An Empirical Study Of The Impact Of The Whole Book Reading On Junior High School Students’ English Reading Literacy

Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards(2011)points out that English curriculum in the compulsory education stage undertakes the task of cultivating students’ fundamental English literacy,which is to develop students’ listening,speaking,reading and writing skills.Under this context,a new term reading literacy has been paid increasing attention.Reading literacy is the expansion of the meaning of reading ability in tradition,which not only emphasizes the language ability of learners,but also pays more attention to the cultivation of their comprehensive quality.The current English teaching in junior high school focuses on the teaching of basic language knowledge such as pronunciation,vocabulary and grammar.There is less practice of students’ language skills.As far as reading is concerned,junior high school English reading mostly stays in the learning of the text in textbook and the practice of exam questions which pays more attention to the grammar points involved in the text.There is a lack of systematic and effective class for teaching reading and cultivation and guidance of students’ reading skills and strategies.The cultivation of students’ reading literacy is even more neglected.Based on the English reading literacy framework for Chinese primary and secondary school students and under the theoretical guidance of whole language theory and constructivism,this thesis draws reference from the concept of the whole book reading in Chinese subject and then conducts an empirical study on the impact of the whole book reading on junior high school students’ English reading literacy.Students of two parallel classes of Grade 6 in a junior high school in Xintai are chosen as research objects.With the help of reading tests,questionnaires and interviews,there are three research questions to be solved:(1)Whether the whole book reading can improve junior high school students’ English reading ability?(2)What effect does the whole book reading have on the development of junior high school students’ English reading character?(3)How does the whole book reading impact on junior high school teaching of English reading?Through the analysis about the results of tests,questionnaires and interviews before and after the experiment,it is found that:(1)The whole book reading can help improve junior high school students’ English reading ability.Compared with the CG,the post-test grades of the EG have been greatly improved;(2)The whole book reading is conducive to the development of junior high school students’ English reading character.Students’ reading habits and reading experience have been better developed;(3)The whole book reading has a positive impact on English reading teaching of junior high school.All the interviewees believe that the whole book reading has a positive impact on the development of junior high school students’ English reading literacy.This study is relatively innovative in combining the whole book reading with English reading literacy.To some extent,it can provide reference for the reading of the whole book in English subject and provide ideas for the English reading teaching of junior high school.However,on account of the short research period,small sample size and the limitation of the author’s own ability,this study still has some shortcomings.Future research can make up for the shortcomings of this research through extending the study period,enlarging the sample size and enriching the research approaches.