A Constructivist Approach To The Teaching Of Reading In Senior English

"Students' reading ability should be paid more attention to in English teaching of senior middle school." This is stipulated in the English teaching syllabus of senior middle school. Chinese students learn to listen, speak, write, and translate through reading where English is a foreign language. Only through reading can Chinese students learn English without the limitation of time, setting and place. Books can provide students with all the learning environments. In a sense, no reading, no language learning. Students must read widely if they want to learn English well. At the same time, reading has been regarded by public as the most important approach to acquiring information in foreign language learning for quite a long time. Therefore, the fostering of reading ability in English teaching has been greatly concerned by teachers and researchers on teaching strategies all along.Reading is a very complex psychological and cognitive process; and it is a communication between the reader and the writer. All the purposes of communication areto reach the understanding of each other. While reading, readers interpret authors' intention with the use of their knowledge background, for example, their own languages and cultures. Also, they selectively accept or refuse the ideas conveyed by authors. Accordingly, many linguists treat reading as the course of intercourse and communication between the reader and the writer. In the point of view of constructivism, reading is a process of the reader's re-constructing knowledge. In the course of reading, readers accept or reject new information, construct the cognitive system related to new information and speculate the author's thoughts and intention, which is based on the reader's previous information and knowledge while identifying, polishing and capturing the out-coming information. Constructivism lays particular stress on the view that reading is a process of the reader's re-constructing knowledge.This dissertation starts with a very brief analysis of the four famous reading modes, with emphasis on their affects of reading strategies, and points out their shortcomings. So, based on the theory of constructivism, this paper examines the reading strategies in the context of Chinese learners of English. Furthermore, language teaching should be "student-centered", aim at fostering abilities and help students learn how to learn, which is the nature of constructivism. Constructivism insists that the learning process should attach importance to the cultivation of cognitive abilities. Teachers act as meaning constructors, facilitators and organizers in students' studying activities. Teachers should make full use of students' non-mental factors to achieve the knowledge construction and to boost English learners' integrating skills. With the rapid development of multi-media and education on Internet, constructivism has become the basic theory of education innovation and renovation of traditional teaching.This paper makes a general introduction and analysis on constructivism. Discussions are focused on the effective use of constructivism in the English reading. Emphasis should be placed on students-centered, the important function of "environment" to knowledge construction, the crucial function of collaboration study to meaning construction and the designing of various learning resources. Different learners may have...