of different genre and register.Through the investigation, the major findings are as the following:1. College English teachers teach vocabulary and grammar mainly in the form strata, but few of them cover functions of vocabulary and grammar.2. In teaching text, college English teachers pay attention to different genres, covering the obligatory and optional elements. They do a better job in teaching practical genres than in teaching narration. But the order and recursion of these elements is seldom mentioned.3. In teaching texts, the three variables of register are made clear to the students on the language form strata, not from register perspective. They do not associate the three variables with GSP of the text.4. It is also found that some subjects do not have a good command of SFL. Some of the subjects'attitude towards the application of SFL is positive but the others are puzzled about it.This investigation shows the present situation of college English teaching. The significance of the study lies in that it associates language teaching with linguistic theories. It is hoped that this study can offer some enlightening to the current college English teaching, especially in cultivating the students'ability of using English.