| Reading is a social activity. It happens in a social context with identifiable purpose. The reading purposes determine what the readers will read and how they will read. In daily life, reading is assessed by the fulfillment of a reading task. Good readers can successfully sense the reading task, visually perceive the signs, go through cognitive process, achieve certain interaction with the text, and finally display a response to the task.;However, current L1 and L2 reading research treats reading comprehension as the most essential part of reading, and focuses on reading cognitive process. Consequently, current reading instruction is comprehension-oriented and concentrated on fluency instruction and reading strategy instruction. In the case of Chinese L2 reading instruction in the United States, where Chinese has very little similarity with the learners' native language, the situation is even more severe. Reading instruction is primarily focused on linguistic factors, especially at the beginner and intermediate levels.;This dissertation proposes a new Chinese L2 reading instruction model, which is performance based. In the new approach, the objective of instruction is to train the learners to perform reading tasks successfully in appropriate social context. It moves beyond reading comprehension and treats it as the prerequisite of the performance. To implement, performance-based reading instruction constructs social contexts for learners, provides opportunities for the learners to read in these contexts, and trains the learners to fulfill the recognized reading tasks. This new approach usually includes three phases. The three phases are built around the same theme and spiral up from reading comprehension of the text, to the demonstration of reading comprehension through tasks, and finally to handling authentic reading materials in simulated culturally appropriate tasks.;Theoretical support from previous literacy research and by preliminary observations and surveys indicate that this new approach has many advantages over conventional instruction. It can enhance the learners' comprehension of the text, improve their reading competence, and motivate them to extend their engagement in reading activities. Specifically, the culturally appropriate context in the performance-based reading instruction can trigger learners' prior knowledge and L1 reading strategies, and thus can facilitate comprehension. In addition, the learners can tap into more mental resources during the reading process so that they will retain better long-term memories. Last but most importantly, the learners can retrieve their memory better by matching the daily situation with their learning contexts during the performance-base instruction. As a result, the learners will have better chance to perform successfully when expected to do so in later life. |
