A Study On Non-English Major Reading Teching In Vocational And Technical Colleges From The Perspective Of Needs Analysis

From the perspective of needs analysis, the author probes into non-English major reading teaching in vocational and technical colleges(vo-tech colleges). After comparing the three reading models (the bottom-up model, the top-down model and the interactive model), the author ventures to set up a "TIPS Reading Teaching Model" (Testing—Identifying—Planning—Satisfying) based on needs analysis. Testing is to test the students' staring level for English reading before a course begins. Identifying is to identify the students' English reading needs. Planning refers to helping the students set a reading plan. Satisfying means how to satisfy the students' reading needs.The model consists of four steps:Step 1: In pre-course, the students are to have a starting level test so as to find out the gap between the starting level and the target level;Step 2: Identifying the students' English reading needs by questionnaires;Step 3: Helping each student set an English reading learning plan according to the College English Curriculum Requirements(CECR), the students' starting level and their actual learning needs;Step 4: Satisfying the students' reading needs in terms of classroom instruction, standardized reading test skills and extracurricular reading.The model has the following strong characteristics:①It is a learner-centered model②It focuses on reading and test skills ③It values extracurricular reading④It is a combination of bottom-up and top-down modelsIn order to find out how the TIPS model is helpful to improving the students' reading ability, an experimental research has been carried out. It is a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. The research instruments include questionnaires, reading feedback reports, interviews and test papers. Class 0501 and Class 0502 are chosen for experiment. Class 0501 is an experimental group, while Class 0502 is regarded as a control group. Class 0501 is taught on the basis of TIPS Reading Teaching Model, while in Class 0502 the teaching is carried out in accordance with the traditional model. According to their starting reading levels, the students in Class 0501 are divided into three groups: a proficient group, an average group and an ineffective group. After a term of training, Class 0501 makes much progress in the final test and greatly increases in the number of proficient and average students as compared with Class 0502. The TIPS model has improved the reading ability of all the students of the three groups. Their reading learning needs are basically satisfied. Especially for proficient and average students, the teaching model makes their reading awareness and interest increased. They improve their reading speed by persisting in reading a lot and practicing reading skills in reading material. The ineffective students have learned how to remember words according to pronunciation rules and enlarged their vocabulary. However, they still have some difficulty in applying the skills to reading. TIPS model provides practical experience for vo-tech college teachers how to apply needs analysis to their reading teaching. The model is still to be explored to further improve reading ability.